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bloody-tusked manticore to the
     death. The Qualinesti, the elven people of the high meadows, took him to witness the
     coronation of a prince of their wooded realms, dressing Tasslehoff in silver and
    silk of rare design. He'd spoken with wayfarers of a dozen nations and all polite races,
     and a few races not so polite.
    Once in a while, Tasslehoff would run into an old adventuring friend from years ago, and
     they'd travel together. He'd sketch crude maps of his journeys to show his friends,
     elaborating on his adventures for effect, waiting for the listeners to smile. He loved
     story-telling over a map.
    Mapmaking was not his only hobby, however. Occasionally, Tasslehoff would see something
     small and interesting within easy reach. When no one was looking, he'd borrow the item to
     admire it; oftentimes when he finished looking at it, the owner was gone. With a sigh,
     he'd drop the item in one of his many pockets and move on. He never meant to steal
     anything. Things just came out like that.
    A week ago, Tasslehoff found the ring.
    Tasslehoff scratched his nose in the dim light and remembered. He was in his home town, a
     farming community called Solace. He'd gotten up early to get hot pastries from a nearby
     bakery. While waiting for the shop to open, he heard two men having a shouting match in an
     alley.
    Argument turned to scuffling, then came a hideous cry that made the kender jump. Three
     watchmen walking past immediately rushed toward the alley as the killer fled from it.
    The thin-faced murderer was almost too hasty to escape. He stumbled on a loose rock and
     opened a clenched hand to catch himself. A glittering bauble fell from his palm and
     bounced beside Tasslehoff, who was hiding behind a wooden box by the bakery door. With a
     slight move, Tasslehoff covered the ring from view. The murderer hesitated, cursing the
     ring's loss, but continued fleeing upon seeing the watchmen advance his way. Within
     seconds, both pursued and pursuers were out of sight. Tasslehoff pocketed the ring with a
     careless flourish and went off to examine it.
    It was very impressive, no doubt about that: solid gold, inlaid with small green emeralds,
     topped with a great faceted emerald that made Tasslehoff's head spin.
    Undoubtedly, the ring was worth a fortune and could alone buy a small mansion or virtually
     anything Tasslehoff could imagine. Out of curiosity, he compared his left ring finger with
     the ring's diameter, then put the ring on to admire it.
    It was then he discovered that the ring would not come off. He tugged, pulled, and used
     soap and water, all to no avail. A few minutes after he gave up a last attempt to remove
     it, the ring
    flashed, saturating the kender's vision with velvety green light. At the same moment, it
     teleported him into the ocean, which was supposed to be hundreds of miles away.
    The change was so sudden that he almost drowned before he had the presence of mind to
     paddle to keep himself afloat. He struggled, growing wearier with each passing minute.
     Then a tall wave slapped him and he choked, and the ring flashed green again and
     teleported him away-into a woodland full of scratchy briars.
    This process continued for days. Every few hours the ring would send him off to a new
     place he'd never seen before. If danger threatened, the ring would jerk him out of it and
     carry him elsewhere. He knew that the ring was cursed and uncontrollable and that he'd
     better find a way to stop the teleporting before he was dropped into a volcano. At least,
     he was learning to swim quickly enough.
    It didn't take long before he noticed the distance between hops was decreasing;
     eventually, he was tele-porting only a mile or so at a time, though more frequently. By
     making a mental note of landmarks, he also judged that he was moving in a straight line;
     and this heartened him: the ring was taking him somewhere. An adventure, indeed!
    This pleasant feeling