Delphi coughed. The woman paced on the roof's smokey balcony, she watched with mild interest at the slowly dying fires beneath her and any incoming ravens-- the screams in the distance didn't even register to her. Her only concerns in the moment were maximizing profit and minimizing losses, just as always, this was nothing but a business transaction to her. Albeit, one seemed intent to keep as interesting as possible. Delphi turned from her view of the chaotic streets to the roof. Seth, small in stature but fast with pen, was seated at a table in the middle of all the raven cages, writing as fast as the Madame Day Master could give orders. Delphi coughed again. Seth looked up in concern, "Are you alright, Madame?" Delphi shook her head as she made her way over to the clay desk, clearly built into the roof, "I'll be fine once we clear the air of this wretched ash..." Delphi leaned against a raven cage as she watched Seth write, "It is of no consequence. Do we have any new information?" Seth thumbed through the notes the most recent messenger ravens had brought with them, "Well..." He squinted, the smoke making it that much harder to read, despite candlelight. "Glaucia's brothel to the east reports that eastern quarter Market District businesses have suffered little in the way of physical damage and have had no deaths-- archers on the roof have been posted, but it appears the Nazerene weren't able to cause much actual damage besides panicking the common folk, Madame." "Good," Delphi leaned over Seth to view the map of the city. It was a map littered with lines and circles, all indicating to which establishment her ravens had been trained to fly, most of these locations were located in the Slums and the Market District for varying reasons, these were the locations she was most concerned with at the moment, the ones in the pocket of the Rouges Guild. The Market District was a giant circle itself on the map, a cluster of homes and businesses, it was the area with the second highest population density in the city, right behind the slums. However, opposite the slums, it was where most of the city's coin was to be made. Delphi had been born here, and found herself with no desire to be anywhere else. Fitting, then, that she now had the task of protecting it. The Market District was separated into six areas, Four Quarters, a Central Borough, and the Outer Wards. Each is unique in goods, business opportunities, and culture; All lines on the map led to the Central Borough, specifically a major hub of Rouge Guild activity, Delphi's own residence, the only brothel in the Central Borough, the very roof she stood on-- [i]Plenora's Bounty.[/i] The Central Borough was known for it's banking, making the presence of a brothel and hive for illegal activity a haven for some, and a nuisance for others. The Day Master took it in stride, the brothel's 'classy' theme brought in the wealthy bankers of the district, as well as the occasional royal or other wealthy public official. All the money in Antioch, eventually, made its way through the banks of the Central Borough, making her position one of strategic importance for her less than legal dealings with the banks. The other Quarters-- North, South, East, West, as well as the Outer Wards, were also important for the Guild, albeit for other reasons; The North Quarter serving as an area of gathering for the merchants and businesses of the city. The West Quarter, until recently, was a place where exports leaving the city (and imports entering) passed through. The South held the great artisans and craftsmen of Antioch. With the Outer and East Quarters serving as a place where all of this... converged. The Outer Wards were where people too poor to move to the Market District proper lived, where poor worker from the slums would go to spend their nights in a pub after a hard week, and where poor Market District citizens would go to save some gold and get some beer, they were home of Blooming Orchid. A hive of information and business opportunities, and the East Quarter, with all it's brothels, was it's wealthy brother. Of course, under Delphi's leadership, the Guild had expanded into all six areas of the Market District, and was on the verge of creating a stronger foot in the other Districts of Antioch. Glaucia, and her brothel, The Stories End, were right in the middle of the Eastern Quarter, and in a near perfect position to tell of it's status in the fray. Despite her cough, Delphi held a smile on her face. "I want you to send word to Glaucia, she's to have her archers and any mercenaries still in the Eastern Quarter form a perimeter-- no one--" She paused to think, biting her lower lip, "No one of those Nazarene-possessed [i]things[/i] is to get in," As she paused, Seth wrote, looking up briefly to ask. "Anything more, madame?" "Oh, dearest Seth-- there's always more." Delphi paused to consider her wording before continuing, "I want, all houses, all businesses not under Rouge Guild protection, completely cleaned out." Seth stopped writing, an incredulous look on his face, "I-i beg your pardon, madame?" "Don't look so confused, Seth." the woman scolded, "The Goddess of Plenty has given us an opportunity, and I intend to take it. The confusion this is causing serves as the perfect shroud to attack outright those who oppose us. Any business, in the Market District and in the Slums, not currently paying protection money to the Guild