Best to start a new life with a clean slate.

“Yvette, if we’re going to be together I fell like it’s best if I tell you EVERYTHING.” You say.
“Oh?” Yvette responds.
“Yeah, okay where to start…”

You go into your past, though you still leave out a few details. (Like having to leave your town for murder instead of theft) In general you’re truthful though. You’re rolling the dice here and while you’re explaining, you aren’t sure how she’s even taking it.

“I just wanted to lay it all out there because I’m ready to turn over a new leaf. I want a life with you and I want that life to have no secrets between us.”

Yvette still says nothing; her face just has an expression of shock on it.

“Yvette?” you say.
“Um…yeah. Well…yeah…” she starts to say.

This isn’t good.

“Yvette, please say something.” You say.
“What do you want me to say? This is pretty damn serious! I mean how CAN I trust you? Up until THIS moment you’ve lied about everything!” Yvette responds.
“But I’m not lying now! I’m telling the truth here. I’m no longer going to be a thief, I’m going to go look for real work and…”
“Look, I can’t deal with this right now. I’ve got other things on my mind and running into you was a surprise to begin with. Obviously it was a mistake to even admit I had some faint feelings for you at one time. I have to go.”
“Well can we talk about this again later?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Look, if you ARE serious, then by all means turn your life around and become a productive member of society. I don’t even think you’re that bad of a person…but I can’t be with someone I can’t trust and I can’t trust you. Goodbye.”

And there it is again. Doing the right thing and getting no accolades, just a kick in the fucking face.

Disappointed with how this entire miserable day has turned out you head back to your place Joachim’s church (With the militia following you the entire time of course).

You spend the next few days on your usual routine of sneaking around trying to lose the militia as you perform your work at the university. You might as well considering you can’t leave the city. If things actually been different with Yvette, you probably would have tried to find a real job, but now? What’s the point?

You figure it’s free to sleep and eat at the church so you might as well just endure it until the Crimson Talons finally get busted and the militia backs off your ass so you can leave this fucking city.

One day in your corner of the church sleeping area, your light sleeping reflexes kick in and you grab a little arm reaching at you.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing you little thief?” you say to the little girl who you’ve just grabbed. She looks at you with wide eyes, but doesn’t scream surprisingly.

“Nothing! I’m not a thief and I wasn’t reaching for you, I was just trying to pet Pink Eyes!” she says.
“Pink Eyes?” you ask.
“Yeah, the funny rat with big teeth by your head.”

You turn your head slightly and see Elana sniffing near you. It would seem she located you. You release your grip on the girl’s arm who stands back as you slowly sit up rubbing your eyes. Elana squeaks a few times and finds a less open place to be.

“You’re lucky I stopped you kid. Elana here isn’t just a regular rat, she’s a qweepa and she also doesn’t tend to let people just pet her. In fact she’s more likely to eat your fingers.” You say.
“She didn’t do that with me. When I saw her, I gave her a little piece of bread I had from breakfast and she nuzzled my hand a bit after she ate the bread. Then I played with her a bit before she ran over to you. Is she your pet?” the little girl asks.
“Yeah I guess you could say that. Though apparently she’s a little traitor if she’s being nice to anyone that feeds her. Guess I’m no position to speak ill of rats though. Wait, did you say you already had breakfast?”
“Yeah, it’s almost time for them to serve lunch now. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and see you creep in here. Do you have some sort of night job?”
“Something like that. Where are your parents?”
“My mom’s out looking for work. I…um don’t know who my dad is.”
“Oh. Well I got stuff to do, so off you go kid.”
“Can I play with Pink Eyes while you’re gone?”
“Um…yeah sure I guess if she isn’t chewing your face off. I wouldn’t call attention to her though, not sure what the animal policy is in this place. And if she doesn’t want to be fussed with, then I’d leave her be. Like I said, she isn’t usually this friendly to other people.”

You leave the little girl and Elana and step out of the church before Virgil or some other Joachim follower can ask you to do anything. You head to the university seeing as you don’t have anything better planned at the moment.

Of course as soon as you start heading that way, militia is on your ass already and this time they don’t just follow you, they actually come up to you and start throwing their weight around.

“Hey criminal scum, we’re on to you.” One of them says.
“Yeah I know that already. Been through all this with your captain.” You reply.
“No, I don’t think you fucking understand!” he says again, pushing you hard this time.
“What the hell? I’m not doing anything!” you exclaim.
“Bullshit! We know where you’ve been going even though you THINK you’ve been eluding us. You go up to that fancy university. Whatcha going up there for? I know it ain’t to take any fucking classes. We haven’t caught you in the act yet, but it won’t be long.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be taking down the Crimson Talons?”
“Don’t you worry about that. They’ll be facing justice soon, just like YOU will be. Seein’ you soon asshole.”

And there it is, final proof that the militia consists of a bunch of unyielding dicks that are not going to EVER leave you alone. You truly have to get out of this city.

Your original plan was to wait until they finally took out the Talons, but they seem to be taking their sweet ass time about it. You suppose if you really wanted to get out, you could take the sewers and leave through the secret exit that the Talons use to get in and out of the city with no fuss.

Yeah, seems like a plan, though you figure you’ll wait until it gets darker. In the meantime you head back to the church.

When you arrive back to your sleeping area you see that little girl playing with Elana and giving her some of her food. Looks like even your pet has abandoned you. Though considering you’re leaving soon, it’s just as well she seems to have found a new owner.

Lacking any more motivation to do anything until tonight, you decide to get some more sleep.

Later…

You suddenly grab a little arm reaching for you.

“Girl…you REALLY need to stop doing that!” you say waking up and letting the girl’s arm go.
“Please, my mom is missing and I dunno who to ask for help!” the little girl says frantically
“What?”
“My mom, she hasn’t returned! She ALWAYS returns before now! She promised she’d never stay out late like this again and I know she wasn’t lying!”
“Alright, alright, calm down. What the hell happened?”
“My mom…”

At this point the little girl starts breaking down in tears and some nearby folks trying to sleep start shushing you.

This certainly wasn’t anything you had in mind to deal with right now. From what you can tell it’s pitch black outside. You slept way longer than you intended to and now you’ve got a little girl begging you for help.
> You help the little girl
This really goes against everything you tend to believe in, but maybe due to a combination of several bad things you’ve experienced lately, you’re still hoping that MAYBE somehow doing something half way “decent” that the gods or fate or whatever will reward you in some way. (Even though you don’t really believe in a lot of that anyway)

First thing you do is calm the little girl down and ask her name since this will be a whole lot easier if you know what to call her.

“Mara.” She says.
“Okay, first question. Do you know where you mom might have went or where she goes to look for work?” you ask.
“I dunno, mostly the taverns?” the little girl asks.
“…that really narrows it down…(sigh) alright, I guess I can just try the closest ones in the area. I’ll also need a physical description of her.”
“She’s real pretty. She has a flower name too, Violet. Her hair is black like mine and she…um…her chest is sort of large.”

Well you weren’t expecting her to give that description of her mom, but you suppose it does help narrow things down a bit more.

“Okay, that helps a little…hey wait a minute. Did you ask Virgil to help?” you ask.
“The friendly old priest that smells funny? Yeah, I went to his room, but he wouldn’t move no matter how much I pushed him. He just kept snoring.” Mara replies.
“Well this is important, and I’ll go wake him up. He’s supposed to be doing good deeds anyway. In the meantime you just stay here and Elana will keep you company.”
“Will you come back with her?”
“I promise that I’ll come back.” Is all you can say to her before you bid her goodbye.

