Zal's got a bit of a point. This isn't exactly the most glamorous of a position and you could certainly do better than hiding out in these filthy sewers.

You've got more than enough saved and have enough connections that you could easily open up a real business front. You'd just need to keep everything low key and change a few things.

The more you think about it, the more you feel this is the right decision. The next day you gather Zal and Vaughn to discuss this new direction.

"An inn certainly sounds better than the sewers." Vaughn says.
"Well, we're still probably going to have some of our operations down there, but I figure we can at least start making an attempt to climb out of them. I'm thinking that we probably should stop dealing in Yellow Devil too." You say.

Zamora nods her head.

"I agree. The profits aren't worth the risks on that racket. A lot less sudden body meltdowns and diseased junkie whores lingering around as well." Zal remarks.
"So what about the location? Are we buying out an existing inn or starting from scratch? We could probably buy back the old place, the Troll's Breath Tavern. Edmond used to run the Talons from there before the militia raided the place and shut it down." Vaughn remarks.
"Wouldn't it be a little obvious, if the Talons set up there again?" You ask.
"Nah, they'd never expect the same place twice! Besides, it's called the Clean Mug Tavern now. It's run by two siblings, one of them even comes here to bet on the races and fights sometimes. The place is barely scraping by, so I think they would be receptive to selling it to us for cheap."
"Instead of buying it outright, I'd suggest just getting the owners to work with us. That way nothing really changes up front, but we don't spend money and we're the ones really running things." Zalmora says.

"Definitely sounds like a better idea, but I know what place you're talking about, and it seems a little on the small side, I was thinking some place bigger like my old family's inn which is still abandoned. We wouldn't have to deal with anyone." You say.
"Seems like more hassle. You'd still have to buy it from the city which could present some problems. Assuming they didn't ask many questions, you'd still have to fix the place up before we could start using it proper. Wouldn't we need to get an alcohol supplier and hire people as well?" Vaughn remarks.
"Not really, we know more than enough folks that we could have cheap employees. Some of them are hopeless gamblers with debts in fact, so that's no problem. As for alcohol, we could easily make it ourselves and bypass a supplier. Most folks coming wouldn't be there for the booze anyway, so it isn't like we're going to need hundreds of barrels of the stuff every month. Of course your family's old inn is in a slightly better part of Klyton, so my concern would be the greater likelihood of militia just stumbling in for a drink now and then." Zal remarks.
> You seize the old Talon tavern
Now that you're rethinking this, the less paper work the better and you are probably going to be better off located in the poorer area of the city too.

"So who is this hopeless gambling case who owns this property exactly?" You ask Vaughn.
"His name's Carl and you probably have seen him, you just didn't know his name. He's a short grubby guy. His face almost looks a little orcish, but he smells worse than one half the time." Vaughn remarks.
"Oh, him? That disgusting little grub owns a tavern? Thought he lived here in the sewers. In fact I was wondering why he wasn't in the ring fighting with the other bums." You say.
"Disgusting is right, the little shit tried to grab my ass once and made a bunch of stupid sexual innuendo. He's lucky I didn't cut his dick off and only stabbed his hand." Zalmora says.
"Hm, well I suppose if he gives us any shit, we know who he's already afraid of. You said he had a sibling, what's the story on that one?"
"Um, dunno much. I think her name's Annie and I do know she swears more than the three of us put together. She came down here to retrieve her brother a couple times and every other word that came out of her mouth was some variation of fuck." Vaughn says.
"Well that's very interesting, but I was wondering if she was likely to give us any shit if we try to muscle in on the tavern. I mean are we going to have to take care of this bitch or not?"
"I dunno, I mean she's got a mouth on her, but she's just a skinny thing and I can't see her giving us any trouble if we seriously threaten her."
"Well, it would seem the goal is clear. I'll go have a talk with these siblings about the facts of life." You say.
"You don't want anyone to come with you?" Zal asks.
"Nah, it'll be fine."
"As you say." Zal says almost implying that you don't know what you're doing.

The next day, you enter the Clean Mug Tavern which can't possible be true given that you feel like you need to jump in a river just by setting foot in the place. Which is saying a lot considering you do most of your business in the fucking sewers.

The floors are sticky with filth and the walls in this dim light don't seem much better. A family of rats scurry past you as you walk further in making you wonder if you've left the sewers at all.

The place is empty save for a few drunks face down on tables. A frowning thin girl with a pale complexion sit behind a bar. It's already apparent she isn't welcoming.

"What the fuck do you want?" She asks.
"Do you greet all your potential customers that way?" You ask.
"Don't fucking like it, you can get the fuck out."
"Yeah, you must be Annie. Where's your slug of a brother?"
"Probably fucking a whore instead of taking care of fucking business as usual. And how do you know my fucking name? Who the fuck are you and what the fuck do you want?"
"I'm your new business partner. Or in your words, I'm your new fucking business partner."

Annie's frown somehow manages to turn even further downward as she just stares at you.

"Alright, before you go on a fuck tirade, I'll try to explain it so simple that you'll understand."

You explain that her and her brother's tavern is now going to be a front for Crimson Talon operations. In exchange you'll fix this place up and make it at least somewhat more appealing. The tavern will be making more money with the influx of people that are sure to come in, but you'll be taking most of the profits of course.

"So wait, you're gonna just fucking come in and take over completely? You get the fucking tavern and all the fucking money? What the fuck do we get?" Annie asks.
"You get your health for one thing. Which I assume would be the most important. However, if it isn't, I would still point out that YOU will most likely still be making more of a profit than you are now with this rat palace. Also, the tavern will still be legally yours. We'll just be using it and basically paying for the place. Now, that should make you feel a little bit better about this non-negotiable deal shouldn't it?"

Annie is silent again for a moment and still frowning. Her eyes look down briefly, which implies she might be thinking about going for whatever weapon she has stashed under there. You still aren't worried, because even if she doesn't see the wisdom of the deal, you're confident that you'll be quick enough to reach over the bar and stab her first.

Fortunately, it doesn't come to that.

"Well, looks like I don't have much of a fucking choice. I imagine even if I killed you, some other fucking asshole would just take your place and probably wouldn't be as fucking understanding as you." Annie says.
"Glad to see you're a woman of forethought. Anyway, I'll be back later and I'll inform you with more details as we get set up. I trust you can tell your brother about this business when he shows up?" You say.
"Yeah, but I can I ask for ONE fucking request?"
"I'll entertain the thought. What is it?"
"Well since I figure I'm already getting fucked, the least you could do is do me proper."

Now you're silent for a moment.

"Um...what exactly are you saying?" You ask, sort of already knowing, but just wanting confirmation.
"I'm fucking saying, if you're already bending me over and horse fucking me in this business endeavor, you could at least do it to me literally as well." Annie says.
"...Are you being serious right now?"
"Of course I'm being fucking serious! You're young, easy on the eyes and I don't get out much. Besides, I know I'm not that fucking ugly."

This is just bizarre. You didn't expect this sort of request. Annie's correct in that she's not ugly, but her stringy greasy looking hair, plain looks, and emaciated appearance aren't exactly traits that come to mind when you're thinking of attractiveness. Though apparently she finds you attractive which is always a nice ego boost.

"Well...um...shit..fuck it. Alright. Not like I got anything better to do." You say.
"The sad thing, is that's the best offer I've had in years." Annie remarks a bit despondently.

Hell, now you feel like you're doing a good deed.

After giving Annie a thrill big enough to cause her to actually stop frowning for a moment, you head back to the sewers where you feel a lot less dirty.

