Through the Streets of Atanlia (Started)

[Lost In The Void]

Daniel sat in the bottom of the whorehouse, at the pub enjoying his second beer when a short man with a penciled mustache sat down beside him, "You owe me ten, not two for damages done Daniel."

Daniel turned to face him, "Ten is too much, I'll give you five more, but thats as far as I'll go; besides, I told you I wanted a girl who liked being hit."

"Hit, yes, she likes that, what she doesn't like is being beaten and despite what you think, there is a difference!" the man's voice had raised greatly over the course of the sentence and he stood up to face Daniel, "You will give me ten, because I won't have her for at least a week due to the bruises, you cost me more than you paid, I want that fixed."

Daniel drained his beer and stood up as well, using the full extent of his figure to tower over the smaller man, "I said I would give you five, you should be happy with the fact I'm giving you any at all."

The man withered, but only for a short second before recomposing himself, "Its as simple as this Daniel, you give us our money or I burn down that Tea House you seem to frequent so much, you can beat me all you want, but at the end of the day, when its your life up in flames, I'll be the one laughing," the man tipped his hat and gave him a cold look, "Remember Daniel, ten gold, we'll be waiting."

 

[Yorgmiester]

Savory smells began to fill the shop, accompanied by various chopping, grinding, scraping and sizzling noises. Steam rose from the cooking area and blanketed the ceiling, while Elli ran back and forth from the cellar fetching ingredients. Jin worked with practiced ease and was soon dishing out full plates of steaming food for his young charges. The breakfast consisted mainly of the expected fare; hams, eggs, fried potatoes, toasted breads; though as with all of Jin's meals there were a few examples of exotic taste present. One such oddity today was thick clam soup spiced with salt and onion.

"I'm sure they're just worried about the project." Jin said with a broad smile as he finished stocking Gerik and Clarrisa's table to the brim. "It's dangerous business, you know. People could get hurt. Now eat, there is much to be done. No special brews today, Gerik."

As the day grew brighter, non-gang activity at the broken Blessing slowly began. Most of the shop's customers during the first half of the day were regulars who stayed briefly for their accustomed morning tea and chat, or stopped by for some herbal remedy. Jin talked heartily with all of them, of course, offering anecdotes and stories wherever they were welcome. Presently the clip-clop of horse's hooves echoed through the steadily busying street outside. The shop had big front windows and the door was always open on nice days, so their view was unobstructed as a large, sturdy-looking wagon drew to a halt just outside. Three burly men accompanied the grand assortment of crates and barrels that weighed down the vehicle's spacious cargo bed. About a fourth of the containers bore Jin's mark: a willow tree with a fish weaving through its branches.

"Good morning, gentlemen!" Jin called cheerily from the door while the three men began unloading his wares. A tired grunt was all he received in reply. He deposited the pitcher of tea in his hands onto a nearby table as the wagon driver hopped down and tethered the horses. Though Jin made monthly payments to the transport company who in turn paid these men, it was customary to tip, and they liked to haggle out as much coin as they could. It looked like the driver even had a few trinkets to peddle today.

"Come and move these crates to the cellar!" Jin called into the shop before stepping out into the street to start negotiating with the driver. He would peruse the man's wares too, out of courtesy. Though it was unlikely that anyone would are enough to turn him in, the man was still risking his job. Selling merchandise on the side of a delivery service was not strictly legal.

 

[Redryhno]

"Too fucking much if you ask me, I've always been one for the cheaper girls myself. More scars on the discount broads, o' course, but I'd rather have the girls bleed as opposed to my wallet."

"The cheaper girls are cheaper for more than just scars, Gerik." Clarissa took a sip of tea and moved the pot as Jin and his boys filled the table with platters of food.

"She's kind of a ****, ain't she?"

"She's decent enough, considering she's a magical person. Dev's a bit of a prude though. 'Never been to that side of town' my ass, did you see the look on his face? Same look I've seen on every boy seen near there. I've got friends there and a few dozen eyes on the streets lookin' for this Destroyer."

She flicked out a dagger from her sleeve and held it against Gerik's leg as she took another sip of tea with the other hand.

"One thing though, you imply what I use to my advantage in public again and you get this dagger straight to the bone."

She flicked it back up her sleeve before he could grab her arm and calmly went about taking the food from the various platters. She took a couple of potatoes, a small ham, and some bread. Her life was good for the most part, but the figure required to fit into them was hell.

