Imbellem leaned forward and and shook his hair like a wet dog drying his fur; the last of the dust and small stones trickled onto the ground. Likewise, Jacqueline padded a few spots on her shoulders clean. “Well, that wasn’t the most graceful thing we’ve done,” Jacqueline said dryly. Imbellem chuckled and replied, “It wasn’t the least graceful thing I’ve done either. Once, I was at the court of Proxai, see? And there they served wine in fancy, glass goblets that were like, 100 years old. I think 27 were destroyed in the accident which-” “Ahem,” Herr Johannes interrupted. “That sounds like quite a story but let’s save it for another time.” Imbellem gave a brief facial expression of embarrassment at his rambling, “Right.” As Johannes concluded a few more words with Adwonus, Dwalin gently nudged Imbellem in the side and whispered, “Seriously, tell me that tale tonight. I’ve seen the sultan of Proxai, and I’d love to hear about the expression on that smug little face of his.” Imbellem grinned, "It's a good one, but in short, I can't go to Proxai anymore."

“If you would give us a moment, Adwonus?” Johannes finally said. Adwonus merely shrugged and meandered to the wall where he leaned up against it and folded his arms. “Thanks,” Johannes replied, regardless of the lack of verbal response. Johannes motioned to the party with his hands to follow him. His companions followed him a few steps away, and they stood together in a circle, speaking in low tones. After only a couple minutes of conversing, they broke their huddle and returned to Adwonus, who gazed uncaringly at southern sky. At their return, he ceased leaning on the wall and squarely faced them. “Well?” he demanded with slight impatience. “We’ve decided, I believe,” Johannes replied, glancing around at the others to see if there was any sign of contestation. When no one spoke up, he continued, “We’ve decided we can’t trust what you’ve told us just yet, not enough to base our actions off of. We’re leaving to continue pursuing our mission. If you find some hard evidence, well, we’ll see.” Johannes pushed the strap of his backpack further up his shoulder, trying not to disturb the parrot sitting on his other, and nodded to his companions. “We’re leaving. Goodluck Adwonus.” Adwonus leaned back on the wall and simply shook his head in disapproval. Seeing he wasn’t going to say anything else, Johannes turned and started walking down the street; recognizing their time here was at an end, the other party members followed. Adwonus didn’t even watch them as they got further down the road. When they turned a corner a short ways down, Adwonus was cut from view, and the party was split.

"Fools. All Fools,” Adwonus muttered to himself. “Yes, they are.” Adwonus glanced up and saw Pyrra casually walking toward him, now only a few feet away. Briefly, Adwonus wondered where she might’ve been hiding - the roof perhaps? He continued, “I’ve gone out of my way enough for them. You’d think at least one would have the sense to listen. They follow that paladin’s charismatic speech blindly.” Pyrra put a hand on his shoulder, “One thing I’ve learned in my life is that those in the front never see the full picture, for they rarely bother to think on something from an angle other than their own.” He glanced up at her, nodding at the wisdom. At last, she smiled, “I’ve freed myself from my duties this day. I’m here to help you.”
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:36, Wed 18 Feb 2015.

When Pyrra appears he speaks to her. "Maybe I should have just killed them as they slept. I don't really know." He turns to her. "I thank you for the help, and I trust that what you have told me is true. Can we gain more support. I feel if this comes to blows we alone will not be enough to take them. We need to be smart. I know that they will likely head for the market to buy a bunch of last minute supplies they should already have. That should slow them a bit.... Pyrra, do you know of Delcor's location?"

"Perhaps you should've," Pyrra chuckled. "And no, I don't no Delcor's location. I didn't have a role in the assault plans. We should head to Rielle on Middle Island, the island between the Twin Bridges - she'd know. She might also be able to get us more help."