"So how did it go?" Zal asks.
"It went well. We aren't going to get a bunch of problems." You say.
"You talked to them both?"
"Nah, just the sister. The brother was elsewhere. Pretty sure she was the one to deal with anyway though since she's the main one running that place. I satisfied her."
"Satisfied?"
"Erm, I mean dealt with her. She won't be a problem."
"Okay...so are we moving everything there then?"
"Well I imagine the bum fighting will still be held down here, but that tavern is big enough to have gambling games and whores set up. We're really going to have to fix that place up first though, because as it stands now, the place isn't much better than the sewers."
"Damn shame. I remember Tom saying the place was fairly nice back when Edmond ran the Talons out of there."
"It will be again and in time when we get a few more recruits and things are running smoothly we can do the same thing with another place."

With the tavern secured, you take your next steps in this plan.
> You time passes...
Year 26

"What?!" You exclaim in disbelief.
"Carl and Annie's mother showed up at the tavern last night and pitched a bitch. I mean she raised holy hell. Literally too. She had a book of Joachim in hand the entire time." Vaughn says.
"So did she do any actual physical damage?" Zalmora asks.
"Not really. She mostly beat the shit out of Carl and Annie, saying she didn't scrimp and save for the tavern just so they could turn it into a den of sin. She then left saying if they didn't take care of this, she would." Vaughn remarks.
"Wait, so do the siblings actually even own this place?" Zalmora asks.
"Apparently it's always been in their mother's name and she did run it briefly before she started having health problems and let her children run it instead. She mostly stayed out of the day to day operations, but every now and then she leaves her home to drop in on her children...and well you know the rest."
"I don't get it. Why would a Joachim fearing woman buy a tavern, let alone let her children run it in the first place?"
"Apparently that's sort of a newer development. The old lady has gotten a bit religious over the past few years. Probably brought on by failing health."

You just put your face in the palms of your hands.

"Why the hell didn't either of you fucking idiots know any of this? And more importantly why didn't you stop the old bitch?" You ask.
"ME? This was all Vaughn's idea and YOU signed off on it! I've barely been involved in it! All you've had me do is seeking out other potential taverns to take over and monitor the bum fights from time to time. I haven't stepped foot in that damn tavern since we first set up shop there! Besides, aren't you regularly fucking that skeletal bitch that runs the place anyway? Figured you pumped her for information along with just pumping her." Zalmora exclaims.
"(Sigh) No. I'm not fucking Annie. That's an ugly rumor that delusional bitch probably started in the first place. I can see I'm going to have to set her ass straight."
"Hm, if you say so." Zal says giving you a look like she doesn't quite believe you.

You knew it was a bad idea to pity fuck Annie a few more times.

In any case, Zal's right in that it's not her fault at all, this is mostly Vaughn's fuck up, but really it's yours as well because you really should have learned all the facts first. You are the one running the Talons after all.

You exhale deeply and get up from your desk.

"What's the old woman's name and where's she live?" You ask.
"Her name's Wendy and she lives in a small house over by the Greenwood park. I think it's like the only house still standing there since most of the others are abandoned." Vaughn says.
"I'll find it." You say.
"Wait, are you going to go over and kill her?" Vaughn asks.
"Well I was going to see if I can find a diplomatic way of dealing with this, but if murdering the old lady is what it takes then so be it."
"Hold on, maybe you should send someone else. I mean maybe I could go take care of this." Zal says.
"No, because as you have already pointed out, this isn't your fault at all and I don't trust Vaughn to not fuck it up, so I'll do it myself."

You head over to Wendy's home, wondering how you're going to handle this. You really don't want to murder an old lady if you can help it, but if that's what it takes then that's what's going to have to happen. Given that she's a follower of Joachim though, you don't hold out much hope that blood isn't going to be shed.

Eventually you get over to Wendy's house and knock on the door. You hear a lot of grumbling as you wait.

"Hold on, hold on, I'm...by Joachim, you haven't aged!" a short old woman exclaims when she opens her door.
"Um, thanks?" You say a bit confused.
"What are you doing here? Are you in the city just for a visit? Where is Eliza? Are you still married to her?"
"Wait, who do you think I am?" You ask.

Wendy mentions your father's name and squints a bit as she looks closer at you.

You realize, this is one of the waitresses at your father's old inn! You remember your mother mentioning working with her in some of her old stories to you and your sister, but then you never did pay much attention to those.

Maybe you can work this in your favor after all.

"No, I'm afraid you've confused me with my father. But my mother and father are still married and well." You say.
"Oh. That's good. They were a nice couple, if a bit slow on the uptake as far as how they really felt about each other. Still, I guess it all worked out, given that you're here. You look a lot like your father. Well come on in and tell me what brings you to my doorstep." Wendy says.

Wendy invites you in and tells you to excuse the mess as she doesn't do much cleaning nowadays. You find a chair to sit in and she does likewise.

"So. What would the son of my old employer want with me?" Wendy asks.
"Well, after working for so many other people, I've sort of come to the conclusion that I'd like to try to work for myself for a change. I was sort of inspired by the old family business and I've done a lot of research on the matter along with asking my parents questions of course. I got quite a bit of money saved up from over the years and I was looking for a place to buy and get a business started. I thought your tavern would be a good place." You say.
"My tavern? You've been there?"
"Oh yes. When I was shopping around for potential places. Your children...Um...Carl and Anika..."
"Annie."
"Yes, Annie said that it was actually yours and if I wanted to buy it, that I should speak with you. They mentioned how you used to work for my father too, so I figured I'd at least make an offer to you first before anyone else."
"...Mmm hmm...but why didn't you just buy your old family inn? I believe it's still abandoned and for sale surprisingly enough."
"Heh, I tried, but apparently the city is planning to knock it down and build something else there. Would have been nice, but I got here a little too late it seems."
"Uh huh...let's cut the bullshit."
"Pardon?"
"You think I was born yesterday? You may be the son of Eliza, but you sure ain't anything like her OR your father. They were decent people. While YOU are a lying criminal scumbag just like my worthless children. It seems a little too fucking convenient that you show up on my doorstep the day after I find out what's going on at my tavern. I'm not really surprised by my son Carl. He's a miserable gambler with a weakness for whores. Annie, however I thought at least had a little more sense. Guess you're really putting it good on her if she's gone along with this shit."
"I assure you, I don't..."
"Don't insult me with more lies. I already saw what was going on at my tavern. In all her hysterics yesterday, I heard Annie babble to me about how she has a handsome man that loves her more than I ever did. I have to imagine that's probably you since you stand out a bit from the rest of the unwashed rabble I saw in that den of inequity. Ungrateful little bitch. Well, whatever charms you think you have ain't gonna work on me, I'm a Joachim fearing woman! Tch. Gotta say I never thought your parents would raise someone so far from the path of righteousness."

The jig is up.

"Yeah, I'm a big disappointment to them, but as you said, let's cut the bullshit and come to some sort of arrangement. How much you want for the tavern?" You ask.
"And why would I sell to a heathen like you?" Wendy retorts.
"Because I already own the place in all but name already. Look, the place was barely making any money to before I showed up and now that you know the truth, you won't want to have any more connection to the place. So I'm making you a generous offer since you're an old family friend to buy it. Two thousand gold pieces. You know that this is the best offer you're going to get and let's be honest, you don't have a choice. What are you going to do? Report us to the militia? We'll be gone...or at least I won't be around and all that's going to happen is the city of Klyton is going to arrest your children and seize the place, leaving you with no steady income whatsoever."

Much like her daughter, Wendy's wrinkled face frowns at you in silence. She doesn't like this, but her silence is a good sign. It means despite her belief in Joachim she's still pragmatic enough to consider your offer.

You just hope she isn't TOO much like her daughter because...