 

[Nukey]

"One thing though, you imply what I use to my advantage in public again and you get this dagger straight to the bone."

Gerik chuckled lightly at the sight of Clarissa's blade, his face showing not even the slightest hint of concern or unease. He looked up at the girl and smiled, eyeing her down before uttering a single word.

"You've got a sharp blade and a sharper tongue." Gerik said with a devilish grin. "However, if you be thinkin' that I'm scared o' a delicate flower such as yourself, then you're as dull as they come. I've survived a lot worse than knives wounds and spilled more blood than you have in your frail, beautiful body, so if I'd refrain from anythin' stupid if I were you."

He leaned back in his chair, attempting to put some distance between himself and Clarissa, and placed a hand on one of his multiple holsters.

"I'm a professional, after all, and you're just a girl. A pretty one, true, but nothin' more. You try stickin' anythin' in me and you'd be dead before you knew it. If I wanna stick anythin' in you, well, I'd have to pay first."

 

[Redryhno]

"I'm a professional, after all, and you're just a girl. A pretty one, true, but nothin' more. You try stickin' anythin' in me and you'd be dead before you knew it. If I wanna stick anythin' in you, well, I'd have to pay first."

Clarissa smiled to herself throughout the man's speech.

"You are a tactless street thug, Gerik, nothing more, not a professional,otherwise you wouldn't be on this side of town still. I haven't survived on the streets all this time because I've gone into every man's bed that smiled at me, in fact, I've only ever been one man's company without him being a mark.So don't go thinking you can just pay me and you get your fun without my many,many pints of your blood."

She continued to eat her plate of food, Jin did have a way with meals.

"I will say one more thing, you may have bled many times more than myself, but that just means you're not very good at...whatever it is you were hired for. And if you ever want me dead, you'll have to memorize every single configuration I ever have or will use, Gerik. I wouldn't make it easy should it come to that.Eyes can be changed, clothes can be torn, hair can be cut, and even skin can be marked."She smiled at him,"Now that we have this little contest of ours out of the way, eat. By the look of you and that smell wafting off of you, you need food, not more liquor.You wouldn't want Jin to feel useless now would you?"

She ate a few more bites before turning towards where Jin stood outside,by the door,"Thank you Jin, your food is still as good as it was the first time I came in all those years ago. What exactly is the cost for this smorgasbord again?"

 

[CloggedDonkey]

The workers began moving their boxes from the cart, and a small squad of guards walked by. They stopped and watched for a bit, the captain calling a rest. One of the guards went into the Broken Blessing to get a few iced teas for the squad. One of the guards and the driver chatted for a bit. Two more guards watched the crew move the boxes like clockwork off of the cart. Finally, the captain spoke to the worker throwing the boxes down to the men moving them inside."Hey, boys, what's in these crates? We get them with that seal on the rich side. They stopped even checking those after a while, just figured there weren't bombs in 'em. They dishes or something?"

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An assortment of different people came into the shop, ranging from beggars buying Jin's Three-Gold-Meat-Pie-Special to dock workers getting a warm tea to go, even to a few government workers getting some of the more exotic teas for their offices. A group of older men came in and started a checkers game at a table after ordering a green tea. All things were going relatively smoothly, given the state of things last night. Even when a guard came in and ordered five iced teas in gallbladders all he got was a few looks and a couple whispers, as opposed to the verbal assault he would usually get. Everything seemed at ease here, at least to the patrons, as if things were going well.

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Across the city, in the deep catacombs that were dug over thousands of years by rushing waters of the Karend River, two guard patrols moved through, marking the walls with paint and torches as they went. They walked on opposite sides of the ravine, each group with a War Guard at the front and a sergeant at the back. As they walked, a black hand, seemingly coming from a dark spot on the rocks, grabs a sergeant's mouth and, before he can scream, he is gone, instead replaced with a woman who's skin is as dark as shadows, and who's very presence brings death with it. She walks with the men, kicking rocks into the water as she moved, until the War Guard turns to face his men. "Halt!", he shouts. "Who's tossing things into the river? Come on, fess up or you're all court marshaled!" The War Guard stood for a moment, facing the men, then, at the back, the sergeant raises a hand.

