Yuu and Qwe move down the hallway towards their parent's chamber. The sounds of the conflict outside have grown more intense. Just as they near the door their mother emerges, dressed hastily in light armor. A stern, uncompromising look in her eyes as she immediately spies her children.

"Do not think of questioning one thing I have to say, just listen and obey," she says quickly and clearly; a voice they have heard her use before when speaking to soldiers. "Yuu, take your sister to the lower levels and use one of the escape tunnels. Be wary that they may know of them and have planned an ambush... I trust you will be able to deal with the situation. Once outside stay as hidden as possible and find shelter for the time being; trust no one. I cannot tell you where to go with the extent of this coup being so clouded, so trust your training and instincts."

Suddenly their father appears, dressed less militaristic but apparently ready for what is coming, he tosses Yuu a pouch of coins. "Some emergency funds, use them wisely," he explains. As if sensing the question before it starts he continues, "They are after us for the positions we hold at court and in the military, but they would only be able pressure us so far. If they had you two they have much greater leverage over us, so you cannot allow yourselves to be captured... by anyone. Outsiders are likely your only hope now, people who have not been here long enough to get wrapped in this... but be wary of mercenary types. Dress well below your station at all times, and mind your language too... nothing must give you away."

"Now hurry and go. We will come for you when this is all over, but until then do not attempt to return as it could well be a trap," their mother continues before reaching over and tightly embracing each of them. Their father then follows suit.

Yuu had come to his parent's floor with a slew of things to say, questions to ask.  He'd been rolling his words carefully around in his head, preparing them in such a way to produce confidence and a sterness in their delivery.  He had it planned, as a meeting of equals.

The young mage's balloon didn't so much pop, as fart itself into a flat mess.  And all he could croak out was a philosophically deep: "Don't die."

Holding back tears, he grabbed his sister's hand and headed towards a hidden servant's stairwell.  Past paintings of long dead relatives, who'd held the family's name proudly in decades removed.  Past awards and honors received for services rendered.  Arms and armours, both ceremonial and practical, displayed as a historical reminder of the tools of the family's trade.

These things blurred along, and as the siblings were reaching the stairwell, Qwe broke the emotional stalemate, "I love you!" she called out, looking back behind her.

"And we love you."  They're mother called after.  And with that the two siblings vanished into the shadows of the stairwell.  And their mother became General Lok Jin, and their father War-Magi Jin.  And they left the hallway to rain vengeance upon the attackers of their home and family.

The servant's passage was remarkably dark and quiet, a stark contrast to the chaos outside. Using a simple flashlight device Yuu guided his sister down the stairs a full 3 stories, past the main floor, down into the lower hall. Here he paused to observe the corridor beyond; like a tomb. The two quickly and quietly moved over to a nondescript shelf of stores, Yuu then cast a simple but obscure cantrip and the shelf slid to the left to reveal a narrow stairwell leading down.

Confirming once more that no one was near Yuu motioned for Qwe to lead, passing her the torch, while he followed suite and then insured the shelf was put back into place. Another couple of stories they descended before a long, straight passage emerged.  Neither of them had actually been to the end of it, they only knew where it was. Luckily it would seem that the invaders had no such knowledge.

As they progressed along the passage the torch unveiled a number of vermin and other unsavory items that must have accumulated here over time, but otherwise it was empty. After what seemed like a few hundred meters the corridor came to an abrupt halt and a line of simple rusted iron rungs lead up.

Yuu took the torch and held it into the vertical shaft.  He could see a ledge about 20 feet above, hidden in shadow.  He gave the torch back to his sister, and pulled out a pair of goggles, awkwardly soldered with wires, gears and crystals.  The young mage pulled them over his head and slid the eyepieces over his eyes.  He tapped on a crystal, and told his sister to wait there.  And he began to climb, carefully and with as much stealth as an athletically challenged growing teenager could manage.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:22, Tue 03 Sept 2013.

Yuu reaches the top of the vertical shaft and finds himself impeded by a metal grate. Not taking any chances the young mage cranes his neck to survey the surroundings with his magically enhanced vision. As usual the street is thankfully devoid of any life he can see. With a little effort Yuu tests the grate and find that is moves with relative ease for an iron structure.

Yuu pushes up and slides the iron grate aside, then hoists himself up onto the street. After a quick scan of his surroundings he motions for Qwe to wait another minute. The simple residential street is flanked on either end by perpendicular lanes. Yuu is fairly certain they are about 400m west of their household compound, still within the Jade district though, and that could be dangerous. Trusting in his parents' wisdom no one in this part of town could be relied upon, and that includes the house staff as well.