The sun drifted a little lower in the sky as the afternoon latened. A few townsfolk passed Adwonus and Pyrra by; people were beginning to return to the streets now that the fear of looters and further battle subsided. Pyrra pushed back her lengthy brown hair, exposing long and pointed elven ears. Like all eves, she was tall, about the same height as Adwonus. And also like many elves, her every movement and step had an air of grace, as though the mere act of movement was a dance.

Together, they stood on the cobbled stone street. A few seagulls from the bay flew overhead and quickly vanished behind the tavern. “Things are going to get ugly soon,” Pyrra spoke. Adwonus looked at her, his eyes locking with her deep violet irises. The color was rich, a coloration that belonged to those of elven blood alone. “We’d best get a move on and do what we can to stop this. Those rogue agents are rushing headlong into destruction, and they themselves will aid it.” Her tone was grim. “Adwonus, what do you wish to do?”

In reply to DM Ryan (msg # 4):

The half orc looks at his long time friend and nods. "let's get to the middle Island. We need intel, allies, and supplies. All in that order."

Adwonus and Pyrra made their way through the city, and they reached the north bridge of the Twin Bridges. Both of the bridges were massive in their construction, one of the finest architectural achievements of the city and built over a century past. On immense pillars of sound stone, the bridge spanned over the first half of the bay. The arch was large enough that full-sized ships passed underneath it, continuing upstream and into the interior of Perdane. A beautiful, tripled-masted brigantine ship with white sails drifted underneath the center of the bridge as the small party drew near. Another smaller ship was following the brigantine, an exotic felucca, a kind of ship often used by Olseeni traders. It disappeared beneath the breadth of the bridge.

As always, the Twin Bridges were filled will with commoners and traders, a steady flow of traffic between the peninsulas. As they walked and further crossed over the bay, they could feel the cool sea breeze sweep over them, flowing unhindered from the open waters. The Bay of Andor always looked marvelous from this vantage, for one could view nearly all the docks of Herrod from here. The interior of the bay was filled with ships of all sizes and shapes, from all corners of the Isles. Marvelous. Not long after they stepped onto Middle Island, which split the great river flowing from Perdane into two before merging with the bay and sea. Middle Island was a small town in its own way, crowded with businesses and shops that catered to the constant passing of traffic between Upper and Lower Herrod. And a main road stretched from the west end to the east, from edge to edge. At the eastern end was a fortress tower that also acted as a lighthouse come nightfall. That was their destination.

Adwonus and Pyrra stepped onto the main road. A little further down, the wide road also branched south, continuing to the south bridge and Lower Herrod. Most of the traffic took this route, but Adwonus and his companion walked straight past, toward the fortress tower at the end of the Isle. Made of stone and greater in width than any of the other ordinary buildings, it stood decently tall over the bay and Middle Island itself. On the other side was a special dock reserved for naval ships of Herrod, though they didn’t have very many. As they neared the entrance, Pyrra glanced behind. Adwonus noticed and asked, “What is it?” “Keep going,” she replied. After a moment they passed through the open gate into the tower and were sheltered in a stone hall. Pyrra pulled Adwonus to the side, “Your friends, the rogue agents - they’re here on the island. They were a little ways behind us. I don’t think they were following us, but I’m not sure if they didn’t see us either.” Adwonus nodded in silence. Pyrra continued, “So, continue going to see Rielle, or do we want to do something about this?”

In reply to DM Ryan (msg # 6):

"I say we lose them, and keep heading on our way. We can't confront them, we don't have the forces to take them on. Unless of course we summon a shitload of guards as canon fodder, which is unlikely. We need to get to the spymaster. Stay focused."

The half orc moves on, keeping a good pace through the winding streets.