"Sir, it was me, sir. Was it wrong, sir, to kick stones into the water, sir?" A smile crosses the dark woman's face as the War Guard approaches, war-hammer drawn. As he takes a swing, the woman phases out of existence for a moment and phases back behind the War Guard. She frowns deeply and utters "The avatar of Nod and Malinor frowns on you." She reaches into the Guard, his flesh rotting at her touch and peeling away. A few quick hammer swings later and the guards lie dead. The second squad, upon hearing not response from a call, quickly leave the caverns. That is how the Thieves Guild stay safe for today.

 

[Yorgmiester]

The captain got an angry glare in reply to his questioning. The worker was clearly not in the best of moods this morning. "How the hell should I know?" He asked gruffly, continuing to heave the heavy crates down to his fellows who carried the containers into the shop. They worked with tired luster, the kind of efficiency born of men who just wanted their day's work to be over. It was likely they had been up all night unloading their company's shipment from whatever sea-faring vessel it arrived on.

Jin overheard the exchange from where he stood at the front of the wagon. Excusing himself from his conversation with the the driver, he made his way towards them. As he passed the shop door he peered inside and made brief eye contact with Elli, then tucked his hands into his sleeves and approached the captain with a smile. He spoke slowly and detached, savoring his words in a pompous, egotistical style.

"My shipments consist mainly of ingredients, captain, some from half the world away! I receive rare hog and antelope meat from the rugged wilds of South Rioton, red spices from the Eagle Isles, and luscious but pungent bedlam herbs from deep in Sharda's mangrove swamps. During the summer I get sometimes blue petrel leaf, an earthy yet invigorating tea that will only grow at the foot of mountains west of the Radiant Range during June and the beginning of July. It is harder to obtain than King's Rod leaf, especially with so few traders crossing the Attican Pass these days, but blue petrel is of such high quality..."

Elli brought a new tea jug to the gang's table and offered to refill their cups, meanwhile whispering in a hushed tone "If the guards demand to start opening the crates Jin might need a diversion, so get something planned. Something that demands all of their attention, preferably away from the shop." She went back to serving the other customers.

"...of course costs much more for all of these exotic wares, but that's what separates my shop from every other tea shop in the city, and means I can, thankfully, afford all of it!" Jin finished his speech with a grin and patted one of the barrels with an almost loving touch. "If you are still curious about my shop's merchandise, or if you are, eh, suspicious of it" he looked saddened all of a sudden, almost hurt, "then I can fetch you my roster for this shipment."

 

[Malyc]

Upon hearing Elli's suggestion to have a diversion planned, Draven got up and walked past the table where Gerik and Clarissa were seated. He met Gerik's eye and nodded toward the door, quietly muttering "You up for an early morning argument?" before walking out.

He positioned himself about a block down and waited, hoping that there was no need to take this any further. Well, here's hoping Gerik doesn't take this any farther than is necessary. I do so hate bloodshed before lunch...

 

[Lost In The Void]

Daniel walked through the street still nursing his hangover and the knowledge that he was in debt to one of the biggest brothel owners in the city. He stopped at a stand and threw a coin on the table receiving a drink in exchange. The cool liquid seemed to soothe his headache moderately and he was immediately delighted at this change of pace for the day.

He decided to go meet a few of his old contacts before joining the gang he was in now, see if any of them had any information on the Destroyers. While he had no doubt that others of the group had already begun their own searches, they always went with the 'sneaky' ways, aka the ways that Daniel was most unequipped for.

He stood in front of another clubhouse, this one dealing with the fish that was commonly pulled from the waters beside the city. A large man stood at the entrance and put up his hand as Daniel approached, "You gotta password for me man?"

Daniel smirked, "Whats the smell between your legs?"

The large man laughed and hugged Daniel, "Been too long man, don't see you around here anymore, you too large for us small time petty thieves?"

"Guild work," Daniel responded curtly, stepping into the fish shop, "Wondering if you'd heard anything about the Destroyers recently..."

 

[Tiger Sora]

Fleur pulled back as her allies bolt took down the gangs leader. Time seemed to slow as everyone went for their weapons, she couldn't allow that though. There was no intent to die this day. A quick flash and Fleur tossed out a fingers grab of iron shavings into the air "Keris Olis Lighktin". An arc of lightning shot from her fingertips towards the largest of the thugs. His cloths aflame from the intense attack. Another thug fell from a pistol shot, left handed. The other two behind her we're bearing down on her, no time to reload was allowed. Maybe..... one last desperate spell...

