Fabian rubbed his hands in anticipation as he watched the ogre take the bait. He had shoved so many poisonous mushrooms into the mutton that they were spilling out from either end of it. He had written a little note on a scrap of parchment that read "Enjoy this 'Mutton Surprise' compliments of a friend" and stuck it onto the plate. Then he had carefully tiptoed out to the entrance of the ogre's cave and left it there. He ran back to his tree and watched from behind it.

It wasn't long before the ogre poked his head out from the cave. "Thalgrimm smell something tasty." He looked down at the plate of mutton and picked it up. "Somebody leave writy thing on it. Thalgrimm no can read. Oh well." The ogre crumbled up the note Fabian had written and threw it over his shoulder. "Thalgrimm hungry. Thalgrimm eat this meat. Thalgrimm happy." The ogre opened his jaws wide and gulped down the mutton in one bite. He let out a loud belch and patted his tummy in satisfaction. A minute later he dropped over dead as a doornail.

Fabian decided to search the cave in hopes that there might be more treasure inside it, but all he found was a bunch of posters of naked hairy lady ogres. They made such a repulsive sight that he almost lost his lunch.

At least he was free to leave the Enchanted Forest now, and he wouldn't be leaving empty handed. He had tried to pickpocket those stupid wood elves, but they hadn't had anything worth stealing. Just some salad makings that they apparently carried around in their pockets. He did still have some leprechaun gold and the ogre's talisman. So all of his efforts hadn't been for naught. That was something to be thankful for.

He headed back towards the edge of the forest and, other than accidentally stepping on some sort of pixie or forest fairy (he wasn't sure which), he made it without incident. This time there was no invisible barrier blocking his exit so he walked right out into the open, where it appeared the sun was just starting to set. A little ways off in the distance he spotted a sizable walled city that he assumed must be Braithvale.

There was a sentry on duty at the gate, but he didn't appear to be taking his job very seriously. Fabian watched as several people walked in and out, and he hadn't even looked up at any of them.

Fabian braced himself as he walked towards the gate. He felt a slight twinge of something. It wasn't exactly guilt. It was more of an expectation that he was going to be stopped and not allowed to enter. Technically he wasn't doing anything wrong at the moment. But then there was the fact that he fully intended to engage in all manner of criminal activities once he was in the city.

He let out the breath he hadn't been fully aware he was holding as he passed by the sentry unmolested and entered the town. A bustling city street lay in front of him. People of all shapes and sizes walked back and forth going about their business. He even spotted a couple of halflings operating a vegetable cart, and a kobold who manned a tiny herb stand right near the gate.

"Can I interest you in some herbs?" the kobold called out to him.

"Uh, I don't know," Fabian said with a shrug of his shoulders. "What kind of herbs have you got?"

"Oh all kinds of herbs," the kobold said with a smile that showed off its sharp teeth. "I've got herbs of healing, herbs with magical properties, even herbs that will make your dinner much tastier. But you look like the type of fellow who is looking for herbs that make you feel good."

"I like to feel good," Fabian said.

"I've got just the thing for you," the kobold said pulling out a small cloth pouch. "Put a pinch of this in your pipe and you'll be feeling good all night long."

"Just how good are we talking about here?" Fabian asked.

"Imagine the best you've ever felt and multiply that by a thousand," the kobold said. "You will feel even better than that. It also makes you more attractive to the ladies."

"All right, you've convinced me," Fabian said. "How much are you asking for this pleasure herb?"

"Five gold shillings for this pouch."

"Five gold shillings?" Fabian said. "That's highway robbery! I'll give you a copper shilling."

"The pouch alone costs more than a copper shilling," the kobold said. "Five gold shillings. Take it or leave it."

"I'll give you one gold shilling," Fabian countered.

"Five," the kobold responded.

"Two."

"Five."

"Three."

"Five."

"Four, and that's my final offer," Fabian said.

"You will give me five or you will not get the herbs you so desperately want."

"You know what, mister? You're a scoundrel and a crook who is trying to cheat a poor honest visitor to your fair city. I'm going to track down whoever's in charge of regulating businesses around here and I'm going to report you."

"Yeah? Well I don't like your attitude," the kobold said. "Now I won't part with these herbs for less than six shillings."

"Yeah? Well I don't like your face, so I'm lowering my offer to three shillings," Fabian said.

