This was written over the course of an hour while playing a solo TTRPG called “Healer” by Tamsin Bloom. You can download the game here! It involves using tarot cards to generate a dungeon for yourself and a party for your Healer to jump in with. I used this as a writing exercise and to rehearse/get into a map I generated from Azgaar’s Fantasy Map Generator, and as always I use a mix between my own imagination and Chaotic Shiny to fill in little details here and there. I have included a very foggy picture of my “board of play” at the end. You will see lots of tarot cards thrown about, I was amazed by how easy it was to “decide” or “intuit” what happened next in the story using those without any die rolls.
The protagonist has no name, not on purpose. This is largely un-edited, as it was just for fun, and after finishing I thought I would share my results just because I think this form of play is very interesting and a great idea generator.
Anyways, thanks for reading!
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I came into the town of Fiswal tired and hungry. The people around here were very hard and tough, but giving. The kind of folks who will say nothing to you and hear nothing from you, but welcome you into their homes and put food on the table. Well, ‘welcome you into their homes’ might be a stretch. More like, leave the door open if you knock. I had spent all my coins on the travel to Fiswal from Egelbium, and I had not made much of it there to begin with. So the caretaker at the Wrapped Sword Inn wasn’t looking to do me any charity.
“I don’t care if you have a healer’s oath on you. I need to fill these beds up with PAYING customers.”
The door slammed in my face. She probably would have let me in if I had any healing stuff left, but I wouldn’t until the morning. I didn’t get to ask, she didn’t get to answer. When I turned around, an older woman with bandages over her eyes and a shawl over her shoulders was standing in the middle of the road, with a gripped umbrella hovering overhead to shield her from the rain. She nodded to me, a simple non committal gesture which I assumed to mean “come closer”.
“You a healer, kid?” Her voice was quick and high, like an old bird. I nodded, and a few seconds of rain wrapped my face.
“Follow me.”
I followed her. I couldn’t get too close because she wanted the umbrella all to herself, so I just wound myself up tight in the jacket I spent all my earnings on in the city before. It kept me warm-ish but still miserable, so I wasn’t sure what good it did me, as opposed to a nice private stay at the inn. I was always thankful for the kindness of strangers who let me stay in their homes, but there was a sort of hosting you had to do, being a guest. Tell a story. Talk about an “adventure”. People thought their lives were so boring, they wanted a glimpse into something more exciting. But honestly my life wasn’t that exciting. Sure, once in a while I healed a scar during battle. But usually I was just waiting for my next job to start. And then waiting for that job to end. The world wasn’t always as dangerous as people thought it was, and 7 out of 10 times if a Healer gets hired on with a caravan expecting bandits, the bandits never show. Especially if the caravan can only afford to hire me….means their cargo can’t be that expensive.
We got to the old woman’s house, and inside. It was a short lodging. A kitchen and a living room, that was about it. She cut some bread and cheese for me, pointed to a softer part of the floor, and then designed herself to bed. I did the same without too much trouble. I was too unhappy to really want to be awake any longer, and welcomed the sun.
In the morning, I prayed as I do every morning. I also prayed that the boredom I felt doing it was not an emptying of my faith vessel, that I could still work the miracles I needed. Luckily for me, I could, and as was custom I left a blessing behind for the old woman to wake up to and do with as she pleased. I guess the gods were too busy to notice my apathy, which was good, I needed to find work.
After some asking around town, I managed to find my way into the employment of a church. I wasn’t really sure what they were doing, but they had lost their cleric to a previous engagement. They looked very tired, not the kind of tired I was, but years tired. I could tell they were carrying some heavy stories with them, but knew better than to ask.
“There is a mountain about three days away, through a frozen Glade. On top of that mountain is a small temple with lost lore we need to continue our journey.” Krolla was an orcish wizard woman from the south, from the looks of her clothing. Sure, she had a big warm cloak on to keep out the chill of Fiswal, but underneath were colors of bronze and teal, which culturally made more sense in Amdesos. It was apparent she had travelled a long way to get here and was uncomfortable in the temperature. I could relate.
“We are hoping to return south to Ottenhoffen afterwards, and can part ways with you there.” Rophier was the tallest halfling lord that I had ever seen. And carried himself even taller. He had several robes and armor plates on that made it plainly obvious he was wealthy, and from the grassland kingdom of Grimsund to the east. I pondered why I was chosen to come with them, but assumed that there weren’t any other healers in town. Another man, a simply-clothed elf with long grey hair by the name of D’lina, stayed silent. I didn’t know what he did, but assumed I would find out.
The trip through the frozen glade to the temple was a terrible one. Krolla was badly injured but we were able to make rests so that I could stitch her back up. The other two were still unsure, but I think she warmed up to me after that. For the first half of the journey, we were able to find lodging with sparsely settled friendly farmers who lived on the outskirts of the region, but the closer to the peak we got, the more deadly the terrain and weather got. The journey took twice as long as planned and we ran out of rations: had to take turns hunting rabbits to stay fed and ready. We finally managed to drag ourselves up the side of the mountain.
We arrived at a small temple, and saw that it had runes carved across the top of the door: F-E-Y-M-A-R-E, we were all mostly clueless about it, except Krolla. I assumed it had to do with fey magic, but didn’t have the classical training to know what that meant, or what to be wary for. But we managed to push our way in, through the snow, into the darkness inside.
D’lina struck a match, and we were inside a large entryway chamber, with doors on each side. The southern door was where we came in, and who knew where the rest led to.
“This Temple, of Feymare, it is going to have many tricks.” Krolla whispered, looking around.
“What, like traps?” It was honestly the first time I had heard D’lina speak.
“No, tricks of the mind. Illusions. The legend says this temple is a place where hidden truths go once the last person who remembered them dies. Truths are often protected by lies. Lies are like a shield, and truths are like a sword. That’s what the rhymes say in the book anyways. I imagine that means illusion magic will be all over the place here.”
“Well, we are going to need to be at our best then.” Rophier suggested the party take a rest before continuing, to shake the buzzing of the outside cold out of their ears. I gladly plopped on the floor and tried my best to calm down, hoping I wasn’t way over my head in this weird temple. I tried meditating. But when I opened my eyes, I found the others were gone. The temple was also gone. I was back in the throne room of my home region: before my graduation into taking the Healer’s Oath. The Priestess of High Water was standing before her throne. I reached out to her but was dragged back.
D’lina shook me until the vision of The Priestess faded away. We were all alone in the entrance to the temple, and the northern and western doors were opened.
Krolla and Rophiel were gone.
This was very fun to write, I would say I am most excited about the indications of The Temple of Faymare, and the riddle about swords and shields and lies and truth. Might have fun mapping out the full temple and creating a mini adventure around it! Special thanks to Tamsin Bloom for making such a great solo rpg! Included in this picture are a ton of tarot cards, two printed maps, and the one page!
If you liked this piece of writing, consider buying some of my music or playing some of my games!
