Harp and the Seedy Underbelly
joshuaberman says:
I take a beat. Maybe it's her perfume, or maybe it's the way she let her guard down a bit that makes her words more appealing. Like a dare.
"Take me to him." I'm keeping my hand on the small of her back, but using my arms to feel where her hands are, so as to avoid loosing my pocket money. Or worse.
She smiles and begins leading you through a winding passage of back alleys and small passages. At one point you go down into a cellar and pass through two dug out passages to adjacent cellars before coming reemerging into a completely different alley. After ten to fifteen minutes, you arrive at a tavern where "seedy" just doesn't even begin to capture the vibe.
The Winking Were-Rat. As you approach the door, it flies open as a large human man crashes to the ground at your feet. His face looks bruised and there's beer and blood and glass in his beard. Unfazed, the woman leads you through the door. Without speaking to anyone, she walks behind the bar and through the kitchen, exiting the other side to a small hallway with three doors, one on either side and one at the end some 20 feet away. Next to the door, a mammoth female half-orc with one broken tusk sits snoring in a chair, head resting on the wall. Next to the door on the other side, just across the hall, a halfling male with a short auburn ponytail and a bright red scar on his forehead hops to his feet and kicks the half-orcs leg hard. She starts, the turns angrily towards the halfling to say something before noticing the two of you. She stands to her feet, when you see that she's a full seven feet tall and nearly as wide. The halfling bangs the side of his fist on the door three times, pauses, then four times. You hear the sound of wood sliding against wood from beyond the door before it slowly swings open. The two of you head inside.
The room is dark, lit only by a few small lamps. As you enter, you see a dwarf, less stout than some you've seen before, with a bright golden beard streaked with white seated behind a desk, sifting through a mountain of papers. His bushy mustache covers his mouth, and his beard is pulled tight under his chin, then hangs down in a long single braid. His yellow hair on top is oiled and slicked straight back, while the sides of his head are cut short. You can see tattoos peeking up from under his collar and covering his forearms.
You fully enter the room, and the door shuts behind you. You turn to see an elf with bronze skin and a cleanly shaven head slide the wooden beam back in place. When the elf turns back to face you, you see that is has a long scar down the right side of his face and an eye patch on his right eye.
After maybe ten seconds of silence, the dwarf pulls a stack of paper together, sits back in his chair and looks up. When he recognizes the girl, he smiles. She does not smile back.
"Valencia," he begins, his voice somehow both hoarse and slimy,
"the gods continue to bring me blessings, your presence the best one today. Who is your new friend?"
"He needs passage to the library, tonight. Marked in thieves cant. I told him you were the man for the job," she replies, face and emotions still neutral.
The dwarf raises an eyebrow and asks,
"You didn't want to take him to those spineless pinky-less Red shits?"
She tenses just slightly.
"What? Of course not. Besides, I don't think their operation could pull something like this off tonight. Like I said, you are the only man for the job."
He lets the tension hand in the air for just a second before laughing, slapping both hands on his desktop, and standing up. As he walks around the desk, he sticks his finger in his ear and wiggles it around.
"Well, he'll have to deal with them on the other end, anyhow. I don't have anybody on the Top to catch him. You need anything else? You want to stay a while? We could have some fun."
Valencia smiles weakly,
"Maybe next time. Gotta get back to work." She turns to you, looks you square in the eye, and says,
"Don't do anything stupid." She kisses you on the cheek, and her scent again fills your nostrils, then she turns to leave. The doorman removes the bar and hands her a small pouch of coins as she exits, then replaces the beam.
The dwarf turns watches Valencia leave,
"Gods, she smells good," he comments. Then turning his attention back to you.
"So. I'm Greave. Seems like you need my help. What's got you itching to get up top tonight anyhow?" He puts his hand on your shoulder and guides you to a single chair in front of his desk, and you can feel the strength of his grip despite his not applying any pressure.