Inside the fortress tower, Adwonus and Pyrra walked down the hall, their footsteps resounding on the stone blocks. On both sides were a couple large wooden doors, and at the very end was a winding stair leading to the upper levels. Two city guardsmen, who’d just come down the steps, approached the party. “Can we help you citizens?” Pyrra spoke first, “Not citizens. I’m a Hand of the state. Where’s Rielle?” The guardsmen suddenly straightened up, “Sorry for the presumption ma’am. Rielle is just through the last door on your right. Do you need anything else ma’am?" “No, that’ll be all,” Pyrra replied authoritatively. The two city guardsmen continued walking toward the front door, probably to go on patrol, but only this time they had a little more hop in their step.

Pyrra glanced back at Adwonus and winked, “Come on.” Together, they walked to the end of the hall, and Pyrra knocked on the thick wooden door. “Come in,” a voice answered. Pyrra turned the iron latch and pushed open the door which made a lengthy creaking sound. Adwonus peered inside as Pyrra stepped in first. It was an office. At the rear of a modestly sized room was a desk and chair upholstered with red leather. A decorative rug nearly covered the entire floor, immediately softening their steps. On the left hand were bookcases from wall to wall, filled with books and scrolls, some of which were starting to pile on the ground. And sitting in the chair, busily writing a letter with quill in hand, was Rielle. Her short black hair was tied in a tight bun, and she wore a conservative leather armor, a blue so dark it was almost black. She glanced up at both of them and instantly set down her quill. “I admit I’m a little surprised to see you here. For you to come straight to me - must be important.” She folded her hand in her lap, ready to listen. “Now, Report.”

Roleplaying Experience
Adwonus: Gained 32 XP
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:21, Sat 28 Feb 2015.

In reply to DM Ryan (msg # 8):

The half orc views the room, checking for things, but he knows its secure. Even so, he speaks low. "Do you remember the hirelings you introduced me to? Well long story short, I killed, llarbin as ordered, and it pushed them to join the rebels, or so it seems. They attacked the guard tower. I did my best to end the situation non violently, but the paladin attempted to kill me. Needless to say I was outnumbered. The tower fell to the rebs. I attempted diplomacy and the party ended up getting me captured by rebel forces for a bit. Me and Llarbin's stepdaughter were locekd in together. The palaidn who leads the group has got a thing for her, so we both ended up being released. I tried to make the party see reason, tell them that Steyus was rightfully chosen to rule and the economy is too entwined with the pirates for now, but they wouldn't listen. In short, there's a man who's higher up. I bet he knows where Delcor is, his name is Darus. The other party members also picked up a priest, real zealous god-boy, just like the paladin, so now they have a healer. I don't know why they were so keen on joining the rebels. It really makes no sense. All of them are guilty of murder in my book. They've killed guardsmen, and gone on to rationalize everything they've done. They're trying to find Delcor as well to protect him or something. We need Delcor's location, and some muscle to back us up. I'm not talkin just city watch, were gonna need some people with real skills, maybe a caster or a healer. It can't just be me and Pyrra. We also need some supplies. I'm thinking thunderstones, bows, tanglefoot bags and some heavy duty poison at least."

Rielle set her hands on the table. Her eyebrows twitched in consternation and there was the slightest shake of fury in her fingers. Noticeably, she calmed herself. “And what do you plan to do? Hmm? Go make up for your obvious mistakes?” Despite her voice being paced, there was a painful sharpness. Momentarily, Adwonus winced at the rebuke. She continued, “The adventurers turned on us. You warned us of their disloyal tendencies early on, so that fact wasn’t so surprising. It’s why we didn’t include them in our further plans. However, they’d received an invitation to Larlben Manor, which proved a perfect opportunity to remove an enemy faction before it could cause any more damage. You were instructed to use them to get close to Larlben, and indeed you did so. I’ll state for the record that you carried out your mission perfectly and were rightly rewarded for it. But, at that point the usefulness of those adventurers was at an end, and then they were only traitors to the state - nothing more.” Rielle stood from her chair and looked sternly at Adwonus, eyes scolding, “You should have ended them then and there.”

