The boy with the boat
Maggie watches you through her telescope and waves every time to look back but soon you're lost behind the steep pitch of a tattered roof.
"She seems a lonely sort," Grom notes as he starts up a ladder. A seagull watches you from a high perch and clacks its beak hungrily. "People that end up here have lost everything, money, family. It's a sad life without anyone to turn to. I'm a dwarf so I've got people. My Ma always said that us dwarves have a duty to help others. She takes in all sorts. When I was a kid there was always some stranger sitting at the table, eating from the pot. Have you got people?"
You think about Grom's question as you negotiate a narrow plank strung across a collapsed roof. Strangers glance up from exposed rooms and you get the feeling you're intruding on their lives.
"If you ever get hungry find a dwarven kitchen and ask for something to eat. You have to ask mind, just looking hungry isn't always enough."
The path enters a gulley between two decrepit roofs. Plants fill the gaps, growing from clay pots and a rusted metal bathtub.
"It's a garden," Grom says in surprise and stops to sniff a yellow flower.
"Do you like flowers?" an old man sitting under a canvas sheet asks. A little boy sits at his side playing with a wooden boat. "I've heard dwarves have green thumbs."
"Mine are more muddy than green," Grom says with a grin.
"I used to grow plants when I was on the ship. Would have had them all over the deck if the captain had let me. The Slab's full of old sailors unwilling to leave the sea behind," the old man says with a toothy grin. "If you're here to see the temple there's a ladder over yonder that will take you down to it."
The boy's eyes light up as he notices the wooden boat your holding and he holds his out to trade.
Trade your boat for the boy's.
Keep the one Maggie gave you.
You swap your boat with the boys and he runs back to the old man to whisper in his ear. The old man nods and crawls forwards on his hands and knees until he reaches a gap in the planks. He lowers his eye to the gap and peers down into the dark.
"My grandson knows a lot for his age, knows that a hooded figure lurking around the temple means trouble."
You and Grom kneel to take a look. Below you is a squat stone building standing on its own. The floor looks empty but then a hooded figure gets up from behind a crate and peers around a corner. Grom sits back and shakes his head.
"Not one of them again," Grom groans.
"They do that, come here and pray before the heart." The old man retreats to his spot under the sail and sits on his cushion. "Thinks it gives them powers and it does but only to the good ones. That one's evil, I've seen her before. Carries bones in a bag. I think her name's Ruby something or other."
"Bones?" Grom's face turns pale and he starts shaking his head. "I'm not going down there if she's a necromancer."
"If it's the temple you want to see then go the back way." The old man gestures across the rooftops. "My grandson will show you the way."
Grom doesn't seem keen on the idea but the boy sets off with the boat in his hands.
Swap the boat
Swap the boat
Keep the one Maggie gave you.
You shake your head and explain to the boy that yours was a gift and that you want to keep it. The boy sits back down and plays quietly with his boat.
"Use that ladder." The old man points at a hatch with a crooked finger. "The heart is just below here. The plants like being near it."
You thank the old man and take your leave.
Keep your boat
Parent Plot
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