The lizardman led Sylvester and Val through several alleys and side streets to meet with the oracle. The meeting place was next to the city walls, fenced in on all other sides by tall buildings. Inside, it was an immaculately kept garden. Certainly not a normal one, this one filled with fungi and swamp plants, but carefully tended and sculpted all the same.

Standing in the middle of the garden, was a tall woman sculpted from gleaming white alabaster. She was tall and perfectly shaped in the way that only a sculpture could be. Every wrinkle of her skin, curl of hair, and fold of her dress had been artistically placed at one time.

Now, however, she moved. Sometimes new wrinkles would appear, and other times old ones would simply stretch strangely. Even as her stone dress moved with her, it maintained an obvious original form.

“Welcome.” She intoned, her voice quiet and demure, her blank eyes turning to focus on Sylvester and Val.

“Thank you for inviting us.” Sylvester politely responded, taking a seat on one of the benches in the garden.

“You have been called here for a reason. Deep in the Black Mire, sits the Frog Idol. The last legacy of an old god. It seeks your aid and can provide you a way past the giants of Kuln in return.” The oracle explained, perfectly still other than her mouth.

“We will go to your husband, but we do not seek the way past the giants.” Sylvester told her, causing the oracle to actually blink.

“What do you seek, then?” She asked.

“I seek information, which I believe your husband will be able to provide. However, it is not everyday that I have a chance to meet a fellow prophet.” Sylvester explained.

The Oracle stared at him, her eyes narrowing.

“You see nothing.” She stated after a few moments, her tone perfectly even. “So, speak. What do you seek?”

“Ohohoh! She is really throwing down the gauntlet now!” Val laughed, causing the Oracle to look at her, alabaster eyes seeming to stare at her very soul.

“It is fine. I took no offense.” Sylvester reassured her before turning back to the Oracle. “I would like a prophecy.”

“Help the Frog and you shall receive your prophecy.” The Oracle nodded in agreement.

“Then we shall find your cave after returning your husband the treasures of your engagement.” Sylvester announced while rising.

“You speak of things not told and go to places not described. How?” The Oracle asked as they made to leave.

“I know the future, even if I do not see it. The knowledge I want from your husband is related to it. And it makes me very curious what you will see when you prepare a prophecy for me.” Sylvester explained before he and Val made their way out of the garden.

The lizardmen, hunched and covered in robes, stepped aside to let them pass. As they made their way back to Shoehaven Manor, Val continued to pester Sylvester about what had been discussed.

“So, why did she say that you see nothing? Aren’t you a prophet?” She asked, practically hanging off his arm as they walked.

“I don’t know. What do you call someone who knows the future?” Sylvester asked her in return, annoyed by her pestering.

“It should be a prophet, but she said you can’t see the future! So, what does it all mean? What is your big secret?” She continued to press him.

“I’m not going to be answering that.” He flatly denied her.

“Well, I can still ask the others.” She mused, letting go of his arm after his firm refusal.

“Good luck with that.”

“So, they don’t know either? OOoh! This just gets me so excited!” Val wasn’t dissuaded, however.

When the two finally returned to the manor, the sun had set and the others were waiting for them. Sylvester and Val explained what had happened and they were all glad to hear that they would be out of the city for a while.

“Before we go out, there is one matter we need to take care of.” Sylvester curbed their enthusiasm.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense Mr. False Prophet.” Karrank joked.

“There is a local gang, Hounds of Camber. We need to take care of them before we leave. It should also give us time to purchase a boat and lightly decorate it.” He explained.

“I assume the decorated boat is for the Frog thing, but why do we need to take care of the local gang?” Kurt asked.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“They are a local problem. Sometime in the next couple days it will come to a head, including kidnapping two women. If we don’t intervene, they and a couple watchmen will all end up dead.”

“And whoever said life in the city was boring…” Karrank complained.

“I assume you know where they are? Fighting an entire gang on our own sounds a little… reckless.” Neil cut in, thinking through what Sylvester was suggesting.

