Chapter I. Grim Tides.
Saltmain was for the most of it quite an unremarkable city. As most cities it was located in a defensible location, a low hill near a lake. It was filled with typical low buildings hanging over narrow, dirty streets beginning at one of the four gates and ending in the city square. Five meter high walls flanked with towers surrounded it, protecting the city from the outside, though clearly it wasn't needed for a long time as a smaller town grew in the shadows of the walls. A palisade has been erected surrounding the new city and the foundation of a new wall had been built.
What made it different from other cities was that it was one of the richest cities in the whole dukedom. Its' name came from the rich salt mines that was its source of wealth. As the city was almost twenty leagues from the sea it was the cheapest source of the very important product for the surrounding area. Which of course meant that a number of rich merchants lived in the city, a large mass of craftsmen and miners and of course thieves.
'See anybody interesting?'
The man that the woman addressed looked at the crowd for a while before nodding,
'See that fat bloke in the dark red coat, I'd figure he could share a penny or two.'
The woman looked for a second before nodding, immediately after her confirmation she commented,
'He's got a bodyguard.'
'A very wise thing to, with all the thieves in town.' – he smiled roguishly and continued speaking, - 'I'll go see if I can help him with that weight he must be carrying. You go around and see if you can find anything interesting Anita.'
'Will do Sig.'
Anita smiled before disappearing in the crowd. Sig not wanting his prey to escape him did so as well. The man moved quickly into the crowded square though it was crowded he moved with little trouble always keeping an eye on the red-clothed man. Whenever his target stopped Sig stopped as well, pretending to be interested first with a copper pan, later with fish of doubtful freshness and numerous other items. All the time he was moving closer to his target waiting for an opportunity. It came in the form of a beggar who nearly jumped on the red dressed man. The bodyguard moved to push the beggar away leaving the merchant unwatched for a second. Stepping quickly behind him Sig produced a small knife, cut the strap holding a purse in place caught it neatly and with an expert's confidence felt coins through the leather. Before the bodyguard got rid off the beggar Sig was long gone.
The sun was beginning to set when the two thieves met in one of the streets leading away from the city square. Not wishing to spend too much time in the open they began walking towards their inn where they would be able to peacefully go through their loot. They barely got five meters before their way was blocked. Three men with hoods up were definitely blocking their way. Sig glanced at Anita who nodded, the way back was also blocked. One of the hooded men indicated with his hand that they were to head into a alley. Sig waited for a second weighing out their chances of breaking through, he glanced at Anita who shook her head. Sighing he allowed himself to be escorted into the alley. Three other hooded men stood there flanking an individual in black clothes, his hood was down presenting a nice enough face, though his eyes were cold as a night in Icewind Dale and his smile was anything but friendly, more like a "You're in deep seth and I'm going to take joy in your trouble" smile. Immediately when the duo stopped walking he began speaking in a business like manner,
'I'm a representative of the local thieves guild. You two were working in our district. Now there are three ways we can settle this matter. One: You give up all your possessions and leave town immediately. Two: you give us your loot and join the guild and work for us. And lastly we cut your throats and take your possessions.'
The hooded men were keeping their hands on their weapons through the whole speech, one or two were playing with their knives. Sig got a bad feeling about the favored method.
Raising his hand he wiped his brow with the back of his glove he made a flicking movement as it came down, Anita sighed but he knew she would be ready.
'I am most sorry for the intrusion of your terrain, if we would have known we would have refrained from working here. And I promise that we will leave the city immediately after we settle this business. However, a problem arises as we need the money and we cannot relinquish it all, though I'm sure that we can cut a deal.'
