“I have need of you three to meet with someone,” the Spider paused briefly, cutting off from his response to So-Nobu to think about his next words carefully. “An informant…of sorts.”

  “Is this informant of yours someone you consider a friend?” Andro asked. The Spider gestured with one of his five arms with his hand outreached as if for a handshake, and then tilted it back and forth. Andro responded to this with furrowed brow and a half-frown.

  “What would you need from this informant?” asked So-Nobu.

  “Information. Duh.” Charlie retorted. So-Nobu turned slowly towards Charlie who was picking at her nails, paying him no attention. “Yes, Charlie,” So-Nobu spoke slowly, “I am aware of what an informant provides.” Charlie continued to pick at her nails while So-Nobu slowly turned back to the Spider. “What I meant was—”

  The Spider cut off So-Nobu’s expnation, “’Fraid I can’t dispatch with that bit of information just yet. But don’t worry, once you meet with him, he’ll sing like a canary. He always does.” The Spider’s demeanor changed when he spoke the st line, becoming obviously disgruntled.

  “Where can we find him?” Andro kept to the point with his line of questioning.

  “He should be shacked up in the next town over. Raggenwold. Little mining fix that’s seen better days. Rumor has it, he’s a frequent at their tavern.”

  Charlie perks up. “You mean you don’t even know where he is?” She forces some ughter to punctuate this question. “You have got to be kidding me. The Great Spider, Lord of the Amhull Underworld, who religiously keeps tabs on every individual who comes and goes from the Market District, can’t keep track of his own informants? Uncle, you leave me speechless.”

  The Spider was in no way her uncle other than as a title she called him when she was younger. Charlie was raised by pirates growing up and had never known her real parents. She saw the Spider as a necessary authority figure with access to resources that could keep her well-fed, and most importantly alive. He was, for ck of better terms, a means to an end. She began walking around the room, lifting dust off of treasure pieces with a finger and then pinch-wiping it with her thumb.

  “My little pirate…” the Spider said with a smile. “You know you can’t be taking that kind of tone with me. You’re all grown up now and you don’t want Uncle Spider to have to give you another lesson in manners.” The Spider stopped giving Charlie attention and directed it back to Andro and So-Nobu who were still standing near the doorway. “You’ll know this man when you see him. He is…” again Spider perused the recesses of his mind to find the right words. “Decorated.”

  “We will find your decorated man and bring him back to you right away.” So-Nobu gave a quick bow and began to turn for the door. Andro caught his shoulder and stopped him from proceeding. “No,” Andro began, “we will not be bringing anyone back.” The Spider’s eyes glowed a brighter blue and shaped into a look of curiosity.

  Andro continued, “We will ask him what he knows. We will rey that information to you. And you will pay us for our time.” The Spider kept the same curious stare at Andro, but Andro did not budge. “No muscle required, remember?” Andro now shared the same curious look back to Spider. Spider leaned back and collected his thoughts for a moment, stroking his bulbous chin with one of his arms as he did.

  “Hmmmm…I suppose I did say no muscle required…”

  “And 300 gold pieces per person.” Charlie chimed in from almost in the back of the room. The Spider did not turn to her. They may not have seen it, but the Spider’s eyes gave away that he was now smiling behind that thick mask breathing apparatus.

  “Very well. IF you manage to get the information from him yourself…” the Spider gave one final pause. “THEN you may return and collect your payments. But know this,” the Spider leaned forward and pointed at both Andro and So-Nobu with two different arms. “If I catch even the slightest scent of deception from any of you, or if I am unsatisfied with the information…” the Spider snapped his fingers on two of his hands. At the sound of the snaps, the two porcupine insect guards on either side of him stood at an attention, pointing their spears directly at So-Nobu and Andro. In a motion quicker than their eyes could track, the guards flung their spears towards them. So-Nobu flinched ever so slightly, closing his eyes for a moment as the spears hurled towards he and Andro. There was a loud *schluck* as both spears stuck into the rge wooden doors behind them. The breeze of the spears passing by his face made Andro’s braids fidget.

