Jacob sighed. Too many things to think about. He kept walking.
Deep inside the inner city of King's Court, past the Avenue of Trade, the Palace walls towering over the city, and the Boulevard of Temples, lay the simple and somewhat overlooked Whistle Lane nestled deep into the remains of an orc-ravaged district of the city. Still alive with the less-wealthy of King’s Court, the residents have done their best to clean up their ransacked and tumbled homes.
Many already fled from this area. Those that remained on the streets cursed the palace and vowed vengeance on injustices of the poor and especially the pagans, the new poor and deprived of Kings Court.
Buried beneath this social turmoil and desperation was a trim stone house, its door and shutters painted a bright deep blue. It was clean and well kept and the board swinging in the breeze had three faded gilded stars painted upon it.
Once upon a time Jacob and Renny had stumbled through the Inner City, a little bit on the tipsy side, when they'd seen this building. Something about the building spoke to something in Jacob - perhaps his interest in the stars and their use for navigating the untamed seas - and he'd found himself wandering back here since, on the rare occasion, to sit across the street from the enigmatic house and think over his more troublesome thoughts, watched over by the Sign of the Stars.
As he walked through the city now, he caught sign of the Sign, and let it guide him safely towards his place of contemplation.
A girl came out with her skirt kirtled up to one side and a bucket and begins to scrub the steps with a brush, humming softly to herself.
Jacob froze. He'd never seen anyone leave the house, nor enter it for that matter. He'd always thought it abandoned, a small inner city tavern or perhaps the old studio of an artist. He waited a moment, stilled his thoughts, then tried to hide. He was curious, but not eager to be seen staring.