Chapter 086: Furlbrow Farm

Jess remembered Furlbrow from the game. By that point, he and his wife had left their farm and were staying near Westbrook Garrison with their old horse, Blanchy, asking travelers to help find a lost pocket watch.

Now Furlbrow still looked fairly young.

Rydor Furlbrow looked Jess up and down. “If you're not buying pumpkins, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to know whether there's a fishing village to the north,” Jess said.

“There is,” Furlbrow answered. “But lots of the fishermen fled to Stormwind during the Orc Wars. I don't know what happened to them afterward. I haven't been out that way in ages. Even if some came back, there can't be many left. Look how deserted it is here. Farther north can't be any better.”

Jess looked north. He couldn't see the sea or a fishing village. A large rise blocked the view, with only a few crooked trees scattered along the top of the yellow-green grassland.

“Sir, could I buy something to eat? Bread or soup would be fine. I'm planning to head to the coast this afternoon.”

“Sure. Come inside, and I'll ask my wife to make you something. Just give us a few copper so we don't lose money on it.”

“Thank you very much.” Jess followed the farmer into the house.

The farm was large, and so was the house, though it was old and worn. After the war, orcs might have occupied the place. There were marks of damage everywhere.

Only Furlbrow and his wife lived here now. They probably didn't have the strength or money to repair such a big building, so they were making do with it.

Furlbrow wiped the table. “People only come around once in a while during Harvest Festival. Otherwise, the place is quiet all year. My wife's forever asking whether we should move to Stormwind. Sometimes I think she doesn't care about this farm at all.”

“Furlbrow!” an irritated woman shouted from another room. “What if the orcs come again? Last time, when everyone said the orcs were coming, you refused to believe it! Then I had to hide in caves with you! You have no idea what we went through! Everyone else believed it, but not you. You were the bravest one of all, weren't you? And the unluckiest!”

“The unluckiest?” Furlbrow roared back. “Are you dead? Where are all the people who ran around screaming now? Feeding the fish in Baradin Bay, probably! At least you're still standing here, able to nag the husband who's saved your life more times than you can count!”

The woman fell silent for a while.

“Actually, the orcs may have a hard time coming back,” Jess said.

“Why?” Furlbrow asked.

“Have you heard about the expeditionary army? Several Alliance commanders took veteran troops to the Dark Portal. They're planning to enter the orcs' world and end the threat once and for all.”

“Through the Dark Portal?” Furlbrow slapped the table. “Finally, some good news! Verna, did you hear that?”

“I don't know,” the woman replied from the other room. “All I know is that even if every orc disappears, no one will care about us out here.”

Furlbrow hesitated, then sighed helplessly. “They'll surely take their best soldiers on that expedition. That means even fewer troops left to guard this area. Light help us. I hope things get better from now on.”

“So do I,” Jess said. “By the way, Mrs. Furlbrow mentioned hiding in caves. What happened?”

Rydor Furlbrow sighed. “When word came that the orcs had entered Elwynn Forest, everyone out here ran away. The refugees said the orcs were green-skinned monsters, seven or eight feet tall, with fangs, that ate people on sight.”

“But they'd said similar things about people from Kul Tiras. Claimed those pirates had blue skin, gills, and fins all over them. Then Proudmoore came to Stormwind, and what did everyone see? He looked just like us, only a bit taller.”

The author did not permit this copy from their publication on NovelPhoenix; the chapter at that source supports the writer.

His joking expression slowly turned weary.

“Who knew they were telling the truth this time? Monsters two heads taller than me, with green skin and sharp teeth. You couldn't dream up something like that in a nightmare.” He paused. “You're from Lordaeron?”

“Yes. I came from the north,” Jess said.

“Then you were lucky,” Furlbrow replied. “While the orcs occupied this land, my wife and I hid in abandoned mines nearby. They'd discover one mine, and we'd flee with a few others to the next. We lived like that for almost two years, until Lothar's soldiers rescued us. But many people died while we were running.”

“Enough about the past. I haven't even asked your name.”

Jess looked at the woman coming through the door. “I'm Jess.”

She had light brown hair and looked only a little over twenty. This was Verna Furlbrow, the farmer's wife. That meant she might have been only in her teens when she'd been hiding from orcs with him.

