Ymiden 45, 717
After he'd buried his mother and cleared away any trace of their life there, his and hers, Theo had sworn to himself that he'd never return to the Dust Quarter again. But more and more, and the more his future fell together, he was coming to realize that old and new connections made could prove themselves to be valuable ones. Exceptionally valuable in fact.
For the most part, those who lived in the Dust Quarter were faceless, invisible, so far as those living outside it were concerned. It was the place that decent people didn't go, that mothers warned their sons and daughters about. A place where the people were to be pitied on principle, but ignored in practice. It was easier on the conscience and more convenient to drop a few coins for the poor into the collection plate before returning home to safety, comfort, and in all other things, to more than enough.
Most who were able to claw their way out of the Dust Quarter and to a larger extent, those who died there, were forgotten almost as soon as they'd gone. Life was too much of a struggle to spend much of it worrying about those who were no longer there. But now, Theo wanted to return and show himself before he was forgotten as well. It was just good business.
The business of management, the gathering of information, the acquisition of commodities and of course the logistics of putting them all together successfully could quickly turn into a logistical nightmare. Theo had already discovered that tendency. But the Dust Quarter, he'd decided, was a good place to begin sorting it out.
The streets and alleyways were dusty, the exteriors covered in slick grime, and smelled of cheap booze, piss, vomit, desperation and even sickness. It hung in the air like a cloud and Theo remembered it all too well. It seemed worse now, after he'd been gone for several arcs. You never entered the area unarmed, and Theo was armed as well as he could be.
He didn't slink through the alleys. But even still, most who passed by him after dark kept their heads down and eyes averted as they passed. At least those who wanted to get home and didn't want trouble. A drunk stumbled and bumped shoulders with him, and with a muttered curse a good push, Theo sent him careening off in another direction. There were still those few though who were looking for trouble or at least wouldn't mind it, and eyed him like he did them as he passed them by.
He hadn't been foolish enough to dress like anyone who had enough coin to make it worth stealing. In fact he carried very few on him that night. He'd gone unshaven for several trials and ultimately, those who'd eyed him either judged him not worth the trouble based on what they might gain. Or on the other hand, what they might lose in the process of confronting him.
