"Where organized crime exists, so would smuggling. The activity of bringing contraband material through discreet channels had always been a staple of the criminal underworld. Quite often, the main clientele for these smuggled goods were those high up in society, which further provided them with blackmail material and a veneer of security for their operations.

After all, drug addictions are always troublesome things to handle, be one rich or poor." - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomics at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 661 FP.

"You sure you got enough for this?" Reinhardt asked worriedly as he saw off the small group that had gathered by the bank of the lake. They were far away from Zefirous, and it was dark at night, such that even a keen-eyed watcher with spyglasses would not be able to notice them there.

"It's best to go with less this time," replied Elfriede as she made some final checks on her clothes and equipment. Her weapons were sheathed on either side of her waist, and she had tied her hair into a bun and tucked it behind her head. "Loren can only handle five of us at a time, and besides, we need people who could at least pass off as fully human to not attract unwanted attention in the city."

Together with Elfriede, four other members of the Free Lances were gathered. Her old friends Grünhildr and Salicia were present for the mission. Neither of them were fully human - Salicia had some faint elven ancestry and Grünhildr had a lot of orcish and dwarven blood - but both women could pass easily enough for full blooded humans without close inspection.

Also present was Nicole, who would be their designated runner and messenger. When Elfriede sent messages back out, it would be her who received the task to return to camp. Loren rounded out the group. The young water mage chosen for his affinity, and more importantly, how he could allow up to five of them to breathe underwater for a limited time with it.

"I know…" said Reinhardt, somewhat deflated that his wife would be infiltrating the enemy base, a highly risky proposition to say the least, while he could do nothing to help. "Just… promise me you'll be careful."

"I will," stated Elfriede simply with a reassuring nod. "If all goes well, I'll be seeing you again within the city. Take care of Ery till then."

With those words, Elfriede turned and gathered with the rest. Loren cast his magic over the five of them, its effects supposedly allowing them to breathe in the water for the next couple of hours, and one by one, they plunged into the lake.

Loren was at the lead of their group as they swam in the darkness, using his magic to help make their path smoother. Elfriede had passed him the route, and told him of the markings to look out for, so it fell to him to lead the rest.

She herself had trained to be able to navigate in the water, through sound and by using her magic to forcefully create bubbles of air which she used to detect things close to her. She never really liked being in the water though, as it made her feel insecure to have her senses limited so.

The five of them swam near the bottom of the lake, and in the darkness, they were pretty much invisible to those above the lake. It took them a good hour to cover the distance until they finally reached the rock formation on which the city was built, and Loren carefully searched around until he finally found what he was looking for.

An underwater cavern, in the deepest section of the lake, with clearly man-made markings etched deep into the stones by its opening. The smuggler's route into the city proper, and now, their group's route as well.

It was a narrow cavern, to the point that they had to swim in single file to pass through it. Elfriede swapped with Loren and took the lead, in case they emerged into a situation where they would need to fight, and led the way as they all swam inside.

The cavern was quite irregular in contour, and had a slight upwards slope. The group followed it until they finally reached an underground lake somewhere beneath the city half an hour later. Elfriede carefully and silently emerged from the water, as she flared her magical senses to watch their surroundings, but found nobody in the vicinity.

At least they had not had the misfortune to stumble upon a smuggler bringing in their goods then. One by one, the others emerged from the waters behind her, and stepped into the dry ground. Nicole took a good look at their surroundings as well before she signaled the all clear.

Then the five of them dried themselves and changed into dry clothes from their storages. Keeping the wet clothes on was not an option. The pitter-patter of the dripping water was a potential giveaway in their situation.

Once dried properly, the five of them advanced from the shores of the underground lake, towards a nearby cavern. This one was more obviously manmade, the stone roughly tunneled through, with supports of wood placed against the wall here and there.

Elfriede was in familiar grounds at that point, the undercity of Zefirous being a place she had known like the back of her hand in the past. Even now, ten years later, she still remembered her way, and took the group through the twists and turns of the tunnels.

Some of the paths they had not taken led to dead ends and traps, as the criminal organizations had made the tunnels into a maze to keep smugglers who took that route from going to other dealers. Elfriede knew every bend of the tunnel by heart, though, and easily led the group through the correct path.

As they neared the end of the tunnel, faint sounds of conversation carried over, and Elfriede gave several hand signals to the group, for them to follow her lead. They were there to talk, so she had gestured for them not to kill, just to intimidate.

Then they gathered up by the last corner, and struck together at her signal.