The intrepid investigators go their separate ways, with Zelpuz and Vanyra returning to their respective abodes to ready themselves for the meeting with Vernus and the the Blood Runners. For good measure Zelpuz decides to investigate the functional properties of the nether devices Yuu Jin provided as collateral; through a little nether injection he was able to discover that one was an automated water sprinkler... luckily he clothes and the rest of his gear would dry in time, another projected a life-sized illusion of a scantily-clad Median girl gyrating in a provocative dance, and the third device Zelpuz decided to leave alone rather than push his luck.

After his guests leave Yuu Jin summons one of the servants to remove the pastries, but leave the tea so he could more carefully consider his next move. The only remaining investigative lead he had was Gol Drakkan, the Freelancer... unfortunately 'he' was confined to the family compound.

As the remaining hours of aftereve slipped away they were replaced by a creeping tension.

After a short break Vanyra and Zelpuz reconvene at a town square occupied by a fountain displaying various species of fish leaping about after spurts of water. It is a popular and therefore inconspicuous place to meet someone, though at this hour very few people are out. The late summer night is heavy in heat and humidity, against which the fountain provides little reprieve, nor does the thought of going to a crowded room of sailors.  After a short greeting and confirmation that Zelpuz brought their prop goods the two set off to find the tavern Vernus had mentioned in the harbor district.

While the streets are dark and few people about at this hour it does make finding lively drinking establishments that much easier to find. After a bit of back tracking the duo find the Barnacle Bay Inn & Tavern; a popular place judging from the din of music and voices carrying out through the doorway and shuttered windows. Before entering the Mespah and Freyan pause once more to sort out their approach.

As they push open the heavy wooden door they are assaulted by a draft of humid, sweaty air choked with the smell of ale and fiery spices. The scene is largely what they had imagined; groups of men in various stages of inebriation and from various social castes crowded around sturdy tables to enjoy the company, booze and food, and to swap boisterous claims, A few serving girls lithely meander through the masses while delivering trays laden with belly fillings and thirst quenchers.

After a few moments to allow their eyes to adjust Zelpuz and Vanyra move in an begin to scan the crowd for Vernus. While their entrance brought upon them no more attention than a flea would to a dog, as the two shuffle further in they note more than a few double-takes; apparently they are not the typical clientele. But just as soon as they confirm what their eyes initially saw these onlookers turn back to their own business.  You get the sense that people here have all learned to not see what was right in front of them.

With a subtle gesture Zelpuz grabs the attention of a serving girl, and while ordering himself a dark local IPA is pointed in the general direction of where Vernus is located. Despite the directions it still takes a few minutes to find and get to Vernus, who is tucked in a table against the rear, right wall.  He is seated with a foreign-looking man, at least foreign for Ossylia, He is dressed like some well-to-do sailor; light and lively clothing.

Vernus spots the Mespah and Freyan quickly and signals them to sit down. "Hello friends, glad to see you made.  Let me introduce my associate, Captain Darran Westling."  The captain makes a slight bowing motion in response. Vernus continues, "... and this is Zelpuz and Vanyra."

Zelpuz sits down next to Vernus with Vanyra on his other side. He replies the greeting and stuffs his bag between his legs under the table. "Glad you made it too, Vernus. Captain Westling, good to see you, is your ship at the docks here?" 

"I would be a poor captain if I were here without my ship," the Captain replies with a smirk.

Vernus interjects, "Captain Westling has sailed more ocean than most people have seen on a map. If you need something move from one port to another in... a business-like manner he is your man. Speed, efficiency, discretion."

"Aye, a right gentleman I am... so unlike the crowds we run with.  So Mr. Zelpuz what do you need help with?" the Captain pries, followed by a long drink of his ale.

Zelpuz looks around, but nobody seems to pay any attention to their conversation, or at least they were very good at hiding it. "We have a few items we would like to transport to our associates. In fact, we mostly want to try out this new route, the majority of dealings will come back here." Zelpuz pretends to consider his words: "We would need some kind of storage in this town too though while we are still setting up operations here."

The two smugglers are silent for a bit, obviously pondering the situation to themselves. Finally Captain Westling speaks up, "Well transportation is 'relatively' easily arranged, but as for storage here that is another matter."

