1)
“And what did you get?” the wizard demanded, eyeing the thief’s empty hands. No pack, no bulges, nothing jingling. “Richest dragon-hoard ever; can it be you came out emptyhanded?”#epic fantasy— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 2, 2018
2)
The thief gave her a withering look, then plunged a hand down her own cleavage and with a flourish pulled forth a folded cloth.
“Behold,” she announced, shaking it open. “The Map That Never Lies!”#epic fantasy— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 2, 2018
3)
The party drew back in muttering awe. A magic item fabled across sixteen kingdoms, two wilderlands, and three debatable swamps. Even the barbarian had heard of it.
The cleric peered. “Uh, it’s blank.”#epic fantasy— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 2, 2018
4)
“Well, of course,” the thief replied. “Only when the blood of a sacrifice is spilled on it will it reveal an unerring route to the treasure of the holder’s desire!”
“How MUCH blood?” the wizard asked suspiciously.#epic fantasy— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 2, 2018
5)
“Lifeblood,” the thief said, “but it can be a chicken.”
The wizard lofted one eyebrow. “So what treasure does a chicken desire? A heap of seeds?”
The thief sighed. “It’s people like you,” she replied, “that exasperate people…#epic fantasy— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 2, 2018
6)
…like me enough to be made into sacrifices. In a hurry.”
“Crude threats,” the wizard replied loftily, “will get you nowhere.”
Then she shrieked and collapsed across the map, blood spurting copiously.#epic fantasy— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 2, 2018
7)
Behind her, the cleric calmly wiped her holy altar knife on the backside of the dying wizard’s robes and commanded, “Get that map to show us the way to the nearest farm of a thousand chickens.”#epic fantasy— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 2, 2018
8)
“Or the nearest academy that’s home to at least twenty wizards. Whichever’s closer.”#epic fantasy— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 2, 2018