Year 23

“Here you go, but Hank you really need to start going easy on this shit. It’s getting a little harder to get. It’s almost as if the Klyton medical school is starting to realize their Numb supply is getting stolen.” You say giving Hank his fix.
“Can’t you just go steal from the hospital?” Hank asks.
“Well yes I could and I have, but they got their shit a lot more secure. Probably better than some jewelry stores. I start making that place a regular target and the price is going to go up.”
“Up? You’re already getting free fucking room and board!”
“And you’re still fucking that elf that you don’t want anyone to know about.”
“You know, I’ve been thinking more about that and I’m starting to think that T’ra’ni is right and I shouldn’t be ashamed of who I am. I mean why should I? It’s no big deal.”
“Hm, well that fine that you’re discovering shit about yourself. Personally I don’t give a shit, but I’ve gotten very comfortable here and I’m saying I don’t want to pay any fucking rent and if you try to make me, you aren’t going to have to worry about if I’m going to blab about your sexual habits, you just won’t be getting any more Numb. I got other customers and there are always other places I can find to live.”

Hank looks a little surprised by your hardened approach on this. You’re not sure why, it’s not like you two are good buddies or something. You’re his fucking dealer and he’s hooked on the shit you can easily get for him.

“You’re a fucking asshole.” Hank replies.
“Yeah well, be that as it may, this place isn’t doing all that bad since I arrived. I don’t see you starving and besides androgynous elves, you’re swimming in college pussy and getting your drugs. So I say things are going to stay as they are for now.” You say.

Hank wants to say more, but he just gives you a dirty look and walks off. With that bullshit out of the way, you head to your free room. Before you even get there, you see a woman lingering in front of the door. She doesn’t look like one of the college crowd that comes here now, or a merchant or possibly a wannabe bard.

She’s dressed in pragmatic clothing more suited to one skilled of the ways of a rogue. In some ways she looks a little like an older version of Annah.

In other words, a woman of quality.

“Ah, there you are. I was waiting for you and didn’t want to just surprise you by waiting inside your room. You know, you really should get better locks on the door. I’d think someone like you would know better.” The woman remarks.
“It’s not usually a problem. Besides, I learned a long time ago that it often doesn’t matter how good the lock, if someone wants in, they’re getting in.” you reply.
“True. I guess you would know. Anyway, I’m Zalmora.”
“Hm. Is that supposed to mean something?”
“No, though I know you’ve sold shit to the Bloody Talons in the past, surprised you haven’t heard any of them talking about me in passing. Or more likely bitching about me.”
“I don’t really have long conversations with Talon assholes. I generally just want them to buy their shit and go murder an old lady or whatever it is they do nowadays. In fact, are they still even around? Last I heard a shitload of them got killed two months ago in a big Klyton militia raid. Including their leader Jake.”
“Yeah, the Bloody Talons are indeed no more. Oh sure there’s a couple of them still lingering about trying to keep what’s left of the rabble, but I anticipate that even that will be gone by the end of the year thanks to the militia.”
“Well, that’s what they get for being so high profile and generally being a bunch of unsubtle idiots. Wait, were you in the Talons?”
“I was. And it’s all true, they were a bunch of unsubtle idiots. Wasn’t always like that of course when we were the Crimson Talons, but well shit happens. Perhaps that’s how I managed to stay undetected since I was probably one of the few that was still a professional. Kind of like you in that way right?”
“I guess. So why’d you stay?”
“Love I guess? I mean Jake was a bloodthirsty asshole that was a terrible leader, but I think he cared about me as much as he understood it anyway. And he had a certain charm, at times.”
“Sounds like a true love story. Anyway, what did you want? Are you here to buy or something?”
“Actually I was wondering if you’d be interested in doing a job with me. I’m well aware of your skills and I think it would go a lot easier with your assistance.”
“I’m sure it would, but I don’t partner with anyone.”
“You don’t? I thought you had a girl you routinely partnered with all the time. Wasn’t she your girlfriend or…oh wait…bad break up?”

You don’t reply.

“Okay, I see. Yeah I suppose that might put a crimp in your trust level which is probably low enough seeing our line of work and all.” Zalmora remarks.
“Not to mention I don’t even know you.” You add.
“Well does that matter? I’d argue that familiarity is one of the more minor factors in whether you can trust someone or not. I mean there were a few times in the Talons where apparent friends backstabbed each other.”
“I suppose that’s a valid point. However, it’s still a factor never the less. I mean just speaking on a professional level, I know I’m good, but I don’t know how good YOU are. I just know you were in the Bloody Talons and given what I knew of most of them doesn’t speak highly.”

Zalmora chuckles a bit.

“Something funny?” you ask.
“Yeah. Never thought MY skills would ever be called into question. That’s good though, means you really are a professional and serious about your work. Look, I’m going to go ahead and tell you what the job is. Kenzer’s Gems and Jewels.” Zalmora says.
“Kenzer’s huh? I just got done telling someone that the Klyton hospital has better security then most jewelry stores and of course now you’re telling me you’re hitting the one exception. Place might as well be a bank. In fact a bank might be easier. Still, you got my attention so you might as well come inside and tell me of this mad plan.”

You open the door and you both enter where after mentioning something about your room, she goes into detail about the plan.

The plan is actually surprisingly simple. It’s just a basic break in with more attention on the security and locks. She says that she’s actually been casing the place on and off for a year and even acquired special dwarven thieving tools to help in her task.

Her main concern is possible magic protection which seems like a given and partially asked for your help since she knows your area is the university which also houses the college of magic and was wondering if perhaps you had any access to or perhaps even acquired anything that might bypass such things.

You explain that you’ve always sort of stayed away from the college of magic despite lurking around there a couple times out of curiosity. You say you’ve toyed with the idea pilfering from there before since it never seemed like the place was any better protected than most of the other parts of the university, but you were always a bit paranoid that you’d pick up something that might just give you a fate worse than death.

Zalmora nods at your words.

“I see. Well would you have any problems with me poking about the place?” Zalmora asks.
“What the college of magic? No. I mean you don’t need my permission.” You say.
“Yes, I know I don’t, however I know its in your territory so to speak, I don’t really want to cause any potential problems.”
“Heh, well gotta say, I’m not used to this sort of professional courtesy from anyone before, let alone anyone from the Talons who were often telling ME to get the fuck off their territory whether I was working there or not. In any case, you’ll get no issues from me. Though I’d be careful fucking around in there.”
“Risks of the trade. I imagine you’d know something of that.”
“True, though I think I make more coin selling the various hospital drugs I steal. If I actually knew how to make the shit, I’d probably just do that instead because its far less work especially since there’s practically no competition. Unless you count the various Green Lotus dealers and they certainly don’t count.”
“Yeah the Talons were once in the drug trade. Not sure why we stopped really. I think the new leader at the time Tom wanted to step away from it since it drew too much heat. Then again Yellow Devil causing addicts to melt would certainly that. Sort of figured when Jake took charge we might get back into it, but still a bit too organized for him I think. Honestly I think he would have just preferred leading a gang that ambushed travellers on the roads.”
“Hm. Well he certainly might have lasted longer. You act like a mad dog, you’ll eventually get put down like one.”
“Indeed. However, I’d say staying put and getting too comfortable like a fat lazy cat is likely to get one eventually grabbed by the scruff, put in a bag and thrown in a river.”
“Okay, I feel like that was directed at me.”
“More of a warning. Not sure if you realize it or not but security has increased a lot in the city. Granted a lot of that might be the fault of the Bloody Talons making such a mess of things, but the reasons don’t matter. What matters is, things are getting harder for people like us.”
“Didn’t you just say that’s the risks of the trade?”
“Yeah, but there’s also anticipating getting out of the way of trouble you can’t handle. Not saying that time is now, but it’s coming soon. And this nice comfortable set up you have might all come crashing down even if you’re careful. After all, with the Talons out of the way, attention is going to focus on the next biggest criminals in the city and I’d say you’d fit the bill.”
“Duly noted. Well if you’re done with your warnings, I have things to do.”

Zalmora looks at you and starts to leave, but you can already tell she’s not done talking. Story of your life.

