**Chapter 4**

As Bronn approached the gates of the City of Ravnica, he noticed the soldiers standing by it looking at him. By the time he was a few tens of feet away, on of the soldiers walked towards him whilst calling something out. Not hearing what was being said, Bronn continued his stride towards the City but angled himself so he was moving directly towards the soldier so he could find out what was happening. This change in direction seemed out of place to the guard, evidenced by the brief falter in the soldiers step and their hand moving slightly towards the sword on their hip. This somewhat tense approach continued until Bronn and the soldier were stood a few feet apart when the soldier asked to see Bronn's papers to enter the City.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any." Bronn told the soldier

"You don't have any?" Exclaimed the soldier, "Then how did you leave in the first place? Present your papers or you will be arreseted for not complying with the Boros Legion".

"I didn't leave, I just arrived. I don't know how but I ended up in the woods out there and was taken in by one of the Simic to recover. I was in battle one minute and then in the place the next." Bronn said, not sure if revealing this information was the brightest move, but also knew how badly soldiers can treat their prisoners if they aren't completely compliant.

"So you appeared from nowhere, and just happened to appear in one of the few natural preserves Ravnica has allowed to remain which is under Gruul control, and somehow found a member of the Simic who was willing to help you?" The soldier asked, one eybrow raised.

"Yes, but I also wouldn't believe me if I was on Guard." Replied Bronn, wondering if he could somehow escape quickly enough to avoid capture.

"Tell you what," replied the soldier with a smirk, "how about a few coins and we'll forget this happened. A few more and I'll tell you where you can register for some papers."

Bronn searched the pockets of the robes, hoping some local currency would have been left in them as his currency from home clearly would not work. He managed to locate a few small coins and hoped they would be enough for the soldier to let him pass. He put the coins into the soldiers outstretched hand and started walking towards the gate, hoping that either there was enough coin there or that the second soldier at the gate would have seen the interaction and assumed that the 'all clear' had been given. Bronn walked through the open gate without issue, and resisted the urge to look backwards in case the soldier wanted to hold a grudge. No need to give them more time to remember my face, he thought to himself.

The primary reason Bronn had wanted to venture into the City was to find someone who might be able to help him work out what had happened to him and how he had ended up in this place, however he felt that being able to move around unnoticed might be a more benificial first step. To do this though, he would either have to steal some more non-descript clothes, or earn the coin to do so. Not willing to do the former, and unsure how to start with the latter, he started walking through the streets of Ravnica waiting for inspiration to hit.

After ten or so minutes of wandering the streets, Bronn wlked into a large market square filled with stalls. It was whilst he was wondering through some of the stall that inspiration hit, surely the rival guilds would pay to own clothes from another guild so their spies had a better chance of moving without being noticed. Bronn didn't feel good about this plan, but during his short time in the City, he had already noticed members of Guilds looking at him. Bronn needed to keep the attention off him and, other than the help he had recieved from Seidan, he had no loyalty to the Simic.

It didn't take long for Bronn to find a trader who was selling replicas of Guild uniforms. Bronn asked if there was anyone who traded in genuine articles of Guild clothing, and was met with a thinly veiled hint to move deeper into the market and look for an old thieves cant symbol on a market. Bronn nodded his head in thanks and did just this. Hoping that the thieves of Ravnica used a similar language to those of Icatia, Bronn mused about how the Guilds dealt with smaller syndicates. Surely there wasn't a thieves guild in Ravnica, that would just create more confusion than it was worth. Chuckling at the idea of groups trying to find synonyms to 'Guild' when creating criminal syndicates, Bronn almost missed what he was looking for.

It seems that thieves think alike no matter where they are, thought Bronn to himself as he looked at a market stall with a display of robes on offer. On a table in the stall sat a pair of boots facing away from each other with another boot on top. The theives of Icatia always tried to mark out their people using three items so that their members didn't need to remember too many combinations. This also meant that the guards or soldiers could look for the symbol that meant 'we will pay the guards to leave us alone' easily too. Hoping that he was in the right place, Bronn enquired with the owner of the stall as to whether or not the Boros coloured tunic in the back was genuine. After some back and forth the owner confirmed it to be so, at which point Bronn offered to sell his Simic tunic to the merchant. The merchant seems surprised to begin with, and then skepticle. The merchant looked at the robe and felt the material alongside doing some magical checks on the robe. Bronn was stood there for a good 5 minutes before the merchant accpeted the robe was genuine and offered Bronn 100 coins for the robe.

"Hah, how about 150 coins and you give me some neutral looking clothes." Bronn replied, hoping he could bluff his way through the conversation as he had never discussed the value of coins in this place with Seidan.

"I'll give you 125 and the clothes." Responded the merchant curtly. "And I'll also point out the man who has been following you since you've been in the market."

Bronn felt the colour leave his face, and he quickly nodded. The merchant allowed bronn to move deeper into the stall to change and handed him the coin. The merchant made gestures loosley in the direction of a woman browsing a nearby stall selling books of varying condition. The merchant explained that the first stall owner Bronn had spoken to had made him aware he would be expecting a visitor and also sent a scout to follow him in case it was a sting. The scout had noticed the woman following Bronn, but could not identify her.

Now that he was looking somewhat more normal, Bronn thanked the merchant and went to find his way out of the market. The merchant coughed and gestured left, then forwards. Nodding, Bronn walked left and took his next right so he was walking straight forwards from the stall's perspective. Following this path, Bronn quickly found himself on the outskirts of the market. Thinking about his next actions, he remembered the merchant's warning about the woman tailing him and started moving again.