Mage Mangler -(Crucible of Ascension)

The Pilgrim was smoke filled and full of shouting. It was the third day of our getting to know you, team building and despite the high levels of aggression, we'd had no deaths or serious incidents. A minor skirmish between Dalgom and Quel Raxor's right-hand man was the most entertaining, but it was settled by Quel before I could get involved.

In fact most of the good behavior was enforced by Hendel Poe and not on account of his violent and unpredictable behavior. It turned out that he had an amazing mind for business and from what I was hearing, everyone really would benefit from the unification of the territories. Specifically if we managed to do one thing. He was looking at me impatiently again. "We need that river to make most of this work, Joren. How much longer?" He rocked back on the chair, eyeing me like a fucking fox eyes a rabbit.

One kick and that chair would topple. One kick and it'd be a fight to the death. It took what little willpower I had not to do it. Could I take him alone? I told myself I could. No matter the cost. Yet in a small dark corner of my mind a mocking hiss whispered, 'Not yet, Earl. Not yet.'

Lucky for me that I liked the lunatic. It was almost like looking in a mirror, if I'd lived a very different life.

"I already told you. She'll be back soon. Unless you want to go without her? I'm sick enough of you bleating on about it, that I'm happy just to go."

He shook his head. "Nah. This'll be a shitshow even if it goes well. Ratty little bastards are fast and good at hiding. She's gonna be our strongest weapon against them."

I nodded. Then get another drink and lets enjoy the afternoon until she's back.

Loosh had been called back to Waldren Perch. Apparently something important to our Peralt mission had come up. She came blustering into the Pilgrim earlier than I'd expected, but full of energy. "We should get this done, Joren. We've got a job come up for tomorrow, and it needs to be tomorrow, so if we can get the Rats under our thumb today, it'll be for the good."

I raised an eyebrow. It was rare she was ever this animated in public. "Sounds interesting."

"Off anywhere nice?" Hendel asked, nursing his beer on his bare chest.

"We have a magical artifact to purchase for an interested third party but it's time sensitive."

"Sounds fun," he said, eyes narrowing. "I like buying and selling. You could say it's kind of my thing. Can I come along?"

"Not this time," Loosh said. "But, soon. There's always other groups trying to buy the same items and sometimes we run into trouble. We recently attracted an actively antagonistic group that we need to deal with."

"Ooh, yeah. That sounds like something else I could get my teeth into. You just let me know when there's a space to buy some nice shit and kill some assholes then, yeah?"

"Oh we will," I said. "For now, let's get moving."

We headed into the riverside area with twenty of the strongest we had. The rest of the Hammers were on standby if we needed them, but I really didn't want to end up in the middle of guerilla fucking warfare in unfamiliar sewers. It sounded like a recipe for disaster.

The riverside turned out to be a stinking shit tip, little better than a sewer. The streets were dark and narrow and had a shanty town vibe to them. The smell of rotten fish filled the nostrils.

Ree had told me they'd settled down over the last two days but I didn't get that impression. Within a minute of entering the slums the rooftops filled with bent backed figures, covered in dark fur. This was my first time seeing the creatures known as Nerik, but they looked for all the world like humanoid rats to me.

"You got a leader here?" I shouted up.

A scratchy voice that hurt the ears came back. "What for?"

"We need to talk about some business deals."

"No deals to be done. Best go back."

"Until I've spoken to your leader I'm not going anywhere." I still couldn't make out which one of them was speaking, but I supposed it didn't matter.

"I'm leader today. You tell me deals. I tell you no. Then you go."

"Fair enough. We need full access to the river and we can't risk having an enemy at our backs while we try to do business. Right now you're a rival gang. An enemy. So it's simple, join us and you can continue with all your usual business, but with even more opportunities to make money. Or we'll have to crush you."

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"Try it," the scratchy voice replied.

"Are you sure? Seems an awful waste of life." Ot that I cared. I just didn't want to end up fighting in sewers against fucking super rats.

"No deal."

"Nothing needs to change for you. No fighting, no death, no trouble. Nothing changes except you're under our protection, as part of the Hammers. We might need help on a few issues with manpower, but you'll be rewarded well if you help."

"No deal."

"Why?" Loosh asked, her voice almost pleading.

"Riverside is riverside. No big noses wanted in Rats business."

"So you'd rather we just take the area and the business off you?"

As she spoke, I finally made out which of them was speaking as his body shook from laughter. "No riversider work with you, bare skin fools. We all die before we surrender home."

