Cassius awoke to the familiar darkness of his abode, lit only by the faint glow of a rune. Laying for a moment in a pile of rags that served as his bed the young man stretched and then slowly forced himself to his feet. On unsteady legs he walked to the rune and swatted at it until an orb set in the ceiling bloomed, bathing the room in a faint yellow light. With a deep sigh Cassius grabbed a crate from the corner and pulled it to the center of the room. Pulling the lid free of the crate revealed a stale loaf of bread tinged ever so slightly green. It crunched as he bit into it, a spray of crumbs adding texture to an already dirty floor.

As he sat there and chewed through the bread Cassius went over his schedule, it helped to keep one, otherwise you were apt to lose yourself. Today's agenda included petty theft, breaking and entering, theft again, most likely running from the guard, and visiting the young crags at the plaza. A thought flitted through his mind, an important thought, one he had failed to consider. What time was it?

Jumping to his feet Cassius kicked the crate to the corner and slapped the rune on the wall, dimming the lights. He slipped out of the only entrance to the small room, a doorway leading into a side alley. Cassius had taken measures to ensure it wasn’t found easily, a pile of specifically broken crates by the entrance, and a board of wood leaning against the wall to hide the entry. With his room concealed he slipped into the darkness of the alleyway and followed it to one of the main causeways of the Valley. Everyone called it the Valley, it made them feel better about the truth. Nobody wanted to live in a place called garbage, slum, or dump.

Ahead of him was a wall of light that led into the open street. He watched carefully, observing the people passing by for anything that might be cause for alarm, but as usual nothing stood out to him. With a step Cassius was suddenly in the open street, hunched over with his head low in an attempt to make himself as small as possible. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do for someone of his height. Ten years in the Valley had stunted his growth, sure, but not enough to make him inconspicuous.

After the Alliance was founded there were plans to renovate the Valley into a kind of park, providing grass and greenery to the human citizens. They fell through rather quickly after making little progress. None of the citizens came to the valley unless they had to, and the only reason any had to was to hire some crags for cheap menial labor.

Cassius paused at the side of the road and watched as a pair of guards walked past. They gave him a cursory glance and spat at his feet before moving on, muttering about crags under their breath.

“Cass! Cass, com’on!”

A hand grasped at Cassius’ tattered shirt and he turned to look down at the face of the familiar voice. A young dwergan by the name of Hadrick. At the age of eight his small frame was only half the size of your typical four foot dwergan, but was already starting to fill out with muscle. The wisps of reddish brown around his upper lip were only the beginning of what would most certainly be a full beard.

The little dwergan was red faced like a cherub and a pair of deep brown eyes pleaded with him as Hadrick tugged once more.

“Cass, yer late for da meeting! Com’on Cass,” Hadrick whined, making a show of trying to drag Cassius down the street.

He gave in, letting Hadrick lead him down the causeway, weaving around the few others that were doing business. Ahead of them lay one of the many bridges that spanned the gap of the valley, and nestled underneath it was a small plaza with a single dying tree.

A group of people were huddled off to one corner, drawing something in the stamped dirt of the plaza. They looked over as Hadrick walked up and then stood up as Cassius came closer. Three of them were taller than the others, standing just under Cassius himself.

"Took you long enough. You were supposed to be here at first light. You've kept us waiting a good thirty. Even the Kelmour’s beat you this time,” Nikolaus smirked as he poked fun at Cassius’ late arrival.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean? We’re always here on time,” a plump, or at least huskier, crag shot a look at Nik and frowned.

“Well, we’re usually here on time . . .” The tallest of them scratched at his head and smiled.

The Kelmour brothers were an interesting pair. The plumper of the two was fifteen, and the elder to his brother by a year. A notorious silvertongue, Spencer was apt to talk his way out of conflict. Whereas the younger was a well built powerhouse that stood a half a head taller than even Cass. The two of them seemed to be trying to make up for the other's weakness, and it seemed to work out for them pretty well.

Nikolaus, who was also fifteen, was tall and thin with black hair and doe brown eyes. The others had often thought that if Nikolaus had not been born into orphanhood he would have been considered handsome and fair. But the circumstances of life had given him a more scrappy look.

“Well, I’m here now. What’d I miss?” Cass stepped closer to the group and peeked down at the drawing in the dirt.

Spencer pointed down at a small diagram of the valley causeway drawn in the dirt and tapped at one of the squares representing a building.

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"I've managed to find a house two tiers up, mid level. The owners are out for the month on a caravan. There's a window set in the side, slightly in the alley. If we go in at night we'd be hard to spot from the street."

Nikolaus nodded and drew two little circles, “We can set up two of the others down the road to keep watch.” The group nodded and Nik scuffed the dirt, erasing the drawing."We'll go tomorrow night. I'll explore the alleyways to find a decent escape route. Lance is the muscle, Spencer will identify the goods, and Cass will help wherever needed."

