The Shady Adventures of Fabian

Chapter 1

 "This is where we part ways, thief," Arrick spat as he shoved Fabian to the ground. "And if I ever see your face again, I'll kill you."

Fabian attempted to execute an acrobatic roll followed by a nimble leap back to his feet. Instead his legs became entangled in his cloak and he ended up face first in the dirt. He pulled himself up gingerly, but heard a distinct ripping sound. "Damn it, Arrick. This cloak cost me thirty silver shillings. Now you went and made me rip it. If you're going to kick me out of the party, the least you could do is pay for my cloak."

"Pay for your cloak?" Arrick shouted. "You're lucky I don't stab you through the heart, you thieving sack of pond scum!"

"Oh, just pay for his bloody cloak, Arrick, so we can be done with him," Jaana said.

Arrick grumbled to himself as he counted out thirty silver shillings. He placed them into a leather pouch, which he then flung at Fabian's head. Fabian barely dodged out of the way, and managed to tear his cloak some more in the process.

"What about my share of the profits?" Fabian asked. "We agreed we'd split all the loot we acquired evenly between us, and I seem to recall that troll we defeated had a mighty big treasure chest."

"First of all you hid in the back of the cave while the rest of us fought the troll," Arrick said.

"I wasn't hiding," Fabian said. "I was covering our flank in case more trolls showed up. Luckily, they didn't. But if they had, I would have been all over it."

"Secondly, you already helped yourself to over half the contents of the treasure chest."

"You can't prove that," Fabian said. "None of you ever found any gold on me."

"The gold disappeared during your watch," Arrick said. "And when we woke up in the morning you mysteriously reeked of booze and cheap perfume."

"I told you I got sprayed by some sort of skunk creature," Fabian said. "Never seen anything like it before. Must have been indigenous to that area we were in. I think it might have stolen the treasure, too, after it doused me with its strange funk. I never heard of an animal that produces that sort of odor, but the proof is in the pudding."

"I suppose it's a coincidence that we happened to pass by a brothel just an hour before we stopped and made camp?" Arrick said with a sneer.

"Did we?" Fabian asked. "I hadn't noticed. Wait, you're not suggesting that I stole the treasure and went and blew it on ale and wenches when I was supposed to be keeping watch while you guys slept? That's preposterous!"

"It's not the first time some of our treasure went missing under mysterious circumstances," Jaana said. "Remember that time the giant emerald we found in that abandoned temple suddenly disappeared? Wasn't that right around the same time you acquired that solid gold dagger with the ruby encrusted handle? Come to think of it, you purchased your cloak then as well."

"Hey, I wasn't even in charge of watching the emerald. Blame Rupert. He was the one who was supposed to keep that thing safe."

"I did, until you pilfered it," said Rupert, a large man with a flowing red beard.

"As for the dagger, I already told you guys, I wandered off into the woods by myself to answer nature's call when I was beset upon by a group of brigands. I single-handedly fought them off and claimed the dagger from their chief after I bested him in hand-to-hand combat. It's a shame you guys weren't there to see it. It was really one of my finer moments."

"Look, Fabian, we took a vote," Jaana said. "Arrick wanted to kill you in your sleep but the rest of us agreed we'd part ways with you at the next town. You're lucky we're such nice people. Now get out of here and don't follow us or we'll let Arrick do with you what he will."

"Yeah, you guys are really swell people," Fabian said. "I'm getting kicked out of the party based on circumstantial evidence at best, and you're ripping me off of my fair share of the profits, which we all agreed to when we set out. Now just give me what's coming to me and I'll be on my way."

"Oh, I'll give you what's coming to you," Arrick said with a snarl as he pulled out his sword. "Let's have a look at these impressive combat skills you're always going on about, but none of us has ever actually witnessed."

"Look, fine," Fabian said as he held his hands up. "You guys can keep the money. Not because it's right, but because somebody has to be the bigger person here and I don't want to embarrass Arrick by how easily I would defeat him. So I'll just head on into this town here and you guys can go somewhere else to spend your ill-gotten gains, also known as my fair share of the loot, which I rightfully earned. I'm sure I'll find some other more honest group of adventurers who would be happy to have my services."

"You dare to besmirch my honor, thief?" Arrick shouted. "I'll kill you where you stand!"

"He's not worth it, Arrick," Jaana said as she grabbed him by the elbow. "Come on. Let's just leave him here and continue on our journeys."

Arrick stared at Fabian for a moment with a scowl on his face, but at last he relented. "Don't let me see you again." He whirled around and stormed off. 

Fabian watched as the party he'd been traveling with for the past few weeks disappeared down the road.  "Yeah, you'd better run!" he called out after them once he was pretty sure they were out of hearing range. "Man, if I'd known they were going to be such dicks I would have spent the whole treasure chest at that brothel. Besides, they're the ones who advertised that they wanted the services of a thief. What did they expect, that I'd just rob other people and not them? Oh well. Live and learn. I'm sure there'll be some easy marks in this town. Wherever the heck this is. Where am I anyway?"

He turned around to have a look at the place. It seemed to be a medium sized settlement surrounded by a wall made of stone. A lone guard stood at the gate, which served as the only entrance.

"Excuse me, my good man," Fabian said as he approached the guard. "I was wondering if you would be so kind as to tell me where I am?"

"You, sir, are in the town of Lannisburg," the guard said. "It is also my duty to inform you that you are under arrest." He pushed Fabian to the ground, causing his cloak to rip some more, and shoved a wicked metal pike inches away from his face.