Fritz and his team stepped out onto wet stone and into cool, morning rain. Another team of Climbers were trying to enter the Mer Spire, but stepped to the side to let Fritz through. He walked forward, leading his own team, finding that the leaving line was far more sparse than the entering one. They were at the gates out within a minute, or would have been if not for an obstacle before them.

There was a group of Scale Guard waiting within the walls enclosing the Spire. They wore their ubiquitous, pale-green scale armour and watched the Spire's Door, hands resting on the deadly Treasures they were armed with. Fritz and his crew passed by them without word or acknowledgement. Those steady, stern glares were not ones they wanted to attract.

The team nervously trudged towards the exit and through the tall gate's open doors, Fritz could see there was a milling crowd of non-climbers waiting for something or someone and chattering excitedly in the courtyard outside the walls.

"What's going on?" Cal asked one of the gate guards. A grizzled-looking woman in the dull-grey rainsteel breastplate.

"There was the flash of a Golden Climb yesterday. They're waiting to greet the Empire's Prince and cheer him," the storm guard explained.

"Oh. You could see that?" Cal asked

"We can," the guard said.

"What if it wasn't that Prince?" Rosie asked.

The guard shrugged. "Then the crowd will be disappointed. It could be some foreign team. That happens from time to time. But really, it's probably the Prince."

"What if it was us?" Rosie asked.

The guard looked them over with a discerning eye, it lingered on Rosie in her ragged leathers. She scratched at her scales nervously, then the guard scoffed.

"Get out of here, you scamps. Go enjoy being Pathers," she said, not unkindly, but incredibly condescendingly. "And you, you lucky young lady, should go straight to the palace. They pay a good wage to newly changed Merfolk like yourself. At least nine times what a normal servant could hope to earn."

"Really?" Rosie asked.

"Really," the guard assured. "Now move along, you don't want to be in the way when the Prince eventually appears."

They obeyed, quickly walking under the gate's arch and into the waiting masses, finding their way to someplace they could talk.

"That way," Lauren said, pointing over their heads. "There's some vacant houses, or at least they were empty before we left."

Fritz nodded and they trusted to Lauren lead them through the Upper Ring. She was the most experienced navigate its busy streets and canals, having lived there all her life. Soon they found themselves in front of a row of nine three-storied houses. They weren't wall to wall like Fritz expected them to be, but they were close together as space was hard to come by in Rain City.

"Wait here," Lauren said, she was about to stride away when she stopped, turned and added, "Fritz, Rosie, you better come too."

"Why?" Fritz asked. "I thought you could handle all this."

"First impressions, you're a noble and she's a merfolk. They might not do business with us otherwise. Also we'll get a better price this way," Lauren explained leading them toward the first house in the row.

She knocked on the door and it was answered by an older gentleman, a servant, who led them to a sitting room when Lauren enquired bout renting one of the houses. They waited for maybe fifteen minutes before another man was introduced to them. His name was Roderick Saltstep. He wasn't the owner, that honour belonged to the Duchess Blackbrine, but he claimed that he managed the affairs of these particular properties.

He stared calculating brown eyes over those there in the sitting room, and he smoothed his clean, well-cut coat while he sat across from them.

"Thank you for meeting us on such short notice," Lauren said. "I'm Lauren Farshore and this is the Captain of our Climbing team."

"Francis Hightide," Fritz said, introducing himself with a seated bow.

"Hightide," Roderick pondered. His face soured when he seemed to remember something. "Ah yes, I remember now. The Guide debacle."

"Quite the affair. Still, that debt was paid. You're the son?" He asked as if the fall of Fritz's house and family was of little importance.

"That's right. One of them at least," Fritz said, suppressing his fury and stilling his suddenly trembling hands.

"That's well and good then. Normally the Duchess wouldn't allow an unaffiliated group of Climbers to settle in one of her houses. But as you are affiliated, being of the noble house of Hightide, you can patronise this team," Roderick said.

Fritz swallowed down some bitter words while pondering the implications of proclaiming himself a noble and becoming the patron of his own team.

"Well and good," Lauren agreed, smiling prettily and filling the strained silence.

"Well and good," Rosie repeated, copying her with a vicious grin.

"Just sign here," the man said, proffering a sheaf of paper lettered with bold script, a bottle of squid ink, and a stormhawk feather quill.

