A figure slipped through the door at the back of the Silly Pirate. The straw hat, rough clothes and smell of manure clearly stating that the man was a stable hand. A statment that was quite untrue. Withers was a member of the Blacks, the gang led by Tommy Caulder. It was traditional for criminal gangs in islander to take a color as the gang name. Rather, it had been, these days most of the old gangs had been surpressed by the Hyser underworld and its connections in the new system. The Black Gang had actually been pretty prosperous at one point, enough that their leader had even managed to get his sister into an apprenticship to an Creator Magus. Withers looked around the back storeroom at what remained of the Black Gangs leadership.

Out of over two dozen gang leaders and hundreds and members they were reduced to just two leaders, the head of the gang, and maybe three dozen members. He couldn't be sure how many members were left now that they were going after an inquisitor. What he was sure of was that besides him the only other Black Gang officer still with them was Irela Bane. Wither tossed his hat aside and sat down at the table as Irela crinkled her nose, Tommy looked up from the paperwork he'd been inspecting. Withers spoke "they just left town, final count is a dozen rune soldiers, two dozen Hyser solders, twice that number in teamsters and baggage carriers, plus the rookie himself". Irela snorted "Rookie? even a rookie inquisitor is better than even the rune soldiers. Are you sure you wanna speak so lightly of him". Withers shrugged "A rookie is a rookie even if he can kill me before i blink. You can practically smell the new on his shiny". Irela rolled her eyes and turned to Tommy "Well boss what do we do now?". Tommy slowly set aside the supply list for the convoy and looked up at his last two officers. Out of so many they were the only ones to survive and remain loyal.

Withers was a intelligence officer, he could get information from a stone and find a rumor in the dessert. Irela was a magus, though untrained at a college her magic had come in handy several times over the years and she had more than a few spells that most upstanding magi would never have cause to learn. Together with the two dozen men in the front room they were the last of his gang. Tommy closed his eyes "are you two sure you want to do this?". The silence was oppressive as he waited to hear their reply Wither's voice came from across the table "I've got no where else to be". Irela's voice came right behind "You think Hyser would let me and my boys off? They'd hang us faster than you, if we were lucky enough to hang". Tommy opened his eyes and looked at the last of his followers and they both spoke "we're ready boss". Tommy nodded "We have to rely on Magus Briox to handle the Inquisitor, if he can't do it there is no chance". Irela frowned "Are we sure he can handle this? Me and my boys may not be trained but we've all been in a few sticky situations. Do you really think he can survive an Inqusitor? College magics didn't help the others so much when the Inqusitors came for them". Tommy spoke calmly "Its our only chance, he's survived the Hyser this long so he must have some assurance". Withers nodded "It was bad those first few months, anybody who made it out alove has to be at least half decent, that or lucky enough to share". Irela shook her head doubtfully "Okay then, what are we doing now then?". Tommy pulled out Briox's list "First we finish this, and while we are at it make sure to replace all our weapons, armor and other necessities. Even if this goes well chances are we're going to be running for the hills before the end. We should have a few of the boys go set up accomidations for us to visit. A bolt hole could be the difference between life or death". Withers smiled "If we make it that far, i'll make sure they do a pretty bit of decorating somewhere in the mountains." Tommy nodded and continued "As for the specifics as to what will happen...we will have to wait and see. Withers you should get them started on the decorating as soon as possible. Withers nodded rose from his chair and left to the front room,

Irela watched him go and turned to Tommy "Are you sure about this?". Tommy looked over at her "Am i sure about what?". Irela grimaced "About Briox, you know as well as i do what those ingredients he asked for are used for. A quarter of that list can't be used for anything else as far as we know". Tommy looked at her for a moment his face calm and unruffled, the lamp shaded his face for a moment so that only his grey eyes were visible and Irela shivered looking into them. She'd seen the boss's eyes like that only once before Tommy spoke "If he can help us kill the Inquisitor he's earned them, if he can't then he wouldn't get them in the first place, either way, he is the only one we can try". Tommy smiled suddenly, his entire body seemed to burst into motion as he rose up "Well i'm off to have a drink with the boys at the front" he winked "I'll see you later oh lovely magus" and with a laugh Tommy "Black" Caulder left Irela frozen behind him. She knew that look in the bosses eyes, it was calm, a simple utter calm as if there was nothing to worry about and all the work was done. She of course knew better, the last time she had seen those eyes was the day that Withers had brought news of the betrayal of six of the officers. They had sold out to an organization from Hyser. It was that night that she got to see how her boss had managed to gain his influence.

Tommy had built the Black Gang up from scratch. It had grown piece by piece, town by town and city by city. Irela had joined later on when the gang was already established. Withers joined much earlier than her, but even he had only heard stories of how Tommy had begun his gang. Tommy did it by the tip of a sword, he gathered several scoundrels, bandits and ruffians through threats and blood before using them to carve out a slice of crime in the town he grew up in. Of course if that was all he'd never have been able to become a true power in the underworld, but he was smarter than that. Once Tommy had gained a slice of the pie he turned from violence to softer tactics, smuggling, theft, and coercien became the main tools of the Black Gang. Some of the older members may have felt alienated but if not for the Hyser invasion its likely that the gang would have continued to grow in power. However once the invasion came it fell apart. There weren't many battles but the Hyser empire threw hundreds of investigators and platoons of soldiers into scouring the dark places of Islandier just in case any magus thought to hide in them. Many of the gang were captured or killed, and then the Hyser underworld moved in, supported by shady figures in the army. With the pressure some of the oldest who were unhappy with the gangs new ways, and some of the newest who weren't as loyal sold out.

Irela remembered how Withers had stumbled into the small mansion she had used back then. One of her apprentices, dead now at the hands of a group of rune soldiers, struggled to support Withers weight before they got him to a sofa. Tommy had been visiting to keep an eye on things with the new competition moving into the city. While Irela tried her best to heal his wounds Withers had told about a meeting between the other officers. Irela as a magus who would but hunted by the Hyser Empire had been left out. He'd gone to see what they wanted to discuss. There was a new man there, a representative of the Iron Fist of the Hyser Underworld. When talk of betrayal had arisen he'd refused, and the rest agreed and he ran. Tommy had patted his shoulder and told Withers to get some rest, he'd discuss what to do tommorow morning, his eyes as calm as a winters day. Tired from the magic she'd cast Irela too had fallen asleep after giving her apprentices instructions to be on guard. The next morning Tommy was sitting at the breakfast table sipping a cup of ale and casually talking to the kitchen staff. Ignoring the shaking that most of them were doing. It wasn't until later that day she learned that he had left that night and returned the next morning covered head to toe in blood. Most of the Black Gang at that time were thieves, blackmailers, smugglers. The policies if the gang forbid killing unless necessary and it was ussually handled by the older members. No one in Irela's people herself included were prepared when they learned that their smiling amiable ladies man boss had killed the six traitors, every member of the Iron Fist in the city, and everyone else who had come between him and his targets.

Irela shivered slightly, she didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing to see those eyes on the boss now. But she did know that she couldn't unsee them. She stood up and walked to the back door. She'd been cooped up in the Silly Pirate the entire time the Inquisitor was in town. She'd take a walk and worry about everything else later. As the door opened into the warm daylight she hoped that she'd make it through this alive and tried to ignore the calm grey eyes that flashed through her mind as she left.