The Fool gives me a riddle. Out of pity but the coin is worth it. 

I stand and approach him. The coin came from his pouch. There should be more. 

"Well, Fool," I say with a smirk on my face "The answer is Death. I have been awaiting it for some time now." The whole tavern seems to have silenced, turning to watch us. I believe the scar over my eye is visible to all. 

A Dreamer in the corner seems to have woken up. The two sitting at the bar are now playing dice and everyone is very tense. 

"Do you think i could buy an eyepatch from the town?" I say flipping a silver coin and catching it. 

The Fool seems surprised, as the coin in his hand is not there anymore.

"I would be happy to oblige," says the cloaked figure.

Excellent. I pull my lucky dice out of a pouch and lay them on the countertop. It doesn't take long to agree on a game; clearly, this wanderer has much the same experience as me. 

As they scrabble for coin in the depths of their worn purse, I scan the room. Several new visitors have entered the room: a fool, a young girl, a woman with a bow and arrows (she would be good to meet), but none, as far as I can tell, who would be interested in playing with us. Well, that's good: the fewer onlookers, the easier it will be for me to find out more about this mysterious partner of mine.

I set a decently large pile of coins on the table, and the person raises their eyes. "Betting large, are you?"

I smile. "I do have some experience with dice. How about you? Are you low on money, or just cautious?"

The bartender narrows his eyes at the girl beside me and she narrows them right back.  This girl has confidence.  I start to laugh but my throat tightens with sadness and I choke on water.  My laugh turns in to coughs.

Would my life be any different if I had been like this young girl as a child?  If I had been confident and brave?  I am different now, but I changed too late.

I wonder about the life of this girl.  What brought her here and why she is alone.

She likes me, I can tell.  And I like her.  Which surprises me, it’s been so long since I’ve felt this way for someone.

She continues to watch me.  If it had been anyone else who was watching me I would have been uncomfortable.  But with this girl it’s different.

I don’t know what to say so I sip more water and observe her.  To an outsider we would have looked odd.  Drinking water, watching eachother, not saying a word.  Our silence never becomes awkward, we understand one another without words.

I stood in the corner silently, watching each and every exhange between the guests of the tavern, while thoughtfully twirling a dagger between my fingers. 

I roll the dice confidently. When they settle on a number, I grin and slide over some of the stranger's money. Unfortunately, on the next roll, he takes back just as much.

Our money flows back and forth for a few rounds before I look up from the dice and glance at this wanderer. His yellow eyes glint eerily in the darkness, and I can see on just the first look why everyone else is giving us a wide berth.

"So, what brings you here this evening?" I ask, legitimately curious.

"The answer is death," the thief says, scarred eye clearly visible. "I have been awaiting it for some time now." I take an automatic step back, clutching the  silver coin -- only it's not in my hand anymore, it's arcing through the air as the thief says something about an eye patch. I should not have taken pity on this one; it was a mistake, but I lacked the foresight to see it. Nevertheless, I allow my features to slide into a easy grin.

"Excellent job, my friend," I congratulate them. "You have bested me -- but then, it is no great achievement to best a Fool in a contest of wits!" The thief's cheeks flush as a few chuckles break out around the room. 

By coincidence, the girl in the red dress sits behind me with a sparkle in her eyes. Doubtless, she knew the answer all along. So, out of impulse, I drop a copper coin in front of her. The woman with the weapons looks pointedly away as I hold a finger to my lips.

"Consider it a prize for second place," I whisper before turning on my heel and settin my cloak fluttering behind me, a wave of red and yellow. Red for luck, yellow for prosperity and happiness. The colors I chose when I picked this path, so many years ago.

I am far from rich, and these gifts will certainly leave a hole in my purse. But I like this girl. Though I am a Fool, and by definition, lacking in wisdom, I can tell that there's something about her. Turning toward the other tables, I realize something else.

The night has only just begun. 

The silence between the girl and me has not been broken.  But neither of us grow uncomfortable.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a knight enter the tavern.  They look cautious and wary.  Their hand constantly drifting towards their dagger.  I take note to keep an eye on them.  Not all knights are kind. Though they do not look like one to hurt without reason.  Still, looks can be deceiving.  I have learned that many times.

