Vulpine easily strolled up to the main gate, waiting in line behind a merchant caravan and some tall, morose fellow dressed in leather armour, no doubt an adventurer. He tapped his foot impatiently as the merchant argued vehemently with the trolls guarding the gate about the validity of the merchant passes he had brought, which supposedly gave him the right to trade in Blacksand. Finally, the two trolls signalled to let the man through, laughing to each other at his frustration.
The adventurer passed through easily afterwards, simply tossing a pouch of gold at the trolls who waved him through without so much as a glance. Vulpine smiled. Indeed, it was good to be home.
The two trolls examined Vulpine suspiciously, as if trying to remember his face from somewhere. Vulpine merely looked back at them, knowing that Stinkbottom and Foulbreath usually needed a few minutes to put together any sort of coherent thought. He brushed his fingers over the dagger concealed in his belt, just to ease his patience.
"We knows youse…don't we?" Foulbreath asked Vulpine as much as his partner Stinkbottom. The troll certainly lived up to his name.
"You…youse a t'ief, ain't ya?" Stinkbottom said slowly. "Yeah…youse da t'ief what robbed dat rich guy in Fang!"
"Honestly, gentlemen," Vulpine said smoothly. "If I were a thief, would I be so foolish as to try to pass through the main gates in broad daylight, in front of some of the City Guard?"
The two troll guards looked at one another for a moment.
"Hell no! But youse got a merchant pass? Youse can't enter widdout no pass."
Vulpine calmly held up the woven cloth badge marked with the heraldry of a dragon blowing wind into the sails of a pirate ship. The symbolism of Lord Azzur, ruler of the city of Port Blacksand allowed the holder access to the city. It apparently didn't occur to the trolls that such a pass could be easily stolen by a thief.
"It's legit-tuh…it's legit…it's good!" Stinkbottom proclaimed. "Let 'im through!"
Vulpine passed through easily, turning left and marching down Key Street, before stopping in front of a small shop, marked with the sign J.B. Wraggins, Keymaker and Locksmith. As he moved to open the door, it flew open before him as a slim young woman rushed out, paying Vulpine no heed. Looking at her for a moment, Vulpine shrugged his shoulders and walked into the shop.
The grinding of metal on metal greeted Vulpine as he walked in. The shelves were marked with all sorts of locks and keys, as well as mechanisms for poisoned needles, exploding locks, and other traps, which proved quite useful in a city like Blacksand. At the far end of the shop was a shaven, blond-haired dwarf sitting behind a key-cutting machine, carving out a long, slender pick. He smiled as Vulpine greeted him.
"Back so soon, eh?" J.B. Wraggins asked his customer. "I would have thought you to be gone longer than a mere fortnight! Was your tour of Fang profitable?"
"See for yourself. This will be your payment," Vulpine grinned, as he dropped some tiny diamonds on the table in front of Wraggins. The dwarf quickly examined the gems with his magnifying glass, smiling as he saw their fine cut and polish. "I must say," Vulpine continued, "your picks have proved their worth once again. I had a bet running with Rannik that the tools he got from Ellechin would get him more wealth! I dare say that I'll have won our little wager!"
"Excellent!" Wraggins exclaimed in victory. He hated his rival locksmith, especially given that Ellechin and Nicodemus were the ones that exposed him to begin with…the dwarf's face reddened with anger, causing his machine to grind and squeal as he stepped down hard on the pedal.
"Come now, Wraggins! Bitter memories about Silverton again, eh?" Vulpine teased. The dwarf merely scowled back. "Fear not, my friend," Vulpine continued. "I will be recommending your tools to all the men in my gang. You'll do so much business, Ellechin will be sick with envy."
Wraggins merely smiled back.
