[coronatiger]

Riko gave us a choice, either to help him here in the poor quarter, or to leave before the day died. Xipil suggested praying over it, and we did. I felt that we were welcome here, so I asked Riko what kind of help he needed from us if we remained. He didn’t know; it depended on what happened. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, myself, so we agreed to talk to the others before making a decision. Riko told us he would await us in a nearby tavern in one hour, but we didn’t have to show up if we decided to leave. I put Little Brother down with the other snakes, as it is right and proper to make such a gift to a chapel one visits. Riko nodded in appreciation.

We gathered up Nujan, Grogg and Wolfram, and found an alley where we could talk without being overheard. Nujan stood watch. I told my friends I knew a gang leader who requested our assistance with what was about to happen, and that we had to leave the poor quarter if we didn’t want to help. Xipil didn’t think we had any alternatives. Going out into the desert with a storm on the way seemed like a bad idea, and since someone on the Council were looking for us, we might not be safe elsewhere in Ur. Wolfram feared that if we didn’t leave Ur immediately, it might be difficult to get out. He called for a vote: Should we stay in Ur, or should we leave?

Yana preferred not to vote, stating that she would go with me no matter what, and if she voted, that would essentially give me a double vote. I squeezed her hand gently and said that I had no strong feelings about going or staying. Nujan didn’t either. Grogg asked Kraa, and interpreted the inane chatter from the spirit raven as a desire to stay. So, we were staying, but should we remain in the slums, or seek out our seeker at the Council’s tower? Wolfram was eager to check out the latter possibility, and Grogg proposed that I was the one to go, in case it was a trap. I agreed, if not with his reasoning. If someone was to go, we should pick someone who can get along with people. Since Yana had attended the meeting with Commander Hydor, I thought she should come with me, in case we had to talk to him. A familiar face would be helpful. However, I pointed out that only two of the Council members, Niffi and Garold, were on the kill list, and asked what that meant about the loyalty of the others.

I reminded everyone that we had to see Riko at the tavern first, if we wanted to retain the permission to stay in the slums. I proposed that we talked to him before making a decision about what to do about the Council. We headed for the tavern, but Grogg sent Kraa to fetch a gold coin at the soup kitchen near the chapel. Good luck with that, I thought to myself.

Riko wasn’t in the tavern, but one of his companions from the chapel was there. He gave me Your sign, and I replied in kind. He asked if we were in a hurry, but I told him we weren’t. Not much, anyway. He left through a side door, and came back three minutes later and waved for us. He led us upstairs, and on the way, we could hear Riko’s voice. He was sending some people out on various errands.

We joined Riko around a table. A thug stood in the corner. Riko’s bodyguard, perhaps? Riko explained that he had decided not to take the bribe, and asked if I had a problem with that. I smiled and told him I didn’t mind at all. This was his decision to make. Riko had heard rumors of people at the other chapel planning to upgrade to a temple. He didn’t phrase it like that, not with unbelievers listening in, but I got his meaning and informed Xipil later, in case he hadn’t picked it up.

Riko said he needed an answer now, if we were staying or not. He and the thug left the room to let us decide amongst ourselves. Xipil and I wanted to stay, since we were familiar with the people here and knew we could trust them. Wolfram disagreed, and Grogg concurred with him, leaning towards the tower. Nujan told us he had changed his mind and wanted to leave Ur. Yana repeated that she didn’t want to take part in the decision process. Wolfram asked if anyone else could agree to leave town, and I said I could, if everyone agreed that we left to find Lord Mir and deliver the spear to him.

We debated where we should go, since none of us knew Lord Mir’s whereabouts, and because of the predicted storm. Someone suggested returning to the crypt, to hide there until the storm passed, but I managed to convince the others that we should find a farm and hide in their cellar. If we found a suitable, abandoned farm, that would be good, but otherwise, I was certain I could procure permission for us to stay the night, or at least until the storm had passed.

Suddenly, there was a bang somewhere up the street. I dashed out, and saw that some people were dismantling a building and stacking the pieces in a cart. They must have dropped something heavy on the ground to make so loud a noise as we had heard. Xipil asked if we needed to find Riko to tell him what we had decided, for he hadn’t been in the tavern when we passed through it just now. I said he would interpret our absence correctly, but I also knew that word would get to him about us leaving.

Two men came towards us from the demolition site, carrying a large wooden plate between them. I asked what was going on, but they just replied that if I could hold a hammer, I could make a few coppers by helping. They moved to the end of the alley, and it was obvious they were going to build something there.

We moved to the north-west, as we intended to pass the city wall where it was the most dilapidated. We passed several workers who were blocking off alleys and side streets, and approached a group of local militia-men, who clearly blocked the way. We ducked into an alley to get around them, but another group stood in our way on the next street. Watching that group, we saw that they let some people pass, but hindered others. Yana and I walked up to them alone.

The militia told us they didn’t control the area further out, but I could see another group fifty meters beyond them. Maybe there was a conflict between different militia groups? When they asked, I told them we weren’t from around here, and they urged us to hurry and get away. I waved the others over, and everyone but Wolfram approached. Xipil ran back to him, and after talking for a moment with the crowd-fearing giant, he fetched Grogg. Together, they managed to get Wolfram past the militia.

Wolfram wasn’t keen on approaching yet another group of people, but he realized that he was trapped between two groups now, and allowed Grogg and Xipil to escort him past the second group. They stepped out of our way without making any fuss, probably because of the size of Grogg and Wolfram and their weapons and armor.

An even larger group of people were barricading a hole in the city walls when we got there, but they too stood aside and let us by. The slums continued outside the wall, and again we passed demolition crews as well as people carting materials back to the wall to plug it.

Once we passed the last sheds, we turned east, and Kraa appeared with a copper coin for Grogg. We spotted two fires, off to the north, and Xipil gave his pack to Wolfram so he and Nujan could run and check it out while the rest of us continued east. Without much to go on, we had decided to head for Sam, believing that Lord Mir might be in the vicinity of my home city.