Flint's elbow jabbed into Tanis's ribs, releasing the air that had caught in the taller man's throat. Tanis glanced at Flint, but could only shrug in response to the dwarf's glare. With studied patience, Tanis began to thread his way through the noisy, stomping crowd.
The song ended moments before the two new arrivals reached an empty table along the room's farthest wall. Seemingly from nowhere, a body launched itself toward Tanis, who reflexively put out his arms to catch it.
Tas smiled up at his new friend. 'Hey, Tanis, I'm glad you made it!' He crawled from the half-elf's lap, twisted his vest back into place, and settled himself into a chair. 'What a crowd!' He took a sip from a half-empty mug of ale left over from the previous patrons. Foam coated his upper lip in a golden mustache. 'This is a great town. I can see why you guys live here.' He settled back with a satisfied belch.
'Did you hear the song?' he asked, leaning forward again. 'It almost became the kender national anthem, but it's a hard one to sing correctly, what with those four octaves in it and all. Still, bad renditions are real popular at inns in Kendermore. At least they were when I was last home.'
'When was that?' Tanis asked conversationally. He yanked the reluctant, grim-faced dwarf onto the bench next to him.
With a long-suffering sigh, Flint wiggled three fingers above his head at a serving girl and settled in for the night. The fair-haired lass bounced over quickly, three large, overfull mugs slopping over in her cradled arms.
'Thanks!' Tasslehoff threw back the contents of the half-filled mug he'd found, then traded it for one of the full ones in the girl's arms.
'Now, what was your question? Oh, yes, Kendermore,' Tasslehoff recalled. He scratched his head. 'What year is it now?'
'Year?' Tanis asked, incredulous. 'Have you been gone so very long?'
'I haven't really given it much thought,' said the kender, screwing up his wrinkled face in concentration. 'Let's see, I left just after my sixteenth day of life-gift, which was the second of the month of Blessings, 341. I remember having two birthdays since then-one spent with some very nasty wizards who wanted this really neat teleporting ring I had, and the other talking to some very nice ladies in a pleasant bordello in Khuri-khan, or was it Valkinord? I always get them confused. Have you been?'
Oblivious to Hint's blush and Tanis's laughter, Tas pressed on. 'I guess that means I've been on wanderlust for two and a half years, so far. Hmm,' he muttered, 'I didn't realize it had been that long…'
'Good lords,' breathed Flint apprehensively, 'what on Krynn is 'wanderlust'?'
Tasslehoff looked surprised at the question. 'Why, it's when you wander around, learning about life and making maps. When you've learned enough, or made enough maps, you're ready to return to your hometown and begin life as an adult. Doesn't everyone do it?'
'Good heavens, no,' snorted the dwarf, compelled to call on the gods yet again. 'What a ridiculous notion.'
Tanis remarked with a shrug, 'I guess it's no different than any culture's rite of passage. The elves have one, I know.' He flinched at the memory of his humiliation at being forbidden to take the elven rite in Qualinost years ago because he was a half-breed. 'And I'll bet the dwarves have one, too.
'So,' Tanis continued, filling in the dwarf's gloomy silence, 'have you learned enough to return home yet?'
'Not yet, but I'll tell you,' the kender said as he leaned in, his little face serious, 'I made some really great maps of that bordello.'
Blushing anew, the straitlaced dwarf swallowed the last of his amber ale in another big gulp. 'Speaking of maps, let's have another drink and take a look at yours.'
'You want to see the bordello one?' asked Tas eagerly.
'No!' exploded Flint, flustered further by Tanis's laughter. Flint heaved a sigh of relief just then, when the serving girl returned with another round. 'You said you had some maps of Abanasinia, which is the only reason I'm here. So let's see 'em,' he ordered.
Of course, there were few things in the world Tasslehoff liked better than talking about and showing off his maps. In a trice he had ordered a plate of fried sausages and settled into his chair near the wall. Across from him, Tanis stretched out his legs along the bench, Flint still sitting stiffly next to him.
