306
As you approach the opening at the base of the tower, your keen senses detect the repulsive aromas of greasy bristles and dung. At once you know that a war-hog pen lies beyond, and you can also detect that it is now empty.
With weapon drawn you enter the enclosure, searching for a door that will allow you swift entry to the viewing tower above. There is a door, but it is locked and bolted from the other side. Rather than waste precious minutes trying to open this barred portal, you turn to leave. But as you are crossing the straw-strewn floor of the pen, you are brought to a halt when your eye falls upon an oiled leather whip which hangs from a peg on the wall. (If you wish to take this Boar Whip, record it as a Backpack Item on your Action Chart.)
You leave the pen and rush around the side of the tower in time to see Captain Prarg emerging from the open door. Quickly he descends, sheathing his bloodied sword as he hurries down the steps to meet you.
‘That guard’ll not be raising any alarms,’ he says, cocking his thumb behind him towards the tower door. ‘And they’ll not be finding him too soon, neither.’
You smile knowingly, and commend your guide for the swiftness of his action. Then Prarg points to an alleyway that lies sandwiched between two burnt-out hovels at the edge of town, and suggests you enter Shugkona that way.
‘Lead on, captain,’ you say, and follow as he hurries off towards the alley’s shadowy entrance.
