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Message: <blockquote data-quote="haiiro" data-source="post: 1705959" data-attributes="member: 1891">In a gravelly, accented voice, the elf said, "You look like a man who's good with his fists." Vicktor grunted in assent. "How'd you like to come fight for me?" Vicktor made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. The elf continued, "Name's Orkrur," and stuck out his hand. Noticing that his knuckles were scarred and bruised, Vicktor shook Orkrur's hand and told him his name.Cracking a joke about how hard it was to obtain a license to fight within the city, Orkrur went on to explain that he ran a fighting ship, the Bloody Barge, and that he'd like Vicktor come do some boxing for him. He told Vicktor that the Barge moored just South of the city most of the time, but would be tied up at the largest pier in the bay for Rook's Night. He intimated that Vicktor would have a chance to make several hundred gold pieces, which caught Vicktor's interest.Still deadpan, Vicktor agreed to come fight for Orkrur, at which the elf handed him a wooden ring. As Vicktor looked it over -- its dark surface stained with blood and sweat -- the elf explained that this token would get him onto the Barge. With a wink, he bade Vicktor farewell and faded back into the moving crowd.The rest of their walk to the docks passed without incident, and the Follies (or at least, most of the Follies) at last arrived at the Arkhen. Between them and the river were the tidiest -- and by far the largest -- docks any of them had ever laid eyes on.From end to end, the whole dockside area must have been at least a mile long, and the shoreline swarmed with people. The broad river was no less busy, jammed with every imaginable type of boat along its entire length. Looking out towards the bay, the party saw only a thicket -- or more aptly, several forests -- of masts, bobbing and weaving every which way as galleys, sloops, traders and ships of the line headed up and down the Arkhen.Across the river, high white marble walls ran the entire length of the shoreline: the Follies had caught their first glimpse of the High City. A few towers could be seen protruding above the vast walls, and one tower in particular caught their collective eye. This edifice jutted at least a hundred feet higher than the wall, and from its apex they saw massive cables stretching down and across the river -- into the Low City -- in three different directions.Once their attention returned to the stretch of impossibly busy docks ahead of them, the Follies continued making for the Copper Cup. As they avoided bales, beams, lines and clutches of dockworkers, they noticed that there didn't seem to be very many guards on the docks -- and those that they did see were mainly orcs and half-orcs. This went for most of the dockworkers as well. Continuing down the docks, the Follies were once again struck by how clean and orderly the area appeared to be.As they approached from the North, Cupric had already gone into the Cup and begun making inquiries about Martooth Battlebrow. At the same time as Cupric was finding out that no one at the Cup had heard of Martooth, Jaehn was one street away to the South, walking down a narrow road that ran parallel to the Cup.At this point, everyone in the party -- and on the docks around the Copper Cup -- heard the same thing: an inhuman roar loud enough to wake the dead.</blockquote>

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