"I'll have my adviser look over it first, if you don't mind," Fritz said, blandly hiding the war beneath the surface and the quickening of his heart.

"Certainly," Roderick said, taking a cup of tea prepared by the servant, who also laid out some for the others.

Fritz handed the paper to Lauren who quickly read over the contract's contents. While she did so his mind raced with questions about what he was doing. Fritz had, of course, considered taking back his noble house before, but that was in the far future, once he was truly powerful, not right now when he was only marginally equipped to do so.

He had an almost visceral reaction, a profound sense of disgust at the thought of rejoining the nobility. He dreaded being pulled in to play their petty games and participate in their pointless politicking, but he couldn't let that personal distaste cloud his reason. Not when it could have such profound effects on his team and family.

It occurred to him, that by setting himself up as the noble he was, even a disgraced one, would mean claiming everything that came with it. Namely the inheritance and his rightful place as his house's head. His stomach roiled with guilt, fear and something he couldn't name. He wanted to stand up and run out of the stifling room, and he could feel himself sweat. He gripped the arms of the chair tightly, holding himself there.

Pushing down all the initial irrationality, Fritz Controlled his thoughts and Focused, sifting through the benefits and downsides to pursuing his lordship and claiming his inheritance. While it was true their were responsibilities he'd have to uphold as a lord, taxes chief among them, there were also many privileges that he would be afforded. Those far beyond what one could dream of as a commoner. Such as the right to own land and a large amount of legal protections that none other than the nobility were granted.

Perhaps he could use such privileges to shield himself from the Nightshark, or the nobles he'd insulted in the Mer Spire, or any number of enemies he'd made both in the gutter and out. It was a sour thought, but one well worth considering. He weighed the paths ahead, avoidance or action, but he couldn't come to a clear conclusion.

"It's a fair offer and very reasonably priced," Lauren stated once she was done reading, which startled Fritz from his trance.

"Good," Fritz said, still mulling over his choices and picking up a cup of tea. "How much?"

"An upfront advance of six gold which entitles you to a one month stay. And three gold per month after to extend the contract," she explained.

Fritz nearly spat out the tea he was almost able to enjoy. With one gold triad you could rent a cheap room in the districts for half a year, nine months really if you found a 'one-silver-steal'. And here three such triads a month was 'very reasonably priced?' The disparity was absurd.

He debated the costs and benefits in his mind, and soon settled into a resignation that any accommodations he procured in the districts would likely be small, sparse and surrounded on all sides by ready-to-rupture gutters. Sure he could probably find a nice, out-of-the-way place with an intact roof and a couple of clean rooms for some silvers, but that would take time to find and, eventually, the gangs or guard would come knocking.

These houses in the Upper Ring were in a more prosperous part of the city, they were open to rent right now and would let them rest more comfortably, perhaps even in peace. Though it was far more expensive. His reflexive greed told him he could sleep in a disused attic, as he had been, and in doing so he could keep more of his gold and could escape having to declare himself Lord Hightide.

Could he subject the entire team to something like that? Would he run away to save himself some triads? Sure they were all Pathers and well capable of finding employment of their own or lodgings where they willed. But he felt a duty to both them and himself, to spare them all from those indignities. He wanted to keep his team together and safe. Dusksong hummed and rang in agreement.

What was his power and wealth for if not for improving his, and those he cared for's, lives?

"How many rooms does each house have?" Fritz asked.

"They are fashioned for Climbing teams such as yourselves. So there are nine bedrooms, fully furnished, with a kitchen, dining room, a vault and a lounge. As you can see there's also a small yard out the back," Roderick espoused.

The house had what they needed for the moment, and having it being already furnished would cut down on all the preparations and other fiddly nonsense that came with moving hideouts.

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"And how quickly could we settle into the premises?" Fritz asked.

"Immediately, Sir," the man said. "As soon as the six triads are provided and the contract is signed and sealed."

Fritz nodded and thought for another moment, he glanced to his two teammates. Lauren tilted her head forward, telling him they should take it. Rosie stared around, tapping a foot, seemingly bored by the whole process.

Fritz pondered a moment longer. His instincts pulled and pushed him both ways, like a willow in a storm. Eventually, pride, duty and desire won through over greed and fear. He was rich now, he might as well enjoy a few comforts, like a dry room and a proper bed. As for his lordship, well, he was going to claim it eventually, why not embrace it sooner rather than later?

