Ember Wind: Corrupted

Into the Sewers

Tangurple awoke the next morning to the alarm clock going off in his ears. He acknowledged it in the hud and swiped the notification away. It was still dark outside and in the room as well. Tangurple sat up and peered over the bed; Yagash was still sleeping.

He pushed himself to his feet and grabbed Yagash's bag. "So glad NPCs don't have inventories," he mumbled to himself. Tangurple opened the back and activated the menu which displayed the contents of the bag. Inside it was mostly just junk, various trinkets and a few weapons she had on her. Nothing he could find to be useful in it.

Tangurple quietly placed the bag on the floor and closed it. He crept out the door and down the stairs trying to make as little noise as possible. Once he got outside, he began wandering the city streets in search of both the palace or keep and the library.

The Jarl's keep was the easiest to find; the largest wooden structure in the back of the city that was perched on a semi-stone platform. Tangurple walked up to the Keep's gates and attempted to open them. Unfortunately, the doors were barred shut from the inside. He stared at them for a brief moment, shrugged and looked around for some sort of sewer entrance.

In the early morning, very few people walked the street but those who did were the heavily armed city guards and much like other MMOs, they were bound to be either invulnerable or extremely overpowered, or both. Tangurple peered around the corner of a wooden home and glanced down the street. Down the broken cobblestone road was a pair of guards with lanterns on patrol and quietly chatting away. Tangurple activated his sneak mode which made a detection ring appear around them. His steps were much quieter than normal but still made noise; he lacked a high enough stealth skill to make sneaking in heavy armor nearly silent.

The guards themselves were about twenty yards away from him and near them was a circular grate-like thing protruding from the ground. Tangurple smiled at the idea of a sewer system. He crept across the road and hugged the wall of nearby buildings to get closer. He eventually came within earshot of them and hid behind a clump of barrels. The guards glanced over their shoulders and shrugged off the slight noise Tangurple made.

One guard, dressed in chainmail armor with a black bear pelt as a hood turned to the guard beside him. "So, what do you think? She a beautiful dame or what?"

The other guard seemed to be bored and almost flustered by his comrade. The second guard was a Tasaki, the fox people. Tasaki are mostly foxes in appearance; furry bodies with tail and ears but stand upright and act human in nature. "I can't believe I got stuck with you of all the useless stains in the watch."

"Hey! Don't pretend you don't enjoy my company. You and your higher intellect would be bored without someone to babble with."

"I suppose that's the only thing you're good for. Of all times for those damn walls to appear, this century had to be it." The Tasaki grumbled.

"Don't blame me for this post. I like the cold and I never intended to drag you out here with me."

"You and your Khunait origins. Don't get me started on that. I really don't need biologic status from a Khunait. I studied in the Emporian Scholar's guild for this... I should've stayed in Miji."

The apparent Khunait chuckled. "You're being too hard on yourself. You know you enjoy the Nordic lands, even if the guys here are brutes. None of us saw the walls coming." The guard five-starred the Tasaki's back. "Come Sasho, we have one last area to check before the night is up."

"Ethro, how in Boudal's name did you end up being my partner?" Sasho rhetorically asked.

"You'll have to ask Magarath about that one, I'm sure he's entertained by this."