The mage quietly jogs down to the south side of the street and looks about; nothing but a cat atop of house wall; hopefully not a familiar. He turns around and moves to the north intersection; while the west lane appears clear there is a small group of men stationed about 20m down the east way. At first glance the men appear ordinary enough, but they are just milling about in the street in the middle of night, and not the casual, half-drunk milling one would expect. Whoever they are Yuu decides that they are to avoided.

Yuu considers his options, and decides the best bet is to move towards the coast, and follow it out of the city walls.  With the docks awash with foreign faces, they would simply be just two more faces in a sea of strangers.  Perhaps they could book passage on a vessel, and hold up somewhere safe.  Something to be considered.

The young mage dashes back down the street to his waiting sister.  "Let's head towards the docks," he whispers in a low voice.  "I'll move, and wave you forward.  Just... follow my signal.  Stick to the shadows."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:10, Tue 17 Sept 2013.

The young noble duo move further away from the family compound and the assorted groups of potential assailants. The streets appear as quiet as one would expect at this hour, save now and then shouts of alarm or possibly battle can be heard echoing off the walls of the various compounds that line the streets in the district.

Yuu is careful to stop often and survey their surroundings, more so as they move further out of their neighbourhood. The high walled compounds eventually give way to simple large estate homes as they begin moving down towards the seaside. Further down still they would expect to find more common houses of mid-level merchants and finally the docks themselves. As they move further towards the docks the intermittent cacophonies they heard become fewer and fewer; whether that is a good thing or not Yuu was not certain. If nothing else the noise at least dictated where they should not go.

Yuu and Qwe exit out onto a main thoroughfare, steeling their nerves, they continue to make their way down the meandering path to the shore as fast as their strides will allow. Just then their luck ran out; from behind them comes a call, stern but not aggressive, "You there, stop."

Hazarding a quick look behind, Yuu finds two men on the road behind them about 15 yards away. Instantly the presence of their weapons is noted, but as a wave of anxiety and fear began to loom over the young mage he also noted that they were neither guards nor soldiers. One of the men bore the sigil of the Freelancers upon leather breastplate. At that instant any grudge Yuu had over the years for having to learn about all the useless crests, symbols and seals for the various companies and houses of the land evaporated.

Yuu had no idea who, if anyone, was on which side, but the Freelancers at least were outsiders. The organization steered well clear of politics as a course of business. They may have been dragged into fighting in some battles in the occasional war, but this was almost always out of a sense of defense... or so Yuu's studies had lead him to believe. And while he knew these men appeared to be surely they would have no knowledge of him or his sister.

Gathering himself, Yuu halts, and turns slowly, scanning the alleys and rooftops for hidden lurkers as he does.  His gaze falls to the men.

Yuu may be young, but years of training under eye of the nations greatest magi and being the child of nobility, he keeps his nerves in check... at least temporarily... and speaks in a steady voice:

"How can we help you, Freelancers?"

Yuu's eyes detect no additional soldiers or persons at all in the shadows or upon the rooftops. The two Freelancers look calm enough, but their hands rest on their weapons and they too are scanning the area as if expecting trouble. "Just offering some advice; this is no evening for a stroll, especially with so young a lady," the one on the right, marked by a shortbow and quiver strapped to his back and a pair of very long daggers at his sides, states in cool tones.

"Indeed, you'd best get home or find some other shelter. If you've haven't noticed there is an air of violence tonight, things are likely to get quite hairy before the dawn," the older one states, a greatsword across his back, while a buckler is strapped to one hand and odd sai-like shortsword is held in the other.

"Normally the docks aren't the best place to be at night, but it may be you're headed in the right direction tonight. Keep your heads low," the man continues and ends with a note of finality.

"We bid you a goodnight, so make the most of it." the younger Freelancer says and they turn to head up where Yuu and Qwe had come from. They move with purpose, as one would expect of such men out in a night such as this. Whether or how the Freelancers are involved Yuu did not know, but that was a question to another day.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:54, Thu 05 Dec 2013.

"Um... Freelancers!"  Yuu suddenly calls out.

The two men halt in their tracks and turn their attention back to the young Ossylians. Their expressions invite explanation for the sudden address.

"Are you hired for the evening?  Are you... interested in work?"  Yuu stumbles, a bit of a plan forming in his head.

The older man smirks, "I'm afraid we're on guild business tonight I'm afraid. If you need any assistance head to the guild HQ; someone there will be sure to help you."

"Best stick to the side streets for now until you closer the shore. And a friendly tip; avoid any patrols you may encounter tonight," the younger, short bow weildign man adds.

"Thank you, sirs.  Stars guide you."

He turns back, looking down at his sister.  Shrugs.  "Was worth a shot."

The two siblings continue towards the docks, adding to their earlier cautions the freelancer's advice.  They keep more to the shadows, and ears open for patrols.  It is not a hard navigation, even without a back of hand knowledge of the side streets, the growing taste of salt and smell of waste and industry guide them just the same.

