Offensive

The remainder of the morning was relatively calm, at least for you. The corpse of the assassin dangling on the wall of your apartment was still causing quite a ruckus, and although many seemed to approach Benjamin, the Matchsticks' latest celebrity and most likely to know something, he kept your anonymity. Despite all of this, you couldn't help feel a sense of dread and anxiety. This was the calm before the storm, and you didn't like just waiting for the clouds to loom over you. Seeing Jiaghan's mood didn't help things, as she seemed to be deeply bothered. She meandered aimlessly, fidgeting with an unfinished blade in her hands.

"Hey, you doing alright?" You asked. The young elf looked at you meekily, trying slightly to act positive

"I'm fine. It's just...other people I'm worried about"

Looking at the in-work weapon, you began to put things together "Nobody's seen Halgen still, huh?"

"Ya. He was going to help me get this shaped and sharpened right before he disappeared. I can't help but think, if he's not coming back soon, he's not coming back at all."

You sat next to her, speaking softly "I'm sorry kid. We'll keep looking for him. I didn't know him well, but I know he was a hardy guy, and loyal. He wouldn't have left you behind if he could help it, and if he was taken, I'm sure he's giving them hell."

Jiaghan looked at you, anger in her eyes. "What about you? Why aren't you going after them!? They tried to kill you! Is there something I'm missing! Are you really letting Benjamin going to tell you what to do!"

"Woah, hang on!" You responded quickly, hands raised in defiant surprise at her outburst "Let's not get things mixed up here. The goons that came after got what they deserved. We don't even know if they're the same guys that took Halgen, if anyone did."

"So!?" She shouted impetuously "So what if they aren't the same ones? They're all the same! You taught me that, Liz! What's happened to you? Since when did you roll over like this! Ben's turning you into a coward!"

"That's enough out of you." Your tone was loud and stern as you got close to her. "You stuck around me all of these years because you know the safest place in the whole damned city is right behind me, and I let you stay there because you're the only one who hasn't tried to stab me in the back. Don't mistake me for one of these other fools, got it? I'm not afraid of anyone, and certainly not the scum that has to come after me in the dead of night."

Jiaghan listened intently, and her anger turned swiftly in sorrow "Than why aren't you going after them Liz? How long do we have live in fear like this? I hate it!"

You opened your arms and let the young elf come in for a tight embrace. As she poured her emotions into you, you took a few deep breaths. Through them, you started to gain clarity and purpose that you had not felt in years.

"You're right kid," You said quietly "Enough is enough. I need you stay here, where it's safe, okay?"

She let go of you, and her shaky voice carried a tinge of fear "Where are you going?"

"Don't worry about me. Benjamin and I are going to take a little walk for a while."

As she nodded quietly, you moved quickly down the stairs and out onto the street, where Benjamin was standing in the same place he had all day, with Dogha again. With your hands already on your weapons, he could see the venom in your veins.

"Liz," He opened cautiously "What's going on?"

"You want to help people Benjamin?"

"Of course" he nodded along simply "I helped you, after all"

"You want to fight the corruption and show people there's a better way?"

"Of course"

"And you swear you have my back?"

"On my honor"

"Good, than you're coming with me." You thought for a second of grabbing him by his armored hand, but that proved to be unnecessary, as he quickly caught up with you.

"Liz," He began again as he walked at your same hurried pace "We talked about this. I don't know what you're doing, but this isn't the answer. You can't **** your way into a peaceful society."

"Watch me" You retorted swiftly. Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted Dogha following behind. To your left, you saw a few familiar faces walking your way to join your little march.

"Do you even have a plan, Liz?" He asked, in a rare case of nervousness "This is looking a lot less like justice and trying to fix the situation, and a whole lot more like petty ****. Whatever you're thinking isn't going to undo what happened to you"

"You're right" You stopped and looked at him, with a striking glare "and I'm not trying to change the past. Gods can't even do that, so why should I try. But what I can do is make sure that it doesn't happen again. Dogha can do that. All of these people can do that" You point behind him, to the dozen or so rough cut citizens who are following behind you, armed with whatever improvised weapons they could muster. "You want to lead folks to a better way, you'll never get a better chance than right now, but you can't get rid of the rot without getting your hands dirty."

