Alright. The Girl in Blue had a few contracts and contacts ready, and she knew where to start.

Elias had spent a few days making sure their old clients were still alive post-Cataclysm. Useful points of contact, Elias even managed to help an aged client from the home that'd fallen in.

The clients were good for their connections, and now Elias was tying the strings, gathering the loops, and arranging the pattern of the weave.

Elias was looking for people. The right kind of people. People with enough power and influence that, if they worked together, could upset the balance of power in Duirt. But only if pushed in the right direction.

Promises, deals, loans, extortion, all these were weapons at their disposal. And, with a power vacuum like there currently exists? The Strong will Rule, the Weak will Suffer. But, if you're smart and lucky enough, you can make out with a kingdom.

Currently with talking about town, with the right people. You understand right now there is a gang war that is happening, multiple gangs are trying to take control of the Maze and Ratway, as well as the shipment of drugs coming into town. Recent events with shipments of drugs being ambushed have been going down the grape vine, the name of these gangs elude you.

So far no one knows the reason you are making these investigations

Elias grimaced. Both the Rataways and Maze had turned into a lake, and Elias couldn't even doggy-paddle on the best of days.

Elias knew that it was the big boys who would need to press forward. Ambition and greed go hand in hand, and rare was the leader of any organization (let alone a trade or banking guild) that wasn't prone to avarice.

Tanners Island was barely touched - the merchants there were in a far better position than almost anywhere in the city. With some loans to other businesses harder hit, they could fully establish their own guild, and would be able to have a control in who can work leather in Duirt.

Lusre Island was also mostly ignored, and the Aventi and Mer there could open a pathway into business. They would have a temporary monopoly on more than a few trade goods, and could leverage that into a trade guild of their own.

Westhill Road, on the other hand, was a mecca in disguise. The home of the vast majority of the city's guilds, this was where the center of power would be.

The key, Elias knew, would be to find people that were willing to work under the table. With the city still trying to recover, business was stagnating. Working with promisary notes, backed by unwritten promises of physical extortion, Elias knew that getting people interested (and compliant), they'd have to step on eggshells.

If they were careful, Elias fantasized, they would be able to engage in complete monopolies. With so many thousands having died, the city was depopulated and the guilds could have a stranglehold if they desired.