No Entry The group, through sheer grit and determination, closed in toward Ashport. Behind them, the shadows stirred. But the light of city seemed to keep them at bay. The city, now only a few hundred meters away, was within touching distance. The moonlight illuminated several large, spiraling towers--which reached toward the heavens like stone built fingers. A large, stone wall enveloped Ashport's circumference, forming a defensive belt from which several archers watched the group. Daveth led the prisoners closer, and they soon arrived at the city gates. The gate guards viewed the ragtag group with skepticism, but allowed Daveth close enough to speak. ''My friends and I have escaped the grip of a slavemaster, and we would like to petition for entry to the city. We have women and young ones with us. These people need food, water and shelter. We have little, but we can work to earn our keep,'' he said. ''You have to pay to get in,'' the guard said, coldly ignoring the plea. ''We have no money.'' ''Then you ain't gettin' in.'' Daveth turned away from the gate, clearly dejected. If only he still had his possessions, maybe he could have... Well, it was too late now. ''Any ideas?'' he asked of the group.
Branner laid the girl gingerly on the ground, and left her care to one of the older women that made the journey alive. He approached Daveth as he asked for suggestion. "I'm really tired, but I think I can scale the walls to the other side. But the thing is," he looked down at the ground, embarrassed, "I ain't never killed no one before, just deers and rabbits and such. I don't even really know how to fight. So I can probably sneak around and get the gate open, but other than that I won't be much use else."
"Maybe we could trade Services for entry in?" A voice came from the back. Wolfker said he was tired from running he had fallen and thrown up and was almost abandoned but he kept up crawling he made it to there. "Sir is there anything other then money you will take to let us in services, or possibly Favors?" he asked from the back getting up and breathing fast.
Well, Jürg had reached the city, not as quickly as he had hoped since after a few stride his knees had damn near snapped. However he had managed keep up, to the rear of the procession that is, and help one of the children along. He wasn't heartless. The guards baring their entrance to warm beds, beer and food, as if they would get any of those even if they got inside with no money, brought forth multiple grusome yet imagined methods to deal with them. He thought about trying to persuade them to let him in based on his class, but that wouldn't work. Some emaciated sod with clothes that looked like they had went through a meat grinder talking about how he was a big man in the capital, which was blown all to hell anyway? Nah no-one would fall for that, not that they had much of a choice. It would give them time if nothing else. The former courtier approached the guards and began his speech: "Good evening sirs, as it may be for you. We have fled from the clutches of first our enslavers and then some brutal bandits who no doubt wished merely to take us as slaves for them selves. If you would do such poor souls even one favour, let them in to your city. If nothing else, send a message to one of the guilds that are in need of able hands, when they hear that a refugee from Altdorf, several orphans, widows and men all hungrily wait at the gates willing to indenture themselves for a period to pay off the debt, why such news would spur any burgher to do a good deed and pay their fee!." OOC: Quick! Do something smarter than this while their distracted!
@Vulpas @Loldoom ''Does this city look like a charity to youse lot?'' the guard said. ''Yea, and, like, how do we know you're not like...spies from some other city, or somethin'?'' another guard piped up, his voice barely broken through puberty. ''Exactly. Now sod off, 'fore we have to run you through.'' @WanderingJester ''Your skills could come in handy, but it ain't gonna be pretty,'' Daveth said to Branner. ''If you could fit through the sewer gate's bars, you could use the flood release lever from inside, and let us all in.''
OOC: again, going to take some creative freedom here, @Akragth check me and I edit. Branner nodded nervously. He didn't know what a "sewer" was, but it sounded like an unpleasant way to enter a city. He walked with another survivor, a city-dweller, who showed him where the sewer gate was. As he approached, the smell of excrements made Branner double over. The only comparison he could find to it was when he accidentally fell into the mud during one of the further hunting trips he had made when he was younger with Wes. Now he was glad that he didn't have anything to eat that day, if it didn't come back out when he was carrying the girl, it would have came back out now. He looked at the bars. The spaces in between were tight, but looked like they would allow him in. Branner gave the other guy a nod, and the city-dweller nodded back and hid himself near the gate, but away from view: the other guy would keep a lookout. Branner took a deep breath and began squeezing himself through. First his arm, then his shoulder, and as he popped his head through he looked down. Normally his mid section would not have been able to negotiate the tight space. However with the past week of barely having anything to eat and even not eating every now and then have cut down his weight even more. The young man slipped through and began crawling in muck, trying not to breath or think about what's around him.
@WanderingJester The sewers inside we dark, with only the reflection of moonlight from behind to guide Bran on his way. ''It won't be far in,'' Daveth said. ''It's a wooden lever, set in to one of the walls.''
Into the Undercity @WanderingJester: Staggering through the disgusting sludge, his every step marked with squealching sound, Branner arrived at what looked to be the lever. He reached out, and took a firm hold of the lever's handle. It creaked and moaned, but with a little muscle it soon gave way. The bars of the sewer gate dropped, and the way was clear for the group to enter. ''Good work, son,'' Daveth said. ''Everybody in. And mind where you're walking!''
Branner sighed, and went back outside of the city. There, he found the girl right where he had left her, with the woman trying to lift the girl towards the entryway without much success. He hurried over and sling one of the girl's arm around his shoulder, and began making their way towards the sewer gate. At the entrance of the disgusting place, Branner paused. He took a moment to rip a piece of cloth off of his shirt, and wrapped them around the girl's mouth and nose so she won't accidentally ingest any of the materials inside the waste tunnel. She was already weak, getting sick now would sound her death bell. Once he made sure the filter/blocker was secured on her face, the three people made their way into the sewer tunnel, and the city.