"We'll take it," Fritz said, making his decision in that moment and placing six gold triads on the tea table with six sharp clacks.

He felt the weight of indecision fall off his shoulders, replaced with an apprehension that bordered on mania. Even if he thought he was doing the right thing, that didn't help the treacherous whispers in his mind, the ones that told him that he would fail, that he and his house was destined to fall.

He pushed them away, silencing them.

"Excellent." Roderick beamed.

Fritz poured his Grace into his hand, and with smooth quill strokes he signed the paper in flowing, if imperfect, calligraphy. Roderick began to heat some wax with some kind of inscribed cylinder of bone about as long as a finger.

Fritz wondered what the dark wax was for when he realised the man had said something about the contract being sealed. He must have meant his house's seal.

"Sorry, the seal must wait," Fritz said politely. "I haven't my signet ring on me, I left it with my brother for safekeeping."

Roderick frowned slightly. "The seal is required. I can't authorise this document until your sign and seal are plain on paper and in wax."

Fritz smiled politely. "I will be but an hour or two as I fetch it. Surely it will be fine if my team settles in, we've had a hard climb."

"It will not be fine," Roderick said simply.

Fritz smiled a little wider and embraced a humming, happy Dusksong in his chest. "Come now, the gold's right here. There is no harm, or need to fear," Fritz said, his tones smooth and rhythmic.

The man blinked slowly as a slight haziness entered his eyes, then he smiled slightly.

"Yes, of course," he said, taking up the paper and collecting the triads. "I just need this sealed by the end of the day."

"I'll have sealed it before dusk," Fritz promised.

Roderick handed the document and the gold to his servant, telling him, "Put it on my desk. And get the keys to the 'green' house."

When the servant had left, Roderick stood and said, "This way then."

Fritz followed, as did Lauren and Rosie.

Soon they were outside, in the rain, and Fritz waved his waiting team over to join the procession.

Within a minute they stood outside the 'green' house, likely named as such for the emerald green tiling of its roof and forest green curtains that hung in glass windows. There was a small iron fence around the premises, nothing that could keep out a determined thief, more something that marked the edges of the yard.

The stone-brick front face of the house was close to the street, merely twelve feet away. Rose bushes grew below the windows, thorns dripped with rain and the buds were closed as the flowers were not in bloom.

Well-kept clover covered the dirt, the teal, ink-spill splotches presenting a pleasing picture. Behind the building Fritz supposed there was a far larger yard similarly maintained, though he could only guess what lay beyond his view, save one tall tree that poked above the house's roof.

The servant arrived with the keys, there was one master and two spare. Fritz took them all.

"Very nice, isn't it?" Roderick said, gesturing to the house.

It was. Though it was quite quaint to Fritz's more noble sensibilities. It was a little smaller than he expected, but it was three stories tall and would easily fit him and his team. He almost worried at how full the place might feel with six people in it, but then he remembered what they'd already suffered through in the Spire together and nearly laughed at his unfounded fears.

Roderick had also said it was made for nine.

"Now, the windows and the outside doors are warded, so try to use the unlocked doors rather than the windows to leave," the man explained. "Otherwise you might get an explosive surprise."

"That happen often?" Cal asked.

"Often enough I have to warn new tenets," the man said drily.

"Oh," Cal said.

"There are room keys on a board in the lounge. Your rent is due at the end of the month, in sixteen days. And if you have any questions you can relay them to me through my manservant, Harold," Roderick explained. "Now, if there's nothing else, I must be returning to my tasks."

Fritz nodded once and the man bowed, taking it as a dismissal, then turning and striding away.

For a moment they merely stood outside the four-foot-tall gate, admiring what was to be their home for the coming months. If all went to plan.

Strangely and suddenly, Fritz had the feeling that this had been the right choice and his doubts were washed away like a leaf down a gutter.

"Why are we all standing here?" Bert groused. "Let's get a move on."

"Right, of course," Fritz said, opening the gate and taking the short cobblestone path to his new hideout.

He slid the key into the heavy, wooden door's lock and he felt the slight hum of magic dissipating. He theorised that that must have been the wards. Idly he wondered how much it cost to create and continue to power the runes of the defensive magics. Something to look into, especially considering he wasn't planning to come by all his Rain Spire badges legally.

