Intro

You were staying at the 'Hole in the Wall', a boarding house, doss house, inn type affair in Kruiersmuur, a rundown area in the south east corner of Marienburg. It's five Schillings a night, and it shows. There seem to be loads of foreigners about, Brets, Luigis, those sorts. Sometimes you get work and sometimes you don't. Though not having a permanent job kind of suits you, most of the time. If you can't get by in Marienburg on your wits and your will, where can you get by? There's money all over the place, here, you can smell it. You just can't get hold of much of it. There's also plenty of places to spend it.

So this guy came, he looked OK. He said he was Rotter, a merchant. But the way he sort of hung his head to one side when he said 'merchant', made you think he might be a little more (or a little less) than that. He said he was expecting a cargo up on Daankkanaal very soon and he needed a few strong arms to unload it, quickly. The way he hung his head to one side when he said 'cargo', also gave a certain impression.

He said he wanted it done quickly and with a number of you helping it could be done in less than an hour. There would be a Guilder for everyone. A Guilder for one hour's work; it just doesn't get better than that. Luckily he chose you as one of his crew. So you all filed out up onto Daankkanaal and waited for the boat. It didn't arrive. Rotter was looking a bit anxious, and the longer you waited the worse it got. Someone mentioned that you ought to be paid more for the wait. Rotter said he'd pay for the work, but he wasn't gonna pay for someone to sit out on the quay all afternoon, sunbathing. If he didn't like it, he could go back to the Hole in the Wall he crawled out of.

After another hour, a couple of the work crew left. You stayed, even though you thought it might be some kind of wind up; you needed the money. Then, not before time, the boat arrived, a small one-master, up from Carroburg by the look of it. The crew looked a bit hardened and weather worn and eyed you suspiciously. Rotter looked relieved and supervised the unloading. It was getting late and he wanted it done before it got too dark. You loaded the barrels (no idea what was in them, not liquid, for sure) onto carts and Rotter's men took a cart somewhere, returning after five minutes while you loaded the other cart. In little more than an hour it was all done. Rotter was thankful, paid up twenty schillings (one Guilder) and to make up for the wait, treated everyone to a roast sausage and beet kebab from an Arabyan vendor who was passing. Then he was gone and so was the boat.

It was pretty dark, and no one else was around as you sat on the wooden quay of Daankkanaal, passing the time of evening, and finishing your kebab, which was pretty good.