Don, Kat, and Sik hid at the edge of the forest. They woke up before night had truly fallen and the three made the trek through the woods in time to see night settle over the town. The open field outside the walls was dotted with the softly glowing windows of scattered farmhouses. Fluffy looking smoke issued from chimneys and dissipated in the darkening maroon sky. The walls themselves were a dark purple shadow. More light spilled out from the open gate and the distant speck of a guard could be seen in the illumination. Behind the wall, a hill caused the buildings to rise in terraces, each roof a few feet higher than the previous one. A familiar stone building stood proudly at the top of this hill. The church was almost at the direct center of the town and it wouldn’t be easy to get there. It would be even harder to get Sam back out.

Don checked his bracers and firewater slings one last time. The plan was to avoid being noticed but that was the plan when he went to investigate the hunters as well. He knew it was more than likely he wouldn’t come back out of the town again. He squeezed his hands into fists in an attempt to stop them from shaking.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” asked Sik

Don looked down at the gob “I have to. I can’t leave Sam in there” Saying his reason for heading back into town out loud calmed Don a bit. He relaxed his fingers and took a deep breath. Some dried mud flaked away from his face. Don took extra care to cover himself tonight. Concealing his skin color and looking like a dirty human was probably his best chance at avoiding detection.

“Well, there’s no point in delaying any more. This is your last chance to back out. I can probably find a way in on my own.”

“Were not about to let you get caught. I’ve gotten used to eating foxes. Besides, they’ll never see us until we want them to.” Kat said with confidence. Don knew him well enough to recognize the forced bravado and he appreciated it. He looked at Sik who nodded in agreement.

“We are a tribe. Your problems are our problems.”

Don’s eyes burned with repressed tears. It was ironic and wonderful at the same time. He died and was dragged away by monsters but he finally found what he craved his entire life in the city. He nodded, solemnly accepting his friends commitment to helping him despite the danger.

“Let’s get started then.” Don said and the two gobs slipped quietly into the tall grasses, each one striking out in different directions. After they passed from Don’s vision, he followed their progress on the tribe-map. The farmland and town were displayed but the detail was lacking. There were patches of darkness on the map where no gob had been before. The two green dots slowed as they approached the wall and Don watched the wall on his map deteriorate as the old information was updated. The wall was made from raw trees, stripped of their limbs and driven into the ground. There were small gaps between the logs which shone with a dim light. Don kept watching as Kat scampered up the wall and peered over it’s top. Guards only watched the gates so Kat shouldn’t have any trouble staying out of sight. That was the assumption anyways.

The dark shadows representing parts of town that hadn’t been seen yet retreated. In its place, muddy streets, ramshackle dwellings and over a dozen yellow dots appeared. Looking closely, Don saw a group of people, some still wearing the white togas they began with, others wearing rags, all of them huddling around a low, sputtering fire. They were sitting in an empty lot in a row of squat huts. Jagged beams and low crumbling walls seemed to indicate that a house used to stand there. The image froze as Kat ducked back down and moved further along the wall before repeating the process.

Kat and Sik methodically added the outer streets of the town to Don’s map. He began to see that there was little to no order to the streets. There were a few notable exceptions. One road ran around the outside of the town, making sure that no buildings came too close to the wall. Another road seemed to run straight through the town from the gate to the other side. Besides that, huts, homes, and stores were strewn around as if a giant had scattered them at random. It made for a confusing maze of winding narrow streets occupied by pockets of vagrants.

As this was going on, a bright light flared at the churchyard. Don focused on his eyesight but the church was too far away to make out anything other than the glaring light. Someone had started a fire larger than Don had ever seen on top of the hill. Don tried not to think about what that meant and kept watching the progress of his scouts.

It was Sik who found what they were looking for. A patch of deep, sucking mud at the wall’s base let the posts shift and there was a gap just large enough for Don to squeeze through. Don let out a relieved breath. If they couldn’t find an opening like this, Kat would have had to act as a distraction, luring the gate-guard away. He took one last look at the beacon on top of the hill and left the safety of the trees.

Don kept low to the ground as he hurried through the open fields in a half crouch. He was relying on his stealth combined with darkness and distance to keep him concealed from the gate-guard and any other prying eyes that may be watching the fields tonight. He had to save his shadow cloak spell for emergencies. He could only use his spell for 15 minutes before mana-deprivation would become a problem and this was likely to be a long night. Don looked at the ring of yellow dots speckled around the town. There were a lot more than he expected and the gobs only saw the outer edge of town. Don’s throat dried out as he came to grips with the task ahead of him. He would get by them. There was no other choice.

