∼ The Lane ∼
Chapter - 051
It was dank in the tight tunnel, the footfalls of the group echoing off the dank walls and down the passage.
They were walking through what appeared to be an aged network of underground tunnels and rooms. They passed multiple branching tunnels, twists, and turns that were little more than claustrophobic holes of collapsed rock and dirt. Some of the dark offshoots were just gloomy chambers made dens for critters gnawing away at the scraps of meat on bones, the light too faint from the lantern to make any distinction out to what or who they had belonged.
Aside from the stale air and faint scent of sewage, it looked like people actually lived here once.
"Just what is this place?" Eric asked, puncturing the silent bubble of tension that had formed.
The old man did neither pause nor spare a glance as he simply continued in slow but steady trod down the passage, lantern raised to show the way. "We're below the wall. These tunnels were built along with it centuries ago, to be used for unique tactics and stratagems if the city were to ever be under siege. So they actually run the entirety of the city's walls - there are miles and miles of tunnel."
He sighed, a bit of admiration in his voice as he glanced up the wet cobbled walls. "But they soon ran out of commission since no force has ever set upon Boreas since its foundation. So this underground webwork of unoccupied space quickly fell to the rabble of the city. Its less than desirable inhabitants so to speak. However, most of the passages have been collapsed, from either age or by the hands of people. This is especially so in the northern walls." He chuckled. "The nobles didn't particularly feel safe knowing the rats of this city scheming were directly underneath their feet you see."
Eric and Aria glanced around at the dark walls and dank stone floor with a new light in their eyes. Finally noting how this place looked like some underground barracks.
"There are numerous entryways, though most of the ones still intact are only in places like the one here at the Small Gate garrison." Old man Suller paused, finally stopping to a halt before glancing back at the three. "I strongly suggest you don't try to find your way down here by yourselves. The city's finest don't want you being down here and neither do the tunnels themselves - for down here they'll eat up any unfamiliar with its depths before you ever find your way out."
He eyed the three of them for a moment, seeing if they took the words to heart then simply began walking again.
Eric and Aria shared concerned looks, however, they did not speak their mind. They just continued following the strange old man. Nyx couldn't have cared less of the ominous warning, though. He spent more time wondering if those furry creatures scurrying along the ground tasted anything like the ones that climbed the trees. "What were they called again...? Squirrels? Are these underground squirrels? More importantly; do they taste good?"
Nyx's profound ponderings were soon cut short when the footfalls of their group's trudge through the tunnel and the squeaks of underground squirrels were no longer the only sounds that occupied the echoing passage. The sounds of people came from just around the bend of a junction, the right side collapsed, but from the left side emitted a soft glow. From that of a soft flame.
"We're here," The old man said. "Remember what I said. Do not seek anyone's gaze. These folk want less to do with you - than you want with them. They'll leave you alone - unless you give them a reason to." He let that last statement hang in the air and letting them brood on it.
Turning the bend, Eric, Aria, and even Nyx, were shocked to see what unfolded before them. It was as if they had just entered a whole new world from the cramped tunnel. "Welcome to the Lane," The old man said, snuffing out the lantern and closing its lid.
He did not wait to let the three gather their jaws from the floor, and they had to scramble to follow him. It was like an underground bazaar of stalls, street peddlers, and shops running the length of a curving tunnel that ran into the distance. A tunnel much wider than the one they had just come from with a ceiling almost three full adult men high.
This subterranean marketplace had a multitude of lanterns littering every stall, perching on the ledges of walls, and hanging from ropes that dangled in long arcs above. There were also quite a lot of people, yet despite all that, it was oddly quiet for what it was and the activity of this place seemed eerily skittish. Everyone was keeping to themselves, chatter nearly non-existent as only the barest of words were exchanged.
As their group kept following the old man, the lull of it all only made the glances and stares they received feel all the more there, piercing them from every angle. It might even just be a figment of their paranoia, but it even felt like there were eyes from the shadows peering at their motley group. But they continued nonetheless, old man Suller not even batting an eye to all of this.
Having to pull the ever-curious Nyx away from several stalls as they walked, Aria gave awkward smiles to the merchants that lounged behind their wares only to receive hostile glares back. But they managed to not incur any of the locals' displeasure.
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Stopping in front of a large and thick wooden door to one of the few chambers along the tunnel that had no discerning markings or signs, the old man knocked twice. Almost immediately, a slat in the door slid to the side, revealing one large eye that peered out at Suller then the others. Almost as fast, the slat was slid back into place, then a small latch by a barred-up window was kicked out to hang on by two strings, leaving just a hollow.
"You have the money?" Suller asked, pulling Eric and Aria out of their bewilderment.
It took Aria a bit to locate the pouch in her rucksack with some fluster. "Is this enough?" She asked, holding out the pouch.