The door swung open on well-oiled hinges and Fritz led his team into the entrance hall. The wall to the right was hung with bare coat hooks, as well as a basket to store umbrellas. The left wall's hooks had rain towels hanging from them and another basket, this one ostensibly for wet towels.

They dried themselves quickly, then trudged into the next hall and passed the stairs leading up. They found the lounge, replete with comfy chairs and centred around a pair of couches flanking a long tea table set before a fireplace. It didn't take any time at all to find the room keys, a board on the left wall held them on small pins, three by three.

The team discussed on which floor they would each stay while they explored. The first floor seemed dedicated to communal needs such as the dining room, kitchen, a set of small studies, the large lounge and a room with a brass bathtub. The upper floors were reserved for bedrooms and personal storage, the second floor had five such rooms while the third had four.

Eventually, it was decided that the men take the second floor while the women took the third. Each took up one of the keys and retraced their way back to the staircase.

The wood barely creaked as they trudged up to their respective rooms, the place really was well maintained and wonderfully dry, not a leak to be seen. It was something of a luxury to those that were district-born, but Lauren took it for granted and seemed surprised when the rest of the team commented on it. Some of them suspiciously.

"It's normal," Lauren protested. "Your house isn't supposed to be dripping."

"Bloody decadent is what it is," Bert groused with a grin.

"We're rich," Rose said matching the grin with her own. "Livin' dry, like lords 'n' ladies."

"Not too dry, I need a wash and a half," Fritz said. Though he was a little unnerved at how poignant Rosie's passing comment was.

"I know," Bert said, pinching his nose in mockery.

Fritz ignored the man and claimed a bedroom, testing his key in its door and hearing it click. He swung it open and peered inside. Within there was a single bed already made and ready for use, and at its end, there was a small chest. There was a door to his left, it opened into a walk-in closet or perhaps a tiny armoury, judging from the hooks and racks on its walls. There was a small iron lantern on a bedside table, and bedside it a brass key that turned out to lock the chest and the closet respectively.

Curiously, Fritz glanced into his friends' rooms and found them largely the same, save the differently patterned, yet still green, wallpaper. Quickly Fritz unpacked his personal items in the closet, loading the shelves with his mundane things. It was still left basically bare, as he was unwilling to part with his Treasures, and he had little in the way of clothes or keepsakes.

With a shrug, he left the room with some clothes that had been rewarded by the Mer Spires chests. He had intended to be the first to use the bathtub, but found there was already a queue forming before a locked door.

"Who has the impertinence to bathe before their Captain, and Lord," Fritz called out in false outrage.

George turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"It seems one of the ladies beat us to it," he explained.

"Ah, curse them!" Fritz said. "Be quick in there. I have places to be, and I can't look like a ruffian while I do them."

"There's rain-shower stalls outside!" Lauren yelled through the tough wood as the sounds of sloshing could be heard and steam began to seep from below the door. "Go use that one if you're in a hurry!"

Fritz almost protested, but he heard a soft splash, then a moan of deep satisfaction. The sound sent a warm shiver down his spine and he decided to heed the woman's advice.

He strode out into the backyard and toward a set of wooden stalls. He ducked into one and latched the door behind him. Hanging to his right was a towel and on his left, there was an oval of polished steel along with a sink and some soap. There was no shaving razor or other things like cologne or oils, but he did bring his Spire-gifted shaving kit.

The shower portion of the stall had a tap set into the wall that would cause the rain caught on the roof's storage troughs to pour down through the shining brass shower head. It was simple, but being able to control the water you showered in was far preferable to trusting the rain outside.

Here he was in the Upper Ring and he still had to use a rain shower. Still, this stall was nicer than the ones in the district and had a door, and soap, and no queue.

Soon he was shaved, showered and shivering. He dried himself off and put on the spare clothes, a white shirt patterned with clam shells and dark trousers with thankfully no pattern at all. The garments warded off water better than any waterproofing he'd ever seen, though he should have suspect that as they had come from the Mer Spire.

Before he left, Fritz checked himself in the mirror for a minute, or three, making sure he cut the dashing figure he knew he was. He was impressed.

