Utterly Mad

The east gate was not as expected. Ruined, yes, but ferret had expected some kind of huge wooden door. What came into view, almost as if it had suddenly materialized there, was a thing akin to the gate of the cemetery at bright point only on a much larger scale. The disaster that had befallen the city of her forefathers had taken the gate out of alignment, and collapsed the stone arch above it. Time had placed a thick coating of rust and moss on the gates bars in a fashion that was rather pleasant. Stretching away on either side of the gate was the crumbling wall of Gulgatha, a simple construction of mortar and roughly hewn stone blocks. Ferret clambered over the pile of large stones. The gates bars were close enough together that no man could squeeze through, but from what she remembered of the notes she had been forced to throw away, she wouldn't need to. When the city had sunk, the refugees had been forced to cut several bars to escape. In short order, she found the opening. The fog was thinner within the city and the stench of the ocean was greater, it was easy to see that Gulgatha's under city had fared better than it's overcity. Red bricks and moldering beams lay in piles, spilling into the streets. In many places, Ferret could see the water was deeper. She guessed the street beneath had given way in spots. Veiwing the ruins gave her a terrible thought. "What if the chapel is flooded?" She had to hope that it was not, if it was, the quest would likely come to an end with her returning home empty handed. That hurdle would have to be dealt with when it came. For now, she would explore. The first safe, interesting, looking building she came to seemed to be some kind of luxeries shop. The verdigrised sign above the stores broken display window read, "Belmot's Aromatics." Ferret could see the dull gleam of brass finery still standing in the window where it had been left. Despite the state of building and the strong stink of salt, the shops own pungence cut through the open air as if a stiff breeze had swept through the store and carried it's product out into the street. The shop contained a Ratkind sultan sized trove of incense she learned. Bright Point bought a great deal of incense from the ratkind city of Algol-Mal to trade to merchants from Zantia. Her mother was a great user of incenses around the house, as was every house wife of Bright Point. She couldn't stand the stuff personally, but she scooped up several jars and bottles of various thick pastes and small wooden boxes or tubes of scented sticks. These she stashed in her makeshift bag. Ferret may not have liked the stuff much but they would make nice enough gifts. She had come here for a very specific purpose, but that didn't mean she couldn't pick through the ruins while she was at it. For the rest of the day, she walked the foggy flooded streets of Gulgatha parusing various shops, but didn't find much more worth helping herself to. Casually making her way around holes in the avenues. Occasionally, she would come to some blocked off section of streets and would bypass them taking shortcuts through or over the various homes and businesses. The image her exploration of Gulgatha painted of the people who lived in it before quickly filled in. The city still had it's dangers of course. As she ducked through an open window on the second floor of some inn or bar, a skeletonized body suddenly sprang to life and lunged for her. She had managed, barely, to draw her sword and smash it's outstretched left arm in the same movement. It still collided with her, sending them both sprawling upon a chair whose age weakened frame splintered beneath them. Her sword had spun away from her as she fell, coming to rest at the foot of another approaching skeleton, which recoiled from it, giving her the time to deal with the one atop her. It flailed and bit, but couldn't get a solid grip. Ferret managed to push herself up to her elbows and kicked at it, scattering it's ribcage. The aged skeleton chose that moment to give up and collapsed back into a pile of bone. The other had finally managed to get past the repulsive steel, only to be met with a vicious blow delivered at the end of a chair leg. It staggered, clutching it's newly cracked jaw, and then collapsed against the wall. Ferret found a hasty retreat from the inn through the same window she had entered when she discovered that the place was filled with more undead eager to protect the establishment they had likely died in. On another occasion she had been turned back from one path by a vaguely human shaped thing dressed in rags. It had come down out of an alley, whispering to her. She had drawn her sword and it had covered it's face but had not backed away. She took the time its moment of distraction had given her to make a quick getaway. The undead were not the only creatures which called Gulgatha home. Again and again she encountered small black creatures which hid themselves away in dark places and wore bones. Stam had described the imps of Gulgatha to her once, had even shown her one, so she knew they were not a threat except to her possessions. Ferret had also encountered many birds, and the city was alive in some places with the sound of frogs. Fish too were numerous, both large and small. More than once her stumbling about had scared up great schools of shining silver scaled fish. Indeed, there was as much life as their was unlife in the sunken city.