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.Perhaps the slaadi should succeed, he thought.The destruction of Skullport might be a blessing for Faerûn."This way," Riven said, leading them onward.They continued to hug the bank, drawing closer and closer to the darkest hole in Faerûn.They passed several small fishing boats tethered to rocks, posts, and makeshift docks.They also passed several fishermen—mostly goblins and thin humans in tatters.No one spoke to them and they spoke to no one, though all eyed them with suspicious, furtive gazes.At some point, the black sand beach gave way to a packed earth path that hugged the cavern's wall.They walked single file.Skullport's piers came into view first: twenty or so timeworn wooden quays that jutted into the waters of the bay.Each sat on stout wooden posts that Jak thought must surely once have been masts.Ships floated in perhaps half of the berths.Jak noted a longship, several clippers, a wide-bottomed river barge, even a schooner from the Inner Sea.Lanterns and glowballs hung from the gunwales of many of the ships.Shadowy figures, their identities lost in the darkness, unloaded crates and people from the holds.Heavier cargo was lifted out with rope and a block and tackle attached to wooden posts near the berth.Goblin deckhands swarmed the wharves shoreside, carrying crates, rope, and urns off the ships to waiting lizard-pulled wagons.Armed overseers shepherded, monitored, and sometimes whipped the living cargo that emerged from the holds.Most of the slaves were human, though Jak saw elves, dwarves, and even a few gnomes.He also saw many women and a few terrified children.The sight nearly undid him.He had to stop walking.He bent at the waist, hands on his hips, and took a series of deep breaths.He did not think he could keep down the vomit."Keep yourself in one piece, Fleet," Riven growled."Shut your hole," Cale said, and placed his hand on Jak's shoulder."Look at it all, little man.Look at it and remember.We'll come back one day.I promise.And when we do we'll visit the Iron Ring."Jak heard in Cale's voice the same steel he'd heard when Cale had faced off Vraggen under the Twisted Elm.Violence lurked in that tone; righteous fury.Jak had no doubt that Cale intended to return, that he would return.The thought somehow made the scene a little less abominable, but only a little.He patted Cale's hand in gratitude, recovered himself, and looked at it, remembered it.He signaled to Riven that he was ready to move on.The path widened into a road that ran along the wharves.A vast cavern opened off of the bay and retreated into the bedrock of the Underdark.To Jak, it looked like the open mouth and twisting gullet of a beast, more a Dragon's Jaws than the falls along the Dragon Coast could ever aspire to.Within it, covering it like the black rot, stood the City of Skulls, an amazing hodgepodge of dilapidated buildings.Many were stacked atop each other; others clung precariously to the cavern's walls.A bewildering array of rope bridges, swings, and wooden planks hung between the upper buildings and extended back into the cavern, the highest of which stood a bowshot above the cavern's floor.Busy with a steady stream of foot traffic, they vibrated like spiderwebs.On the cavern floor between the wharves and the city itself stood a great market.There, illithids, duergar, trolls, ogres, orcs, and the worst of humankind bought and sold the unfortunate creatures who stood atop the tall selling blocks.Bids carried to Jak's ears and an excited hum electrified the still air.They would have to walk through the slave market to get into the city.Jak felt lightheaded.Cale fell in beside him."Find the strength, little man," Cale said."I need you here.Don't surrender to this place.And don't give Riven the satisfaction."Jak managed a nod.He was clutching his holy symbol so tightly it was digging into the flesh of his palm."The city is unguarded?" Magadon asked Riven, obviously trying to distract Jak."We can just walk in from the wilds of the Underdark?"Riven nodded toward the stalactite-dotted ceiling and replied, "It's not unguarded, Mags."Jak looked to the ceiling.There, high above the wharves and the market day crowd, nearly hidden in the stalactites, floated a softly glowing Skull.Its empty eyeholes moved back and forth over the market, over the wharves, over them, seeing all.Jak felt the weight of its gaze like a physical blow.Involuntarily, he quailed.Cale took him by the arm and pulled him along.Weaveshear continued to leak darkness, but the Skull seemed to take no notice."Don't stare, Fleet," Riven said to Jak, then turned to Magadon."Even if it was unguarded, Mags, what would it matter? The worst of the Underdark is welcomed here, not fenced out."To that, Magadon said nothing.Together, the four comrades picked their way along the wharves, dodging the filthy goblin deckhands, bugbear overseers, and slaves.The ringing clang of chains was everywhere, and slaves were everywhere.With an effort of will, Jak resisted the impulse to comfort the captives and kill their sadistic overseers.When Jak saw that animated corpses worked beside the goblins and sailors to unload some of the cargo, his knees again went weak.The stink of their rotting corpses revived his nausea.Cale steadied him."It's too much, Cale," he said softly."No, it's not," Cale replied.They made their way into the market.The smell of sweat, rot, and decaying fish filled Jak's nostrils
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