Pyrra spoke on Adwonus’ behalf, “Madame, in his defense, he was outnumbered. And I don’t think there was an opportunity for him to take them out while sleeping. Even as the gatehouse was lost, I don’t think we had the strength to overpower them.” Adwonus glanced at Pyrra who responded with an assuring smile out of the corner of her mouth; he knew he could always count her on his side. Rielle looked out the small window behind her desk. It offered a glimpse of the bay where wind dragged ripples across the blue waters. After a moment of thought, Rielle said, “I suppose you're right Pyrra. That does seem to be the case.” Her tone became contemplative, “So, it seems they’re aware of the assault on Delcor’s hidden base at dawn, and they’re likely going to warn them. I’ve no idea how they stumbled on his location - not an easy fact to find - but we must presume that they know.” Pyrra added, “I don’t think we can intercept and stop them. They’ve already passed through Middle Island I suspect. They may be too far ahead of us.” “If I had known sooner, we could’ve laid a trap for them here,” Rielle spoke bitterly. “But I suppose we can’t dwell on missed chances. As to your request, Adwonus, casters and healers and thunder things? I know you came from the outers islands, but you’ve lived among civilized people long enough to know fiction from reality. Please, let us focus on real solutions.”

Pulling out some papers from several piles, Rielle spread them side by side on her desk, standing over them. While reviewing each of them, she continued, “We can’t move up the assault much further. Mobilizing all the guard units in time would be impossible. So they may be expecting us when we come. It’ll make things harder, but they’ll lose all the same. Most of the rebel strength is spread out in small, decentralized outposts, which are often little more than bands of urchins. A concentrated attack by the city guard will easily overpower whatever defense they may have.” She looked at Adwonus and Pyrra, “I don’t think you can do any more good in this matter, at least for time being. Sending you after the rogue adventurers would be pointless and unlikely to success, as would be sending you into Delcor’s hidden base - until the city guard is ready anyway. The rogue adventurers will meet their fate soon enough. For now, I have another task in mind, one that should make good use of your skills. But first I want you to tell me something. . .” Rielle stacked the papers on her desk and pushed them to the side. Opening a small drawer at the base of her desk, she pulled out a long cylinder case and held it in her hands. “Tell me, what have you learned of the Pirates thus far?”

In reply to DM Ryan (msg # 10):

The halforc folds his arms. "Magic or no, my time on the islands taught me that there are things beyond what we know. that white haired woman with the others is something... unnatural, she weaves things with words. I can feel it. As for the pirates, rumors mostly. Apparently there's a new, bigger and badder pirate lord running the show, and the little bugger's sooo secretive noone really knows who he is, accept that he's not Red Jack. If our economy is as reliant as they say, why not ask their help in this matter? Think about it. We could use the pirates to fight Delcor's men. They'd probably lose plenty, as would the rebels. If the pirates win, they will be weakened and we can crush them later, then again, if we use them it could legitimize the rebel's claims... hmm. Maybe I'm thinking a little too big for my position..."

Rielle held a long brass cylinder-tube in her hands as she spoke, “There is much more to those rumors than you’ve heard. . .” Her tone was serious and flat. “Everyone knows that Herrod, and most of Perdane for that matter, has been in financial debt to Pirates Lords for nearly 70 years. They’re annoyingly skilled at keeping it that way. For Herrod, different Pirate Lords have exerted their power in different ways over the years. For the last 20 years, the Pirate Lord was Red Jack; he tended not to interfere in government matters except when it dealt with laws concerning pirate-owned businesses. This was acceptable. The situation is far more dire in other provinces where some Pirate Lords try to control everything, and rule the province themselves.”

Setting the cylinder-tube on desk, Rielle walked over to the small window and opened it. A gentle breeze from the sea flowed inside and ventilated the room. Adwonus heard the cries of a passing seagull. Rielle turned toward them again and continued, “The Pirates’ wealth and power rely on a good economy (in their favor of course), so problems for the city also tend to mean problems for them. As a result, Herrod has indeed asked the Pirates to intervene on problems over the years.” Her voice grew darker. “But things have recently changed. . .”