Of course before you leave, you head to where Virgil sleeps in this church. Sure enough he’s snoring soundly. Not excessively loud, but he’s definitely flat out. You don’t bother with the pushing or yelling to wake him up; you just drag him out of bed by his crusty feet.

He wakes up just before he hits the floor.

“Hey what the…OW! Shit! You?! What the fuck are you dragging me out of bed for?!” Virgil exclaims.

You actually sort of smile since that’s more along the line of the old Virgil that you were familiar with.

“Aren’t you supposed to be cutting down on the vulgarities now that you’re all holy again? You’ve woke me up plenty of times in the past banging on my door, so consider this payback. Besides, a little girl needs help and you’re supposed to be doing this sort of shit anyway.” You say.
“Little girl? What’s going on?”

You explain the situation to Virgil, who slowly starts becoming more alert. As you explain, he seems to remember Violet quite well. (Or her tits at least)

“Yes, yes, I know who you’re talking about. I’m not sure what to say though. Violet is a prostitute or at least she was trying to get out of that life for the sake of her daughter as far as I know. I mean I know she was trying to get a job as a waitress with little success, but if she’s disappeared during the night, she might have sadly gone back to her old ways and strayed from Joachim’s path.” Virgil remarks.

Raven haired beauty with big tits and worked as a whore, now you’re wondering how the hell you never noticed her before.

“Well let’s try the taverns first I guess.” You say.
“Why am I going with you?” Virgil asks.
“Because isn’t it your damn job to help the downtrodden and innocent? Besides, you being an ex-drunk, I figure that you know where ALL the closest taverns are. Also the militia is on my ass constantly, and if they catch me walking around at night, they’ll probably just beat my head in and throw me in jail. I figure if I’m walking around with a priest I shouldn’t get harassed as much. Not like you have anything better to do anyway.”
“Um…yeah, but…you’re talking about going to several taverns…I’m just not sure I should be around that much temptation.”
“Oh for…just come on! If you start getting thirsty, I’ll slap you in the back of the head to remind you of Joachim’s light or something.”

Virgil reluctantly agrees to help, and soon the pair of you are off to go tavern hopping, but not in the good way.

You go to several taverns and while a couple people say they remember seeing her or even interacting with her, they tell you they haven’t seen her today. Virgil meanwhile looks longingly at every mug, glass and bottle containing alcohol. It isn’t excessively hard to pull him away, but it’s obviously a struggle.

“I beseech you, no more taverns! The temptation is getting to me and it’s taking all my faith in Joachim to give me strength to resist!” Virgil begs.
“Okay, okay…(sigh) might as well give up anyway. We’ve covered a lot more ground than I thought we were and still haven’t found shit. I guess we can start trying to brothels.” You say.
“Um, I don’t think so.”
“What? Are the whores going to be too much temptation too? I thought your weakness was the booze, not the women.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just I doubt very seriously that she’s working in one of the Klyton brothels. At least none of the legal ones. If she was back to whoring, she’d be doing it illegally and who knows where.”
“I don’t understand, Mara said her mom was pretty and you even seemed to confirm that. Wouldn’t she be good enough of one of those places? She a Yellow Devil addict or something?”
“No, nothing like that. In fact she used to work at Madam Moonlight’s place, but she did something that severely pissed off Moonlight. I dunno what, but it was bad enough to get her fired and Moonlight apparently pulled strings at every other sanctioned brothel to not hire her.”
“Hm, I guess that makes sense, I’ve seen Moonlight get pissed at unruly customers and makes them sorry they got out of line. Guess the same goes for her employees. Still surprised I’ve never bumped into this woman before. Well I’m out of ideas, I mean we can’t realistically go to every inn or back alley, to look for her.”
“I think the only thing that can be done is to go back. Sometimes we must just place faith in Joachim that he will influence events to a positive end. I’m sure the girl’s mother will come back, she may already be back for all we know.”
“Yeah maybe…”

You suddenly remember something terrible.

“SHIT!” you exclaim.
“What?” Virgil asks.
“In all the rush to help the girl, I left all my shit at the church and I didn’t even bother to hide it before I left! My savings!”
“I doubt very seriously that anyone is going to ransack your belongings and steal what you have. All of those folks are Joachim fearing and righteous.”
“Oh? Then what am I doing there then?”
“Erm…well on the other hand it would be quite amusing if Joachim balanced things by taking away your wealth.”
“What the hell? Why are you condoning theft just because it’s me?!”
“I’m not, but I’m just saying there would be a kind of justice if it did occur, considering your own profession…speaking of which…Brother Thadius has expressed concerns about you continuing to sleep in the church. I’ve tried to assure him that you’re looking for real work, but I think we both know that isn’t true and I hate lying to the man. I’m already under scrutiny for…”
“I can’t discuss this right now, I gotta go!”

You run off to leave Virgil behind and race back to the church.

Unfortunately along the way you nearly bump straight into two militiamen who happen to be patrolling. They see you running and jump to their own conclusions.

“HALT!” one of them shouts.

You haven’t done anything wrong and you don’t even have anything stolen on you since you left all your stuff at the church. Legally they can’t really do anything to you…however that’s never stopped the militia from severely fucking with you before.
> You halt
They’ve already seen your face and probably already know who you are, so running is just going to get you into more trouble. Might as well deal with this head on.

The militia approaches and you make no sudden moves.

“Thought it was you. So where the hell are you in such a hurry in the middle of the night? Up to your usual thievery no doubt.” one of them says.
“I’m going to church.” You say.
“Very funny asshole.” He replies pushing you.
“I’m serious! If you’re aware of who I am, then you also know I’ve been living in a Church of Joachim for days now. I’m not lying.”
“Or maybe you’re not exactly telling the truth either…seems very fishy that you’re lurking around.”

Suddenly another one of their number runs up to them.

“Hey! What the hell are you two doing? You’re supposed to be down in the sewers helping with taking out those Talon bastards. The captain’s been looking all over for you and he’s pissed!” he remarks.
“What? We got assigned street patrol duty tonight!”
“Well you’ve got new orders then, come on let’s go. Who’s this one?”
“This is the sneak thief who ratted on the Talons in the first place to save his own hide. Claims he doesn’t have anything stolen on him, but I KNOW he’s been up to something!”
“Let’s just quickly throw him in a cell because we need to get into the sewers before the shit goes down. He can be dealt with later.”

Just as they’re about to grab you, another figure arrives. One you’d never be so happy to see.

“Hey! Ask this guy! He’s a Joachim priest and I’ve been walking around all damn night with him searching for a missing woman!” you exclaim.
“Is this true?” one of the men asks.
“Yes, it is true. A little girl asked us to seek out her mother. In fact she specifically asked THIS man first! He has done nothing wrong and I would urge that you leave him be lest you anger Joachim for attempting to impede good works.” Virgil says.

One of the guards must be a bit religious since he takes Virgil’s warning a little more to heart than the rest of his fellows.

“Okay, we’ll let you go this time, but for your sake you better hope that Captain Branik finds out that all your information was good, because if not, you’re gonna wish for a quick execution instead of what we will have planned for you.”

As the militia leaves, you think to yourself that it’s probably good that you didn’t try to escape through the sewers and the abandoned tunnel outside the city tonight. You might have gotten caught in the raid.

