Noviodunum streets at night were mostly abandoned. A few women draped in loose colorful sarongs stood near the main doors of a brothel next door to the largest of the inns on the main street. Candlelight shone in all the windows and sounds of drinking and debauchery wafted out the windows and filled the street in front of the buildings.

Erick noted the new buildings and streets in the town since the last time he was there. Each time he ventured into this godforsaken city it was larger, louder, and more depraved. Still, even with the expansion of the city, the inner streets were the same. Keeping to the shadows,...