[Stomoxys]

Nuur-Karif said it was likely that the cellar had several exits. This seemed plausible, considering that there seemed to be a lot of shady business going on there and perhaps an alternative entrance could be used to gain access without raising too much suspicion. The most obvious place to search would be the neighbouring buildings and the sewer system. I had seen two similar places before. One was Lunari's little basement hideout and the other was the compound of the organization that had hired Lunari. The latter had run under an entire city block and I expected this to be somewhere in between. Nuur-Karif needed to go to the slum and I and Nujan would be the best to reconnoiter the house and its surroundings. This left Grogg and Wolfram to contact Nefalonia or Garold. Neither of them is what I would call skilled with words and I considered going with them, but decided we had to risk sending Yana with them.

The house in question was a two storey, rectangular stone building in the shoddy style popular among the apeoids. It was quite unremarkable for the area, with a wide stair from the street to a double door in front and a garden in the back. The inner part of the garden was hidden behind a high wall and a strategically placed hedge and fountain. From the street, we could only see a small shed and a porch in front of the back entrance to the building. Worryingly, the surrounding buildings had a distinct lack of windows, and the ones we could see were shuttered tightly. In fact, both the house and the streets around it seemed abandoned with no city guards on patrol.

Across the street from the garden was another house, also with a garden and it looked just as abandoned. From this garden it would be easy to climb to the roof and observe the target house while remaining relatively concealed. Nujan took up position as spotter and I leapt over the low wall surrounding the garden. Stripping down, I climbed to the roof and took up position. There was nothing of particular interest to see, so I lay down to observe. Perhaps five minutes later, I heard a loud yawn from Nujan, indicating that someone was coming. Sensing something of potential interest, I lay perfectly still and soon saw a noble and their bodyguard come strolling down one of the streets. Nujan feigned sleeping against a wall, but was rudely informed that loitering was not permitted by the bodyguard and slunk off. Having chased off the jaguar, the two apeoids entered the garden I was spying on. Initially, nothing appeared to happen, the noble just sitting there and the bodyguard washing their sword in the fountain. This lasted a few minutes before I spotted a subtle movement in one of the curtains on the upper floor. Another few minutes passed and a human female came out and escorted the others into the building. I waited a few more minutes, but nothing more seemed to happen before Nujan appeared and signaled impatiently for me to come down. Back on the street, we discussed what I had seen and speculated that the splashing from the sword washing had been a signal. Nujan suggested we could bribe some young humans to go into the garden to splash in the fountain, but we rejected the idea. It would almost certainly have raised suspicions if they were questioned. Before we left, we saw a nervous looking human that I believe entered the building, but they entered through the front door and we could not see them entering from our position.

Searching the area, we discovered that a sewer was running under one of the streets next to the house. Following the sewer downhill, Nujan spotted an open grate in a relatively secluded side street. Slipping out of my clothes and down the drain, I made my way into the main tunnel. In the light from the coin, I could see a raised walkway so I did not have to wade through the filth, but the smell was nauseating. I had just gotten used to the darkness and my sense of smell was deadening when I heard Nujan yawn and thump with their foot on the grate. Crawling back, we agreed to meet again after four grates to see if we could coordinate. Carefully sneaking forward, I met Nujan again at the fifth grate and we decided to meet at the 17th, which would take me close to the house. On the way there, I spotted two wooden doors which both appeared to be locked from the inside and sent Nujan to investigate when we met up. Sneaking very carefully the last part, I spotted a metal door that would lead directly into the basement of the house. However, there were no handles or keyholes on my side and it did not budge when I pushed it. The door was presumably barricaded from the inside, and while I did not doubt that Grogg could break it down, it would be neither a quiet nor a quick affair. Returning to the grate, Nujan had discovered that one of the wooden doors were probably connected to some noble's house while the other was under a mercenary compound. Neither sounded very welcoming and Grogg and Wofram would not make it in or out the way I had come. Following the tunnel a bit further down from where I had entered, I came upon an intersection as well as a stair leading up.

I got Nujan to fetch some rugs to cover me up, not wanting to sully the clothes I would have to wear again. Back at the inn, our companions and luggage was gone, but I got a quick bath. Nuur-Karif came back while I was drying off and told us that Wolfram and Grogg had not succeeded in contacting Nefalonia or Garold. However, they had talked to a commander Hydor of the tower guard, one of the names on the list. While the officer had given them a coach and promised not to interfere, they had not been willing to provide us with a safe haven. Nuur-Karif had been more successful and procured both a hideout and two low ranking Ashtarites to act as guards. The mages' tower would certainly have been more comfortable and potentially useful than a dirt hole somewhere in the slums, but that was the risk we took sending Wolfram and Grogg on a diplomatic mission. Our luggage was already at the hideout and Yana was out with the wagon, scouting an easy route from the wealthy quarters to the slums. Wolfram and Grogg were waiting at a nearby eatery and we went to meet up with them.