Sik continued along the edge of the wall, mapping out more of the town so he wouldn’t be at the opening when Don got there. The two gobs would finish their reconnaissance and then watch for any commotion from the edges of town while Don went inside. They would tell him if there were any large crowds on the move and continue to provide as much information as they could from the safety of the wall.

In a rare show of courage, Kat wanted to go into the town with Don. He would be much more helpful keeping an eye out for Don though and it would be easier for Don to go unnoticed if he was alone. His frame was roughly human-shaped but Gat would be recognized as a non-human immediately by anyone who saw him.

Don soon discovered why the mud on this side of town was soft enough to cause the logs of the palisade to sag out of position. He wrinkled his nose against the foul musk of urine and tried to ignore the fetid mud squeezing up between his toes. It was a lot even with his senses other than sight deadened.

He changed his sense-focus to hearing and listened for movement on the other side of the wall. There was a soft murmuring somewhere off to the left but he didn’t hear anyone nearby and his map showed the street on the other side of the wall to be empty. There was a group about thirty feet away down a side street but they shouldn’t see Don wiggling through the wall.

He quickly pulled himself to between the logs of the wall and with a glance to each side, he was about to hurry into the shadows of a nearby alley when a pile of mud next to the opening shifted. Don froze, thinking he had already failed in his mission. An emaciated child, so filthy don mistook it for a refuse, looked up at him from under a rat’s nest of matted hair with her hollow eyes.

All thoughts of his purpose were washed away by the intense ache Don suddenly felt in his chest. How could a person look so wretched? He wanted to take her out of the town, clean her up and feed her. He was only torn for a handful of seconds. Don summoned a few berries in a flare of green, not caring if anyone saw him and held them out to the girl. She tried to scramble back. Don Caught her wrist and forced the berries into her palm.

“I’m sorry I can’t help more,” he said and let her go. The girl scampered away. Don watched her go until she disappeared into an alley. Don followed her lead and slipped into the shadows of another nearby alley, taking a closer look at his surroundings.

The huts here were made of what looked like mud slapped over crude wooden frames. The thatch roofs were rotting and patchy. Even with his sense of smell deadened, the reek of feces and body-odor were overwhelming. Don had never imagined people living in conditions like this. He shook his head hard, trying to clear it. This was no time to get caught up in the lives of the town’s people. He was the only one who would even think of saving his sister. He had a job to do.

Don crept forward along the alley, pausing at each intersection to listen for movement. There wasn’t much in this part of the town. He wound slowly through the labyrinth of alleys using his hearing to navigate around the small groups of slum-dwellers. He had to backtrack from dead-ends a few times but his tribe-map let him keep his sense of direction and he slowly got closer to the church. Once or twice he passed a lone figure, slumped against the wall, looking more like a discarded pile of urine-soaked rags than a person. None of them seemed to care who was passing by in the night.

Things continued to go smoothly until Don made his way closer to the center of the town. The streets grew wider and the buildings taller. The crude dwellings slowly changed. The frames looked more sturdy and the muddy exteriors were replaced with white plaster. Unfortunately, windows started appearing as well. The shutters were mostly closed against the night but they still allowed more light into the alleys.

Before long, Don started hearing more foot traffic. The center of town had much more activity and motion than the squalid groups he had passed so far. Don was well past the boundaries of what Kat and Sik revealed on the map and made sure to stay out of sight as he listened for his chances to dart across the open sections. He hugged walls and stayed to the shadows as best as he could. It was getting harder as the buildings had more windows and even with them mostly shuttered, they spilled light into don’s hiding places.

Even with all the precautions he took, Don couldn’t predict every movement and a pair of stumbling people turned down the alley he was hiding in. One slurred his words heavily as they complained loudly to each other.

The alley was moderately clean and with nowhere to hide, Don hunkered down against a wall, adopting the slouched shoulders of the most despondent slum dwellers. A quiet cast of manipulate drew more muck onto his skin.

“Zeesh advenshurers hash no reshpec -hic- for us townshfolks.” The speaker leaned heavily on his companion's shoulder and waved a hand in the air as they weaved their way down the alley “No respecksh at all”

“Yeah,” His friend placated, slumped under the drunk’s weight “That’s right Stu, but telling them so is a good way to wind up with a blade in your gut.”