“I don’t normally just tell anyone this, but thanks Virgil.” You say.
“No problem. I’m just surprised they still let you go and listened to me at all. If I were a gambling man, I’d wager half of the militia have done worse things than you ever have. Hopefully as Joachim’s teachings spread, so will his influence though and perhaps one day Klyton’s militia won’t just consist mainly of thugs with city sanctioned authority.” Virgil says.
“I doubt it. People are just rotten by nature. The only time most do good deeds is when they have no other choice.”
“I don’t believe that, and I don’t even think YOU really believe that either. If that really were the case, you wouldn’t be trying to help a little girl find her mother tonight. I mean what’s really in it for you? Nothing. You’re not getting paid for it, you’re just doing it because you felt sorry for an innocent and it was the right thing to do. You’re better than you think you are, we all are. Joachim always tries to make us see that, even if you don’t notice that he’s doing it.”

Rather thoughtful comments by Virgil even if you don’t totally see things his way on the whole religious thing. Still, he might have a bit of a point.

The pair of you returns to the church where upon you immediately go see if any of your stuff is gone. Instead what you find is Mara sleeping near your belongings with Elana curled up next to her. Doesn’t look like anything has been disturbed other than Mara using your pack as a pillow of sorts.

“See? All your stuff was fine. It was being guarded by a little girl and her pet.” Virgil remarks.
“No sign of the girl’s mother though.” You say.
“Yeah, I admit, I’m a bit worried about that. Mara is going to be upset, but I’m still hoping that maybe she’ll show up soon. Maybe in the morning?”
“Maybe, but it’ll be morning in a few hours and I don’t quite have the faith you have Virgil.”
“You’ll get there eventually. I suppose I better reclaim some sleep before Brother Thadius shows up here in the morning to give me his plans for the day’s events.”
“Doesn’t he sleep here too?”
“Him? No, he lives in a proper house. Pretty nice one around the government district.”
“Hmm, guess all the donations to Joachim are blessing Thadius pretty well. In any case, I’m going to try to get some sleep as well and for what comes next, I guess I’ll figure that out when I wake up.”

You and Virgil part and since Mara has taken your sleeping spot, you sleep on the mattress that presumably was where her and her mother slept. It’s a lot more comfortable than sleeping on the floor for a change.

Later…

A little hand reaches out to you; this time you only gently grab it.

You actually were awake long before she reached for you since you heard her placing all your belongings on the mattress. Not to mention Elana is currently scurrying on the mattress and sniffing about.

“Hello Mara.” You say fully waking up and let go of her wrist.

As you slowly sit up from your slumber, and look through your belongings that Mara has brought to you. Everything is there and you’re finally relieved to know for certain.

Mara watches you with a mixture of concern and sadness. She looks like she might have been crying earlier.

“I didn’t take anything.” Mara says.
“I didn’t think you would, but I couldn’t be sure if anyone else didn’t. Anyway thanks for bringing me my stuff and guarding it yesterday.” You say.
“You didn’t find my mom did you?”
“No, unfortunately I didn’t, but Virgil said it’s still possible that she’ll show up this morning.”
“It’s the afternoon.”
“It is? Oh.”

Mara looks down wiping her eyes. This is awkward for you and if she starts crying in front of you, it isn’t like you know what to say. You ask Virgil for help, but he’s likely to just spout a bunch of shit about Joachim.

“She promised she wouldn’t…(sniffle)…not anymore. Not after last time.” Mara says.
“Last time?” you ask.

Mara tells you about how some man roughed up her mom once and nearly killed her in the process a few months ago. She mentions that it sometimes happened before that too, but that was the worst time. A lot of coin went to the apothecary and the clinic and they eventually wound up here while Violet was looking for steady work that didn’t require sex.

It’s obvious now that Mara isn’t exactly a naïve child and she’s well aware of the grim realities of this shitty world…still though…she’s a nine year old girl that misses her mom.

“She’s probably dead.” She says, trying not to cry.

You still can’t think of anything that’s going to make her feel any better. You were planning on leaving this city, but…

“Hey Mara, why don’t we wait for your mom a little longer okay? I mean let’s not jump to conclusions, maybe she got some job that wanted her to start right away and it was so tiring that she fell asleep somewhere else.”

Mara doesn’t look convinced, but this sliver of hope wrapped in a boldfaced lie seems to at least cause her to agree.

“You’ll stay with me?” Mara asks.
“Sure, until your mom gets back. Now let’s go get something real to eat. No more of this slop that they serve here.” You say.

Mara seems to cheer up slightly during her time with you. She mentions her mother a few times, but in happy reflections on better times she had with her.

You didn’t think you would, but you sort of don’t mind your time spent with Mara either.

You spend the rest of the day with Mara and the next few days after that. By the end of the week, she hasn’t even mentioned her mother anymore and is more interested in you. Again, not exactly being naïve (and probably overhearing Virgil’s conversations with you at times) she knows that you’re not exactly a “working” man.

“Do…you kill people?” Mara asks.
“Is that what you think I do?” you ask back.
“I dunno. Virgil says that you’re a good man who just does bad things sometimes.”
“Hah! Said that did he? No, I don’t kill people…well not usually anyway. I’m more into acquisitions.”
“What’s that?”
“I find stuff that I need.”
“Oh…you’re a thief.”
“Well yes, it’s not very impressive when you say it like that.”
“It’s just I sort of wished you did kill people.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because then you could track down who killed my mother and kill them.”

Mara at this point walks away from you, leaving you a little speechless. It’s at this moment that Virgil comes over to you.

“I see you’re still spending time with Mara. I knew you were a good man. I think it’s wonderful that you’ve been trying to be there for the child.” Virgil says.
“Yeah, I suppose so.” You remark.
“Of course seeing that her mother is most likely gone, the only thing to do now is to take her to the orphanage.”
“Orphanage?”
“Well yeah. I mean the child can’t stay here.”
“What would it hurt if she did stay here?”
“This place shelters the poor and families down on their luck for short periods of time, but unattended children should be in an orphanage and I know you can’t look after her.”
“Wait a minute, who says I can’t?”
“Look, I know maybe you’ve gotten a little attached to Mara, but really this is a matter for a place that’s capable of looking after a little girl.”
“Virgil, I’ve passed by those orphanages and half of them are completely neglected ragamuffins and the other half get beaten all the time and are most likely going to become vicious scoundrels. After all your bitching at me about being a thief, you REALLY think that’s the best place to put her?”
“Those places aren’t as bad as you say! I’ll have you know, I grew up in one of those places!”
“And that’s supposed to convince me that it’s a good place to send her?”
“Oh and because you had both parents, you’re such a good example that it isn’t? I mean I’m trying not to judge, but your parents obviously failed in their duties.”

And you’re done.

“Fuck you Virgil. Just fuck you, and your Joachim preaching bullshit. My parents were fucking great.” You say and gather up your belongings (And Elana) before walking off. Virgil starts to follow you trying to apologize until he realizes what you’re about to do.

You find Mara who is sitting quietly against a wall, looking at the floor.

“Come on Mara, we’re leaving. We’re done here.” You say.
“What? Where are we going?” Mara asks.
“Dunno yet, but we’re going together.”
“You can’t just take this child!” Virgil exclaims.
“Why not? She’s an orphan right? I’m adopting her. Cuts out the need for her to even go into an orphanage.”
“You…your emotions are letting you cloud your judgment! How are YOU going to take care of this child? Please, we must put this in the hands of Joachim and…”
“Mara? Do you want to come with me or go to an orphanage? If you don’t want to come with me, just say so. I won’t be mad.” You say.

