The brown and turgid flow of the Sellen moves under the docks, carrying away the effluence of the city as if the land itself were attempting to wash away the stain of civilization. As Quillin waits, the docks get increasingly busy, and his initial perch quickly gets hemmed in on all sides by crates and boxes. A small flock of chickens peers out at him and Smudge curiously from a nearby stack of crates, a shower of straw flies out every so often as one of the birds scratches at the floor.
The hiring shack is just that, a shack. The door is open and you can hear low breathy snores from inside. The small man producing the snores doesn't even wake up as you file into the small space. A chair, leaning and wedged into the corner of the room is occupied by the small man. The remainder of the room is dominated by the desk...well you assume it is a desk, as you cannot see an inch of surface that isn't covered by stacks of paper, files, platters sticky with old food, mugs of stale beer and various other unidentifiable objects. There is barely enough room for five or six people to stand in the remainder of the office. The wall directly opposite the desk is covered in bills and notices, but the light is so poor in the room, you cannot read anything on the wall.
In a whisper, "Yergie, Walt, can you make out any of the notices?" Mathieu waits to see if they find anything interesting, then he walks over to the sleeping man and gently nudges him awake. Mathieu waits for him to awaken and then begins, "Excuse me sir. But are you in charge of hiring? We are but a small security company, looking for work. Especially if you can find us something to the north. We are looking to hire on as security and to provide a lucky merchant with the comfort of knowing that they and theirs are safe for the travel."
Walter seems to respond to Mathieu [b]"I cannot but a dwarf might. Walter then starts saying ah time to light the lantern to read what this is saying." Walter then puts his pack down and fumbles through to the lantern and lights it to read the notices being careful not to light the papers in the shack on fire.
