Ina and I sat at the bar, working on our breakfast. Given the circumstances of the last hour, the barkeep had offered everyone breakfast on the house, which got cheers from the populace. Between bites of a large breakfast consisting of eggs covered in a dairy product of some kind that strongly resembled cheese, pan fried potatoes, and a few slices of buttered bread, Ina and I discussed our class quests.

“Mine is very simple,” she said, as she shoved another fork full of egg into her mouth. “Juft neet to go to duh barrath uf duh ordens an do a teft.”

“Eh, what did say? Hard to hear around egg.” I smiled at her as she chewed faster, then swallowed hard.

“I said I just need to go to the Warden Chapterhouse in town and finish a trial, it’s simple, won’t take but a few minutes.” She took a deep drag from her flagon of ale before shoveling another pile of potato-with-egg into her face.

“Ah, is simple then, no? Should do yours first.” I nodded as I followed suit, by sticking a great wad of toast into my mouth, chewing loudly.

“No, no, we will do yours first. I mean, there’s actually no telling how long it will take for mine to get done. It could be a Vigil, which is something the Wardens do from time to time where they watch a specific location for a full 24 hours without rest, food, or water. If that’s the case,” she poked her fork at me as if skewering the winning conversation piece, “then yours will be better to do first.” She nodded, and I opened my mouth to say something. She cut me off as she picked up one of her pieces of toast, shoving it into my now-empty mouth playfully. I bit the end off of it with a smile.

“Okay, okay, we find tunnels. Eh, do we know where are Plague Tunnels?” I knew that there was a quest marker on my map that was quite literally in the center of Rowanheath, but there was a huge keep there, and my class quest specifically required me to go into the plague tunnels.

“I don’t know, we’ll ask around.” Ina finished her breakfast and downed her ale. “Ahh, yes, full stomach, ready for a quest!” She was in rare form today, and I was all about it.

“Will need strength, in old world, tunnels of plagued people existed too. Was terrible place, exiled other hum-err, exiled other people underground to die without spreading disease. Was bad practice, but got job done.” I shrugged a bit. Sometimes I found it hard to see black and white the way they were all the time. As I finished the statement, I considered the mistakes that were made in Russia a few years back. Exiling people to the underground rail system just because they had the Plague seemed cold hearted, but it kept the disease from running rampant.

“Alright, that sounds terrible.” She rolled her eyes, the things I spoke about regarding Earth always seemed to make her cringe. I was beginning to find that it was a truly terrible place.

We both stood from the bar and nodded to the barkeeper, who grunted his usual grunt, and continued to clean a glass - was that the same glass he was cleaning the night before? There’s no way it was. As we headed out the door, there was a person in shrouded clothes that slipped outside just before us. There was an air of suspicion about him, but I chose to ignore it. He was, after all, just another inn patron.

As Ina and I stepped out of the doorway, the man in the black leathers, who now had a face thanks to a missing hood that no longer covered his deep raven hair and Wode heritage, leaned against the wall.

“Hey, I hear you guys are heading down into the sewers.” He nodded over to us as he flicked a coin into the air, catching it deftly. I watched as he did this a few times, not so much because it was impressive, but because the coin didn’t look like the silver that Ina had in her bag. It had a different mark on the front of it, and I couldn’t quite see what it was.

“We are, actually, but that’s our own business, thanks.” Ina was a bit standoffish which surprised me some. Previously she had been extremely open with people, but perhaps she was learning her lesson with the last time we were “helpful.”

“Oh, my, well, excuse me pretty lady. But your friend there, he uh, looks a little out of place, doesn’t he?” He snatched the coin from the air and kicked off the wall, standing upright.

“We’ll be fine, thanks very much.” Ina tried to walk past him, but he shifted his body and stood in our path.

“Ah, see, here’s the deal. The sewers, they run every which way in this damned town, right? So, I just happen to be the best tour guide this side of the Imperial Fort over there.” He pointed at the overly large keep that dominated the middle of the town. It could literally be seen from everywhere in Rowanheath. “Now, lucky for you, I’m running a special. There’s only one entrance to the tunnels that will get you to the Exile Gate, which I imagine is where you’re heading, saying what-have-you about the Plague Tunnels just inside the inn there.” He tilted his head and gave us a smile that showed off several gold teeth, and many more rotted ones.

“Oh, I hadn’t considered that. Well, what’s your price, and your name? I’ll have both before I hire you.” Ina was a shrewd businesswoman on Earth, and it seemed as though my memory of her, what was mapped by the system anyway, translated that here as well.

“I’m Dirk, and the price is ten silver.” He raised an eyebrow, it was fiendish to look at.

