Despite the sense of safety in the warmth of the tavern, we all knew we couldn’t linger there much longer. We had no idea when the theft might be discovered. If we were lucky, we could use the book to convince Fenlyn and then return it before anyone noticed. But I didn’t hold to luck. Dice are fickle things.

I pulled the hood of my cloak up as we stood. Ceylas saluted Jovial as she guided Cambrin and me to the door near our table. It was marked, “Authorised personnel only!” I was pretty sure we weren’t authorised personnel, but Jovial gave Ceylas a gentle nod and she pushed the door open, leading us outside.

The door lead into a dark alley between the tavern and the building behind it. It was narrow, muddy, and stank of a garbage bin left too long with rotten food. I wrinkled my nose, drawing away from it. I knew Ceylas’s reason for avoiding the streets but some of the stench in this alley gave me reason to believe not everyone made proper use of the city’s sewerage services.

We wedged our way north through the narrow alley and around the garbage bins. Ceylas glanced out at the broad road, looking first one way and then the other (Perception: 11+1=12) before darting across and waving for us to follow her. Cambrin kicked aside a shattered flowerpot where a plant had long ago died. Then he darted after her. I followed, close on their heels. We wove through the back alleys of other buildings along the street and headed for the upper bridge.

We wouldn’t be able to maintain the relative seclusion of these dark alleys for much longer. There were only three ways to cross from this island to the mainland. They all consisted of long, open bridges.

“What’s the plan?” I hissed to Ceylas as she paused, checking the sunlit gap between two buildings.

“I have an idea,” she whispered back. That didn’t reassure me one iota. I knew Bec and her ideas and they were rarely wise or safe. Ceylas seemed equally reckless. I glanced at Cambrin who just rolled his eyes and kept close to his sister.

Eventually, she paused at the edge of a small copse of trees that created a small park of greenery a short walk from the north bridge.

“This is our way,” she whispered, pointing to the short building, secured by a heavy iron gate.

“This is the east entrance to the sewers,” I hissed to her.

She turned her head, and gave me a look. I’m pretty sure it was her ‘I’m not stupid’ look. “Of course it’s the sewer entrance, Lo’Kryn. Did you think we’d just stroll over the bridge? By now we might be wanted criminals across the entire city.”

Cambrin shuddered. Clearly he didn’t like that idea. But since Ceylas had stolen from the Palladium Rise it was entirely possible they were spreading word already. When I’d left this morning I hadn’t thought I literally wouldn’t be able to go home. I’d just had this feeling that whatever we’d been called to would be taking us away for some time. We’d talked about travelling to the temples of the Pantheon of Balance. I wasn’t so keen on doing it with a bounty on my head.

I swallowed and glared at her before saying, “The sewer gates are guarded Ceylas. I don’t think the best move, if we are in fact wanted, is to stroll up and say ‘Hi!’”

Ceylas rolled her eyes at me. “Actually, the sewers aren’t normally guarded. They’re locked, sure, but the only reason they’d had guards on them was to protect people from the alligator.”

My jaw tightened. She was insanely making sense and as much as it felt like a terrible idea the sewers connected with every part of the city. We could cross the river from below rather than above.

“It’s a maze down there, how are we going to find the exit on the other side?”

“Actually,” Cambrin said, stepping up beside us, “I still have the map. It will serve better purpose since we know our destination and are not seeking a quarry capable of moving.”

“Muscles,” Ceylas said, poking me in the arm, “I’ll need you and your nimble fingers to pick the lock and lift the gate.”

“Ouch,” I muttered, rubbing where she’d jabbed me in the arm. I was wiry more than muscular and her finger, stubby as it was, had jabbed a nerve. (Stealth [hidden foe]: 17+3=20)

We wove through the last of the trees, approaching the gateway from the rear before circling around. The front opened out on the road and the sun was full high in the sky now so there was no where we could hide while we did this. Cambrin strolled nonchalantly up and stood, his back to the gate, then he waved us forward. Ceylas crossed in front of the gate too but she leaned against the wall where the lock and chain hung.

