Library of Rain

Casing the Joint

Rain walked down the Mid Ring street, clumps of people passing her by, their heads down and feet moving swiftly. The atmosphere in the city had always been grim, but now it was worse than ever, and Rain was ashamed to admit that it was partly her fault.

Rumors were going around of people morphing into monsters and attacking each other. After Isster had morphed into what Rain had heard described as ‘a swollen mess with gems for eyes’ and tried to kill several people right outside the Crown Ring guard house, the incident with Lon suddenly found light in the higher rings. 

People were starting to speculate that the city was under a subtle attack by a black classer, which, in a way, it was. 

Rain regretted adding more worry to these people's already grim lives, but how would she ever be able to improve their lives if she never did anything for fear of it backfiring somehow? 

Rain wished she knew the answer.

To make things worse, she was already planning her next attack. 

When Rain had first seen the paper from Isster, she had been overwhelmed by its sheer size. Almost every building in the Crown Ring and many of those in the Mid Ring had a berit beneath it, not to mention the larger ones beneath factories and workshops. The number of people quietly suffering out of sight where the delicate sensibilities of the rich and powerful couldn’t see them was staggering. The worst part was that Rain knew there was nothing she could do to save all of them until she owned the entire island. And that was years away at the most optimistic. Many of these people would be dead by then. 

All Rain could do was focus on what she could do right now. She could help one, maybe two of these places, so she picked two of the largest and focused on them. 

Her choice has been easy: The Star Metal Mines, with an estimated slave population of around ninety, and the Theluse Brothel, with an estimated slave population in the seventies. Both were awful places to live and be forced to work. 

Rain already had a plan for how she could get into the Star Metal Mine. It would require a bit of help, but Rain thought it would be surprisingly easy. Its isolated position underground actually helped it since it forced all the slaves to stay close together and gave the guards the impression that they only had to watch one exit.

The problem would actually be the brothel; since it was so open, it would be harder to gather the slaves without the owners noticing. That was why Rain was currently walking around it. She had her cloak formed into a forgettable brown outfit, fur peeking out of the edges to ward off the cold of the first snowflakes of winter as they drifted down to mingle with the ash of Tineak. 

The brothel was more like a complex with three buildings, making a triangle, a common courtyard in the center where the things that were shared between buildings tended to be kept, and laundry was hung to be dried. 

Rain couldn’t see a way to make them gather all the slaves into one place where Rain could spirit them away. 

She sat against a wall and pulled a handful of cold grilled mushrooms from her coat so she could have something to chew on while she thought. 

It was a shame she hadn’t found a way to keep a proper dessert in her pockets. She had tried when taking Lucus on that adventure, but by the time they got home, the food had been all smushed. Maybe if she… Rain shook her head. This wasn’t the problem she should be thinking about.

The brothel. Right. Doing something like starting a fire would cause a panic, but it wouldn’t get people where she needed them. 

Could she make a contract with someone in the brothel? It couldn’t be someone with any kind of power, or she might as well just buy all the slaves. Would a simple clerk be able to do anything? 

If she could convince the person in charge, then she might be able to have them order everyone where she wanted them. But then again, that would be just convincing the man to sell what was his. Rain couldn’t afford to do that with everyone. 

Unless he didn’t know that's what he was doing. 

Rain grinned evilly as she had an idea. She just needed to sell him something that didn’t exist. Now, what would he be interested in?

Rain had managed to identify the man in charge, but she couldn’t enter the brothel to get closer to him. That meant the only thing she could do was wait for him to go home so she could see where he lived.

She guessed it was time for more waiting. But she didn’t mind, she had thought this might happen and brought a book. Rain pulled out ‘Rise of the Fallen Lady’ and continued from where she had left off.

***

Rain watched the man leaving his home. She had followed him here last night before returning to her own home to sleep. 

Unfortunately, she didn’t get a chance to see Lucus. He’d been too caught up in his studies since their adventure for Rain to see how he was doing. She was starting to feel like he was avoiding her.

She hoped not.

The man turned the corner and was out of sight. Rain immediately walked up to his rather large Mid Ring home and casually slid a coin under his door. Once she was out of sight from everyone, she warped into the locked house.

The interior was pretty, but it had nothing on the manors of the Crown Ring. Rain also suspected that anything of value was hidden so thieves like her couldn’t get to it. It was a good thing she wasn’t here to steal. 

The house had a clean smell, and the furniture was simple but sturdy. It was nice, but with what Rain guessed the man was making, it wasn’t nearly enough. Did he just hide his excess money? Rain hoped he had a secret safe somewhere full of gold, like in the stories.

Stepping into the kitchen, Rain found it in the same style as the rest of the house, cooking equipment hanging on its black stone walls. There was a set of dishes drying next to a basin of water. The place was almost too clean. 

Searching around and making sure to leave everything in the exact same place as she found them, Rain located his food. There was already a slab of fine meat set aside, along with seasonings. If Rain had to guess, this was going to be his dinner. He seemed the type to plan and prep everything before he needed it. 

Rain did the natural thing and spat all over the meat. No reason to waste blood after all. If everything went well, she would be in his dreams by the end of the night. 

The rest of the house was just as clean, orderly, and lacking in clues, just like the kitchen. This guy’s boringness was starting to grate on Rain. What was wrong with him? Did he have no personality? Were work and sitting in this too-clean house the only things he did?

Rain stepped into the study, her last hope for finding anything this man needed. In character with the rest of the house, everything was neat and ordered, with some books and papers in precise stacks on the desk. 

Rain took a peek at the books. Religion every last one of them. The papers were next. She found some notes on the slaves at the brothel. Nothing too useful, just which slaves were acting up and suggested punishments. The name Flower came up a lot.

Looking through the drawers, Rain found a letter to Lord Sonom about having found another girl he might be interested in and inquiring when he would like to take her.

Rain’s eyes returned to the books on religion. There might be something there. Unlike most of the things in this house, those books looked worn and used. If this man - or Mr. Ner as the letter identified him - was a strong believer, then this might be her best bet.

Opening a book titled ‘The Mercy and Miracles of Agro’ Rain looked at the marked and worn text. This might work. But she needed to do some research first. 

Rain warped away, leaving almost no evidence that she had been there. She would make a quick stop by the Mid Ring library before heading home. Maybe Ms. Hope could teach her something about the teachings of Agro.