Mara is silent for a half second before: “I want to come with you.”

You turn to Virgil and raise your hands.

“There’s your answer.” You say.
“Of course she’s going to pick you, but that’s not a realistic choice!” Virgil exclaims.
“How do you know that this isn’t Joachim’s will? You don’t and neither do I. Only Joachim knows. Praise be to him or whatever it is you say.” You remark and push Virgil out of the way.

You ignore Virgil’s protests as you leave and make your way to the carriage station. You know you’re allowed out of the city now given all the Crimson Talons are dead and the restriction for you to leave has been lifted.

You suppose you’ll head to Hessla first and from there you’ll figure out a more long-term plan. You just need to get out of this city, especially before you’re wanted for kidnapping along with anything else the militia decides you’re guilty of. You start to think about your situation and realize it’s really fucking crazy. You’re now a fugitive from TWO places and have little girl to look after. (And an oversized rat, but Elana is pretty self-sufficient)

Still, you’re convinced that you’re doing the right thing and you don’t even know why. What you do know is you’re going to have to step things up because it’s not just you anymore.

“Hey Mara.” You say.
“Yes?” Mara answers as she continues to look out of one of the windows, fascinated by it all.
“Come over here for a moment.” You say pulling out your small locked container containing what’s left of your savings.
“What’s that?” Mara asks.
“Something I hope we can both fill up eventually. For now though, it’s practice.”

You pull out a lock pick.

“I’m going to teach you something useful.”
> You time passes…
Chapter 3B1: The More They Get Complicated

Year 30

A hand reaches for the pouch on your side; you grab it and open your eyes.

“Damn it.” Mara exclaims.
“I keep telling you, you’re not quiet enough and you make more noise than a clumsy orc. I honestly don’t know how you don’t get caught more often by your marks.” You say sitting up.
“Well if I do, that’s only because I’m doing it like how you taught me.”
“If you really think that’s how I’ve been teaching you, then you haven’t been paying attention and we need to spend even more time training. What time is it?”
“Afternoon. You slept through the morning as usual.”
“Sounds about right. So…early bird, what have you been up to this morning?”
“Nothing much really. Just wandering around the city and doing stuff.”
“Hmm, wouldn’t be with that little gang of hoodlums you hang out with sometimes would it?”

Mara does answer immediately.

“Figured.” You say shaking your head.
“Why are you so against me having friends?” Mara asks.
“I’m not. I just think those idiots are a bad influence.”
“You’re joking right? YOU think other people are a bad influence on me?”
“Oh trust me, the irony isn’t lost on me, however I would propose that I am at least a bad influence in an efficient way. You keep hanging out with that group of losers and well…you remember what happened to the Crimson Talons?”

Mara rolls her eyes.

“This isn’t Klyton, and my friends aren’t the Crimson Talons!” she exclaims.
“No they aren’t. The Talons were more organized and they STILL got completely wiped out due to being reckless. And while maybe the Jicol Watch isn’t as overzealous as the Klyton Militia, but it’s only a matter of time before your friends get into a whole mess of trouble that they’re going to bring down on their own heads because they think punching old ladies in the street and grabbing their coin pouches to be the height of thievery.” You reply.
“Only a couple of them do that! And Marco has been telling them not to do it anymore. He said as the Black Hooks, they should be…”

You start chuckling.

“Black Hooks? They gave themselves a gang name? Oh that’s precious. Truly a name that will stir fear into everyone. And you’re telling me Marco is the leader? The gang already sucks.”
“…why…why are you being such an asshole?! Marco’s a great guy and he’s trying to put it all together with my help! He’s a real thief! Just like me and you!”
“PFFT!” you say with a mixture of contempt and genuine amusement.

“I’ve met Marco when you first introduced me to all these idiots last year and that boy is NOTHING like me. He wasn’t even me at that age. And as for him being like you, I like to think I’m a way better teacher than that despite your previous criticisms.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re just an cranky old man who doesn’t want me associating with anyone except you!”
“Okay first of all, I’m only fucking thirty. Second of all I do know what the hell I’m talking about. I understand your need for friends your own age, but I’m telling you this is the fucking wrong crowd. I’ve seen some of these dumb asses in action when I’m going about my own business and they’re all going to wind up in a bad end.”

At this point you stand up and continue your rant.

“And as for Marco, of course he wants your help, because out of ALL of them, you’re the only real thief there and he’s hoping that at least SOME of that shit that I’ve taught you will rub off on him. Well that and the fact he also wants you around to get in your pants.” You remark.
“Y’know, sometimes I wonder if that’s why you want me around.” Mara retorts.

You stop for a split second at this outrageous accusation

“Wow. You’re REALLY going to go there? Y’know, if you really think that, then just fucking go. Go off with your little friends. Well? Go! GET THE FUCK OUT!” you shout.

Mara jumps back a bit by your yelling and then without another word, she leaves slamming the door behind you. You slump back down on the bed already feeling drained even though you just woke up.

Things were getting a bit tenser with Mara for a couple years now. You chalked it up to her being a teenager, but this latest argument has made you start to wonder if it’s worse than just the need to rebel against you.

As you try to calm yourself down, Elana jumps up on the bed and very slowly walks over to you. You give her a pet and she curls up to sleep. She does that a lot more nowadays. She’s so old, and right about now you’re feeling the same way.

“(Sigh) It’s really damn bad when I’m already missing the old days. Just me and sis against the world. Been downhill ever since that split. Certainly hope she’s doing a lot better than I am right now.”

You continue to brood, thinking about what you should have done or shouldn’t have done in your life. Eventually you stop since it’s not doing you any good, so you go back to sleep instead.

A few hours later you wake up and find that it’s nighttime. Mara isn’t home, but then maybe she won’t ever come back. Still, you can’t help but be concerned about her.

You can only hope that she knows what the hell she’s doing and that you taught her well enough that she doesn’t get caught or can get herself out of trouble.

In the meantime you decide to get some of your own work done and leave your humble dwellings to go accomplish just that.

A few days pass and Mara still hasn’t come home. However, you’ve still been keeping an eye on her from afar. You mostly know where she is and all her hang outs. She spends most of her time in the city district where docks of lesser importance are located. It isn’t the best area, but given that she’s with her Black Hook friends, you assume that she at least has people to watch her back. (And you figure Marco is especially, but you’d rather not think too much about that)

As for the Black Hooks themselves, they’re still pretty low as far as Watch is concerned it seems. When the city is more concerned with keeping a strong naval force to ward off any potential pirate attacks, a group of juvenile delinquents that still haven’t done much more than petty theft, assault and vandalism, just doesn’t rank very high.

Honestly, you’re more surprised that Mara hasn’t gotten bored by them all yet since you know she’s a lot more talented than any of them. You know you’d be bored. Then again you suppose you just weren’t very social and never wanted to hang around with too many people. Just one that you could trust.

Weeks pass and while you continue to keep an eye on her, sometimes you start to wonder if maybe you should let go. Of course if you did let go, you’d have to leave the city altogether, because you just couldn’t stick around and NOT look out for her.
> You leave Jicol
Mara is still young, but in this sort of world that’s really no measure of being sheltered from the harsh realities of the world. The girl lost her mother and was mentored by a professional thief. She’s probably more ready to be on her own than most her age.