Vernus continues, "The climate here is getting rather uncomfortable for doing business.  There is a lot of heat, and so putting things into storage... tends to lead to premature rot you could say."

"Aye. It'd be fair to say we may be taking a break from doing any business here for a bit, at least until cooler winds prevail. So you'd best get your ships in a line quickly.  And just what sort of goods do you need moved, if you don't mind me asking?" the Captain asks.

Zelpuz looks around again, then taps his bag: "I have two prototypes here. We want to transport magic items, i prefer not to disclose the exact functions of them if you don't mind." He looks around again and takes a sip of his ale and thinks for a while. "So no storage capabilities here anymore, that is unfortunate." He takes another sip apparently in thoughts. "What kind of heat are you experiencing? Are you sure you can still handle our jobs? I am only the first envoy, so I have limited freedom to set up our facilities right now. Could you make an exception? And how long do you expect the 'heat' to last?"

The Captain smirks, "You should  be keeping your ear to the ground more if you're getting into this business. The heat isn't on us... yet, it's everywhere. You'd best look after yourself similarly, especially with nether devices." He takes a long drink of his ale before continuing, "If all you want is to get your stuff out of here we may be able to help you, beyond that you're on your own for now."

Zelpuz looks irritated: "You can only offer a one time transport? What if we can get ourselves set up here, would you be able to do frequent transports then? If you can only offer a one time job, it really doesn't help us much. But, if you can offer more, maybe we can help and have some officials look the other way at some places. I am sure you have your contacts here, but maybe our approach would be ... " he pauses and (pretends to) not be able to suppress a smirk " ... more effective and subtle." He takes another sip of his drink. "Maybe we can help each other." 

The Captain smirks back, "Heh, you think I just fell off the boat yesterday?  If you knew the 'right officials' you would probably be trying to get out of here yourself, and not set up shop." He pauses for a moment and for the first time appears to take a good measure of his surroundings before continuing, "You have guts and ambition, I can appreciate that, and for that I'll give you a piece of information on the house; this place is a powder keg, and when it blows you do not want to be around."

Vernus pipes in after a few moments, "But once the fires settle there will be plenty of opportunity for everyone, including one such as yourself."

Zelpuz nods slowly. "Thank you for the information. As I said, we are only starting to set up operations here. We do have our own special ways to ... let's say talk to officials. Obviously we are still in the process of gathering information and finding the right contacts. We did hear some rumors about this place being a bit 'unstable'. Even more reason why our services will be in high demand now." He pauses. "Of course we don't want to be in the fire ..." Zelpuz scratches his chin and looks at Vanyra. "... we will have to think about that." He pauses again considering the next words. "Now there would be high demand, but we are not quite ready yet. We have to set up storage, find the right officials..." He trails off seemingly counting more items in his head. He pulls himself back to the conversation. "You guys seem honest and direct, I like that. I understand if you don't want to answer my next questions. But we seem to have come at a time of great opportunity. We want to get operations going quickly," He looks briefly around the room again, then at Vanyra again for confirmation and continues in a slightly lower voice "but we would need your help. We can offer a larger share and help in ways you might not have access to. But we would need more information to see if we can still pull things off in time. Can you tell us more about the big storm?"

Vernus answers quickly, "It is simply really, there are a lot of people running this place, and many of them do not like each other. So after a while they just get fed up and actually start to do something about it. Whether or not this leads to civil war I have no idea, all I care about is getting my head down and out of the line of fire."

Zelpuz scratches his chin, takes a long sip from his ale and looks at Vanyra. He looks around one more time, then focusses on Vernus and the Captain again. "Thank you for the information. It really sounds like we should wait until the waves are smoother again." He pauses, seemingly considering his next words: "We still would like to start our operations soon, however, because I feel like you are honest  we would consider offering you a special deal. I believe our merchandise will be quite useful in the times to come. We could offer you exclusive trade. We'll only supply you." He pauses for a second to let his words sink in. "If what you say is true, it will give you an additional advantage. We will just sit back for now and count on you guys playing your cards right. And if, partially due to our help, you or the groups you are close with come out of this situation on top, we will ask for ... let's say privileged trading agreements." He looks at them sternly. "Think about this offer, you might need to consult with your leaders, we could meet here again if you are interested."

