The Complete Short Works of Georg Ebers

A bustling tavern on the Miltenberg ferry becomes a micro‑cosm of medieval life, where merchants, mercenaries, aristocrats and desperate wanderers all converge under one roof. In the crowded taproom of the Blue Pike, a rough‑spoken brigand named Cyriax and his ragtag companions—an ailing girl with a crippled leg, a fierce red‑haired woman, and a pair of crutches‑leaning outcasts— scramble to hide a secret that could cost them dearly. Their whispered plans involve concealed dice, hidden identities, and a desperate hope that the arriving convoy of Nuremberg nobles will pass them by unnoticed.

The story captures the clamor of a bustling inn on the eve of a grand imperial assembly, as armored cavalry thunder past and gossip fills the air. Amid the chaos, loyalty and fear intertwine, and the characters’ quick‑thinking schemes hint at larger dangers lurking beyond the tavern doors. Listeners are drawn into the vivid, noisy world of 15th‑century travel, where every glance could mean salvation or ruin.