You wake beside the cold ashes of the small fire only wearing your shirt, trousers and boots. Everything else, including all your coin, has been taken. You curse yourself for trusting the couple from the night before simply because one was a woman and try to take stock.


You can't head North again, as in your current state you probably won't find another job for weeks and you can't even feed yourself so you're left with three choices: tightening your belt (well holding your trousers tight as your belt has been taken too) and heading to the city as fast as you can to hope for work/food there; hunting after the people that robbed you; or looking for the first trail off the road that might lead to a farm where you can ask for help or some work in exchange for food.

You look for a Farm

You start walking south, keeping an eye out for any farm trails or paths that might lead somewhere. You pass several small dirt tracks but most look more like animal trails and after your run in with the robbers, you're loath to risk them. After a few hours you pass near a stream. The water looks fresh and clean, so you take the time for a quick wash-up and a long, cool drink before you continue on.


Despite your searching, it is only a couple of hours before the light starts to fade that you come across a well-worn track leading east off the road. Its the right direction for farm country and it seems to have seen recent cart traffic, so you decide its worth a look and start down the trail.


After an hour or so the track passes through a thick line of trees and you see fields beginning in front of you. It looks like a large square holding of land surrounding a large old barn and house in the middle. Several men working the fields look up as you approach and lean on their scythes and hoes, keeping a watchful eye on the trees behind you. A man walks out from the door of the house while you're still a few metres away. He smiles and greets you cordially but you're somewhat distracted by the loaded crossbow he is holding casually at his side.


You explain your situation to him. He eyes you shrewdly and asks a few questions about the details of your story. After a few moments of consideration, he waves the men back to work and takes you inside.


You get a small apology for the crossbow but he points out that, as you learned to your own loss, there are a lot of bandits about recently and you can never be too careful. That comment at least makes you smile as you clearly hadn't been very careful at all. He gives you some hot food and a bed and leaves you to recover a bit.


The next day you work hard in the fields helping the other workers with the carrying and loading of carts then at noon they set off in a small convoy to the city to sell goods with you riding along. "So you reach it in one piece" as the Farmer had said.

You reaching the city

It was a long trip on the carts but the farm-hands made good company and at least you had food. They take you with them to the markets first and you help unload as thanks. Then after thanking the farmer again for his kindness, you begin to make your way through the strangely alien streets toward the area where you grew up.  The city has grown so much in your absence that you had to ask directions several times before reaching the arch that has always marked the entrance to the Old Quarter.  On the other side of the arch you are relived to find it almost completely unchanged. You go to an old way house you knew in the hopes that the same owner was still running the place.


As you walk in the door, the man behind a bar looks up and stares right at you for a full minute before saying "Well this is some triumphant return, look at the state of you!"


You start to explain, but the man cuts you off and sends you upstairs to a small room where you are able to clean up a little. A few moments later, the man returns with change of clean, serviceable clothes and invites you to come down for some hot food when you no longer smell and look like crap.


Once cleaned up and with a good meal inside you you tell your old friend the whole story and and he gives you two options. Work has been going well for him so he has offered you room and board in exchange for some low wage bar work till you get back on your feet or he suggests you could also try your luck up in the Iron district where the merchants and barracks have been hiring recently.