I swallowed and strolled out as well. I tried to pull off the same nonchalance as Cambrin affected (Deception: FAIL! 1+2=3) and was pretty sure I was nailing it. Nothing suspicious here. I reached into the pouch of my haversack to draw out my thieves tools and discreetly tinkered with the lock (Dexterity check [thieves tools proficient] 11+3+2=16). The lock was relatively new and well oiled. The tools slipped into place and with a quick flick of my wrist the mechanism clicked, springing open. I tucked both the lock and the picks back in my pack, glanced around again, then started hauling on the chain (Strength check: 6+1=7). The bitch was heavy! I grunted, straining to pull the iron gate up with the winch.

Cambrin sighed, dropping his subterfuge to come and help me. He wasn’t much stronger than I was (Strength check: 10+0=10) but together, after about two minutes of red-faced effort, we managed to pull it high enough. I clipped the winch into place so that it would stay up while we went under and then, together with Cambrin and Ceylas, we headed down into the sewer.

The door was still unlocked from when we’d come through days earlier with Fenlyn and her friends. The sewer beneath was still mostly dark so we paused after closing the door and let our eyes adjust to the shift in light. All three of us could see in the dark. I wondered if my eyes had the same sheen that Cambrin and Ceylas both had when their cornea reflected a glimmer of light.

“Okay, which way?” I asked, pausing to let Cambrin draw out the map and find where we stood in relation to the sewer layout.

“Right,” Cambrin said, examining the markings. “When we came through earlier we passed the bridge. This time we must cross it and continue north westerly five blocks.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

That sounded easy enough. It didn’t involve venturing into any rooms, simply sticking to the corridors, so hopefully there would be less chance of running into anything that wanted to eat us.

“You go first,” Ceylas said. “You’ve got better eyes and ears than us.”

I nodded, taking the lead as I followed their directions. Cambrin fell into step behind me with Ceylas taking up the rear.

At the entrance to the bridge was a rickety wooden portcullis that had rotted and fallen mostly to pieces. Parts of the wood looked gnashed and fragments of wood splintered in many directions. Something big and heavy had torn its way through this at some point in the past. It was already weak from age and moisture but now, other than requiring that we climb over the top of the ruins, it did nothing to protect the long arched channel of tiled tunnel that led the way to the northwest.

Even so, I stepped carefully and listened intently, peering ahead through the darkness (Perception: 9+4=13). There was the barest hint of a scuffling noise ahead. I froze, lifting a hand to still the others.

“What is it?” Ceylas whispered, her voice echoing slightly. The shuffle grew a little louder.

“I think there’s something coming. A few things.”

“Well we can’t exactly retreat.”

“I mean we could, duck back around the corner and wait for it to pass.”

“What if it doesn’t pass? We should at least check out what it is.”

Cambrin nodded. “We cannot take too long in leaving the city.”

I sighed, shaking my head, but stepped forward. “Quiet then,” I whispered, stepping as carefully on my boots as I could (Stealth: 4+3=7) but of course there was a splinter of wood that ground against the tile. I grimaced, continuing to move ahead and hoping our sound didn’t carry (Stealth: Cambrin [armor disadvantage] 7/20+0=7; Ceylas 9+3=12).

As we crested the rise where the system matched the bridge above I spotted five pairs of beady eyes, glaring through the darkness on the edge of my vision. The eyes, full black orbs, sat above snuffling whiskered noses and filthy, matted fur. The five rats sat on their haunches, hissing at us. Their fangs were sharp and long.

“Five of them, rats,” I whispered back to the others.

“Seriously?” Ceylas asked. “You’re afraid of rats?”

“They’re big,” I hissed. Because they were. They’d be at least as tall as Cambrin if they stood upright.

TalazanSewer-GiantRats.PNG [http://www.rebeccalaffarsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/TalazanSewer-GiantRats.png]

“Don’t be such a baby,” Ceylas said, lifting her hand to blast a wave of power at the small swarm of giant rats (Eldritch Blast: 6+5=11). They snarled, scattering aside and the blast slammed into the wet tiles behind them. They dropped their heads, their beady eyes glaring at us. Then three of the rats started charging toward us.

Ceylas screamed, throwing out another blast of energy (Eldritch Blast: 2+5=7) but it went wide by a long margin. I ran forward to meet the three head on.