"Five thousand gold pieces for the tavern." Wendy says.
"Five thousand?" You answer
"That's my price. I might be old and not in the best of health, but two thousand isn't going to sustain me until I die. I know a big time crime lord such as yourself probably has that kind of money."
"Five thousand...seems a bit greedy. Isn't that against the will of Joachim?"
"First of all, you don't know shit about his glory, so don't think to say shit to me about it. Second of all, some of that is going to his church so at least some good can come out of this wickedness."
"Ah, I see. Buying your way into the afterlife. Whatever. I don't care, but I'm afraid five thousand is fucking unreasonable."
"And that's still my final offer. You don't like it, well you better go crawl in whatever hole you hide in from the militia because I am NOT going to let you use the place while it's still in my name. So it's five thousand or you're leaving my tavern either peacefully or by the militia. I got nothing to lose. You're in this position because YOU chose a life of wickedness. Deal with the consequences."
"I don't think you realize the position YOU'RE in." You warn.

Wendy starts to smile, followed by a laugh.

"What? You're going to kill me? Pfft. I'm already dying with how my health is going and my three kids are fucking disappoinments. As I said I have nothing to lose and my soul is prepared for Joachim's eternal glory. You won't get away with it anyway, Joachim always finds a way to punish the wicked."
> You pay the money
The old bat drives a hard bargain and she's called your bluff. As much as you might try to be some ruthless crime lord, there's still some things you can't bring yourself to do. Murdering an old lady in cold blood is one of them.

"(Sigh) Fine. You got me by the short and curlies. I'll pay your damn price out of respect for all the years of service you gave to my family." You say.
"Yeah, see what that got me. Still, I'm glad to see that you have some sort of morality. Maybe there's still hope for you. Remember it's never too late to turn your soul over to Joachim." Wendy says.
"I'll keep that in mind. I'll be back tomorrow, you just have the deed."

You leave Wendy's house and return to your sewer headquarters. You're starting to wonder if you shouldn't have just bought your family's old inn in the first place. At least it would have been big enough for you to make your home in.

"So how did it go?" Zal asks.
"She's willing to sell, so no murder was necessary." You say.
"Really? Wow, I'm actually impressed that you managed to talk a religious old lady into working with you...or did you just fuck this one into submission too?"

Zalmora starts laughing immediately after her comment. Vaughn stays silent though.

"Fuck you Zal, just fuck you." You say.
"Interesting, that wasn't a denial." Zal remarks with a smirk.
"Hey boss, I just want you to know I'm not judging you if you did. We all have our own carnal desires and I know you seem to like the older ladies. I mean between Annie and Zal..." Vaughn starts to say.
"What the fuck Vaughn, don't put me in the same category as that weathered corpse!" Zal exclaims suddenly getting angry.
"Both of you shut the fuck up, in fact don't the pair of you got some work to do? No wonder things are falling to shit here."

Zal and Vaughn walk off, leaving you alone for the rest of the night.

The next day you go over to Wendy's house and complete the transaction.

"Here you go heathen." Wendy remarks handing you the deed.
"Thanks hypocrite." You answer and start to leave.

Wendy isn't quite finished yet though and she grabs your arm before you leave.

"Hey, I wasn't joking yesterday when I said it isn't too late to seek Joachim's forgiveness. Maybe your wicked deeds are profiting you today, but there is going to come a reckoning someday and you'll have to answer for your evil ways. Out of respect for your parents, I urge YOU to turn from this path before it's too late."

You pull your arm away.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that." You say and walk off.

Eventually you return back to your sewer headquarters and spend some time on inner contemplation.

"(Sigh) I really need to get the hell out of these sewers. I'm the damn head of a budding criminal empire. One of those tavern gambling rooms is getting turned into a new office." You say to yourself.
> You time passes...
Year 28

"Yeah, so the Broken Glass owner says he'll comply." Vaughn remarks.
"Excellent. We can add another tavern to our list." You say.
"Did we really need another one?" Zal asks.
"That's a silly question Zal. We can always use more income and taverns provide the best cover."
"I dunno, I just think we're extorting too many businesses within a short period of time. I mean have you forgotten that the Klyton militia is still pretty active?"
"So what're you saying? You want to go back and hide in the shit filled sewers like we were doing? I thought you'd be happy to get out of there completely since you were the main one bitching about it. Look, as long as we keep a low profile we're fine. We've been doing well so far right?"
"Yeah, I'm sure Edmond thought the same thing once."
"Here we go with that. Look Zal, we've been through all this before three years ago. I actually took your advice and you're still not happy, so let me make this easy for you. You're out."

Zal's face is one of surprise. Vaughn is a little surprised as well.

"What? Are you serious?" Zalmora says.
"Yes, I'm fucking serious. I'm sick of your bitching, your sarcasm, your smart ass remarks that attempt to undermine my authority in general. You seem to think because we once shared a bed together that somehow allows you to say anything you want to me. Combine that with the obvious fact that you don't really have the stomach for this business anymore, well there isn't much use for you is there? So with all respect and no ill will, goodbye Zal. You were a valued member of the Crimson Talons while you were part of us, but your services are no longer required."

Zalmora takes your words in silence. She looks at you with a mixture of feelings and you can't quite tell if it's betrayal, anger, sadness or even relief. She just walks over to you and touches your face before leaving.

About a few minutes after she leaves, Vaughn speaks up.

"Come on boss, aren't you going to go after her? You're just mad because you were feeling good about how things are going and in typical Zal fashion she was a bit of a downer. You know that's how she is. I also know Zal and she's just putting on a brave front. She really doesn't want to leave any more than you really want her to leave. It's pretty obvious you value her advice, even if she is difficult at times."

You look over at Vaughn. You've never known him to be that insightful, but he's hitting all the points right now.

You stand up.

"Aw hell...you're right. She probably hasn't gone too far yet. Vaughn can you... What the hell is going on out there?!" You say suddenly hearing a bunch of noise outside the office.

You open up the door and everyone is running around attempting to avoid the horde of Klyton militia piling through the front door. They aren't fucking around either because they're outright shooting or stabbing folks that are only barely resisting. Annie and Carl from what you see have already given up and are kneeling on the floor with their hands behind their heads.

"Oh shit! Vaughn! Help me barricade the door! We gotta get the fuck outta here!" You shout and slam the door shut.

As you and Vaughn push the desk up against the door, you already hear the crashing behind it. From the other side, you hear your name being called out telling you to surrender or face consequences.

"What kind of logic is that? If I surrender, I'm going to face the consequences too. Vaughn, open up the trap door, I'm going to get as much as I can from the safe." You say.

After Vaughn opens up the escape hatch to the sewers, you try to maintain your cool as you fiddle with your safe and unload its contents all the while axes, halberds and bullets are piercing the barricaded door.

"Come on! Leave it! Let's just go!" Vaughn remarks.
"Go on ahead, I'm almost done, I'll be right behind!" You say waving Vaughn away.

You finish packing and are heading towards the escape hatch when the door is finally partially broken. A bullet whizzes by you and into the wall. You whirl around to fire your own flintlock at your assailants. You hit one, but then are shot yourself. It's only in the leg, but given how close you are to an open hatch, you fall back, slip and tumble down it.

You probably would have broken your neck had Vaughn not been in the way to break your fall. Of course you probably surprised the hell out of him as he was climbing down the ladder.

The pair of you land hard on the stone sewer floor with you being right on top of Vaughn.

"Shit...my leg...my fucking leg...Vaughn I might need you to...Vaughn?" You say and slowly move yourself off of him.

You check, and you see his head at an unnatural angle. He's broken his neck.

"Damn it, Vaughn..." You say and then another bullet flies near your head and into the floor.

One of the militia men is firing at you from the top of the hatch. Seeing that Vaughn still has his own pistol holstered, you grab it, point upward and fire. You somehow manage to hit the guy in the face and then you realize the folly of that as you desperately roll out of the way of his falling body.

The militia man's body partially hits Vaughn's and the stone floor. At this point you're just trying to get away which is difficult with one good leg.

With some effort you manage to stand yourself up and hobble away. You already hear several of the militia climbing down the ladder and shouting.

