You march on, taking your preparations as you see fit.
Soon you arrive at the gate, getting a better sense of your bearings. The gate itself is shut with a portcullis, behind it waiting two Red Guards with muskets at the ready and a middle-aged NCO watching over them in turn. There is a guard house in plain sight behind the three, and some of the civvies mulling about behind them are obvious plaincloth guards to the more street-savvy among you.
Anoitecer, being appointed as the noble leader, takes point speaking to them and requesting entry.
"Regularly, the gate tax would be 8 copper kopeks per head."
"However, after some
incidents we no longer take in strangers after sundown."
"Incidents that have been
very costly for our meager widows and orphans fund, I would like to add."
"Of course, we sometimes make an exception for individuals who have proven their well-meaning nature, and as you, fair lady, seem to be both of a charitable disposition and to be the kind of person who doesn't hate widows and orphans, we might be able to make an arrangement that makes the world a better place overall."
"An arrangement that will bring a little ray of sunshine into the lifes of a few widows and orphans."
*coughs and visibly eyes Anoitecer's disguise as a rich noblewoman* "Of
quite a few widows and orphans, I'd rather hope, considering the sizeable depth of your purse and the great need those very poor wretches suffer from. You are
not the kind of person who hates orphans and widows, are you? A person of such sinful and hate-filled nature wouldn't be welcome in our town anyway."