The captain frowns, "So let's put the cards on the table here, did you want something moved out of the city discretely or not? That's the business we are in, and the window is closing on that opportunity. And just so we're clear I will want to know what I am bringing on my ship before I set off."

"Sure, as I said, we would like to ship the items in this bag. They are harmless nether devices, well, harmless unless you know what to do with them. But no need to worry, they won't go off and I doubt anyone on your ship will be able to use them. What's your rate? And if you guys are interested in more, ask Vernus to contact me." He lifts up his bag and puts it on the table.

Zelpuz and the Captain haggle out a price and the critical details of the deal are exchanged. The story Zelpuz provides is convincing enough, providing just enough detail to seem credible but also being properly vague to avoid arousing suspicion. With business done the parties take their leave. 

Zelpuz hands over the bag, buys another round of drinks and when they get ready to leave says: "Great to do business, I hope we can expand our operations when the times are more stable. Do ask your leaders if they would be interested in our merchandise, I will wait 5 days for your response, if I don't hear from you, we will look for other interested parties. I will show up at the place we met once every aftereve for that time, Vernus." He nods at them and they leave the bar.

Vanyra and Zelpuz walk down the hazy, torch-lit streets of the harbour district, heading seemingly back to their lodgings. After only a few minutes, having decided upon their course of action telepathically, the two fall into a dark alleyway.  From there they quickly make their way back to the Barnacle Bay, to a stake-out position on a storehouse roof a couple of buildings down.

Time ticks by ever so slowly, as measured by the growing sheen of sweat from the muggy air blanketing them.  An inkling of a concern begins to grow within, perhaps they missed their quarry or maybe they took their leave by another exit. Just before the two intrepid hunters were to change their game plan, Captain Westling and Vernus emerge.

Vanyra and Zelpuz slip down from their perch when their prey is a safe distance away and begin the shadowy pursuit. They would have lost them in the maze of harbour alleys if not for Vanyra's keen sense of hearing, who caught them discussing the ship's departure later the following day. No mention was made of Zelpuz's package.

Suddenly the two stop, exchange farewell's and go their separate ways, with the parting Captain Westling remarking at the last, "Tell our friend to keep his head down in all this; their are some wrongs best left un-righted if living is his thing." 

Vanyra strips off her outer clothes and hands them to Zelpuz, leaving only her native garment.  "I'm following  Vernus as it seems knows where our quarry is," she thinks, "You're welcome to come, I might need you."

Zelpuz takes in Vanyra's stripper routine with equal parts confusion, excitement and bewilderment. If any doubt remained in his mind as to how attractive she was, it was gone in a flash. He eventually nods his approval to her suggestion and then the light of realization dawns in his mind as Vanyra's backside fades away into dark blur as she turns to follow Vernus.

Leaving the Bloodrunner Captain to return to his ship the intrepid duo shadow Vernus. His path is rather ordinary, striding straight down one of the main roads heading into the city proper. There are few pedestrians out at this hour, though they do come across a patrol of city guards that nearly causes them to lose Vernus as they hid behind cover.  Luckily their quarry's path did not deviate.

The wall that separates the city proper from the harbor district slow looms into view beyond the roofs of numerous store houses and taverns, placed much like discarded books on a shelf. Finally Vernus deviates from the main road, striking off down a side street and then into and alleyway. His sudden change in direction give you pause; perhaps he noticed you?
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:20, Wed 12 June 2013.

Crouching in the shadows Vanyra and Zelpuz hold their breath and wait. After an eternal second Vernus nods to himself in assurance and then ducks into the dark alleyway and out of view.  Not wishing to lose their prey so easily the dedicated duo stalks up to the near edge of the building, Zelpuz blending well into the night in his customary black attire while nearly nude Vanyra is nothing more than a blur, perhaps a figment of a mind impeded by one too many drinks.

Realizing that Vanyra's interesting camouflage ability would probably give her an edge, Zelpuz encourages her to peak around the corner. With an unseen nod she complies to find what she assumes to be Vernus disappearing into a hole in the harbor wall, about 30 feet away.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:47, Mon 17 June 2013.

