by Eric Ugland
“You think they’re the worst gang in the city?”
“You’d have to define worst. The White Hand is damn vile, and you’d best watch any interactions you might have with them. Likely for you to wind up in a box on a ship headed to a place where slavery is the game.”
“They’re slavers?”
“Allegedly. Allegedly slavers. Point of contention they like to bring up, right before they sell you down the river to be a slave.”
“That’s messed up.”
“It is. But most of the gangs in the city do it, just not as well as the White Hand. The Slaughterhouse Gang controls a number of the meat suppliers for the city, and they have swung prices higher or lower depending on what they’d like to happen. They poisoned the supply of meat going into Little Floose on the south side. Thousands died. Property values plummeted. Slaughterhouse swooped in, bought half the neighborhood.”
“That’s messed up.”
“So how bad is it that the Swamp Angels run the Pits? That they offer corpse disposal? That they run their own assassins, who dump bodies into the pits? If you want someone to disappear, you go to the Swamp Angels. They’ll make it happen.”
“I mean, still bad?”
“Is it as bad as the Blood Bunch?”
“Uh, I’m assuming you’re going to tell me something about them?”
“That’s who you hire if you want someone to die visibly. They’re fans of messes.”
“Okay, sounds like the Blood Bunch is worse than the Swamp Angels. How many gangs are in the city?”
“I’m sure the number changes daily. But there are only a few big ones. The White Hand over in Portsmouth. The Swamp Angels here. The Slaughterhouse Gang in Little Floose. The Blood Bunch isn’t really major, they specialize, but I’ve heard their headquarters is just outside the Shade. There’s the Daybreakers who work the river, pirates mostly, but they’ve got their headquarters in Glaton. The Hard Crew runs numbers and plenty of underground gambling—”
“Is gambling illegal here?”
“Illegal? No. Taxed heavily? Yes.”
“Ah.”
“And then there are the families.”
“Families?”
“Some of the oldest criminal operations are high society. The Vibenius Clan has their fingers in all sorts of illegal operations. Very wealthy, they control most of the Bright.”
“Bright?”
“Posh neighborhood against the east wall. They like to say they are the first to get the sun, so they’re the brightest place in Glaton. Absurd. The Epidius family own most of the brothels in the city. Plenty of claims of forced prostitution, and there’s talk of Epidius being heavily involved with the White Hand, both bringing in and taking out. But I’ve also heard there’s some other noble who’s made the White Hand happen. Then you’ve got to watch out for all the cooperation and feuding between the groups. It’s a giant web that never remains still, ever-changing and making zero sense because these are all criminals. They play by very few rules.”
“Any rules?”
“The winner makes them.”
“What about the Iron Silents?”
“I’m not deep enough in to know newer gangs, so I only know they are pushing to become something. But, that’s not helpful.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to take all that information in, “the Swamp Angels run the Pits. Are they powerful?”
“Moderately. At least, last I checked. There’s no list hanging somewhere. No one does weekly rankings.”
“I just want to know what to do with this ring.”
“I know. But this is a lesson, kid. Figure it out.”
He patted me on the leg, then he got up to leave.
41
I made it home without much in the way of problems. There was definitely a creature flying in the air and making screeching noises, and it dove at one point, and there were screams and then no more flying creature. So, you know, definitely lucked out not being a midnight snack there. As soon as I made it to my apartment, I took a very long shower. And then I collapsed into bed. I wanted to spend my leveling points prior to sleeping, so I spent a minute thinking things over. Four points was a fair number. Still, though, I didn't feel like I was deficient in any one area. More Intelligence might be helpful, I’d get a bit more spell juice to play with. More charisma might be useful, but I still wasn’t exactly sure how it worked. The old standby was definitely agility or dexterity, that was the main crux of what I needed for thievery. But I was digging on magic pretty hard…
The points went into Intelligence and Wisdom.
Attributes
Strength: 13
Agility: 19
Dexterity: 17
Constitution: 13
Wisdom: 12
Intelligence: 16
Charisma: 17
Luck: 13
Good times.
I didn’t fall asleep immediately, there was at least one second of wondering if I’d locked the door, but then I just passed out.
Weird visions danced across my eyes, arms and legs and limbs and tentacles of all kinds, but everything was just out of sight, no matter how fast I tried to turn my head or where I decided to look, I could never get a clear picture of anything.
And then I woke up in a cold sweat as a figure stood over my bed grunting as he swung a heavy mace overhead.
Shadow Step.
I rolled out of bed and walked over to my closet, which was only open the merest crack, and I tried to open the door further. Nothing happened. But then I discovered that I could slip through the dark crack into the darkness beyond.
The world resumed with a whewp, and time kicked back to normal. There was a tremendous crash as the mace destroyed the bed I’d been using. Through the crack, I saw an explosion of feathers.
“Gods,” the mace wielder said, “hit him so hard he disintegrated into feathers.”
