Aldan was out and about, getting the feel of Duirt. It was not as warm as he was used to, but all the same there was a liveliness about the city as it approached winter. He knew he’d have to obtain some winter clothing soon enough, or even boots of the winterland. Something to help keep him warm because when the Spirits chose to, they could be harsh indeed.
He turned a corner, then another, and then paused. He thought he had been going to the Lion via a shortcut that he’d been told by one of the other guards in the house. But he was in an unfamiliar alleyway that matched nothing. He turned around and retraced his steps, but the streets did not look even slightly familiar. A voice behind him made him pause.
“Well well well boys and girls… looks like we got ourselves a lost noble,” the voice said. Aldan turned and looked at the speaker. He was a man not much taller than himself, though his half elven features gave a second reason for the shorter height. The man stood in front of some ten men and women of mixed races. Humans, Halflings, Elves and Half elves.
“Look, I'm not looking for any trouble…” Aldan said calmly, “I’m just looking to retrace my steps.”
“Well ain’t that a shame,” the half elf said. “Not lookin’ for trouble? Well tell you what. For twenty gold, we’ll forget we saw you and even show you where you want to go.” Aldan opened his mouth and the half elf grinned cruelly.
“Each.” The half elf said.
“You really don’t want to do this…” Aldan said, exuding a calm he didn’t feel.
“Oh yes we do,” The half elf said. “You’re in our turf, and you ain’t payin’ the toll. An’ this is the central quarter… so your noble blood don’t mean squat here. So if you ain’t going to hand over the gold… we’ll just have to take it from you a different way.” Aldan looked around, desperately seeking a way out… and then they set upon him.
He tried to cover his head as the multitude of blows rained down over him, thankful he didn’t have much gold on him today, just enough for a meal and something to drink at the Lion…and the same thought kept running through his head. Don’t embarrass the house by getting arrested by the Central Guard.
He focused purely on trying to defend himself without striking back, aware that even the slightest show of defiance could lead to his death - he was seriously outnumbered and his spells were not sufficient to deal with large groups, not yet anyway. Finally the mob tired on punching the nonresistant noble and they melted back to the alleys from which they came. The half elf leader looked at the barely conscious form of Aldan who was still standing.
“You got guts kid, I’ll give ya that. Get outta these alleys and don’t come back.” he said before melting into the shadows. Aldan resumed moving down the alley he had tried to follow… and a feeling of relief washed over him as the familiar sight of the main street and the Golden Lion came into view.
He cleaned up his closes with a simple prestidigitation spell, and repaired the damage to his clothes with a few mendings, then checked his crossbow and mace were still there. Both were and the thugs had not even bothered to take the little coin he had on him. It seemed blood was the toll they decided on. He staggered into the Lion and collapsed into a chair in the corner and hugged himself, not wanting to head home for the time being, especially with his face now a mess of cuts and bruises and with two black eyes. He ordered his meal and a goblet of hot buttered rum and stayed to the corner as much as possible.