Benjamin smiled slightly "That's well put, but this is your idea. Whatever you're planning, I'll do what I can."

The crowd behind you grew into a small mob before you arrived at the target in mind; a tavern of ill repute, known as The Faire Maiden. Nobody went in here that didn't have a body count and an affiliation with the criminal underground.

"Alright Liz," Benjamin asked as you stopped outside, the full throng behind you. "Why this place?"

"Well for starters, their ale sucks"

Benjamin's disapproving gaze gave you some sense of satisfaction "I pray the rest of your reasons are more convincing"

"Well, for one thing, this place has the worst of the worst in it. I know you want to offer up a chance for redemption, but these guys aren't it. They need to go."

"Okay," He nodded slowly "That's better, but not by much."

"Most importantly, Halgen's shop is just down that other alleyway" You pointed down a decrepit street. "If anyone knows anything, or if anyone was responsible for taking or hurting him, this is the most likely place they'd be."

"Fair enough." He turned to Dogha, and gave a gentle nod to come along, before looking at the crowd behind him. "Look everyone. I don't want to see any of you get hurt, or worse killed, if it can be avoided. If there's trouble, just wait for my signal, and come in."

"What's the signal!?" A stout human man asked.

Although the others likely didn't see it in his face, you caught a glimpse of worry cross his face "You'll know it when you see it. Remember everyone, we're not here to resolve petty grudges"

There were indistinct murmors and grumblings that followed you inside, all of which told you both how much work Benjamin still had ahead of him if he were to get the people on his side. All heads turned to three of you as entered, and all of them possessed hostile eyes.

"This is a private establishment" You hear a grough voice from behind the bar, belonging to a very haggared man who has served too many drinks to too many of these types of people, and likely been in too many brawls himself. "This is your one warning"

"Well, let's just hold onto that thought for a second" Benjamin began, taking small steps deeper in as he spoke "I'm sure we can all find in ourselves our inner decorum. See, we're not here for drinks. We're hoping we might exchange coin for some information, and be on our way."

"We don't take kindly to questions." Another spoke up, a burly orc trying to intimidate the armored knight by standing over him. "It's time for you to leave."

"I'm sorry, but I must insist. Now I know all you types, in fact I used to be one many moons ago, so I know flexible you all are when it comes to the adherence to rules. My friends and I are just looking for our friend Halgen. Short fellow, works near by. We'd hoped maybe you knew something about it."

There were chuckles and a few fist pounds on the bar counter.

"The Dwarf is working for us now."

"Oh" Benjamin turned his head to look at you for a second. He spotted your hands tightly gripping your daggers, but made no mention of it. "That's very interesting, as he never seemed to say goodbye."

"He said no to Baccha Khan. We convinced him to reconsider."

"Friends" Benjamin said loudly "I think you need a new boss, because it sounds like mister Khan isn't doing you any favors. Might I suggest you all take a leave of absense, and find some more meaningful work. The kind that doesn't involve you -"

It didn't take the goons in the bar for Benjamin to finish his sentence to know what he was going on about, and so the hefty orc tried to take a massive swing to end his ideological rantings. For his part, the human proved to be the more nimbler of the two, even in his armor. He allowed the orc to over extend, and merely pushed him towards the window.

As the green skin broke through, and shattered glass fell into the streets, the eager crowd outside, rightly or wrongly, poured into the Faire Maiden, and an utter chaotic brawl ensued. The density of people was stifling, hard for anyone, even you, to fight properly. This worked to the advantage of the mob, with the cramped quarters and overwhelming numbers. As the criminal lowlifes began to fall, the mob violently pulled them out into the street, where their beating and humiliation could be publicly seen by passerby. A few were able to run away, but most lay on the ground, heavily injured, in various degrees of consciousness.

The mob energy turned jubilant in their victory, especially as they discovered the spoils of the battle.