“So you’re not interested in partnering up?” Zalmora asks.
“Why are you so interested in partnering up with me? I mean I get some of the reasons that you’ve explained, but this is still pretty damn sudden. I mean there’s still a trust issue here.”
“Well because as you pointed out robbing Kenzer’s isn’t going to be an easy job and it would probably be better to have an extra pair of eyes and hands around. And…maybe this is going to sound odd from someone you don’t know, but you’re obviously a talented thief and maybe I just like a little social interaction from time to time from another one in our business.”
“So…what then? You miss your Talon buddies? I can’t help with that. They were a bunch of idiots and I was never in this to make friends. Unless you’re saying you’re missing your boyfriend. If that’s the case, well…as you’ve gathered I’m not exactly trusting on that front either however I’m not going to say no to a tumble I suppose.”

Zalmora sighs at you.

“Fine, you’re an asshole like everyone else in this trade then. Thanks for what information you did provide and apologies for wasting your time.”

Zalmora at this point turns to leave for real this time and there’s a part of you that wants to stop her, even though you think it might be more trouble than its worth.
> You stop Zalmora
You must be getting bored (or lonely) because this is probably a bad idea.

“Alright, alright, stop. I’ll help.” You say.
“Hey don’t feel the need to pity me, I don’t need or want it.” Zalmora responds.
“I’m not, I’m just thinking that I know the college of magic layout better than you and if you’re going to hit that place first then it would probably be best if I came with you. Last thing I need is you getting caught and then security around the university starts getting tighter as well.”
“Heh, okay.”

Zalmora smirks a bit at your response as if she doesn’t quite buy your excuse to help. Though to be fair, your reasoning isn’t totally a lie.

You go into detail about the layout of the place and what she can probably expect. You tell her that unlike most places its actually better to go there during the day since the wizard types seem to be more active at night. You mention that the while the security isn’t tight, there’s probably a reason for that which is there doesn’t seem to be much just lying around waiting to get snatched. The few times you did lurk about there, all you mostly found within easy reach were a lot of unlabeled potions and spell ingredients.

“I guess it not being secure isn’t entirely true since the upper floors seem magically locked so I never got up there. Also there is the basement level, but uh, I got a few feet down there, heard weird noises and got the hell out of there and never went back. Not going to risk going down there again either. Anyway, when did you want to do this?”
“I can meet you here in a couple days. Any particular time?”
“I guess sometime in the morning. It’s a little early for me, but probably best to get started early.”
“Okay. Well I’m glad this wasn’t a wasted trip and I look forward to working with you…what changed your mind?”
“Hell if I know. I’m probably being an idiot and thinking with dick again.”

Zalmora chuckles.

“So basically like most guys then. Still, I appreciate the honesty. Alright I’ll see you.”

Zalmora takes her leave and you take steps to move most of your savings to another hiding spot.

In couple days true to her word Zalmora comes to your door.

“Hey, I’m here. Not sure why you wanted me here so early, but I’m guessing you wanted to go over things for tonight.” Zalmora says.
“Tonight? I wanted you here early so we can go early since there’s less activity then.” You say.
“Less activity? Kenzer’s would be open right now.”
“Kenzer’s? I’m talking about the magic college.”
“The magic college? Oh! Fuck, well this is embarrassing that there was miscommunication on our first potential job together. I meant going to Kenzer’s today. I already went to the college of magic.”
“What? But I thought you wanted me to go with you.”
“Well I got the impression you didn’t really want to go and as I said I thought you were talking about Kenzer’s place. Anyway, I got some stuff. Check it out.”

Zalmora takes a small pack off her back and goes over to a table and dumps out some of the contents. A few of them are potion bottles, a couple are some sort of odd glowing stones and some sort of silver tube with a hole at the top.

“Well that’s great, but do you actually know what any of this shit is?” you ask.
“Actually I do! These potions make you invisible!”
“You’re shitting me.”
“No! I drank one and that’s exactly what happened!”
“You drank…fuck. Well you’re braver than me, I’ll give you that.”
“Well maybe not as much as you think. These actually were sort of labeled. Maybe not directly on the bottle, but in a little book nearby where I guess some wizard was making notes on what they were making. Anyway, they don’t last long though and you feel sort of dizzy, even a bit nauseous after becoming visible again. Well at least I did.”
“Okay, still might come in handy. What about these stones?”
“These apparently are some sort of magic explosive. I guess you throw them really hard at something and it explodes. Um, the notebook didn’t exactly say how powerful though.”
“And you had those rolling around in your pack. Great. Okay, so what about the whistle?”
“Oh this? Just some silver whistle I found lying around and looked valuable. Here you go. Consider it your cut for your information.” Zalmora says tossing you the whistle.
“Uh okay. Thanks I guess.” You say catching it.
“I suppose I didn’t find anything like a magical lockpick, but hopefully Kenzer don’t have any magic locks like I’m anticipating.”
“Well if worse comes to worst, I guess we could blow up something with those stones and drink the potions as we get away with the loot.”
“I like the way you think. So…I guess we got a bunch of time. Any suggestions on how to spend it?”
“Well, I got up way earlier than I normally do, so if it’s all the same to you, I’m going back to sleep. You can see your way out.”
“Really? Didn’t expect that to be your suggestion.”
“What, you thought I was going to suggest sex? I already did that once before and you weren’t interested.”
“You give up so easily?”
“No, I just figure if it is going to happen, my chances will increase after a successful job…either that or you’ll double cross me and leave me for dead. It’s a risk either way, but it is what it is.”

With those words, you put your whistle on the end table next to your bed and lay down. Zalmora looks at the door for a moment and then over at you.

“Hey you wouldn’t mind if I slept here would you?” Zalmora asks.
“What? Wait. You mean actual sleep right?” you respond.
“Yes. I just don’t feel like going all the way back home, I got all my equipment for tonight’s job and it’s not like I got anything else going on today. Might as well get some rest.”
“…fuck it. Okay, but where are you expecting to sleep? I’m not giving up the bed in my own place.”
“You don’t need to, I’ll just share it. I trust you’ll be a gentleman. Move over.”

Without another word, Zalmora is plopping herself on your bed and nudging you over. You swear, you can’t tell what’s going on with this woman. She’s being very forward, but holding back at the same time. It’s not quite teasing though. Maybe all of this is some sort of weird way of showing she can be trusted? If so, you’re not convinced.

“If you’re planning on robbing me while I sleep, you’ll find I’m a light sleeper and that silver whistle you gave me is probably the most valuable thing in the room now anyway.” You say.
“Wasn’t planning on it. I’m guessing that ex of yours did something like that?” Zalmora says.
“Not talking about it…what’re you doing?”
“I’m going to sleep, why?”
“Because you’re all up on me. I mean it’s weird enough that you want to share a bed, now you got your arm and leg on me. A few more moves and we might as well be fucking. I mean if that’s what you want to do, you can just tell me since I’m not sleepy enough to not oblige that request.”
“I just…look, I was just used to sleeping next to a warm body on a semi-regular basis and I miss it. Even if said warm body was an asshole most of the time. So no, I’m not looking for sex, I just want that feeling of closeness I guess. Yeah I know it’s weird, but as you said, it is what it is. So if this is just too much of a cock tease for you I guess I’ll go home and come back later.”
“No. no, it’s fine. I guess I get it…but you have to be into me on at least a physical level. I mean surely you wouldn’t be doing this with some bum on the street?”
“Alright, you’re right about that one. Just try to keep the groping to a minimum for now.”

And with those words, Zalmora closes her eyes and after staring at her a moment, you do likewise. It’s nothing something you normally do, but it is sort of nice. Makes you miss when you and Annah used to do this on a regular basis.

Later you awaken to find that night has fallen and hear the sounds of merriment in the distance. Sounds like another lively night on stage.

“I was just about to wake you.” Zalmora says, going through her pack by candlelight.
“How long you been awake?” you ask.
“I dunno, the bards and people cheering woke me up a couple hours ago I guess. I thought you said you were a light sleeper.”
“I usually am. Maybe your body being against mine was just so comforting it lulled me into a deep sleep.” You half joke.
“Hm, glad you enjoyed it. Given your general view on things, maybe you needed just as much as I did. Anyway, you ready to go do this?”
“Yep, let’s get going.”

You and Zalmora take your leave and head to Kenzer’s Gems and Jewels.

An hour later…

As you’re puking up your guts from the after affects of the invisibility potion, Zalmora is anxiously looking around, hoping none of the Klyton Watch are patrolling the sewers.