With long strides I stepped up to the one that lead the pack and, crossing my staff left to right, I swung up. I carried through with my weight into a heavy up strike hoping I might be able to arrest the creature’s momentum (Staff: 6+5=11). The damn rat darted aside, nimble as fuck but I came back on my own momentum to slam at it with my elbow (Unarmed: 15+5=20; damage: 2+3=5). I felt the head of the rat connect with my elbow. It squealed in pain, snarling at me as it wobbled dazed on its feet. I channeled the essence of my Ki to my muscles and rounded out a kick to the rat’s chest (Flurry of Blows: 13+5=18; damage: 3+3=6). Beneath my boot I felt the bones of the rat break. Blood sprayed from its mouth as shards penetrated vital parts of the rat’s anatomy. It crumpled, falling in a heap at my feet.

Behind the dead rat, his companions hissed and snarled. The remaining rats charged forward, closing the distance between us. One leaped over his companion to lunge at me (Bite: 12+4=16; damage: 2+2=4). It’s teeth sunk into my arm and I felt them grind into my flesh (Constitution save: 9+3=12).

“Fuck!” I cried out in pain. At close proximity I realised the rats smelled putrid and I yanked my arm away, gripping my staff between us. “Cambrin!” I hoped the gnome had some ideas since even though these things didn’t seem particularly strong, together they had way more teeth than we did and in close quarters things could get pretty tight.

Over my shoulder, Cambrin’s javelin lanced out at the rat on my left (Javelin: 19+3=22; damage: 2+1=3). The sharp shaft penetrated deep through the belly of the rat which stumbled back slightly from the blow. The javelin looked well embedded in the beast but with a snap of his fingers Cambrin called it back to his hand. As he focused on repositioning himself to throw again, the rat charged right at him sinking its fangs into Cambrin’s ankle (Bite: 18+4=22; damage: 1+2=3). Cambrin winced (Constitution save: 12+3=15) and nudged the rat back.

The rat that had been to my right climbed over the fallen corpse of its packmate to harry at me (Bite [pack tactics advantage] 7/17+4=21; damage: 1+2=3) (Constitution save: 12+3=15). It nipped my shoulder and I pulled back, preparing to lash out with my staff as another blast of energy snaked forward (Eldritch Blast: 9+5=14; damage: 2+3=5). It slammed into the rat to my right, skimming across the creature’s body and leaving a trail of singed fur. It didn’t seem to notice.

Still, taking the initiative I brought my staff down at the creatures head (Staff: 14+5=19; damage: 4+3=7) and then twisting at the waist to slam into the side of its dazed brain with my elbow (Unarmed: 16+5=21; damage: 1+3=4). The rat slumped into a heap, water sloshing around its body.

One of the remaining rats jumped up onto the corpse and lunged at me, teeth bared (Bite: 11+4=15; damage: 4+2=6) (Constitution save: 14+3=17). This time the bite dug deep into my chest, the extra height of the creature’s snout getting past the defense of my staff. I winced, stepping back and it balanced itself on the body of its fallen packmate, snarling at me.

Now face to face with his own rat problem, Cambrin held his javelin close, jabbing it out at the rodent (Javelin: 9+3=12; damage: 5+1=6) and running it right through the chest before janking his javelin free.

“Damn it!” I shouted as one of the two remaining rats lunged at me again. “Why the hell am I so tasty?” (Bite [pack tactics advantage]: 12/15+4=19 damage: 1+2=3) (Constitution save: 11+3=14)

“It’s not like they have discerning palates,” Ceylas snorted as she blasted another ball of energy at the rats (Eldritch Blast: 17+5=22; damage: 6+3=9). To my right, the rat’s head exploded, splattering its gore all over me.

“Thanks,” I muttered, not at all thankful as I swung out at the remaining rat that stood right in front of me (Staff: 5+5=10). It darted aside and frustrated I kicked out at it with a solid front kick (Unarmed: 16+5=21; damage: 4+3=7). The damn mutt didn’t die, however, and I was about to call on another spike of Ki to try and finish it off when Cambrin stepped up beside me and thrust his javelin into the beast (Javelin: 14+3=17; damage: 4+1=5), skewering it and splattering another cascade of blood all over the place.

Again, we were filthy. But again, we were still alive, and whatever purtrid rot these beasts were spreading hadn’t seeped into our veins. Now they were dead they were even more rancid and one’s belly appeared to be bloating. I didn’t want to stick around if that thing burst open. “Let’s go,” I said to my companions.