"SHIT!" You shout as your wounded leg gives way due to lack of strength and a slimy stone floor. Falling on your face, you already know you aren't getting away at this rate.

Best case scenario, you get taken in, tried and instead of executing you, they shove you in one of those cages where you first found Tom.

MAYBE if you're lucky you might be able to pick the lock and escape, but you doubt if you'll just have access to your tools. Maybe you could do what Tom managed to do and convince a wanderer to release him...but then again you know how that situation ultimately ended for him.

Actually, if you knew letting him out was going to lead to this end result, you would have left him there. Who knows, maybe he would have even been better off since the other Talons were supposed to get him out eventually.

It's all a very long shot anyway and you've already come to the conclusion that you're not going quietly.

The strange thing in all this is now you're glad you told Zalmora to leave when you did. You hope she managed to evade capture. You think she probably had enough time to run before the militia converged on the place.

You're kneeling on your good leg and leaning up against a wall in an attempt to get back up, when the militia finally catch up to you. You feel a hard blow to your back and you crash to the floor. Several militia surround your prone body.

"We'll get promotions for this!" You hear one exclaim.
"Hope they also have an award for getting wounded in the line of duty." You remark and pull a dagger stabbing him in the foot.

It's all the excuse the militia needs to start running you through repeatedly with their spears and swords and stomping your head into mush. You're a holey bloody mess by the time they're through. It isn't exactly the most pleasant death, but at least it eliminates all the waiting.


Year 26

"What?!" You exclaim in disbelief.
"Carl and Annie's mother showed up at the tavern last night and pitched a bitch. I mean she raised holy hell. Literally too. She had a book of Joachim in hand the entire time." Vaughn says.
"So did she do any actual physical damage?" Zalmora asks.
"Not really. She mostly beat the shit out of Carl and Annie, saying she didn't scrimp and save for the tavern just so they could turn it into a den of sin. She then left saying if they didn't take care of this, she would." Vaughn remarks.
"Wait, so do the siblings actually even own this place?" Zalmora asks.
"Apparently it's always been in their mother's name and she did run it briefly before she started having health problems and let her children run it instead. She mostly stayed out of the day to day operations, but every now and then she leaves her home to drop in on her children...and well you know the rest."
"I don't get it. Why would a Joachim fearing woman buy a tavern, let alone let her children run it in the first place?"
"Apparently that's sort of a newer development. The old lady has gotten a bit religious over the past few years. Probably brought on by failing health."

You just put your face in the palms of your hands.

"Why the hell didn't either of you fucking idiots know any of this? And more importantly why didn't you stop the old bitch?" You ask.
"ME? This was all Vaughn's idea and YOU signed off on it! I've barely been involved in it! All you've had me do is seeking out other potential taverns to take over and monitor the bum fights from time to time. I haven't stepped foot in that damn tavern since we first set up shop there! Besides, aren't you regularly fucking that skeletal bitch that runs the place anyway? Figured you pumped her for information along with just pumping her." Zalmora exclaims.
"(Sigh) No. I'm not fucking Annie. That's an ugly rumor that delusional bitch probably started in the first place. I can see I'm going to have to set her ass straight."
"Hm, if you say so." Zal says giving you a look like she doesn't quite believe you.

You knew it was a bad idea to pity fuck Annie a few more times.

In any case, Zal's right in that it's not her fault at all, this is mostly Vaughn's fuck up, but really it's yours as well because you really should have learned all the facts first. You are the one running the Talons after all.

You exhale deeply and get up from your desk.

"What's the old woman's name and where's she live?" You ask.
"Her name's Wendy and she lives in a small house over by the Greenwood park. I think it's like the only house still standing there since most of the others are abandoned." Vaughn says.
"I'll find it." You say.
"Wait, are you going to go over and kill her?" Vaughn asks.
"Well I was going to see if I can find a diplomatic way of dealing with this, but if murdering the old lady is what it takes then so be it."
"Hold on, maybe you should send someone else. I mean maybe I could go take care of this." Zal says.
"No, because as you have already pointed out, this isn't your fault at all and I don't trust Vaughn to not fuck it up, so I'll do it myself."

You head over to Wendy's home, wondering how you're going to handle this. You really don't want to murder an old lady if you can help it, but if that's what it takes then that's what's going to have to happen. Given that she's a follower of Joachim though, you don't hold out much hope that blood isn't going to be shed.

Eventually you get over to Wendy's house and knock on the door. You hear a lot of grumbling as you wait.

"Hold on, hold on, I'm...by Joachim, you haven't aged!" a short old woman exclaims when she opens her door.
"Um, thanks?" You say a bit confused.
"What are you doing here? Are you in the city just for a visit? Where is Eliza? Are you still married to her?"
"Wait, who do you think I am?" You ask.

Wendy mentions your father's name and squints a bit as she looks closer at you.

You realize, this is one of the waitresses at your father's old inn! You remember your mother mentioning working with her in some of her old stories to you and your sister, but then you never did pay much attention to those.

Maybe you can work this in your favor after all.

"No, I'm afraid you've confused me with my father. But my mother and father are still married and well." You say.
"Oh. That's good. They were a nice couple, if a bit slow on the uptake as far as how they really felt about each other. Still, I guess it all worked out, given that you're here. You look a lot like your father. Well come on in and tell me what brings you to my doorstep." Wendy says.

Wendy invites you in and tells you to excuse the mess as she doesn't do much cleaning nowadays. You find a chair to sit in and she does likewise.

"So. What would the son of my old employer want with me?" Wendy asks.
"Well, after working for so many other people, I've sort of come to the conclusion that I'd like to try to work for myself for a change. I was sort of inspired by the old family business and I've done a lot of research on the matter along with asking my parents questions of course. I got quite a bit of money saved up from over the years and I was looking for a place to buy and get a business started. I thought your tavern would be a good place." You say.
"My tavern? You've been there?"
"Oh yes. When I was shopping around for potential places. Your children...Um...Carl and Anika..."
"Annie."
"Yes, Annie said that it was actually yours and if I wanted to buy it, that I should speak with you. They mentioned how you used to work for my father too, so I figured I'd at least make an offer to you first before anyone else."
"...Mmm hmm...but why didn't you just buy your old family inn? I believe it's still abandoned and for sale surprisingly enough."
"Heh, I tried, but apparently the city is planning to knock it down and build something else there. Would have been nice, but I got here a little too late it seems."
"Uh huh...let's cut the bullshit."
"Pardon?"
"You think I was born yesterday? You may be the son of Eliza, but you sure ain't anything like her OR your father. They were decent people. While YOU are a lying criminal scumbag just like my worthless children. It seems a little too fucking convenient that you show up on my doorstep the day after I find out what's going on at my tavern. I'm not really surprised by my son Carl. He's a miserable gambler with a weakness for whores. Annie, however I thought at least had a little more sense. Guess you're really putting it good on her if she's gone along with this shit."
"I assure you, I don't..."
"Don't insult me with more lies. I already saw what was going on at my tavern. In all her hysterics yesterday, I heard Annie babble to me about how she has a handsome man that loves her more than I ever did. I have to imagine that's probably you since you stand out a bit from the rest of the unwashed rabble I saw in that den of inequity. Ungrateful little bitch. Well, whatever charms you think you have ain't gonna work on me, I'm a Joachim fearing woman! Tch. Gotta say I never thought your parents would raise someone so far from the path of righteousness."

The jig is up.

"Yeah, I'm a big disappointment to them, but as you said, let's cut the bullshit and come to some sort of arrangement. How much you want for the tavern?" You ask.
"And why would I sell to a heathen like you?" Wendy retorts.
"Because I already own the place in all but name already. Look, the place was barely making any money to before I showed up and now that you know the truth, you won't want to have any more connection to the place. So I'm making you a generous offer since you're an old family friend to buy it. Two thousand gold pieces. You know that this is the best offer you're going to get and let's be honest, you don't have a choice. What are you going to do? Report us to the militia? We'll be gone...or at least I won't be around and all that's going to happen is the city of Klyton is going to arrest your children and seize the place, leaving you with no steady income whatsoever."