"It appears that we do not have a deal," the kobold said. "Good day to you, sir."

"Aw, come on, man. Fine, I'll give you two shillings and you can give me half the pouch."

"I said good day," the kobold said with a sniff.

"All right, fine I'll give you six shillings. Now give me the pouch."

"I want seven shillings now," the kobold said.

"For the love of-" Fabian sputtered. "All right. Seven shillings. Now hand over the good stuff." He made a mental note to himself that he was definitely going to come back later and rob this impertinent kobold blind.

"Here you are, sir," the kobold said as it tossed the pouch at him. "Well, time to close for the day. Gotta go. Have a nice day." It hurriedly packed up its stand and took off running down the street.

"That's right, run away, you jerk," Fabian said. "Now, first things first. I'd better find a place to fence this talisman so I can get a nice cash infusion. Then I'll see what sort of mischief I can get into. Maybe I can trick some innocent young lady into letting me crash at her place if I share these herbs with her."

Fabian scanned the street for someone who looked like the type who might know where he could sell the talisman. He spotted a man in a hooded robe who had a pencil thin mustache and a long beard. Something about him struck Fabian as "shifty," so he headed over to where the man was standing.

"Greetings, brother," Fabian said. "I was wondering if you might know where a fellow could divest himself of a valuable object?"

"How valuable are we talking here?" the man asked.

"Well, I don't want to boast, but it's an artifact of great power which I took from a mighty ogre I bested in hand to hand combat."

The man appeared to mull this over for a moment in his head. "Follow me," he said and took off down a dark alleyway. Fabian shrugged his shoulders and walked after the man.

They took several twists and turns before the man stopped in front of a non-descript door. He knocked three times and then twice more after a short pause. A small window in the door slid open and a gruff voice called out. "Yeah? Whaddya want?"

"I've got a fellow here who claims to be selling an item of great power that he took from an ogre."

"Come in," the voice said and the door swung open.

Fabian followed the man into a small room that was packed with shelves full of all kinds of strange objects. An old man with wiry gray hair who was wearing thick spectacles made his way to a wooden stool that sat behind a desk. He plopped himself down and let out a rush of breath. "Well? Whaddya got?"

Fabian glanced back and forth in a conspiratorial fashion before he whipped out the talisman. "This right here is an extremely valuable magical item that renders its wearer resistant to all magic. I figure it ought to be worth ten thousand gold shillings, but I'm willing to settle for nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine."

"Let's have a look at it," the old man said as he held out his hand. "Come on, hand it over. I haven't got all night."

Fabian reluctantly handed it to the old man who examined it carefully. He mumbled "Oh dear," and "Oh my," a few times as he turned it over in his hands.

"Well?" Fabian asked. "Are you going to buy it from me or what?"

"What do you think, Maury?" the shifty man Fabian had followed here asked.

"I think it's the real deal," the old man said.

"Woo-hoo!" Fabian said. "Hand over the money. I gotsta get paid!"

"However," the old man raised up a hand. "Some idiot went and cut the chain. All the magical resistance power this thing once possessed was in the chain, not the talisman itself. The result is you've got something that's pretty to look at, but is completely useless in all practicality. I'll give you ten gold shillings for it."

"Ten?" Fabian blinked his eyes in disbelief. "I killed an ogre for that thing. The metal itself must be more valuable than that."

"The metal is plain old fool's gold, I'm afraid," the old man said. "Honestly, I'm being overly generous offering you ten. I probably won't be able to sell it for more than seven or eight. I'm likely taking a loss here."

Fabian narrowed his eyes and studied the old man closely. "I can't help but feel I'm getting ripped off here. But okay! I'll take the ten shillings."

"Excellent," the old man said as the talisman quickly disappeared somewhere behind the desk. He counted out ten gold shillings and handed them over. "All right then, my associate here will show you out. Pleasure doing business with you."

Fabian followed the shifty man out of the room and back into the alleyway. "Well, thanks for bringing me here. You wouldn't happen to know where a guy could get a cheap meal and maybe some female companionship around here, would you?"

"Sure," the man replied. "Just head straight back the way we came and make a right. There's a tavern there called 'The Red Goblin.' They've got the best deals in town."

"Appreciate it," Fabian said as he turned around. He suddenly felt something sharp pressing into his back.

"All right, mate. Hand it over. Or I'll murder you where you stand."