Sore Losers
The sore losers aren't willing to give up despite Grom doing his best to shake them. The dwarf takes every corner at a sprint making sure you're with him when he darts through open doorways or clambers through windows but eventually you find yourself at a dead end.
"The ticket does say that we take no liability for personal injury but I like you so I'll do my best," Grom says hefting his axe. He sees you getting ready to give the money back and shakes his head. "It's too late for that. You beat him and he can't have that. I should have warned you but I didn't think you'd go and win. They cheat so I'm not sure how you did."
You're about to question him further when a hatch high up in the ceiling opens and a ladder appears. It lowers slowly as Ratty and his gang get closer.
"Up here!" a woman with a warm and friendly face says shoving her head through the hatch. "Unless you'd rather get in a fight."
"You first," Grom says and you scamper up the ladder with the dwarf close behind.
You find yourself in a corridor lined with shelves of books, most are dusty but some look well-used. It's barely large enough for the three of you and it takes a bit of coordination to get the ladder up and the hatch closed but you manage it just as Ratty and his friends arrive. Your rescuer holds a finger to her lips and then crouches to peer through the gaps in the floorboards. Grom does the same and lets out a sigh of relief as the thugs move on.
"Thank Dromae for that," Grom says slipping the axe into his belt. "Losing one looks like an accident, more than one starts to look deliberate."
You're about to ask Grom what he means when the woman gets to her feet and brushes past. She stops at the door to the next room and gives you an eager look. "Do you want to see my telescope?"
"Thank you for your help but we're in the middle of a tour." Grom lifts the hatch and peers down. "If you want to reach the heart of the Slab we'd best be going."
Thank the woman for her help but leave with Grom.
Go and see the telescope.
You help grom with the ladder and wait while he goes down first, all the while the woman is giving you a sad look. You try and say something but Grom calls up to hurry and you go down. The ladder is pulled up quickly and the hatch slams shut.
The path turns soggy
The path turns soggy
"Really?" the woman says in surprise, when you nod she claps her hands and throws the door open. "This way. I'm Maggie and this is my home. Don't mind the mess. I'm sorting it out but you know how it is."
Maggie's home stretches over three windowless floors with a single ladder that stretched through gaps in the boards. She goes up first, pausing to make sure you're following her. Candles light the way and you can hear people talking on the other side of the thin walls. Through cracks you catch glimpses, a family sits quietly around a table in prayer, an elderly man darning a sock by flickering candlelight. At the top is a cramped room with a small bed but daylight streams through an open hatch that Maggie holds open for you.
Once you pop out you're hit by the frigid wind but its refreshing and you leave the oppressive air of the Slab behind. The top of the slab is a jumble of roofs overlapping and creating valleys and peaks that remind you of a mountain range but it is the view of the city that takes your breath away. From Maggie's rooftop you can see the castle in the distance along with the docks and the tall-masted ships.
"I like it up here," Maggie says as she takes a moment to close her eyes and let the wind wash over her face. "I stand here in the rain and at night I can see the stars. I have my father's telescope and I watch the ships in the harbour. I grew up on a boat. My father was a captain and I used to travel the seas with him but then he died and I was sent ashore."
Maggie crossed the roof to where a ship's telescope had been fixed to the roof. She removed the cap and swung it around training it on you before turning it on the ships. "Would you like a look?"
You take a turn at the eyepiece and Maggie helps you find the ships at the dock. Sailors scampered up rigging securing ropes while dockworkers unload their cargo.
"It's all I have left of him and the sea."
You take your eye from the telescope to find Maggie staring off to the east where black clouds loom over the dark waters. "If you keep going that way you'll soon reach the great falls. Sailors fear to go there lest they go over the edge and drop off the world but my father swore there was something else and not just the blackness. One day I'll get my own ship and sail east. You could join my crew, if you like?"
Time passes as you and Maggie talk about the sea and you could spend longer but Grom eventually appears at the hatch.
"If you still want to reach the heart we should get going." Grom yawns and scratches at his beard. "I've got places to be, beer to drink and sausages to eat."
"You're a pilgrim," Maggie says as if it all makes sense. "I should have known. You can reach the heart of the slab by going across the rooftops. It's safer than going back down and quicker."
"I'm game," Grom says with a shrug.
"Don't forget about me," Maggie says when you thank her for showing you the telescope. "Take this as a reminder."
Maggie slips a small wooden boat into your hands before returning to the telescope.
The boy with the boat
Parent Plot
Comments