If Shu-kri has read the situation correctly, and she thinks she has, the thugs and their boss are also searching for the Hundrefingers. If their manners are any indication of what will happen when they do find the thieves, it won't be pleasant.
Rawiya manages to spot the person that had been addressed by the thug as ma'am. It is a robed figure on top of the roof; their face is obscured, but they wear the same necklace as the poultice saleswoman from before.
After moving out of the dirty alley, Rawiya turns again toward the bazaar.
Quietly she says, "Don't look back, but there was an archer on the roof of the shack across from that hut. I couldn't see her face clearly, but she did wear the same necklace pendant with the praying mantis inside."
In a speaking voice that can be heard over the sounds of the market place she says, "It is time for a meal. Why don't we try to find something here in the bazaar and ask directions to the silk vendors.
Theshen nods, and gulps quietly.
"A meal...yes."
The group walks around the bazaar, choosing from the vast array of delicacies available in a merchant city such as Eto. They find a place to sit down by the obelisk at the centre of the market, together with a vast array of different people: sunburnt Avistani adventurers, lively Keleshite traders and even a small group of old Garundi women gossiping whilst drinking jasmin tea to which they periodically add discs of caramelised saffron.
One of the respectable ladies speaks in loud but hushed tones: ”the servant boy from Asmet’s stall just told me not more than five minutes ago that he saw horrible things happening at Beggar’s Alley! The Dawnflower protect us, it seems people were beating the kids until they passed out, laughing at the blood dripping from their swollen faces!”
Another, sickly thin and with dark pouches beneath her eyes spits on the ground. ”Serves them right, those vermin! The amount of jewellery they pilfered from me! And the guards never did a thing!”
Yet a third sighs and shakes her head, her many earrings colliding and ringing loudly: ”Effendi, they are but children – or most of them, at least. To rain wicked deeds on them will only ensure they will be become wicked adults”
A loud and hard to follow discussion erupts between the elderly ladies.
Theshen is visibly horrified at the descriptions.
"My friends, we must find Beggar's Alley and put a stop to these acts!"
Rawiya looks at Theshen with a puzzled expression.
"That's where we just were. We followed the coffee vendor's map to Beggar's Alley"
Theshen does look confused.
"Perhaps we were led astray in directions? This place is one I find great difficulty with."
"We witnessed the beginning of this crime and walked away like uncaring jackasses."
Rawiya now looks puzzled.
"I saw no one injured or in danger. The place was empty"
"Those assassins weren't there for nothing."
"Do we have any other choice?"
Rawiyah sighs.
"With our luck Naleth will have escaped and be even harder to find. If she hasn't, how will we even know which one she is?"
Dusting the crumbs from her hands, she shrugs her backpack into place and turns back toward Beggar's Alley.
"Well, it does sound like someone is likely to need our help in Beggar's Alley.
"Are all cities in Sothis like this?
Sorkesh grabs his gear and follows Rawiya...
Though easy to go unnoticed by a distracted passerby, it was clear a fight had taken place at the alley: some of the shacks were a bit more battered down, more broken pieces furniture peppered the ground and the dirt itself showed marks of a struggle, with imprints of small bodies and hands. Upon entering the biggest shack, they see bloodstains on the walls, a recently used whip and a bloody, broken baton.
Looking around the room, Rawiya notes the blood on the walls, and starts looking for a trail of drops leading out the door and down the alley.
"I wonder where they took the prisoners, and if they are carrying any bodies."
Rawiya tries to follow the scuffed footprints down the alley.
Theshen haphazardly looks around, hoping to assist Rawiya's search.
Rawiya and Theshen search for a trail of some sort, but there's simply not enough blood to make a discernible trail.
Though this means they are not sure where else they could look, Theshen cannot help but feel relieved – less blood shed might be a sign no one died here today.
For a moment, there is a barely perceptible whimper that is quickly muffled.
The whimper seems to come from below the ground.
Shu-Kri freezes in place. "Quiet!" she hisses. "I heard a whimper!"
Theshen looks around, startled.
Rawiya listens intently, trying to locate the source of the sound.
Sorkesh tries to hear the sound Rawiya heard.
... but can't hear a thing.
There's a moment of disorientation and silence before the group hears the clank of something metallic – a large pot, perhaps – falling down. The noise comes from below them, though no hatch or stairs are visible from the inside of the shack.
"That's odd. Is there a grate or something in here?"
"Let us see what is happening. We have missed too much already."
Shortly after Theshen and Sorkesh speak, the sound reverberating of reverberating metal is replaced by scurrying and running. Already fading footsteps are moving away from the shack, northwards.
Shu-kri follows!
"Below us! Perhaps there is a tunnel here"
Rawiya carefully searchs the floor. If she finds nothing she will look around the outside walls for a trapdoor or exterior entrance to a cellar.
Theshen will attempt to assist Rawiya in her searches.
Sorkesh will also do his bit:
… but isn't much help, despite his intentions
Theshen, Sorkesh and Rawiya linger for a few seconds, looking for trapdoors or ladders. They find nothing, Rawiya notices that a section of the ground beneath the flimsy floorboards is definitely empty and could be broken, with adequate means or enough strength.