“Hurry up, I’d rather we put more distance between us and the shop!” Zalmora says.
“Ugh…don’t you mean smoking crater? That shop is in ruins and I’m amazed I even survived the blast. Pretty sure I got broken glass in my body and I know I’ve got burns because I can still feel the fucking heat from my blackened clothes.” You say trying to regain your composure from your vomiting.
“Apologies, but really didn’t know that was going to happen. I mean the first stone didn’t do anything except make a small pop.”
“You could have waited a bit, I was sure I had that lock open. Fuck, whatever. It’s done now. Anyway you alright?”
“Oh. Yeah, I managed to take cover and just got some scraps rather than getting blown out one of the windows.”
“Did we get anything?”
“Uh, unfortunately I think in all the confusion the bag of gems I had split and everything fell out. I only managed to save a few and not even the more valuable ones. Do you have anything?”
“Yeah a lot of pain. Agh. Fuck, I’m going home.”
“Hold on, let’s go back to my place. You go into the Laughing Devil looking like that and someone might put two and two together when they hear about what happened. You know how easily people talk. I mean yeah it’s a slim chance, but why risk it?”
“Fine whatever. Just want to get to some place to rest. Just lead the way.”

You and Zalmora walk through the filthy sewers to her place in relative silence. The pair of you are both keeping an eye out just in case, but you’re fairly certain that despite everything, you go out of there before anyone really saw you, let alone the Watch. Of course who knows what else lurks down here in this place.

“I gotta say, you’re taking all of this better than I thought you would.” Zalmora says.
“I’m a little too drained to bitch about how badly it all went. Besides, I didn’t really lose anything I suppose. Which is more than I can say the last time I worked with a partner. I mean I’m still alive and in one piece.” You respond.
“Heh. If I was working with Jake he would have been yelling and screaming the whole time at me and saying it was all my fault.”
“Well at least he would have had some basis in fact for bitching. If I had been working with Annah and she had been the one to throw that explosive stone, she would have STILL blamed me for everything and bitched for the next three days.”
“Yikes. I take it Annah was your ex?”
“Yeah, though to be honest we weren’t really together in that way for awhile. We had just been working on jobs on and off until…ah I don’t know why I’m talking about this, it’s not important.”
“No, go on. I’d like to hear. Certainly beats just listening to the sounds of the sewers.”
“What the hell…”

You go into a little more detail about Annah and what she was like. It’s sort of odd, you’ve never really talked about her to someone else before. Zalmora just listens for the most part, but eventually asking why you were with her.

Your answer is one you’ve gone over in your own head several times before. The only answer you can come up with is “It’s complicated.”

“No it isn’t. You loved her. Not saying it was the type of love you read about in badly written romance stories with knights saving virginal damsels, but you put up with her and still kept contact with her despite you throwing her out. Which seemed like more of a rash move on your part that you probably regretted later since it sounds like you were even willing to give it all another chance. First loves are hard to shake. I should know.”
“Oh was that the situation with Jake?”
“Hah, no. Jake was…something else, but my first love was when I was younger and well let’s just say it could have ended better.”
“Yeah well I’m definitely over her now.”
“Are you? I really couldn’t help but notice how you described her physical appearance you kept referring to ME sometimes in comparison. Such as hair, eyes, mouth…”
“What? Wait. No! I just…uh bad at describing people and couldn’t think of a better way to do it. I mean she doesn’t look like you at all! You’re older! … Oh fuck… Shit. I don’t mean it like that. I mean you’re…”
“Calm down I know what the hell you mean. Please, it takes more than that to offend me. What you’re basically saying is I look like a…more mature version of your ex.”
“Uh, yeah I guess so. And definitely nowhere near as bitchy.”
“Well you haven’t gotten on my bad side yet.”
“I can’t imagine it’ll be any worse than the relative pleasant side of you considering that side nearly blew me up.”

Zalmora laughs at your comment and the pair of you continue to speak all the way back to her home. It actually lightens both of your moods.

Zal’s home is humble, but it’s definitely a welcome place to rest after this failed night. You spend a couple days there recovering at Zal’s insistence since the job was her idea to begin with and she feels partially responsible.

You have to admit, you really feel like this is all a set up for something worse because you haven’t had someone this pleasant with you for quite awhile.

But there is no other shoe dropping so far. In fact Zalmora makes a comment about supposing that you won’t be working together again given that this first job was a big failure.

“No. We can try this again. No shortage of other places to blow up after all.” You respond.
“Ah, well that’s true. And we haven’t fucked yet.” Zalmora says.
“There is that I suppose.”

Zalmora looks at you.

“Well?” Zal says.
“Well what?” you say.
“You want to get that out of the way?”
“What, now?”
“You still need time to heal?”
“No, I think can manage.”
“Well let’s get to it then.”
“You…sure about this?”
“If I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t be suggesting it.”
“As long as you’re sure…agh fuck…shit my fucking side…uh you think you can be on top?”
“Pfft, like you were going to have a choice.”

This looks like the beginning of a brand new partnership…
> You time passes...
Year 25

“Think it’s time to leave Klyton.” Zalmora remarks.
“You think so?” you respond.
“With the increase in Klyton militia activity in the city? Yeah. Unless you’re thinking about a career change.”
“Are you thinking about one?”
“Eh, there are times when I think about what else I could be doing with my life, but pretty sure settling down and having a whole mess o’ babies isn’t high on the list. Well certainly not the babies part at least.”
“Definitely not. Kids always grow up to disappoint…well that’s probably what my parents think anyway. In any case, I see no reason to change things up.”
“Heh, well you’re still young. You might change your mind.”
“Doubt it. I mean I can’t see myself really doing anything else other than what I’m more or less doing right now.”
“So you think when you’re in your seventies you’re going to be sneaking about in houses and buildings?”
“Assuming I live that long, I would hope that I will have acquired enough to live on for the remainder of my life by then.”
“Ah yes, your thrifty ways. A very atypical trait for someone in our line of work barring a few dwarven thieves I’ve known in the past.”
“Well I’m just aware that times may not always be plentiful, so better to have something to fall back on.”
“That’s very pragmatic. You sure you don’t have any dwarven blood?”
“Heh. Nah. I mean when I was still working with my sister, I was doing this mostly due to it being fun. Never really spent much of what I stole, hell I even misplaced a bauble from time to time because it just wasn’t important enough that I cared. I mean I could just steal from another travelling merchant right? Then when I was with Annah, I couldn’t even keep most of what I stole without her spending it almost immediately.”
“So you’ve said.”
“Yeah, well I think my short time in an actual relationship with her caused me to always hang on to whatever I managed to keep and in time it just became a habit.”
“Not a bad habit to have. Most don’t think about the future.”
“So what’s bringing this all on anyway?”

Zalmora exhales and stretches a bit before answering.

Zal goes into how when she was much younger she originally was doing this out of survival and the fun came later when she realized how good she was at it. For awhile it was a mixing with business with pleasure sort of thing. However lately she’s been starting to dwell on the future mainly because she’s starting to realize the little aches and pains in her body she feels when running from the militia or her reflexes slowing down as she narrowly avoids a trap she’s disarmed.

You tell her she’s hardly ready for the grave, which she of course knows that, but each year it becomes something she thinks about more and more. She again mentions that she’s not interested in settling down with dreams of a family or even “retiring” from this life anytime soon, but she would like to have an end game as it were.

