I was an adventurer like you
Mhm you know what time it is? It's time for more of my random thoughts piled together into something I hope is coherent.
Today we are taking our lovely couple consisting of Simon and johnny and catapulting them into Faerun along with you.
Despite it's supposed glamour in the bigger cities, the realm of Faerun is quite the brutal one. Different species at war, the overlap between realms, the creatures and monsters that roam. It's quite the chaotic place to be, full of dangers and mysteries.
By the natural order of things, it's no surprise the number of adventurers that exist within these lands. There's rarely a shortage of them, as they seem to pop up everywhere, with new ideals, goals, and incredible powers. The young and aspiring adventurers quickly ends up taking the place the older retired ones.
Simon and Johnny were once such young and aspiring folk, a smile on their faces, excitement in their hearts as they went on unimaginable adventures. They fought creatures they'd never imagine; they fought devils, slayed dragons, and laid waste to goblin hoards.
They became quite renowned in their time under the aliases of Ghost and Soap. Songs and tales were written about them, big inns knew them well, and they became quite the role model for the younger adventurers.
That was a long time ago now, feels almost like an eternity ago. Though the circumstances of their retirement came unexpected to Simon, it eventually became clear it was a good decision for them both. Especially since Johnny took an arrow to the knee and was ready to settle, Simon saw it wouldn't be quite the same without his partner out there on the road.
Though they aren't active adventurers anymore they're still quite known, the young might not recognize them anymore but the older still hold their images in their heart. And though they are no longer out felling demons, they have their own way of getting by.
It was originally Simon's idea, but one that Johnny quickly took over. They opened a small potions shop just outside of a small town. Simon wanted somewhere with peace and quiet, and Johnny still wanted to hone his absurdly good craft of creating things. The compromise was quite easy to make from then on.
The shop became a trademark of the town, though business wasn't always through the roof, they made enough to get by. Anything between potions, ingredients, food, and general supplies could be bought there, making it a good pitstop for adventurers.
They managed to make quite a comfortable life here for themselves, even if they had to retire early by Simon's standards. Johnny tends to the shop and does most of the social bit, selling and buying, the whole lot. While Simon takes care of the garden out back and the miscellaneous maintenance around the house that's bound to occur with Johnny's experimenting.
It has become a weekly occurrence that something tends to blow up spectacularly, and while Simon is used to the sudden twists and turns of an adventure, these minor explosions might give him too many white hairs too early.
Despite the hiccups along the way, it's a quiet life that they're able to live out in peace. At least it was quiet until that fated day where you crossed their path.
It's nearing the evening, closing time for the shop and around the time where Johnny tidies the front desk up while Simon sits down with a cup of tea, and they talk. The door is almost thrown off its hinges as its being barged in, startling them both into action.
When you stumble in it's clear you won't make much of a threat even if you wanted to. You looked beyond drunk, stumbling in, knocking one of Simon's precious flowers over and shattering the bowl. Your sword was drawn but not to antagonize, merely so you had a support as you looked up at them with droopy eyes, pleading for help.
Simon is the first to recognize the familiarity in your face. He remembers you from all those years ago, a battle against a horde of goblins, back when you were all young and bright eyed, with that spark for adventure that kept you alive. Though you didn't adventure together for long, you fought alongside each other well.
You had fought bravely, even taken a hit that was meant for Simon. He suddenly remembered he never got to thank you. Though with the dark no-nonsense presence he gave off back then he doesn't think you expected a thank you if you even remember.
You liked them both quite a lot back then, if his memory doesn’t betray him, though sadly you weren't able to join them on future adventures, and they hadn't seen you since. Simon would be lying if he didn't occasionally think about you, Johnny would be too. They both knew there could've been something special there if they had let it grow before taking off.
He wonders what in the world happened to you, during all those years. Clearly you kept your career as an adventurer alive, a lot of battle scars littering your body and face that he doesn't believe you had back then.
Johnny doesn't seem to recognize you as quickly, not that there's much to see when you fall face down on their wooden floor. "Ach c'mon I just washed the flooring," Johnny exclaims as you topple over, your bloodied sword scattering off next to you and creating a splatter.
They both look at you cautiously, as if to see whether or not you were gonna get back up. When you don't move Johnny takes a few steps forward, crouching down next to you as if to see whether you were even alive.
"How much did ye drink," Johnny scoffs and carefully rolls you over to see if you were awake and faking. "Bloody idiot-" he cuts himself off when he sees the wound in your side and the pooling blood beneath your body.
All it takes is one look between them before Simon springs into action, walking over to a medicine cabinet they keep in the shop's storage area. Johnny carefully hoists you up, hooking an arm under your knees and one on your back to pick you up.