Seemed pretty clear cut to me, so I hurled one of my knives at him as he finished his sentence. It struck the furry little fucker in the shoulder, not a killing shot, but it was alright, as Adar, the Velorian mage we'd rescued, followed up my attack with one of his own. A green ball that looked more like a gob of slime than a magical attack, but when it hit today's leaders chest it splashed all over him. The screams were traumatizing as the green ooze ate away at his flesh like acid. He fell from the rooftop in a writhing mass.

The response of the other rats was immediate. Piercing screeches filled the air, bricks, and knives came flew down at us and we had to back off. The little bastards followed us, sticking to the rooftops they traversed them with the skill and agility only someone who was rat like could manage.

Loosh covered us all in a defensive barrier as we made our escape. AS we ran, Ree appeared alongside me, shoving an enchanted message rod into his coat. "I've warned Mosda we're on our way and for them to get on the roofs if they can.

"Good. We'll kill the lot of the little bastards and then you can explain to me how there's only thirty fighters in the gang? Because there's a hell of a lot more than thirty up there."

"They have big families. There's women and children up there throwing things down. I did mention it in my reports."

He did, but that didn't help us now.

As we made it back to our streets, we were greeted by the vast majority of our fighters. Eighty including ourselves, and more than a match for our pursuers. I sprinted through Loosh's shield as soon as the onslaught from the rats eased, and headed into the nearest building, a grocers. I charged past a selection of tired looking vegetables and onto the stairs at the back, legs pounding, determined to get up and get killing.

I burst out of the roof door and ran amongst the fighters already up there. It was a depressing sight.

"Where the fuck are they?" I demanded. There was not a single Nerik in sight.

"They ran as soon as they realized how many of us they were," a gaunt looking grunir with barely any teeth and a yellow stained beard offered. Unascended and with a glazed look in his eyes that suggested he'd sampled too many drugs, I normally wouldn't have taken what he said very seriously, but there was literally no sign at all of our enemy.

I looked over the rooftop to see Loosh talking to Mosda so I shouted down. "I missed them running. Why are we not after them?"

"Too fast," Loosh said. They just fled and disappeared within seconds. Like turning a light on in an infested room.

"Coward bastards," Hendel spat from the rooftop across from me looking equally dejected. I nodded agreement then headed back down to the street where everyone was no gathering.

"What do we do?" Dalgom asked as I approached.

I looked back into the slum of the riverside and grimaced. It was starting to get dark now, navigating the place would be a nightmare. The Rats would probably go back to the sewer. I shook my head. "As much as I want to chase, I don't want to be led around like a dickhead, getting all our men picked off. I say we pull all the maps of the sewers together tonight, and make a plan. Then tomorrow, we go in mob handed and just burn the fuckers out. Every last one of them."

"Brutal," Ree said. "Big families. Innocent deaths will be high."

I shrugged. "We'll lose more if we fuck around fighting their way."

"What if they move up and hide on the street?" Loosh asked, evidently sharing Ree's concerns at the wholesale murder of innocents.

Hendel clapped her on the back, leaving his arm across her shoulders for an uncomfortably long moment while he offered his solution. "Then we burn the streets as well. You've seen how much of a stinkin hole it is. It's due a good fire."

"Absolutely not," she snapped, removing his arm. "We're running a business here that requires the occasional death. We're not murdering a whole community."

Hendel raised an eyebrow at her and I thought he was going to attack. I was ready to jump in.

"I think you're forgetting one thing," Mosda said. "We aren't here tomorrow. Perhaps the acquisition of the Riverside would be better off waiting until we get back?"

"Exactly!", Loosh said, and looked to me for me for confirmation.

I reluctantly nodded. "It could go south quick and we'll probably needed whatever we do, I looked to Hendel. "Can you wait a day or two?"

He frowned, looked like he was going to kill me, then nodded. Fair enough. What if they attack while you're gone? They might be pissed."

I chuckled. "In that case, do whatever you need to do to make them pay."

Loosh and Mosda, were clearly relieved at the agreement to wait, but as we walked back to the Pilgrim, I felt the tension on Hendel who'd dropped back. I wasn't big on empathy but I could easily put myself in his place. Today stung, and leaving it would fester the wound quickly. He would do something whether we wanted him to do it or not. I knew that without a doubt, because I would.

I slowed to walk with him before he peeled off towards his territory. "We need those docks if we're going to make all our plans work, Joren."

"I know," I said, not really caring about the docks. "I'm looking forward to owning them by the time I get back."

His eyes met mine and he grinned. "You sure?"

"Better if you don't burn the full riverside down, and even better if you can make it look like retaliation so I can have an easy life, but yeah. I havent got time to do everything myself so if you can take them, take them. I'll make sure the others no to listen to you when the time comes."

He clapped me on the back. "You're a ruthless bastard, Joren. I hope we never come to blows, but by fuck it'll be fun when we do."

I chuckled at the open threat. "It really will."