It's not exactly a familiar sight, but elven ruins have stairs full of cracks and missing pieces, and the scent of damp dirt clings to hair and clothes as the explorer descends further in. But Darktown isn't damp dirt; not yet. It's rotten bits of food not even fit for the rats. It's unwashed bodies because soap is a luxury and why waste money on it when you're just going to get dirty again? It's the smell of urine on the wall because who cares about waiting until you get home to use the chamber pot? It's all filth and darkness down here, and Ellana is amazed at how upscale and clean Lowtown feels in comparison. She switches to breathing through her mouth and moves close to the wall behind Yngvi, watching her steps.

"If not, maybe we'll hear things anyway," she says in a low voice. The darkness practically consumes her down here, but just because she can turn sideways and practically disappear and Yngvi is so short you can practically step over him doesn't mean they aren't being watched. Only a fool would be in Darktown and completely unaware of their surroundings. Three men stand in a semi-circle, their backs to the newcomers as they bend their heads over something, but Ellana has the feeling that each of those men has already seen them and come up with ten ways each to kill them and hide their bodies.