is to be cleaned dry." "..." Seth took a moment to adjust his wireframed spectacles before continuing his writing, "And what of those behind on their payments, madame?" Delphi scoffed, moving over to the edge of the roof to view the street once more, "What of them? They get this chance to pay-- if they do not, then they pay in anything and everything we can have lifted out of their homes and businesses before day break." She turned back to Seth, "If they prove troublesome, this includes their lives." "Yes, madame." Seth made swift work of writing out the orders, as ravens with new notes from around the city began to pile around Seth. "Oh Seth?" Delphi called over as she found herself pacing once more around the perimeter of the roof, "Be sure to include instructions to burn that note... the less solid evidence leading back to us the better." "Of course, madame," and in a matter of seconds, the raven was off, carrying with it instructions for one of the biggest, if not the biggest robberies in the history of Antioch. Everyone would know the culprit, but with all the confusion caused by the surprise Nazarene assault, as well as the note the raven carried being the only solid bit of evidence-- no one would have any grounds to accuse any member of the Rouges Guild. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allso's head peeked out of a sewer grate of the plaza near the main palace, following the advice of the man... man? Half-man? Man without man parts? Allso scratched his head in confusion. He wasn't sure what you called him, but he was thankful to Sarel regardless, back alleys had been mostly safe, but then people started coming back to life! He'd have been done for if Sarel hadn't saved him when he did-- it was awful convenient too, as he could just tell what Delphi had told him to Sarel, and then receive some new orders from him! He was the Night Master's adviser, anyway! "Find out how the city guard is handling this mess. Use the sewers to avoid these corpses." Sarel had told him. So find out how the city guard is handling this mess he did! Allso also found himself greatly appreciating the advice of the Night Master's Second, the sewers were much safer than the streets-- although a little bit smelly. He didn't mind too much. He had found out Guard posted all over the city were being called to the palace and a few apparently went to the fields, he took that to mean the slums and Market District could look out for themselves, which was good! Lady Delphi liked it when that happened. Allso watched as the guard prepared to fight, their staggering numbers split between the wall, the Palace, and the Cultivators plateau. "Remember men, these aren't your friends anymore, just soulless shells! Attack!" Allso ducked back down into the sewers, figuring he should probably go find Delphi or Sarel, he couldn't help but muse as he began to walk the cramped septic corridors, though. [i]What an interesting night...[/i] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Rest easy, Sarel." Delphi poured two glasses of grand wormwood spirits, "The difficult part seems to be over, with the Nazarene mages gone from the markets--" she took a sip from her glass, "and soon to be gone from the slums I hope," She handed one of the glasses to the giant eunuch, who sat at a table in Delphi's quarters, across the room Pollyanna slept in Delphi's bed. Delphi shrugged at his refusal and poured the green liqueur in his glass into her own, plopping several cubes of sugar in the beverage, she sat across from him. "Too much time spent drinking with Athel?" Sarel gave a dry chuckle, "If only you knew.." His face became more serious as he asked, "What do you mean, difficult part? What of what comes next?" Delphi sipped the green liqeur with a smile, "Well it shouldn't be too hard-- the Assassins Guild is scattered around the city, 'helping' the greater good, meanwhile, we've got the entire Market District's perimeter under our watch--" "But," Sarel cut in, reaching for his own, now empty glass, "We can't possibly maintain that, there are still sighting of Nazarene undead spawn in the Southern and Western Quarters, the Outer Wards and heavy concentrations in the slums--" Delphi raised her had to interrupt, "I said rest easy, Sarel," taking another sip, she continued, "The perimeter only needs to be maintained for however long it takes to rob clean the businesses who don't pay the Guild protection money. I've received word that the guard is preoccupied with protecting the palace and the Cultivator's plateau-- now is the time to perform these robberies, the Nazarines are gone, their spawn are dwindling-- we've already swept through the Eastern Quarter and we've recovered enough coin from [i]there alone[/i] to cover any expenses the fires may have caused." Sarel couldn't help but look a little impressed, it appeared the timing of these events may have been to the Guild's benefit, he poured himself a glass of water, "What of the Magnificent One?" Delphi poured herself another glass of the grand wormwood, "What of him? In all this confusion they won't have any solid evidence to accuse us with, especially with the City Guard away." Sarel took a sip of his grog, "Well then," he raised his glass in a toast, "To a night filled with profit!" Delphi raised her liqeur, already a little tipsy, she didn't possess half the alcohol tolerance of her counterpart, "To the bloody Goddess of Plenty!"