The Age of Othuiryn

Chapter 1

The air was stagnant with putrid odors of piss and vomit, befitting of such a place as this, lanterns hung above the entrance to the alley casting an ominous glow. As a woman walked up the alleyway behind Taggards Tavern, her boots squelched in what she had hoped was only muck that had slid from the rooftops from previous rainfall.

nearing the side entrance to the tavern she stopped in front of the door, taking out her tools and setting to work with the lock, but not before a glance behind her to ensure there weren't any unwanted observers.

She pulled out a lock tension tool and her rake, seeing as it's the fastest way.

Inserting the tension tool, she pressed her finger lightly against it, and inserted the rake, Bouncing the pins inside until little by little the lock started to give. The lock popped and she stood up just in time to avoid being knocked on her arse by the now unlocked door as it abruptly swung in her direction. Letting out a curse she slid into the shadows, observed one man, rolling in the muck, crooning some shanty about the captain's daughter.

The other man struggled under the weight of his companion, as he tried to keep from getting smacked in the face with a stray flailing limb. He picked his companion up off the ground and walked, with the man's arm slung around his shoulder, further into the alley. She breathed a sigh of relief and crept into the open tavern.

Her informant wasn't hard to see, sitting in a corner with a dim lantern, a big man with a scraggly beard gave a nod towards the glow of lanterns clustered in a group of tables, opposite the stage. That corner of the tavern doubled as a small -albeit illegal- market, and a certain goblin merchant just so happened to be selling his wares. Head bent low the goblin whispered to his colleague, luckily, he didn't notice her less than graceful entrance.

She kept to the shadows, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Leaning against a wall here, and then sitting at empty tables there. Eyes fixed on the stage across from the merchant stalls, pretending to watch the show. She meandered her way over to his corner grabbing a mug of ale from the bar. And then she added a wobble to her step, hoping to appear as if she was a few too many pints drunk.

As she neared, snippets of conversation from the goblin merchant speaking adamantly with his comrade could be heard. "The baron tried to offer me fifty coppers for this ole' bottle" he gave the bottle a pointed look, his disgust at such a low price was clear.

His comrade chortles in response. " And what did you tell him, Zok?"

"Well my friend, I told 'em he could take his offer and shove it up his backside!" to which they both began wheezing and snorting with laughter. Zok and his companion were laughing hard enough that they never noticed the young woman creeping closer, until finally she gave one purposeful misstep, and sloshed her drink all over them.

Zok and his companions jumped up in surprise, Zok had started to shout in outrage " Oi! You'll be Paying for-" but the woman wasn't finished yet. She flopped herself against the table, upturning all its contents and herself onto the floor. The bottle of purple powder plopped into her lap just as the tablecloth covered her. She quickly scooped up the glowing bottle and placed it in her pouch.

The table cloth was ripped off her just as she finished, thinking quickly she Grabbed a mug off the floor and lobbed it at the closest person, who just so happened to be a mercenary sitting down for what one could only guess was a break from his current contract. He looked at the woman, who pointed towards a nearby flyer on the wall and then pointed towards Zok.

The man looked at the poster, looked at Zok, and then grinned, cracking his knuckles, he rushed the goblin punching him square in the face. Leaving the woman time to get up, dust off her pants, and then make her way to the side door leaving the sounds of the scuffle behind her. She discreetly dropped a few gold pieces on the informants table, gave him a nod and then slipped out the side door and into the night.