His face was less gaunt, and far more regal and handsome than it had been. His body also had filled out somewhat. Not to the extent that Bert's, George's and now Cal's had, but he appreciated his new figure as he flexed an arm that was hidden by fabric.

As distracting as all those other changes were, he was more captivated by his eyes. His purple and green irises seemed to twinkle at the edges with faerie light. His pupils, however, looked deeper than ever, like pools of restless shade. He hoped that these small changes wouldn't be as obvious to everyone else, but supposed it wasn't too important to fuss about. After all, he couldn't change his eyes.

"Maybe Mimicry would have been useful," he said to his smirking reflection.

Fritz swept his dark hair back and belted Quicksilver, then Mortal Edge on his Eelkin belt. He arrayed himself with the rest of his various Treasures. Returning to his room, he stored his armour and picked up his pack, then he strolled to the lounge where he found George and Cal sitting beside the newly lit fireplace.

"Where'd you get the wood?" Fritz asked.

"There was some already there," Cal said.

"We should clear a place to store our loot," Fritz said.

"There's a vault room under the house," George said.

"Found that already? Where is it?" Fritz asked.

George stood and led him into the hallway in the centre of the house then opened a door that led to a stairway leading down.

"Down there is another door, heavy and locked," he explained. "I think it needs the master key."

"Oh, I see," Fritz said immediately distrusting the room, but knowing it was the safest part of the property. "Warded as well you think?"

"I would think so," George said.

"I'm starting to see why this place is so expensive," Fritz admitted.

"Was it?" Cal asked.

"Oh yes," Fritz said. "Though let's not get into it right now. We can use this 'vault' for our materials for the time being, but carry your Treasures with you if you can."

"Don't need to tell me that," Cal said proudly, patting the ball and chain looped around his belt. "Never left my flail out of my sight ever."

George smiled, saying, "I too have never been without my Treasures. Though mine are more convenient." He glanced to the copper ring on one tanned finger and the sleeve covered rainsteel bracer on his arm.

Fritz was almost envious. No, he was envious, though he suppressed the feeling thoroughly. It wouldn't do covet his team's Treasures. He unlocked the heavy vault door in the cellar to find a small stone room with no windows or other entrances, there he unloaded the materials he had been carrying.

"What are we doing here?" Bert asked from the doorway.

"Ah, Bert, just the man I wanted to see," Fritz said as he stood and turned.

"Is that so?" Bert grinned. "Not sick of me yet?"

"On the contrary. I am positively diseased by your presence, " Fritz stated. "Here take the master key. I need to sort some things out. I'll be back by dusk."

"What do you need to do?" Bert asked.

"Noble stuff," Fritz said.

"Noble stuff?" Bert asked.

Fritz sighed.

"Unfortunately, I have to fetch my signet ring, and in doing so, resurrect my house," Fritz proclaimed with some annoyance. "It will merely be a small resuscitation, though it does mean I'll have to make some small waves when claiming what's left of my inheritance. If there is anything apart from the name. Hopefully, it will be beyond the notice of any of the truly powerful."

"I thought we were trying to lie low?" Bert asked.

"This is lying low, my name is known and people will talk. Especially when those noblemen from the Empire Prince's party finally leave the Mer Spire," Fritz explained.

"Ah. I forgot about them," Bert said.

"So did I," Fritz said. "But the business of acquiring this place and needing a noble's seal reminded me that incident and of all I have to take back. And that's best done as quickly and quietly as possible. Before any other nobles get involved."

"Think they could mess things up?" Bert asked pensively.

"I know so," Fritz said, grimacing.

"Don't let me stop you," Bert said. "Hop to it, milord. Oh, and find out how to get a badge for Dale while you're at it. I smuggled him out in my pack, so I don't think anyone saw him, but I'd like to take him out, show him the city."

"Alright, I can do that," Fritz said, knowing it was easier to agree with than argue with the man.

Fritz re-slung his much lighter pack over his shoulders and climbed the stairs up and out. Most of his team were gathered in the hall and had been listening in. He grimaced and they all looked a little guilty, but were far too intrigued to show much shame.

Before anyone could ask him a question he gave them orders, "Get all the materials and spare silks down there. I'll tell you what comes next tonight."

They didn't look satisfied, but they obeyed, and soon Fritz was striding out the front door and into the rain. He had too many thoughts and too much to do, but he knew where he was going first.

"Back to the orphanage."