"Who are you?" Narrita walked towards the large man standing in the doorway with an air of confidence. Her arms remained crossed as looked at the bearded individual with annoyance. Despite Narrita’s confident demeanor, the tattooed man maintained his stoic posture. He took one hand and stroked his beard, paying no mind to the Cutthroat leader as he walked further into the inn. "Are you deaf or something?" Narrita pulled his arm, pausing his trek. “Answer my question!”

"Who am I?" the man replied in a deep voice. He turned around and shot Narrita a cruel glare. She tensed up as he stepped forward and peered down at her. Nearly two feet separated the two in height. "I should be asking you the same thing!"

"I'm Narrita. Leader of the Cutthroats," she said with a twinge of concern. Narrita panned her eyes from the bottom up before focusing on the long wave-like tattoos that covered his chest. "What business do you have here?"

The man looked around the room before shrugging his shoulders. "I was just looking for a place to drink with my men. I heard this inn offered some good Rhoda Rum." His nostrils snorted as he sniffed the air. "I think I can smell it."

"You're too late for that," Horace said as he joined in the conversation. "But there might be some left in that bit of keg on the ground." He pointed a rounded shard of wood with a sip of alcohol left over.

"Are you the ones responsible for this?” the man asked as he pointed at the shattered bits of barrel.

Narrita put her hands on her hips and gave the man an irked gaze. "What's it to you?"

"I must admit, I'm impressed. Not every day we get to see so much destruction that isn't caused by us." He gave the leader a grin as he cracked a knuckle. 

"What? You've got a gang or something?"

The man scratched the front of his chest. "I guess you could say that."

"If you've got a gang, then where are the rest of your men?" Horace asked.

"They're right outside." He stepped over the battered remains of destroyed furniture and back towards the front entrance. The man put two fingers into his lips and made a loud whistle. In an instant, a dozen men came pouring in through the front entrance. They all dressed like the first. Tanned skin. Muscular builds. Furred clothing that barely covered their bodies. Long and knotted hair.  

What little remained of Narrita's confidence soon disappeared as her crew became outnumbered. "Who are you people?" she asked with a shaky voice. "I've never seen your kind around Farrowport!"

The head of the rival group grinned wide. "We're Ghenkans. And I'm the captain. Eijnar."

The other Cutthroats turned silent and began staring at one another with terror in their eyes. Narrita looked at Horace, startled to see fear in him as well. "G-Ghenkans?" Narrita muttered. 

"Yes ma'am!" Eijnar responded with glee. "I'm so glad you've heard of us! That makes introduction so much easier." The captain paced in a circle as the rest of the Ghenkans took positions by the other Cutthroats. They made sure their axes and swords were visible as each Cutthroat was accompanied by at least two Ghenkans. "Usually we need a physical demonstration to let people know who we are. But it looks like someone got to this place before us."

"Wasn't us," Narrita said. "At least... not intentionally."

"You saying you got into a fight?" One of the Ghenkans handed Eijnar his double-headed axe. He rested it over his shoulder as he wandered towards the two bodies on the floor. "I'm guessing those are the corpses of your enemies, right?"

Narrita and Horace remained silent with their heads hung low. 

"Or… are these your teammates?" Eijnar pushed a pair of Cutthroats to the side and kicked Wystan's body with his foot. The body wobbled from the blunt force. He then reached down and ripped the cloth covering the corpse and threw it behind him. "Oh yeah. Looks like this guy was definitely one of you."

"Get to the point, Eijnar," Narrita said. "What do you want? If you Ghenkans are really as formidable as the rumors have it, what are you doing down in this part of Farrowport, huh?"

Eijnar walked away from the dead Cutthroats and towered over Narrita again. "Fine. I can be honest with you." He looked around at the cowering Cutthroats. "We've been looking for a certain someone. And word around the port is that you have gotten in touch with them."

Narrita squinted her eyes. "Who? You'll have to be more specific."

Eijnar held out his hand flat. "There's this girl we're looking for. About that height. Might be Xiwaoan."

"No..." Narrita said with a gasp. "Was she dressed in white? Almost like a dancer?"

"Oh yeah! So you do know who I am talking about, right?" Eijnar nodded his head. "Sounds like you've come across her."

"And her friends."

"Friends?"

"She's got two of them. They can transform as well."

Eijnar scratched his beard. "Huh. That's gonna make things a bit harder. What else you know about her pals?"

"One's Bahnwan. Long, brown curly hair."

Eijnar stood up straight and paused for a moment. "Does she sell meats and furs?"

The Cutthroat leader nodded. "Yeah."

"You're telling me that we've come across that girl and her friend before? We saw someone like that down by the market not too long ago."

"Yeah. Her name's Tamma. She used to sell the junk she got from the forest there. And the other one used to work here. But I think she only just recently joined their crew."

Eijnar grunted and slammed his axe into the wooden. "You hear that, men? We let her slip right through our fingers!"

The rest of the Ghenkans went into an uproar, stomping their feet and raising their feast all while shouting obscenities. The ruckus turned into an incoherent screaming match that made the Cutthroats shrink and cower. 

"Calm down, men! Calm down!" Eijnar shouted as he waved a hand in the air. "Let's quiet down for a bit. This lovely woman is nice enough to help us find our enemies!"

Horace shook his head as Eijnar gave Narrita another friendly smile. The leader remained annoyed; her lips pursed and her arms crossed in front of her chest but she held back from her speaking her mind. "How do you know that girl?"

"She was on our boat. Managed to run away with a few necklaces.," Eijnar replied.  Once Narrita heard the word 'necklace,' she quickly put a hand over the pocket that held her Beacon.  "Managed to kill one of our own while fleeing. And we lost a very important piece of loot during her escape."

"Those... necklaces?" Narrita asked with hesitation. "Is that the important piece of loot you're talking about?"

"What? Of course not! You really thinking us Ghenkans are concerned about a few useless trinkets? We lost something else the night she escaped. Fell into the ocean. So we're trying to find her to get even."

"Oh. Her and her friends have been causing us nothing but grief." Narrita pointed at the bodies again. "They're the ones responsible for what happened here. And my beloved pet."

"So, you've got a grudge against them too, huh?" Eijnar extended an open hand. "Well, I'm thinking we could find some common ground. Maybe work together to solve a problem that we both have."

Narrita looked at Eijnar's hand and then at Horace. Her friend curled his lips upward and shook his head as softly as possible. Eijnar inched his hand closer. "Of course, you don't have to help us out. But if that's the case, then us Ghenkans will have to find a way to... vent our frustration.” 

Eijnar's men became unruly again, grabbing the Cutthroats while holding their weapons. Narrita let out a gasp as her crew crumbled to the strength of the Ghenkans. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me!" Eijnar snapped. "There's only room for one group of marauders on this island! Fortunately for you, we've got bigger plans. We just want our stuff. A bit of revenge. And we're out of here. So you can either help us out... Or we can become Farrowport's new main gang! All up to you."

Angrily, Narrita placed the palm of her hand into his. Eijnar wrapped his hand around hers, encompassing it completely. With a sour face, she shook the captain's hand. "Fine. You got yourself a partner."

"You've got a firm grip!" Eijnar said with a laugh. "It's rare to come across a woman with that."

"At least keep your compliments to yourself," Narrita snapped back as she pulled her hand away. She wiped her palm against the fabric of her jacket.

"Fair enough." The captain shrugged his shoulders. "So... any ideas where we can get started?"

Narrita paused. She rested her hands on her hips as she looked at the ceiling. "I've got an idea. I know Tamma's got some friends in high places."