“I suppose one of the few benefits of being in a gang was there was a mild sense of community. At least there was when it was the Crimson Talons. More people were around to assist and you could take a break for a while. I suppose at one point I even figured I’d become one of those old members that just sent you young folks on assignments and reap the benefits.” Zal says.
“So…you saying you want to start a new gang?” you ask.
“Hell no. If anything I should have left the Crimson Talons when it became the Bloody Talons, but you know, I was an idiot who thought I was in love or whatever it was. In any case, I’m done with the whole gang part of my life. What I’m doing now is fine, but I know at some point I’m not going to want to do this anymore.”
“Well, that’s why we save.”
“And that’s at least a plan, though I guess…I dunno…I suppose it might be nice to have steady income without having to risk our lives for it.”
“That sounds like having a real job.”
“Well I know neither of us want to do that, but maybe we should consider something that isn’t like a real job, but still mostly legal if we want to stay in Klyton because shit is just getting harder here. Hence why I suggested we might need to get the hell out of the city.”
“Well any suggestions on where to go? Hessla? Holgard? Delantium?”
“Eh, none of those choices are all that great. The Delantium Kingdom and Holgard both have an Ebony Claw Syndicate presence and as I said before dealing with gang shit is the last thing I want to be doing in my life now. I suppose the best of the lot would be Hessla. It’s close, The Syndicate doesn’t have any real presence there and the law there is non-existent. At least in the traditional sense. The governor of Hessla still keeps a tight reign on things so it isn’t chaos there, so random murders, muggings and burglaries are frowned upon, but say opening up a slave market would be fine provided the governor is getting his cut.”
“I don’t think I’m into selling slaves.”
“Well obviously I wasn’t suggesting that, but you do sell drugs. You could do that in Hessla without worrying about the legal ramifications.”
“Okay, but I’m not making them. I can’t sell the medical shit I steal from Klyton’s hospitals if I don’t have easy access to it.”
“Well maybe you could branch out. I mean Hessla is a pirate haven, lots of stuff coming in and out of that place. You probably could fence items. People always seeking out things or looking to sell.”
“That sounds like running a pawn shop which sounds like a job…”
“Don’t think of it as running a pawn shop, think of it as…running a black market.”
“Hah. Well that does make it sound more appealing. Okay, but surely Hessla already has several such established places there.”
“Well its called competition. Obviously I didn’t say it would be easy, but it’s an option worth thinking about. And you wouldn’t be doing this alone, I’d be helping you of course.”

Zalmora puts one of her hands on yours and squeezes slightly as if to reassure you of her words. Zal isn’t one for a lot of affection, but during your relationship with her you know her feelings are genuine.

No unnecessary drama either. She comes off a bit “guiding” at times, like she’s doing right now. Still, it’s better than bitching.

You’re not quite sure about this idea that’s she got though. Still seems a bit too close to having a proper job though she’s probably right about Klyton getting a bit of a hassle to function in nowadays.

You need time to think about it. Zal said she wasn’t rushing into this anyway and who knows; you or her might come up with a different idea in the meantime.

A few weeks pass and you get news about the militia raiding the Laughing Devil. You’re sort of surprised it took them so long because even before you stopped living there it had started to get a reputation for hosting “indecent acts without a license” and becoming a Green Lotus den.

Just as well that you started living with Zalmora otherwise you might have gotten swept up in said raid. Still, Zal was concerned before and she’s really alarmed now, so much so that she’s urging you both to leave immediately with just what you can carry.

“But I got a shitload of savings stashed…somewhere. I can’t easily just leave with it right now!” you remark.
“Do you feel it’s safe? Do you think anyone is going to find it?” Zal asks not even taking offense that you’ve still kept the location secret from her.
“Well nobody’s found it yet so I think it’s fine.”
“Good, you can come back and get it later then. We need to move now. You sold shit to more than a few of those assholes at the Laughing Devil, the owner in particular. How long before one of them drops your name and the militia tracks you here?”
“Alright, alright, fuck it. I’ve lost it all before, I can make it all back again if it comes to that. Let’s get packed.”

You and Zal start packing as much as you can as quick as you can and make your way to the carriage station. You ask Zal if she feels some sort of way about having to abandon her house, but she just replies that it’s not like she’s leaving a mansion and was more or less just a place that she could keep her stuff and a roof over her head. She then mumbles something about thanking her uncle that left it to her and tells you to quicken your pace.

You get within sight of the carriage station and then you see several patrols of militia walking about the area. A few of them are even walking in your direction. Your instinct is to keep cool and just walk by them as if nothing is wrong since if you run or even turn around at this point it’s going to arouse suspicion.

However Zal is already whispering another suggestion.

“Let’s run now. I know the closest manhole and we’ll lose them in the sewers.”
> You walk by the militia
You suddenly start running and they’re definitely going to know something is up. Better to just play it cool.

“It’ll be fine, we just need to keep calm.” You say continuing to walk towards the station.
“I’m telling you right now, we need to run.” Zal remarks.
“We’ll be fine, just stop talking.”

Your visible minor disagreement with Zal has already caused enough suspicious however by the militia approaching who were looking for an excuse anyway.

“You two halt!” one of them remarks.

And as soon as that’s said, Zalmora has taken off running.

“Zal! Shit. Fuck…” you sputter as you realize you now have no choice but to follow suit. Of course this split second of confusion combined with how close you let them get in the first place is unfortunately just enough for the militia to catch you.

Naturally, they slam you to the ground and begin disarming you. Nearly literally since they break one of your arms in the process. Next step is taking away your backpack and once they see what’s inside, if there was the slimmest chance that they might still let you go, it’s gone.

You actually expect them to just kill you right then and there, but they end up dragging you to the Klyton jail where they lock you up.

You spend about a week inside still suffering from a broken arm. You keep holding out for the false hope that maybe Zal is going to pull off some daring rescue, but that doesn’t happen. She’s gone and while there’s a part of you that is very angry about it, you’re more mad at yourself for not running when she suggested it in the first place.

You probably could pick the lock even with a broken arm, but you wouldn’t get far. The only upside is you’ve got a cell all by yourself while its decided on if they’re going to do anything worse to you.

A month passes and finally a Captain Branik, head of the militia tells you that you’re going to be executed.

“What?! I can’t even defend myself? You didn’t even arrest me committing a crime!” you exclaim.
“What’s to defend? When we caught you, you had a shitload of coin and other valuables. You obviously have no visible means of support and you were trying to leave the city. Doesn’t take a scholar to put everything together. Shit, we even got reason to believe you were involved in blowing up Kenzer’s jewelry store and found a silver whistle that someone in the wizard’s college reported stolen years ago. You’ve obviously been very busy and good at keeping a low profile. Well Yag’s dice have finally rolled snake eyes for you and you’re finally going to pay the price.” Branik says.
“Look even if I was guilty of whatever you think I’m guilty of, can’t you just exile me? I mean I was leaving anyway. I won’t come back!”
“Exile? We rarely do that anymore. That doesn’t teach anyone shit and it’s going to just let a criminal free to attack caravans on the road. Yeah, not risking that. Shit, I wouldn’t even risk putting you in one of those hanging cages we got. You’d probably pick the lock and get away with all your experience. No, the best thing we need to do with you is make an example. You’ll be hanged tomorrow.”

And that’s it. No defense, no escape, no anything.

You sit down and feel sick. It’s weird, you’ve been in other situations where death could have found you, but something about waiting for it in a cell makes it feel worse. Probably because you have time to think about it.

You can’t think about though, you’ll just make yourself more upset. Instead you try to think about your family oddly enough. You think back to the happier times you had in Teckleville and you think about how you wish you never had to leave.

You don’t get much sleep and when they wake you up to get you, you’re very tired.

But not without some fight left.

The guards come in to get you and you immediately try to fight with one good arm. Naturally you don’t do very well, though you were really hoping that they’d at least kill you right there, but instead they just beat the shit out of you and break your other arm before dragging you to the gallows before an enthusiastic crowd wanting to see their entertainment.

Your body is in so much pain from the broken bones and beatings that when you feel the noose slip over your neck you’re just glad this will be over soon.

Some militia asshole goes on about justice for a moment until you manage enough strength to tell him to shut the fuck up and just get on with it.

The hooded executioner soon grants your wish and pulls the lever. Your neck snaps almost instantly as you go through the trap door.


Year 25

“Think it’s time to leave Klyton.” Zalmora remarks.
“You think so?” you respond.
“With the increase in Klyton militia activity in the city? Yeah. Unless you’re thinking about a career change.”
“Are you thinking about one?”
“Eh, there are times when I think about what else I could be doing with my life, but pretty sure settling down and having a whole mess o’ babies isn’t high on the list. Well certainly not the babies part at least.”
“Definitely not. Kids always grow up to disappoint…well that’s probably what my parents think anyway. In any case, I see no reason to change things up.”
“Heh, well you’re still young. You might change your mind.”
“Doubt it. I mean I can’t see myself really doing anything else other than what I’m more or less doing right now.”
“So you think when you’re in your seventies you’re going to be sneaking about in houses and buildings?”
“Assuming I live that long, I would hope that I will have acquired enough to live on for the remainder of my life by then.”
“Ah yes, your thrifty ways. A very atypical trait for someone in our line of work barring a few dwarven thieves I’ve known in the past.”
“Well I’m just aware that times may not always be plentiful, so better to have something to fall back on.”
“That’s very pragmatic. You sure you don’t have any dwarven blood?”
“Heh. Nah. I mean when I was still working with my sister, I was doing this mostly due to it being fun. Never really spent much of what I stole, hell I even misplaced a bauble from time to time because it just wasn’t important enough that I cared. I mean I could just steal from another travelling merchant right? Then when I was with Annah, I couldn’t even keep most of what I stole without her spending it almost immediately.”
“So you’ve said.”
“Yeah, well I think my short time in an actual relationship with her caused me to always hang on to whatever I managed to keep and in time it just became a habit.”
“Not a bad habit to have. Most don’t think about the future.”
“So what’s bringing this all on anyway?”

