Needles, the knife artist's page

"Follow the main passage to the east. The tunnels go under the wall and into the Piles--"

He stops and gets a faraway look in his eyes.

"-Uh? Oh, there is a trapdoor about 350 feet due southeast of here. It's longer because of the twists and turns in the tunnels, but if you keep to the main path you should end up beneath the Piles, outside the wall. There's a red-handled opening in the ceiling in a dead end there. It leads up into a warehouse on the dock. Knock once, pause and knock again three times. When you get there just tell the men there that 'the coast is clear' and that they should give you passage to the eastern shore, once they verify your claims I'll send the rest of your party along once that's done."

The NPCs and possibly Alia if she doesn't pop in, stay behind with Needles and company until the mission is done. Mostly for convenience sake, but as a practical matter sewers are tight spaces.

"If they give you any lip about taking you across tell them 'it is, that or Daggermark', understand? They should take you across the Eel's Wake and into the foothills. We have an arrangement with the night watch in the bay towers. Once you are in the foot hills you are on your own."

"'Down there'? Good. You've guessed it. You'll have to tell me sewer ranger*. I certainly hope it is your favored terrain." The grin gets grinnier. "So you in or not?"

* Sort of the equivalent of calling a tanuki a trash panda.

"My friends and I have a private way out of the city, but there's a problem a local swamp beast has climbed into it and refuses to leave. I seem to recall your group has a sort of facility for this sort of thing."

"You need a way out of the city. I can provide that for the cost of a small favor." The grin never leaves Needles' mouth region as he speaks even to travel up to his glassy manic eyes.

"No need for long introductions Lord Muniair, I am already familiar with some of these people." says a broad grin from among the assembled courtiers. The grin has a hood on. The hood pulls back to address Serena. "My friends call me Needles."