62 Arriving at Caladan Proper

The party looked on at the massive stone walls surrounding the city, a large tower poking out, stretching far into the sky. A birds-eye view of the city would show a massive three-tiered city, walls separating each tier, shaped like a half-circle built along a tall cliff overlooking the sea, the 'castle' was a refitted ancient wizards tower that sat on its own island, connected to the main city by a bridge.

Caravans with the city's civilians could be seen marching out of the nearby gates. "Perhaps we would be better off entering from a less populated entrance. Follow me." Azura said as she walked towards a dirt path through some light foliage surrounding the walls of the city.

"Are we sneaking in, then?" Ioune asked as the party followed Azura. "In a manner of speaking, yes. I recognized one of the guards at the entrance as a member of the Undercity Thieves Guild." Ai grinned hearing about a thieves guild. She didn't know why, but she was fascinated with their way of living. Azura noticed, of course, but said nothing about that.

"The city is split into five tiers. Three of which are separated by walls above ground. The outer layer is where the majority of the population lives, it also houses most of the marketplaces. The second, middle layer houses the nobles and richer merchants. It's fairly large since most of the nobles representing the smaller towns and villages also live here. The last layer closest to the castle is the for the military and research teams. The harbor tier is built along the cliffside and connects directly to, and is technically a part of, the Undercity Slums." Azura explained as they traveled through the underbrush. The ground seemed to dip down a bit as they approached a small gate that seemed to be a lower entrance underground.

"And this is the entrance to the Undercity." She gestured as a couple of guards stood at attention, their armor obviously not properly fitted. Ai grinned as she observed the obvious fake guards with her amber eyes.

[Michael: Level 18 Rogue]

[Mitch: Level 19 Master Thief]

'Master Thief class, eh? I wonder what he is capable of.' Ai smirked as she summoned a magic circle over her palm as she hid her hand behind her back. Amari grabbed her shoulder and shook her head. Looking at her sister, she noticed that Freyr was missing. Nodding her head, she dismissed the circle.

"Greetin's and welcome ta Caladan, due to 'extrenuating circumstances', entry ta tha city will require a fee of five silvers per person." The bearded 'guard' said with a smug look as he appeared to be looking at his shield, a small piece of paper could just barely be seen poking around his shield.

Amari was the first to step up, Azura tried to stop her but Amari pushed her aside with her shoulder. "How about some steel instead, assholes?"

"Err. Look, lady, it's hectic around town, ya hafta pay the fine fer... erm... tha guild funds... yeah!"

"Oh yeah? Which guild?"

"The erm, fighters guild! Yeah!"

Amari smirked. "Right, you realize the fighter's guild was disbanded 10 years ago, right?"

"Tch." The thief clicked his tongue as they both took a combat stance.

'Big mistake.'

*BOOM*

Freyr came crashing down between the would-be thieves, sending them flying in different directions.

"Sh-shit! That sword! It's tha Barbarian Queen! Run!" One of them said as they scrambled to their feet and took off running back down the path.

"Aww, no fun." Amari pouted as she summoned Freyr to float behind her once more.

"So we are entering through the Undercity, then?" Ioune asked as he furrowed his brows.

Azura nodded. "Yes, 'Your Holiness', we are traveling through a den of evil. Like that thief said, things are hectic above ground. I happen to know a shortcut to the tower."

Ioune sighed and pulled his hood over his head. "Mn, very well."

"Now then, shall we proceed?" She asked with a smug look on her face as she glanced at Ioune.

Nodding, the party proceeded through the gates, into what looked like a large cave system that ran under the city. Various rooms seemed to be carved out of the walls as they walked through the winding tunnels.

Several make-shift shelters lined the walls of the larger sections as hundreds of vagrants could be seen sleeping, hiding, and watching as the party made their way.

Occasionally a few would try to sneak up on the group to pickpocket, but a quick glare from Amari caused them to back off.

After about an hour of Azura leading them through the maze of the Undercity, they finally emerged to sunlight as they walked out over wooden scaffolding that lines the cliffside.

"Should be right about here." Azura mumbled to herself as she traced her fingers along the cliff wall as if searching for something.

Ai narrowed her eyes as she sensed something, not danger, but some form of ill intent. However, it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Feeling like something had changed, she checked her cloak and immediately realized the small coin pouch she kept a few spare coins outside of her inventory was missing.

Shooting out her senses as her eyes turned amber, she sensed a presence above them. Looking up, she scanned the cloaked figure.

[Elizabeth: Level 22 Master Rogue]

Ai raised an eyebrow as she saw her level. 'Another Upper, huh? And a Master Rogue at that. Let's see, if I suppress my intent...' She summoned Agony in Blade-Whip mode, and, focusing her thoughts elsewhere, she shot it out to wrap around the girl's ankle.

"The hell!? How?" She yelled out as Ai pulled the girl down from the rafters as she landed on her ass.

Summoning Revolution, Ai pulled the trigger and slammed the blade down, encasing the girls legs in ice. The party looked at the girl in shock as Ai held out her hand.

The girl tossed the coin pouch back to Ai, who cleared her throat, gesturing with the other hand. "Tch." The girl clicked her tongue as she tossed Ioune's holy symbol as well.

Ai tossed the holy symbol to Ioune, who immediately hid it in his robes.

"Now then, Elizabeth, why don't you tell me why a child like yourself is an Upper?"

"Don't call me that name! My name is Liza!" The little girl pouted. She certainly looked like a child, she was shorter than even Ai and Amari, at somewhere around 4'8", her white hair was caked in dirt and her eyes were yellow with hints of gold. Her outfit was a cheap torn up shirt and shorts that were barely held together with a few leather belts. The most expensive-looking article on her was the black cloak and hood, the material looked expensive, but like the rest of her outfit, was caked in dirt.

Besides looking dirt poor, the one thing that made her stand out was her ears. On closer inspection, Ai noticed that her ears were apparently cut down, and they were shaped as such that they were originally elongated. So she was an... elf? A dark elf possibly, given her almond-colored skin. But the one thing that pissed Ai off more than being stolen from, or catching attitude from this girl was...

'This bitch has speed bumps!' Ai's eye twitched as she stared at Liza's chest.

"O-oi, the hell! Sorry, miss, but you're too young and flat for me." Liza said, covering her chest.

*PUSHI*

"You wanna fight, bitch!?" Ai glared daggers at the girl, dismissing and resummoning Agony to free it from the ice. Amari let out a muffled chuckle as Ai glared at her as well. "You shut up, boob-barian!"

"Pffft hahahaha!" Amari burst out laughing, blurring a few feet away as Ai swung Agony at her sister.

Azura snapped her fingers, sending out a wave of cold, freezing Ai and Amari in place. "Ara, well we have an interesting situation on our hands, don't we? Why don't we go somewhere a little less exposed."

Azura tapped her staff to the ground as a large magic circle enveloped everyone. She touched a few places on the wall as glyphs appeared and started to glow. "Felitas requis." Azura chanted as a bright light engulfed the party.