Zalmora exhales and stretches a bit before answering.

Zal goes into how when she was much younger she originally was doing this out of survival and the fun came later when she realized how good she was at it. For awhile it was a mixing with business with pleasure sort of thing. However lately she’s been starting to dwell on the future mainly because she’s starting to realize the little aches and pains in her body she feels when running from the militia or her reflexes slowing down as she narrowly avoids a trap she’s disarmed.

You tell her she’s hardly ready for the grave, which she of course knows that, but each year it becomes something she thinks about more and more. She again mentions that she’s not interested in settling down with dreams of a family or even “retiring” from this life anytime soon, but she would like to have an end game as it were.

“I suppose one of the few benefits of being in a gang was there was a mild sense of community. At least there was when it was the Crimson Talons. More people were around to assist and you could take a break for a while. I suppose at one point I even figured I’d become one of those old members that just sent you young folks on assignments and reap the benefits.” Zal says.
“So…you saying you want to start a new gang?” you ask.
“Hell no. If anything I should have left the Crimson Talons when it became the Bloody Talons, but you know, I was an idiot who thought I was in love or whatever it was. In any case, I’m done with the whole gang part of my life. What I’m doing now is fine, but I know at some point I’m not going to want to do this anymore.”
“Well, that’s why we save.”
“And that’s at least a plan, though I guess…I dunno…I suppose it might be nice to have steady income without having to risk our lives for it.”
“That sounds like having a real job.”
“Well I know neither of us want to do that, but maybe we should consider something that isn’t like a real job, but still mostly legal if we want to stay in Klyton because shit is just getting harder here. Hence why I suggested we might need to get the hell out of the city.”
“Well any suggestions on where to go? Hessla? Holgard? Delantium?”
“Eh, none of those choices are all that great. The Delantium Kingdom and Holgard both have an Ebony Claw Syndicate presence and as I said before dealing with gang shit is the last thing I want to be doing in my life now. I suppose the best of the lot would be Hessla. It’s close, The Syndicate doesn’t have any real presence there and the law there is non-existent. At least in the traditional sense. The governor of Hessla still keeps a tight reign on things so it isn’t chaos there, so random murders, muggings and burglaries are frowned upon, but say opening up a slave market would be fine provided the governor is getting his cut.”
“I don’t think I’m into selling slaves.”
“Well obviously I wasn’t suggesting that, but you do sell drugs. You could do that in Hessla without worrying about the legal ramifications.”
“Okay, but I’m not making them. I can’t sell the medical shit I steal from Klyton’s hospitals if I don’t have easy access to it.”
“Well maybe you could branch out. I mean Hessla is a pirate haven, lots of stuff coming in and out of that place. You probably could fence items. People always seeking out things or looking to sell.”
“That sounds like running a pawn shop which sounds like a job…”
“Don’t think of it as running a pawn shop, think of it as…running a black market.”
“Hah. Well that does make it sound more appealing. Okay, but surely Hessla already has several such established places there.”
“Well its called competition. Obviously I didn’t say it would be easy, but it’s an option worth thinking about. And you wouldn’t be doing this alone, I’d be helping you of course.”

Zalmora puts one of her hands on yours and squeezes slightly as if to reassure you of her words. Zal isn’t one for a lot of affection, but during your relationship with her you know her feelings are genuine.

No unnecessary drama either. She comes off a bit “guiding” at times, like she’s doing right now. Still, it’s better than bitching.

You’re not quite sure about this idea that’s she got though. Still seems a bit too close to having a proper job though she’s probably right about Klyton getting a bit of a hassle to function in nowadays.

You need time to think about it. Zal said she wasn’t rushing into this anyway and who knows; you or her might come up with a different idea in the meantime.

A few weeks pass and you get news about the militia raiding the Laughing Devil. You’re sort of surprised it took them so long because even before you stopped living there it had started to get a reputation for hosting “indecent acts without a license” and becoming a Green Lotus den.

Just as well that you started living with Zalmora otherwise you might have gotten swept up in said raid. Still, Zal was concerned before and she’s really alarmed now, so much so that she’s urging you both to leave immediately with just what you can carry.

“But I got a shitload of savings stashed…somewhere. I can’t easily just leave with it right now!” you remark.
“Do you feel it’s safe? Do you think anyone is going to find it?” Zal asks not even taking offense that you’ve still kept the location secret from her.
“Well nobody’s found it yet so I think it’s fine.”
“Good, you can come back and get it later then. We need to move now. You sold shit to more than a few of those assholes at the Laughing Devil, the owner in particular. How long before one of them drops your name and the militia tracks you here?”
“Alright, alright, fuck it. I’ve lost it all before, I can make it all back again if it comes to that. Let’s get packed.”

You and Zal start packing as much as you can as quick as you can and make your way to the carriage station. You ask Zal if she feels some sort of way about having to abandon her house, but she just replies that it’s not like she’s leaving a mansion and was more or less just a place that she could keep her stuff and a roof over her head. She then mumbles something about thanking her uncle that left it to her and tells you to quicken your pace.

You get within sight of the carriage station and then you see several patrols of militia walking about the area. A few of them are even walking in your direction. Your instinct is to keep cool and just walk by them as if nothing is wrong since if you run or even turn around at this point it’s going to arouse suspicion.

However Zal is already whispering another suggestion.

“Let’s run now. I know the closest manhole and we’ll lose them in the sewers.”
> You run to the sewers
With as many militia fuckers that are around the station, it might be best to run while you can. You give a look at Zal and nod, then the pair of you turn around and start walking away fast. One of the militia shouts at you both to stop which then leads to you both running; this is then followed by them chasing you.

Running with a full pack on your back is never a fun thing, but its not like you haven’t done it a few times before. Desperately prying a manhole cover off while trying to escape the law is even less fun.

The worst of course is stomping about in the sewers. You didn’t like it the first time you did it. Fortunately Zal is still more familiar with them than the militia is and after lying low in some unknown corner of these marvels of sanitation eventually you lose them altogether.

“We’re not getting out of this city the conventional way.” Zalmora remarks.
“Scaling the wall is going to be a little tough. Probably would still be easier to sneak out one of the gates.” You say.
“It’ll be even easier to sneak out of the city using these sewers. There’s an old passage the Talons used to use to get in and out of the city sometimes. I just hope it hasn’t been completely blocked off since the militia took them out.”
“Surprised the Talons didn’t use it to escape.”
“A few of them might have for all I know, but when the militia stormed the hideout, some of them came through that route to make sure nobody escaped that way. I’m just glad I happened to be pissed at Jake at the time and wasn’t around when any of it happened.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah well it’s not something I like to dwell on too much. The whole last time we spent time together being angry with him and all. It’s in the past anyway and right now getting through the present is more important. Come on.”

Eventually you get to the tunnel that Zal was speaking about and it has indeed been blocked off, however it hasn’t been blocked in a manner that would be impossible to get through as only a set of iron bars along with a few iron gates with locks on them have been installed.

You and Zal get to work on opening them and eventually you pop them all and soon you’re making your way out to the great outdoors and more importantly those awful sewers.

“Fucking hell, never thought I’d be so glad to see the countryside again. I don’t know how the hell you dealt with those sewers on regular basis.” You remark.
“You get used to it. You get used to a lot of things…anyway I guess we’re walking to Hessla now.” Zalmora says.
“That’ll be fun. How long will that take?” you say.
“A few days I imagine. Uh, you got food and water?”
“I got some water. I don’t think I have any food. Not exactly a hunter either.”
“Well I guess we’ll just eat when we get there.”

You and Zal begin to walk west towards your destination. As you put more and more distance between you and Klyton, you have a myriad of thoughts running through your mind though some of those are surprisingly about your family. You briefly wonder how they’re all doing. You imagine your mom and dad lives are a lot easier without you around anymore. As for your sister, you hope she’s doing a lot better than you are right now.

