Randland Travel Advisor: The Dancing Cartman
Author: Dreia Raieese
Published: October 25 2019 Tar Valon Times Blog
Out for a jaunt through Randland? TarValon.Net’s trusty travel advisor gives you the good, the bad, and the braid-tuggingly awful!
I was less than a week out from my journey to Caemlyn when I stopped in a village called Four Kings. It was the largest village I had seen in several days and I was glad to see people. Long journeys are tiresome, and I needed a place to rest and get out of the rain. Word on the street said there was some good entertainment at an inn at the end of the road, The Dancing Cartman.
It appeared to check all the boxes, at first. It was brightly painted with yellows, reds, and greens—a little worn down, yes, but still inviting. I could hear the music and the crowd from outside and decided to give the place a chance. It almost made up for the proprietor of the establishment, Saml Hake, a bony man with thinning long gray hair. From what I could tell, Mr. Hake keeps his staff in line with an iron fist and some not-so-kind words. The two boys inside, however, did not disappoint. I’ve never heard a proper gleeman perform, but one of the boys played the flute as if he was training to be one, and I swear the other had four hands with the way he juggled!
The room I stayed in was…acceptable. It was small and dark, with a questionably clean pallet and small candle. I fell asleep to the sound of the crowd and the rain beating against the window. At some point in the night, a terrible thunderclap, the sound of stone falling, and a window breaking jolted me awake. I grabbed my stuff and ran out, just in time to make out the little gleeman and his juggler friend running away in the pouring rain. I glanced back and saw a wall from the inn missing.
That was the final straw. I hightailed it after them and never looked back. The only reason I gave it one star was because I couldn’t give it zero.
(The Eye of the World, Chapter 32, “Four Kings in Shadow”)