“Three months ago, every spy and informant we had among the Pirates went silent, never to be heard from again. The Pirates themselves ceased contact with Lord Steyus except for a single representative who comes once a month to check the financial books. Even I did not discover what had happened until very recently. There was a coup. With a stealth I must admire, Red Jack was overthrown - he’s believed to be dead by most. The coup was led by his second in command, who took complete control of the organization.” Adwonus spoke, “I had heard Red Jack got pushed out, but I didn’t learn who the new bastard is. Who is it?” Rielle walked over to a short table near her desk. On top of it were a number of spirits and bottles. She took one and began pouring three drinks. Finally she responded in a dark tone, “Alldyde. . . Alldyde was his second in command, ruthless and efficient they describe him. Now I have no idea how Alldyde has remained shadowed from us for so long, nor how he purged the pirates of our agents, but I became very worried after I learned this - for a couple reasons.” She set the three drinks on her desk.

“The first reason is that Alldyde has clearly no interest in contacting us. I can’t fathom the implications of this. It would seem this rebellion would be damaging to their wealth, and yet, they do nothing - it doesn’t make sense. What do they have to gain from this? Second is that Alldyde isn’t a new name to me. . . One year ago, when Kelden Delcor was still imprisoned, the Delcor family was making progress in the royal court to get their son released. Seeing the danger the reckless Kelden might cause - as we can see for ourselves today - Lord Steyus wisely decided to have Kelden killed while in prison and made to look like an accident to avoid increasing tensions. Lord Steyus asked the Pirate Lord Red Jack to do it. Alldyde was the one Red Jack sent. And even though Alldyde is well known for his competence, he somehow botched the entire task, and Kelden Delcor escaped! This seems far too coincidental for me.”

Adwonus then asked, “So what do you want to be done?” While Adwonus picked up a drink for himself, Rielle picked up the long brass cylinder-tube and unscrewed the top. She pulled out a rolled-up parchment and laid it flat on the table. It was a map. “This, is a very valuable map. I have a both dangerous and important mission for you.”

In reply to DM Ryan (msg # 12):

Trapper looks at the spymaster after taking it all in. He speaks slow. "So you're implying this new pirate lord is puppeting the rebellion? or at least playing on their side? Hmm... Anyway, what's the mission, and what's my support?"

Pyrra picked up a glass and sipped the cool drink. Her violet eyes watched over the rim of the glass. Gulping, she said, "It'll be a good day when these Pirate Lords finally go extinct. With any luck, this Alldyde will be the last of them." Setting her glass down, she pushed a strand of dark hair behind her pointed ears. "So, what do you want us to do?"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:30, Tue 10 Mar 2015.

Rielle began, “This map marks the location of a pirate shipping warehouse north of here, close to the bay in Upper Herrod. You might have unknowingly passed it on your way here.” She tapped her finger on top of a black mark on the map. “I want you to investigate. We need to know what the new Pirate Lord has been doing all this time. Go inside the warehouse and see what you can find. You need to be extremely careful, for any fighting would be a hard fight.”

Adwonus then spoke, “What’s my support?” “It was difficult finding an agent for this,” she answered. “This mission requires both stealth and the skill to fight if need be. Most of our agents aren’t strong enough, and would be liabilities to you. So I picked a support from our routinely hired sellswords, one who's both light on his feet and capable.” Looking toward the door behind them, she called out, “Zinvaris, you can come in.”

The door opened, and a man walked inside. His dark blue overcoat covered a white shirt, the collar of which peaked around his neck. His thin beard and styled hair were as black as black could be. Fair-skinned, he looked- “He looks like an asshole,” Adwonus bluntly stated. “Yea, nice to meet you too pal,” he sneered.

