Dogwater: Assassin Tales (Flashback Edition)

Dogwater leaned his scrawny ten year old body against the crumbling stone wall of the soup kitchen that was funded by the Temple of Arom. He was eyeing the priestess that was making her way down the street towards him.

She was a new face that he did not recognize. This seemed odd to Dogwater since he knew everyone that passed through here but he brushed it off. She would make the perfect mark for his ragtag gang of waifs.

Just a few hours prior Dogwater had send his crew out to do a shakedown at a neighboring block that was running a bare knuckle fighting operation and he wanted in on the take.

With his crew still taking care of that bit of business he was going at this one alone.

The followers of Arom were suckers for a dirty looking street rat of a kid. They were always preaching about honor, duty, and justice.

However, on this day, Dogwater wasn't going to play the part of a timid and starving child looking for a handout. He was gaining quite the reputation for his violence. It was time he fully embraced that reputation and today was as good as any to take it to the next level.

He eyed the priestess appraisingly trying to discern any weakness or flaws that he could exploit. She was an elderly human, a bit rotund and with long flowing grey hair. She favored her right leg with a slight limp.

He had the speed and agility advantage which would make this a quick strike and grab. His mind began formulating a plan. This would be easy, he would strike with extreme violence, snatch the coin purse and be out.

As the priestess approached she stumbled a bit and swayed slightly before regaining her balance. Dogwater smiled to himself and thought, "too easy". He tried to temper his eagerness and appear casual and non-threatening. He kept his hands in his pockets, one hand gripping a knife and the other hand clenched a handful of powdered glass and dirt.

After several heartbeats she was within range and they made eye contact. Dogwater exploded into motion. His hands coming free from his pockets as he flung the mixture of glass and dirt directly at her eyes as he thrust out simultaneously with the knife aimed at her abdomen. Dogwater had every intention of blinding and gutting her at the same time.

Without warning, everything momentarily went black then stars swam in his eyes and blood leaked from his mouth. He realized he was lying face-down in the dirt, a heavy knee was pressing directly into his back, and both of his arms were twisted together and bend backwards.

He felt the weight on his back shift forward and a voice whispered in his ear, "Not bad boy, I didn't think you had the balls to actually go through with an attack".

Dogwater craned his neck back to look directly into the eyes of Madam Bryna Elmariss the famed elven assassin and master of disguise. She smiled briefly then said, "The guild wants to see you".

Dogwater sputtered a confused reply, "What? Where?" To which Madam Bryna replied with a mocking smile, "My sweet young Dogwater, finding the guild is the first part of your test and I recommend not being late".

The weight suddenly lifted from his back. As soon as the pressure released he instantly rolled to a kneeling position and spun around to face the green elf but she was gone without a trace.

Dogwater slowly rose to his feet, warily eyeing his surroundings expecting another attack and when none came he visibly relaxed until he realized what just happened.

He was being summoned to the assassins guild! As far as Dogwater knew no one had ever been summoned to the guild at his age. With an urgency in his chest he realized he had to go, he had to go now!

His mind raced, where to start? He had only been out of the Poor Quarter on a few occasions. More than half of those times he had visited the Merchant District to run some scam or another. He suddenly realized he was panicking and was running around in random directions, he needed to calm himself.

He sat on a pile of rubble and began a calming trick he had learned that focused his mind and heightened his awareness. As the touch of Morsash entered his consciousness he felt a wave of clarity and focus wash over himself.

Morsash, the Lord of Murder, had marked Dogwater as a child with his divine touch and had offered him guidance to free himself from his fathers brutal control. Ever since that day it had become second nature for Dogwater to connect with the deity which allowed him to do things that the other kids his age could not. Speaking with Morsash had became as easy as breathing.

It suddenly became clear to him and Dogwater knew he must visit the Temple of Morsash in the religious district.

***

The thick iron gate to the religious district loomed large in front of him. A motif for each deity was represented along the thick spiraled tines that made up this massive gate. The spiraling tines seemed to intertwine with no beginning or end but his eyes immediately went to the depiction of Morsash.

Morsash was shown as a thin, elderly human male with a cruel and deeply wrinkled face. A small dagger was concealed in his hand and his eyes appeared to simultaneously look back at you, as well as every other deity that was depicted in the motif. It seemed an impossible feat of craftsmanship and it made you dizzy if you stared too long trying to decipher who he was truly looking.

