You sit back up, stretching. Did you fall asleep just then? Almost. You didn’t get a full night’s sleep last night, and the idea of catching a few more winks is appealing, but you’ve got a class to attend. Captain Cedric’s swordplay lesson is today, and if you miss this session, you’ll have to wait until next week to catch the next one.

Downstairs, you encounter Ameronis in the lobby. She is dressed for training and is waiting for you. You ask her what she’s doing, and much to your surprise, she tells you that she’s coming to try out the swordplay lesson. But didn’t she say that she hated Cedric and didn’t want to waste her money on him? She smiles wryly.

“Oh, I won’t let him get out of it that easily,” she says, without any further elaboration. She goes outside.

Great; what kind of malicious escapade is she about to go on? You shake your head and follow her out onto the street.

At The Warrior’s Edge, you pay for the lesson and wait for it to begin, noting that there are more participants today. As before, Cedric begins the lesson right on time, greeting you all; acknowledging the regulars, welcoming the latest newcomers, and approving of the return of you former newcomers. He does seem to purse his lips somewhat as he glances at Ameronis, but glancing at her yourself, it could be in direct response to the smug expression she currently wears.

Soon, all armed with wooden swords and paired up randomly, the class begins. It’s less structured than the duelling class; the participants mostly spar in their own way, with Cedric responding and advising where necessary; “Hold your sword like this,” or “Place your feet like that”. This class gives participants the opportunity to show their skills, and get some personalised feedback.

By the looks of things, your skills are akin to those of a child’s, and your feedback can be summed up as; ‘you have a long way to go’. The guy you’re fighting is some kind of expert, despite his claims to be intermediate at best. But even then, he’s not better than Cedric; when Cedric stops by again and instructs you to come at him, he immediately thwarts your attack and points out numerous things you need to correct.
You were doing way better than this yesterday, even though you could hardly focus at the time; what happened?!

You don’t have much time to try and regain your composure; the sparring continues. If you had your battle axe, you’d be doing so much better, you’re sure of it! This sword, it’s… It’s all wrong. The weight, the balance; it’s so different to what you’re used to. You figured using a sword would be easier than a battle axe, but maybe you’re too used to handling your own weapon. You need to remember that they’re not the same; you need to adapt…

Despite your efforts, you catch yourself continuing to attack and defend with the sword as though it were your axe, and get punished for it. Still, at least you’re aware of the problem. If you could just let Cedric know, then he’d realise you’re not as pathetic as you currently appear to be! But, you don’t get a chance to speak to him the next time he stops by you and your latest partner; he quickly moves on to the next group.

By the end of the class, your wrist is a little sore. This did not go according to plan. If you want to be proficient with the sword AND the battle axe, you’ve got your work cut out for you. But, one or two loose lessons a week wouldn’t be enough, especially if you’re not planning on spending months here. You’d need longer, daily sessions if you wanted to get good fast.

Rotating your wrist as you trudge out of the lesson, Ameronis catches up to you.

“Are you injured?” she asks.

You explain your frustrations and she is thoughtful.

“Yes, not much went according to plan it seems. I thrashed my first opponent and was subsequently thrashed by my second. I did better than that against Cedric though. I still don’t think he’s as great as he makes himself out to be. Set me up with a duel against him with a weapon of my choice, and I’d destroy him for sure!”

You consider that option. You feel the same way, although ‘destroy’ might be a bit too strong. Perhaps ‘overcome’ would be better. He’d likely put up a fight, but you’d win in the end with your battle axe.

Maybe you can challenge him to such a duel next time. But then, he’d likely not allow the use of a real weapon, and if you have to use a wooden battle axe, the balance would be off and you’d end up with a repeat of today, except your own claims of skill would be thoroughly dis-proven. Bah! You’ll just have to beat him the old fashioned way.

As you walk back from The Warrior’s Edge, Ameronis asks you about your plans for the day. With no more heists scheduled, you want to get back to exploring a little. You went a bit further afield to the West the other day, but there’s a lot of places within arm’s reach that you haven’t explored yet; you don’t want to miss anything interesting that’s hiding right under your nose. To that end, you plan to explore the East a little more. Maybe the North. You don’t intend to get lost in the alley maze again though.

Bah!

“Oh, how ironic. The exact opposite direction to where I plan to go,” she says. “I suppose I’ll see you later then. Let me know if you find anything interesting…” Ameronis waves as you part ways in Slaryn House, returning to your respective rooms.

