For once, she felt like her uncle was being truly sincere about his travel plans perhaps the curse that Venger had placed had no affect here in the Realm. "A part of me wants to go with you and see this grand kingdom but I need time to think, uncle. I feel that's there's more to me just being of the Realm entire."

Madeous was a man of strong will and could mask and or hide whatever to anyone else except for Alyson. With a heavy sigh, he told her of origins. "That last battle...knocked us off our feet. In our stubbornness, we believed that Venger could be stopped, or at best be put in his place for a long time. He won with the aid of Dungeon Master in a manner of speaking. There's some connection between those two."

"I heard there was a group of children from Earth, that Dungeon Master had summoned to thwart Venger's plans and something about redemption. I don't know how far they got or if they made it back home." The elementalist told her uncle.

Lazheros walked over to the table nearby refilled the cups with wine for them. They both looked like they needed a drink. As he walked back over, "I disapprove of children being coerced into solving problems caused by adults. Children are children. Let them be and let them enjoy their time of innocence whenever it arises."

***********

The pub had all sorts of shady and not so shady characters for Neven to check out. Some even glanced in his direction watching him as well. To the far right side of the pub sat four to six teenagers ranging from twelve to sixteen. All of them playing a game of dice and chatting among themselves.

"Everyone, wait here," Neven moved towards the group of teenagers. When they caught sight of him, the Thief said not a word as he approached. However, he did begin to use Thieves Cant and motioned with his hands, "Room for one more?"

"You a betting type, are you?" The one in the far corner asked.

"Betting type and the talking type," Neven spoke up with a grin.

The older teen motioned for Neven to sit. He was of slender build in a brown leather tunic and pants. He appeared to the most knowledgeable of the group. His dark skin gave way to some drow lineage. The eyes though were a soft purple. "So, newbie. They your friends over there? We don't want trouble. We don't cause trouble. Trouble gets people either doing time in the mines or dead."

"Yes, they are my friends," Neven took his seat, "And we both have something in common: You don't want trouble and neither do we. What we want is information. My friends and I are new in town and we would like the lay of the land. For example, is there a guild here? If there is, then who is the guildmaster? I don't want to practice my trade here without seeing the guildmaster first."

"The guild is here and everywhere. Here and there." Another of the teens sitting directly across from Neven. A girl with reddish brown hair and green eyes. She leaned forward with a twinkle in her eye, "You looking to join our guild, are you?"

"I'm looking to present myself to the guildmaster," Neven responded evenly, "I never practice my trade in another man's home without the consent of the master of the house. It's poor manners and bad form. I will join your guild only if the master of the house permits it."

The older teen who invited Neven to sit down shuffled the dice in his hand and threw it on the table, "I'm Gabe. I run this lot throughout Asylum. Information is our game. So, you want to see the guildmaster, eh? Where you transferring from? You certainly aren't from around here."

"True enough!" Neven nodded in agreement, "I'm from Deeping Dale! Have you ever heard of it? We lost our guild master, three more rose up to take his place and then we had a full fledged thieves war. Nasty business it is. That's why I'm here. To practice my trade in peace."

"Never heard of it." The one in the far corner said eyeing Neven's friends standing near the entrance of the pub.

"Don't mind them," Neven smiled at the lad in the far corner, "They're my backup. They're not looking for trouble. They just want to keep me out of it."

The girl with the reddish brown hair smiled at Neven again, "You're cute. So, who's the one in charge now?"

Neven smiled back at the girl, "You're cute too! No one's in charge. The thieves war was still raging when I left. It's awfully hard to practice your trade when your fellow guild members are either trying to kill you or rob you or both. I got out of there with my head still on my shoulders and my skin still intact and I haven't looked back since."

"Now I see why you wanted to get out. Can't be in a guild with no system to keep things going like. No sir." One of the teens who was playing dice stopped momentarily then went back to throwing the dice.

Some of the others playing dice glanced occasionally at Neven and the party from time to time. Talking among each other or hap-haphazardly starring at him. The gaze made Neven uncomfortable as if the teen was reading his thoughts.

"A copper piece for your thoughts?" Neven asked no one in particular before he turned towards the girl with reddish brown hair and gave a friendly wink of the eye.

"How thoughtful," She reached across the table, grabbing Neven's shirt pulling him close and kissed him. "I'm Seri."

*******

"What is Neven doing?" Serna asked Seargent Talos, "Is he trying to make friends or trying to make out?"

Sergeant Talos keep his eye on Neven and the others not saying a word. He simply observed the whole scene as it happened. Without missing a beat, "He's working. Maybe if you got out more and viewed how people less fortunate than you worked and lived, you might understand better."