“Well Dirk, I don’t favor you, so I’ll say three silver and five copper, and that’ll be my standing.” Ina folded her arms, there was no getting by her when she stood her ground.

“Ah, a shrewd one, are ya?” He looked around shiftily before scratching at his left forearm. I looked down and noticed he had a few open wounds there, they reminded me of amphetamine abusers from Earth. He was an addict then, good to know.

“Well, judging by the way you’re covered head to toe in leathers, have shaky hands, and look a bit on the edgy side, I’d say you’re addicted to something. And I won’t feed an addict, so, come down on your price, or I won’t pay at all.”

“Ack, how? Nevermind, it doesn’t matter. Look, I’ll do five silver, but that’s the least I can go, please. I need a fix, I’m going insane. I’ll get you there, no trouble.” His businessman-like demeanor immediately failed and he started to look more and more desperate.

“Alright, that works. But your word is your bond, or I will put this sword to use in your spine.” Ina patted the hilt of the longsword she had on her hip. Apparently I wasn’t needed at all in this situation, Ina could obviously handle herself.

“Yeah, yeah, look, let’s get going eh?” He put his hand out and Ina placed the five silvers into it. His hand snapped shut and he brought it closer to his eyes than he needed to. He counted them with his finger, sliding them against each other. When he was done, the coins disappeared into his sleeve. I was impressed, I had seen sleight of hand before, but his was on another level.

“Now then, Dirk, shall we?” Ina raised an eyebrow, and her tone of voice went along with it.

Dirk led us through crowded city streets that fed into alleyways. Before we knew it, the rising sun overhead was lost behind buildings crowding in on either side of the alley, giving the place a truly dark feeling. I kept my eyes open for trouble, as I imagined a rogue such as Dirk would have a nasty trick up his sleeve. However, we managed to make it through the majority of the city without incident. We did have a brief run-in with a small group of individuals who, at a glance, seemed fairly unassuming. However, once we were past them, I heard the unmistakable sound of knives unsheathed.

“No, hey, no. Guys, these travelers are with me. We’re heading to the sewers, it’s fine.” Dirk’s words were quick and firm, as though he already knew it was going to happen.

“Oh, sorry. We thought they were marks.” One of the individuals shrugged his shoulders as he put the knife back into a sheath hidden beneath his cloak.

“Normally, it wouldn’t be an issue, but these are paying customers.” Dirk tilted his head in a strange way, but it seemed to mean something to the other two men who were standing about.

“Alright, good luck. It’s crawling with giant rats this week. The travelers haven’t been keeping up with cleaning it out.” The one rogue who had spoken before hitched a thumb over his shoulder as he turned to walk away.

“Thanks Gant, I’ll keep an eye out.” That was the end of the conversation and we were moving forward again.

Another ten minutes or so of walking, and we arrived at the main entrance to the sewers. It was simple, unadorned bricks and stone with a rickety wooden staircase leading down to the entrance. It trickled rancid water that twisted and turned out of view in the distance. We stepped down the few old, wooden stairs that took us to the mouth of the stone tunnel when Dirk stopped.

“So, here’s where the sewers start. Now, try to stay close, because it’s dark down here, and I only have the one torch.” He pulled a wooden stick from his bag that had been wrapped in cloth at the top. It stank of old meat, which I assumed was a kind of fat they used in Eldgard to keep torches burning. Dirk pulled a small set of flint and steel from his pocket, held the stick out with his knees, and sparked the old-world match. The flame caught and the torch blazed to life. Dirk shifted, returning the flint and steel, and took up the torch.

“How long will torch last?” I asked more out of mental curiosity, not thinking before I spoke, as usual.

“Long enough,” Dirk replied. There was something about his statement that made me cringe a little, but it may have been the stink of the torch. After he spoke, he plunged into the tunnels, Ina and I following after quickly.

“This place is an absolute labyrinth,” Ina said as we trudged deeper into the tunnels, the light of the sun fading well behind us as we turned a corner at a three-way intersection.

“That’s the reason you need a good guide,” Dirk replied, his torch casting flickering red and orange light into the gloom ahead of us. There was a noise that caused him to stop and draw a long dagger from his hip, he turned his head to the side and nodded. Ina drew her longsword, and I pulled my crossbow, not sure what to expect.

“Noise sounded like squeak, not small though, not like rat.” My eyes darted in every direction, trying to find the creature that had made the sound. Next to the walkway we were on, there was a fetid flow, slowly creeping its way out into the open airway we had come from. I was taken by surprise as I looked down into the water, where an excessively large rat, easily twenty times the size of an Earth rat, leapt from the stinking stream. I stumbled backwards and landed on my backside with an oof. My eyes landed on it long enough for it to be registered in my vision as a [Plague Rat].

