With the aid of the magical unguent  the grate came away. They dropped into he shaft below where Galt paused for a moment to wipe away the fluid. Instantly the heavy grate was frozen in place once more. No one who lived he life of a thief was a strange to sewers and their stinks but even so Kashvi pulled her scarf up over her face. Fortunately Joe Shipwreck seemed to have a destination in mind, and they moved up hill until the flow of waste water slowed to a trickle and then stopped. Joe paused and placed his hand on a nondescript stone and a section of the wall slid back with a grind of stone on stone. The passed through and Joe repeated the motion, sealing the false wall as though it had never been.
 
“I love what you have done with the place,” Galt quipped facetiously. They were in an ancient burial vault. Row after row of coffins stretched along a wall of ancient masonry. Despite its grim purpose the space was oddly homey. Niche which had once held grinning skulls had been filled with wine bottles filled with glow sand. Wooden planks had been laid across the top of sarcophagi t create make shift beds and work benches. A half dozen thieves, mostly looking tired and worse for wear, watched the door with weapons in hand.
 
“Your alive then, and you brought some strays,” a handsome man with a knife scar across his lower jaw observed.  Captain Sharp as he was called was the writman of the guild. The thief responsible for writing the name of a victim on a pottery shard before the order to kill him was enforceable. Either the other guilds had broken a lot of pots, or the sanctity of his office had deceased considerably.
 
“There might be more at the other bolt holes Sharp,” Joe said wearily. “but its messy enough out there and that’s the gods truth.”

 “Every guild in the city is out for blood it seems,” Sharp agreed.

 “But now we got some people maybe we should start figuring some stuff out,” Joe said, taking a seat and accepting a mug of what smelled like ale.
 
“Im sure my fine young friends here can be of assistance,” Joe declared. Kashvi folded her arms.
 
“Maybe not,” she replied causing Joe and sharps eyebrows to raise in curiously identical expressions.
 
“Seems to me the Seven Ravens might be finished,” she replied, hooking her thumbs around he knives in her belt. Joe Shipwreck rumbled a good natured laugh.
 
“And you think, seein’ you owe us a bunch of coin, this might be a good time to explore your options? Kind of get out on the ground floor? That about the size of it?” the Nightmaster asked.
 
“That’s exactly the size of it,” Kashvi replied. Sharp had moved slightly to the side of Joe, ready to draw down should he situation require.
 
“Well you can rest assured that however planned this took the Bakery first, so whoever ends up on top here will come looking for the money eventually, and if it is us… well wed have to take it personally. Besides where are you going to go?”
 
“Back to Kush, you’d never find me there,” Kashvi declared defiantly.
 
“Show me a Kushite who cant be bough for the price of a tup’ny shit and I’ll faint dead away, and besides you’d be strangled with a golden cord within a week through the passes. What’s say you do the right thing and Old Joe will see to it that when this is over we do something about your debt eh?”