Like a proper predator Vanyra waits patiently before giving the mental command to move up.  As they approach the 'hole' it becomes obvious that it was purposefully built, likely a service entrance to the underbelly of the harbor district. The cornucopia of smells emanating from within verify this assumption; the sickly sweet and salty mixture of sea water and sewage interspersed with the acerbic fragrance of exotic oils. A the Freyan investigates the opening a curving stairwell can be seen shrouded in darkness save for a few faint reflections of light on the walls below, presumably from the light source Vernus is now using.

Vanyra smirks to herself and thinks clearly, "It is pretty dark down there."

Zelpuz catches himself in time to avoid bumping into the barely visible Vanyra, and concedes that is is pretty dark here for someone who does not know their way around.

Zelpuz, realizing descending stairs in the dark is not his forte, has a minor epiphany. He mentally transmits the idea to Vanyra who listens with a bit of confusion until the Mespah is able to assuage her concerns and incredulity. With a silent consent Zelpuz links his optical nerves telepathically to Vanyra's enhanced Freyan sense of sight. The flood of new experiences shocks him for a moment but then his awareness syncs back into the here and now; allowing him to clearly see the cool outline of the stairs, the faint radiant heat of Vernus's fading lamp and his own warm body.

Then with a bit more concentration Zelpuz summons forth a stream of Nether energy, channeling it down through his spine and out to his limbs. To the casual observer the Mespah simply fades from view. Protected in-part by his stealth field Zelpuz gives the mental nod to move on.

The going is fairly slow at first, with Zelpuz adjusting to watching himself descend as Vanyra constantly shifts her gaze from Zelpuz, the stairs and the area below. But after a minute or so the constant stepping gate of the stairs becomes increasingly easy. Vanyra notes that as they go further into the bowels of the city the sounds below are echoing with increasing strength, and it becomes more and more difficult to discern or pin-point individual noises; both a boon and a detriment to the trackers.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:43, Thu 20 June 2013.

As the two descend the stairs the burden on Zelpuz's mind gains momentum, like a ball dropping down stairs.  It becomes increasingly difficult to keep his mental connection with Vanyra strong while sorting out the confusing visual display before him, not to mention maintaining the channel of nether energy for his cloaking spell. As Zelpuz goes to take one stair with his right foot at the last second he realizes that he has taken two and slips down into the backside of Vanyra, which is in itself odd to feel her warm flesh without seeing it.

Vanyra hears nothing from behind before a pair of fumbling hands impact her back and brush down before stabilizing. Her quick reflexes absorb the blow and she corrects herself before her balance is broken. Whipping her head around she, and Zelpuz by default as well, see the Mespah awkwardly positioned.

"Sorry... mis-step," Zelpuz mentally apologizes.

The Freyan shakes her head and helps her visually impaired friend up.  Maintaining a light grip on his arm for extra assistance, and to avoid any more fumbling fondles, Vanyra and Zelpuz make their way down to the bottom after another minute.

A quick glance around at the foot of the stairwell reveals a fairly wide, sewage and sea water filled canal, flanked on either side by footpaths approximately a meter in width; a welcome flat surface over which to traverse. By this time Vernus has managed to flip around a corner or similar cover for his lamp light is no longer visible.

Vanyra pauses, crouches down and closely examines the moist stonework of the walkway. She slowly begins to slide forward, eyes darting left and right as the faintest of patterns begins to form before her. With her hunter's intuition guiding her movements the Freyan once again takes hold of Zelpuz's hand and the two move with purpose once again. The residual heat of oil drops from Vernus's torch has given up his path, interspersed with the occasional hand print on the left wall.

After navigating quite a maze of corridors and turns the duo spy a door at the end of one passageway. Light streams out of the cracks between the door and its frame.

Zelpuz starts to wonder why he even came along down here. Vanyra would obviously be better off on her own. He reassures himself that he might make up for the extra burden somehow at some point, or at least not end up ruining their pursuit in the end.
With the light coming through the cracks, Zelpuz can start to make out some shapes in the tunnel, just enough that he thinks he can start to take a few steps by himself without falling or making noise. Vanyra hears inside her head: "I think you should go first, if it's safe, I'll follow."

'What will we do if there are 6 of them?' Vanyra thinks.

"Same as if there are 2, ideally listen and not be detected." She hears in her head.