Much like her daughter, Wendy's wrinkled face frowns at you in silence. She doesn't like this, but her silence is a good sign. It means despite her belief in Joachim she's still pragmatic enough to consider your offer.

You just hope she isn't TOO much like her daughter because...

"Five thousand gold pieces for the tavern." Wendy says.
"Five thousand?" You answer
"That's my price. I might be old and not in the best of health, but two thousand isn't going to sustain me until I die. I know a big time crime lord such as yourself probably has that kind of money."
"Five thousand...seems a bit greedy. Isn't that against the will of Joachim?"
"First of all, you don't know shit about his glory, so don't think to say shit to me about it. Second of all, some of that is going to his church so at least some good can come out of this wickedness."
"Ah, I see. Buying your way into the afterlife. Whatever. I don't care, but I'm afraid five thousand is fucking unreasonable."
"And that's still my final offer. You don't like it, well you better go crawl in whatever hole you hide in from the militia because I am NOT going to let you use the place while it's still in my name. So it's five thousand or you're leaving my tavern either peacefully or by the militia. I got nothing to lose. You're in this position because YOU chose a life of wickedness. Deal with the consequences."
"I don't think you realize the position YOU'RE in." You warn.

Wendy starts to smile, followed by a laugh.

"What? You're going to kill me? Pfft. I'm already dying with how my health is going and my three kids are fucking disappoinments. As I said I have nothing to lose and my soul is prepared for Joachim's eternal glory. You won't get away with it anyway, Joachim always finds a way to punish the wicked."
> You kill Wendy
You're not going to be threatened or blackmailed by some superstitious old lady. If she's ready to die, then this makes it all the more easier.

"Okay, well say hello to Joachim for me!" You say and you lunge at Wendy with a dagger.

Wendy's survival instinct kicks in a bit and she tries to struggle, but it isn't much of one.

"Not so eager to die now eh? Where's your Joachim now?" You sneer and easily end her life with a dagger to her throat.

It's done and you quickly make your way out of the house and return to your sewer headquarters.

"So how did it go?" Zal asks.
"The old bitch is dead. Vaughn head over to the house with some people and search it for the tavern deed and anything else valuable. I would have done it myself, but I wanted to distance myself from a crime scene as soon as possible obviously." you say.
"Oh. Okay, did you want the body disposed of too?" Vaughn asks.
"If you want to be bothered I suppose you could, but I'm not really worried about the Klyton militia tracking me down for it. I mean if they ever did find me, it would be for a whole bunch of other shit first."

Vaughn leaves and it's just Zalmora who keeps looking at you.

"What?" You ask.
"Nothing. Just still hoping you know what you're doing." Zal remarks.
"(Sigh) Damnit, why do you ALWAYS do this? Something gets taken care of and YOU always say something that suggests different and completely undermines morale?"
"Alright fine, I'll stop being a downer. I just want you to be more careful. I mean I didn't notice it immediately, but you've got some blood on your clothing and even your hands. I certainly hope you were careful about being seen."
"Yes, yes, of course I was. Sheesh, you act like this I'm some damn neophyte at this. I'm not worried about the fucking militia."
"Okay. Apologies. You got everything under control, I'm done with my caution."

Zalmora takes her leave and you're free of her usual mother hen routine. You getting a little tired of that occurrence.

You're also getting a little tired of these sewers. You're supposed to be the head of a budding criminal Empire. As soon as you can, you're clearing out one of those gambling game rooms at the tavern and making it into an office.

One month later...

"Where the hell are Carl and Annie? I haven't seen either of those losers for days. Did they still want jobs at this place? Because I can easily get any slob to replace what they do. And in Carl's case that ain't much to begin with." You say.
"Well maybe their taking their mother's...um disappearance hard." Vaughn remarks.
"I doubt it. There was no love between her or them. Wendy distinctly said they were disappointments to her when she tried to get more money out of me. Besides, it's been a couple weeks since they discovered she was missing and they didn't seem all that concerned before."
"Maybe it's a delayed reaction. Like they figured she'd show up by now and because she hasn't, reality is setting in that she might not just be missing, but she might be dead."
"Nah, Annie spoke to me about a few days before she stopped coming in. She didn't give that impression. The opposite actually." Zalmora remarks.
"Oh? Never known you two to talk. What did she say exactly?" You ask.

Zal smirks at your request.

"She told me she hoped that her mother actually WAS dead, because then she would never get in the way of your love for her." Zal chuckles.
"Fuck you Zal, just fuck you." You say.
"I'm serious! She actually said that to me!"
"I told her to stop spreading that fucking rumor! That's it, if she does show up again, she's out on her ass. If she gives me shit about that, she'll join her mother! I'm not having her telling delusional lies about me anymore!"
"I know you keep denying and I'd really like to take your word. However, she's already told me about some very intimate things about your body and I think I'd know if she was lying or not."
"The crazy bitch walked in on me changing once and she made up some twisted fantasy!"
"Nice save. Okay, have it your way." Zal remarks and takes her leave before you start yelling at her. Vaughn not wishing to be your second choice for verbal abuse takes his leave as well.

Two weeks later...

"Camid, I want every able body we have to look for Vaughn AND Zalmora! They didn't just fucking disappear and if the militia pinched them we would have known about it! I dunno what the fuck's going on, but if we got some rival organization like the Ebony Claw Syndicate setting up shop here, we need to get on this quick!" You shout.
"Yes sir!" Camid remarks before leaving.

This has been stressful week. Both your best lieutenants have gone missing and in this line of work, that probably means they're dead. You'd probably feel a little worse about it, if you weren't so angry. Who the hell is doing this?

You didn't think much about it when Carl and Annie disappeared. If anything you were somewhat happy you didn't have to deal with them anymore. This however is something different. You've taken to hiding in the sewers again, with guards constantly posted outside your office to make yourself less of a potential target.

In fact, you've actually gotten very paranoid recently that maybe it isn't something of this world doing this, but maybe, just maybe Wendy's warning was right...

Days pass and you still have no idea who is doing this. Soon Camid stops reporting in and you start losing Talons. With your loss of manpower, you aren't able to run much of anything.

Eventually it's just you as the Talons still left alive have fled your side fearing that they'll be next on this list of mysterious disappearances. You have lost everything and the militia wasn't even involved.

You end up spending most of your days in the sewers jumping at shadows and armed all the time. You barely sleep and when you do, you still wear heavy armor that you invested in after Vaughn and Zalmora first disappeared.

However, the fateful day comes when you do finally have a sound sleep, when you open your eyes however, you are met with a grisly sight on the floor of your room.

You see the bloody heads of the various people that have gone missing. Carl, Annie, Vaughn, Zalmora, Camid and others under your command.

You reach for your weapon and then a figure loom over your head punching you in the face several times. He then proceeds to break your arms, before dragging you off your bed and then breaking your legs. Bones stick out of the skin, your screams are loud and the pain is great, but you're in the sewers and there will be no help.

It isn't until all your limbs are broken that you finally get a good look at the person doing this to you.

"...you..." Is all you can utter.
"I've taken everything away from you. Now I'm sending you to a very dark place and I'm going to enjoy sending you there." Henry whispers as he starts stripping off your armor.

You never thought about it at the time, but only now do you remember Wendy mentioned she had three children.

You also remember Mr. Reynolds saying Henry's mother's name was Wendy.

Odd that Carl or Annie never spoke of him at all, but perhaps they were too scared of him to even say his name and it's easy to see why.

Perhaps Wendy never had any love for this ruthless monster of a son, but it's apparent he had love for her...or perhaps this was just the excuse to kill you. After all he never liked you after you criticized his work.

