A Den of Cutpurses, Crooks and Conmen

Zandrophin sighed, shook his head, and laughed at what he'd just seen.

"He engaged you first, and you were well within your rights to incapacitate him. That's the rule here with public fights...as long as you don't kill your aggressor and he strikes first, do what you need to."

Zandrophin knelt down by the barely-conscious man. Around the man's neck, he wore a broken half-circle necklace.

"Well....looks like you got tangled up with one of Yanth's lieutenants...which may make our search a bit easier."

Zandrophin waved his companion onwards,

"Alright...let's get moving."

A voice came from behind them.

"And just where were ya thinkin' ya needed ta go, laddie?"

Zandrophin shook his head and turned around to face a lean, 4' 7" man with crossed arms and a pipe in his mouth. The man grinned slightly before he spoke, slowly walking around the pair.

"I'd heard tell yerr walkin' around wit a stranger....but to take on Cree, he's a real bampot. I like 'im."

He looked Marcus in the face and continued,

"Th'name's Yanth, laddie. I run this pisshole when your friend ain't 'round. Heard tell yeer lookin' for sumthin'...perhaps I can help?"

Without taking his eyes off of the newcomer, Yanth waved Zandrophin down to him. Zandrophin knelt down and Yanth spoke sideways to him, gesturing towards Marcus with his pipe,

"Yer friend...he's...he's a bit jaked, is he?"

Zandrophin chuckled and replied,

"Only a bit...he's sampled from a few places."

"Aye, that's obvious..."

Yanth spoke up again, gesturing widely with his hands.

"Well, laddie...if it's a mason y'be lookin' fer....I know just the place. But, first..."

Yanth walked over to the still-dazed Cree, squatted down next to him, lit his pipe again, stoked it, and overturned the hot contents onto Cree's rather large nose. The larger man sat up quickly, with a cry of pain. Yanth refilled his pipe and lit it again, saying,

"Cree....yer a tube. Why pick fights? They's bad for business."

He turned to the rest of the group,

"Right...follow me."

In a few minutes, they arrived at their destination.

"'Ere we are...this place be a sort of guild for craftsmen. We'll find your answers here, I'd wager."

Yanth knocked on the door. A booming voice answered from behind the door, but didn't open it.

"Who calls?"

"Yanth. I've got an outsider here...he needs to see Arta."

"Arta's down by the quarry, like she always is."

"Appreciated."

Yanth led the group away. Zandrophin spoke up at this point,

"This may be better...I know Arta...she's always more relaxed while working with her hands. She may be more willing to help you."

After a bit of walking though the commercial district, the group arrived at the industrial center of the Underground. Smoke and fire were everywhere. Yanth turned to Marcus as they walked,

"Alright laddie...since yer the only one who's never seen Arta...I'll describe 'er. She's about yer height, with short hair..and she's--"

He made the hourglass shape with his hands.

"Shapely, I suppose be the word."

Zandrophin spoke up.

"She shouldn't be too hard to find...we could always just listen for yelling..."

After a few moments of searching, Cree pointed her out.

"Good boy, Cree....I guess your arse is still good for something..."

Arta was currently overseeing some of her employees shifting a stone column into place,

"Move it to the right, you bastards! I bet I could do this faster by myself!! Yer mothers must be so ashamed to have borne such weak, spineless sons!"

Yanth walked up to Arta and spoke,

"'Ello, Arta...yer lookin' as lovely as ever."

Arta turned around and knelt down in front of Yanth, saying with a smile,

"Oh, Yanth...you always know what to say..."

She delivered a swift punch to his face and continued her statement, now with a neutral look on her face,

"...to really piss me off."

She stood back up and looked at Zandrophin and Marcus, placing a hand on her hip.

"I know you, mind games....but who's your friend? I've never seen him here before."

Arta frowned slightly at the use of her nickname for the newcomer's associate.

"Look here, kid...I call him that...no-one else does...because it makes me upset. Y'know what happens when I'm upset?"

In the blink of an eye, she struck Cree in the gut with a short, but powerful, strike. The man toppled over with a groan. As he curled up on the ground, a look of "why me?" crossed his face.

"I do things like that."

