It was tempting to throw a random encounter at the group but it wouldn't have made sense with the narrative. Everyone has had a chance to shine already, except Wren, and given the nature of the plot, I didn't want an early distraction. I would've been tempted to tie the random encounter to the main plot and I didn't know the full details of that yet.
I got to name another inn! Yeah, not the easiest thing for me to do, but this one came quickly. No one in-universe is going to care what the real name is; it's the Crossroads Inn because the inn is at the crossroads. It's been there as long as travellers can remember, even elven travellers. It's out a day's travel from Wildwood, a good spot to be to get travellers to stay a night.
A bit of world-building slipped into the chapter. The inn is on a few borders, claimed but with no real way of enforcement without starting a fight. The location isn't worth the war. The inn gets protection, doesn't really pay taxes to any of the nations making claims on it, and regular traffic. The inn is also happy to take whatever coins come its way. The Seven Dominions uses crowns, inspired by Norwegian kroner and Swedish krona. I don't have any idea of what the coins are, though. Denominations in 1, 5, and 10 crowns? Or 1, 3, and 9? Or some other combination? No idea. And what is the exchange rate between nations? Or does the innkeeper just not care and gives change based on what sort of coin he gets first?
The payoff to Leo's "stew" from Chapter 11 comes up. It was a cute little bit, and it let me get the point across that not everyone is fluent in other tongues. Little things get missed. Homonyms exist in many languages; in English, for, fore, and four all sound the same. In French, cheval (horse) and cheveux (hair) are close enough to be mixed. So why not something similar in an elven tongue?
With the cast on the road, I had to work out what the world looks like beyond Wildwood and the Sylvan Forest while on the fly. I started the story with no idea of what the world looked like or where the plot was going. Now, it's off to a dwarven city across who knows what sort of terrain. I chose the project... poorly.
Friday, alone with her thoughts, in The Elf's Prisoner Chapter 16.
Also Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, parodies.
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, remakes and comedy vehicles.
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