Jericho awoke in a room, surrounded by his traveling companions. Each showed signs of the earlier battle and from the pain in his arm, head, face... entire body, he suspected that he reflected the same. The guard captain had been a sturdy man, and subduing nonlethally had proven once again to take a greater toll on the victor than a well-placed thrust of a rapier. Pushing painful – this time literally – thoughts aside, the young pirate became vaguely aware of a discussion taking place somewhere around his head. What first started out as dull, obnoxious murmurings slowly became a few words between the pounding in his skull.

“...we could charter a boat...” Plans?

“...dwarves who can make tunnels and government employees who can...” Oh, their next move.

“We can just leave through the gates... bodyguards...” So they had options.

Though he seemed to have been successful in championing the young girls' cause against the soldiers, Jericho felt far from just or satisfied. The Book of the Architect's weight was far too palpable at his side. 'To fear the Architect is to hate evil,' but who was he to judge those soldiers. He would have wanted to understand the situation better, but the actions of the first man had sent a rush of blood to his head. In the heat of the moment, any teaching of 'Do not judge others lest you condemn yourself' were buried deep behind layers of fury, rage and righteousness. In an instant, he was the judge, enacting his holy vengeance on his god's enemies. But now, with his adrenaline gone and time to think, he knew that he was far from just enough to play that role. Another attempt at redemption, another guilty memory.

But to the task at hand.

A few guards in a bar was on thing, but fighting through battalions of Niratremi soldiers to get through the city wasn't going to happen with such a small team. Chartering a boat to circumvent the their near-enemies would be most comfortable to the young pirate, though it might seriously detract from both his wallet and the time needed for the mission. Following Aehren's plan might be possible, but Jericho wasn't sure how likely it would be to advance through the city openly without further incident based on the temperament of the few soldiers they had already encountered.

“Dwarf, How can we be sure that these dwarves will trust us enough to know that we aren't trying to expose their well hidden secrets? Even if we are able to convince them of our honor,” questionable even in my eyes, “do we know if these these tunnels aren't compromised or in severe disrepair?” Moving undetected in hidden away tunnels was fine, but Jericho was used to the open air; he a deck – or at least the earth's – below his feet and nothing but the sky above his head. If they group was going to enclose themselves in any tight spaces, Jericho wanted to be sure that it was absolutely safe.

Gorun listened with interest to Aehren's suggestion. The young man was certainly very clever, and his solution was one that showed the clear confidence in his status as a high noble. The kid was smiling, and he would certainly turn into a master politician with some time. However, first the smirk needed to go away and then the arrogance.

Gorun's problem with the idea had more to do with Aehren's position in the empire than anything else. Otherwise it was a great plan. Gorun let Jericho finish asking his questions and after a few seconds thought up his reply to each of them. The dwarf tried to keep his tone respectful as he replied.

"While killing Eren would give us a bounty and perhaps a passage out of the city, it might cause some problems because of you and me as members of the upper half of the nobility.

Your actions reflect on your house. Are you sure no members of your house supported him? With the conflicts growing in the east, my understanding is that your house has been receiving less attention from the crown. Perhaps they wanted a more favorable king? Maybe they want internal fighting as a way to gain greater independence? Even if your house is completely loyal, some may view this as a form of trying to be the emperor's lapdog.

Somebody is going to be upset because of his death or otherwise there wouldn't be a bounty on him in the first place. Perhaps someone will simply try to take credit for Eren's death, which would have some legitimacy if it was the guy who stabbed him.

I don't know too much about the situation regarding Eren, and perhaps you already have considered these matters."

Gorun's tone dropped to something like depression. It was obvious a sad memory had come up in his mind when thinking of the next part of his reply.

Secondly, if you declare your rank someone is going to follow us, for some reason, including killing you. I'm not sure if I'm in the mood to fight off a gallant with a political objective.

I'm not nearly as high in the chain of nobility as you are, but I've had some problems like these in the past."

Suddenly his voice became cheerful as the memory faded from his focus.

"But honestly, that was a fantastic suggestion our ranks aside. Keep it up and I expect you to get us out of a sticky situation one day."

Gorun turned to Jericho, nodding at him. "It's sort of a well known secret in the dwarvern community, so I wouldn't really be asking for too much trust in the first place. Additionally it wouldn't be for free. I would be willing to give off a small enchantment to gain acess to a higher quality tunnel." The second part of the question made Gorun raise his eyebrow and a full smile cross his face. "The day a dwarvern tunnel fails unintentionally is the day I'll give out my higher level enchantments for free."

The dwarf took a swig of his ale, and pulled out one of the apple pies his wife baked lovingly from a small stack in the corner of the room. The pan had special runes on it to make it the ultimate storage device. Gorun pulled out a pair of gloves and Lustro. With a whisper, the dwarf activated the gold coin and it burst into flames. In a few minutes, the coin would be drained and the pie heated.

Erik listened idly to the conversations going on around him. He was taking off his sword belt and hung it off a bed post. He undid a strap that kept his chainmail and leather top off. He draped the armor over whichever bed he was going to end up sleeping at, and rubbed his shoulders. He was wearing a simple cotton shirt with a deep V down the middle, exposing several scars on his chest.

Erik picked the sword belt back up, and put it back on. He had learned that being armed was always better than being unarmed. "If you'll excuse me a moment." Erik said, turning and walking downstairs. He walked over the the bar, and took a bottle of wine, leaving several coins on the bar, now equipped with necessary equipment, Erik meandered over to Lazuli, taking small drinks from the bottle.

Erik, pulled a chair up to the Golem, who was sitting on the ground in the lobby. "How are you doing?" Erik asked patting the Golem's hand that could crush him. The small mountain was still, then shrugged. "You know I don't like to kill." he said quietly. Erik sighed, and shook his head before taking another drink. "Yeah, I'm sorry I asked that of you. I tried to prevent it, I did. They just weren't having any of it. But I'm afraid this road will have us seeing a lot more bloodshed."

Lazuli nodded once. "I know you did Erik. What are they talking about up there? Is the boy okay?" He asked, showing genuine concern. Erik smiled to him. "Don't worry, the pirate will live. He woke up before I came down. We have options to continue this quest. The Dwarf would have us take to some tunnels under the city that the dwarves use to get around. The young man with the white hair knew the man who died. He was a wanted contender to the throne. He proposes we collect the bounty if we must, and use his head as leverage to get out of the city. Which do you prefer?" Erik asked.

The Golem scratched his head, an entirely human learned motion for a being that didn't feel anything to scratch. "I think we should turn in the boy. The Dwarves might want to study me." Lazuli said, sounding like he was worried about what the latter could entail. "I agree." Erik said standing up.

Erik walked halfway up the stairs and stopped. "I'll pass your opinion along. I'll be down later to play a song. Help soothe your soul, friend." Erik said as he continued up, drinking bigger gulps from the wine.

When Erik made his way into the room, he would open a window small bit, and take out his pipe, packing it to smoke. He would light it, and walk across the room, acquiring the small lute he played. "Helps me think." He said, to no one in particular. He sat on the window sill, sending small wisps of smoke out into the night, as he strummed the instrument. He wasn't paying attention to what he did, but a quiet melody emerged.

"Lazuli and I are for collecting the bounty. It seems more open, less shadowy. Less dangerous. My friend is nervous of dealing with an entire dwarven congregation as well. He worries they may want to study him." Erik said. He'd stop strumming to remove the pipe from his mouth and drink the wine, before putting it back down and continuing with the quiet song and smoking.