You set off immediately, discreetly accessing the sewer system through an alley several blocks removed from Eden Corliss's office building that you know is close to the Sewer Rat's domain. You look up at the grime-encrusted ceiling as you descend the ladder, managing to spot one of the tiny, well-disguised cameras the Nosferatu utilize to track guests, both welcome and unwelcome. You have little doubt that it has already scanned you and verified your identity. The security precautions bring up a question you're surprised Corliss hadn't addressed: If Arundel disappeared through the sewers, wouldn't there have been a record of him passing through? As Seneschal, she could have easily looked up the records from the last few weeks. Or does the Prince have his own personal ways of entering and exiting this subterranean labyrinth that no one else knows about?
You step off the ladder and immediately regret it, pulling your pant leg up above your ankle—it's sopping wet with who knows what filth. You wonder just how the Sewer Rats manage to make their way in such a repulsive domain as your eyes adjust to the dimly lit corridor beneath the city. You groan. There it is behind you, the ledge your foot missed the first time, providing a walkway above the constant stream of sludge. You step backward gingerly, managing to avoid a second brush with human waste. When Corliss had presented her options for investigation to you, speaking to Bouchard had seemed like the best choice to procure useful information, but the longer you spend here, the more you're beginning to regret that decision. You square your jaw and strengthen your resolve as you stroll with what you hope appears to be casual indifference through the muck-covered halls—there's no telling how many hidden pairs of eyes may be watching you from the dark at any given moment.
You make several embarrassing wrong turns on the way to Bouchard's lair. The hidden signs scrawled on the walls of each intersection are partially obscured by years of entropy. When you finally reach the entryway to the hidden chamber, you just catch sight of a retreating pair of legs attached to the squat body of a goblin-like creature receding into the darkness in the other direction. You could swear that you've seen the vampire before—a relatively young neonate—but you can't seem to recall his name. No matter. You're not here for him.
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