You need to move on though. It’s apparent that your good intensions have been less than successful. That’s fine though, because you’ve learned that more than ever that you should only worry about yourself.

You pack up all your stuff and get ready to go. You’re sure you can book passage aboard some ship heading to Hessla. Who knows, maybe you’ll go elsewhere.

You get half way to the transport docks and stop. You can’t leave like this. As much as it would be easier to do so, you can’t. You have to apologize to Mara before leaving.

She might very well tell you to go to hell. In fact if she’s around her friends, she’s very likely to do that, but still you have to try.

You head down to where the Black Hooks usually hang out. These young idiots like to pretend they’re all going to be pirates one day. You can only imagine how they’d really fare if they were in a pirate-dominated town like Hessla instead of this well fortified and more lawful city.

Eventually you arrive at the small beach area where there you see the “Black Hooks” all lingering under and around a boardwalk. Up to their usual bragging and bravado of course.

“And so I said to that bitch, you’re either giving me your necklace, or I’m gonna take it after I cut off your fucking head! She was pissing her knickers after that hahahaha!” one of them says.
“Who’s this asshole coming up?” asks one of them.
“Hey dumb fuck, don’t you know this is Black Hook territory?” one of them shouts.
“Oh no…” you hear a quieter voice say and you already pinpoint that it’s Mara trying to unsuccessfully hide behind a couple of her friends.

“Mara, I know you’re over there, come on out, I want to talk to you.” You say.
“Hey old man, Mara ain’t got shit to say to you. She’s with US now and she doesn’t have to worry about you molesting her anymore! Now you better get outta here before we…” Marco says stepping forward before you grab him by the collar and throw him down face down in the sand as hard as you can.

Marco spends the rest of his time spitting out sand and rubbing his eyes, while his gang does nothing except look at you.

“Is that what you’ve been telling these dickheads? Do you REALLY hate me that much that you’re going to make up stories like that about me? You know, I came to apologize and say goodbye, but if this is what you want, then fuck it. Have a nice life.” You say and turn around to leave.

You get a couple steps, before Mara calls out to you.

“I never said he molested me! Why the hell did you say that?!” she says to Marco and then calls out to you “Wait! Hold on!”
“Mara, what the fuck are you doing?” you hear Marco say as you turn around.
“I’m just gonna talk to him, I’ll be back.”
“No! He’s just gonna trick you into going back to him!”
“Marco, it’ll be fine, let go of me!”
“No! I’m the one who loves you!”

“Marco, you better let her go.” You say as you approach.

He isn’t listening though and once again you grab him, however this time he manages to pull out a flintlock. You would have easily took it away from him had some of his boys not grown a pair and stabbed you in the side and back.

You fall to the sand making it red with your blood. Mara is now screaming at Marco to not shoot you, but he’s too committed to care. He’s been waiting a long time to do this to someone and it’s just a bonus that it’s you.

You take a shot directly to the chest and the life is already leaving your body. Marco’s gang scatters at this point and Marco himself tries to drag Mara with him, but she manages to pull away until he just swears and values running from the scene of the crime more than her.

It’s a shitty way to have it all end like this by some snot nosed kid and in front of another who apparently did care about you in the end as she kneels down beside you crying as you die.

You comfort yourself in your last moments with the fact that you weren’t completely alone.


Chapter 3B1: The More They Get Complicated

Year 30

A hand reaches for the pouch on your side; you grab it and open your eyes.

“Damn it.” Mara exclaims.
“I keep telling you, you’re not quiet enough and you make more noise than a clumsy orc. I honestly don’t know how you don’t get caught more often by your marks.” You say sitting up.
“Well if I do, that’s only because I’m doing it like how you taught me.”
“If you really think that’s how I’ve been teaching you, then you haven’t been paying attention and we need to spend even more time training. What time is it?”
“Afternoon. You slept through the morning as usual.”
“Sounds about right. So…early bird, what have you been up to this morning?”
“Nothing much really. Just wandering around the city and doing stuff.”
“Hmm, wouldn’t be with that little gang of hoodlums you hang out with sometimes would it?”

Mara does answer immediately.

“Figured.” You say shaking your head.
“Why are you so against me having friends?” Mara asks.
“I’m not. I just think those idiots are a bad influence.”
“You’re joking right? YOU think other people are a bad influence on me?”
“Oh trust me, the irony isn’t lost on me, however I would propose that I am at least a bad influence in an efficient way. You keep hanging out with that group of losers and well…you remember what happened to the Crimson Talons?”

Mara rolls her eyes.

“This isn’t Klyton, and my friends aren’t the Crimson Talons!” she exclaims.
“No they aren’t. The Talons were more organized and they STILL got completely wiped out due to being reckless. And while maybe the Jicol Watch isn’t as overzealous as the Klyton Militia, but it’s only a matter of time before your friends get into a whole mess of trouble that they’re going to bring down on their own heads because they think punching old ladies in the street and grabbing their coin pouches to be the height of thievery.” You reply.
“Only a couple of them do that! And Marco has been telling them not to do it anymore. He said as the Black Hooks, they should be…”

You start chuckling.

“Black Hooks? They gave themselves a gang name? Oh that’s precious. Truly a name that will stir fear into everyone. And you’re telling me Marco is the leader? The gang already sucks.”
“…why…why are you being such an asshole?! Marco’s a great guy and he’s trying to put it all together with my help! He’s a real thief! Just like me and you!”
“PFFT!” you say with a mixture of contempt and genuine amusement.

“I’ve met Marco when you first introduced me to all these idiots last year and that boy is NOTHING like me. He wasn’t even me at that age. And as for him being like you, I like to think I’m a way better teacher than that despite your previous criticisms.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re just an cranky old man who doesn’t want me associating with anyone except you!”
“Okay first of all, I’m only fucking thirty. Second of all I do know what the hell I’m talking about. I understand your need for friends your own age, but I’m telling you this is the fucking wrong crowd. I’ve seen some of these dumb asses in action when I’m going about my own business and they’re all going to wind up in a bad end.”

At this point you stand up and continue your rant.

“And as for Marco, of course he wants your help, because out of ALL of them, you’re the only real thief there and he’s hoping that at least SOME of that shit that I’ve taught you will rub off on him. Well that and the fact he also wants you around to get in your pants.” You remark.
“Y’know, sometimes I wonder if that’s why you want me around.” Mara retorts.

You stop for a split second at this outrageous accusation

“Wow. You’re REALLY going to go there? Y’know, if you really think that, then just fucking go. Go off with your little friends. Well? Go! GET THE FUCK OUT!” you shout.

Mara jumps back a bit by your yelling and then without another word, she leaves slamming the door behind you. You slump back down on the bed already feeling drained even though you just woke up.

Things were getting a bit tenser with Mara for a couple years now. You chalked it up to her being a teenager, but this latest argument has made you start to wonder if it’s worse than just the need to rebel against you.

As you try to calm yourself down, Elana jumps up on the bed and very slowly walks over to you. You give her a pet and she curls up to sleep. She does that a lot more nowadays. She’s so old, and right about now you’re feeling the same way.

“(Sigh) It’s really damn bad when I’m already missing the old days. Just me and sis against the world. Been downhill ever since that split. Certainly hope she’s doing a lot better than I am right now.”

You continue to brood, thinking about what you should have done or shouldn’t have done in your life. Eventually you stop since it’s not doing you any good, so you go back to sleep instead.

