Case 3.2: The First Rule…
The Salty Tear is located deep in the Devil’s District. Alongside the Lich district, a borough rife with lawlessness and general animosity towards citizen races. Jericho had some history in the area and thought four police officers would probably have a difficult time getting any answers in the Devil District, hell they would be lucky to even leave alive. He suggested they go undercover and come up with a cover story, a drunken stag do for Blaine.
The bar was full of various races, from Goblins to Teiflings, Orcs to Zombies, some who turned and glared at the group as they entered, more so at Fingle and Blaine. In the centre of the building was a sunken pit, the floor coated with woodchips and blood.
They found themselves at an empty table and ordered some drinks from the Goblin waitress. They discussed their options until the door swung open and a large group of well-dressed orcs entered. The eldest of them, wearing a white tuxedo, settled into what looked like a VIP section and ordered champagne. The rest grabbed a table next to the officers.
After more discussions on plans, a Hobgoblin came out of the backroom and introduced himself to the bar as Top Hat and announced a fighting tournament would take place, and that it would be open to all comers as well their in-house fighters. Jericho, Fingle, and Mime-Tron entered the fight and were led into the locker room at the back of the bar. There, they saw the rest of the combatants and were told that tonight’s tournament had a predetermined winner, a Goliath named Mon Joxley, as the Orc in the white tux had organized a fix to make himself some gold. Afterwards, the “winner” of the tournament would fight a surprise opponent, tapping on a tarp-covered cage behind him.
Back in the bar, the orcs at the table next to Blaine and Eddie had got rowdy, with one orc pointing out Blaine to the female orc in their group and giving her a nudge with his elbow, he was then punched in the face for his efforts. The orcs then joined the officers for some drinks, while Eddie tried to push the cover that this was a stag-do for Blaine.
The tournament got underway, with a few of the in-house fighters squaring up with each other. Jericho, Fingle, and Mime-Tron all won their respective matches and proceeded to the next round.
Round 2 started with Fingle vs Jericho. After a fast-paced match, the Halfling won. Fingle returned to the locker room while Jericho re-joined the rest at the table.
Back in the locker room, Fingle poked his head into the cage to see what was going to be fighting the winner. He couldn’t make out many details, but it looked like a big humanoid. Deciding to talk to them, he discovered it was Elverten Viand, a member of the Necromancy Division from his precinct!
While that was happening, Mime-Tron stepped into the ring with the guy positioned to win the tournament, but with Eddie controlling him, and unaware of the fix, Mime-Tron won the fight. Causing a stunned silence from everyone in on the con. The Orc in white (Now known to be Shigloth thanks to the female orc) was enraged and started arguing with Top Hat, who pointed at the officers’ table with an order to capture them.
With Orcs surrounding them, the officers readied their escape. Jericho ran into the back to get Fingle, who explained to him about Officer Viand. They broke the lock on her cage and she gave them an address of a safe house they could lie low in. Everton claimed she could get away herself now and bid the officers goodbye.
The officers knocked out a few assailants, but the numbers were too great, deciding to flee. As Jericho exited the building, he bumped into his old friend, Ralphus. Jericho tried to warn him it was dangerous inside, but Ralphus shoved him aside and went in laughing.
They hastily made their way to the safe house, a decrepit flat filled with destroyed furniture and rotten wallpaper. Confirming that they hadn’t been followed, they settled down into an uneasy sleep, unsure of what will happen next.
The following morning, Jericho was awoken by his phone ringing. He groggily picked it up and checked who was calling. Seeing Emma’s name on the caller ID, he shook himself awake and answered. The voice on the other end of the phone wasn’t Emma’s, though. A deep voice introduced itself as Marquess Tulgan, the leader of the Orc Mafia.
