//------------------------------// // Baldur's Redux: Sewer Work // Story: Dark Alliance: A Kirin's Tale // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// After departing from the Purple Wyrm Inn, and returning to the main streets of the city, Rain found that it was wasn't hard to track down the Captain of the Guard, because the man was standing near the entrance they had passed through earlier, wearing a set of steel armor with a tabard that was black with a red trim. "Sollus Duncirc, right?" Rain asked, speaking the moment they got close to where the man was standing, which was with a few other guards standing near his station, who moved out with a gesture from him so they could make sure the people and traders were welcomed, and inspected, upon entering Baldur's Gate, before he nodded to her, "Randalla Brasshorn told me that you wanted a word with me." "Yes, I did. While many are pleased with your actions, and the actions of your friends, in dealing with the alliance that was poised to strike at us, I am not." Sollus stated, confirming what Randalla had told them not a few moments ago, about how he was annoyed that Rain and her friends had tore their way through the sewers to complete their goals, "You and your fellow adventurers tore through the sewers, slaughtered all manner of creatures, and unsealed a vast number of portals in your efforts to destroy the old Thieves Guild... you also opened the way for more vermin, carrion beasts that I want you to eliminate. You owe the city for allowing such a thing to happen, but, despite my personal opinions, my superiors are willing to pay well for the eradication of the new vermin." "Just so we're clear, this is a weak claim you have: you have pests in the sewers and your first action is to blame those who saved the city." Rain replied, though while Sollus was one of Randalla's allies, someone who fed her information so she could track down adventurers to either aid the city or clear out the roads, she wasn't too pleased with him disliking her due to her past actions, before she held a hand up to stop him from talking, "However, know that I, at the very least, will go down and deal with the vermin that's down there, though I won't be alone, I can tell you that." She said that because some of her new friends would do it for the glory and good of the city, while others were going to do it for the gold that was being offered for the job, and she was also doing it because there might be a slim chance that this was the fault of her and her friends. With that in mind they headed up the street and turned after the inn, as Sollus informed the group that the entrance that was in this portion of the city was on the way to the small tower Ysuran had stopped in for a time, something that they found without much delay. Once they found it Rain opened the lid and they headed down into the new section of the sewers, though before they even reached the bottom of the stairs she discovered that one of the new creatures was hanging out in the chamber just beyond their chamber, roaches that could flutter their wings and lift up into the air for a few seconds. With that in mind she made sure Allessia and the others were ready before lashing out at the new enemy, finding that, while the roaches seemed to outnumber them, it was far too easy to actually take them down, as a few hits was more than enough to take them down. Rain knew that there would be more foes down in the sewers, as the ones she had dealt with were kobolds, bugbears, and slimes, so it made her wonder what else might be down here and if any of it might be dangerous, though she also found that this portion of the sewers were darker than the one she had been in. "So the tales about you fighting your way through the sewers, to get into the crypt and the Guild's hideout, were true... a fact that's becoming more and more real as time goes on." Ysuran commented, because while he and his friends might have thought that some of Rain's tales were exaggerated, that tall tales of travelers who didn't know what they were talking about or had made up, the more they traveled with her the more they realized that the tales were totally accurate. "Ah yes, the early days where I knew nothing... good times." Rain said, taking a moment to cut two roaches apart before they could touch her, while at the same time Shadow pounced on a group and tore them apart, though it was nice to think about the days leading up to her battle with Eldrith, since she had enjoyed her time with her friends, "Trust me, all the tales you've heard about me and my friends are likely true... unless they're trashing us, then those ones are just jealous people trying to make us look bad." Alessia said nothing to that as she and Dorn found the path forward, which involved walking through some ankle high sewer water and cutting down some rats, even a few large ones that required multiple people to take down, but for Rain this was nothing compared to her first time in this part of the city. There were chests filled with next to nothing but gold, which the others found to be acceptable, but for the most part it didn't seem like there was anything of importance down here, until what she had discovered over the course of her first adventure. Of course Rain had to correct herself as they ran into a number of green round slimes, causing her to warn them of the blue cube slimes that were far tougher, since the two