The man smiled a broken tooth grin and stuck his pinky finger in his ear, working it back and forth in search of wax for a moment. His eyes slid sideways to Emmaline who was gathering her cream colored traveling dress around herself. Despite the fact that they had been on the road for days it still looked suspiciously immaculate despite its pale color.


“Awww if that aint a sight for sore eyes,” he observed, earning himself a glare from Emmaline who sat down and waved at the waitress for more ham. It was ruinously expensive, easily four times what it was before the trouble began, but folk weren’t parting with food cheaply in these troubled times.


“It won’t be your eyes that are sore if you don’t answer my question whoever you are,” Kasimir replied in a deadly tone.



“Don’t be getting your pantaloons in a twist yer lordship,” the man responded. He reached for the plate of ham the waitress set in front of Emmaline, but then paused as she reversed her grip on the knife and arched an eyebrow. The newcomer let out a low chuff of amusement.


“You can call me Kreef,” he said before continuing, “and as for what she told me, not all that much, only that you might be able to help us settle a few thing in the city, what with all this uncertainty.” Kasimir cast a jaundiced look at Emmaline before returning his attention to Kreef.

“And who is we?” Kasimir asked.

“Just a group of concerned citizens,” Kreef replied, he twitched his hand and spun a brass penny across the top of his knuckles, it spun just slowly enough that Kasimir could make out a casting flaw in the hammer on one side which made it look instead like a pair of crossed fingers.

“Just simple folk,” Kreef repeated as he made the coin disappear.  “Smarter than she looks too, aint no other way you’d find a spot on a boat before the beastmen are swarming both sides of the river.”