 

[drmigit2]

Like a machine, Davarious reloaded his crossbow, Fleur had almost done it, there remained only two thugs, he figured he could possibly make her life easier. He skipped out on the poison this time, he did not need the thug alive.

One of the men fell to the ground instantly from another arrow flung via Davarious's crossbow. It pierced him straight through the eye. Davarious had to retreat however due to a pistol shot aimed poorly at the wall, tossing dust and debris in his face. Scratches covered it, now he was pissed.

"Fleur, if you don't kill this guy, he is going to regret even being born!"

 

[Tiger Sora]

"Your always so intent on killing you should do it all yourself" Freya mumbled the words low so there would be no chance Davarious could hear her. The last of the ally thugs charged at Fleur, this was unexpected, she'd wanted to let the man go. Killing was usually a last resort for the mage. A iron bar swung across where her head just was, she was nimble and swift, but dodging was about the extent of her close combat related skills. "Stop now and leave, your only chance I'll allow". Fleur backed away readying a spell of last resort on her lips.

It was unneeded, the thug ran. Probably one of the few moments in his sad life he showed some degree of intelligence.

 

[drmigit2]

Davarious watched the thug run and aimed his pistol at him. " No time to load the crossbow ." As he was about to fire, the man broke in to a crowd and disappeared as quickly as he had shown from that ally corner. "Damn."

As the assassin crawled down the ladder he had set up to get on the building earlier, rage pulsed through him. " He got away, not allowed NOT ALLOWED! Might have to hide for a bit if he saw my face." He peered down in to an open water barrel and saw something strange in his face. He was smiling for the first time since the incident. Not a half-baked grin or some smirk, but a smile despite the blood cascading across his face from the small cuts the debris made. I guess I am back home again.

He rushed to Fleur's position now a bit more calm and hoisted the leader on his back, leaving the bolt in the man's leg. His house was not far and he had time to walk due to the poison. Lifting the man was easy despite his less than stellar athletics, one finds that technique is more important than raw strength in all situations. He turned to face Fleur, now totally sober.

"You will regret not killing him. He saw your face, getting around will be more dangerous for you now and on top of that, whatever gang he floats to now will have an idea of what your face is and we wont be able to sneak in as easily. I had the same problem when I started being an assassin, oh I forgot to mention, congrats on not dying and completing your first mission as an assassin. You may not stay one if you decide not to, but what you did there, is what it takes to be one, aside from the not killing part. speaking of."

Davarious peered down at the man Fleur had shot earlier, he was still breathing but was barely holding on to life. With proper medical attention he might still live. Davarious's smile came back as he took out his pistol and aimed it at the thug.

"In a way, I am actually being merciful this way. Though, I will only fire if you tell me to Fleur, be careful what you say to this though, two reports to a gang would confirm it and boy would you be in trouble then. The guards might just kill them when they find their way here, or maybe they will save him. Who knows? Want to gamble or fix the odds?"

 

[Tiger Sora]

Fleurs emotionless eyes didn't make contact with Dav. "If you must know I've bigger problems than some smalltime street gang. I've killed Inquisitors, members of the Royal Guard. I live because I'm good at what I do, and Nod's blessings". One man was still clinging to life, with everything she just said there would be no way she could let him live. "I always try to have the odds in my favor. Finish him off, he need not suffer anymore".

 

[drmigit2]

Davarious began laughing, hard. He pulled the trigger and with a loud *CRACK* the man's body jumped a bit then fell dead. The bullet lodged itself directly in his heart. A pool of blood began to form around him and the stench of death began to set in.

Davarious sighed, his regular composure came back again. "Alright, lets get this guy to my apartment. It is not far from here and I already soundproofed the walls, you will see why soon."

As they wandered throughout the halls and passed apartments Davarious felt all the life return to him, it felt magnificent. After a bit of a walk, not long he came upon his apartment building. A one floor multi-building setup, nothing special. He unlocked the door and he revealed the inside of the enclave. There were two rooms, in the first a bed and a trunk. The main room had a table, a fireplace and some art supplies scattered around with an easel in the corner. Around the easel and scattered across various locations in the apartment were abstract looking paintings of various size and color. All of them seemed to depict different landscapes with the largest and most striking in the middle over the fireplace. It depicted some dark forest with a purple haze at the bottom, upon closer inspection the trees had little eyes popping out from various locations, the paint seemed to be only a week old and was not entirely dried yet.

