From the other side of the door, the Vanisher heard the words he was hoping for, then softly responded, “wait there.” With a few quick steps, Nestor returned to his rucksack and fitted it over his shoulders. The pack was light – although it was considerably heavier than he was used to – and filled with enough bread, dried meat, cloth, water and other supplies to last him a week of unaided travel. The Vanisher had all of his travelling supplies on his person, and felt a tinge of excitement welling up within his breast. A thoughtful grin stretched across his face as he returned to the door, envisioning the events to come, backtracking to the entrance of the city, and planning the best placement of each straw man along the way.

With a sharp “clink,” Nestor unlocked the padlock on the door and tossed it aside without taking the key. He then opened the door rather roughly and motioned for his ally to enter the room. He waited a few seconds to ensure his companion was no longer in the way, then closed the door. At the same time, he created a straw man in the hallway to ensure that the innkeeper was not having any trouble. After the door was securely closed, Nestor walked over to the sleeping area and, facing Kyoht, quickly relayed some information with a moderately frustrated expression.

“Back in the crowd, when I was talking gibberish to you about rogues, or something like it, I was trying to show you that we were being, and still are being, followed,” he commented, raising an eyebrow, “I cannot afford to let them understand that we are aware of them until we leave the city.” After a brief pause, he walked over to the window and peeked out, frowning after observing information from a different straw man. He continued with a more quiet voice, “they work for Rildraz’s Mercinary Guild, the grunts with pathetic or useless powers and weak gear.” Once again, he paused, moving away from the window as he whispered, “They know we’re in here, but if we fight them in town, the guards’ll be on their side.”

The Vanisher looked over his companion’s face for a moment, but quickly commented, “We need to jump out of this window to insure that they won’t trap us, but they’ll know we’re aware of them the second we jump out.” After another brief pause, he stepped towards the window once again and , in an even softer voice, whispered, “If you don’t contact or talk to them, they’ll prioritize me, so get to the North gate as fast as you can – I’ll misdirect them. When you get there, buy two pack mules and start off without me.” Once again, Nestor paused, except this time, he untied his money pouch and offered it to Kyoht as he continued speaking. “We can lose them in the Forest on the North West side of the base of the mountain, if you’re fast enough. I have around thirty six gold in there – use it sparingly, but quickly.”

He then dropped his arm by his side and reached over to the window, ready to part the wooden panels and jump. “Any questions?” he asked, looking back at Kyoht with a neutral expression as heavy footsteps thundered the wrong way in the hallway behind them.