Ramshackle streets, collapsed houses, rubble roads awash with filth...
Renato rode on the lizard's back, surveying the buildings on either side as his brow furrowed deeper and deeper. He almost thought he had entered another ruined city.
This place was even worse than Rolling Stone City after the Great Earthquake. It was no different from the slums of Fried City.
Armed women roamed in groups of three or five along rubble paths that barely qualified as roads. Their bodies were covered in all manner of tattoos, and they carried bizarrely shaped weapons.
Piles of rotting corpses lay openly in the foul-smelling alleys, some already stripped down to exposed bones.
Yet not a single resident spared those bodies a second glance, as though they were nothing more than an ordinary heap of rubbish on a street corner.
Despite their vicious appearance, these armed women lowered their heads from a distance when faced with a Priestess of Lolth. They pressed themselves against the walls to make way, not even daring to meet Tristana's eyes.
"This is the 'Gray Zone.'" The little Cleric frowned, covering her nose and mouth with one hand, her voice thick with disgust. "It stinks worse than a Goblin slave pen. These lowlifes really are worthless. A rubbish heap is just where they belong."
Renato said nothing. He simply continued riding his Subterranean Lizard, studying the surrounding buildings.
Although Tristana had confidently told him to follow her lead, Renato could tell that the little Drow was just as unfamiliar with this place.
"Are there any gangs in the 'Gray Zone'?" Renato asked, choosing his words carefully. "Armed groups of commoners who live around here, that sort of thing."
"Gangs?" Tristana mulled over the unfamiliar word and shook her head. "I don't understand what kind of organization you mean, but