As he was talking he began rubbing his shoulder and slipped two fingers under his hood. The thugs looked at each other somewhat confused by their "clients" eloquence. The black hooded thief merely sneered and he opened his mouth to say something, all that came out was a gasp. A knife thrown by Anita hit him in the neck right below the jaw. Before he fell she leaped forward, two daggers in hand. One of the thugs that stood in front of her was slashed across the neck, another that was looking shocked at his boss's body falling to the ground was likewise hit with a small knife in the neck, courtesy of Sig. Before he fell Sig rushed past him and followed Anita down the alleys leaving the seven living thieves shocked, though it didn't take much time for them to gather their senses and start chasing them. Sig soon caught up with Anita who looked back and seeing the chase party winked at her partner and sprinted into a left alley while Sig continued straight. They took some time after arriving to the city to get some bearing in the labyrinth of alleys. It was supposed to help them escape if they would be chased, though now Sig wondered if their interest in the alleys didn't catch the local thieves' attention. Though soon he was too busy ducking in alleys, jumping over litter and generally trying to lose his chase to think about such matters.
Peter was bored. Guard duty on the palisade was often seen as punishment, or duty to be assigned to the newest recruits. Peter took ten steps, turned around and walked another ten steps before turning around. The only thing breaking the monotony of watch duty so far was a heated argument in the "new" city caused by a woman pouring waste on a passerby. He stopped for a second looking at the treeless area surrounding the palisade. He sighed, straightened his blue and white tunic, hefted his longbow on his arm and was about to resume his pace when something caught his attention. The road was now empty as the group leaving the city had already passed. The red sun had almost entirely set making the world seem gray. That probably was one of the reasons why he didn't notice the man that was riding to the city at break neck speed earlier, the rider was constantly whipping the horse to make it run faster. Looking towards the horizon he noticed something else; smoke.
Andrew, one of the other guards assigned to the palisade walked up to him and asked what was wrong. Peter didn't answer, instead he leaned forward and blocking the sun with his hand looked at the horizon, a black shape was there moving towards the city.
'Sacred seth.'
Not listening to Andrew, Peter pulled his horn and blew. Elsewhere other guards noticed the same thing and also began blowing their horns. Soon temple bells began ringing. Guards from nearby barracks swarmed onto the palisade. The dark shape slowly changing into a dark mass drawing closer to the city as the sun shifted lower behind the horizon.
Saltmain was for the most of it quite an unremarkable city. As most cities it was located in a defensible location, a low hill near a lake. It was filled with typical low buildings hanging over narrow, dirty streets beginning at one of the four gates and ending in the city square. Five meter high walls flanked with towers surrounded it, protecting the city from the outside, though clearly it wasn't needed for a long time as a smaller town grew in the shadows of the walls. A palisade has been erected surrounding the new city and the foundation of a new wall had been built.
What made it different from other cities was that it was one of the richest cities in the whole dukedom. Its' name came from the rich salt mines that was its source of wealth. As the city was almost twenty leagues from the sea it was the cheapest source of the very important product for the surrounding area. Which of course meant that a number of rich merchants lived in the city, a large mass of craftsmen and miners and of course thieves.
'See anybody interesting?'
The man that the woman addressed looked at the crowd for a while before nodding,
'See that fat bloke in the dark red coat, I'd figure he could share a penny or two.'
The woman looked for a second before nodding, immediately after her confirmation she commented,
'He's got a bodyguard.'
'A very wise thing to, with all the thieves in town.' – he smiled roguishly and continued speaking, - 'I'll go see if I can help him with that weight he must be carrying. You go around and see if you can find anything interesting Anita.'
'Will do Sig.'
Anita smiled before disappearing in the crowd. Sig not wanting his prey to escape him did so as well. The man moved quickly into the crowded square though it was crowded he moved with little trouble always keeping an eye on the red-clothed man. Whenever his target stopped Sig stopped as well, pretending to be interested first with a copper pan, later with fish of doubtful freshness and numerous other items. All the time he was moving closer to his target waiting for an opportunity. It came in the form of a beggar who nearly jumped on the red dressed man. The bodyguard moved to push the beggar away leaving the merchant unwatched for a second. Stepping quickly behind him Sig produced a small knife, cut the strap holding a purse in place caught it neatly and with an expert's confidence felt coins through the leather. Before the bodyguard got rid off the beggar Sig was long gone.