He takes a moment to take in your actual state, you looked pale, sickly so. You'd likely been wearing armor once upon a time, but your breastplate had been ripped clean off, only leaving the leather binding underneath. Your clothes were torn and dirtied with either blood or mud. It wasn't an unusual look for the adventurers that came in to shop, but admittedly they normally didn't collapse on the floor either.
Johnny carries you out of the shop area and into the back where the rest of their house is. He gently gets you situated on the couch as Simon comes with different sets of supplies, they needed to stabilize you. While Johnny went to work on your wound, Simon went back out to the shop.
He had intended to clean up the flooring, so Johnny didn't need to bother, but was promptly interrupted when he realized the shop wasn't empty like they left it. An Orc was bustling about, tall enough to barely fit in there with the lower ceiling.
Simon held back a string of curses that wanted to bubble up, he had nothing against the orcs, but they were closed and had a bleeding out person in the back, this was too much. "Excuse me" his voice sounded out and caught the attention of the orc, "We're closed."
The orc grumbles something incoherent glancing back outside briefly before fully turning their attention on Simon. He noticed the several other orcs waiting outside the shop, it made him grit his teeth. If they brought trouble here it wouldn't be good, even if he was quite skilled once it's been a while since he picked up an axe or a sword.
"We're looking for someone that came through here," the orc grumbles again, Simon starts to realize it's just their speech making them harder to understand, some sort of accent. "They're likely injured," the orc continues "And we need to take them with us."
They then proceed to give him a long description of the features on the person they're pursuing, and it doesn't take a genius to realize it's you. It makes Simon really start to wonder what in the hell you were up to, and whether or not you were really worth the trouble.
"Ain't seen anybody," Simon grumbles back, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks the Orc up and down. If it came down to it, he could reach for the knife on his belt and spin it into the orcs uncovered neck, then make a beeline for better equipment.
"Don't kid us" the orc starts to sound irritated, "we're not dumb we see the blood on your floor, just hand them over and this will go fine."
They didn't seem to want to go easy, but Simon wasn't about to get violent just yet if he didn't have to. "I don't know what you're on about, that's fluids from a broken potion, i was just about to clean it up," Simon rides it off, keeping himself stoic to pass off the lie.
"Then where's the glass," The orc asks again dumbfounded, seemingly questioning their own judgement now that Simon brought up a different possibility.
"I…cleaned that up already…" Simon answers, looking on to see if the orc buys his lie, no matter how flimsy it might seem it is still believable.
"Hmf alright…if you see them come find us…" the orc says it's final and then leaves the shop once more. Only when the door closes, and the orcs are well on their way does Simons shoulders relax again.
He lets out a sigh and continues his work of getting the floor cleaned of your blood before it soaks into the wood. Luckily there wasn't a lot to clean, and he took the courtesy to wipe off your blade as well, putting it off to the side so you could take it back later.
By the time he's all done and joins Johnny again, you're all patched up and snoring away. Your wound wasn't severe but would likely still need weeks of rest before you could do any adventuring again.
They let you rest, discussing amongst themselves what to do with you while they make dinner together. It's only later that night when you wake up again, Simon had almost fallen asleep sitting in a different chair, Johnny sitting on the floor next to the couch they had placed you on.
Johnny was quick to assure you of your safety, explaining how you ended up here as far as they know, and that they got you patched up. You thank them profusely, feeling rather embarrassed at the whole deal.
They let you stay the night, getting you filled up on water and food and making sure to tend to the wound as it needs. The night ends up quite entertaining for the three of you even with the rather grim start of it. You all catch up on each of your adventures, they find out what you've been doing since all those years ago and what accomplishments you've gotten.
They're very impressed as well, even if they had seen the potential in you, so many with good potential die young. To see how far you've gotten, only a few years younger than themselves, and still going, it's something to be proud of.
Neither of them mentions it, but part of them regrets not making a longer friend of you all those years ago. You were easy to talk to, excitable, and eager you would've made a good companion when they were still adventuring themselves.
They're once again reminded of what brought the three of you together in the first place, what kept you guys talking even once the battle was over. You couldn't lie to yourself either, you had missed a connection like that, a thing you hadn't found anywhere else, with anyone else.
After you've gone to sleep on the couch again, and they've retrieved themselves to their bedroom, they find themselves unashamedly scheming on ways to have you stay. They saw something in you they haven't seen in anybody else, something sweet and caring, while still adventurous and wild.
Maybe they could have you come back at least if you didn't want to stay.
The next morning however you awake in agonizing pain, having Johnny absolutely panic that his remedy wasn't working, and immediately getting to work on a new one. Meanwhile Simon does his best to soothe you, moving you into their bed instead of the uncomfortable couch.