One of the crags that must have been on lookout pushed his way into the group and piped up, “Guards comin!”

Cass dropped a copper coin into the tiny outstretched palm of the lookout and started walking backwards towards the causeway. “See ya later then. Don’t get caught!”

Laughing, Cassius tipped an invisible hat to the four guards who had rounded the corner and were watching them from the edge of the plaza.

It was an age-old game amongst the four older crags now. The guards would pick a target and then try to catch them. It was common enough, but in recent times Cassius had noticed them doing it more regularly.

He waited there long enough for the others to scatter and then scooped up a pebble. He gave it a small heft, getting the general feel for it, and sent it flying with a flick of the wrist. It bounced off of the helmet of the closest guard with a metallic ping. The helmeted face swiveled and somewhere behind the metal facade Cassius felt eyes staring at him.

With a smirk and a waggle of the brows Cassius took two steps back, swiveled on a heel and started off down the cobble causeway at a brisk jog. It was best to let them think they could catch you.

It was an old dance, one that Cassius mastered years ago. Flitting around the other pedestrians he made his way to the lip of the tier where a stone half wall acted as a barrier. Sparing a glance back Cassius was surprised to see all four guards pushing through the crowds in pursuit. Standing up straight, he gave them a mock salute before vaulting over the wall.

It was a short five feet to the house below and then another ten to the floor. From the ground level of the next tier he could see the guards glaring at him over the wall.That was the downfall of guards, if they were to try and follow they’d simply hurt themselves due to the weight of their armor. He gave them a small wave farewell and started jogging down the road.

Weaving through the streets of the lowest tier, Cassius looked around with disgust. It was less crowded down here on the last tier, this far down you only lived for so long. After all, this was where all the refuse and debris wound up. Leftover slag from forges, bodily waste, and everything in between was tossed into the river of sludge that ran through the valley.

It was a sad fact that children made the list of things thrown away. They all started here in the beginning, lost and dejected, and Cassius made sure to visit as often as he could.

Passing an alley Cassius spotted his family's artisan mark, a simple mountain looking rune, the same one that he had made his own after losing everything else. Vanishing into the darkness he found his stash, hidden underneath a loose slab of stone and secreted out a loaf of bread he had pinched off a bakery the day before.

Loaf in hand he made his way down the street towards a hovel of garbage. The few others wandering the streets angled away from him, their pale skeletal bodies shrouded in rags made them look ethereal.

As he came closer to the hovel, a number of faces peered out at him, children who called the garbage pile home. Cassius found a small sliver of hope in the ones that ran up to him, dirty faces solemn but with spark in their eyes.

"Cassus! Cassus! Did yew bring food?" One of the small children was staring at the loaf of bread in his hand.

A young dwergan kid, older than the others by a fair margin, made his way over, "course 'e did Frankie. Cassius a'ways look' out fer us."

"Hey Daruin. Got another loaf, mind helping?" Cassius smiled at the two of them.

A number of other small kids crowded around, and Cassius and Daruin carefully doled out a shred of bread to each of them. With Daruin smacking a few wandering hands away from snatching anothers piece.

Sitting down in the dirt, Cassius watched as the children ate the meager meal. Some scarfed it down in seconds, others nibbled at it quietly. After a short while Daruin came over with Frankie and sat next to Cassius with Frankie settling into the dwergans lap. Cassius gave a sidelong look at the dwergan. Daruin had to be around twelve, and did fairly well for himself all things considered. There was a lot of work for someone as competent as him.

“So. You going to come up this time Daruin?”

There was a soft sigh and the crunch as the dwergan took a small bite of his bread. Silence settled in for a moment as Cassius waited for an answer.

“Com’on Cass, ye know the answer to that. I’ll let ye know when the time's right."

Cassius nodded and looked down at the little bite of bread in his hands, popping it into his mouth and finishing it off. With a sigh, he stood and brushed the crumbs off before looking over the hovel.

It was a question he always asked, more out of selfish want than anything else. He wanted to see something change, even if it was small. "Who wants to go up to the next tier with me?"

A little hand immediately shot up as Frankie bounced out of Daruins lap and pushed himself against Cassius. Cassius smiled and looked down at the eager face. Nobody could take away little Frankie's hope that Cassius would take him up to the next tier one day, but he was barely five and Cassius refused him every time. While the higher tiers were better, they were also more dangerous.

Daruin walked up behind the little boy and simply smiled, resting his hand on Frankie's shoulder. Cassius knew he'd never get Daruin without Frankie. Looking out over the rest of the kids, Cassius only saw downtrodden faces and fearful tremors.

He knew full well that there was no one reason to refute his offer. Some were scared of meeting their parents again, others feared the guard, and most had simply given up.

He wished he could do more, but he knew he couldn't force them. The most he could do was bring the occasional meal and offer them the chance. Looking up at the tiers Cassius let out a sigh, said his goodbyes to Daruin and Frankie and headed out.