After leading the two cows to the barn, and finding a couple more there already, he set out to do his daily
chores. He milked the cows and goats, fed the other livestock and did maintenance around the farm. He was
barely through when he saw two young men walking up the path to his property.
These two took a different path than the earlier trio, and said nothing as they tried to take a shortcut
though the large pigpen.
The pair didn't make it to the other side before turning into new sows.
Jeff blinked. This was too easy. Something wasn't right, and he was going to be discovered if this kept
happening.
There were no more interruptions through the day, so he finally went to his home, made dinner of bread and
pork with some vegetables, and started looking around at his own possessions. There were memories associated
with all of them, which flooded in as he looked. After a few hours, he began to understand who he was. He
had once been Yebin the Mage, a powerful servant of a distant king. After too long, he decided he was done
with court intrigues and decided to become a simple farmer. He had been so for many year, scrapping out a
small living.
In recent years, he had been using his magic to supplement his small farm. What he had told the cow was about
right, he never butchered his transformed prey, but he did sell them. In fact...
"Yebin, are you in?" came a voice from outside.
Jeff wasn't sure if to expect the voice to turn into a cluck or a bray, but he stood up as a mental picture of
the voices owner popped into his head. "Bint! How are you doing?" he asked as the portly innkeeper came in
through the door.
"Can't complain. Well, other than this late night ride. Anything new for me?" The full plan suddenly popped
into Jeffs head. Bint ran an old, run down inn on the edge of the city. It was busy enough, and popular with
adventurers just getting started. Often they would hang around for days looking for a direction or a quest.
Bint would wait until he was sure that these were travelers, people with no local connections. Most
important, people with little or no magic. Then he'd drop a few hints that a farmer a few hours out of the
city had information that could lead to a massive treasure. Every few weeks, the innkeeper would visit the
farm and collect his cut, usually a few of the animals to either sell or butcher in the city.
"Two sows, two cows and a goat today. What's going on down at that inn of yours?"
Bint smiled, "There's a festival going on for the next month, so the town is overflowing with people." He
paused a moment, "In fact, meat is at a premium right now. If I could get a bit of an advance on my cut..."
he said, his voice trailing off.
Jeff sighed. He didn't really want to do it, but it would mean fewer animals around right now and if the city
was filling up, he'd have replacements soon enough. "Take the two older cows, the new ones aren't changed in
their minds funny yet. You can take the pigs, as long as they are butchered by dawn. Leave the goat, he was
the dwarf this morning." Jeff knew as he spoke that the newer the transformation, the less set the mind. It
wasn't impossible for a strong willed individual to communicate though the transformation.
The innkeeper left to fulfill his order while Jeff settled in for the night.