It had been a long journey from the small village of Moltare, and young Eremis was tired. He hoped to arrive in Bizmar before nightfall; but luck was against him and he found himself staring at the closed gates of the city. The guards refused him entrance, advising him to return at dawn. They gave him directions to a place called the Medieval Tavern where they said he could find lodgings for the evening.
Some time later, he handed the young boy who called himself Josh, a copper coin after turning his horse over to his care then made his way into the tavern across from the stables. He struggled with all the sacks, bags and pouches he carried, feeling relieved when he deposited them upon an empty table top before sitting down to catch his breath.
Eremis glanced at the bags proudly, knowing they contained bandages, salves, vials of crushed herbs, and other things he gathered together before leaving his home in the hopes of getting a job at a big city hospice. At the age of ten, his parents had apprenticed him off to Joab Yadon, the village animal healer where he had worked hard the past seven years under his guidance. Now, at the ripe old age of seventeen, he felt he was ready to cure the world of its ills by learning how to mend humans.
Eremis pushed his long, thin blonde hair behind his ears and looked around the inn with eyes as blue and clear as a summer sky. A petite looking woman approached his table, announcing herself as a barmaid. "What'll ya have young fella?" she asked, with a polite smile.
Suddenly, Eremis realized his throat was parched and his stomach raw with hunger; his eagerness to reach the city made him forget to stop for an afternoon meal. "I'll have a glass of watered down wine and the dinner specialty," he said.
The barmaid nodded then hurried to place his order. Eremis relaxed in his chair then glanced around the crowded tavern, wondering what magnificent things he would find in the big city of Bizmar in the morning.