Whether this is somehow the twisted divine work of Joachim or just a coincidence of a son seeking revenge on his mother's killer, it hardly matters. How he learned that it was you who did the deed doesn't matter either.

What matters is Henry keeps his promise of enjoying sending you to a dark place because he keeps you alive a whole three days torturing the shit out of you before your body just gives out.


Year 25

“Well, what the hell do these folks expect? If they want outlandish theatrics they can pay out the ass to watch a Klyton Gladiator match where the minimum bets are much higher. At least here we have fights where we’ll accept a five copper bet.” You say.
“Yes, but at the arena, people don’t have the deal with the bums they’ve bet on to puke in the middle of the ring and pass out causing the other to win by default.” Zalmora says.
“That happened ONE time.” You remark.
“Well there’s also the ongoing smell of the sewers that puts people off.”
“Yeah, well the Klyton council just increased the city’s militia numbers recently and stepped up patrols. So keeping business in the sewers is about the safest place to do all this if we want to avoid sudden raids.”
“It might not have been necessary to wallow in the sewers if they had another distraction.”
“So you’ve said many times in the past, but I think things still worked out with me in charge.”
“We’re doing okay I suppose, but I’m still not sure if bum fight gambling and going back to selling Yellow Devil was the way to go about it.”
“Hey we’ve got whores too.”
“Ah yes, those mostly tie into the Yellow Devil trade. I shudder to think about the hopeless cases that actually pay to fuck YD junkies.”
“Hey not everyone can afford the high priced Klyton brothels. Look, I saw that the only way we were going to survive is to have steady businesses. The Klyton Council are the biggest criminal overlords and nobody says shit because they effectively legalized everything and control the biggest gang to protect their interests. I mean there wasn’t really any way to feasibly compete except offer similar things at lower the prices and cater to the lower class.”

Zalmora looks at nearby group betting and getting excited over a giant roach race.

“Pretty sure some of these folks are under the lower class.” Zalmora replies.
“Yeah, well a coin’s a coin, don’t you have a house to break into or something?” you say.
“Always, but I don’t understand why you don’t come on these things like you used to.”
“Because I gotta look after shit around here. I just can’t drop everything to go rip off a store. I’m not Tom, I don’t just sit on my ass doing nothing.”
“I didn’t say you were, but you used to be a little more fun at least. Like those first few years when you got here. Remember?” Zalmora says with a bit of a smile.
“Yeah, well I’m not a damn stupid teenager anymore that gets distracted by a pretty girl that wiggles her ass at me.”

Zalmora steps back from you a bit giving a slightly perturbed look.

“Okay Mr. bossman, if you hadn’t initially taken my advice in the first place you wouldn’t even be in this position.” Zal says.
“OR if I hadn’t taken your advice, I might have been in this position a lot sooner. In fact despite you always bringing it up, I’d say not listening to you turned out to be a lot better ” you remark.
“Right, because this is such a great position to be in.”
“I’m in charge ain’t I? Y’know what your problem is? You thought you were going to manipulate me into doing whatever you wanted just because you threw a little pussy my way. And now you’re bitter that didn’t happen. If you really want control of the Talons, you could always challenge me Zal.”
“Oh no, not me! Never would I challenge your insurmountable wisdom boss. Obviously you’ve got things under control more than little ol’ me could ever handle.” Zal says with obvious sarcasm in her voice.
“If you don’t want to take over and you don’t like how I’m running things, why don’t you just leave then? Not like I’m going to try to kill you for leaving.”
“Don’t think the thought hasn’t crossed my mind. You know why I’m even still in the Talons? Because deep down I’m actually hoping you know what you’re doing. So far you’re ahead, but I’m just wondering for how long. Edmond was pretty much running things like you are now. Granted you are less of a violent asshole than he was, but I’m seeing the same pattern.”
“I’m not sure what to tell you Zal, I mean we’re fucking criminals doing illegal shit. This is sort of way things are done.”
“(Sigh) Yeah, I know…guess I’m just starting to wonder why I ever thought this was fun. I’ll leave you to your drugs and whores.”

Zalmora walks away.

You sometimes forget that Zal is at least around fifteen years older than you now. She’s probably starting to worry about age catching up. Probably didn’t see herself mucking about through sewers at this age taking orders from someone a lot younger. Weird, because Vaughn doesn’t seem to have a problem with it, but then Vaughn’s never been one to make waves.

As you walk back to the Crimson hideout thinking about the future, you have to admit, it isn’t as bright as you once thought.

All things considered you are doing well right now, but there just doesn’t seem to be any let up on the laws being passed to turn this city into a huge prison camp. Part of that you imagine is due to the rebellion in Holgard. You’re certainly glad you didn’t decide to go there given what you heard.

At one time, you did toy with the possibility of going “legit” somehow. Like maybe buying an inn and running it. Maybe even the one your family once owned. It would sure be a complete circle if you did that.

Of course it wasn’t so much going “legit” as it was the idea of having a place to run your activities without it being in an abandoned building or recently the fucking sewers.

Though that’s a riskier endeavor nowadays and would result in needing to re-organize things again. Might be better to stick with your current set up. It isn’t perfect, but it’s working.
> You stick with what you are doing
The sewers are good enough for you. If you start trying to set up shop up top, you're just going to bring down the heat eventually.

You've got a good thing going on and nobody fucks with you down here. If worst comes to worst, you're confident that you could easily lose the militia if they actually ever made an effort to patrol down here.

Still, maybe you could figure out a way to make this place somewhat less...well like a sewer. You already have made a base in the best abandoned area you can find though. You suppose you could start manually expanding underground further away from the sewers themselves of course that would be a pretty extensive and expensive undertaking and it isn't like you're familiar with the details of excavation.

Although...

This city used to have a fairly large active miner population once. In fact your family made money serving them at their inn. At some point long after your parents had left the city and the inn closed down, the mining trade dried up completely in Klyton for a variety of reasons resulting in a lot of unemployed miners.

In fact some of the bums in your fights are ex-miners. You wouldn't want to rely on just them though, but surely you could scour the city for other ex-miners down on their luck or working jobs they hate. They probably would work cheap. You suppose if you really needed more you could shell out the money for some outside help, but you'd rather keep the costs as low as possible.

Later when you approach Zal and Vaughn with this idea, they're caught off guard by this plan, but don't seem put off by it. Well Vaughn doesn't at least. Zal of course has her usual concerns.

"Okay, I know that look. Out with it." You say.
"It's just...well do you think this is even feasible?" Zal asks.
"I'm not saying it's not going to take effort, but again this is a long term plan. I mean going up top, trying to set up false businesses and store fronts is just not going to work in Klyton. The place is just too damn repressive, but we all know people still WANT to do illegal shit like whoring, drugs, gambling..."
"Erm, actually all those things are legal in Klyton." Vaughn interrupts.
"(Sigh) You know what the fuck I mean! All that high priced shit is easily accessible for the rich folks, but WE cater to the poor and who needs affordable distraction more than they do?"
"So...wait. Are we defenders of the down trodden now?" Zal asks.
"I didn't say all that, but we ARE providing for them in a way. I mean we can start out by digging ourselves out a proper headquarters where we don't have to be constantly bombarded by the smells of the sewer and has a solid defense, but I'm thinking in time we could just build a whole underground town."

Zalmora and Vaughn look at each other and then you.