As Yuu and Qwe begin moving away from the pair of Freelancers the sound of some commotion, like the beating of many feet against stone, echoes down from a side street behind them. Suddenly, with barely any time to react a dark skinned man bursts out of the shadows and continues running for a few meters past the young nobles, after which he makes an abrupt, skidding halt, frantically surveys the scene and then takes off up the street towards where the Freelancers went.

Pushing Qwe behind him, Yuu watches the long seconds of the scene tick by before his attention is brought back to the cacophony of rushing boots from the same dark side street.

Suddenly, seemingly out of the sky, a figure crashes down onto the dark-skinned man running up the street with vicious force; enough to make Yuu cringe in imagined pain. Unsurprisingly the crumpled man is not moving and his assailant, while rolling out of the attack with exceptional skill must have been jarred by the force of the impact. She regains her footing slowly as if trying to re-establish her bearings. After a few moments of taking in the situation Yuu realizes that the airborne assailant is Vanyra.

The two Freelancers up the street quickly draw their weapons and appear ready for combat, just as a group of five armed guards burst out into the street. By Yuu's reckoning they belong to some sort of merchant company or guild, as their attire is not in the typical fashion of the noble houses of Ossylia nor any military uniform of which he is aware.

As Vanyra leap through the air she quickly ascertained that she was a little higher than anticipated... this was going to hurt.  Her predator's muscles carried her true though and she clenched her muscled taught for the initial impact into Lasrane's back.  But in the moment before she hit, he spun around as if sensing the impending danger, though unluckily for him the airborne momentum of the Freyan was too much to overcome.

With her leg leading Vanyra slammed into Lasrane's chest like a ballista bolt, dropping him to the cobblestone streets with the force of a bolder, just as she attempted to leap and roll out of the landing. She could her some crunching from Lansrane's ground impact just before the same incredible force that took down her prey came for her next. Absorbing the landing took every ounce of strength and agility Vanyra could muster, and still her muscles screamed in agony before giving out at the last moment. A sharp white pain rolled through her head as the huntress struggled to stand.

Quickly ascertaining the gravity of the situation Yuu Jin's begins to draw the nether energy through is body from its extra-dimensional source while his mind focuses to weave that raw energy into a complex form. With practiced assurance the mage creates a slightly luminescent cloud around the recently arrived Shen Zue guards. For a moment they all halt in their tracks as if try to focus on something. The next moment the formerly cohesive group splinters; the lead guard spins around to face Yuu and advances with weapon drawn.

The next guard suddenly spins around to face the companion on this right, and without pausing runs his sword through the unsuspecting fool's gut, collapsing him in a bleeding heap. The last two guards ready begin to stride off to confront Vanyra, but upon seeing their comrade run through their fellow they spin around to confront him in confusion, weapons at the ready.

Meanwhile the first guard, hellbent on turning the young mage into pig feed, leaps forward to skewer Yuu with a direct thrust. Unfortunately in his haste the man failed to see the narrow sewage channel cutting down the side of the street, resulting in him landing his lead foot on the edge and subsequently tumbling forward in a heap.

A ways up the street the two Freelancers remain tense and ready for action, but unmoving; no doubt they are trying to make sense of the chaotic scene unfolding before them.

Zelpuz asesses the situation from his position, he has a reasonable shot at all targets he sees at the moment. He gets ready to shoot. He resumes his communication with Vanrya: "Are you OK? Do you need help moving Lasrane?"

"Just need to get rid of these guys after Lasrane and then he's ours," Vanyra thinks quickly.

Without missing a beat Vanyra then springs over to Yuu and his fumbling attack, and with a swift strike to the back of his head with the handle of her Culay drops him to the ground for a more sustained period.  All the while Zelpuz keeps his aim nearby to pick-off any would-be attackers.

Fortunately for Yuu, it was not he who was the target of Vanyra's assault, but the mercenary who'd given him an earlier evil eye.  Very fortunate.  Especially for his sister, who Yuu now reaches over to and grabs hold of a sleeve and pulls her over to the corner of the building out of harms way.

"Wait here." he says quickly, and gathering his robes, leaps over to Lasrane's prone body, sweeping gaze across the street then down, checking for signs of life.

While Yuu crouches down to inspect the crumpled form of Lasrane, the three remaining Shen Zue guards square off against each other.  As if realizing what he has done the guard who ran-through his companion stops and stares in horror, but only a moment before the guard behind swings his sword at him. With a quickly raised blade he parries the attack and feebly counters. As these two face each other down, the last guard looks on in utter confusion as his morale waivers.

The two Freelancers are taking the opportunity to back away from the mess unfolding in front of them.

Zelpuz decides that his aim is not needed any longer and joins Yuu at Lasrane.