You weren’t sure about “starting over” before, but it looks like you’ll be doing it whether you want to or not. New town, new possible “profession”, you’re not exactly looking forward to all of it.

The only good factor in all this is Zalmora who has been by your side pretty solidly since you partnered up with her. You certainly have a great deal of feelings for her as well, and yet…

You still don’t fully trust her.

You don’t know why… well you do know why; it’s what happened with Annah. Zal has never given you any reason to not trust her, but then Annah didn’t give you any reason either for years.

As you struggle with this minor conundrum, you suddenly call out to Zal.

“Yes?” Zal replies.
“I…I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about where I keep my secret stash.” You say.
“Oh. I wasn’t fussed about it.”
“No, I mean it’s not right. You’ve been there for me since we started our relationship and I’m still mistrustful of you when I shouldn’t be. I mean shit, I haven’t even told you I love you.”
“Do you?”
“Well…yeah. Of course I do.”
“That didn’t sound sure.”
“I do!”
“It’s fine. I mean I haven’t said it to you either.”
“Yeah, but I know you do.”
“Oh. You KNOW that. How?”
“Well…because…you know! I mean you show it all the time. Just all the stuff you do.”
“There are lots of people that will standby you for various reasons, even the right ones. Doesn’t prove anything. I would think your own past experience would confirm that.”
“Yeah well…I can’t worry about every detail. Sometimes you have to roll the dice and hope Yag lets you roll a seven.”
“So throwing caution to the wind and leaving it to the gods huh?”
“Seems like it.”

Zal at this point gives you a kiss and mentions how glad she is that she met you.

“So about my secret stash…” you start to say.
“Oh you don’t need to tell me. I already know where it’s at.” Zal says.
“What?!”
“That’s why I said I wasn’t fussed. I already knew its location.”
“And you’re just now telling me?”
“If I’d told you before, you would’ve freaked out like you’re doing now, thinking I was going to rob you and then you’d have to go find a new spot and it would have put unnecessary work on you, especially since where you did hide it was a very good spot anyway and not likely to be found. Well not unless you’re me. Besides, even if you had moved it, I would have just found out again.”

You don’t answer this revelation from Zal. It’s a bit concerning, well a lot concerning really. On one hand it shows that when it comes to your significant others you’re really shit at hiding anything from them. On the other it shows Zal’s been keeping secrets as well, though maybe that isn’t too surprising.

“Oh come on, don’t look like that. I told you just now didn’t I? Besides, if I wanted to rob you I would have done it sooner.” Zal says.
“I’ve heard that one before. So what did you do? Follow me?” You respond.
“Yep. I wanted to have my own back up plan in case you turned out to be an asshole like Jake or worse. Wasn’t putting myself through that again.”
“I see.”
“But you weren’t. Or at least not one to me. So it all worked out and we’re still together.”

Part of you considers that you should really rethink your relationship with Zalmora, but after a moment…

“Fuck it. Not going to stress about this. It’s not like it’s going to be easy for anyone to get to now at this point. Just hope its safe in the time when we can go back and get it.” You say.
“Should be. We’ll come back in a month or so with a small wagon and go through the sewers and pick it up. That building you hid it near has been abandoned for as long as I’ve been alive in Klyton. Nobody ever seems to bother with it. The city has never had any plans to turn it into something else, nobody else has ever bought it, hell even bums don’t even squat in it. It’s almost like its cursed. Any particular reason why you picked it?” Zal says.
“Eh, my family used to own the place. Ran it as an inn. My dad even worked there while he was trying to complete college.”
“Really? Well that’s…wait…what the hell is that?”

You hear the same noise and both you and Zalmora turn your attention towards the wooded area to the left and draw your flintlocks.

Several scruffy looking individuals jump down from the trees with weapons in hand. The one who seems to be the leader is an elven woman with face paint and a wild hairstyle and steps forward with a crossbow in her hands. While you’re about ready to fire, Zalmora actually stops you.

“Flameflower. Didn’t know you survived the last raid on the Bloody Talons’ hideout.” Zalmora says.
“Yeah, well my sister didn’t.” Flameflower retorts focusing her attention solely at Zal and moving slowly forward towards her. You keep your own firearm focused on Flameflower, though the rest of her people are also stepping forward and it’s looking grim.
“Sorry to hear that. Sunshine was always friendly towards me.”
“She wanted her face in your vertical smile. Where were you during that raid?”
“I was on a job.”
“Yeah, a job. Always seemed a little convenient that YOU weren’t around when the shit went down.”
“So what are you saying Flame? You saying I ratted on the Talons?”
“I dunno. You always acted like you were too good for the gang most of the time.”
“I was putting in more work for the gang than most were. I was also in it before you even joined. So don’t act like I wasn’t a true Talon or whatever you’re implying. And I certainly wasn’t a fucking rat.”
“Oh you were putting in work all right. You were fucking Jake. Never did understand what he saw in you. I had far more in common with him.”
“What can I say? The heart wants what the heart wants.”
“Yeah and it obviously got him killed.”
“No, being an overly violent reckless idiot is what got him killed.”

Flame is now very close to you and Zal. In fact probably idiotically so. You’d easily blow her face off at this range, even Zal would probably get off a shot before Flame unleashed her crossbow. Flame would have been more dangerous if she’d stayed further back and just ambushed you from the trees.

Flameflower turns her attention briefly towards you.

“So who’s this one trying to look dangerous? Jake’s replacement?” Flame asks.
“Something like that. He does look dangerous doesn’t he?” Zal remarks.
“Pfft. He looks like he should be working in a brothel servicing aging women that are trying to desperately hang on to their youth. But then again, I guess that’s what he’s sort of already doing.”
“Yeah well we can’t all have elven blood in our veins to help to assist in halting the aging process halfbreed. You want to talk about desperately hanging on to youth, look in a mirror, since last I remember you’re about a decade older than me and you’re still hanging out with people that could be your children. Look at you, running around half naked in the trees like some fucking savage. Is this what you’ve been doing since the Talons were put out of business?”
“What can I say? I finally decided to embrace my elven heritage completely and live wild and free.”
“Well it definitely is you.”
“It is me, isn’t it? So, what are you and your pretty manservant doing outside Klyton?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Well did you want to go back to our camp and tell me all about it? Could certainly do with some new anecdotes other than the ones these assholes talk about over and over.”
“Sure. We could probably do with a rest after recent events.”
“Zal?” you say.
“Don’t worry. We’re not in any danger, well not in any more danger than we were in Klyton anyway.” Zalmora says.
“Yeah, lighten up pretty boy. We’re not killing you. Might still kill Zal if she pisses me off enough, but you…yeah I’d definitely have plans for you…”

Flameflower at this point makes an obscene gesture with her fingers and tongue. You aren’t quite sure how to react to being harassed like this. Zal just shakes her head and rolls her eyes at Flame’s advances towards you.

“Flame is a lot of talk. Just stay close to me, I’ll protect you.” Zalmora says with a smirk.

Despite her earlier threats and hostile demeanor, Flameflower is relatively cordial towards Zalmora for the remainder of the night at her camp. She explains to Zal that after she escaped she decided to take up the life of a bandit and along the way she’s managed to acquire a new gang though they don’t really have any official name. She also says that while they operate around Klyton, they often move around a bit in case the militia starts sniffing around.

Zal reveals a bit about your own situation with the militia and the situation within Klyton. Flameflower just nods and says it sounds like she’s better off out here. She even offers Zal to join her gang.

“Nah, sort of done with the whole gang thing Flame, but thanks anyway.” Zal remarks.
“Bah, still think you’re too good for the rest. Whatever. So, what about you pretty boy? You apparently like older women and I can tell you I got way more experience than Zal here. Make you feel things you didn’t even know you had senses for.” Flameflower says with the same predatory gaze she’s had the whole time.
“Um, no I’m good.” You reply.
“Your loss. You know…you look familiar. Like someone I briefly knew when I was a lot younger. I used to work at an inn with my sister as a waitress for a while. Mom thought it would instill some sense of responsibility in us. (Snort) Mom was an idiot.”
“How odd. I was just telling Zal here about how my family used to own an inn in Klyton.”

Flameflower suddenly slaps her leg and points at you.