"A TOWN?!" They exclaim.
"Well maybe not town in the traditional sense, but a place where we can do our business AND live without even worrying about the Klyton militia raiding the place because we would be so damn entrenched that they wouldn't be able to do shit even if they wanted to. We wouldn't just be the criminal organization that skulks around in the Klyton sewers, we would be a whole separate community...bah maybe I'm not explaining it well, but I envision it in my head!" You say.
"No. No, I get what you mean. I have to say, this is really damn ambitious. I mean I can't say I'm not impressed by your plan...but again I just have my concerns if it's going to be possible...but fuck it, I'm in." Zal says.
"Glad to hear it. So, we're going to need miners and equipment which is the easy part, but we're also going to need a genuine engineer so the whole damn thing doesn't fall on our heads. So anyone know of any?" You remark.
"Yeah, Red Nose Rob." Vaughn remarks.
"Who's that?" You ask.
"One of the bums that participates in the fights."
"There's a bum who used to be an engineer? What the hell happened?"
"He was actually a miner, but he had a natural gift when it came to engineering. Which was good for the company since they just used his talents for creating very sound mine supports and they didn't have to pay for a real one. He probably could have been building new structures in Klyton, but he just didn't have the formal education."
"Interesting. But how do you know so much about him?" You ask.
"He has his lucid moments. Plus, um...we used to...meet up..."
"Ew Vaughn. You fucked a disgusting bum?" Zalmora remarks.
"No! I fucked him when he was strapping miner! Sheesh Zal!"
"Never mind all that, would he be able to do the job?" You ask
"I think so. Probably wouldn't have to pay him much more than we do to fight, but we’d definitely have to dry him out a bit though." Vaughn says.

You start making notes of various ideas as you ask more questions.

"Okay, so we got one potential overseer for this project. You got any more engineer ex-lovers?" You ask.
"Not that I know of boss." Vaughn remarks.
"I think I got a potential suggestion." Zal says.
"Oh? You been fucking engineers too?" You ask.
"Even better. Been fucking dwarves. Grahk Kazek is the one that comes to mind."
"Well that's nice that you're so open minded with your choice of sex partners, but is this dwarf an actual engineer? Contrary to popular belief, I don't think all of them dig big holes in mountains for a living."
"This one does. Or at least he did before he retired. He makes a monthly trip from the Cloudpeake Mountains to Klyton because he REALLY likes the pastries from Stovo's Bakery. Buys up a bunch then goes back home. That's where we met actually."
"Didn't know you had ongoing long distance relationship, Zal." You say.
"Lots you don't know about me, but I wouldn't exactly say Grahk and I are in a relationship, we just had a bit of fun together. In fact I haven't seen him in years. I just know he still goes to that bakery since Stovo has mentioned him a few times when I go in there."
"So would he be interested?"
"He's a dwarf and used to construct tunnel ways in the Cloudpeake Mountains. Fairly certain if we throw enough money at him, he'll be willing to oversee the construction of what we're doing. Besides, I can be pretty persuasive."
"Hmm, don't I know it." You say.

The dwarf sounds good, but he sounds like he's going to be really expensive. At lot more than the bum anyway. Of course the bum might be unreliable. You say you'll think about both as you go ask other Talons if they know anybody.

You don't have much luck though. Your other Talons aren't quite as "worldly" as your top lieutenants. There is one who has a lead though.

"Yeah, I think I might know someone boss. This chick called Madeline. She actually attends Klyton University and she's an engineering student." Camid remarks.
"A student?" You ask.
"Yeah, but she's really fucking smart. Top of her class or some shit. I don't even understand what she's talking about half the time. Of course I'm just staring at her tits most of the time anyway.”
"How the hell do you even know her?"
"Oh, she's a little rich girl that likes slumming. Likes to watch the bum fights and get high on Yellow Devil. The usual. Oh and we fuck sometimes."

Of course they do. It would certainly be a strange break in the "theme" if they didn't. The drug bit concerns you though.

"Wait, you say she takes Yellow Devil? How the hell is she not a near drooling idiot yet? I don't need someone melting into a pile of goo in the middle of an important project." You say.
"Don't worry boss. That wouldn't happen." Camid says.
"And how do you know?"
"Because...um...I make sure she doesn't actually get Yellow Devil. I mean she does, but it's a VERY small amount. Almost nothing. The rest of it is cut severely with various common shit I get from the apothecary. She feels good for a little while and feels rebellious and she doesn't get really hurt."
"...You like this girl don't you?" You ask causing Camid to look away a bit.
"(Sigh) It didn't start out that way. First time I saw her, I thought she was so damn pretty that I just wanted a chance to fuck her before she turned into a Yellow Devil mess, so I didn't give her the real shit. But in time...well I dunno shit happened...and I'm probably an idiot..." Camid says trailing off a bit.
"Probably, but fortunately your love sick idiocy has worked in your favor, so do you think she'd help?"
"Oh definitely. She'd feel like she would be a real criminal working for a dangerous organization and all. She'd do it for free too, not like she needs the money."
"Actually she would be a real criminal if she was helping us in this capacity. Good to know about the price. I'll keep her in mind."

Well you got a big decision to make based on your underlings recommendations because unfortunately for you, you haven't been lucky enough to fuck someone with engineering skills.
> You red Nose Rob
While you have your concerns about Rob, he seems the most affordable, accessible and most importantly, at your mercy. The dwarf you just know is going to ask for a shitload of money and the girl is just a wild child university student. Who knows what kind of chaos that will invite?

You return to Vaughn with your decision.

"Okay Vaughn, we're going to try your guy, so go tell him what's going on, sober him up, clean him up and have him come see me about further details. I also want you to stress that while he doesn't really have a choice in this matter, he'll be making more money and won't have to be getting punched in the face for living." You say.
"Got it boss." Vaughn remarks and leaves to carry out your orders.

A couple days later Vaughn brings in a man with a lot of messy hair, raggedy clothing, a full beard and mustache and red nose. He also has a few bruises on his face. Must be Rob.

"And at last Vaughn has brought you to me, I trust he's filled you in on the basics of what's going on." You say.
"Yes sir." Rob replies without emotion.
"Good. What happened to your face? Did Vaughn do that?"
"Um, no sir. I was in a match three days ago and the other guy got in a few good punches."
"Oh yes, you were doing that bum fight business. Well, you won't have to be doing that anymore. You'll get to use your other natural talent."
"Yes sir." Rob once again replies without emotion.
"Sort of thought you'd be a bit happier about this opportunity."
"Apologies sir, but I'm still having a hard time being completely sober right now. It's been awhile and I feel sort of weird."
"Hm, okay. I should tell you, I don't actually expect you to go completely off the stuff. I just wanted you sober for today while I speak to you. I also expect you to not drink on the job and generally be a functional human being. Now you're going to have some help in this matter since Vaughn here is going to be personally responsible for you. Making sure you stay focused and such."

Rob just nods.

"Okay I'm sensing something more is wrong than you just not being used to being sober." You say and then Vaughn breaks into the conversation.
"Um, yeah. I think Rob is just a bit nervous being within your presence. You know how you have a reputation and all boss." Vaughn remarks.
"I don't think I can do the job sir." Rob blurts out.
"Ha ha ha ha! He's just joking...he..."
"Vaughn, will you shut the hell up? Now Rob, what do you mean you can't do the job exactly?" You ask.
"I mean Vaughn's told me what you want and I just don't think I can do it. I don't have the skill or knowledge."
"Vaughn told me, you had natural talent and were well respected by the mining company because of it."
"Yeah, well if that was the case they wouldn't have fired me along with everyone else. Look, I don't want to disobey you sir, but I don't want to pretend I'm something I'm not. I mean you'd be even more pissed if you found out I didn't know what the fuck I''m doing."
"Heh, well you're right on that one. I actually appreciate the honesty. However, I've never really known Vaughn to step up and speak so favorably of someone. I mean I understand you guys had something once, but Vaughn's not one to stick his neck out and tends to play things safe. I have to believe he must be telling the truth to some degree. I mean you can't be a complete idiot."
"No, maybe not a complete one, but I'm sure not that smart, otherwise I wouldn't be in this situation...(Sigh) I mean if you were asking me to build simple tunnels and rooms and making sure they don't collapse, then yeah I guess I could do that, but I don't know about building an underground city."
"Okay. Let's stop right there. The underground city is probably a long damn way off. Don't even think about it. We're going to start simple and get more complex later. Tell you what we're going to do..."

