[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-115543-en":3,"doc-seo-115543-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},115543,2336474459895,"Aria","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000baeef7a5ed0655?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786071322749376916",1,"Story & Novel","Korun: The Knife in the Tankard - Blood and Tavern Smoke Book One","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.","KORUN: THE KNIFE IN THE TANKARD  \nKORUN: BLOOD AND TAVERN SMOKE BOOK ONE  \nCHARLES EUGENE ANDERSON  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nCopyright © 2026 by Charles Eugene Anderson.  \nLicensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY–NC–ND 4.0) .  \nYou 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.  \nThis 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.  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nCONTENTS  \n1. He Only Wanted Ale  \n2. The Second Tankard  \n3. The Price of Ale  \n4. The Knife  \n5. The Man Who Paid  \n6. The Debt  \n7. First Blood  \n8. Three Knocks Below  \nKorun: The Door Beneath the Mule  \nContinue the Journey with Korun  \nAbout the Author  \nAlso by Charles Eugene Anderson  \nFalstaff Press & Cattle Company  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \n1  \nHE ONLY WANTED ALE  \nKorun found the knife only after the ale was gone.  \nSomething shifted in the empty tankard. Steel on iron. A small sound with no business being there.  \nBut that came later.  \nFirst came the rain.  \nKorun 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.  \nHe spat rain from his mouth, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.  \nHeat 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.  \nThe tavern was full.  \nIt was not loud.  \nMen 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.  \nThe 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.  \nNo one stood near it.  \nEvery voice in the room dipped when Korun entered.  \nHe 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.  \nHis purse held three copper coins.  \nThe weight of them made him angry.  \nKorun 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.  \nThe innkeeper came slowly.  \nHe was a heavy man, his red face gone pale around the mouth. He looked at Korun’s sword first, then at his face.  \n“Ale,” Korun said.“And whatever meat you have.”  \n“There is stew.”  \n“Then bring stew.”  \nThe man stood a heartbeat too long, as though hoping Korun might rise and leave before the order was filled.  \nKorun did not move.  \nThe innkeeper went back behind the counter.  \nThe ale was dark. The stew was thin.  \nKorun 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.  \nAround him, The Hanged Mule remained too still.  \nThe 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.  \nKorun followed the stain with his eyes.  \nIt ran toward the cellar door.  \n“Bad place,” he said.  \nThe innkeeper ’s hand stopped moving arou","cbCaidYxsJieBus7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidYxsJieBus7","pdf",991115,6,52,"English","en",105,"# He Only Wanted Ale\n# The Second Tankard\n# The Price of Ale\n# The Knife\n# The Man Who Paid\n# The Debt\n# First Blood\n# Three Knocks Below\n# Korun: The Door Beneath the Mule\n# Continue the Journey with Korun\n# About the Author","[{\"question\":\"Why does Korun enter The Hanged Mule in the middle of the rain?\",\"answer\":\"Korun reaches the tavern after dark, soaked and hungry, seeking ale and food while trying to push through the uneasy atmosphere.\"},{\"question\":\"What is unusual about the tankard the girl brings to Korun?\",\"answer\":\"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.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the tavern’s atmosphere hint at danger before any knife appears?\",\"answer\":\"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.\"}]","Korun: The Knife in the Tankard - Blood and Tavern Smoke Book One | PDF",1785474470,80,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"korun-the-knife-in-the-tankard-blood-and-tavern-smoke-book-one","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/korun-the-knife-in-the-tankard-blood-and-tavern-smoke-book-one/115543/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-18","2026-07-31",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"Why does Korun enter The Hanged Mule in the middle of the rain?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"Korun reaches the tavern after dark, soaked and hungry, seeking ale and food while trying to push through the uneasy atmosphere.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"What is unusual about the tankard the girl brings to Korun?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"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.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"How does the tavern’s atmosphere hint at danger before any knife appears?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"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.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,97,100,104,109,113,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":29,"slug":99},"Literature","literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]