Korun: The Knife in the Tankard - Blood and Tavern Smoke Book One

Jul 31, 2026

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Korun, a young traveler with little money and a sword kept close, enters a crowded tavern where silence feels like a trap. Rain and smoke surround him as men drink without speaking and a cellar door is barred with heavy planks and iron nails. When a bruised girl delivers an unexpected tankard of dark ale that he did not order, unsettling signs point to a hidden debt and violence waiting just below. Korun must decide whether to drink, confront, or act first.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages52

Reading Time1 h 20 min

AccessFree to download

He Only Wanted Ale

The Second Tankard

The Price of Ale

The Knife

The Man Who Paid

The Debt

First Blood

Three Knocks Below

Korun: The Door Beneath the Mule

Continue the Journey with Korun

About the Author

KORUN: THE KNIFE IN THE TANKARD KORUN: BLOOD AND TAVERN SMOKE BOOK ONE CHARLES EUGENE ANDERSON [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Copyright © 2026 by Charles Eugene Anderson. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY–NC–ND 4.0) . You may share this work for noncommercial purposes with proper attribution to the author. You may not alter, adapt, translate, remix, or create derivative works from this text without written permission. This is an original work of fiction. No association with, endorsement by, or claim upon the works, characters, trademarks, or literary estate associated with Robert E. Howard is intended or implied. [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) CONTENTS 1. He Only Wanted Ale 2. The Second Tankard 3. The Price of Ale 4. The Knife 5. The Man Who Paid 6. The Debt 7. First Blood 8. Three Knocks Below Korun: The Door Beneath the Mule Continue the Journey with Korun About the Author Also by Charles Eugene Anderson Falstaff Press & Cattle Company [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) 1 HE ONLY WANTED ALE Korun found the knife only after the ale was gone. Something shifted in the empty tankard. Steel on iron. A small sound with no business being there. But that came later. First came the rain. Korun reached The Hanged Mule after dark, with water running from his hair and mud drying black on his boots. The tavern sign hung crooked above the door, one chain rusted through, the painted mule swinging in the wind with a rope around its neck and one dull eye turned toward the road. He spat rain from his mouth, pushed the door open, and stepped inside. Heat struck him first. Then smoke. The fire in the stone hearth burned low and foul, more smolder than flame, and the room stank of wet wool, spilled ale, old grease, and men who had been sitting too long with their fear. The tavern was full. It was not loud. Men drank with their heads down. A dice game had stopped with the bones still scattered across the table. A woman in a patched green cloak watched the cellar door and pretended not to. The cellar door itself was barred with a plank that looked newer than therest of the tavern. Two iron nails held it down. Both had been driven deep. No one stood near it. Every voice in the room dipped when Korun entered. He was young, but the road had already marked him. Rain tangled his black hair across a face made harder by hunger, bad sleep, and too many days walking with one hand near steel. He was broad through the shoulders, lean at the waist, and armed well enough that no one mistook him for easy meat. His purse held three copper coins. The weight of them made him angry. Korun crossed to an empty table with his back to the wall and sat down. The chair scraped louder than it should have. A few men flinched. The innkeeper came slowly. He was a heavy man, his red face gone pale around the mouth. He looked at Korun’s sword first, then at his face. “Ale,” Korun said.“And whatever meat you have.” “There is stew.” “Then bring stew.” The man stood a heartbeat too long, as though hoping Korun might rise and leave before the order was filled. Korun did not move. The innkeeper went back behind the counter. The ale was dark. The stew was thin. Korun ate fast, the way he had been eating lately—like a man who was not sure when the next meal was coming. The meat was mostly gristle, the broth mostly water, but it was hot, and he had not had hot food since morning. Around him, The Hanged Mule remained too still. The dice did not move. The woman in the green cloak kept one hand closed around a charm at her throat. The innkeeper wiped the same cup again and again, but never stepped beyond a long dark stain in the floorboards near the end of the bar. Korun followed the stain with his eyes. It ran toward the cellar door. “Bad place,” he said. The innkeeper ’s hand stopped moving arou

FAQs

Why does Korun enter The Hanged Mule in the middle of the rain?

Korun reaches the tavern after dark, soaked and hungry, seeking ale and food while trying to push through the uneasy atmosphere.

What is unusual about the tankard the girl brings to Korun?

The girl places a dark iron tankard filled with thick white-foamed ale, even though Korun did not order it, and neither she nor Korun touches it at first.

How does the tavern’s atmosphere hint at danger before any knife appears?

The room is full yet unnaturally still, voices drop when Korun enters, men do not move their dice game, and the cellar door is tightly barred as if someone—or something—cannot be allowed to surface.

Jul 31, 2026

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