Such a sight, all those noble adventurers, gathered there to find a cure for prince! It was heart-warming and inspiring. My trusted lute in my hands, I sang to the crowd as I approached the door -
Oh! You noble lot of souls
How brave and selfless are our goals!
Finding a cure for this vicious ailment
Not one of you here for mundane payment...
And as I walked and sang, I saw the crowd politely part in front of me so that those nearest would not interfere with my song, and make way so all could see and hear. Such good souls, pure and fine. All around they were, though at more than arm's length, and soon I was there by the door, and none had barred my way.. and all around the sea of the adventuring brethren, listening to the song. I asked and knocked, and the door was opened... such kindness is received by those who are polite. And we accepted the quest - to find this mysterious herb, this lovely flower, to bring health to the prince.
Surely there'd be a supplier of pharmaceuticals in this town, se we set in search for that. On the way I met an elderly lady who was selling roses... she had anxiety issues and a poor balance, and tried to run faster than her feet could, but I helped her upright and she was speechless with gratitude and sadly also amazement of the kindness of strangers. We also learned that riding a dog while reading a map issued by a clown is a bad idea, and our Halfling team member rode the dog off a bridge into a river. That speaks poorly of navigation, but highly of her skills of training a very obedient dog.. or then it was just a very hot day. Eventually we found the pharmacist, who was fortunately near a family of two, a father with a very scared-looking son who tried to hide behind his leg.. hopefully his daddy will tell him that there are no monsters under the bed, and nothing to be afraid of. It's not true, but children should grow without fear.
The pharmacist told us that the flower cure we were looking for was out of stock - no surprise there, otherwise the clown would've bought it and we would have no heroics to do - and that it was usually delivered from overseas. Being in a rush we preferred a more local source, and fortunately there was one, an elderly lady living in a cabin, at the end of a path that is the last off the main road, to the right, before a river. I found those instructions unfortunate, as there was no way to tell which path is the last before a river unless we go too far, but there was no helping it. We left the town together, heading out in search of a path, a river, a cabin, a flower, a heroic deed, a cured prince, and a tall tale to tell about it.. and soon before us was a vast forest, slashed through by a road, and we followed it confident that we had enough information to go by.
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