Chapter 4: The City of Chains pt2
Kirkwall once lived on the edge of the Tevinter Imperium and was home to nearly a million slaves. Stolen from elven lands or shipped from across the sea, all slaves fed the Imperium's unquenchable thirst for expansion. They worked in massive quarries and sweltering foundries that produced stone and steel for the Empire.
The city's complicated past is not easy to forget, history having earmarked many corners of the stone city. A ship approaching the harbor spots the city's namesake: an imposing black wall. It is visible for miles, and carved into the cliff side are a pantheon of vile guardians representing the Old Gods. Over the years, the Chantry has effaced many of these profane sentinels, but it will take many more years to erase them all.
Also carved into the cliff is a channel that permits ships into the city's interior. Flanking the channel are two massive bronze statues—the Twins of Kirkwall. The statues have a practical use. Kirkwall sits next to the narrowest point of the Waking Sea, and a massive chain net can be erected between the statues and the lighthouse, closing off the only narrow navigable lane. This stranglehold on sea traffic is jealously guarded by the ever-changing rulers of the city as the net trolls taxes, tolls, and extortions in from the sea.—From In Pursuit of Knowledge: The Travels of a Chantry Scholar, by Brother Genitivi
Gallows Courtyard-9:30 Dragon
The last of the deserters fell as Ericks gave a quick stab to the gut. Captain Ewald put his sword and shield away and just shook his head as he saw all the bodies littered on the ground. This was going to be a long night of paperwork. "Unbelievable" Several of his men came running from reports of a brawl breaking out.
"Captain! Are you alright?"
Ewald crossed his arms. "I am, no thanks to you. Where is everyone?" His men all started stuttering and the captain just rubbed his face and sighed in exasperation. Good help was so hard to find these days. "Go find them, I want this kept under control and I want it done yesterday!" He looked at Ericks and his group and went to them. "You have my thanks"
"Thankful enough to let us into the city?" Ericks asked.
"It's not up to me, but since I owe you I'll find your uncle and bring him here" And so the group waited…for three whole days in the courtyard. It was a trying experience but at least they were not packed in with the other refugees down by the docks. Aveline tapped her foot and then got off the wall as she gave a sigh of frustration.
"This waiting has to end"
"I'm sure it won't be much longer, Gamlen must still be looking for us" Leandra said.
"And if he's not?" Ericks looked at the gates and saw an older man with black-greying hair. He had a short unkempt beard and dressed in clothing not fitting for supposed nobility. As a matter of fact the man looked like he had several hard nights of drinking.
"Don't look now, but I think that's our man"
"Leandra! Damn, girl, the years haven't been kind to you"
"Gamlen!" Leandra gave her brother a hug and Gamlen looked reluctant to return the hug.
"Uh, I wasn't expecting this. The Blight, your husband dead…I'd, ah, figured you'd be Fereldan for life"
Leandra pulled away and lowered her head. "Oh Gamlen, we came too late" she said sadly. "My poor Carver didn't make it, Andraste guide him"
Gamlen sighed. "Maker save me. Leandra, don't drop this on me here" he said. "I don't even know if I can help get in"
"Surely my favorite uncle can come up with something, right?"
Gamlen looked at Ericks. "Huh, I'd recognize that smart mouth anywhere…Malcolm's oldest right? You're even the spitting image of the man" he said. "I was hoping to grease some palms, but the knight-commander's been cracking down. We're gonna need more grease" Leandra looked at his brother with a frown, the Amells were the richest in Kirkwall…there shouldn't be any need to 'grease some palms'. Something wasn't right.
"Gamlen, what happened? Father would have left something when he died" Everyone started to look at Gamlen.
"Uh, well…I've been meaning to write you but uh…well the estate is gone" he said hesitantly. "To settle…a debt" As a young man, Gamlen had acquired the taste for gambling and what began as an innocent nobleman's pastime progressed to having to pawn off family heirlooms to pay off his debts. Their father Lord Aristide often had to cut his allowance and place Gamlen under house guard to prevent him from sneaking out at night when he found out. Numerous times Gamlen tried to kick his gambling addiction, and every time sneaked out once he felt the weight of his pockets. Leandra almost fainted from the news.
"Do we really need to be here?" Bethany asked. "We could go to the other cites"
Leandra sighed. "This was my home…I can't believe they won't let me come back"
"Every city on the coast's been hip-deep in Fereldans since the Blight" Gamelen said. "You could try further inland, I suppose. But it won't be easy…the Free Marches is not without its dangers"
Leandra sighed. "Then there's no hope"
"Uh, well…there might be, if you're not too delicate about the company you keep" Gamlen said. "I've got a nice place in Lowtown. You'll see…it'll all work out"
"Such reassurance…okay, dear uncle, what do you have in mind?" Ericks asked. Gamlen talked to his contacts and found people who might be willing to pay the groups' way into the city. However there was a catch to it, Ericks and Bethany had to work off the debt…for a year.
"A year?!" Leandra asked outraged.
