A Scroll of the Trade

You pick up the scroll when you see a lone figure in the mirror. It is a large man with a large moustache dressed in a hauberk and chainmail, with a broadsword in a large scabbard. You ask him who he is.

"I am Sir Fred," he proclaims. You are stunned, and drop the scroll to the floor. "But aren't you ..."

Fred picks up Weapons Monthly. The contents are unremarkable. There is the obligatory woodcut of a smiling, alluring, red-headed maiden on a white stallion endorsing the latest product from Aqualaria Foundries, the AF Pegasus horseshoe. "Good product, but overpriced for what you get. I get more clang for my crown at Vulcan Works or Robert's of Suffex," Fred thinks. A few articles - "Expert Roundtable - Mace or Broadsword in Cavern Quests? The answers may surprise you." "Earl Stillwater's Essays - Know Your Quarry - Dragons and the Fire Threat, part 3", a little woodcut of Flambin the Silly Squire, doing something foolish again, and still more advertisements, mostly endorsements by retired knights. There is a small "Heroes Wanted section" - Mostly asking for knights "seeking an entry-level quest - must have at least one triumph over a dragon or supernatural forces." An article by Duke Zular - "My Odyssey against the Mage of the Northern Wastes."

There is something noteworthy in the midst of all this hackneyed material, but Fred knows that he skipped past it. Fred then finds it in

1. the advertisement for AF Pegasus horseshoes.
2. Earl Stillwater's Essay.
3. the Heroes Wanted section.
4. An article by Duke Zular - "My Odyssey against the Mage of the Northern Wastes."
5. Expert Roundtable - Mace or Broadsword in Cavern Quests? The answers may surprise you.

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