Path To Radiance; First Ascent

The Southern Comfort is just up the road a few blocks. I couldn't see it for a while because of the curve of the road. It's a five-story building that looks like a Vegas casino without the neon lights. The building itself is made of a pink sandstone material. Windows that are flat on the bottom and round on top show there to be at least ten rooms per floor. The owner must have paid a lot of money for the elegance and beauty that was bestowed upon it.

I enter the front double doors and approach the desk. The lobby has a few newer looking sofas and cushioned chairs. The decor is soft and welcoming. The staff is efficient and friendly. They have plenty of rooms left and rent two out to me. The coin Brick supplied me with is enough to cover his room, but just barely.

Slipping the keys to our rooms into my bag, I quickly make my way back to the street and turn back towards the tavern. When I am about a block away, I hear someone screaming. It's faint, but I can make it out clearly. I run towards the noise. It sounds like a woman.

The screams lead me down an alleyway that cuts through to another street. I witness two boots being dragged into the ally across from me. I keep running until I reach the ally's mouth.

There are three men, all Players. Two of the men are on their knees, each holding the arm of a woman, pinning her to the ground. They are keeping her in place while the third man, a huge guy with white hair down his back, is stripping her of her pants. After dropping her trousers to the street, he reaches for his belt buckle. I can make out the sound of it being undone. There's a scent in the air I have never smelled before. If I had to call it anything, I would have called it the smell of lust. It's like walking into a bedroom after a college party only less pungent.

When the woman feels her trousers being pulled away, she screams even louder. "No! Please! Don't do this! Name it, it's yours. Please, just don't do this." Her agony strikes me pretty hard.

I decide to act before the man has his pants completely undone. I unsheath my dagger while I make my way over to him. Part of me wants to yell out to get them to stop. The rest of me says no. Any man who could do something like this is scum and doesn't deserve to live.

I kick the would-be rapist in the back of his right knee. He drops down, losing his balance. When his knees hit the pavers, I grab his hair, yanking his head back, and slit his throat. My dagger cuts deep enough for him to bleed out but not deep enough for him to die right away. Then I kick him in the side of his head so that he falls onto his side.

"Who the fuck are you?" One of his men yells as they stand. "No one disrespects Goreton like that!"

The man on the right charges me while drawing his sword. I don't give him the chance to make it more than two steps. I step in and hunker down as his sword sweeps past where my neck had just been. Then I lunge for his gut. The blade sinks in easily. I pull my dagger out of him and roll away as a club hits the ground.

The last man doesn't even check on his buddy. Instead, he charges me too, his club raised. Using a small weapon gives me a slight speed advantage. I'm able to sidestep his second attack, slicing into his side as I continue past him.

Once clear of club guy, I punch my dagger back into the first underling again, this time into his throat. He had grabbed his stomach and hasn't moved. I think he's in shock. After he falls onto his back, choking and gurgling, I turn in time to dodge another vertical smash from the last guy. I can't help but mock him.

"What? Not such a big man now that the tables have turned?" I get the reaction I wanted. The man's face turns scarlet as he recklessly charges me. I kick him in his chest and he falls. After sinking my dagger into him a few times and I'm sure he's done for, I turn back to their boss, this Goreton.