She looked down at Cree before continuing, leaning over so she could look him in the face,

"And, Cree...dear, why did ya stand so close ta me? I know yer slow, but come on...everybody knows the rule about me personal space."

She readdressed the problem presented by the newcomer, taking the outstretched hand,

"Well, Marcus...yer lookin' for a bitta stone? Well...ya come ta tha right lass. Do ya have a drawing of dis design, or a damned good description? I'll have a bettah chance'a findin' it if I know what it looks like."

After witnessing this exchange, Yanth spoke up, directing his question towards Marcus,

"Uhh...well....she'll be able ta help ya more than me, so...if ya don't need me no more...I can take ma leave, yes?"

"She's one of the few women strong enough to work down here, but she's gotta put up a front, sometimes. She's crazy in a fight, though...so it's mainly fear that keeps the men away from her."

As Zandrophin filled Arta in on the design they were looking for, Yanth swore quietly when Marcus flagged him down. He muttered under his breath,

"So bloody close...damn it."

He walked over to where Marcus was, lit his pipe again, and took a few puffs as he listened. He couldn't help but chuckle at the younger man's question.

"Yer quite right about the Red Queen being ignorant of this little...arrangement. We pay off a few of her weapon and armour-smiths to send a few of their creations our wee every once in a while. In addition, we give 'em a discount on anything we produce here...until we've managed to make our designs better...then we turn the tables on them."

"As for him shutting down the trade....well...why tha hell would he do that? He's the one what modified our original, and completely buggered commerce system. Are there harsh restrictions? Do we have to answer to his agents? A'course...but where don't those things apply? Tha point is...we've got weapons she don't know about...and we keep it that way. May I go now?"

Zandrophin called Marcus over,

"Marcus! Arta's seen the symbol I saw in the vision...they're actually about to deliver that stone to its destination. We can tag along."

Arta walked off towards a group of labourers who were pushing a cart. She yelled at them indistinctly and led them towards the two men.

"Alright, ladies...we're 'eading down to the entertainment district. Some yahoo smashed the entryway to one of our stuffier casinos with his Kangaskhan after he lost all his cash...sore loser. So now we've gotta fix it..."

Zandrophin chuckled and commented,

"Ah...I love the entertainment district....so many interesting people...with so many interesting and unshielded thoughts. Gamblers are always a joy to observe...especially the hopeless ones. Who knows, we might even have time to stop in for a visit."

They arrived at their destination, and Arta and her team set to work replacing the stone in the archway. Zandrophin took a deep breath and looked around, reveling in the tension he could sense from all the desperate people running around; some were soliciting trade goods, while others focused on the more...primal aspects of life. Many other symbols adorned the tops of the columns and the molding of the corridors of the district. Zandrophin looked up at them and asked Marcus,

"See anything familiar from that pendant? If we found one of the symbols here...the others are bound to be around somewhere...or so logic would dictate..."

As Zandrophin and Marcus looked around for any relevant symbols, Arta and her team began setting up to replace the stone in the archway. A complex series of scaffolding had been erected to keep the arch from collapsing, but it clogged up the walkway and needed to be cleared away as soon as possible.

Zandrophin glanced over at Marcus, who appeared to be mesmerized by the brutish spectacle occurring outside of one of the casinos. He looked back at Arta, who waved him away. She knew what she was doing. Zandrophin jogged over to Marcus, matching his gait as he spoke,

"The Carnifex always has an interesting show going on. It's staffed by retired Celosian navy boys...so it's not uncommon for the place to get a little rough. Whatever disputes aren't settled in the bar inside are settled out here. Would you like me to sign you up?"

Zandrophin stroked his chin and nodded.

"Let me see what I can do. Stay here...I won't be long."

Zandrophin walked up to one of the bookies and tapped him on the shoulder. The spindly man turned around, and was visibly shocked by the man he saw behind him. He pointed towards the observation booth. Zandrophin nodded and walked up to the booth.

After a few moments, the din of the crowd was overpowered by hearty laughter. Zandrophin came back to Marcus, under the arm of a burly man with a squinted eye, who was still laughing.

"This is Olim...he's the owner of this establishment. Olim, this is Marcus."

"Ha-haarr!!! So...this be the lad who wants to fight the victor? What're yer skills, Kid? Can ya handle yerself in a ring?"