...and find something interesting.

Kyvra led Teysa and Aliara through a succession of narrow tunnels. From the looks of it nearly the whole wall was hollow. They passed racks of weapons, spartan dormitories, and rows of cells set into the wall. A few of them were occupied; sullen-looking wretches glared at them through the bars.

Kyvra's hips swayed as she walked. She remained silent, but occasionally looked over at Teysa and smirked. The paladin fought down the urge to say something. She's baiting me. Next to her, Aliara fumed. The two of them had cleaned themselves up as best they could, but Teysa's eyes still watered a bit and her throat was sore and bruised. She imagined she could feel the drow captain's seed in her belly, and had to suppress a roil of nausea.

Finally they arrived at a doorway cut into the stone. Inside, bookshelves lined the walls of a square room, surrounding a table in the center from which a haphazard pile of candles cast a flickering glow. Kyvra held out an arm. "The records are in here. Sorry they're not more organized. We do our best." Her tone was mocking. "Call a guard when you're done. I'd advise you not to go wandering around in here. It's so easy to get lost."

Inside, the room was surprisingly warm, and Teysa was soon sweating. She and Aliara combed the bookshelves. Each was lined wall-to-wall with thick leather books. They seemed to be in no order at all; one book contained records from fifty years past, while its neighbor covered caravans from just eight months ago. One had nothing but ore caravans stretching back decades, while another simply listed every trader to pass through the gates during a ten-month span two years past. Each caravan's contents were carefully transcribed, along with estimated value, length of stay, the name and number of the merchants, and whatever notes the guard on duty felt like including. These, too, were wildly inconsistent. Some guards included what looked like personal observations: "Merchant looks shabby." "Fine-looking wench at the reins." Others were more rote: "Heavy guard." "Suspicious cargo." The books piled up on the table, but after what seemed like hours they had found no trace of the caravan they were looking for.

"Tey! Tey, check this out!" Aliara jumped up excitedly. Teysa perked up from her review of grain shipments in the past six months. "What is it, Li?"
"Look!" Aliara stabbed a finger at the book she held. Teysa scanned it quickly. "I don't see anything about driders..."
"No, not that. But this is everyone that came through the gate in the last month! It's current! They have to be in here... aha!" She riffled through the pages and held the book up triumphantly. "There! See? 'Silk, other. Trader Siri'ka. One guard. Three carts,' blah blah blah..." Her brow furrowed. "Huh. Check this out. 'Trader advised of political difficulties in city. Advised to encamp on Broken Bank.' What's that about?"

Teysa considered. "Well, it makes sense. I wouldn't want to be wandering around the city as a drider in this climate. I wonder if the guards will tell us where the Broken Bank is."
Aliara put the book down. "Someone will know. Let's get out of here, this place makes me claustrophobic." Teysa whistled for a guard, and just when she thought nobody was coming Kyvra came jogging down the corridor.

"Find everything you need?" The drow's singsong tone was as infuriating as her smirk, but this time Teysa returned a smile of her own. "Yes, thank you. We're ready to go."
Kyvra seemed disappointed, but led them onward. In what seemed like much less time than it had taken to reach the record room in the first place she had brought them back to the entrance. She held open the metal door and sketched a bow. "Come back anytime. We always appreciate doing business with you." She gave a saucy wink.

Teysa paused at the entryway. "One last thing. We're looking for the Broken Bank. How do we get there?"
The drow made a face. "Ugh. The Bank? Why would you want to go there?"
"Just doing some sightseeing. Can you help us?"
She could see the warring impulses on Kyvra's face, but in the end the drow shrugged. "Head right along the inner wall. Turn in when you get to the cemetery. Nothing to see there but rubble and scavvers but hey, it's your funeral."

"Thank you. You've been very helpful." Teysa gave what she hoped was a warm and sincere-looking smile, then turned on her heel and walked away.

Once they were out of earshot of the wall, Aliara spoke up. "God, I wanted to throttle that cunt. Did you hear her? The whole time, she was mocking you."
Teysa nodded. "I heard. Water off a duck, Li. Don't let her get a rise out of you."
"I don't know how you can be so calm! After what we had to do in there-!"

"I didn't like it either! But what's done is done. If we can find Siri'ka, it was worth it. Or do you disagree?"
Aliara sighed. All of a sudden she sounded very young. "No, you're right. I just hate to let these wretches feel like they've won. You see what I mean? How vicious they are?"
Teysa thought that some of the guards she had met on the surface could give the drow a run for their money in petty cruelty, but knew better than to say anything. Instead she tried to change the topic.
"So what are we looking for when we get to the Bank? Do you know what it is, even?"
"No idea, sorry. This is not a good neighborhood, though. Look."

All around them, shabby and abandoned looking buildings lined the streets. Most had broken doors, windows filled with rubble and garbage, or partially collapsed roofs. Not a living soul was in sight, but Teysa felt eyes on her all the same. From somewhere to their right an alley cat yowled-- a surprisingly human-sounding scream.

The cemetery passed by on their right. Most of the gravestones were anonymous steel poles, some with a little hanging placard. A few sad-looking bunches of flowers decorated the graves, but most of them were skewed crazily from years of neglect. Teysa shivered. "No respect for the dead down here, it seems."
"They have pretty elaborate funeral rites in the inner city," Aliara replied. "Out here, though, who gives a damn?"

Up ahead it looked like part of the street had collapsed. Teysa squinted. "Li, look. That must be it."

At some point in the past a river had cut through the city. It had long since dried up, and the furrow it had left carved through the cavern floor like an open wound. The outer wall arced over a heavy iron grate that had long since rusted into a solid mass. Inside the city, the dry bed of the river curved away into the distance. This close, Teysa could smell something rank and rotting; the hollow of the riverbed was filled with garbage. Rubble, rusted metal poles and discarded food formed a treacherous scree that reached nearly to the river's lip.

Shattered black tiles formed a mosaic on each bank. Most were cracked beyond recognition, but Teysa could see hints of a mural on some of the more complete pieces. She felt Aliara grabbing her hand and squeezing. For a long time, there was silence.

"This was a rich place, once," Teysa said. Her voice was subdued. "Look, you can see. A park or something. It must have gone when the river dried up. Did you ever see this before?"
Aliara shook her head. "No. I never heard of a river through the city. This must be ancient. I guess I see why the driders camped here." She raised an arm. "Look! Over there!"

About a hundred feet away there was a cleared area along the bank. It looked like someone had swept all of the debris into the river, leaving a circular patch about twenty feet across. A few intact crates and barrels sat inside the circle. "That must be where they camped!" said Aliara.

Teysa nodded. "Let's check, see if they left anything behind." The two of them had just started across the distance when a sound echoed across the plaza. It wasn't much, just a scrape of stone on stone, but in the silence it rang out like a bell. Both women froze. "What was that? Did you see?" Teysa whispered.
"No, I didn't see anything. Stay alert." Aliara's hands drifted to her daggers.