A Song for Winter: Finding a Small Fortune

    There it sat in the middle of the road. A plain brown bag with no obvious identifying marks sat unattended on the ground. Several gold coins spilled from the top of the bag glistening in the late afternoon sun. William approached the bag cautiously before stopping short of it fearing that this could be some sort of highwayman trap. Whistling a couple of notes while drumming his fingers on his witch knife, William summoned two little breezes of wind that circled the area in a widening radius before returning to his nostrils. All the normal smells filled his nose but there was no hint of anyone waiting in ambush for him. 

 

With his fears temporarily put at ease, William approached the bag of gold and picked it up. It was surprisingly heavy and near bursting with different gold coins. There was a brief moment where William thought about pocketing all the gold for himself but then remembered the words of his parents. Any coins, gems, weapons, or other goods won or looted after a battle was fair game but you don’t just steal someone’s coin purse like this. Clan Drackonas members were warriors, not thieves. While Clan Wintersong members might be witches but they weren’t going about using their powers to unjustly gain riches. William was a member of both clans so he felt an obligation to try to find the owner of this purse.

 

There wasn’t a name stitched into the lining or any other obvious signs as to who this purse belonged to. Looking around the only other recent tracks were horse hoof prints but there were so many of them it would be impossible to figure out which set to follow to the correct owner. Thinking for a moment William came up with an idea that might help him track down the owner. William used his witch knife to draw a circle around him and the coin purse before sticking the knife in the ground at the northernmost point of the circle. With a series of notes whistled by the Wintersong, William summoned the whirlwind of air that filled that circle in the dirt purging the area of all other ambient smells. A tap on the pommel stone of the witch knife sent the whistled notes into the air circling William. Once the spell stabilized itself, William inhaled deeply from the bag of coins taking all the smells into his nostrils. Ignoring the smell of the gold and dirt William locked onto the smell of a male cheetah.

 

Concentrating on that scent William snapped dispersing the whirlwind into a breeze that floated gently along the path of the smell. Picking up his witch knife, William took off following the scent trail he created in the air. Using the aid of his magic he was able to track the scent quicker than he would have been otherwise. Just as night was falling William caught up to the male cheetah just as he was realizing his purse was missing and unable to pay for a room at an inn for the night. More than grateful the cheetah insisted on buying a room and meal for William that night. He may not have gained a fortune of gold that night but he was rewarded finely for doing the right thing.