The sun was beginning to set when the two thieves met in one of the streets leading away from the city square. Not wishing to spend too much time in the open they began walking towards their inn where they would be able to peacefully go through their loot. They barely got five meters before their way was blocked. Three men with hoods up were definitely blocking their way. Sig glanced at Anita who nodded, the way back was also blocked. One of the hooded men indicated with his hand that they were to head into a alley. Sig waited for a second weighing out their chances of breaking through, he glanced at Anita who shook her head. Sighing he allowed himself to be escorted into the alley. Three other hooded men stood there flanking an individual in black clothes, his hood was down presenting a nice enough face, though his eyes were cold as a night in Icewind Dale and his smile was anything but friendly, more like a "You're in deep seth and I'm going to take joy in your trouble" smile. Immediately when the duo stopped walking he began speaking in a business like manner,
'I'm a representative of the local thieves guild. You two were working in our district. Now there are three ways we can settle this matter. One: You give up all your possessions and leave town immediately. Two: you give us your loot and join the guild and work for us. And lastly we cut your throats and take your possessions.'
The hooded men were keeping their hands on their weapons through the whole speech, one or two were playing with their knives. Sig got a bad feeling about the favored method.
Raising his hand he wiped his brow with the back of his glove he made a flicking movement as it came down, Anita sighed but he knew she would be ready.
'I am most sorry for the intrusion of your terrain, if we would have known we would have refrained from working here. And I promise that we will leave the city immediately after we settle this business. However, a problem arises as we need the money and we cannot relinquish it all, though I'm sure that we can cut a deal.'
As he was talking he began rubbing his shoulder and slipped two fingers under his hood. The thugs looked at each other somewhat confused by their "clients" eloquence. The black hooded thief merely sneered and he opened his mouth to say something, all that came out was a gasp. A knife thrown by Anita hit him in the neck right below the jaw. Before he fell she leaped forward, two daggers in hand. One of the thugs that stood in front of her was slashed across the neck, another that was looking shocked at his boss's body falling to the ground was likewise hit with a small knife in the neck, courtesy of Sig. Before he fell Sig rushed past him and followed Anita down the alleys leaving the seven living thieves shocked, though it didn't take much time for them to gather their senses and start chasing them. Sig soon caught up with Anita who looked back and seeing the chase party winked at her partner and sprinted into a left alley while Sig continued straight. They took some time after arriving to the city to get some bearing in the labyrinth of alleys. It was supposed to help them escape if they would be chased, though now Sig wondered if their interest in the alleys didn't catch the local thieves' attention. Though soon he was too busy ducking in alleys, jumping over litter and generally trying to lose his chase to think about such matters.
Peter was bored. Guard duty on the palisade was often seen as punishment, or duty to be assigned to the newest recruits. Peter took ten steps, turned around and walked another ten steps before turning around. The only thing breaking the monotony of watch duty so far was a heated argument in the "new" city caused by a woman pouring waste on a passerby. He stopped for a second looking at the treeless area surrounding the palisade. He sighed, straightened his blue and white tunic, hefted his longbow on his arm and was about to resume his pace when something caught his attention. The road was now empty as the group leaving the city had already passed. The red sun had almost entirely set making the world seem gray. That probably was one of the reasons why he didn't notice the man that was riding to the city at break neck speed earlier, the rider was constantly whipping the horse to make it run faster. Looking towards the horizon he noticed something else; smoke.
Andrew, one of the other guards assigned to the palisade walked up to him and asked what was wrong. Peter didn't answer, instead he leaned forward and blocking the sun with his hand looked at the horizon, a black shape was there moving towards the city.
'Sacred seth.'
Not listening to Andrew, Peter pulled his horn and blew. Elsewhere other guards noticed the same thing and also began blowing their horns. Soon temple bells began ringing. Guards from nearby barracks swarmed onto the palisade. The dark shape slowly changing into a dark mass drawing closer to the city as the sun shifted lower behind the horizon.