Vanyra carefully and stealthily approaches the door, hoping that proximity will allow her to understand the voices within.  She appraises the area surrounding the door, looking for corners to duck into or handholds on the ceiling capable of supporting her.

Zelpuz hides as good as he can where he is his riffle ready.

Vanyra thinks that some extra mental defenses would be handy, since she is concerned about the presence of another Mespah in the room.

Mespah don't usually hang out in these circles, except for Lasrange it seems.

The first voice Vanyra picks out is Vernus's, "Our esteemed Captain will be gone by morning, so we at least will not have to worry about that... he also suggested you should lay low during all this."

"The fuse is already set; the most I can hope for is to minimize the damage to The Order at this stage," a male voice responds.

An female then pipes in, "And how do you plan to do that, aside from watching the city burn itself to the ground?"

"I do not know, at least not yet. That fiasco in the warehouse with the chlornetherium explosion really tipped everyone's hands. The window for subtlety is pretty much shut, time for plan B," the same unknown voice replies. "But that is my concern. You should take care of yourselves while you can. Any more word on the Factions?"

"The Forgers are buzzing, as can be expected. While destroying their chlornetherium supply had the same ultimate effect as stealing it, they naturally saw it as a direct assault.  They are gearing up for blood, and I reckon they will strike while the pan is hot lest they get hit again," interjects another unknown voice.

"The Novi's are equally on high alert since they figure something is afoot with the Forgers or the Fundi's. While the Fundi's are battening down the hatches; hoping to weather the storm as they always have," the man continued.

The female voice chimes in once more, "Hard to believe after all our work once stray shot has set this whole storm in motion. You ever figure out who that was chasing you?"

The male voice that mentioned The Order responds, "Likely hunters from the Order, probably sent by the Chapter Master to thwart my activities... there is a certain irony in all this. You don't see too many Mespah sorcerers, let alone ones with firepower like that."

"They couldn't have just used a crossbow or something, could they," another voice pipes up and then likely takes a swallow from a heavy tankard, judging by the sound.

Zelpuz twiches, in his mind is a mental battle going on between charging into the room and start shooting and wanting to know more about what is going on.
"Let's listen for now, what is our plan when they disperse?" Vanyra hears.

Vanyra's relaying of the conversation makes it apparent that she doesn't understand who these various factions are, but she isn't too concerned other than with how many people are in the room and what they might be able to do.

"The Mespah we want is in there," Vanyra thinks, "but someone from the Order is involved or he is minimizing damage to avoid attention.  We are outnumbered. We can either do a frontal assault and win or run after hitting Lasrange, or wait to kill him outside somewhere.  I don't know if we can surprise Lasrange with his powers though. Can your gun explode the room?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:53, Wed 10 July 2013.

"Let's keep listening. We might be able to take them out with the element of surprise, maybe not. But it seems the Order is more involved than I thought, that changes the game! That means I can't even trust the order, except it seems the Chapter Master. Myrria would want to find all the people involved too, I might have to contact higher members outside the city later. For now, let's see if we can figure out how deep this goes, who is involved and what their goal is (partially obvious)."

"The Bloodrunners are going dark for now. We'll try to feed you what information we can, but no guarantees," the man who was speaking about the faction's action from before states.

"I can ask no more; this really is not your fight. I'm not sure where I will be once the dust settles, but I will likely be needing a ship to somewhere so I will come looking," replies the the same voice who mentioned The Order.

Vernus pipes up, "Right then, let's get out of here while we can. Hope to be seein' all you later." A general sound of movement, chairs being pushed and the like can then be heard; it sounds like the group is imminently departing the room.

"Let's HIDE" Vanyra hears in her head while Zelpuz tries to push himself into his little nook, hoping that nobody will run into him, or actually see him.

Vanyra, from her position much closer to the door nods subconsciously and lithely rolls backwards out of her crouched position and handsprings out of it. A small puddle at her point of landing cracks the silky silence of her movements and she cringes for a moment, all the while eyes fixed on the lit door silhouette. A few seconds scrape by, tension building, but given the continued banter of good-byes it seems no one noticed the splash. Not wasting the chance the Freyan flies across the channel of sewage and sea water in a single bound, then capitalizes on her momentum with a short hop up the side wall. Executing what appears to be a backspin kick Vanyra launches upwards towards the center of the intersecting tunnels, flips around in mid-air and spiders herself against the nook in the ceiling. Pressing her stomach against the cool damp stone Vanyra braces her body into a starfish and listens intently.

