Episode 1 (Part 3) - Oz

As Oz patrolled the streets, she pondered the paradox of quietly begging for the day to pass by uneventfully while wishing something interesting would happen once in a while. She had come to Dale to get as far away from a fight as possible. Not out of fear but out of disdain. She had grown weary of fighting and wanted an easier life. While Dale served that purpose very well, the call of battle never stopped ringing in her ears. Thankfully, the off-season for trading was coming to an end so there would be an increase in petty crime as the town got busier.

She entered the market square and began perusing some of the stalls there. Some were selling farm produce, meats, and baked goods. Others were selling trinkets and items from across the continent. Oz had an intimidating reputation across the town which she worked hard to maintain. Occasionally though, it was nice just to be in with the crowd. One merchant offered her some fruit with their compliments, which Oz accepted.

As she ventured out of the market square and back onto the main thoroughfare through town she saw Emmett, Dale’s town officer, hurrying towards her with his clipboard in tow. He was a shorter than average man with thinning black hair and delicate glasses perched on his nose. Typically he spent his days in his office, only venturing out when there was some business to attend to. Oz began lamenting her wish for something interesting to happen.

“Oz, I have an assignment for you.” Emmett said matter-of-factly. He had no authority to give orders to a member of the guard but that rarely stopped him.
“Hello Emmett, I didn’t realise you had been promoted to captain of the guard…” Oz replied sarcastically.
“Ha, ha. Your razor wit is always a delight, but a wealthy merchant named Rodin is arriving by the east gate shortly and has requested his stagecoach be stowed in the guard’s quarters for the duration of his stay in town.” Emmett continued, gesturing towards his clipboard.
“I’m sorry what? That’s ridiculous, he can park with the rest of the merchants.” Oz protested.
“He has made a… significant donation… to the town for the service and we will be commensurately accommodating. He should be arriving at the East Gate any minute, so I suggest you make your way there now.” Emmett said sternly.

Oz rolled her eyes and began marching down the road towards the east gate. Many of Emmett’s demands could be ignored but not all of them. The main thoroughfare through town comprised most of the traffic through Dale. People used it to transport goods to and from stores and stalls throughout the town and it thrummed with voices and the rumble of wagon wheels against the paving.

As she approached the east gate, she could see the latest convoy being led off for inspection. At least she wouldn’t have to stand around waiting for this Rodin to arrive. Oz spotted the two guards posted at the gates doing anything other than what could be considered guarding. Crane was leaning against the outer wall staring at his boots and Jenkins appeared to have spotted a young elven woman and had stopped her for no good reason. Or, at the very least no peacekeeping reason.

“Jenkins, stop flirting and get back to your post.” She shouted without breaking stride.

With a timid “yes, ma’am” Jenkins waved the Elven woman through, and Oz continued onto where the stagecoaches were being inspected. As she approached, a smarmy looking dwarf poked his head out of his varnished black stagecoach and smiled smugly when he spotted her.

“Well, well, well. It seems old Emmett has sent Dale’s very own battle angel to escort me. It’s wonderful to see you Oz…“ Rodin began, but finished by mumbling something under his breath. Oz chose not to pry any further.
“You must be Rodin. I’ll have to examine this cargo you seem to think is so valuable before allowing you into the guard’s quarters.” Oz responded.
“You’ll do no such thing. What I have on board is simply too valuable. I have it on good authority that my consignment would be well cared for while it is in town. Your man here can tell you what he saw.” Rodin said shaking his head and gesturing towards the coach inspector making sure there was nothing unsafe entering town.

Oz narrowed her eyes at the dwarf before scoffing and shaking her head. Emmett must have received quite the ‘donation’ after all. She turned to look at the inspector who began to quake in his boots. She walked over to him and gave him a deathly stare.

“Okay, so out with it. What did you see?” Oz asked.
“N-nothing peculiar ma’am, but there was a box which looked quite valuable. Shoebox sized.” The inspector responded estimating the general size of the box he saw.

Oz threw a dirty look over at Rodin, who simply folded his arms and maintained his smug grin. Unsatisfied but unphased, Oz strode back into town and gestured Roding to follow. He did not offer her a seat for the ride, not that she would have accepted either. On the way, Rodin bragged about how this find would set him up for life. He was only staying in town for a couple of days before riding on towards Olstorn so he could auction it off for a fortune. The sea of people milling about town parted for the pair of them as they made their way through town. Eventually, they found themselves just inside the inner walls where the guard’s quarters were.