  “Booo! You missed him.” Charlie was making her way back up towards Andro and So-Nobu now from the back of the room. She was looking directly at Andro as she spoke. She continued to walk past So-Nobu and Andro towards where the spears had stuck in the doors. “You boys and your toys. Always compensating for something, aren’t we?” Charlie wrapped a hand around one of poles of the spears and gave it a good tug. It did not budge. The cocky smile on her face began to fade quickly into a look of annoyance. She gripped the pole now with both hands and gave a mightier tug than before. A sound of resistance as the spear embedded in the wood once again did not budge. Charlie began to mumble under her breath (Mother fucker. Just—grrr—fuckin’. Stuck in there good. Oh, hang on, I think it’s—it’s budging a little, I should have it—Mother FUCKER!)

  As she grunted and growled, the others watched in discomfort. At this point, she had pced both of her feet on the door and was gripping the spear with both hands heaving it towards her. She was completely off the ground, tugging furiously at the spear for some time until she realized everyone had been watching her in silence. She ceased her attempts to retrieve the spear as she blushed and brought her feet back to the ground. She cleared her throat as she walked awkwardly back to the side of So-Nobu. “It’s uhh..it’s not good for the wood. The uhh spears that is. Shouldn’t uhh…shouldn’t let it sit in there for too long. Might cause…warping or…yeaaaa.”

  “Riiiight….Back by tomorrow night. I know you won’t disappoint me.” The Spider beckoned with one of his arms towards the doorway which now had another figure nearby it. It was the same robed figure from before (at least it looked the same, it was hard to tell). The three hat sellers followed the robed figure back out into the tunnel as the doors opened seemingly on their own. The doors closed behind them without a sound as Charlie looked up once more at the lit ntern candle that once flickered strangely when they first entered. It was still once again. They walked in silence down the tunnel, past the sets of doors towards the steps that would lead them back up into the abandoned building. As they passed one of the doors, So-Nobu could have sworn that one of the doors closed without a sound before they passed by it. The robed figure did not seem to notice or acknowledge it. So-Nobu nudged Charlie and motioned with his head towards the door. Charlie turned towards the closed door and then back to So-Nobu, silently mouthing her confusion. So-Nobu, not wanting to draw attention to their forward-facing robed escort, pointed towards the door and made a motion with his hands like opening a book.

  Charlie only looked more confused. Andro began to pick up on their communications. So-Nobu rolled his eyes and reached down by his waist. He wore a bright red sash that hung down low, almost to his knees, that acted as a belt. The sash also contained some hidden pockets for some of his personal items. He fiddled for a brief moment under the sash until *clunk* his waterskin fell to the ground. The robed figure stopped and turned to see what made the noise. So-Nobu gave a nervous chuckle, “Hehe. So sorry. The waterskin dropped. I have been meaning to get a new string for it…” He turned around and bent down to grab the waterskin and began fidgeting with the drawstring. The robed figure gave out an impatient sigh and turned around without proceeding. Andro had his eyes fixed on So-Nobu and noticed him mumbling something to Charlie. Charlie looked quickly towards the door with widened eyes and gave a subtle nod of her head.

  So-Nobu stood back up and fixed his waterskin back to his waist. “There. All set. I tied an extra knot in it this time. Hope I don’t get thirsty anytime soon. It will be a real challenge untying it this time.” He began smacking his lips together after saying this, suddenly realizing that he was a little thirsty and probably should have taken a swig while he could have. The robed figure began to walk forward again without turning around. The group got a few more steps forward when from behind them they heard a *click* *st* *CHUNK*

  Now the robed figure whirled around and for the first time they could see some of his eyes. They were deep and misty under the robe. The figure lifted his head to get a better look at what made the noise. They all turned at the same time to see what it was, but there was nothing and nobody in sight. The doors were all shut and the tunnel fell silent once again. The robed figure looked carefully at So-Nobu who responded with a quick shrug. The robed figure took one final look back down the tunnel and then proceeded to continue walking at a more brisk pace than before towards the steps. Charlie gave a gnce at a nearby ntern. The light was dancing for a moment and then…still.