“It could be, but we should be able to handle this. The Hounds are holed up at a place called the Red Door Tenement.” Sylvester reassured him. “Any fight will likely take place on the third-floor balcony. It is too narrow for a huge brawl, and I expect that any individual thug will go down with a single good blow. In fact, you should be able to wipe out half the gang with a good casting of Burning Hands, Neil.”

“Average thugs don’t tend to be too strong.” Karrank agreed. “But that doesn’t go the same for their leaders. Or any nasties they keep around.”

“Right. They will have a few mongrel dogs around, but they are only as dangerous as the thugs. What we need to watch out for are Camber himself, and his right hand Murrn the Bull.”

“How tough are these two?” Kurt asked.

“Well, Murrn fights with his bare hands and a nearly suicidal fury. You and he should be decently matched, as long as you don’t let him grab and throw you.”

“A three-story fall would not be pleasant.” Neil piped up.

“As for Camber, he is significantly less willing to fight to the death. He may not be able to take as many hits as Murrn, but he fights just as well.”

“So, the plan then?”

“We go and get up to meet with Camber. Launch a surprise attack. Neil, you try to hit as many of the thugs with burning hands as possible. Kurt, you are the one who is best able to deal with Murrn, so he is your responsibility. I will hold off Camber. Karrank, you just take out the grunts and help us as we need it. Any of the grunts try to flee, let them.”

“What about the watch? They won’t just stand idly by when a gang war starts to break out.” Karrank asked.

“We should expect a couple to arrive in under a minute from a fight breaking out. They won’t interfere, however, instead focusing on keeping the residents safe. If things take to long, we can expect a lot more to show up. Still, they will probably thank us for doing our civic duty instead of trying to hit us with any charges.”

“Well, I don’t see anything too wrong with this plan.” Kurt announced.

“Couldn’t we get the watch to help us? Get them involved from the start?” Neil asked.

“We could,” Sylvester shook his head. “But then the Hounds would try to ambush us halfway up and fighting up stairs to reach them is definitely more difficult than ambushing them.”

“I see…”

“I suppose I should ask, though I doubt it, is there anything interesting to be found there?” Val suddenly asked with a bored expression on her face.

“Watching us fight for our lives isn’t exciting enough?” Sylvester joked, before continuing. “No, there will be some valuables, but nothing exciting to you.”

“In that case, I will stay behind. Enjoy some luxury for once in a while.” She decided while heading out of the room.

Everyone else soon did the same, heading for their makeshift beds. In the morning they carefully checked their weapons and prepared their magics before heading off.

The Red Door Tenement was a three-story building, with appropriately red doors. All the doors faced outward, and there was a balcony for people to walk on. It also connected to a staircase that would take people up and down. All of it seemed decently built, but it was not an ideal spot for a brawl.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up, were two gruff and bored looking men. Karrank was leading the group forward and he was the one they called out to when they noticed them.

“Hey! Who are you?” One of the thugs called out, carefully looking over the group.

“We are just some travelers from down the river,” Karrank confidently answered. “Here for a meeting with Camber.”

“Is that so?” The other thug crossed his arms. “We didn’t hear about any visitors today.”

“We only just got here. We didn’t have time to set this up ahead of time, and we obviously wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.” Karrank rolled his eyes.

There were a few tense moments as the two sides stared each other own, daring the other to flinch.

“Fine! Head on up then, and don’t even think about causing any trouble. Or do. We could use some entertainment.” The thug in front of the stairs moved to the side with a vicious grin on his face.

The group began making their way up the stairs. They were wide enough to fit two people at a time, though it would be a bit of a squeeze. The balcony on the third level was sturdy, but the railing looked flimsy and it was a long drop to the cobblestones below. Several hounds were relaxing on the balcony as well. A couple were playing cards and one seemed busy getting drunk. All their eyes followed the group as Sylvester led them to the far end of the balcony and knocked on the final red door.

Someone could be heard moving inside, and the door opened to reveal a stocky man who was covered in scars, Camber Ironskin.

“And who are you?” He spat, glaring at Sylvester.