A few hours later you wake up and find that it’s nighttime. Mara isn’t home, but then maybe she won’t ever come back. Still, you can’t help but be concerned about her.

You can only hope that she knows what the hell she’s doing and that you taught her well enough that she doesn’t get caught or can get herself out of trouble.

In the meantime you decide to get some of your own work done and leave your humble dwellings to go accomplish just that.

A few days pass and Mara still hasn’t come home. However, you’ve still been keeping an eye on her from afar. You mostly know where she is and all her hang outs. She spends most of her time in the city district where docks of lesser importance are located. It isn’t the best area, but given that she’s with her Black Hook friends, you assume that she at least has people to watch her back. (And you figure Marco is especially, but you’d rather not think too much about that)

As for the Black Hooks themselves, they’re still pretty low as far as Watch is concerned it seems. When the city is more concerned with keeping a strong naval force to ward off any potential pirate attacks, a group of juvenile delinquents that still haven’t done much more than petty theft, assault and vandalism, just doesn’t rank very high.

Honestly, you’re more surprised that Mara hasn’t gotten bored by them all yet since you know she’s a lot more talented than any of them. You know you’d be bored. Then again you suppose you just weren’t very social and never wanted to hang around with too many people. Just one that you could trust.

Weeks pass and while you continue to keep an eye on her, sometimes you start to wonder if maybe you should let go. Of course if you did let go, you’d have to leave the city altogether, because you just couldn’t stick around and NOT look out for her.
> You stay
No, you’re not going anywhere. Maybe she needs her independence and maybe she’s more “worldly” than most would be at her age, but the fact is, she’s still young and if she DOES ever need help, you want to be available.

Besides, it isn’t like you’ve really got anywhere important to go. Besides this unpleasantness with Mara, your life here in Jicol hasn’t been that bad. Certainly better than it was in Klyton or your very brief stay in Hessla.

Still, you’re starting to wonder if you should try your hand at something new. Not that you really believe that you’re starting to get too old for this, but it would be nice to have an income that’s steadier.

You know that they have Qweepa fights here, but you’re a little too attached to Elana to subject her to that. Besides she’s too old and you don’t think that after having one as a pet that you’d want to willingly risk their little ugly rodent lives even if it is for coin.

You think for a moment on the various activities you could be doing and then realize you could be a fence. It’s not like you don’t have skill in selling stolen items already. You had to do it when the Crimson Talons stopped fencing for you; you still do it now when you’re selling to the less honest merchants here.

What you need to try to do though is make yourself known to other thieves who are unwilling to or don’t know how to wheel and deal with the merchants. Not that you’ve ever particularly hung out within the “criminal circle” in the city, but you are aware of some of them. You figure you can work your way up to bigger clients in time.

You get yourself set up and within a month you get a few of the lesser pickpockets to sell you’re a few of the trinkets they’ve stolen. You in return sell those to whoever is willing to buy. Be it an average citizen on the street that needed for a gift for his girlfriend or a less than honest merchant.

As you become more engrossed in this work that you spend less time watching out for Mara, however she’s always in the back your mind and you at least try to keep an ear out for possible information. She still hasn’t returned of course and that of course still makes you feel a bit down.

A month later your mood doesn’t change much when Elana dies peacefully in her sleep. You bury the little rodent, thanking her for being the link that allowed you meet Mara in the first place.

Perhaps it’s due to being a bit lonely and away from the mainland that you start to think about your real family again. You wonder how they’re all doing. Is your sister still having her adventures on the road? Are your mom and dad okay? In fact, you get a little home sick and do something out of character, you write a letter to your family explaining that you’re doing well. You don’t go into great detail of course, you just keep it light and add an apology at the end. You send it by the courier service here, but who knows if it will actually get to them and you have no expectations that you’ll hear anything back.

A few more months pass and you’re approached by a couple of young teenagers. You immediately notice that they both have tattoos of black hooks on their arms.

“Hey…um…are you the guy?” one asks.
“Am I the guy what?” you answer.
“Y’know, the guy that buys shit.”

You nearly chuckle. Of all the groups that would come to you…then again you suppose it isn’t too surprising, what with the Black Hooks being “on the rise” and all. And what the hell, business is business.

“If I was, and I’m not saying that I am, do you have something in particular?” you ask.
“Yeah! We just ripped this off from that Artifacts of the Ancients place! LOOK!” one of the teenagers remarks and trusts some sort of vase at you.
“Are you fucking stupid showing that thing out here in the open? Put that damn thing away and follow me to some place less likely to get us all fucking pinched!”

After doing your business with the Black Hooks, you remind them that you also sell items too and if they need anything in particular you could try to acquire it for them.

“You have any Green Lotus?” one of them asks.
“Not really a drug dealer guys, you’d have better luck at Desolation Alley if that’s what you’re into. However I can probably find something stronger in a few weeks if you’re interested.” You say.
“Stronger? Fuck yeah! Oh wait, it’s not Yellow Devil is it? Because I heard that shit literally melts your brains and body if you use it.”
“Oh no, not that. What I’m talking about is actually legal, but not just available to most of the public. Physicians use it mostly for surgeries, it’s called Numb. Used to be able to get a lot of the stuff back in Klyton thanks to their medical school. Not as easy to get here, but I have my ways. Now normally this would cost you more than a bit of coin, but when I get it I’ll give you a discount, but I do want to some information.
“What sort of information?”
“Do you know a girl named Mara? She’s in your gang.”
“We just joined, so we don’t know everyone yet.” One of them remarks.
“Wait, Mara? She’s got black hair and was teaching those other guys how to pick a lock a few days ago. She’s Marco’s girlfriend.” The other says.
“Ohhhhh, yeah her. She’s fucking pretty, I’d so get her on all fours and fuck the hell out of her.”
“Hey! That’s Marco’s girl!”
“So? He’s not here.”
“Yeah, but I am. I’ve looked after that girl for the past five years you asshole.” You say.

The teen suddenly shuts up.

“Um, he was just joking…” his friend says.
“Hm, I’m sure. Look never mind all that. I just want you two to give me a report on her, and no, I’m not asking you to snitch any of those precious Black Hook plans or secrets, of yours.”
“Nothing else?”
“No, I just want you to tell me what she’s up to and if she’s okay.”
“Well that’s okay I guess, but this Numb shit better be worth it!”
“Oh, it’ll be worth it. Trust me.”

And with that last bit of assurance, the two teens leave your presence. You hope those two idiots don’t make themselves too obvious in performing your task. You’d hate for them to get caught and then Mara come down just to bitch at you about it.

You make a note that you need to go do a proper burglary of that Numb addict doctor that lives over across town. You’re guessing that he must get it through a very well protected shipment from the mainland. Probably even from Klyton. You also know damn well that the last time you cased his place that you found way more than he would ever need for a private practice of his that small.

In the meantime, you have to go see a woman you know who is a sucker for fancy looking vases.
> You time passes...
Year 32

“I just paid you! Dolan exclaims.
“Yeah and you know the damn rules Dolan, you can get Numb AFTER you give me the information as well!” you say.
“But I don’t know any more! I swear! I’m got my ass chewed out by Marco already for asking too many questions! Hasn’t all the other information I’ve given you in the past been good?”
“Hmmm, fine. But I’d advise you to start going easy on this stuff. It’s not as simple to acquire anymore. So unless you want to go risk getting that inferior Green Lotus shit that got your buddy killed due to getting a bad batch, I suggest you not even come back unless you got a lot of coin or some information I can actually use. Now you better get out of here before some other Black Hooks come in to sell something and overhear that you’re spying on all of them.”