After taking some time to eat some of your snacks, you swap out your outfit for the lightest options from your travel gear; sturdy trousers and hard-wearing tunic, brown and off-white respectively, along with your walking boots. It’s colder today, so these should do nicely. Packing your bag for a day’s adventuring, and allocating yourself some spending money, you head out once more, ready to resume exploring.

You follow the main road East, past Stardust and the winding alleyways behind it, beyond the area covered by Jamie’s map, and continue on until you come to a bridge over the canal. You pause for a minute, considering whether to cross, but decide to stick to this side for now; you can explore over yonder another time. Besides, the buildings over there look mostly like factories, with noise and smoke lightly wafting over the water. A quiet stroll along this side would be much less… industrial.

You walk along the towpath on the Western side of the canal, with packed tenements lining the path alongside you. Across the water, the factories eventually fall away to be replaced by housing, slightly larger and more spacious than those on this side. You begin to wonder if you got it mixed up, and if the Eastern side will turn out to be some picturesque experience, but are soon proven wrong when a fork in the canal provides a new type of scene.
Down the path you can’t reach, you see more tenements, but continuing along the only available path to your left, you’re presented with a horrible, bomb-site of a mess on the opposite bank, with the old structures looking more like husks than functional buildings. You’d have insisted the stretch of buildings was completely abandoned, were it not for the washing lines stretched here and there, smoke from scattered cook-fires, and the ragged individuals visible both outside and in the windows.

A depressed feeling hangs in the air, which only worsens when the buildings on your side deteriorate into a slum-like state as well, looming over you and the water, with old, cracked bricks and windows stained with years of soot and neglect. The water itself is murky, constantly churned up by the barges that come and go, and there is a lot of refuse floating on and under the surface.

For half a mile, the shantytown across the way stretches on, before the building quality ‘improves’ to match the state of the slum beside you. For almost two miles, the slum continues; you see it stretching off down another fork in the canal opposite you, but have no idea how far it goes that way. All the while, there is no greenery; no grass, no trees, and you don’t remember the last time you heard birdsong. Instead, all you hear is the monotonous chugging of the barges, and the muffled sounds of the souls who live here.

And there are a lot of people visible, even from this small stretch. You can’t imagine how many people are living in each room. Most of those you see are idle, watching you as you look at them, looking as worn and ragged as the buildings they live in. Despite the soul-crushing aura that has enveloped you, these people seem quite at ease here; you imagine being born and raised in such a place would make you resistant to the feeling, especially if you’ve never left the area and have no concept of the outside world. You don’t know whether to pity or respect them.

Your thoughts drift to the beggars in the tent city, and the pristine Windston and its gardens, when you realise that an abrupt gap in the buildings on either side give way to newer buildings; these are positively opulent in comparison. All of these buildings are new; large and spacious, reminding you of the buildings on Bane’s Way. They sit further back from the water’s edge, and even have small verges with grass, trees and hedges separating them from the path. Looking at them, and glancing back at the hellish structures behind you is quite jarring. But you won’t complain; already, the heavy aura has lifted, though you still feel uneasy at the disparity.

This stretch doesn’t last long; you can see the canal fork up ahead, but before that, the towpath is blocked off by an iron gate, with a high stone wall stretching out of view. Across the canal, you can see the paths alongside more walls, and you can just about make out the roof of a building decorated with deep slate-blue tiles. You imagine that whatever lies beyond those walls is even further removed from what lies behind you.

With no way through this gate, and no one around to let you through, you backtrack a short way and cross a bridge to the other side. You continue travelling in your original direction, following the path until it turns to your right. You eye the high wall as it continues across the way, then spy another bridge up ahead; this one leads you to the other side of the fork. You follow the path here expecting to be blocked off by another gate, but instead, the wall curves away, continuing on along a route you can’t follow. In its place, tenements once more, similar to those along the high street, with slums opposite. The building styles change so abruptly here.

Once again, the sounds of the local industry grow louder, and you find yourself walking past active factories and warehouses after all, with various inlets and offshoots branching off the main canal. Workers yell and bustle about, and more than once, you have to pause or dodge to avoid them. Amidst the growing throng of workmen both on and off the water, you spot a woman in a shawl and ragged dress attempting to speak to any worker able to listen; most are too busy to stop, but you see a couple shake their head or refuse whatever she’s after. She clutches a paper and looks around anxiously for someone else to speak to. With nowhere else to go, you soon fall into her sights, and she hurries over to you, looking quite distressed.

“Please sir; have you seen my Grigoree?”

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