Davarious dropped the man on the ground and cleared the table. All he had to remove really was a plate along with a cup and he was set.

"Fleur, please make yourself at home, but before you do that, please place the other guest square on the table over there. I will get the rope."

The assassin went in to the bedroom and began rifling through the trunk.

 

[Tiger Sora]

Fleur took a quick look around the room. A bit bear aside from all the paintings. Much unlike her home, a cluttered mess of books, scrolls, magical bits and bobs. "You hardly expect me to lift him do you? I'm not like some turnip-faced woman working a field. I'm more a solitary rose, one to be admired from afar. Not one for work, truth be it theres still no way I could hoist him. Magic and mind are my strong suits". Fleur adjusted the cloth wrapped around her head and shoulders, the short time since the fight she'd not the time to properly wrap it up tight. "Now as I can only guess what you're going to be doing for the next few hours I'm going to check up on the others. Less theres anything else"?

 

[drmigit2]

Davarious pulled the rope out of the chest, finally coiling it up and tossing it next to the table. He lifted up the still unconscious man and dropped him on the table. "If you want to go I won't stop you, but this should not take too long. Just remember, after this we will be striking our real target immediately." Davarious tied up the man's hands and feet in a hog tie then walked over to the kitchen. He conjured a large wicked looking blade that seemingly served no purpose in a kitchen.

"Now now, wakey wakey." He slapped the thug hard. He still remained asleep. "On second thought, this might be a while, I think I used a tad too much poison. I will see you in the tavern later." Davarious exited the room and gathered a ton of rags, scattering them around the table to soak up any mess.

 

[Tiger Sora]

'And he eats off that table' Fleur was quite ready to evict herself from the current location. Torture was the lowest end of information gathering. So much work to gather the target, than you could be held up for weeks even months depending on the victims strength and the very value of the information could come into play. What they we're after certainly was some poor quality type, as suggested by the spread of rags Dav had tossed about his floor.

Fleur stepped out into the daylight, a nice warm sun greeted her partnered with a fair breeze being brought in off the sea. Infinitely more appeasing than the wicked cold night when the rooftop meeting occurred. Still with the warmth a chill still crawled up her spine. A reminder of how close to death she neared. Maybe a message from Nod not to press her luck on stupid plans formed by stupider people. Either way, next time it would be her who formed the plan. Fleur had the brains for it, and the mental stability. True that it is some of her 'friends' certainly had issues in one form or another and to varying degrees. And the best effort was put forth to get past them, putting one of the physically weakest people against surrounding odds...... no thought further was needed, she would make, or help, plan.

Her hand clasped across her brow to form a protective shadow to aid in sight, Fleur took a look down the street. "Back to Jin's". Some tea and good company we're needed. As boastful as she was, if it wasn't for the support... worse for wear would fit the category.

 

[drmigit2]

As Fleur left he made a large sigh and grabbed his knife. "This will take a while." He dosed off after a bit, he hadn't had much sleep for a while. In his dreams, short though they were, he could make out abstract bits of memories and dreams, then they all were back. The incident never occurred, he was sitting in his old corner and everyone was smiling and laughing again. Then he woke up.

The thug was squirming around and fell off the table trying to untie himself. "What the hell is this shit man? What the hell happened? Wait...my leg? Oh my god my leg! I will get you you son of a ***** get the fuck over here."

Davarious began laughing as he kicked the bastard in the face. "I normally don't hit the head first, makes you feel less, but I need to pick you back up. Next time, I will use a spiked boot. Please don't make me use a spiked boot." He picked him up and placed him back on the table, still writhing like a trapped snake about to have its head lobbed off. Davarious turned around and grabbed his blade. It was almost noon out now and the sun shimmered off the blade from the crack in the door and the candles that he had lit that earlier morning. "Now, have you seen this man? I need to know. Don't trouble yourself with the details. No, if you lie to me I will find out and boy you will really be a sad man after that. Still don't want to talk? Come on, I am a nice guy, keep the nice guy around." The thug spat in Davarious's face.