Dolan meekly takes his small container of Numb and scampers away like the low life he is. The boy had no idea that it was going to lead up to this, though you planned that it would. A somewhat reliable mole in the Black Hooks just so you can keep an ear out on what they’re doing, though it’s still more to keep a check on Mara who apparently is doing well in her position with Black Hooks though that doesn’t surprise you for several reasons.

In some ways you’re actually proud of her, but as always there is still concern. Especially with what you’ve been hearing lately and the Jicol Watch is the least of potential problems. A few members of the infamous Ebony Claw Syndicate have been seen in the city.

You’ve already heard the many tales of the Ebony Claw Syndicate. They’re a huge organization with a shitload of resources behind them and when they start showing up regularly in a city that usually means it’s currently in their sights for expansion. And if they do expand, there isn’t much that is going to stop them, as most of the criminal here are unorganized. Anyone who they don’t bother to incorporate into their organization is going to just get eliminated.

This development has got you slightly more concerned for Mara since as a member of the only potential “organized resistance” to an ECS take over the Black Hooks could very be on the list for elimination.

You aren’t really sure what you can do though. You haven’t spoken to Mara since she left two years ago and she’s made no effort to contact you.

Of course you haven’t really made the effort to speak with her either and it’s not like you couldn’t meet her alone given the eye you keep on her with your drug addled spy. You suppose you haven’t since you aren’t sure if she’d want to see you.

For a couple days you seriously mull over the idea of going to see her or not and that’s when you get a visit from members of the ECS.

“Figured it wouldn’t be long before you guys showed up.” You say when they come through the door.

The pair of them are about the sort you’d expect from the ECS, a couple of intimidating muscular guys with tattoos. They don’t answer you right away and just briefly look around before addressing you.

“I take it you’re the fence of this city?” one of them asks.
“Well I’m hardly the only one.” You reply.
“Yes, but we’ve heard that you’re probably the best one.”
“Really? Glad to hear my reputation is in good standing with the underworld I suppose. Never can quite tell in this line of work as I’m sure you well know.”
“Hmm, can’t say I’m impressed with the Jicol underworld if you’re considered the best, but looks can be deceiving I suppose especially since you seem to have even eluded being under suspicion by the Jicol Watch here. It at least shows you know how to keep a low profile, which displays signs of professionalism. In any case my name is Nathan and since you already seemed to know we were going to show up I’m going to go ahead and assume you know why we’re here.” Nathan says.
“Well I can take a guess, but for all I know you might be here to kill me.” You reply.
“Oh we don’t have nearly enough information about this city and it’s major players to start killing anyone yet. However it doesn’t seem like there are any major players unless we count the actual government…or have we missed someone?”
“Are you asking me?”
“I don’t know, am I? Surely an important man as you knows things. Of course if you’re saying you don’t know anything, maybe we should talk to someone else…”
“Hold on. I didn’t say that I didn’t know anything. It’s just that you’re fairly correct about the situation in Jicol. The underworld element here has no real uniting entity and I don’t have much to add.”
“Interesting. So what about this other group I’ve heard about in passing, the Black Hookers or something?”
“Um, the Black Hooks. Yes, mostly an unruly gang of amateur teenagers who think they’re tough. Not really that important.”
“I see. Though from what I hear their numbers are sizable and the youth are easily molded if given the proper motivation and training.”

You don’t respond to Nathan’s last response. Nathan at this juncture makes a few eye and hand gestures to his less talkative comrade. Nathan’s friend nods and stands by the door while Nathan addresses you again.

“Okay friendo, I’m going to tell you this because quite frankly I don’t want to be bothered running around speaking to every little two copper thug that’s in this city and you seem to deal with most of them anyway. Even if you don’t then you know enough of them that they’ll spread the word to the rest.”
“And that word is exactly?”
“The ECS is taking over ALL operations here. A pocket isn’t going to be picked in this city without us guiding the hand and getting our cut. This might not be today, this might not be tomorrow, it might not even be next year, but we are coming and nobody here is going to stop us.”
“Anything else?”
“Yeah, let everyone know that the ECS isn’t unreasonable. If they seek us out for official membership we will consider them. Even if they aren’t quite up to our standards, we’ll find something for them as an associate. One thing we WILL NOT tolerate however is resistance. So let everyone know, defying the Ebony Claws won’t be in their best interest if they wish to continue their choice of careers in the future.”

You don’t have much to add to that, save for a nod.

“So I trust I can count on you for this task?” Nathan asks.
“Sure, I’ll spread the word, though I’m wondering about my place in this new order you’re proposing.” You say.
“Oh I’m not worried about you. You seem intelligent enough to know to step aside when a storm is coming. For now you can continue your business as usual. We can discuss your future when things are more settled. I’m sure we’ll talk again many more times soon.”

Nathan smiles and bids you good day. As he and his friend start to walk out the door, you realize that now you really do have to speak with Mara personally.

Later on in the week you go to seek her out, though you stay out of sight until you can get her alone which isn’t really a long wait since you find out that she mostly works alone and at night when she’s not socializing with her fellow Black Hooks.

You follow her for a while as she creeps into a couple closed businesses, and then make your presence known when she’s sneaking out of a bakery of all places.

“Didn’t realize the bakeries were doing so well.” You say.
“Shit! Oh damn it, there goes my evening snack!” Mara exclaims when she gets startled by you and then drops the pastry she stole.

Mara composes herself and then looks at you. She’s grown a bit. Granted you knew that and you’ve seen her from afar, but this the first time in two years you’ve spoke to her and seen her this close.

You sort of expect Mara to either walk away from you or get nasty, but she doesn’t, instead you get:

“Hey…dad.” She says.
“So, you’re my daughter now?” you ask
“Well what would you call us?”
“I dunno, you made a pretty damning accusation before you left two years ago.”
“Yeah…I really shouldn’t have said that. Always sort of thought I should apologize to you, but…I dunno…guess I was just too stubborn.”
“Well I could have apologized as well. I was stubborn too, though I also thought that you’d just yell at me and walk away.”
“Maybe in the beginning I suppose, but I haven’t really been angry at you for a long time. Honestly, I probably shouldn’t have gotten as mad as I did, but…”
“Yeah I know. You needed to have friends your own age. That’s another reason why I just let you be.”

Mara smirks a bit.

“Bullshit. You’ve still been keeping an eye on me all this time. Even when you stopped physically spying, you got those two idiots Dolan and Addison when he was still alive to spy for you.” She replies.
“Guilty. So when did Dolan confess his guts to you?” you ask with a bit of a smile.
“Actually Dolan and Addison never told me anything directly, but they became so obvious as time wore on that I knew they weren’t just being horny guys staring at me and trying to eavesdrop on me. When I found out that several of the Black Hooks would do business with you, I sort of drew my own conclusions after following them around a bit.” Mara remarks.
“So any reason why you kept it to yourself and didn’t tell Marco or even confront me about it?”
“Well like I said, I was too stubborn to go see you in person again, and I figured why mess up perfectly good business between you and the Black Hooks? That wouldn’t benefit anyone and I didn’t want to see you possibly get hurt since I know that you were just concerned about me.”

Mara then walks forward towards and touches your hand.