“That’s it! There was a guy and his mother that used to run a place called the Traveler’s Inn. You look like him. He married some other waitress that worked there. Sort of a quiet girl. Always thought she was a bit prissy. I think her name was…Elsa?”
“Eliza. That’s my mom.” You say.
“Yeah, I can see that. Though you look more like your father. Hrm. Small world it seems.”
“Indeed.”
“Well if neither of you are interested in joining, you two are still welcome to rest here until morning. Consider it my rare courtesy towards an old gang acquaintance who my dead dear sister had a minor crush on and the eye candy who I’d have my legs wrapped around if this situation was a bit different right now.”
“Hm, well we appreciate it Flame.” Zalmora responds.
“Anyway, you guys want any dwarven ale? We got several barrels of the shit and nobody here likes it. Not even sure why we took it really. I think one of these idiots said it might be valuable, but hell if I know where to unload it. I mean we’re fucking bandits, we aren’t exactly in the business of trading much of what we take.”

You and Zal look at each other.

“Y’know Flame, we’re thinking about starting up a new business in Hessla, If you hang on to that ale for just a bit longer, I think we might be able to get you something in exchange for it.” Zal says.

This new business isn’t exactly going to be the type of work you’re used to, but maybe this new phase won’t be too bad. You suppose you’ll soon find out though.
> You time passes...
Year 27

“You sure you’re going to be fine going to see Flameflower and her gang of reprobates by yourself?” you ask Zalmora.
“I’ll be more than fine. Flame’s been overjoyed to have someone that can get various supplies for her on a regular basis, so she’s probably been friendlier with me than she was in the Talons. We’ve also been doing well with our dealings with her. I think she’s actually starting to get organized. She’s got that permanent hideout now and actually came up with a name.” Zalmora remarks.
“Oh? What is it?”
“The Flame Blades, though I think it’s a work in progress. Anyway, I’ll probably be gone a few days. According to the badly written note she sent, she’s managed to snag a lot of shit and as usual she’s just piled it all up in corner since she doesn’t have any immediate use for it. Hopefully some of it is actually valuable, but she hasn’t disappointed yet.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
“Of course I will, but if you’re really worried about me, you could go in my place. I’m sure Flameflower would be happy to see you. You might even get us a discount if you were willing to go that extra step.”
“Ha ha. Pretty sure if that happened, Flame would just keep me as her sex captive and you’d leave me with her as revenge for fucking around on you in the first place.”
“Oh, only for a year, then I’d trade some elven wine for you or something.”
“Glad to see I’m in such high demand. Anyway, I’ll hold things down here.”
“Good, oh and try not to get into another argument with Lorenzo from Little Lorenzo’s while I’m gone.”
“That fucking Halfling has been an asshole since we opened up shop here. Keeps blaming his financial problems on us and I’m not putting up with him going trying to bad mouth us to potential customers.”
“And he’s been completely ineffective in that endeavor. Why? Because he’s a fucking Halfling and unless it’s food, nobody fucking pays attention to shit they got to say. If anything, when you went over and started breaking his windows you drew more attention to his shop…as well as the Governor’s Headsmen. Let’s try to avoid that again.”
“Alright. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

Zalmora kisses you goodbye and takes her leave and you’re left to your own devices.

So far your time in Hessla has been okay. Though you’re still getting used to the idea of having a job despite what Zal says.

Sure you’re dealing in a lot of stolen goods and you’ve done that before on a smaller scale, but you still have been missing the whole hands on approach to how you used to do things. Then again life has been a lot easier and could be a lot worse.

As the day passes you get the usual routine. Selling a few used muskets here, taking in a few exotic vases there, coin given and coin received. The usual.

As you’re taking stock of some of the items you have in the store, you briefly look when you hear the door open. You see a woman dressed in traveller’s clothing with an eye patch over her left eye walking in with a bag over her shoulder and a little dog by her feet.

“Hey, no anim…wait a minute…Annah?” you say.
“Um…yeah…it’s me.” She replies a bit meekly.

Part of you can’t believe that you’re seeing her again, another part of you sort isn’t surprised. By the same token, part of you wants to go over and strangle her, while a small part of you wants to go over and hug her.

She walks further into the store with a minor limp. Her dog, which you presume, is still Checkers, follows closely and is still about the same size the last time you saw the infernal furry beast.

While you’re feeling a lot of emotions right now, one of the reasons why you aren’t acting on any of the negative ones is the condition she’s in. Eye patch, limp, if she had a hook, she could pass for one of the pirates in Hessla as this point. When she gets closer, you notice scars around her neck. Like either someone unsuccessfully tried to slit her throat or tried to hang her.

“Annah…what the fuck happened?” you ask.
“I…I fucked up.” Annah responds.
“Well obviously.”
“Can I sit down a moment?”
“Sure go ahead. I was getting ready to close down for the day anyway.”

Annah finds a chair and sits down putting her bag on the floor. When she does, its almost as if some of her burdens have been lifted, if only for a moment. Checkers curls up next to one of her feet. As you’re locking up, you’re just having a hard time believing it’s actually her.

“Well I guess I wouldn’t blame you for laughing at me right now.” Annah responds.
“Laugh? Annah, this is fucking tragic seeing you like this. I mean…fuck sure I was pretty angry with that stunt you pulled, the last time I saw you. Even briefly thought about chasing you down, but even I certainly wouldn’t have done this to you. Shit, I didn’t even wish this on you.” You say.
“Heh…I guess I always knew that despite everything you’d still have some feelings for me. I suppose that’s why I came to find you. You know I tried Klyton first. Had a hell of a time finding out you had moved here. Not surprised you finally moved given how strict things have gotten in Klyton. However, I am surprised to find you running a store of sorts.”
“Yeah well, things change.”
“Indeed. I’m guessing the woman I heard you were with was one of the reasons for that change. Don’t worry; I’m not here to mess that up. Actually I’m glad you found someone because it’s certainly hard being by yourself. Wish I’d realized that sooner. Is she here?”
“No. If she were, we might not be having this long of a conversation. Which brings me to the point of this visit. Now I still don’t know what happened to you, but obviously, you sought me out so I could help you in some way. So what is it?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Yeah well Zalmora isn’t going to be back for awhile, so start talking.”

Annah tells you that soon after your “parting of ways” she went to the Delantium Kingdom. She says that she lived pretty well there, but it all started to fall apart when she got involved with the Ebony Claw Syndicate.

“By the gods, why the hell would you do that for?” you utter.
“I thought I was smart enough to handle them. Of course if I was really smart I would have left Delantium as soon as one of them approached me with their propositions.” Annah answers.

Annah goes on about how she dug a deeper and deeper hole for herself with the Syndicate until finally they began to lose patience with her and before she could disappear, they caught her and it wasn’t good.

She tells you that in the scheme of things she got off light since the others directly involved in the plan weren’t so lucky. She was just considered loosely connected so managed to keep her life. However, she says you’re not seeing the scars she has on her back where they also whipped her. It was by the luck of Yag that one of the Syndicate members was such an animal lover that he didn’t kill Checkers as part of the “lesson.”

After the debt was paid in blood and what little coin she had, she left the Delantium Kingdom.

“And then you came to find me?” you ask.
“Well I actually thought about going home to Teckleville, but despite everything I wasn’t completely ready to admit defeat and live some boring life. In fact, that’s part of the reason I’m here.”

Annah at this point takes her bag and gives you it. You look at her and you slowly open it.

“By the gods...” You utter.

You put your hand inside the bag and pull out a fist full of vials filled with Blue Dream. The entire bag is full of them. There must be a small fortune here.

“This is a lot of fucking Blue Dream, Annah. You realize how much fucking Blue Dream you got here?”
“Not exactly, no. Do you know?”
“No, I don’t, but it’s a fucking lot.”
“Can you give me a fair price? I understand you need to make a profit.”
“Annah, I’m not a fucking Blue Dream lord! I mean sure I sold some medical shit back in Klyton, but this is a whole different situation.”
“How so?”
“First off, I’m sure you realize that Ebony Claw Syndicate has domination on this product. They’re very fucking protective of it. I mean if you’re caught selling this shit and you’re not ECS, they will take it out on your ass.”
“Well isn’t Hessla free of ECS influence?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still come here. I start selling this shit in Hessla and I’ll have a Syndicate hit squad on me before the Governor’s Headsmen can do shit about it. Which brings me to the second point. The Governor of Hessla has a shaky relationship with the Syndicate. If anything causes that tenuous peace to start going south, he’s going to take steps to correct it. And if that means turning over the troublemaker to the Syndicate, then that’s what’s going to happen.”
“No way to do it quietly?”
“Annah, I could be as careful as possible and some idiot would blab. All it takes is one damn junkie. The only other option is to sell it all in one sale to minimize the risk, but I have no knowledge of anyone that needs that much Blue Dream and has the coin to buy it. Annah, this is REALLY dangerous to even have this in your possession. You have to know that.”
“I know I only got one fucking eye, a leg that has a permanent limp and deep scars on my back now thanks to the damn Syndicate. I might not be able to do anything to them, but I’m getting something out of them. They don’t know anyway. As I said, they thought the Blue Dream was lost by one of the other poor sons of bitches they killed.”
“And you just happened to have it hidden somewhere the whole time of course.”
“I had a back up plan. I always do.”