Davarious's eyes grew wild, the blade came down with a force even he did not expect, piercing the leader's hand, almost severing it. The screams echoed throughout the room and Davarious's grin came back. "I soundproofed this place when I bought it. Keep screaming, it won't do anything for you." Davarious picked up one of the rags and placed it over the stab wound, stopping it from making the man lightheaded. "One more time, unless you really hate that hand, where is the man on the poster? I know you know him. You are a gang member, you all are connected. STOP LYING TO ME NOW!" Davarious came in close with the knife pressed against the thug's nose. A bit of blood came trickling down. "You have one more chance, keep lying to me and I will make this the most painful experience of your life before I take you out of this god-forsaken city and feed you to wolves. Now, where does his gang run?" The thug's composure began to fall, a tear came down his cheek as he began spilling everything he knew about the gang member. "That is all I know, I swear, I promise man, his life is not worth mine to me please..."

Davarious began to pace around and started laughing. "You know I can't let you go yet, no you will wait here a while and if you lied to me, if you lied. Oh, and if I do die, I hope you like dying painfully of an infection in your hand, because that is what would happen. Is there anything else you want to tell me? Your life rides on mine."

The thug broke down in to full on sobbing. "I told you everything, honest. We were never rivals or nothin, I just know things about other gangs and that is where he hits usually. Please, I have a family, the gang was small time, I don't want to die." Davarious's eyes were cold again. "Neither do I." His knife fell down on the thug, and it came down again, and again and again. The screaming slowly stopped and the thug laid still. The rags began to soak up the blood that was like a waterfall down the table. "I appreciate your cooperation."

Davarious's apartment was close to the sewer, close enough to make a dump there fairly easily and he did. He came back to the apartment, the blood had began to dry. He cleaned off the table using a clean rag and a bunch of water, getting it off with speed that only could come from experience. He threw all the now dry rags in the fireplace, covered them with kindling and wood and lit them. The mess was removing itself, how lovely he thought. He washed his hands and face in another bucket of water that he had pre-prepared and sighed. The room smelled really bad now and Davarious had no intention of staying long, he ventilated the place via a window leading to an always unoccupied alley way, only enough for the air to escape, not enough for anyone to break in, and if they tried, let's just say the glass was not actually regular glass.

He began to move to Jin's to gather Fleur.

 

[CloggedDonkey]

A man in furs and silk clothing marched into the Broken Blessing, two men in fighting gear behind him. Their swords still staid at their sides, but they were on edge, muscle visible on bare forearms. The man, though, only seemed a little anxious with a mix of disgust for the filthy crowd on his face. He cleared his throat and coughed a little and said, sheepishly, "Huh, hello, is the owner of this place in? I have a few business dealings I wish to talk to him about..." He mumbled something about hating public speaking under his breath and waited for replies.

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The captain looked Jin in the eyes for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't think we'll need to. We need to get going, anyway. Lithim, go get Smith, we're heading out." The other members of the squad gathered their things and one of the others walked into the Broken Blessing. He came out a few minutes later with a few gal-bladders of tea and handed one to each soldier, then nodded to Jin.

"I left some extra gold for trouble with the captain." He said in a hush voice. "He's trying to become a Royal and is being really strict. Also, there' s a guy asking for you in there." He ran after the other guards, his sword rattling on his leggings a few times.

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In a small house, two men in shrouds sat, a child sitting in one's lap. The man with the child was listening intently as the other spoke, and the child moved a bit on the man's lap. "Look, the Guild can put you up here, but you'd be much better on one of the farms outside the city. We have some that would be great for you." His voice was stern, but reassuring.

"No. My daughter is not growing up on a farm and coming back here when a boy says he is. If she lives here, she'll want to leave..." He looked down at the dirt mop of hair and ribbons in his lap. "Besides, I think the others might scare her. She already thinks my eyes are scary, imagine some of those guys out there..." The other man smiled.

"Rare that we see someone looking out for his kid over himself when things like this happen. I'll put you here for another month, but you'll have to go somewhere soon. Just make sure you don't do anything with magic until those burns healed, alright? Could lose a hand, or worse..." The man got up from a stool and bowed. "Still, it was nice talking to you again. I'll see you next week." He left the house and pulled a second hood around his head as he stepped into the street. A rat was woven on it in golden thread, and he seemed unseen by those around him as he walked.