“You stepped up and looked after me when I was well on my way to an orphanage. At least you taught me skills to survive and were nice. Who knows what would have happened in the orphanage. I won’t ever just forget that and I’m sorry we parted the way we did.”
“Like I said, that’s all in the past. Don’t worry about that now.”
“That’s good to hear you say that, though I feel like you didn’t just come see me to reconnect again.”
“There’s trouble coming for everyone in this city and maybe the Black Hooks most of all.”

You and Mara go some place more private (And less near some place she just broke into) and you explain the situation with the Ebony Claw Syndicate. While she’s definitely listening to you, you don’t think she quite appreciates the situation.

“The Black Hooks will fight back against these Ebony Claws if they start showing up and throwing their weight around.” Mara says.
“No, no, that’s exactly what you DON’T want to do with these guys. Look Mara, I’ll acknowledge that the Black Hooks are more skilled than I originally gave them credit for and they’ve lasted longer than I thought too. But when it comes down to it, you’re all still a bunch of teenagers that don’t know shit. The ECS has been around for…shit I dunno even know how long. These guys aren’t just a gang like your Black Hook friends or even the Crimson Talons, they’re a powerful organization that rivals fucking governments at times. Jicol is a prime meat for them and they aren’t going to be denied their dinner.”
“I hear what you’re saying, but how do we really know all this? What I mean is, how do we know it isn’t all just stories? Have you really ever had to deal with them in before? They never had a presence in Klyton, maybe their rep is exaggerated.”
“I won’t argue that maybe it is to some degree, but I also don’t see the need for a pointless risk. Honestly, the Black Hooks would probably be incorporated into the EBS, you’d probably be fine if you complied.”
“Perhaps, but I doubt if Marco would agree to it. He’s got some plans of his own and getting assimilated or pushed around by a rival group isn’t part of it.”
“Well you better convince him otherwise then, because it won’t end well for the Black Hooks if you go to war with the Ebony Claws.”

Mara has her own suggestion.

“Well…can’t we all just unite?” Mara asks.
“What do you mean?” you ask.
“I mean don’t you have connections with a lot of the other independent thieves and such? I mean surely they wouldn’t want the ECS coming in, pushing them around and taking a cut of their money either.”
“Well some of them wouldn’t be pleased. Others I’d wager would just throw their lot in with ECS thanks to their reputation alone.”
“But couldn’t we convince enough of them to repel this invasion?”
“That’s a tall order, but…I suppose it could be possible. We’d have to act fast though and we’d have to track down the current ECS outpost here and eliminate them all. I mean leave nobody left. With some luck MAYBE with nobody reporting back to the mainland, the ECS will just assume the worst and not bother sending anyone else. If not, well we just continue with the united front and kill the ECS as they arrive until they stop. I don’t have to tell you though how dangerous that’s all going to be.”

Mara seems more receptive to that plan, though you’re usually more for anything that’s going to result in less risk for life and limb, but you’ve also got the long term to think about which is do you really want to answer to the ECS?
> You comply
You’ve already been given a good deal and fighting the ECS is just crazy. Hopefully you can make Mara see that.

“Mara, we only just reunited and I don’t want to lose you now. We need to not oppose the ECS.”
“Okay. I understand. However, I can’t just abandon my friends either. I’m going to try to convince them…though I don’t know how much success I’m going to have, but I need to try.”

You hug Mara and breathe a sigh of relief. It isn’t the complete break from the Black Hooks that you wanted, but it’s a start and she’s at least listening.

You part ways with Mara and tell her to be careful. You hope that she gives up her plan before things get worse with the ECS.

In the meantime you go back to your own business and perform the task that the ECS told you to do. Many of the thieves’ express a certain amount of fear and respect upon hearing the Ebony Claws are in the city. Several outright say they’re leaving it now. Many others mutter a bit about the end of the independent is at hand. A rare few say they’re actually going to oppose the Claws.

Madness, you believe with the last group, but you’re merely relaying information, not trying to change anyone’s minds, other than Mara’s.

Weeks pass and while you see Mara every now and then still, you begin to worry because you thought she would have given up this foolishness of convincing the Black Hooks by now. She’s been going for slow burn of trying to convince them, but so far she’s only got a couple who simply say that while they aren’t keen on fighting with the ECS, they don’t really want to oppose Marco. And convincing him has been completely unsuccessful.

You really don’t want to interfere since you know if you do, it’s possibly just going to drive Mara back into the Black Hooks.

Your concern increases when you hear that the Black Hooks killed two of ECS members and burned down a general store, which was acting as their headquarters. Already the Black Hooks are declaring victory over the ECS, which you know is not true. When you ask Dolan what the two men looked like that they killed, they don’t match the description of Nathan and his friend at all.

The ECS probably has a lot more folks on here than anyone knows. The general store was probably just a business front they were getting ready to set up and their real headquarters is elsewhere. Wherever it is though, you know the Black Hooks don’t have long for this world and you need to get Mara the hell out of there.

As soon as you’re able, you make your way down to the popular Black Hook hangout near a small beach and under a boardwalk.

You see a lot of them drinking, laughing and generally having a good time. You don’t even get the hostile territorial attitude that you’d expect.

“Hey it’s fence man! Have a drink! We’re celebrating our victory over those Ebony Claw pussies!” one of them says thrusting a bottle of something at you.
“Yeah! We just saved the fuckin’ city! We’re heroes!” another says.
“Ohh, who’s this one? He’s old…but handsome, you wanna give me a spanking daddy?” a mildly drunk girl says to you.

You tell them all to get off of you and ask if anyone has seen Mara. None of them have though. You don’t have much luck until Marco suddenly shows up. He’s certainly grown since the first time Mara brough him around two years ago, but you’re hardly intimidated.

“What the fuck do you want? This is a private celebration for Black Hooks only, not pussies who quake in fear of the ECS! The ECS that WE just destroyed!” he says.
“Yeah, sure you did. Look, I’ll leave you assholes to your dead man’s party in a moment, but I’m looking for Mara, now where the hell is she?”
“Hey cocksucker, I dunno where you THINK you are, but this is fucking Black Hook territory and you’re talking to the fucking head of it! You don’t come into my fucking place and start…”

Before Marco can even finish, you punch him in the face and trip him to the sand. You then place a knee into his chest and pull your flintlock on him. The rest of his minions don’t even make a move against you. They just look on in awe. Marco on the other hand looks on in fear.

“I don’t have time for this shit Marco, I wanna know where my daughter is NOW!” you ask.
“Okay! Just don’t shoot! I dunno where she is! She kept coming around trying to convince us not to fight with the ECS, but after a really big argument a few days ago, she and a few others that agreed with her finally left for good. I think she’s been hanging out with them on the other side of city! And that’s all I know, I swear!”

You’re about to ask where on the other side of the city and that’s when you hear the sound of a bolt going into someone followed by their body dropping.

Several more bolts, as well as bullets follow.

“Oh shit! It’s the ECS and there’s a shitload of them!” someone screams.

You look around from your position and see that there are indeed A LOT of ECS members all armed and surrounding the area. Some of the Black Hooks are trying to escape by swimming out further into the water, but thanks to most of them being drunk, they don’t get very far and just become even easier targets

Marco pushes you off of him in an attempt to escape, but he gets struck down by crossbow fire after only getting a few paces away from you.

You attempt to shout at the ECS explaining that you’re not with the Black Hooks, but they’re not in a listening mood and as far as their concerned, you were found with them, so…

You die on the sand, with several bolts in your body.