"It's the best I could do! Trust me; refugees like you won't get a better option anywhere else"
Ericks cracked his knuckles and smirked. "Only a year? Compare to escaping the darkspawn, this will be child's play" he said. "But I'm changing one little term…these people get me, and only me"
Bethany looked at her brother. "Ericks, I'm not letting you do this on your own"
"Betty, you're a mage…if you do this, there's a risk of the Templars finding out about you"
"I'll risk it, we don't know these people" she said. "You may walking into a dagger in the back"
Ericks sighed, once Bethany made up her mind, mountains could move her. "Ugh…fine, but you'll leave the heavy lifting to me"
Bethany smiled, most pleased with herself. "Understood"
"I managed to convince my contacts to come to the Gallows to meet you personally" Gamlen spoke of his contacts, the first one was a man named Meeran, he runs the mercenary company the Red Iron. The Red Iron is known to be rough and loud but for the most part they were legitimate. Meeran was looking for recruits to replace the ones he lost thanks to bad information he got from a noble…a noble he wanted dead. That was a no-go for the siblings, who wanted as little attention as possible. The second contact was an elven woman named Athenril, she was small time smuggler and relatively ethical as in she doesn't deal in slaves or murder.
"Smuggling sounds like a good fit for me" Ericks said. "I've been meaning to test out the smoke bombs I made on the ship"
"Oh Gamlen, I don't know about this"
"It's good coin, Leandra. Our name just doesn't have the same weight as it used to"
Aveline crossed her arms. "And what of me? I will not allow others to incur debt on my behalf"
'Er…you sure about that, Avi? You don't seem the type for this type of work"
"Smuggling is pretty low on the guardsmen's attention, as long as there's not anything troubling I'll be fine with it"
"Can't see that it makes a difference. She look like a lady who can pull her own weight" The party went to the abandoned end of the courtyard to meet with Athenril. It was connected to the sewer systems of Kirkwall, dirty but it allowed her move her items freely. She was a fair-skinned brown haired elf clad in red medium armor; she was overlooking the movement of her 'products' for the refugees stuck here.
"You Athenril?"
The elf moved her eyes to the side without moving from her spot. "I take you're Gamlen's nephew" she said. "Interesting, didn't think the old bastard had any family…considering what a rat he is"
"Uncle Gamlen sounds like a…real popular man" Ericks said.
"Unpleasant is more like it, now I don't know what he told you about us but he certainly told us a great deal about you" Athenril said. "Usually we would ignore the horseshit out of his mouth, but he piqued our interest considering it's not every day we're offered an apostate's services"
Bethany frowned. "Uncle likes to talk it seems…"
"The Templars think they have all the mages in Kirkwall properly leashed, but honestly when has that ever been true?" the elf said. "If you're with us, can keep them from noticing you, wouldn't be the first time"
"Tell me what you need done" Athenril told the party of a merchant named Cavril, he's an ally of the Templar and so let him set up shop in the Gallows. What the Templars don't know is that Athenril's people are responsible for his supplies for a piece of the merchant's profits. Lately Cavril has developed a haughty attitude and won't pay up thinking he has the Templars' and the city guards' protection.
"We can't get close to Cavril without him calling the guards but you can" she explained. "Get our money and you're in" The party heads to Cavril's shop where they saw another refugee from Ferelden talking with the merchant. The merchant was a bald middle aged man dressed in fine clothing, no doubt bribing the Templars to be the only shop in the Gallows paid well.
"I told you already, this is all you get for them"
"Please that was everything we have! It's all we brought with us!"
Cavril turned his back while shaking his head. "And I feel for you, serah, but it's the best I can do"
"If they just let us into the city, I could get three times that price!" He looked to his bodyguards, large men in dark armor, their faces covered by their wrappings. They came up with their swords brandished and the woman ran away, Cavril didn't mind using ugly means to get his way. Once the refugee was gone, he gives Ericks a fake smile so eager he was to get his coin.
"Now then! What can I do for you, serah?"
Ericks crossed his arms. "I believe you owe something to your business partners"
Cavril paled. "Oh…I see"
"Should I get the guards?"
"Not just yet, I want to hear this" the merchant said. "So Athenril has a new thug to do her collections, I see. Too cowardly to do it herself?"
"Avi, if you please"
"Humph, only because this toad deserves it" Aveline came up and pulled a dagger to the merchant's neck. The bodyguards made a move but Ericks and Bethany moved in with their daggers and magic out respectively. "You have a choice: Pay or I beat it out of you and your men"
"And unlike the other refugees we've actually killed some darkspawn before coming here" Ericks said with a smirks. "Still want to deny what you owe Athenril?"
"Stay back! Just…take what's in the chest. Take it all!"
"Good boy" Bethany took out what was in the chest. "Pleasure doing business with you, Cavril" The party headed back to Athenril.
"You're back, that was quick"
"Well you could have given us something more challenging" Ericks said giving the elf the sack of coin.
"Well, well Gamlen's crap turns out to be true for once" she said with a smirk. "Tell your uncle we'll make arrangements. Welcome to the operation"
They're in! But things are only going to get harder from here! Next Time! As always Review and Comment!