The maceman was a big guy, over six feet, and likely pushing four hundred pounds. I had the feeling most of that was muscle, but he also had more than his fair share of padding about the middle. He wore a long black leather coat, like a duster, but I could see a little glint of metal under his sleeves. Chain mail. He was clean-shaven, but his skin was terrible, I could see angry pimples from across the room. And the poor guy was losing his hair, though he’d chosen the type of coiffe that just proclaimed his inability to accept reality. I was looking at the medieval version of the combover.
“That’s absurd,” came another voice, and figure two stepped into view. Another giant of a man, this one had hair, though, and a completely different face. And this guy was as chubby. He was just a mountain of muscle, with an impressively ugly face and a huge spiked mace in one hand.
“Then where is he?” Chubs asked while spitting out feathers. “Is he some kind of mancer?”
Mancer? I thought.
“If he is, they owe us more coin,” Muscle Mountain replied. He bent down and started pulling the remains of the bed apart, tossing the shattered wood to one side.
Chubs swatted at the feathers, which were still swirling around the place.
“YEEE-OUCH!” Muscle Mountain screamed, standing up with a dagger going completely through his hand.
“What is that?” Chubs shouted back.
“Pull it out!” He shouted.
Chubs smashed his mace into the bed, again and again, each hit sending another whoosh of feathers up from the dying mattress. In no time, it’d become a blizzard inside my apartment.
“Stop attacking the bed and get the dagger out of my hand!” Mountain shouted.
Chubs stopped, dutifully, and ripped the dagger from Mountain’s hand.
Blood poured out, getting everywhere as Mountain shouted.
“Did he stab you?” Chubs asked.
“Something stabbed me.”
“So he’s still alive?”
“Must be.”
Mountain and Chubs swung at the bed a few more times, and I swear I heard the floor start creaking under their c
ombined assault. But the mattress seemed to absorb enough of their damage that they didn’t break through to the third floor.
I just stood in the closet and tried to figure out just who these two assholes were. Or, more to the point, who they worked for.
When the two stopped beating the bed, they stood there breathing hard for a moment.
“Go check,” Chubbs said.
“You do it.”
“You already checked—”
“Exactly.”
“You know it.”
“It’s a bed, you can know it too.”
Chubs shoved Mountain forward, and Mountain stumbled a few steps, then tripped and fell into the bed.
There was a very sharp intake of breath from Mountain.
“What is it?” Chubs said, mace out and ready to strike.
“Another dagger,” Mountain said, very slowly and very carefully getting to his feet, now sporting a new blade in his ribs.
Etta’s traps were still semi-functional.
Without Mountain even asking, Chubs grabbed the dagger and yanked it out. A spray of blood followed, quite a bit more than the hand dagger incident, fairly soaking the remains of the bed in blood.
Chubs walked to the end of the wreckage, grabbed it, and flipped it over.
The blankets and pillows had made something that looked like it might have possibly kind of been a body. Maybe. If you were really dumb.
“We got him,” Chubs said to Mountain.
“That’s him?” Mountain asked.
“Only one person in here, plenty of blood around. He’s dead.”
Mountain swung his mace down on the “corpse” and smiled at the hit.
“Dead,” Mountain said. “Help me get to Tanquerton.”
Chubs nodded, then put Mountain’s arm over his shoulder, assisting the big man in getting down the stairs.
“You think he’s up?” Chubs asked.
“He will be when we get there.”
I stayed in the closet until all the feathers hit the ground. I figured that was long enough for the two brutes to have gone. Then, I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up and trying to figure out where my trash can was because everything near the bed was wrecked. And I needed to get a new bed.
There were a lot of questions that needed answering, and not many people who I thought could give them to me. I didn’t exactly feel safe in the apartment, but it was still night out, so it’s not like it was necessarily better out in the streets. And yet, I wanted to go out. I wanted to be outside where at least I could have a chance of seeing what was coming after me, and, besides, I thought better when I was moving.
42
I headed over to the Via Principalis and then turned left, heading north to the palace. There still weren’t many people out, but the main thoroughfare had more light and more guard patrols. I found it odd I was never bothered when I was out at night. The guard never stopped to talk to me, I suppose it was just assumed that if you were willing to go out in the dark, you were willing to accept the consequences. The Empire was not a nanny state.
While my goal was the pit, I found myself backtracking into the grand market, and heading over towards Gideon’s. I wasn’t expecting him to be open, I wasn’t expecting much of anything, but it just seemed like a place to go. I had the bag of jewelry from the queen’s digestive tract, and I figure there was probably some value in them to extract. Plus, I still had that other coin to turn in, the other account. Going down the street, I saw light coming out of the windows, streaming onto the dark street.
I crossed to the other side of the street and stood in the darkness, looking into the shop. Gideon sat on his stool/throne while some of the small mystery figures darted around in the background. Likely sorting. Or who knows really. The thing was, Gideon was so weird. The whole time I watched him, he didn’t move or speak or do anything. I studied him for a good fifteen minutes before I finally gave up and decided to go inside.
