Tales of a Horse Thief, Part 5a
Part 5) Loden
Cof Crossroads was a decent enough place, it had all the things a person might want, or at the very least, all the things Loden had wanted. The place was somewhere between a large village and small town, Loden figured there was close to fifteen hundred people living in Cof. Upwards of a thousand in the village itself and a bit over half that within a days walk, living on homesteads and at a couple of small lumber camps. Cof was the southern border town of the Carskot FreeHold, the Lord of Carskot lived in the town of Carskot further north along the banks of the East Sister River. Cof had a smithy, cooperage, slaughter house, bakery, tannery, cobbler and a potter. There was a large commons in the centre of town with a marshal’s tower and hanging tree north of the commons, a mill on the common’s millpond and a free market on the south end of the commons. Cof boasted two temples, one to the Goddess of Mercy on the east side of town and the other dedicated to Promad, the god of farming and livestock, located on a hill mound south of town. Loden had also seen a few smaller shrines throughout the village dedicated to various gods, both old and new.
Most importantly, to Loden, there were three different drinking establishments.
The largest and most commonly used was the Cof Crossroads Roadhouse and Haberdashery located on the south end of town at a point where the town became mostly farming homesteads and where most of the outlaying roads intersected. A person could get cheep stabling and a place to sleep, the common room cost a copper weight for the night as did the ‘outer-hall’, an extension off the main building usually only used in fair weather. Often enough the locals called it the other hall or Otherhal. There was also a handful of rooms to let for anyone wanting a bit more privacy. Hot food was served throughout the day, though the fare was basic. Of course, if one was so inclined, nice dresses and accoutrements were available from the haberdashery; they also did mending and cleaning.
Crimlok Pub was located west of the marshal’s tower at the edge of what the locals called the Warren, a series of old stone foundations and, in a few cases, entire buildings that had been built hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. The locals had rebuilt on this spot for centuries and some claimed that it had been the original site where Cof had been founded. Crimlok Pub was set up in one of these old sub levels with a much newer wooden dwelling built above the pub. Crimlok was more commonly used by the locals, they offered a better selection of drink and smoke. The place was close enough to the marshal’s tower that there was rarely any trouble from the patrons. They offered no stabling, rooms or extra services.
Widow’s House, towards the northeast edge of town, not far from the Lowmery Bog, was in fact a widow’s house in the traditional sense but also a brothel and tavern with rooms to let. Loden had only visited Widow’s House once during the four days he had been here. I was the nicest and cleanest of the establishments and offered a wide selection of drinks and good food, yet Loden was not overly interest in female companionship. His last couple of intimate relations had left him wary, perhaps even a bit terrified.
Loden had made the roadhouse his temporary home since arriving, as it provided the services he needed and plenty of travellers from which he gained information about the surrounding region. Folks here were very aware of the bandit problem. In fact for the last couple of years such problems had been on the rise, the marshal had taken on extra men to protect the roads around Cof and the lord had placed a bounty on bandit heads. As well, a large bounty was being offered for a man named Wol the Fox, infamous highwayman, assumed leader of the bandits along the River Trade Road. Loden had yet to reveal to any of the locals that he knew the identity Wol.
The Lord of Carskot had also place a bounty on goblin heads. Of more concern to Loden was the fact that the road to Freeton was plagued by goblins, very few people had come through along the road from the east this spring. So while taking some time to relax Loden was considering his other options. He still intended on moving eastward away from the advancing Tannican armies, but he was likely going to have to travel north before heading east. Locally no one seemed very concerned over the Tannican situation, but most travellers he had talked to seemed to think that their armies would be on this side of the East Sister by next spring.
Having seen neither caravan nor members of the caravan by this point, Loden was under the impression that it had been lost to the bandits. After he had stopped and told the foresters at the lumber camp that the bandits were planning on attacking the caravan, Loden had decided against mentioning the situation when he had arrived in Cof. Instead he had decided to focus on carousing and gaming.
Earlier in the day Loden had taken his horses to the smith to get them shod. However, the smith was very busy these days as the marshal had increased his militia in response to the bandit and goblin issues. The main forge was a busy place, the smith and his two eldest sons were occupied making weapons and armour. So Loden had gone into the courtyard behind the smithy and had to deal with the smith’s eldest daughter who was doing most of the day to day work on a secondary forge. After a short conversation had satisfied himself that the young woman knew what she was doing, then they haggled briefly over the price. He had been told to return in the afternoon.
The smith and his family kept a number of dogs, many of which roamed about the yards, as Loden walked through the main smithy he gave a nod to the smith and stopped to pet a couple of the dogs that came to see him. The dogs then followed him through the smithy to the courtyard where his horses and a half dozen others were tied off. Trin, the smith’s daughter, was not in the yard. So Loden went to his horses and checked to see if the work had been done. He was impressed, not only was the work done but it was nearly the best job he had ever seen, and he had known many farriers over the years.
“Ah you’re back,” said Trin from behind him.
He turned and smiled to the tall muscular woman, “That’s good work miss, some of the best I’ve seen.”
She smiled, “Thank you. Those are some fine horses you have.”
Loden shrugged, “Yeah, I guess.”
“So, you’re planning on moving on soon?”
“Seems likely, I’d like to be east of here a considerable ways by the end of summer. Given the goblin situation between here and Freeton though, I thought it might be best to head north a ways and then east.”
“Might be best to take the Linklow Road, northeast of here, through the forest to the Linkllow Hills. Towwit Falls and Olgen are up that way. If you keep on the Linklow Road all the way through the hills you will get to Holt Crossroads. Or from Olgen you head east across the plains. Either way, you can reach the Madden Hills. Now, there’s some strange stories about Madden and rumours of undead, yet I’ve talked to plenty of folks who have passed through the area without problems. That would put you on the edge of the Sudakkar Wasteland, but you can get around the wasteland by heading north through Allark’s Hold and from there the roads east would take you all the way to the coast. Or so I’ve heard.”
“Yeah, some have mentioned the route up through Towwit, though I’ve heard from a couple of folks heading south that has a run in with goblins on the Linklow Road. A couple other fellows I talked to figured I could catch a barge in Carskot and get all the way up to GreensBridge in a couple of eight days. Then the Green Road runs for many Yateer east, one of the best roads in the region I’ve heard.”
“As I understand it the Green Road will get you to Sharlok’s hold or pretty close, though once you are east of Wikkersak the road is little more than a cart track. Sharlok’s Hold is further northwest than Allark’s, at least an eight-days difference. I really don’t think you’d save much time going up river, over taking the road through the Linklow Hills. On the other hand, if you can afford the river passage I’ve been told GreensBridge is a wonder to behold, some say its the largest city in the world.”
“Well, I’m inclined to the northeast road, seeing as I have three perfectly good horses. Doesn’t make much sense to pay for passage upriver. Do I owe you anything further?”
“Na, Pa said you already paid. I’ll likely see you later at the roadhouse though. I usually try to get a game or two of blades in before night fall.”
“I prefer the bones myself. I’ll get you a drink later if we run into each other.”
She smiled, “Sounds good to me. I should get back to work.”
“I won’t keep you any longer then.” Loden gathered his horses and left the young woman to her tasks.
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