“Zhey think zhey are shooooo cool, I could fight monshters too you know, I’m jusht shmart ‘nough not to.”

“That’s right, If we were adventurers, those monsters would be cleared out in a month. Who wants to deal with all that trouble though, much more comfortable in town no? Besides, there's no booze out across the river right?”

“Thash right! The only reason thesh monsters schtay over the river is ‘cause they know we’re here right Philip? Better to schtay here and keep the town schafe. Thoshe advenshurersh need schomewhere to schleep after all. Now if we chould only do schomething about thoshe travellers.”

Philip finally responded with a little sincerity, no longer just playing along in an attempt to keep the drunk agreeable.

“Hard to imagine all the trouble a bunch of new-b’s could cause. I would never have believed it unless I saw it myself.”

“Yesh! Zhey are the worsht.” Exclaimed Stu “Coming into town all at onche, schrowing gold around like itsh noshing. It’sh scheaper to drink than to buy food thesh days! Zhey get all exchited to burn zhat demonesh at the schteak every night. Ohhh I want Schteak! I’ll prolboly never tashte schteak again.” Stu looked like he had just realized the greatest tragedy and he sagged even further, pulling Phillip’s shoulder down with him.

“Come on Stu, We’ve gotten through worse, no point in giving up now. Let's get you home. You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”

The pair didn’t even glance in Don’s direction. They were preoccupied with complaints and a drunk baby respectively. They weaved down the alley, passing don and bumping into a wall from time to time. Phillip was more carrying Stu than walking with him. They made it nearly to the end of the alley when a dark cloaked figure blocked their path. The cold glint of polished metal shone from its hand.

“Give me your coin” it demanded, waving the blade at the pair threateningly. Phillip stopped short but Stu kept ranting like he didn’t even notice the interruption.

“Does it look like this guy would have a copper on him? He emptied his pockets at the tavern tonight. Now step aside before you hurt yourself. That knife is sharp you know.” Phillip warned. Stu slumped a bit further but finally clued into the conversation.

“Who are you calling broke? I’ll broke your noshe!” Stu took a weak swing at his friend and missed even though he was hanging from his target’s shoulder.

“What about your pockets? Are they empty too?”

“No, but they are staying just as full as they are now, unless that is, you decide to keep threatening me. In that case, they will become a bit more full.”

“You think I’m playing around?” The mugger hissed before lunging forward.

Phillip half pushed, half dropped his friend to the ground as he sidestepped the slow stab. He grabbed the would-be mugger’s outstretched wrist and gave a sharp tug. Don heard a sharp crack and the mugger went flying through the air with a cry of pain to land in a heap behind the pair. Phillip stooped to retrieve the dropped knife, ignoring Stu’s attempts to regain his feet on his own power before stalking towards the downed mugger. The hood had slipped off to reveal a nearly bald head and a round face twisted in pain. He cradled his wrist which bent in a direction which made Don’s stomach do a flip.

“You aren’t very smart.” Phillip said as he crouched down in front of his would-be attacker. “Let me teach you something.” He fixed the man with a glare as cold as ice “Stealing Is bad, and you’re weak. Don’t fuck with the natives.” Without any change in his expression, he tore the mugger's throat open with his own dagger. The man gagged on his own blood, eyes bulging until he died seconds later. The man dissipated into golden motes of light which streaked away, into the sky. A small pile of coins was left in his place. Philip scooped them up and addressed Stu who had finally regained his feet with the help of a wall.

“Looks like we have our drinking money for the next week sorted out” he said with a grin, showing off the handful of copper and silver coins. “Let’s get outta here before anyone comes to investigate that light.”

Stu gave a victorious grin, “I told you this would work out.”

“Yeah, yeah. I still think your acting sucks.”

“Practice makes perfect my friend” Stu said and slapped his friend on the back “Is that knife any good?”

“It’s good enough to cut a steak” Phillip grinned then he looked straight at Don.

Don was too engrossed in the exchange to remember to look like a defeated mound of dirt and was caught staring at the men.

“Hey there friend” Philip said with a toothy smile “You saw that we were attacked first right? We acted in self-defence.” He flipped a copper coin at Don with his thumb. Don caught it automatically and looked at it in confusion. “Be a dear and tell the guards that when they arrive will you?” Phillip called as the two sauntered out of the alley with none of the unsteadiness they had before.