They close shop for the day, spending most of it tending to you, trying to get you stabilized again. Worst case scenario they'd have to go find a healer of some kind, there was a cleric that would sometime pass through town, and they could ask around.
By the end of the day things are looking up once again, the pain isn't as bad and one of Johnny's remedies seems to have worked for you. They insist you stay the night again, so they're sure you're healing okay.
They end up falling into bed with you, though it's soon you seem to not mind it. Having them on either side of you to make sure you didn't roll around on your wound, and to protect you should you need it, found itself to be quite comforting in your state.
From then on you don't really make any incentive to leave during the healing process. It's slow and grueling, with a few setbacks it felt too long at times, but it eventually got better. Once you did, you slowly started helping around the shop, trying to repay a debt you insisted on owing them despite how much they assured you it was fine.
You helped clean up after Johnny's experiments, restocking the shelves, and even assisting Simon in the garden when it wasn't a lot of physical labor. You enjoyed the mindless activities, being able to make conversation with them while doing it was usually the best part.
You enjoyed Johnny's quips, and excitement over his passion for potions and remedies. In contrast to the quieter time spent in the garden with Simon, you enjoyed his jokes and his insightfulness when it came to the plants. To see him have a gentle touch with them, much the same how he handles his partner (and you in turn), it was heartwarming to see for how brutal he used to be in your eyes.
It took quite a while for you to get back to your full strength, and by the time you did you had found a place with them. A place where you could explore the connection that attracted you in their direction, what made you so good for each other.
Even as you started up smaller adventures to get yourself back on track, you were never gone for long. The once pitstop, became a full stop for you, a new home with them that slowly developed into something beautiful, that you couldn't stay away from.
Mmhm the things i'd do to see these two fight dragons...too much
I kinda have some more ideas for this, in a fantasy dnd kind of setting, but i dont know if im gonna make it into anything.
I'm also working on a different actual series that i hope to share the first chapter of soonish, if i can get myself to actually plan it out and fully finish the first chapter. Exciting things :))
(I read through this a few times but i have an urging feeling i missed a mistake somewhere so if you find it i apologize)
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You Meet in a Tavern…
Gather ‘round players all, for the tales of a quest so bold and bright that even the gods smile down upon the party. With statuses rolled, sheets in hand, dice at the ready, and imagination set, the magical world is laid out before you. All across the continents and all the worlds beyond, many an adventurer has started their quest with the magical words, “You meet in a tavern.”
Nearby you there is a large table with huge open doors showing off a giant that could disappear into the fog with ease, a large rabbit at his side, a shadowy elf with piercing eyes shrouded in black with a raven on her shoulder, an amphibious creature that looks as if he shines bright with the light of a goddess, a white rabbit-folk that has pink flowers sprouting from her head, a man with a wolf’s tail and a wolf pup in his lap, and a blonde elf with pieces of armor that gleams like the golden halls of Valhalla. With mead in their tankards, you hear plans of where they need to go next for their epic quest. But two beings stop them in their chatter.
“Please, will you assist us?” the turquoise feathered parrot being asks. “We need supplies for our business…”
“And as payment you’ll receive some of our goods and I will happily spread word of your deeds,” a being that looked like a rather large chicken adds on.
“What are the supplies you’re wanting? What happened to them?” the white rabbit asks.
“Soaping supplies. They’re valuable and we’ve lost so many shipments,” the turquoise parrot answers. “I am Deiarra and this is a friend, Maran. I make my natural and food based soaps and other skin care items to help with hygiene around the world. I invited Maran to make a soap with me, but we only made a few bars…” She pulls out wrapped bars of a substance and you see a brown, teal, and purple swirled, solid brick of what appears to be soap with a single die with twenty sides on top!
“This smells like my mead,” the amphibious male mentions. “And apples from my goddess.”
“Smoke!” the giant says, pointing at the bar.
“That’s right, Veil. It does smell like a smoke flower. And a substance I think…” the blonde thinks for a moment before the wolfish male chimes in.
“It’s tonka. It’s mapley, like the sap from the tree.”
“And it smells of the oud wood we’ve burned in the campfires,” the shadowy elf mentions, looking over the creation.
“It’s amazing and so rare,” the white rabbit says, looking up to the turquoise avian. “We’ll take the job!” She looks at the companions and blinks as her ears fold down. “Right?”
“Of course, Stjarna. We’ll take the job,” the blonde replies before looking to you. “And will you join us? We’d love to have you on our adventure. Come along for the ride!”
And if you like the idea of this soap, Arcanetherapy’s own Andrew Witteneur created it with Debra Glaze. You can buy your “You Mead at a Tavern” bar right here. If you want to go further, add the song to your playlist on Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon Music!
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