“Gentlemen!” Rielle snapped. “The fact of the matter is, you’re the only three capable of successfully carrying this out. So you’re going to work together. Deal with it. Pyrra, take this map.” She rolled up the map and handed it to Pyrra. “Now you know what need to be done. Go do it. That will be all.” Rielle sat back down at her desk and swiftly grabbed her drink. Adwonus and Zinvaris looked at each other, sizing the other up. This was going to be interesting.

In reply to DM Ryan (msg # 15):

The half orc, nods, regretting his silly comment. He's been stressed of late. Making it difficult to work well and correctly. He looked at the man Zainvaris, and spoke. "As long as you can move nice and quiet, we'll do fine together. Name's trapper. This is Pyrra." he turns to the spy master and asks, jumping on Pyra's question. "Yes. What's the deal?"

In reply to Adwonus Swillman (msg # 16):

{supply run}
Trapper peruses the merchant's on the middle island, using some of his funds to upgrade his arsenal.
the following items are purchased.
one orc double axe(60gp(Racially profiecent, treated as attacking with two weapon fighting and reduced penalties)
one suit of MWK studed leather(175GP)
Sold the leather armor(+5gp)
Sold the old hatchet(+3gp)
bought a new dagger(-2Gp)

-231gp?

“Wait,” Rielle said as they were about to leave. She had opened a letter on her desk and was reading it intently. Finally she gestured to Pyrra, “Bring me your map.” Pyrra gracefully walked over and handed her the rolled up parchment. Rielle spoke, “Slight change of plan. There’s been recent activity at another warehouse of the pirates, very recent. This one’s in the southeast part of the Bazaar, down in Lower Herrod.” She unrolled the map; taking her quill, she scribbled a new black mark. “Same thing. Investigate. See what you can find. But be even more careful around this one, for its much closer to the Pirate’s headquarters. Just be smart.” She handed the parchment back to Pyrra who tucked it in her pack. “Alright, now go. There’s no time to waste,” Rielle ordered.

With a simple nod, Adwonus left, followed by Pyrra and Zinvaris. They made their way back out of the tower and into the main road of Middle Island. “I need to pick up some things,” Adwonus succinctly said.

It didn’t take long - a half hour at the most. A brief tour of the shops was all it took for them. Adwonus adjusted his new studded leather armor, masterwork, which was just the slightest bit tighter around the waist. He needed to lose some weight anyway. His orc doubleaxe was slung on his back; it wasn’t as concealable or elegant as his old axe, but it would certainly handle more enemies at once if the situation arose. Even Pyrra had resupplied herself with arrows, content with a newly full quiver.

Only Zinvaris didn’t make a purchase, for he was already happy with his arrangement. Despite wearing little more than a deep blue overcoat and perhaps some padding beneath, he insisted he was fine. “All I really need is this,” he said, pulling out a very thin blade. “What? A toothpick?” quipped Adwonus. “This toothpick could cut you to ribbons.” His tone sounded like a joke mixed with a threat. But he smirked and continued, “I’m the best swordsman in this town you know. I guarantee it.” “Sure you are,” Adwonus muttered. Zinvaris gracefully sheathed his sword, not quite catching Adwonus’ last remark.

Pyrra turned to Adwonus and said, “Well, we have a bearing. What do you wish to do now?”

In reply to DM Ryan (msg # 18):

Trapper looks at his group before speaking. "I say we should start making our way nice and easy towards the objective. On the way, I wanna know more aboutchya Zin. Tell me what you can and can't do. Tell me why you're here. Hope ya don't mind. I just like to know a bit about my team before hand. It's a new policy of mine."

Zinvaris walked with his gaze at the clouds, as relaxed as could be. “I go where the money’s good.” He spoke the fact bluntly, almost bragging. Pyrra narrowed her eyes at him, “So that’s it then? Just a heartless sellsword?” Zinvaris chuckled and smirked, “I try my best to be.”