You rub your eyes and shake your head. Annah looks at you with her one good eye and realizes that she may have assumed too much.

“Alright. I can see you can’t help me. It’s okay. I get it. You got a nice life and don’t want to fuck that up. Thanks for at least hearing me out for old times sake.” Annah says.

Annah goes to take the bag, and that’s when you stop her.

“Hang on. Didn’t say I couldn’t help you. Though I’m wondering why I should…(sigh) fuck it. I’m hoping I’m doing this because I’m greedy, because if it’s because I still having feelings for you, I truly am an idiot. I got an idea of how I can unload this. Letting you know right now however, I’m taking full advantage and bending you over good on this deal.” You say.
“You going to kiss me and tell me I’m still pretty at least?” Annah replies.
“Of course. No reason I can’t still be a gentleman.”

You tell Annah to wait and you head to the back of the store where your living quarters are and then go to your personal safe where you take out the remainder of what savings you have left. It’s still not as much as what the Blue Dream is worth, but as you already told her, Annah’s going to have to be satisfied with the deal.

You come back and find Annah petting Checkers in her lap. You then hand her a new bag of loot, which Annah looks in.

“It’s the best I can do Annah.” You say.
“This will do. I can take this and easily make more with it, if need be. Learned a few gambling tricks while in Delantium. Um, this isn’t going to fuck up things with your new girl is it?” Annah asks.
“Zalmora? Eh, I think I’ll be able to talk my way out of it though. Hope so at least.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t tell her then.”
“Hah. She’d figure out I was hiding something and I’d just get into more trouble. If I’ve learned anything, I’m shit at deception when it comes to those I happen to be intimate with.”
“Well give me the Blue Dream back, I don’t want to cause you unnecessary trouble. I did enough of that when we were together.”
“Don’t worry about it. I used all my savings rather than the store’s anyway. So while she’ll probably call me an idiot and ask if I fucked you or not, that’s probably where it will end, then we’ll figure out who we can sell the Blue Dream to and get rich.
“Wait, this is ALL your savings?”
“Yep. You’ve got it all again. Just think, you didn’t even have to steal it this time.”
“Y’know, I’m really sorry about that. I wish…”
“Forget it Annah. It was a long time ago and I got over it.”

Annah puts Checkers down and slowly stands up. She briefly smiles and moves towards you.

“I…wish things had been different.” Annah says getting a bit of a quiver in her voice.
“Things are what they are. No point in dwelling on them now.”

Annah looks down and nods. She sniffles and rubs her eye.

“Just, take care of yourself okay? And for fuck’s sake don’t have anymore dealings with the Ebony Claw Syndicate.”
“I won’t and I won’t forget this either.”

Annah suddenly moves in quick and gives you a kiss you on the lips.

“You’re still my first and only love. You always will be.” Annah says and then turns around to exit the shop. She limps as quickly as she can with Checkers faithfully following her.

And she’s gone again.

It’s still a little unreal to you and you even get a little emotional after your encounter with Annah.

After composing yourself, you focus on what she left you with, namely a shitload of Blue Dream. Despite what you told Annah, you’re not really sure how you’re going to get rid of it with ease. Zal will probably have some ideas, though you’re dreading the conversation you’re going to have to have with her. Fortunately you’ve got a few days to prepare yourself.

A few days pass and Zal still isn’t back yet. When two more days pass after that, you stop worrying about your conversation with Zal and just start to worry in general. Your worries are soon answered when a little boy suddenly comes running in your shop that day with a note saying someone on the edge of Hessla gave him this message to give to you.

Pretty boy,

Bring ALL your shit now or the bitch dies.

Sincerely,

Flameflower

Your heart sinks and you feel sick. At first you wonder why Flame is doing this since your “business relationship” with her and her gang was always positive.

Then again, does it matter what the reasons are? She’s a fucking violent criminal and the risk was always there. The important thing is she’s holding Zal hostage and you have to do something about it.
> You comply with the note
You’re not some hardened bandit. In fact, you’ve probably gotten a little out of shape due to your less strenuous life. You are not going to be able to just go in Flame’s camp and take everyone out like some warrior priest of Karn.

You’d just get yourself and Zal killed at best if you tried to save her. Granted that could happen anyway, but you’re hoping that if you grovel enough, it’ll appeal to Flame’s ego enough that she’ll be amused enough to let you both go. It’s not going to be fun, but if it’s what is going to get the job done then so be it.

You go to the store safe and empty it all out. You hope it’s enough since it’s been a slower month this month. You also wish you hadn’t given away your own savings to Annah since you probably could have used it assuming you get out of this. You guess you really will be selling Blue Dream for a while.

It then occurs to you that maybe you can use it as extra bargaining. You decide to take a couple vials in the hopes that you can convince Flameflower, you can get her a lot more of the stuff if she doesn’t kill you or Zal.

You’re nervous as all hell, but you compose yourself trying to keep focused on saving Zal. Once your get yourself in that state of mind, you leave.

From past conversations with Zalmora, you remember the general location of Flame’s hideout. Takes about a day, but eventually you find it thanks to Flame’s people being fairly loud while wandering around the area.

You figure you’ll speed this up by surrendering to Flame’s men as they’ll take you straight to her, so you call out to the ones you see and begin putting up your hands stating that Flameflower is expecting you. Three bandits come at you, with one pointing a crossbow at you.

First thing they do is search you for weapons and take the bag of loot off of you. When one with a full beard looks inside, his eyes bug out.

“Fucking nice.” He says.
“Never seen anyone shit all stupid as you walking around with this small fortune without even a weapon. You must have goblin shit for brains.” A younger looking bandit adds.
“As I said, Flameflower is expecting me and that small fortune you’re holding is hers.” You say.
“Sounds about right, that’s way more than that bitch would ever share with us.” The biggest one says.
“Y’know this is the first I’m hearing of this. Who are you?” the bearded one holding the loot asks.

You explain who you are and the situation, and while they vaguely know about Flameflower having ongoing dealings with people in Hessla, it seems like these three have only just been informed of her recent plan as apparently they haven’t been back to the camp for awhile and been trying to find easy picking on the road with no success.

“Well, guess we better take this asshole back to Flame.” The young bandit says.
“What for?” the bearded one asks.
“He just said she’s expecting him, that’s why dipshit.” The tall one says.
“Yeah, I know that you lanky horse fucker, I’m just saying it’s not like she knows he’s coming right this minute. There’s nobody around. We could just kill this fucker and take this for ourselves. I mean shit, we’ve just spent days out here and for what? Fucking foot rot and nearly getting our asses shot by all too well equipped caravans, because she didn’t see fit to send more people with us.”
“I dunno. What if this gets back to Flame? She’ll fucking have our balls for breakfast.”
“Who says we need to even stick around? I mean there’s enough here for the three of us to live okay for awhile. At least enough to not have to fumble around in this fucking wilderness for an existence.”
“Y’know what, you’re right. FUCK Flameflower. That bitch gave me fucking crotch rot on three separate occasions. I’m surprised I even got a dick left. Let’s take this shit and head to Hessla.” The young one finally says in an outburst.

This has gone horribly wrong. You need to get out of here now. While the bandits are still talking about their plans you immediately turn to run.

“Shit!” the youngest one says and immediately gives chase.

At one time you probably could have outran him, but again you’ve been a little out of shape since your quieter time with Zalmora and he eventually tackles you to the ground.

The pair of you struggle for awhile, but despite being out of practice, you still prove to be stronger and manage to overpower the young bandit, killing him with his own dagger.

And then you feel a bolt go into your back causing you to collapse on top of the bandit you just killed.

You struggle to crawl away, but the tall bandit who just shot you takes his time and manages to reload and finish you off with another bolt to your head.