  They walked up the steps and through the abandoned building with no further issues. No sign of the drow that had summoned them there, and they were fine with that. As much as they wanted (needed) a drink after that exchange, they thought it best to stay out of the tavern for the rest of the evening. They headed back to their wagon which was a not a far walk, just the other side of the district entrance, and began making their sleeping arrangements. They id out their arrangements in silence. It wasn’t until everyone had made their sleeping arrangements and basically settled in that the silence was broken.

  “Alright. It’s gonna bother me until you tell me” Andro spoke up. “What was that whole deal down in the tunnel?” Andro sat up on his sleeping pack with one leg up and one arm rested on the raised knee. He looked back and forth at So-Nobu and Charlie. The two of them looked at each other. “Well. We can’t be sure, but…we believe that—” So-Nobu was not permitted to finish his sentence as Charlie did it for him. “We think someone was watching us. From one of the doors. So-Nobu says he saw a door shut but the robe guy didn’t clock it.” So-Nobu nodded as Charlie went quiet again. So-Nobu continued, “So I asked Charlie to investigate it. But we—” Again, So-Nobu was cut off by Charlie, “But we needed a distraction so that he could rey the information to me about the door.” Charlie seemed blissfully unaware that she was rudely interrupting her green companion, as So-Nobu attempted to pick up the dialogue once more.

  “So…” So-Nobu paused and looked at Charlie to see if she would once again interrupt him. She did not notice this and did not interrupt. So-Nobu continued, “So I dropped my waterskin, whispered to Charlie to investigate the door. And then…” So-Nobu purposefully turned to Charlie and held out a hand to signal it was her turn to speak. She was not paying any attention as she was picking at a loose string on one of her bnkets. So-Nobu’s face drooped and then he continued, “And then she used—” Charlie cut So-Nobu off once again. So-Nobu closed his eyes tightly to restrain himself from an outburst.

  “And then I used my invisible mage hand to open the door.” Charlie popped the little string off and then looked up at So-Nobu. He was rubbing his temples while his shoulders slowly lifted up and down with calcuted breathing. “You ok, Nobu? You look like you got a nasty headache. Maybe you should lie down?”

  So-Nobu stopped rubbing his temples, “Yes. Charlie. Yes, I think I will.” So-Nobu spoke with clear cuts between each word marking the frustration in his voice. Charlie gave a sympathetic nod towards the githzerai and then continued. “What were we talking about again?”

  Now it was Andro’s turn to show signs of an impending headache. “The invisible mage hand…you said you cast it in the tunnel…”

  “Oh yeaaa. So, it’s actually pretty neat. I give this little ring a rub,” she held up her pointer finger on her right hand. A thin, gold band was wrapped tightly around it. The gold was dirtied and tarnished around the entirety of it. The only part of the ring that had not been stained by dirt and negligence was a tiny, purple gem inid in the middle. Whenever she rubbed this gem on the ring, it would begin to swirl different shades of purple. Charlie continued, “Soon as I do that, this floating hand appears at a location I can see. It’s a little bigger than my own, but with those pointed fingernails it’s got, it can really do some detailed work. Best part is that to anyone but me, it’s completely invisible.”

  Andro was now the one rubbing his temples. He let out a sigh, “Charlie. We have known each other something like thirteen years now. I am not only well aware of your mage hand spell—” Charlie now cut off Andro, “Cantrip.”

  Andro looked at Charlie under low eyelids that twitched slightly in annoyance “Cantrip…Whatever…”

  “It’s not just whatever. A cantrip means that I can cast this thing anytime I want. Spells cost something. Usually, some sort of combination of items or something of that nature.” Charlie was smiling as she spoke very matter-of-factly. “Cantrips don’t need nothing. Well, except for me to rub the gem, but I mean that’s really not much. You can just cast cantrips whenever you want. It’s kinda like you and your water shaping.” Charlie’s tone was friendly and connecting towards Andro.