seemed to go hand in hand in the sewers, or at least based on what she had seen so far. The others listened to her for a time, as she was the most experienced adventurer in their group, with Borador being a close second with most of the knowledge of traps and other useful items, especially since they were using his lanterns to light up the rest of the area so they could see whatever was around them. In fact Borador found some explosive barrels around the area and made sure to use them to blow up some of the rats, as there were no slimes or roaches near any of them, which allowed them to clear out packs of the vermin with ease, which allowed them to reach an area with a chest in the center of some water. As Rain and Shadow followed their new companions through the sewer, taking down the rest of the vile vermin, she just had to wonder why Sollus didn't just ask some guards to deal with the critters, as they were easy to take down and didn't come in groups that were more than five at a time. She even pulled out the weapon she had been using before finding the onyx blade and found that it cut through their foes with ease as well, so it wasn't like her gear was the reason, meaning she had learned quite a lot since her first outing and that her skills were more advanced than she thought. Shadow did her part in eliminating the enemies that were further away from them, making sure they could focus on the groups of critters that were scattered throughout the sewers, but it did allow Dorn and the others to agree with Rain. None of this seemed like a direct result of her actions half a year ago, Sollus was just targeting her because she and her friends went through the sewers, before they focused on a tall round figure that had what appeared to be blades for hands, an ineffective style since it's arms were more like tendrils. Such a thing allowed them to burn it's body and kill it before it could really do anything to them, though it seemed unlike all of the enemies Rain had seen in the past, plus her new companions were confused by what it was, though while they looted one of the chambers they discovered a recall potion. Rain, again, explained the item to them while they continued to walk through the sewers, letting them know the usage of the potion and how her friends had used them during their previous adventure, either to rest up or sell stuff because they were overloaded with treasure. While doing that Dorn and the others slaughtered the remainder of the vermin that were down in the sewers, all while Rain and Shadow kept an eye out for anything that might explain where all of these monsters came from, only to discover that this portion of the sewers was totally cut off from the rest of the network. In addition to that there were no other creatures like the mutant, meaning everything else was a walk in the park in comparison to what Rain experienced six months ago, where Rain fell back just to watch and observe the others once more, helping each one master their forms and techniques to the best of her ability, as some were just outside of her existing experience. Eventually they circled back to the start of the sewers, the very entrance they had used to get down here, causing them to return to the surface and track down Sollus, who congratulated them on taking down the vermin and handed over a few small sacks of gold to each of them, before Rain returned to Randalla. "Did you have a chance to speak with your associates?" Rain asked, because while it was good that they cleared out the vermin of the sewers, since there were well over a hundred foes down there, her focus right now as on taking down any of the main threats that the city was facing, since one of them might lead to another shadowy alliance, all while the others came to a stop behind her and Shadow. "Yes, I did, and they're very eager to have you on the job... and Jherek might be stopping by soon." Randalla replied, as she knew that both Rain and Jherek would be eager to see each other again, to catch up and go over Rain's mission in greater detail, before she turned her focus towards the jobs she had learned of not that long ago, "I have two jobs that you and your friends are suitable for: firstly, there have been a string of kidnappings, from all walks of life, as there are some from the beggars, some from the working class, and even a few wealthy individuals, and my associates are certain that death is in store for them if the ransoms aren't paid... or if they aren't rescued in time. The second is a series of murders, most of which are mysterious, without any suspects, and grisly, especially since some of them are mutilated beyond belief." "I see. What do you guys think?" Rain inquired, turning to look at the others for a moment, even though she was sure that both tasks were linked together in some manner, where she found that each one thought about it for a few seconds, as it was an important decision to make, before voicing their decision, "We are in agreement: everyone wants to tackle the series of kidnappings." Randalla nodded her head and informed them of the Hands of Glory, the newest thieves guild in Baldur's Gate, who had ridiculous demands, often beyond what anyone can afford, and that rumor had it that there was an entrance in the alley near the church, to which Rain smiled, as it was time to take down some thieves, save some people, and figure out what was going on in the city this time around.