“You know, I could use an escort to Olstorn. Don’t suppose you’d be interested?” Rodin asked as the two entered the quarters.
“I don’t think I could be any less interested.” Oz snapped back.
“Don’t be so curt Oz. I’d make it worth your while. I’d pay you handsomely.” Rodin said enticingly.

Oz briefly considered the offer before refusing once more. Rodin stated it was her loss, locked his stagecoach and wandered back into town. Oz was angry she had not seen what this box was and wanted more information on whatever Rodin had. She went to confront Emmett in person.

The town hall was just off the parade square. It used to be the officers’ quarters during the Albasran War but many of the dorms and studies had been turned into offices. The building’s interior was well decorated, with fine wood moulding and well-polished marble flooring. Emmett’s office was on the ground floor, with a private view of the gardens towards the rear of the building. Oz barged into Emmett’s office, past his elderly assistant and saw him stood behind his fine dark wood desk which was stacked high with papers.

“Do you even know what Rodin has that’s so valuable?” She asked angrily.
“Of course not, I see no need to pry. He had a need and means to pay, that’s all that mattered to me.” Emmett responded plainly, barely looking up from his papers.
“He refused to let me see what it was. Do you not think that’s suspicious?” She asked incredulously.

Oz could see the early signs of a pompous smile curl across Emmett’s face. He’d thought of something that would stick in her craw and could not wait to release his retort.

“Well, if he managed to withhold that information from the great and powerful Oz, what makes you think a lowly town officer such as myself would be able to convince him otherwise?” Emmett said with a triumphant smile.

Oz realised that she would get nowhere with either of them. As far as she was concerned, Emmett and Rodin both could enjoy their prideful self-serving and she would enjoy seeing them eat their words when something inevitably went wrong. She turned and stormed out of the office in anger.

The evening had well and truly set in now and Oz could spend some time relaxing. Many of the town guard had room and board in the guard quarters but Oz preferred to live alone. Even Garth the guard captain lived in the quarters, but Oz had spent enough time in cramped bunks and preferred the sanctuary of her own space. Instead of rushing straight home, however, she decided to get a drink at her local Inn, the Foragers. Still wearing her guard uniform, she entered the Inn and scanned around. The main bar was surprisingly busy, with many tables occupied with happy customers. Some of the patrons looked up from their glasses and respectfully toasted her as their eyes met across the room. She gave them a nod of thanks and wandered over to the bar where Emily was behind the counter serving drink and Jakob was sat at the end of the bar holding court.

“Good evening, Oz. I hope you’re well. Just got a fresh barrel of the local wine if you’re interested. On the house!” Jakob said with a smile.
“Not that god awful swill. I’ll take an ale thank you Emily.” Oz replied without hesitation. Jakob shrank back in his chair and turned back to his cohort of drinkers to continue his story.

Oz found a quiet table in the corner of the bar and sat down alone. She propped her shield and sword against another chair, took a large sip of her drink, and surveyed the bar. She noticed the young elf woman that Jenkins was attempting to flirt with sat another table, this time joined by a Gnome. The Gnome was attempting to teach her a dice game, but the elven woman appeared to have wits about her and refused to play. As she took another sip of her drink, a drunken man came bursting into the bar. Following him was a short, frog-like creature that walked on two legs. The drunken man came stumbling over to Oz, who prepared her standard ‘I’m off duty response.

“Oz, Oz! Goblins are coming!” The drunken man said anxiously.
“Go home. You’re drunk and I’m off duty.” Oz responded calmly.
“No, there really are Goblins coming. You need to listen to me!” Implored the small frog-like creature.

Oz eyed the creature up and down. She had never seen anything like them and certainly none that spoke common. They were roughly three feet tall and had frog-like features. Their skin was black with red markings and looked moist to the touch. Normally, Oz would have discounted the ramblings of a drunkard but this creature lent credence to such an outlandish proposition.

“How many?” Asked Oz warily.
“Too many to count.” Replied the creature.

Before Oz could ask another question, sounds of screaming and crashing came from outside the Inn. Something was happening, and she had no reason to disbelieve the creature that warned her.