Just over an hour before dawn the adventurers are woken by a knock at the door. One of the barmaids has been sent to wake them as they are due to leave an hour before dawn. Serion and Torsten are feeling particularly rough and both have developed grey blotches around their necks and chests. Serion is starting to feel weak and curses the filthy humans and their diseases. Johann is also starting to feel a bit hot and sweaty and knows that he has only a matter of days left until he develops the grey blotches as well.
The trio dress quickly and head down to the bar for breakfast before their journey. They are greeted by Otto, Karl, Andreas and Max. Over a meal of hard bread and cheese Andreas reveals that he has been hired by Adewald as an interpreter and thanks Torsten for all his help. Serion gives Otto and Karl a gold coin to remove any wanted posters they find around Talagad, with this they take their leave and head straight for the bar.
Once they have eaten and said their farewells to Andreas, Otto and Karl, Max takes the adventurers to warehouse fifteen. He leaves them outside and disappears into the pre-dawn gloom. Johann knocks on the door of the building and is greeted by a massive Norscan, at least seven feet in height with an equally massive sword on his back. He ushers them inside and bolts the door behind them.
Finch is waiting for them inside and is joined by a rather scruffy looking little man and a large black man with a scimitar. Johann hands over the fifteen gold coins to Finch whilst Torsten introduces himself to the other two men. The large black man reveals his name is Dubar but the little scruffy man turns away and refuses to make small talk. Finch then announces that the large Norscan named Sigleif and himself will be guiding the five travellers through the sewers under the wall into Talabheim. Sigleif then moves a large pile of crates to reveal a trap door in the floor. He pulls it open to reveal steps down into the sewers.
Finch lights up a torch and leads the way down into the darkness. As they head down into the gloom Finch asks Johann what their business in Talabheim is. Johann tells him that they are looking for an apothecary named Daubner.
After a while they reach a large chamber with several tunnels heading off in different directions. In the middle of the room are some barrows with old clothes in. Finch explains that they are disguises to make the men look like tanners and help them blend in when they leave the sewers. Torsten is not happy about the disguises and is reluctant to remove his armour. Serion on the other hand sees the sense in being disguised so changes quickly. As they debate the merits of looking like tanners, Johann and Serion both hear coughing from down some of the tunnels. Torsten then hears noise from a tunnel near him and turns to Finch and demands to know what is going on. Realising that he has lost the element of surprise, Finch shouts out for his hidden thugs to attack.
Finch draws his sword and charges at Torsten. He swings wildly and misses the mercenary. Torsten takes advantage of the miss and grabs his two handed mace and lashes out at Finch but misses in the poor light.
Johann manages to spin around just in time to meet a figure running at him from the tunnel behind. He too misses badly with his dagger in the gloom. Serion, unarmed, grabs his bow and quiver of arrows from the cart beside him.
Two more thugs appear from the darkness to attack Dubar and the scruffy man. The scruffy little man raises his hands in surrender immediately, which is met with a crack to the skull from the pommel of the thugs sword, leaving him unconscious on the floor. Another thug rushes from the tunnel by Torsten to help Finch.
The thug attacking Johann fails to hit as the darkness makes combat difficult. Meanwhile the thug that has just joined the fight with Torsten thrusts his sword at the mercenaries leg, opening a painful gash on his thigh. Finch follows this with a poor stab with his sword then a feeble backhand that clatters off of Torstens breastplate. Torsten replies, swinging his mace at Finch but missing the man by inches. His second attack strikes Finch on his arm causing him to back off in pain. On the other side of the room some quick attacking from Johann leaves the thug in front of him with injuries in both arms.
In the entrance to the room the large Norscan starts hitting himself in the face with the flat of his two handed sword blade. Realising that he will soon become beserk Serion takes action. He notches an arrow and fires it at the giant man hitting him in the right arm. The injury only serves to make the big man more angry and he starts to charge, so Serion fires a second arrow. The arrow strikes the Norscan between the eyes with such forces that it bursts through the back of his head. Sigleif crashes to the floor mid run like a giant oak being felled.
On the other side of the room Dubar trades blows with the two thugs facing him but neither gains an advantage. The scruffy little man pulls himself to his feet beside Dubar and after chanting something under his breath unleashes a storm of fire around one of the thugs, the man screams then falls to the ground burning. The remaining thug turns and flees at the sight.
Finch continues to attack Torsten. He brings his sword down on Torstens helmet, clanging off harmlessly. The thug next to him then catches Torsten badly opening up a serious gash on his shoulder and causing him to drop his mace. Torsten, now weaponless, lands a punch on Finch's chest. Serion seeing that Torsten is losing his fight waits for a moment then skilfully fires an arrow past Torsten and into Finch's shoulder, slicing flesh to the bone and causing him to drop his sword. Taking advantage of Finch's injury, Torsten punches him so hard in the head that he collapses to the floor unconcious.
Johann manages to parry several blows from the thug in front of him before stabbing his dagger into the mans leg. As the injured man drops down to one knee in front of him, Johann slashes at his throat then stabs him in the cheek. The thug grabs hold of his ruined face before falling dead to the floor.
Torsten, still facing an armed thug decides to grab hold of the man. Serion drops his bow onto the cart beside him and draws his dagger and runs to Torsten's aid. He tells the thug to surrender but the man stubbornly continues to resist. The fight all but over, Torsten releases the man who proceeds to run. Serion kicks out to trip the man but somehow manages to kick his own leg and ends up in an undignified heap on the floor whilst the man disappears into the darkness.
The fight over, Johann quickly stitches up the bad gash on Torsten's shoulder but tells him that he will need to look at it properly later. Serion makes the others swear to never tell anyone of his clumsy attempt at tripping the thug up. Torsten then searches Finch's body, finding a small amount of money and some rings. He also takes the two handed sword from the dead Norscan. Serion removes a silver Norscan bracelet from the dead giant which he slips into his bag.
As they are about to head off down one of the tunnels they hear a muffled voice from near them. On closer inspection they find several barrels, inside one they find a bound and gagged halfling. After releasing him from his bonds and giving him some much needed food he reveals that his name is Bogey Crumpot. Bogey tells the adventurers that he is one of the Terriers, sent into the walls to patrol and prevent smugglers and worse. In return for saving him from his imprisonment he offers to show them into Talabheim and not report them to his superiors. The three friends make sure they are well disguised as tanners and follow the halfling into the darkness.
When they arrive at the tanners district they say their farewells to Bogey and blend into the crowd of workers changing shift. They emerge into the light surrounded by people and push their cart down a side street. Dubar and the scruffy wizard head off into the city whilst Serion and Torsten change back into their normal clothes and Johann dresses as a doctor.
Just as they are moving the tanners clothing and cart into a dark corner, four watchmen and a judge see them and head straight over. The judge, noticing that the three men are new to the area starts a lengthy list of laws to be followed. Noticing that they are armed, the judge informs them of a weapon tax which they reluctantly pay. Just as the officials are leaving, Torsten manages to stifle a cough which would have attracted unwanted attention if it had escaped. Ditching the cart, Johann asks for directions to the nearest inn. He is told to head for the Three Apples, a preferred first stopping point when entering the city.
The Three Apples inn turns out to be a large comfortable building in the Old District of Talabheim. Johann manages to haggle the price of a room for the night with the landlady. They head to their room for well needed hot baths and a rest. A few hours later they return to the bar for some food. Torsten flirts with the barmaid until whilst leaning over the bar to get a better look at her curves, he realises that she is a halfling and the whole area behind the bar is a raised platform. The barmaid greets Serion in Elvish, which pleases him greatly.
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