He looked at me as I entered, like it was the most natural thing in the world, for me to be entering his shop in the wee hours of the morning. But he didn’t say anything.
I put my account coin on the counter, and Gideon picked it up and looked at it, then set it down and extended his hands. I let him put his hands on me, and we did that warm-cool thing, and then he smiled.
“We greet you, Evergreen,” he said.
“It is nice to see you too,” I replied.
“Do you have things to sell?”
“I do, but a little something first,” I said, and I pulled out the other Gideon coin I had, and I slid it across the counter.
He paused, tilted his head, and reached down with his too-long arm, gingerly picking it up with his overly long fingers, and spent a good minute looking at it.
“Are you claiming this account?” He finally asked.
“If I might venture a question, what are my options here?”
“You may claim the account, in which case, we will add the totals of your two accounts together. Any items placed in storage with us will be given to you. This account will be terminated, though Evergreen will remain open and in good standing with us. Or, you may return this account to its owner. Attempt to at least. You will set a price, and once that price has been reached, the account will be returned. If the owner does not return or is unable to pay, we will reclaim the account, and you will receive a portion of the contents.”
“Makes more sense to claim it, then, huh?”
“There is less work for us should you claim it.”
I knew the guy was alive. And likely he wanted his money back. But I could use some money. Always. And stuff. Especially if someone was trying to have me killed. More magical items would definitely be welcome.
“I’ll claim the account,” I said.
Gideon nodded, and in one quick, smooth motion, he snapped the coin in half, letting both pieces fall to the counter. One of the little figures appeared from behind Gideon, and took the broken coin away, while a second little robed figure ran off to one side and grabbed a small lockbox. A third joined the second and got a small chest. Pretty quickly, there was a line of chests, lockboxes, and pouches on the counter in front of me.
“The stored items,” Gideon said, with a gesture of his hand. “The chests must remain, as they are ours, but you may remove the items if you wish.”
One small chest. One long chest. Three cases that looked to hold weapons. Two lockboxes. Three pouches.
I went to the long chest first. It was an odd shape. Over six feet long, but only a foot wide and six inches deep. I popped the thing open, and there was a brilliant black longbow inside with magic so heavy on it that I could literally see the aura around it.
The Bloody Baron’s Bow of Surprise
Item Type: Rare
Item Class: Two-handed ranged
Material: Blood-soaked yew.
Damage: 50-60 (Piercing)
Durability: 400/650
Weight: 4.8 lbs
Requirements: none
Description: A longbow of six and one-half feet in length, the Bloody Baron’s Bow of Surprise is able to be used while under an invisibility spell without breaking invisibility. Sneak attack damage is double. If the wielder is noticed, the Bloody Baron’s Bow of Surprise will glow bright red until wielder is hidden again.
A pretty interesting weapon, but more suited for an assassin. And open spaces. The longbow was not good for moving through the city. And I wasn’t looking to pop people from the darkness.
“Selling this,” I said.
Gideon nodded.
The small chest had a whole bunch of papers in it, maps and other documents. I took all of those and shoved them in my backpack. At the bottom of the chest was a small book, something I recognized. A spellbook. A spellbook I wasn’t sure I wanted: Summon Fiend.
Still, the lure of magic was there, and I wasn’t ready to forgo it just because it might be, well, summoning a fiend was going to be bad no matter what, but it might be what I needed. I slipp
ed it from the chest into my bag.
The weapons’ cases were next, and I popped them open one after another. Two daggers were in the first, a mace in the second, and a sword in the last one.
KrakenTooth
Item Type: Rare
Item Class: One-handed Melee
Material: Kraken’s tooth, Kraken leather
Damage: 50-60 (Stabbing)
Durability: 400/650
Weight: 2.8 lbs
Charges: 5/5
Requirements: none
Description: The tooth of a mighty kraken wrapped with a leather grip. Bonuses to swimming when fully submerged in water. User may make an underwater charge attack: stab with the tooth, and it will pull you along at high speed for thirty feet. Charges refill each dawn.
The Stone Stiletto of Silence
Item Type: Rare
Item Class: One-handed Melee
Material: Silent Stone
Damage: 10-30 (Stabbing)
Durability: 400/650
Weight: 1.8 lbs
Requirements: none
Description: A dagger with no sharp edges, just a sharp point. When stabbed, the victim is unable to speak or make noise for five minutes. The stiletto stores any noise made during those minutes, and it can release the noise as sonic damage.
The FeyBane Mace
Item Type: Rare
Item Class: One-handed Melee
Material: Cold Iron
Damage: 50-60 (Bludgeoning)
Durability: 400/1650
Weight: 18.8 lbs
Requirements: May not be welded by a fey creature
Description: A long handle with a ball of spiked metal at the end. The FeyBane Mace is anthemic to fey creatures, dealing an additional four times multiplier damage. Additionally, each hit has a slim chance of banishing the fey creature to another plane, notably, not the plane of the fairy. Causes any Fey creature to immediately be hostile to the wielder.
The Charged Blade of Chaos
Item Type: Rare