'I don't think you'll be able to see well way over there,' Tas said frankly to the bushy-haired dwarf, 'what with the light so dim and your eyes so old.'
'My eyes are fine! You just worry about your maps being a waste of my time,' said Flint, poking a finger at the kender.
With a hurt glance at the dwarf, Tas untied the flap on his shoulder bag. 'Making maps is my life, you know,' he announced to no one in particular. 'I suppose you could say I can't help myself. I see something interesting, and I've just got to jot it down. I don't sell them, though I'm sure such beautiful and exact maps would draw a terrific sum. I just make them for me. And sometimes I give one to somebody I like, if it's really special.'
Reaching into the bag with both hands, Tasslehoff dragged out what could only be called a wad of items: parchment rolls, folded parchment, squares of paper and vellum, a few small sheets of bark, the soft leather upper from a luxurious riding boot, several scraps of linen, a bone tube sealed with wax at both ends, and a straight black stick about fourteen inches long.
Tas picked up the stick and turned it around in his hands. 'What in the world is this?' he mused aloud. He rapped it on the table edge and nearly dropped it in surprise when a shower of sparks burst from the end. Sudden recognition lit up his face.
'Hey, Fozgoz's wand!' he squealed. 'Watch, Tanis, I can do magic with this!'
Leaping to his feet, Tas shook the wand at Flint and intoned, 'I command you to become a hairless goat,
Arms and legs flailing wildly, the hefty dwarf scrambled desperately to escape from the sizzling, smoking fusillade that erupted over him. His beer mug crashed to the floor to create a spreading pool of foam. The bench nearly tipped over before Flint could plant his hobnailed boot firmly on the floorboards.
Meanwhile Tanis's arm shot up and his strong fingers locked around Tas's wrist. With his free left hand Tanis snatched the wand from the kender and dunked it, still spewing sparks, into one of the full mugs on the table.
'What's the matter with your brain?' Finally on his feet, with his back to the wall, Flint bellowed at the kender. 'You all saw it,' he said to the gaping crowd, 'he's completely crazy!' He pointed an accusing finger at the half-elf. 'This is your fault, Tanis. You shouldn't have stopped me from having him arrested this morning. Maybe it's not too late.'
Tasslehoff slipped his wrist out of Tanis's grasp. 'Gee whiz,' he muttered sheepishly, 'it was just a joke. It's a silly old fake wizard's wand. There's no magic in it, just sparks.'
'How is any sane person supposed to know that?' blustered Flint. Aggravated, he brushed himself off and resettled on his bench, mumbling the whole time about 'crazy kender.' Gradually the rest of the inn's customers went back about their business. The serving girl slipped in and placed a pewter plate of sizzling sausages on the table next to Tasslehoff's sundry valuables. Flint snatched one of the hot links and munched it angrily, oblivious to the burns it inflicted in his mouth.
Tas looked for some support in Tanis's face but found only stern admonishment. 'It was just a joke,' he muttered again. He picked at a sausage. 'I don't know how the wand ended up in my bag in the first place. That phony wizard must have dropped it there somehow when I wasn't looking.'
Flint and Tanis exchanged knowing glances.
'Your maps?' Tanis prompted.
Tasslehoff bounced up in his seat, and he pushed the sausage plate to the side. 'Right.' His nimble fingers flew across the heap of documents, sorting and examining and sifting at lightning speed. He selected a sheet of parchment and flipped it open under Tanis's nose. 'Here's the Bay of Balifor. That's close to Kendermore, my home. I came through there at the start of my journey.'
Another map unfolded, this one much larger. 'And here's the Laughing Lands. This is near my home, too. See, there's the Hollow Lands to the north, and the Somber Coast, which is no more fun than it sounds, and this bay here is the Gullet, and the Wendlewrithing River, and the Writhing Wreak between the two. I made that map myself.'
'It's very nice, Tasslehoff, but we're interested in something a little closer to Solace,' Tanis said.
'Of course you are,' agreed the kender, 'I have maps of every place I've been, and I've definitely been here.'
