The Pig: Part 1
The group just stayed in the abandoned house, bonding, and telling stories about their past and eating the scraps of food they could find. They couldn’t use any fire or any light at all if they wanted people to keep thinking nobody was there. But after 4 days there was no more food and they were tired of hiding, so they decided to adventure outside, with the favor of the night, and try to find a way outside Baldur’s Gate. They had very little money so buying stuff was out of the question. They were still in the Lower City and their best bet to get to the Outer City was to get past the main gate, somehow. Still without a definite plan, they started walking in the streets. Some guards got suspicious - they were still on the lookout for the halfling - but Serafina stayed hidden so after a few suspicious looks at the weird dragonborn they let them pass without incidents.
Note: The Flaming Fist is a mercenary company based in the city of Baldur’s Gate. The Flaming Fist functions as the city’s de facto police force and army. They draw their members from all walks of life. The Fist polices the Lower City and Wyrm’s Rock and its soldiers are everywhere on the Lower City’s eastern and western walls and they also patrol the Outer City. They have military ranks ranging from ranger scouts and simple warriors to sergeants and majors
Not many minutes had passed when a mouse started walking on Sora’s feet. He was just going in circles around her feet. Everybody looked puzzled. Without any time to think about it, more mice kept coming and doing the same pattern. It was clear at that point that they were not normal mice. In an attempt to be funny, Rowan started talking to her per mouse: -«Hey, ask them what they want». The mouse pointed her little nose out of the pocket she was in and just sniffed the air, thinking there was food. Disappointed, she went back in.
Morgan was about to start kicking the filthy rats when they stopped walking and formed a circle all around the group. One of the mice suddenly transformed into a human kid; -«Oh, hey!»
-«Who are you? Or what are you?» said Morgan. He did not answer, but he kept talking: -«There is someone that wants to talk to you. He knows what you have done and he has a proposition for you.» Nobody in the group knows what to say now, they just look at each other. «Let’s just say that it is not wise to not respond to Keene», said the kid, smiling grimly «So, what should I tell him?»
Sora looked at her friends and grabbed the closest standing companions like to avoid any action on their part and with an alarmed look she said «Yes, it is not wise not to respond to Keene, we’ll go, please tell us where to go exactly and we’ll head there»
«Keene will wait for you at the Hissing Stones» «Thank you little Mouse» «My name is The Mouse. And we’ll watch you from the roofs, don’t try anything stupid» and with that he transformed back into a mouse and he and all the mice started going up the walls and the roofs of the nearby houses.
At that point Sora explains: -«Keene Nine-Fingers is a high rank criminal that does business with the Guild. He is a leader assassin and when The Guild has to get rid of somebody, that is the person they call to do the job. Keene is too powerful and too important to ignore him and he will have no problem killing us if he feels so. The fact he wants to talk means that if we want to stay alive we have to go and talk to him. We would already be dead if that was the goal».
The Hissing Stones bathhouse, located not far in the Lower City was famous as the city's safest and most confidential meeting area among the various Baldurian power groups. It didn’t take long to reach the entrance, where a couple of very big and menacing guys stood guard. One of them says: -«Keene is waiting for you. Please leave all your weapons here before going in»
After a little fuss, everybody placed their weapons in a chest near the entrance and they went in.
The place looked very nice and relaxed, a lot of people in there, no way to tell if they were rich or poor. The group went into a side room, very well furnished, very fancy and expensive furniture, red cushions for comfort and sitting on one of them there is a guy in a silk black robe. He was clearly the boss because he was the only one sitting, and next to him, on the sides, there were two guys standing, seemingly very innocuous but Serafina and Morgan recognized them as very high level assassins. They gave everybody else a look that said, nce again: -«Do not do anything stupid».
Keene (it had to be him) said: -«Welcome. I am glad you accepted my invitation. I heard what you guys did. What happened? You didn’t know your target?». Morgan replied: -«Well, the truth is that we met only before the job and were recruited by someone else and we trusted this person». «Ah, beginners. Well, everybody has to start somewhere. So here is why I asked for you. I have a thorn in my side. I want to get rid of this thorn but this job cannot be done by my guys. It would be too visible and could be traced back to me by the Fist. I do not want that. You seem the perfect fit. Let’s just say that if this problem I have was removed, I could help you solve your problem with The Guild. I have acquaintances that owe me a favor.»
Morgan tried to use some of her charms to ask for a monetary reward but Nine Fingers seemed immune to the charms and refused to give any reward. He told her that they could keep anything they would find in this man’s possession and being a known person he would be rich and that in addition he, Keene, would ease the situation with the Guild and that should be reward enough for a group of misfits.
The target, the thorn in the side, was a certain individual called The Pig, a famous butcher living in the Outer City. Nine Fingers explained: -«He is not just a simple butcher. He has this bad habit of finding women and doing whatever he wants with them. We don’t really care about that but he started doing that to our women too. Not once, but a number of times now. And that is not OK. He has agreements with everybody outside of the city so nobody touches him. I do not care how, but make him disappear. I have eyes everywhere and I will know what you do. If you do not accept you are free to go but I will not help you with the Guild. If you accept and then betray me, I will make sure nobody ever finds your bodies.»
Iwia made an agreement with Nine Fingers to at least grant them safe passage through the Gate toward the Outer City, or they would risk to be seen and captured even before reaching the target He told them he would help get them through the main gate: -«Early tomorrow morning go to the fishery. There is gonna be a cart of fish with 3 big guys and 2 kids. The cart has a secret compartment that can hide you and the cart is going to the Outer City market. The cart will leave you in the same neighborhood as the butchery». Then he dismissed the group.