Suller lifted his hand to lightly weigh the pouch before nodding then motioning to the latch with his head.
"All of it?" Eric cut in.
"Yes, yes," Suller smirked.
He hesitated for only a moment more as these were near all the coin they had on them, the money they had gotten from Boram before rushing off into the wilderness. Then Eric nodded to Aria who dropped the pouch of clinking gael into the hollow of the latch. Snapping shut almost the instant it hit the wood, the pouch was gone.
"Now, be sure to stay safe and keep your wits about you youngins." The old man said, already turning back to where they had come. "And make sure to say hello to little Bammen for me if you get the chance. Tell him to visit an old man, if you would," He added.
They wanted to say something back, but before either Eric or Aria could, the large wooden door creaked open to reveal a huge thickset man in overalls and a round potbelly figure, with the top half of his head that couldn't even be seen because he was too tall for the door frame. Stepping the side, the hulking man waited for them to enter. Eric and Aria looked back to the old man for a second, but his back was already a couple of paces away.
Entering what looked to be some ramshackle parlor or office, Aria glanced nervously up at the towering man who just stood by the door. Bald with only his thin blonde eyebrows in a stained white cotton shirt and overalls. Eric would've noted he looked like one big egg if not for the fact that he was so fucking intimidating.
The man rivaled even Boram in size, though he was clearly more blubber than muscle. Still, he'd undoubtedly still pack a punch that would knock the lights out of any man foolish enough to disregard him as weak for that.
The sound of scribbling drew Eric and Aria's attention to the only other person in the room. Sitting on a high-raised chair, a small man in a patched chestnut suit with a goatee and a balding comb-over mop of black hair was writing on a piece of parchment. Most noticeably though, was the thick, oversized glasses that made his eyes look way too big for his head.
It was a gnome.
"Um... hi?" Aria said nervously.
The gnome didn't respond, he just flipped a few papers, then got a new quill, tapping its edge on his tongue before dipping it in a bottle of fresh ink. "Names?" He just asked.
"I-uh, Ari-" Flustered, she was about to blurt out her name but Eric grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.
The gnome eyed them with a tired get-on-with-it stare.
It wouldn't do to give out her real name, as even though Suller had brought them here, one could never know whose ears were listening in down here.
"Meera Alcott," Eric said finally, giving up a new fake name for Aria as she seemed entirely too strung up to make something up.
The gnome just began scribbling, having gotten what he had actually asked for. Lifting his gaze he did not bother to ask Eric, he merely pointed to him with his quill instead.
"William Briggs," Eric offered.
"William Briggs..." The gnome muttered as he scribbled on a couple of parchments and tablets. Eric wasn't sure, but he thought he heard the little bastard tsk and mutter something at his made-up name. Was that derision?
When he was done, the gnome then looked to the cloaked Nyx that was more busy staring anywhere but at what was going, lost in his own world and totally out of the conversation as usual.
"Uh..." Eric droned, not exactly sure what to give the demon. They were going to pass him off as a gnome, so what exactly was a fitting name here? Eric had barely met any as his hometown had been far from the Spine of Argon on the fringe of Moravia, the few mountain people he had met, dwarves and gnomes, were only from passing caravans.
To Eric's surprise, Aria stepped in instead, all too eager. "-Nyxel Brasshand," She said, her shy smile a little too proud of the name.
The gnome's brow raised at that, but he did not comment.
Eric just sighed, comforting himself in the fact that at least Nyx's name was barely known to anyone. Only a few of Boram's caravan, including him and his right-hand men, knew of Nyx's name. So even if it was a little too similar, it shouldn't matter that much. The gnome paused briefly in his work, glancing at the imp.
"Gnome, I assume?" He asked.
Eric nodded. The gnome scribbled in some more information on the documents. A few thinly-veiled questions about their slowly forming identities later, all of their papers and new documents were done.
Being led to a back passage instead of back out into the underground market, the silent giant handed them their papers while the gnome ordered the documents. "These need to be processed, which will take a little while because of their nature." The gnome explained. " So do make sure not to catch the attention of any officials," He added, his tone quite condescending.
But as much as Eric would've loved to throttle this little asshole's patronizing face with a solid punch as he hated people that stared down their nose like that, the giant stood behind him like a menacing shadow. Eric did wonder briefly if he could take down the giant despite the big man almost certainly having a class, but Aria's nervous tug on his sleeve brought him back to reality. He hadn't realized it, but he and the egghead had been glaring daggers at each other.
"Any questions?" He asked. But before they even had a chance to think, he continued in quickfire succession. "Very well then, follow Nigel, he'll lead you out the Lane. Off you go."
The door being slammed in their face, Eric and Aria were left to wonder.
"Who the abyss was Nigel?"
From the shadows, a ratty voice sounded. "Follow me, humans,"