Sylvester didn’t answer, instead launching his surprise attack with the rest of the group. Unfortunately, the hounds had been suspicious and were barely startled.

Camber dodged Sylvester’s first attack and began swiping at him with his dagger. The other thugs on the balcony leapt into action as well, attacking everyone in the group. Karrank was partially tackled by one, and nearly shoved over the railing. He managed to get his knife across the thug’s throat, however, and stepped away from the railing and the corpse.

Neil got buffeted and knocked around before he could do anything, and Kurt ended up locked into melee with Murrn the Bull who had charged straight through the door of the tenement he was in.

Neil stepped back to begin casting Burning Hands, catching all the hounds’ attention. Camber was stuck with Sylvester and Kurt was keeping Murrn busy as well. Karrank blocked two of the thugs on the balcony, but the last one slipped past him and slammed Neil into the balcony railing. It cracked audibly, but thankfully held. By this point the thugs from below were making their way up and more were pouring out of the tenements.

Kurt started to land some swipes on Murrn and Karrank was perfectly at home in this chaotic brawl. A second hound dropped dead at his feet and several of the others started to back away from him. Sylvester slammed his mace into Camber’s side, nearly sending him over the railing as well, but got time to steady himself when his mongrel dogs burst from the tenement to attack Sylvester.

Neil swiped his staff at the thug who had attacked him, but they had been ready and easily dodged the blow. Murrn began to laugh a deep throaty laughter as he continued his slugging match with Kurt. Camber was less unhinged, but just as vicious in his fight with Sylvester. He cursed up a storm, however, when several of the thugs who had been near Karrank turned to flee. A couple thugs stayed behind, but Karrank was easily weaving his way between their blows.

Suddenly, Kurt and Sylvester both spun and attacked one of the mongrel dogs each. The dogs went down with whimpers, while Kurt continued his spinning motion to hack at Murrn who was forced back to defend against it. It caught him off guard, but he didn’t break and continued to laugh as he fought.

Karrank put an end to the thug who was attacking Neil, who smiled and used the opportunity to begin casting another spell. His chanting echoed above the din of the fight as two watchmen arrived to see what all the fuss was about.

Sylvester kept up his pressure on Camber while Kurt did his best to endure Murrn’s blows without being grabbed. One of the last two remaining thugs began running for the stairs when he saw the watch beginning to arrive, causing Camber to break out into even more cursing.

The last thug, however, attacked Kurt from behind. His cudgel caught him just below the ribs, forcing him to break off his fight with Murrn. Without turning, however, Kurt spun his blade behind himself. It didn’t connect, but the thug still ended up backing off slightly.

Neil continued to chant as he pointed at Murrn and a sickly yellow-green ray of light shot from his finger and struck Murrn in the side. Murrn almost physically appeared to deflate as the spell took hold on him, instantly reducing his strength by 30%. He didn’t stop fighting, instead howling with rage, and doubling his efforts.

He swung at Kurt who found his blows easy to redirect now that they were so much weaker. He didn’t manage to get in his own strike, however. Neil charged to swing at Murrn, but he didn’t even flinch at the blows. Even if he was weaker, he was not softer, and Neil’s blows barely affected him.

Sylvester and Camber had started circling each other on the small balcony, testing each other, testing their defenses.

“Give up Camber,” Sylvester taunted him. “You and Murrn alone can’t take us all on.”

Camber’s eyes darted over the situation and he mentally weighed his odds. He apparently decided that they were not good as he willingly vaulted over the balcony railing and fell toward the ground below. Sylvester tried to catch him but was a moment to late. Camber hit the ground, crumpling with a sickening crack. He wasn’t dead, however, as he forced himself up and began trying to limp away.

Murrn was in a berserker-like rage at this point and continued trying to smash everyone with his bare hands. Karrank and Sylvester joined the others in attacking him, and he finally went down with several weapons stuck in him.

“Alright, lets grab some stuff before the watch gets up here!” Sylvester announced while pulling his mace out of Murrn with a sickening squelch. “Karrank, this one here. Grab the gold necklace in the back of the painting. Everyone else, follow me to the next one!”