Shaking his head to clear the dizziness it struck Dogwater as odd; a gate that was constructed to be so massive and sturdy was never closed. It was policy that the gates were to remain open at all times. It seemed quite pointless to Dogwater to even have the gate in the first place.

Shrugging his shoulders and putting the gate out of his mind, Dogwater made his way along the winding streets. He passed various clerics and a random assortment of different factions in their own groups. Some were rushing all about and others just meandered casually to their destination.

Suddenly, a fanatic of Dolorr, The Lord of Suffering and Sorrow, lurched at him with his gnarled and bony fingers outstretched. Dogwater reacted without thinking and before you could blink he had drawn his knife and cleanly severed three of the fingers from the fanatics extended right hand.

The fanatic howled in pain that quickly turned into a soft laughing sob and he clutched his now mangled hand to his chest and disappeared into a side alley.

Dogwater stood their in confusion and at the ready, unsure of what just happened. He then heard a soft, comforting voice say, "Don't worry about him my boy, he wanted that to happen". Dogwater looked to the side to see a large and imposing, grey furred, Candirus Monk of Gard, The God of War and Lord Protector.

The Candirus were a large and shaggy canine type of humanoid, similar to a Gnoll but with a much different temperament. Gnolls were foul and selfish where the Candirus were typically friendly and loyal. This Candirus looked impossibly old and his voice was as soft and soothing as silk.

Dogwater scoffed at the old monk and boldly proclaimed, "I have one for you too if you wish to test me".

The Monk laughed heartily and replied, "My my, aren't you a feisty one. You're as fearless as a Sabrecat". He gave Dogwater another look, smiled widely then continued, "My Lord Gard would have a place of honor for one as bold as yourself".

Dogwater sneered as he spat at the Monk's feet and responded in a cold and calculated voice, "I don't suspect that my Lord Morsash would appreciate your wretched excuse of a god trying to poach one of his prized disciples".

The jovial smile quickly melted from the monks face and turned into a sour and hateful scowl. His voice turned low and harsh, "You think mighty highly of yourself, if you call yourself a prized disciple of the insane god." Glaring daggers at Dogwater, he then said, "If you were not a child I would strike you dead where you stand".

The monk then turned on his heels and without another word he disappeared into a low building.

Dogwater scoffed again and continued on his way. Other than a few Goblin's scuffling among themselves outside of the temple Banach, the rest of his walk proved to be uneventful. He turned around another corner and there it was, he was standing outside of the temple of Morsash.

The building before him appeared to be shrouded in perpetual shadows. The black marble walls were veined with red basalt and a thick red substance, the consistency of honey, seemed to ooze from the walls slowly running in thin rivulets all the way down to the ground. This gave the appearance that the temple was bleeding.

Dogwater's heart swelled with price as he crossed the threshold. In many ways, entering the temple was more dangerous than being exposed out of the streets. This was the temple of Morsash and he had many titles: Lord of Deceit and The Father of Lies were among them but what he was most known for was the Lord of Murder.

Morsash not only encouraged murder but he condoned his followers to murder each other. He was a god of strife and discord. He was not as unpredictable and chaotic as his brother Banach but The Lord of Murder did enjoy shaking things up, even at the expense of his own followers.

As Dogwater made his way through the temple he was fascinated by the "blood" that was leaking from the walls, even on the inside of the temple the thick substance slowly rolled it's way down the walls.

Dogwater knew he needed to be here but he was not sure what he was looking for. Everyone in the temple that he passed seemed to be ignoring him and he was grateful for that. He didn't have time to deal with another confrontation.

As he approached the altar room, Dogwater noticed an apparent dead end hallway to the left. Something seemed off about that so he altered his course and took the passageway. As he made his way deeper down the hallway it was apparently a trick of the eye because there was a doorway set deep into the wall. The shadows had just created the illusion that nothing was there.

Dogwater approached the door to investigate and that is when he noticed one of the blood rivulets on the far wall seemed to end abruptly. It was as though it had been cut off prematurely before reaching the floor.

He moved closer to investigate and as he ran his fingers along the wall he felt an almost imperceptible line that was flawlessly cut into the stone. Tracing his finger along the line he found that it was in the shape of a small round portal. He pressed slightly on the center and felt a slight give.