“There’s the rat!” Dirk swung his torch at it, following it up with a quick sweep of his blade. Ina backpedaled efficiently, sliding her feet into a defensive stance. The rat landed mere centimeters from me, but I had dropped my crossbow when I fell, and it was too far out of reach.

“Wait, what’s that sound?” Ina looked around as we were assailed by the sounds of several splashes. More rats leapt from the waterway, all covered in stinking water, several with eyes missing, and most of them had swollen, disgusting sores on their bodies.

“Plague Rats!” Dirk was quick to strike one with his torch, setting the wet fur to sizzling. The smell it emitted was overpowering. I nearly vomited where I sat. I covered my face with my hand and used my free arm to bring myself to a crouching position. I tried to activate stealth, but received a notice for my efforts.

>>>

Stealth has failed! Plague Rats can smell your presence, see in the dark, and you are in moderate lighting!

>>>

Bah, so that wasn’t going to work. I scrambled for my crossbow as Ina shouted, the ground around us vibrated as I saw a bright green icon appear in the corner of my vision.

>>>

Buff Added

You have been imbued with Bend Like the Reed, granting you enhanced dexterity. Dexterity increased by 5. Duration: 2 minutes.

>>>

I noticed that I was moving around quite a bit quicker than I had been before, and managed to get to the crossbow without too much effort. I took aim at the closest Plague Rat and fired a bolt. It struck hard as the rat shrieked and turned its attention to me.

“Nice shot,” Dirk shouted as he stabbed the rat in the spine, killing it instantly. It collapsed to the ground in a repulsive pile as Dirk spun, catching a leaping rat with his weapons. It scrambled at his defenses, mouth snapping and claws raking against his leather armor. There was a squeal and a sword broke through the front of its skull, stopping just shy of Dirk’s face.

“I got you,” Ina said as she ripped her blade free of the creature. The rat fell to the ground with a whomp. Ina twisted her body, whipping her sword around in a lightning-fast arc. It caught a pair of the rats as they scurried closer, sending them tumbling backwards.

“Only a couple more,” Dirk said as he lunged with his torch. The rat he had lunged at snapped its jaws around the wooden handle of the torch, and Dirk drove his knife into the side of its head. One more down, one to go.

“Is running?” I reloaded my crossbow and took aim, hoping to score a pinning shot. I fired, and time slowed down as the bolt coursed through the air. I watched it fly, almost as though I was the bolt, as it struck the hind leg of the rat with enough force to drive the bolt’s head into the stone beneath. Had I just done that? Did I force my shot to connect, or was it sheer luck?

“Great shot, Vlad!” Ina charged the rat and drove her longsword through the creature’s side, ending it quickly. She put her foot on the rat and slid her blade free, flicking the putrescent blood from the sword with a snap of her wrist. “Ewww, that stuff is just gross. My sword is going to need a good cleaning.” She sheathed the blade and came back to our group. I reloaded my crossbow, pulled the wire back, set the safety latch, and hooked it to my belt.

“Alright, that was entertaining. You guys are pretty good.” Dirk smiled with half his mouth as he looked up to the ceiling, almost like he was listening for something. “We’ve got to get going though, so let’s hurry, eh?” He spun in place and took off at a quick walk down the tunnels. Ina and I carried on as well, making sure we kept an eye, and now an ear, out for any other creatures that might decide to waylay us.

About 30 minutes into the sewers, Dirk picked up his pace without warning.

“Hey, slow down!” Ina shouted after him, but he turned a corner and disappeared before we could follow. The light from his torch vanished as quickly as he had.

“I’m sorry for this!” Dirk’s voice echoed back through the sewers as though he was everywhere at once, and for all we knew, he very well could have been. With nothing to light our way, Ina and I stood in place, waiting for our eyes to adjust to the dark. I cursed myself for not being better prepared. What had I expected, the sewers to be lighted like they were back on Earth? Stupid, idiotic Vlad.

“Well, this is just awful.” Ina’s voice was unsure, I heard the tremble of fear in her words.

“No, is okay. Will find our way.” I tried to be reassuring, but it wasn’t working as well as I had hoped. That was likely because I was just as concerned. I had tried to remember the turns we had taken in the tunnels, and when I pulled my map up, there was an area that was colored, which must have been the path we followed. I was about to suggest that we simply backtrack, get a few torches at a general store, if those existed, and then come back, when there was a flicker of firelight down a tunnel.