Luckily Zelpuz had braced himself against a wall, for the flurry of visuals from Vanyra's movements nearly unbalanced him. But he retains his balance and calm.

A minute later a few figures file out of the door, and with them comes the searing beam of light from a lantern. Two hushed voices accompany the light, a male and female.  As they come into view Zelpuz grimaces; neither of them is Lasrane, and they move with purpose back in the direction from which the Mespah and Freyan came while following Vernus. It would seem no one else is following them.

"So where should we go?" Vanyra 'hears' after the two men passed. "I don't know these two men and it might not help us much to follow them. But there are still Vernus and as far as I can tell Lasrange and a female inside. I'd say we try to listen and see if they are still in there or went out another way."

"I'd rather just kill Lasrange the moment he walks by," Vanyra thinks.

"That's an option, but I doubt it is what Myrria would want, and I am sure the Order is interested in what is going on here, although I am not supposed to be here. There will be time for that later, let's try to gather as much information as we can now." the reply sounds in her head.

"Following Lasrange then," Vanyra thinks as she prepares to stealthily peer into the room after Vernus and his companion have walked by before following through the anticipated unseen exit.

Vanyra sees the rest of the assembled persons exiting a door on the far side of the room, opposite the door through which she was listening. The lantern in the room is being carried by one of the party.

Carefully lowering herself down, Vanyra stealthily follows the other group which she hopes includes Lasrange.

Zelpuz waits until the other party passed him, then peeled himself out of his crack and follows Vanyra at the usual distance.

The two hunters slip down the corridor like shadows; taking extra caution not to disturb anything. Upon entering the meeting room it appears like any other such room might, complete with several worn wooden chairs, a light wooden table and a set of empty shelves. Through the opposite doorway the light of the escaping trio can be seen moving further into the darkness ahead.

Zelpuz and Vanyra follow their quarry for only a few minutes before they begin to ascend a set of stairs, not so dissimilar to the ones that brought them down to these tunnels.  With the stairs comes the surprisingly fresh scent of Ossylian air, at least fresh compared to the funk down here. Being underground has somewhat disoriented the pair of stalkers vis-a-vis the city above, but they could certainly be in another district by now.

Upon reaching the surface the trio of suspects heads straight down a wide road, moving further into the city proper. A quick survey of the surroundings reveals that you have emerged in one of the merchant districts, likely the one neighboring the harbor. Various storefronts can be seen lining the sides of the road, all dark save for the light of interspersed street lanterns.

They are conversing in hushed tones about various trivial issues, such as the best silversmith on the street or the history of a particular leather shop. Suddenly they stop in mid step as they near a bend in the street, "Odd place for guards." remarks one. "Indeed, unless the are Novians," remarks another. With that the three scurry off to the side of the street to give themselves some cover from which they can observe a situation up ahead.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:15, Thu 15 Aug 2013.

Zelpuz moves as close as he can without being detected. He hides into a corner close enough to observe what is going on in the group they were following as well as the guards they are observing.

Vanyra has also moved in close as well in her attempt to determine what is going on as well as to help ensure their quarry does not escape.

From Lasrane's trio Vanyra's keen sense of hearing picks out a hushed exchange.

"It looks like they are expecting trouble," says one of the men.

Lasrane responds, "Indeed it does. Could be the ball has already started rolling somewhere."

"We'll need another way out, preferably one that is out of the way.  If they have guards here they are likely to be all over," the same man replies.

"And who knows what we'll run into in other parts of the city. I hope you got a plan, cuz I've got a bad feeling about this." says the 2nd man.

"Alright, let's get out of here." Lasrane concurs.  With that the men quietly skulk away back in the direction they came, while keeping a close eye on the group of guards. After a fair distance they break into a quick jog to put more distance between them.

Zelpuz and Vanyra keep following the group as good as they can without getting noticed.