His heart now racing he pressed again, more firmly this time and his arm disappeared into the wall. He pulled his arm back in shock then gritted his teeth in determination and dove headfirst into the wall. To his surprise he felt no resistance as his body passed through the stone as though it were air.

He landed with a hard thump and rolled to his feet, instinctively falling into a ready position. He was in a short, stone walled hallway and a thick weathered door stood at the end.

He noticed several other portals lining the walls leading up the door. He suspected each one was an entrance much like the one he had just entered through but located at different locations throughout the city.

Straightening himself he heading straight towards the door. To his chagrin he found it to be locked. He banged on the door with his bony fist to no avail. He scowled in annoyance and dug in his pocket for his lock pick and set to working on the lock.

The lock was more difficult than a typical lock but he was dexterous enough that is gave him no real trouble. Soon he heard the clicking sound of the internal mechanism unlatching. He reached for the handle when he felt a familiar tickling in the back of his mind. Something was wrong.

Dogwater retracted his hand and took a step back to see the whole picture. He then ran his hands along the door frame trying to see if he felt anything out of the ordinary. He wanted to throw open the door and just march right in but the tickling in his brain would not subside.

Then he felt it. There it was, a small sliver of steel that could have easily been dismissed as a wood splinter was sticking out an an odd angle near the door handle. If Dogwater would have turned the handle; the thin, spring loaded needle would have shot out to pierce his hand and he had no doubt there was poison involved.

Dogwater took his knife and careful dismantled the spring and removed the needle, wrapped it in cloth and placed it in his leather hip pouch. He grinned and thought to himself that it might be handy some day. He made one final examination and grabbed the door handle and turned.

The door swung open easily and soundlessly as he entered a large oval shaped reception room.

A booming voice greeted him from a raised dais towards the back of the room. "Welcome Dogwater, we have been expecting you".

Dogwater squinted through the shadows and saw several beings shuffling about. He could make out a few dark elves, a haflings, and even a pair of du'gugway, the mysterious snake people and several others. The speaker was a large human sitting on an over-sized chair that was overflowing with soft exotic furs.

His voiced boomed again, "Come closer my boy we have a job for you".

Dogwater lifted his chin and approached the man with a swagger that belied his nervousness. That is when he noticed Madam Bryna Elmariss standing behind the Guildmaster with her hand on his shoulder. smiling arrogantly down on Dogwater.

The Guildmaster gripped the edges of his chair showing off his many ringed fingers and spoke again, "We've been hearing a lot about you my young friend and we have a job that we think is suited for your skills and...station".

Dogwater listened, taking it all in and paying close attention to Madam Bryna as she stood their looking down at him with a smirk on her face.

Dogwater shifted his gaze to the Guildmaster and said simply, "Alright, what's the job?"

The Guildmaster clapped his hands gleefully and spoke again, "There is a pig farmer that owes Madam Bryna a small fortune for a job she had done for him".

The Guildmaster briefly gazed down at Dogwater trying to gauge his reaction before continuing, "We need you to collect in any way you deem necessary and upon successful completion we can discuss your future with us".

Dogwater's expression did not change as he nodded and said, "Alright, show me to him".

The Guildmaster gestured to Madam Bryna and said, "Ms. Elmariss will give you the details".

Madam Bryna turned abruptly and simply said, "come".

Dogwater trotted to catch up as Madam Bryna briskly made her way through a series of winding hallways and passed several doors and open meeting halls.

As he clipped along at her side he was almost startled by the now familiar booming voice of Morsash speaking directly into his head and rattling his skull, "THINK BIGGER BOY. MAKE YOUR MARK!" At that moment Dogwater knew what he needed to do.

Dogwater suddenly cried out in feigned pain and clutched at his knee. Madam Bryna stopped and stooped down to see what was wrong and that is when Dogwater threw a handful of powdered glass and dirt into her eyes and plunged his knife straight into her abdomen.

A short time later Dogwater re-entered the reception room to find the Guildmaster still at his seat and talking with a male dark elf.

Dogwater confidently walked up to the dais and stood before the Guildmaster with his back straight and chin held high Dogwater declared, "My station just improved" and he tossed a bloodied sack at the Guildmaster's feet.