You proceed to tell Rob that you're just looking to hollow out an underground area to serve as the Crimson Talon headquarters right now and it doesn't have to be fancy. It just needs to be structurally sound. You tell him by that time, you'll probably have gotten a hold of some other engineers that can help Rob if he doesn't feel up to the more complex task of building that underground city.

Rob seems a little more receptive to this and says he'll try to do his best. You say he's free to go and as he leaves you tell Vaughn to stay behind.

"Vaughn, are you absolutely fucking sure he can do this job?!" You ask.
"Yes! He's just been in the gutter for so long his self esteem is low! I mean once he gets back in action he'll be fine!" Vaughn exclaims.
"For your sake, I hope so. Because I'm not here to hold someone's hand and build up their confidence. That's going to be YOUR job. So you better be giving him pep talks, motivational hugs, or inspirational blow jobs. Whatever it is YOU gotta do, you better be doing it, because I'm going to be keeping a close eye on progress of this project."

With this new order Vaughn is of course totally compliant as usual and takes his leave.

As you're making further preparations for your ambitious plan, Zalmora of course puts her two copper in.

"I still don't know why you didn't go with my guy. Relying on Vaughn and his bum miner boyfriend just seems like a bad plan." Zalmora says.
"Your guy would be very expensive and I'm trying to keep the costs down as much as I can. If it looks like things are going to shit, well then I'll consider your guy again."
"Okay, but won't you have already wasted time and money with this Rob if he turns out to be a failure?"
"(Sigh) Yes Zal, but it's my fucking call and my fucking risk alright? Stop fucking questioning me every other sentence! Here, that's a list of some of the equipment we're going to need. Take some of the boys and go acquire some." You say shoving a piece of paper at Zal who takes it.
"...pick axes, lanterns, shovels, ropes, lumber? How the hell are we supposed to steal a shitload of heavy ass lumber?"
"I dunno, just get it. Go raid a wood mill. Pay for it. Rip out support beams from abandon buildings. Seduce a lumber jack. Cut down fucking trees yourself and drag them back here. I don't give a shit HOW you do it, just fucking do it! You said you were on board with this, well start fucking contributing." You order.

Zal doesn't say another word she just turns away in a huff.

While you aren't deterred yet, you're seriously starting to wonder if this is all really worth it.
> You time passes...
Year 27

"Okay, Rob was the better choice in terms of costs. My guy would have still been better though." Zalmora remarks.
"Half an admission of defeat, but probably the best I'm going to ever hear from you. I'll take it." You say smiling.

You walk through the relatively smooth tunnels of the new Crimson Talon headquarters. Lanterns light your way as you look around at how far it's all come. The rooms that were created still need some more detailed work since they're very basic, but for a guy who started out not being sure if he could do any of this, he's done a good job so far. You guess Vaughn was right, once Rob got going he gained confidence. (Either that or Vaughn was giving a lot of inspirational blow jobs, but you'd rather not dwell on that)

"Are we going to brick up the dirt walls of these rooms or something similar? Not that I don't appreciate the work that's gone into this, but right now the aesthetics are more underground goblin lair, rather than secret criminal headquarters." Zal says.
"Yeah, we're doing that, adding doors, adding tiled floors and all that stuff, but that's going to get taken care of later when the basic layout is finished." You say.
"I thought that was complete?"
"It's almost complete. Rob's finishing up the last rooms which are a lot bigger. One of them is going to be the fighting arena."
"Arena?"
"Well okay, it isn't going to be the Klyton coliseum, but it'll be a proper fighting area where we can put a ring and have people watching and betting without them accidentally stepping in shit water."
"Hm, well that would be an improvement. Speaking of which, now that this place is on the verge of being complete are we moving all our operations here?"
"Well I'm thinking the gambling games and the fighting arena will be eventually, but the Yellow Devil lab can stay out in those sewer storage rooms along with the junkies. I'm not having melted junkies mess up the floor when we finally get around to putting proper ones down. Mostly though, it's going to be where we can rest and relax without the smell. See how all the potential sleeping areas were built very far away from the sewer wall that was knocked down for the entrance." You say.
"Yes, the smell is much better in this place. More earthy, less shitty."

As you and Zal are speaking about the Crimson Talon's future, Vaughn walks up to both of you.

"Hey guys, I've been looking for you both. Rob just finished what will be the fighting arena location. You should see it!" Vaughn remarks.
"Oh good a big dirt room instead of a small one." Zalmora remarks.
"Aw come on Zal, he worked really hard on it! He even improved upon the original layout!" Vaughn exclaims.
"Went above and beyond huh? Guess he really is getting sure of himself. Might as well see for ourselves." You say.

You, Vaughn and Zal head to the arena. Along the way you notice that the rough tunnel is sloping downward. Vaughn says that Rob really wanted to impress you since you gave him a chance and in order to do that he needed to expand downward a bit to create the fighting arena.

"Sheesh, did he have the miners dig all the way to Nichan? How deep is this going?" Zal remarks.
"He said he wanted to make it like an underground version of the Klyton coliseum." Vaughn says.
"He certainly went off script for this, but if it's as impressive as you said he's trying to make it, I'll certainly be pleased." You say.

Eventually the tunnel stops sloping and evens out. You walk a little more and already in the dim light you can see the room ahead is going to be bigger than you thought.

You enter the place and find yourself in a large oval room with several long wooden support beams stretching from the floor to the ceiling. The ceiling is actually a lot higher than you expected. If there were seats and stairs encircling the room, it actually might resemble the Klyton coliseum on a smaller scale.

Rob stands on top of a high platform near one of the walls and waves.

"Hey! So what do you think?" He shouts and starts climbing down a ladder to meet you.

"Definitely bigger than I thought it would be. I'm just wondering how the hell did I not notice all the dirt being hauled out and dumped from this endeavor. Apparently I wasn't as observant as I thought I was. Just as well I guess, since this is a nice surprise." You remark walking around and looking upward.
"Yeah, I was trying to keep this part of the project a bit under wraps to surprise you. Really glad you like it. As I mentioned to Vaughn, this part was my way of saying thank you for dragging me out of the fighting ring and giving my real life meaning again." Rob says.
"And they say the Crimson Talons are nothing but a menace to society. We gave this man his life back. Hell, we gave several folks their lives back. How many miners work for us now?" You say with a chuckle.

You continue looking around as Vaughn gives Rob a bit of praise about his work on the project. Meanwhile Zalmora finds something to analyze.

"Um, these support beams. I just touched this one and it doesn't feel secure. Is this place even safe?" Zal asks.
"Oh yes, this place is definitely safe. Most of these beams aren't even necessary anymore, but none of them are going to slip out of place anyway. Look!" Rob and then runs over to a beam and then putting all his weight behind his body, leans hard against it.

You tense up slightly when you see him do this, but nothing happens.

"See? Solid!" Rob says.
"Natural talent, boss. All he needed was the confidence boost. I guarantee he'll be able to build that underground city better than any dwarf could or Klyton university egghead with an over priced edu..." Vaughn starts to say and then suddenly the beam that Rob is leaning against cracks.

Before he can even get off of it, the beam breaks and he falls to the ground as the rest of the beam falls on him, followed by parts of the ceiling.

"OH SHIT RUN!" Zal shouts and makes haste towards the room's exit as the ceiling begins to completely collapse. Vaughn follows suit, leaving Rob who has either been knocked unconscious or killed.

You are unfortunately at the far end of the room and while you try to make it to the exit, you just aren't fast enough and you're crushed by large clumps of packed dirt and rocks. You actually manage to dig a few inches through the dirt before you suffocate.