They crossed the southern twin of the Twin Bridges and into Lower Herrod. It was a fairly long walk to the Bazaar, but the streets were moving, the traffic fair. Zinvaris continued, “Before Rielle I did a few other things. Was a sword-fighting tutor for a bit. Worked for Larlben; taught his son how to hit things.” “Wait what!?” Adwonus exclaimed, bordering on shouting. He glared intensely at Zinvaris, “You worked for Larlben?” It was more of an accusation than a question. Zinvaris just started laughing, “Relax, or your green face might turn red. Yea, I did. At least until he fired me. That was like a year ago, when he first decided to do the politics thing. He wanted his place to be more secure or something and I guess he didn’t want a sellsword around his kid. And apparently my assurances weren’t enough so, surprise - I get kicked out the door.” He shrugged. “After that I did some work for the City Guard and must’ve got noticed, for they sent me Rielle’s way - who’s got much deeper pockets! Anyway, you won’t meet a better swordsman, and I’m light on my feet. Seems you agents appreciate that kind of thing.” “Yea, well don’t fail or betray us, or we’ll see if you’re as good as you say with our own blades,” Pyrra uttered. Zinvaris replied with a light tone, “Feisty! Well you don’t need to worry about a thing miss. . . I haven’t had any good offers!”

Continuing through the streets of Herrod, they walked along the road to the Bazaar. . .

In reply to DM Ryan (msg # 20):

As they walk together and converse, trapper keeps his eyes up and open. He glances around, hoping not to run into the other party. Instead he continues his conversation with Zin. "I can respect going for the gold. Makes sense in this city. Myself, I owe a debt to mr. S. And the pay's good.... if it's any consolation to you, I opened Ol' Llarbin's throat. You trained his son though, tell me what you know about 'im. He's on the other party's side. His relationship seemed, not so great with the old man when I was there. He even refused to fight in the street on Delcor's side. Wasn't to shook up about daddy's death neither. Care to shed some light on that?"

“Hell if I knew what went on in another man’s head,” Zinvaris said. He shrugged as they continued walking down the main road. The streets had grown thin of commonfolk as the day wore on. “Marcus was a decent student, though nowhere near amazing. Funny that you killed old Celus. That’s what I call an ironic fate. If he hadn’t of fired me an’ I was still around, I doubt that woulda happened.” He chuckled.

Adwonus felt a soft breeze on his skin; smelled like salt and sea. The Bay of Andor was a short distance north, but they were far from sight of it. Walking eastward to the Bazaar, the day had grown late, and the sun was finally beginning to dim in the western sky. The normally crowded highway had become sparse and only a few wagons moved ahead and behind them. “The sun will set in an hour or so,” Pyrra said, traveling beside Adwonus. He nodded in agreement. All was getting quiet.

Then Adwonus heard a strange sound in the air, a whistling. In a way, it seemed familiar, and- “Adwonus lookout!” Pyrra cried. She grabbed Adwonus by the arm and almost violently pulled. He stumbled into her while watching an arrow, sharp and fast, fly past where he once stood. It missed and shot into the wall of a house nearby. Hastily, Adwonus turned, as well as Pyrra and Zinvaris.

At the side of the road, they saw a manly, cloaked figure with a bow, standing. He began reloading with another arrow from his quiver. And he wasn’t alone. Adwonus frantically glanced around as saw at least two other cloak figures, both exiting a nearby alley and heading their way. Adwonus spoke to his companions, “I count three.” “Make that four,” Pyrra corrected. She gestured toward another hooded head peering from the window of a house, loading a crossbow on the sill. “Well let’s kill-” “Wait,” Pyrra interrupted. “We’re outnumbered, and we’re on the defensive. We don’t even know who we’re against. I think this is one of those times to run.” "Nah!” Zinvaris contested. “Let’s get our blades wet!” He unsheathed a thin sword. “Adwonus!” Pyrra pleaded. It suddenly all rested on him.