The three also take a quick look outside, but a cursory look does not reveal anything they had not seen when coming in.
Shu-kri instead darts out of the door, but once outside the scurrying seems to fade away; it starts again a few seconds later, much further away, almost unnoticeable. The scholar starts running, but she knows that one misstep will make her lose the trail.
Rawiya stamps her feet to determine where the weakest spot is.
"Does someone have an ax or a club to try to break through the floorboards here?"
Down on her hands and knees, she pokes her dagger into various spots in the floor, trying to find a space to get leverage.
Sorkesh tries to find something in the room that can be used to smash the loose floorboard
Theshen starts tapping on the boards with his staff, seeking a hollow point.
Sorkesh grabs a solid chunk of sandstone from just outside the shack and then throws it down the ground close to where Rawiya is now yelling and pointing out as the weakest patch of flooring. The sandstone boulder crashes through it, revealing a small room with several small empty beds and connected to four exits: east, west, north and south. The three carefully jump inside this hidden room.
Meanwhile, Shu-kri realises the faint scurrying sounds have taken a turn to the west. Following them, she reaches the wall of one of the cliffs that surrounds the city, just in time to see the head of a child poking out from a trap door.
"Hello! I'm here to save you from the bad Mantises!"
Rawiya looks at each exit to see if she can see signs of recent activity.
After a moment she looks around for Shu-kri, then realizes that she has left the group.
"Does anyone know where Shu-kri went? She seems to have disappeared."
A worried look crosses her face. "Did the assassins kidnap her?"
Sorkesh, too busy preparing a torch to notice Shu-kri's disappearance, snaps his head up:
"Blast! You're right, Rawiya. But it might not have been assassins.
"We were all easy marks searching for this room.
"I think Shu-kri can fend for herself better than these children, though.
"So I think we should follow them first, if we can."
Once his torch is lit, he points to the north tunnel:
"Isn't this the direction the footsteps were heading off to?"
The child looks at Shu-kri and yells "S%!~! They're here too! Use the other exit!" The boy goes down and slams the trapdoor above him.
Meanwhile, Rawiya investigates the room under the light of Sorkesh's torch. Most of the beds are nothing more than bundles of dirty cloth laid down on the ground; many of them also have a few personal effects, like coloured pieces of glass, dolls and even a figurine of a hippopotamus. On a corner of the room, close to the northern passage, there's an empty cauldron tipped over and other assorted kitchen related things.
Sorkesh leads the group to the north passage which turns out to be a dark, low-ceilinged corridor. They don't walk much before the path splits in two directions: east and west.
"No, no, I'm not one of them!" Shu-Kri calls.
Shu-Kri moves towards the trap door and tries to get inside and call to the children, wondering how the kids are involved in this.
"Let us try that tunnel, Sorkesh!
"Left or right?"
Rawiya looks both directions at the T intersection
"Shall we flip a coin? Heads left, tails right?"
"That's as good a way to choose as any at this point."
Sorkesh pulls out a coin …
"Okay, Heads we go left, Tails we go right"
… and then flips it:
Okay, left it is!
He then leads the way left, holding his torch in one hand (his off hand) and his short sword in the other (his main hand).
Shu-kri opens the trap door without much problem and goes down a ladder that leads into a dark corridor made out of mud bricks. She cannot see much, but hears a shrill, teenaged voice screaming ”They’re on to us, everyone take different exits, run! I’ll stay with Ahmes!” The scholar begins to run forward, but is immediately struck by a sharp pain in her foot: on the ground, almost invisible in the low-light conditions, someone had placed a whole bag of caltrops.
Theshen, Rawiya and Sorkesh run westward, reaching a ladder that lead to a trap door on the ceiling. As they ponder their next action, screams and the sound of shuffling feet comes from behind them. Shortly after, a small girl, not older than 10, comes running towards them and bumps into Rawiya. She raises her head and growls. "Back away, old lady! I got a knife here and my friends are right behind me!"
"Children, truthfully--ow, ow--I am here to help you, not to harm you. The bad ones looking for you are my enemies as well!"
Rewiya looks at the girl, and impulsively decides to treat her as if she were Naleth
"Stop right there, Naleth. We're here to provide assistance, not to attack."
"In truth, we would aid.", says Theshen breathlessly, feeling the strain of tension.
The children are either too far away or worried about escaping the perceived threat to pay attention to Shu-kri's words.
Meanwhile, still unsure of Shu-kri's whereabouts, Rawiya and the others confront the child. "What in the hells you talking about, lady? Your friends took her away after whackin' everyone! You got us off guard last time, but we're armed now! Take the stairs now, childbeater, or else!" Three more kids and a halfling arrive, all of them wielding clubs or daggers.
"There are more groups here than either of ours. We saw a Red Mantis Assassin in the market earlier."
Theshen's tone is imploring, he does not wish to fight children.
Rawiya looks sternly at the child but does not move toward her.
"We took no one." she says in a firm voice. "Do not confuse those who would help you with your enemies."
Her face softens.
"Tell us what happened. We need to know the strategies and motives of those who oppose us, and you."