A wooden signpost with a wheel and the words ‘Ginny’s Saddle House’ painted in blue and gold hung from the front of the tavern. Lively music was playing over the boisterous conversation and glasses clinking inside the thin wood walls.

A few players nodded to her as she walked in. All at once, she was hit by the smells of smoke, cheap beer, and rotten food. Coughing and gagging as her body adjusted to the change in air quality, she made her way to the bar.

“Well, now. What do we have here?” An older, red-haired woman behind the bar asked her. “You must be new.”

“Must be,” Guin acknowledged, knowing she stood out amongst the usual tavern-goers.

“What can I do for ya?”

“I’m looking to buy a bottle of Ginny’s Special Apple Ale,” Guin said. “Any idea how much that would run me?”

The woman looked her over. “Ginny’s Special Apple Ale?” She said. “Well, that’s not somethin’ I hear every day. We have it in stock, for sure, but...”

“...but?”

“From the looks of it, you don’t have two silvers to put together, let alone ninety gold.”

“Ninety—” Guin gasped and pulled up her inventory sheet. Indeed. “I’m guessing twenty coppers won’t get me very far,” she said dismally.

“I can get you some cheap ale if you like.”

“Ah, no thanks. Any idea where I can earn some money?”

“Most around here earn their keep by picking up work in town or adventuring into the woods — not that I’d recommend going out without training. Might be someone around here could have a job for you, but unless you know how to fight, you’d be better off sticking to domestics.”

“Domestics, is it,” Guin grumbled, but upon closer inspection what the woman said was true. Everyone in the tavern seemed like they were in some kind of martial profession. She entertained the idea of asking one of them for help but came up with another idea instead.

This was a game, and in a game, everything was fair, right?

“Thanks,” she said.

Grinning, Guin turned on her heels and walked back out the door. Grateful for the fresh air, she took a deep breath and looked down the road.

It didn’t look too bad.

She couldn’t get into the school without the quest item. She couldn’t afford the quest item. She wasn’t brave enough to risk going into the forest without training, and she wasn’t about to ask for help this early in the game. She could wait for Starshine to return, but who knew when that would be.

So, when all the doors around her closed, what she needed was to find a window.

Circling the building as innocently as she could, Guin searched for her quarry — and as she’d suspected, windows weren’t hard to find.

There were other doors at the back of the building, but there were probably people in the rooms behind them. She played out various scenarios in her head, and those scenarios became plans as she took stock of the tools and abilities that she had at her disposal.

Once the area was clear of prying eyes, she moved as quietly as she could to her chosen entry point. Crawling up some barrels that had been conveniently stacked near one of the windows, she peered through the dirty glass. As luck would have it, it looked as if this window looked into a storeroom. She cracked the window open and propped it up with a stick. Pulling herself up and over the frame, legs first, she landed as delicately as possible.

The store room was full of dust and smelled musty. The next steps would be a bit trickier. Figuring that she wouldn’t find the beer in the store room, she eventually found a stair that she assumed would lead to a cellar — which it did. Silently applauding her success and praying that no one would come down while she was there, she rubbed her arms to ward off the cellar's chill. Four large wooden barrels sat horizontally on a rack that she presumed to be stilled beer casks.

On the far side of the room was an assortment of tavern dishes. Pulling down a mug, she began to taste what came out of each of the barrels. The first two tasted like a light, watery lager and a thick dark stout. The third, however, had a distinct apple flavor. Just to be sure, she tried the fourth beer, and it turned out to be some very citrusy, hop-heavy amber ale.

Feeling that it was safe to go with the contents of the third barrel, she grabbed one of the flagons that were very conveniently located in a basket under the rack and filled it. Nodding in satisfaction, she padded up the stairs and crawled back through the storeroom window undetected.

She landed softly on the grass to the tune of a triumphant “DING!”.

________________________________________________________________________

Congratulations! You have discovered a skill!

[Stealth]:Rank – Beginner

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Congratulations! You have discovered a skill!

[Stealth – Burglary]:Rank – Beginner

________________________________________________________________________

Stifling a laugh, Guin flicked the game windows away and delivered the ale to the Gatekeeper. He looked at her with suspicion, tried the ale, and laughed.

“Ya do need ‘ta go to school. There ain’t any way that Ol’ Ginny let you buy this off ‘er for what you could afford, which means ya stole it, little scoundrel!” His laughter boomed. “I should have that there sheriff come over ‘ere and tie ya’s hands in knots!”

Guin’s heart sank. Was she supposed to have turned this quest down?

The Gatekeeper eyed her. “Yeh did well. This is good stuff yeh got me here — and I do ‘ppreciate yeh goin’ through all that trouble. So, out of the goodness of me heart, I won’t be tellin’ anyone. Here’re your registration papers. They’ll let you pass through as you please from here on out.”

________________________________________________________________________

Quest Completed!

<Favor For the Gatekeeper>

The Gatekeeper of the schoolhouse has asked you to bring him a flask of cider ale. If you do this, you can meet the school teachers and commence your classes.

<Reward:>

<Tutorial Token: 1>

<Mist – Bade, +100>

<<Difficulty: E><XP Reward: N/A>>

________________________________________________________________________

With a sigh of relief, Guin said, “Thank you! Please don’t make me do that again, though!”

He laughed again as she went through the gate. The players watching their interaction tried to follow quickly, but the Gatekeeper blocked them. Feeling accomplished, Guin went ahead toward the schoolhouse.

There were at least three teachers on the grounds outside of the school, maybe more, if she had more confidence in her ability to differentiate between teachers and students. One, a tall, shirtless valkyrian wearing loose green pants tied with a gold cloth sash, was off to the side, watching over children fighting in a sand pit. Another was a young woman sitting with a group under a tree with what looked to be pots of plants. The last was a mature garule woman dressed kind of like a pirate and appeared to be teaching archery to a mixed group of kids and adults.

Before she could go any further, however, she heard her alarm go off. It was six o’clock, and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Sighing, she turned back toward the house.

In TheirWorld, the even the basics mattered. While you would survive without eating or sleeping in a bed, you got hit with debuffs for logging out without being in a proper bed or setting up camp. The more dangerous the place, the higher the penalties. Once back, Guin settled herself into bed and logged off.