The thief answers the riddle and the coin arcs through the air.  The fool steps backwards, their face surprised.  Quickly their features slide into a grin and they congradulate the theif.  Though they added a comment at the end that makes the theif flush and chuckles break out around the room.

The fool reaches into the pouch at their hip and drops a copper coin in front of the girl.  I look away, pretending not to see.  “Consider it a prize for second place,” the fool says and turns on their heel, cloak fluttering behind them.

This girl beside me has something special about her.  I don’t know what.  The sparkle in her eyes and the aura around her tells me she is not usual.  Maybe that is why I feel a special kinship with her.  Both of us are unusual.

"So what brings you here this evening?"

I hesitate for a moment, then respond, "I'm just passing through the town." 

This answer does not seem to satisfy her, so I elaborate, "I was asked to meet an aqquaintance of mine here. They have not yet come." 

To delay the inevitable next question, I grab the dice again and roll them. The numbers are in the woman's favor. As she slides some of my money towards herself, she looks up at me again, a question in her eyes. 

A young woman quite like the maiden walks into the tavern. She sits at the bar and demands a drink, she has a strong voice no one could disobey. She takes one of her twin dagger out of its sheath and starts filing her nails with it while waiting for her drink. Still filing her nails, she looks around the tavern, noticing the small cracks in the tables and the Eagles calling outside, along with turkey vultures. Everyone could see that she could sense... Something different than the rest of them.

The young woman is wearing a sort of skin tight stealth suit, but if it was brought back in time. She's also wearing a bow in her back, sheathed twin daggers on her hips and a sword on her back. She is very tall and slim, very beautiful. She always wears makeup and has long flowing red hair.

by the way, I'm new to these round table this so tell me if I'm doing it wrong or if I shouldn't be here UwU  

I approach the tavern cautiously, slowed down by my limp that becomes increasingly difficult to conceal in the cold. The glow from the window is warm and inviting, but I nevertheless hesitate to go in. I am new to this country, but not to running, and I have had far too many close calls since my exile. Still, I am far from home. Though I may never escape my guilt, I doubt that they will find me here.

I walk around to the stables in the back and find a clean patch of hay that I can bed down in for the night. Hopefully I can be gone by morning, before they think to check here. I only have a couple coins left, and consider skipping dinner altogether, but by now my body won't stop shivering, and my growling stomach reminds me acutely that I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning. I return to the front of the tavern, and enter.

It is immediately evident that this is taven is a magnet for interesting characters, and there are several that pop out to me at once. A couple of travellers are playing dice, engaged deep in conversation. A girl in a red dress sits with a young woman with purple hair, and a fool is entertaining the crowd as a thief appraises him apprehensively. An old woman with wisdom in her eyes watches them all, and seems to know more than any of them do. A knight and an intruiging woman are sitting at the bar as I approach. I order the cheapest food I can find, a hot bowl of broth and a hunk of bread. I have barely any money left, but i need to eat. Being on the run, it has become far too difficult and dangerous to get a job, and what little coins I have managed to scrape together are dwindling.

The presence of a knight makes me nervous, so I retreat to an empty table in the back. I wolf down my food as quickly as possible, still not quite satisfied with its quantity, and look around a bit more closely. The last place I tried to stay I was forced to leave quickly, after noticing several wanted posters with my face on them, but I have seen no such posters in a couple weeks, and I am relieved to see that there are none here. Perhaps, now, I am far enough away that I can assume a false identity and begin a new life.

I look around some more and am startled to see someone staring at me from across the tavern. 

To confirm my appearance: I am a young man, dressed in a muddy black jacket and boots that have almost worn through. I have dark hair, olive eyes, and a scar that hooks my right upper lip and stretches across my cheek.

"Who is this aquaintance of yours?" I ask the cloaked figure, carefully looking down at the dice to avoid revealing my expression. I'm developing a bad feeling about this. The drunk man I, er, encountered in an alley on my way here was also planning to meet an aquaintance in this tavern.

The wanderer hesitates, and I force myself to look up and stare him directly in the (creepy) yellow eyes. "I know how to keep a secret."

This is a true statement. Whether I plan to keep his information a secret, though, is undetermined as of yet.