  Andro shook his head. “It’s not…that’s…” He struggled to find the right words. He quickly got through the sentence instead, “It’s different.” He could tell Charlie was about to protest this when he put his hand up and spoke again, “You were saying? About the mage hand in the tunnel?” He tried to emphasize that he wanted to know more about what the mage hand did, rather than how it worked (a story he had heard too many times in the almost thirteen years of knowing Charlie)

  “Right.” Charlie gave a look of slight shame and then back to focus on the story. “I cast the mage hand at the door that Nobu said might have been opened. I motioned with my hand to open the door, y’know because it mimics my hand motions and all that, but the door was locked. So, instead I used it’s sharp, pointy fingers to start picking the lock. Except…” Her focused, excited tone faded away.

  “Except picking a lock on a door you can’t really look at with an invisible mage hand while walking in the middle of a dark tunnel in complete silence isn’t as easy as it looks?” Andro finished the thought with a raised brow.

  “Something like that.” So-Nobu spoke while ying on his back staring up at the canopy of the wagon where they had all set up for the night.

  The two were silent and both looking at Andro awaiting his reaction. They anticipated a good chew-out session before fading off to sleep, but Andro did not do this. He responded calmly and with a hint of a smile, “Alright. Well, you gave it a college try. Fumbled it, but I suspect you all were on to something. Maybe So-Nobu was just seeing things in his old age?”

  So-Nobu was in fact older than both Charlie and Andro, but only by 4 years. This was enough for Andro and Charlie to often band together and dub So-Nobu as the elder of the group. So-Nobu, though not often appreciating the idea him being “old”, did often find himself leaning in to the idea of being more wise than his younger two companions. Still in this case, So-Nobu shook his head. “No, Andro. I know what I saw. The door was open and then it closed before we passed by it. Which means that someone was on the other side.”

  Andro responded, “Probably just another robe. Those guys are everywhere.”

  Charlie thought about this and almost accepted it, until she remembered something. “The ntern lights!”

  Andro looked at Charlie as she continued. “The ntern lights were flickering at one point and then they stopped. It happened when we first walked down the tunnel, and then again on our way back.”

  Andro thought about this for a moment and then responded, “I see. So you saw the ntern lights flicker…” He spoke in a tone like a detective would. Charlie started nodding her head emphatically.

  “Well,” Andro continued, “that expins everything.”

  So-Nobu and Charlie looked at Andro with anticipation. Andro noticed their looks, “You guys haven’t figured it out yet?”

  Charlie and So-Nobu gnced at each other with a shared, confused look then back to Andro. Andro continued, “Well when you put it all together, it’s pretty simple to expin. So-Nobu saw an open door close, and Charlie saw a ntern light flicker. Which can only mean that So-Nobu is going blind in his old age and Charlie is still a delusional infant.”

  So-Nobu and Charlie both gred at Andro. Andro continued in a much more serious tone, “Look. If we are going to get this job done and get enough gold coin to make an investment in something that isn’t hats that won’t sell, then I need you both to really lock in. Flickering lights and doors closing in creepy underground tunnels are not a good reason to put our jobs…our lives at risk.” The other two companions just sat and listened to Andro’s lecture. “We have a big job tomorrow, and if I know Spider at all, that means we need to bring our A-game. I have a verrrry strong suspicion that this informant of his is gonna be a real pain in the ass, so I would prefer it if we don’t create any further ass pains along the way. Does that work for everyone?”

  Looks of frustration met Andro as Charlie and So-Nobu slowly nodded their heads. “Good. Alright. Then it’s settled. Starting now our focus is only on a decent night’s sleep and tomorrow’s job. Prioritize the sleep because we start early.” With that, Andro turned over and away from the two companions. He blew out the light on his small candle fixture and pulled a bnket up to his chin. Charlie and So-Nobu both looked at each other one st time in defeat and in unison turned over and did the same.

  They would wake the next morning to the sound of Andro stretching and yawning loudly. In typical Andro fashion, he would not be wearing any pants. And in typical Charlie fashion, she would escate a tired groan into a frustrated shriek as the st thing she wanted to see was Andro’s pecker first thing she awoke. So-Nobu’s meditation ended long before either of the others awoke, so he would y there on his back, staring up at the wagon top to avoid the visual. He would y that way and wait until Andro was fully clothed. But during that time, his mind was busy thinking. Thinking about the job. Thinking about the tunnel and the door that closed. Thinking about the clown-like figure that disappeared behind it.