Of Pawns and Employment

Author's note: This was the result from the following prompts on my Tumblr: what happens when the Pawns get bored and there's no Arisen around.

He stared wordlessly at the back of his former master as the Arisen made his way to the nearest gate with the rest of the party. The Arisen had just thanked the pawn before dismissing him from service, and he could not help but stare at the gift of a Ferrystone in his hands. The man had told him to use it to get to anywhere he wanted, but therein lay the problem:

He really did not have anywhere else to go.

The pawn tucked the magical stone into his pocket and decided to walk around the capital for a while - and perhaps pay a quick visit to the Guild and see if the guildmaster had anything for him - before retiring for the night, or even returning to the Rift. Surely there would be plenty to do in the city…

Right?

Pawns were supposed to blend in as best as they could, so he decided that mayhap he would play the part of someone visiting a friend in the city. With that firmly in mind, he knocked on the first door he saw.

The door opened to reveal an old woman, who looked curiously at him. "Eh, can I help you?'

What was he supposed to say? Perhaps he should have thought more on this - like actually having someone to visit in the first place. "Um… I am sorry."

"Looking for someone?" asked the woman, trying to be helpful.

"Er, yes. A friend. But I think I've the wrong house."

"Oh. Carry on, then," the woman said to him before slamming the door shut in his face. He could have sworn he heard her mutter something about 'stupid pawns and knocking on doors', but mayhap he was mistaken.

Perhaps this visiting a friend bit was not a good idea after all, and it was time to consult some of his peers in the capital on what to do. He soon found a pawn nearby, a tall strider just leaning against one of the many stone pillars with a bored expression on his face.

"Hello," he greeted, "what is there to do here?"

"New here, are you? No employment in Gran Soren these days, unless you want to head for the encampments in the countryside. Even the Guild hasn't received much contracts lately."

"So what are you doing here?"

The strider shrugged. "Just waiting for a contract to come up. I don't feel like returning to the Rift just yet."

"Well then, what else is there to do?"

The strider paused for a bit before he replied, "There is the alehouse. The proprietor does not mind our kind all that much, as long as we've the coin to pay him. Sometimes a few soldiers and nobles go there to find pawns willing to accept a job or two, but those don't go through the Guild so you won't get much help if they dock you out of your pay."

He thanked the strider and followed the directions the other pawn had given him to make his way to the alehouse. Sure enough, there was a decent crowd at the alehouse, and he quickly sat himself next to another pawn at one of the tables.

His comrade - a mage, he noted - wordlessly shoved a plate of bread and cheese at him, and he felt the slightest bit of relief as he had not much money on him.

"Got dismissed by your Master?" the mage asked.

He nodded in reply, as his mouth was full of food at the moment.

"Me too. Pity, really. I rather liked him. But he didn't like me throwing bricks at people for some reason. I'm quite sure those idiots deserved it, but he didn't seem to agree."

He blinked. "Ah, so what brings you here?"

The mage shrugged. "No reason. He was kind enough to leave me with lots of coin, so I might as well spend it."

Their conversation must have caught the interest of the table behind them, for one of the soldiers seated there turned around to clap a hand on the mage's shoulder. "Oi," said the soldier, "did you say you've got money to spend?" Seeing the mage nod, he continued, "You pawns gamble? I've seen you lot eat, drink and sleep, but I haven't seen any of you wench, so you must be doing something with all that money you've earned."

"Should we?" he asked the mage.

The mage shrugged. "Why not?" he replied, while the soldiers cackled.

"Right lads," said another soldier as he brandished a pair of dice, "what say we get started, eh?"

-x-x-x-

"Bloody hell," the soldier grumpily muttered as he shoved a full pouch of coins into the mage's hands. The man then stomped away to join his companions, clearly in a foul mood as he muttered something about 'never gambling with pawns ever again' and 'mages that cheat'.

He watched this exchange with much interest and apparently, so did the proprietor of the alehouse, who laughed and gave several hearty smacks on the mage's back in a gesture that was probably meant to be congratulatory in nature.

"Good one there, lad!" said the man. "I've never seen someone out-cheat them! They've been here almost every night with their crooked dice, cheating people out of their hard-earned coin, but I doubt that they'll be back now that you've taught them a lesson!"

The mage blinked. "Crooked dice? But they seemed rather square enough… though one die was fond of landing on a six, but I fixed that with a spell. And it was not hard to simply roll any number I wished, as it was just a matter of throwing the dice at a certain angle and force."

The man coughed. "Forget I said anything. Carry on."

The two pawns stared at their considerable winnings as they walked to the nearby inn. "Whatever should we do with them? There's more than enough for our needs," he asked his mage companion.

"We certainly should keep some, and mayhap give a bit for Barnaby to hold for us should we need money in the future," said the mage as he counted out the coins and gave the other pawn his share. "But like you said, there's still plenty left over."

"Perhaps we should use them in a manner to gain us employment?"

The mage frowned. "You mean like put up a notice on the boards? I do not think it works that way. It is for employers to put up such notices, and not those seeking employment."

"Oh." He mulled over this for a while before he cautiously said, "I have heard of this human custom that could find us new Masters."

"What is it?"

"It is said that one should throw a coin into a fountain and make a wish. Perhaps we should do the same, and wish for new employment?"

The mage seemed to think it over, but nodded in agreement. "Surely if we threw more than one coin each, our chances of employment would be increased?"

The two pawns nodded in unison, and then threw their pouch of coins into the nearby fountain.

"That ought to do the trick. Let us retire for the night, and then return to the Rift in the morning. Surely an Arisen would seek our talents upon our return," announced the mage, who absently picked up a brick and stuffed it into his pack.

"Agreed."

-x-x-x-

"For the love of - will you lot stop jumping in there!"

"But Master! There are coins in the fountain!"

"You're not supposed to take - oh, never mind."