The City In The Canyon

"Shh...everyone be quiet," Lafamar ordered. They all stopped and waited as he leaned out towards the opening of the cavern. Rothox knew it could only be one thing...crawlers.

"What--," Erigos began.

"Shut it, they'll hear."

Erigos mouthed 'who' towards Lafamar who was too focused on listening to respond. From outside the cavern, a throaty hiss reached their ears.

Lafamar quietly drew his shortsword, the others quickly did the same. He looked back at them and mouthed 'Don't move.' From over the edge, a large bug head with massive pinchers and half a dozen black eyes peered into their cavern. It crawled onto their level. A ten-foot scaly body with four hair legs per side and another set of clawed arms blocked the entrance to their camp. The grotesque creature panned the cave, its many eyes scanning. Erigos shifted ever so slightly. The creature snapped its head towards him. It let out a viscous throaty hiss and charged.

Lafamar swung his sword, it bit deep into the creature's front leg but did nothing to stop its progress. Alissa let out a jet of flames as Rothox slid underneath and attacked the less armored underbelly. The creature wailed as his daggers sliced two clean cuts and the flames scorched its side. It reached Erigos who was too terrified to move. The mouth pinchers picked him up and slammed him against the back wall of the small cavern. Harim moved with lightning speed, and vaulted onto the back of the creature, sliding down the scales towards the head. He slammed a fist into the top of the giant bug skull. The crawler reared up in pain, loosening the grapple on Erigos.

Erigos managed to slip out of the pinchers, the sharp claws cutting into his shoulders. No longer frightened he attacked with his sword. The blade cleanly sliced the already damaged front leg. More hideous shrieks from the creature rattled their eardrums. Realizing it was losing it tried to retreat, taking more attacks from the group. It was still alive as it got to the edge and started to climb down backward. Harim ran at it, and summoned his inner energy, and punched the creature in the chest. It lost its grip and sailed off the cliff falling to its grim death far below.

"What was that?" Erigos asked.

"Those... are crawlers," Lafamar said, as he wiped his blade clean along his pant leg.

"Is it normal to encounter them?"

"Normal...no, but it can happen."

"Do they attack the city?" Alissa asked.

"They don't go near the city that often. Too many people, but they prey on whatever enters their territory."

"It didn't seem that hard to kill," Erigos said as he checked his wounds.

"We were lucky, that was just a baby one."

The river at the bottom of The Scar was brown and smelled of feces and decay. The Sect had only just got to the bottom of the massive canyon and the smell was overwhelming as was the sound of the waterfalls. The sun was starting to rise from behind them, the light reflecting off the cascading water. From the vast height, only three of the many actually reached the bottom as a full sheet of water, while the others dissipated into droplets. Giving the constant feeling of rain.

"You never get used to it," Lafamar said as he recognized the simultaneous faces of disgust and amazement.

The canyon staircase came out just beyond the city limits. Down here there are no walls that protect the city or signify the entrance. They knew they were nearing when Erigos spotted people in the river.

"What are they doing?" he asked.

"Bathing," Lafamar said.

"In that filth!"

"Either that or not at all. Those down here do not have the luxuries of fresh water."

"Why can't they wash under the waterfall?"

"You try standing underneath, and tell me why." Lafamar laughed.

The shore of the river slowly grew into a busy city street, the bottom of the canyon a shanty town with half the homes built into the wall and the other half in the middle of the canyon. The Scar was a few thousand feet wide at the base with the river flowing down the middle Makeshift bridges were built over the water acting as cross streets. These weren't merely foot bridges, but they had buildings built on them. The river wasn't overly quick so a handful of these bridges were floating with large cables bolted to the rock holding them in place. The cables were the same material as the cable cars and gondolas above. Looking up, there were dozens more bridges and cables, creating an intricate web all the way to the surface. It was rather remarkable.

"Whoa, watch your step," Lafamar reached out and stopped Erigos, who had just been admiring the city above. Looking down he now saw a pile of human excrement.

"Thanks," He skirted the fecal matter.

"Watch your step down here. Those above don't always toss their...well, their shit far enough. We actually have a guy that is paid, not a lot, but paid to clean it up," Lafamar said. "Welcome to Merigrand," he laughed, "It gets better, I promise."

Rothox pulled his cowl tight, he had already made a few Umbral Society, as they walked through the city. Not all were happy with Sully and by association with him. Rothox had found out later that Sully had pissed off some powerful locals with a few of the jobs they pulled. Some of the other bosses in the society did not like all the attention they had brought.

A set of stairs carved into the cavern, a lot better crafted and sturdier than the ones they had taken down the side of The Scar. These stairs took them up fifteen feet to a street in the wall. To one side you had the open air of the canyon and on the other homes and shops were carved into the rock. It was a similar setup on the other canyon face. In order to prevent any collapsing, large pillars of the stone had been kept in place and carved around. The bridges across to the other side were suspended, fixed to the rock in a similar fashion to the floating bridges.

"Well what do ya think?" Lafamar said, spinning with his arms out, showcasing the city.

"It's definitely interesting," Erigos said.

"Heh, it sure has character. Anyway, let's find you lot a place to stay."

"If it's all the same to you, we have a place," Harim said.

"We do?" Erigos asked.

"We do."

"Where might these lodgings be?" Laf looked at him, curiously.

"I believe it's called the Tier."

"Haha, like you have a place in the Tier."

"It is not my place, but a place I can stay."

"What's the Tier?" Alissa asked.

Laf turned to her, "It's the first or the last, depending on how you look at it, section of the city built into the canyon wall. Some say it's more prestigious than the surface." He turned back to Harim. "I'd sure like to see this place for myself."

"By all means. I have never accessed it from this location before. It's the Polished Inn."

Laf glared at him. Everyone knew of the Polished Inn. Situated behind one of the main waterfalls. If not for the palace the Polished Inn would be the nicest building in the city. Due to the close proximity to the river above, water cascades inside the Inn, creating a smooth polished texture throughout the structure. It is the premiere place to stay for any wealthy people coming into the city.

"How might you have access to such a fine establishment?"

"I have my connections, as well as my secrets." He winked at Rothox. "Please, Lafamar, lead the way, and here," he tossed him a handful of gold coins. "Thank you."

"Rothox, I like your new friends," Laf pocketed the coin.

It was a whole new perspective on Meirgrand. The Tier was clean and lush with plants growing inside the canyon due to the water from above. It took them a while to venture this high. Riding cable cars back and forth, zig-zagging up the canyon.

The large waterfall at the center of the city created a majestic curtain and a natural barrier. When they built the cable car from the surface down to the first section they built a special divider that split the waterfall allowing the car to pass through. This gondola went directly into the Polished Inn. The inn was the largest structure in the canyon part of the city. It not only served as a place for guests of the city but it also had the main market of the upper class with shops and entertainment and most importantly the city museum.

"Well, here we are." Lafamar stood in front of the grand building. He waited expectantly, some part of him did not believe Harim.

"Thank you, once again Lafamar," Harim said. He waited for Lafamar to leave.

"Oh, I'm waiting to see what happens next."

"Very well." Harim entered the grand entrance of the Polished Inn.