After several minutes of hurried walking, with numerous pauses to check their surroundings for possible trailers or threats the three men, with Lasrane in the lead duck into a side alley between to large shops. After a few moments of waiting Zelpuz and Vanyra peer down the alleyway from the street, concealed in large part by the building corners. Several yards away the Lasrane group is crossing an open canal via a rather rickety looking wooden board. If memory serves the canal is an unofficial border for the merchant district. Once crossed the group pulls up the board, which has a length of rope attached to one end, and leans it against a wall while tossing the length of rope over to the other side. After that they move down yet another alley.

"Can you get over there without the board" Zelpus asks Vanyra.

Vanyra silently and nimbly leaps over the canal to the other side.  She quickly looks for their quarry while quietly lowering the board back over the canal.

Zelpuz appears next to her shortly after.

The duo shadow their prey for a few more minutes, sulking down a few cobbled streets before finally stopping at a four-way intersection. The three men exchange a brief goodbye and go their separate ways, moving with purpose.

"Now can we get him?", Vanyra queries mentally.

"If we know where he hides, we can get him any time, but aren't you curious what's going on? And if Lasrange is involved, it is my duty to make sure his damage is minimal" Zelpuz answers in Vanyra's head. "Let's wait and see."

"Wait for what?", Vanyra thinks with irritation as she quietly draws her weapon.

"If he was predictable, he would have been easier to find.  He's not going to hide in the same place all the time."

"We did all this to track him, capture him, and find out more.  We found out more, and its time to get him to tell us the rest."

"Myrria and I tried to catch him too. Don't underestimate him." Zelpuz replies, "Do you just want to kill him? We may cause him more harm if we expose his plot and have the order deal with him. I don't think we can make him tell us anything if we capture him either."

"What value is there in letting him go if we can't find him again and how would exposing him help when your Order is involved?"

"I don't think the order is involved, and if this chapter is, that is even more reason to expose them to the real Order!"
Zelpuz hesitates, "I would like to know who else is involved, where he's going and what is going on, but I am also tempted to just finish him off now"

"Then we incapacitate him and bring him in to your Order. They can get whatever answers they want."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:11, Sat 21 Sept 2013.

"That would be the normal way to go. But it seems there are events about to unfold very soon. The Order will not care and deal with Lasrange in our own way. If we want to figure out what's going on here and maybe help Yuu since he lives in this city, we have to take a different approach. If we don't care, we can take him out now."

"Why do we care about some gang war and what does Yuu have to do with it? Lasrange shut down the Blood Runners and is going into hiding. This may be our last chance to get him. We have lots of other people we could question, like that Captain and the others from that group. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to find any of them. If we took down Lasrange right now, we could possibly get some of the others too."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:55, Sun 22 Sept 2013.

"Can we try to capture him? I would like to question him and bring him to the Order. But don't underestimate him! He may still escape if we attack now."

"I don't see why we couldn't. Is there anything special that I should know?"

"Well, he did manage to escape Myrria and me before. So let's make sure that won't happen again." Zelpuz replies, "What's the plan?"

"Hard and fast. Its all about surprise."

As Zelpuz and Vanyra draw-up the final course of the plan to apprehend Lasrane shouts from up the street dislodge their train of thought like a slap in the face. Quickly peering out from their covered position they spy a group of soldiers or guards having taken hold of one of Lasrane's former companions, and they appear to demanding that he do the same.

Lasrane pauses for a moment as if sizing up the situation before turning and bolting away in the direction he was originally travelling, southeast. After a few moments of confusion and order giving a contingent of 5 soldiers break off from the group and begin the chase. The remaining 3 guards, on of which appears to be leader of sorts, take charge of their prisoner.

"Let's try not to loose him!"

Already alternating between assessing and having the high ground in order to ambush Lasrange, Vanyra continues her pursuit using buildings, rooftops, and dark corners. Paying close attention to the slower races involved at both ends of the chase, Vanyra mentally curses their luck and aims to be ahead of Lasrange so she doesn't lose him.

Zelpuz tries to keep up with Lasrange (and Vanyra) without loosing his cover.

The chase continues for several minutes, with Lasrane taking a very erratic maze of alleys and side streets to lose his followers. He seems to be making some ground but his pursuers are not giving up; why they want him so as to pursue him thus you cannot guess. You can tell that they are not Ossylian guards, their uniforms suggest some sort of mercenary or private force.