The Belly of the Beast

[The Stranger]

A run down tavern on the edge of Flea's Bottom, the Belly of the Beast is a hang out for thugs, thieves, sellswords, assassins and whores.

[mark]

Barris arrived at the pre-arranged location and looked around, half amused and half suspicious. He shrugged and entered the establishment.

[The Stranger]

There are a number of well armed men, who glare at Barris as he enters, but as soon as he is scanned and scoped by the eyes in the room, they go back to ignoring him. A young barmaid is working at the counter.

[mark]

Barris looks disappointed as he sees no one he recognizes. He wondered who this man was who thought "it was time for them to meet." He approached the barmaid. "Hey, can I get an ale?" he says, still surverying his surroundings.

[The Stranger]

"You can get an ale." The barmaid says, continuing to clean glasses, and seemingly ignoring him.

[mark]

Barris sat bored for a few moments, forgetting about the ale. After a minute he dropped a coin three times, then cursed. He had been told to come here, but was he supposed to ask to see someone, or give some kind of signal? He was growing more interested and more annoyed by the second.

[The Stranger]

"We know who you are." says the barmaid, as she slide an ale across the counter. "And the correct words are 'may I have an ale.' He's in the back waiting for you."

She nods with her head towards a heavy wooden door on her left just behind the bar.

[mark]

Barris looked surprised, but attempted to appear cool. "Of course," he said. He shook his head, grinning. "May I have an ale. Who would have thought it." He was still smiling as he pushed through the heavy door, not sure who to expect to see.

[The Stranger]

As Barris enters the back room, there are two men on either side of the door. One a leering, stringy haired thug, openly holding a pickaxe in his hand. He looks ready to use it as he smiles through gapped teeth.

The other is a knight in chain mail hauberk and a helm, which is lowered to cover his face. A sword is leaning against his shoulder.

He sees Tania, the woman who inducted him into the network, sitting at a table, with a small thin teen, wearing a black tunic and breeches. The teen is staring at the table, which he is digging into with a wickedly thin blade.

"Have a seat Barris," says Tania, gesturing to a seat before the two.

[mark]

His grin faded as he caught sight of the man with the pick axe, and for a moment he thought that somehow he had been tricked into being assassinated by Beric Dayne. He's dead, Barris reminded himself. We killed him.

He was happy to see Tania. She was still pretty. At the young man's direction, he took a seat and waited, slumping down, relaxed. He would let them explain things to him for a change.

[The Stranger]

"We wanted to start by saying that you've done very good work Barris, and you should be commended for it. Very daring, very admirable work. If you can think of something which might be in our power to grant, ask, and we'll see if we can't give you a reward for your service." says Tania smiling sweetly.

The teen looks up at Barris, with deep dark eyes, with black circles around them, indicating sleeplessness or years of malnutrition.

"The other thing, is that if you ever go directly to the Lord Regent again without getting approval, We will not be pleased." the boy says.

"Yes," Tania adds, "that was... most unfortunate. You see, Lord Regent Benfry is very busy as all powerful men are. And when they receive only partial information, not properly... codified, and incorporating all the knowledge from all of our agents, organized and presented properly, they can..."

"Make errors in judgment." The boy finishes.

"Right. Errors in judgment." Tania concurs.

"Does that make sense?" The teen asks, as he stops defacing the table with his blade. He seems indeed curious as to hear Barris' opinion.

[mark]

Barris shrugged, looking at the teen. "Yes, it makes sense. I fucked up. Sorry." Despite his simple words, his expression was genuine.

[The Stranger]

The boy nods. "Okay. That's good enough for me." He smiles at Barris warmly.

"I want you to return to the East. build up a network for us there. Recruit agents, run operatives, infiltrate the city centers of power, political, religious, criminal. Tania will provide you with enough dragons to set yourself up in a nice Manse. We'll provide documents and letters which will indicate that you and your family have had something of a falling out, and that you are now out on your own, seeking to strike it rich. Understand so far?"

[mark]

Barris returned the smile before growing serious at his next orders. "Yes, I understand thus far."

[The Stranger]

"Good. We do not have many friends to the East, so you must play on your belly. Take no risks, and make no mistakes. Start small, double check everything, and do not be foolish. You've been useful and we'd hate to lose you." says the dark eyed boy.
The boy stood.

"That's all for now. You can ask Tania any questions you might have." The boy left, followed by the two men.