“It's good to see another person, Jess. Especially someone young like you. These days, that's a treat,” Furlbrow said. “Things are better to the south. Up here, all these rumors about gnolls have scared visitors away. A few farms to the west have been abandoned too. With fewer people around, the wolves have come back.”

“Are there a lot of wolves nearby?” Jess asked.

“They don't dare come onto the farm. If they do, we'll find out whether their skulls are harder than my solid bullets.”

“Keep bragging,” the woman muttered.

She put a plate of stew and a large bowl of meat soup on the table with a loud clatter that made her mood perfectly clear.

Furlbrow looked at the soup. “Don't mind her. We haven't got much fancy food left. The soup's made with meat. If you don't like it, I won't charge you.”

Jess smelled it, then tasted a spoonful from his bowl.

After eating Redridge stew, he found this one a little bland. But he was hungry enough not to mind.

“The soup's pretty good. By the way, sir, is there Mageroyal around here? I've heard this is the kind of place where it grows. It's a medicinal herb.”

“I don't know much about herbs. Can you describe it?”

“It's purple, with bright pink flowers and long stems...” Jess pulled a drawing and a written description from his bag. He'd copied them from a library book.

Furlbrow studied the picture. “Four petals. A bright pink flower with four petals and long stamens in the middle. I remember it.”

“Wife!”

“What now?” Verna answered from upstairs.

“Bring down that pot of flowers of yours. The one with four petals.”

A little later, Verna Furlbrow came downstairs carrying a plant in a pot. It looked ordinary now, with tall thick stems and green leaves. There were none of the four-petaled flowers in Jess's drawing.

“That's it,” Furlbrow said. “Around April or May, the flowers on this thing looked exactly like the one in your picture.”

“Really?”

Jess hadn't expected such important information from a farmer. When he'd copied out the mana potion ingredients, he'd forgotten to look up the plants themselves. He'd nearly forgotten that flowers had growing seasons.

No wonder he hadn't seen a trace of Mageroyal on the road. He might have passed right by a plant without knowing it.

“Where did you get that flower?” Furlbrow asked his wife.

“I found it last time I took the Saldeans' children out to play at those empty farms to the west.”

“That must be it,” Jess said. “I heard there was a lot of Mageroyal on the hills near the western mine. But hasn't that mine been taken over by gnolls?”

“More of those rumors.” Furlbrow shook his head. “People also say our farm's been taken by gnolls. That ruined village to the east is supposed to be full of them, and so is the mine. Whoever spreads these rumors ought to lose his head. They've scared away the people who used to buy my pumpkins. Now I have to haul them to Sentinel Hill or Westbrook by myself. Good young pumpkins turn old before they sell, and the old ones rot!”

“The garrison at Westbrook has been attacked by gnolls too,” Jess said.

“Some damned fool spreading another rumor, I suppose?”

“I was attacked there myself. I almost died. Stormwind is offering a bounty for the head of that gnoll band's leader.”

Furlbrow fell silent for a moment.

“Well, whatever happens, may the Light help you find what you're looking for, young man.” He lifted his soup bowl.

“Thank you. And may the Light keep your farm safe.” Jess lifted his bowl too, and they drank as though making a toast.

Furlbrow wiped the grease from his mouth. “I don't know what you're doing on the coast, but if you plan to go there, I'd advise going at night.”

“Why?” Jess asked.

“You know a lot of murlocs have come over from the west, right? They don't see very well after dark. Don't let those big eyes fool you. Their night vision's much worse than in the daytime. If you go during the day, they might spot you from a long way off. Believe me, Jess. Once a murloc sees you, it'll chase you for at least half an hour.”

Jess felt his scalp prickle.

Being chased for half a minute in the game had been enough to make him sick. Half an hour? Were all murlocs marathon runners?

“If the fishing village is empty, can I stay there during the day?” Jess asked.

“Of course. Even if people are still there, they probably won't turn you away. The families who lived there were fairly old, as I remember, and good-tempered.”

“Wouldn't murlocs occupy the empty houses?” Jess asked.

Furlbrow shook his head. “Murlocs generally don't enter human houses, even abandoned ones. They deliberately keep their distance from every other race. But be careful all the same.”