From: johnf@apollo.hp.com (John Francis)
Subject: [D&F] head off towards dinner
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 23:37:44 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Chelmsford, MA

> Felix grinned.  "Well, now that that's over, I insist you let me
>treat you to dinner.  I know this great place, it serves the best
>Etarus'ian food you'll find on the continent."
> Delena smiled, and gave in, locking the door to her nascent business
>as they wandered off to Felix's favorite Etarus'ian restaurant.

"One moment . ." Felix says.  He pauses on the street outside Delena's
new premises, and surveys the area carefully.  Then he quickly presses the
back of his hand against the door frame, once on each side of the door.
Delena peers inquisitively at the door frame, where she can just see a
(quickly fading) faintly glowing mark shaped just like a cat's paw.
Now her attention is drawn to it she sees that Felix is wearing a signet
ring with a cat's-paw emblem.  "What's all that about?" she asks.

"Man's got to have his secrets.  Let's go get some food." replies Felix,
with a laugh.  Then he explains. "The restaurant I have in mind is not
in the best part of town, and I have found it is as well to have some
ready means of escape.  For the next day I will be able to find my way
directly back to this doorway, should it become necessary."

Felix and Delena stroll back along Dragon's Lane to the Plaza, and turn
south onto the Arcade of Unforgotten Heroes.  Fairly shortly Felix takes
a side turning, and then another.  Soon they are walking along a street
which seems to mark a boundary between two distinct regions of the city.
On the right side of the street are large, walled estates, with houses
hidden from view.  There are several guards to be seen in the area; men
in city livery patrolling on the street, and private men-at-arms behind
the large gates of many of the houses.  Judging by the strange noises
(and even stranger smells) coming from behind some of the walls, there
are other kinds of guards besides those which can be seen.
On the other side of the street the buildings are much smaller, and are
huddled closely together.  There are numerous smells coming from this
side of the street also, but the reason for these is far more obvious -
the gutter also serves the purpose of communal sewer. Felix and Delena
try walking down the cleaner side of the street to avoid the worst of
the smell, but some patrolling guards intimate this is not a good idea.

Suddenly Felix spins around and grabs a small child who had just walked
past them.  "I'll have that back, if you don't mind .." he said, pulling
a small leather pouch from the child's hand.  "Now, what have we here?"
The child turned out to be a young girl, maybe twelve years old - it was
rather hard to see through the dirt covering her face. If her command of
invective was anything to judge by, however, most of those years had been
spent in diligent study of every single insult in all the local languages,
and several terms which Felix had never heard before. "Quiet!  you'll have
the watch over here if you keep that up!" he says.  The girl quietens down
and wriggles a bit in Felix's grip.  Finding that she can't escape, and
that clawing mail is a waste of time and fingernails, she contents herself
with glowering at Felix and Delena.  "Delena - if you would just open the
pouch the young lady took?"  Delena takes the pouch from Felix and opens it,
and Felix reaches inside it and takes out a handful of coins.  He puts all
except a couple of silvers back into the pouch, and proffers the coins to
his captive.  "You deserve some reward for your effort. It was a vary well-
executed manouevre - I almost didn't notice it.  If you are as good with
lockpicks as you are with a razor, come and see me tomorrow evening at the
Dragon's Inn".  With that he lowers the girl back to the street and releases
her, whereupon she runs off, pausing only to snatch the coins from his hand.

"What was all that about?" asked Delena.  "She reminds me of someone I once
knew" Felix replied. "Anyway, you mentioned something about an item you had
to recover - she may turn out to be a very useful contact.  If not, then I
am out two pieces of silver.  Time will tell."

By now the houses have taken on a different character.  The gateways on the
right of the street have become very ornate, with multi-tiered tiled roofs,
delicately carved fretwork, and large stone pillars.  On the other side the
houses still look much as they did before, but different smells are mixed
in with the ever-present odour of sewage.  Paper lanterns release delicate
floral scents, while heavier, headier aromas drift out from the doorways.

Felix and Delena walk a little further down the street.  By now they are
getting fairly close to the docks, and many street corners boast a tavern
of some kind.  Delena feels somewhat reassured by the presence of the guard
patrols, but rather more by the swords that both she and Felix are wearing.

Felix is, by now, looking down each turning that they pass. "Here we are!"
he says, pointing down a side street towards a building fifty feet away.
The building doesn't seem to be particularly spectacular, but Delena's
eye is caught by the two large figures in black laquer armour standing
one on each side of the door.  The guards watch impassively as Felix and
Delena approach.  As they near the doors they open, just as Delena was
trying to figure out if the painting on the door was simply decoration,
or words in some elaborate pictographic script.

                       [to be continued]


-- 
John Francis                                johnf@apollo.hp.com
The world can be divided into two classes :-
 those who divide people into two classes, and those who don't.
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn