[center][h3][b]Three weeks ago[/b][/h3][/center]

The planks of the bench were covered in dust and no amount of wiping would empty the crevices in the wood. The zinc walls that were supposed the railway platforms were inevitably pierced by gigantic holes to let the trains through and as a result everything between them was covered in it.
Lae'naya did not like dust, it was coarse and rough and irritating and it got everywhere. The city was even more unwelcoming to the furrier creatures like her as the powder was a nightmare to get rid of.
She was waiting for a train from Karudun in which a person of interest was said to arrive to that cursed city of Sayrn. A train that was now already running a good fifty minutes late and was putting little effort into pretending to read the news paper she held in front of her when she heard it approach.
The low note of rails vibrating like a tuning grew louder by the second, soon overcome by the buzzing of electric arcs running underneath the train.

The man had been travelling from city to city rather erratically in Karudun for at least months, perhaps years, carrying nothing but a single travel bag. His identity was unknown and he rarely seemed to stay in one place for more than a couple of weeks. Speculations as to his occupation varied between informants. Some conjectured he was a consultant, others that he was a runner for any of the various kinds of institutions that required and could afford the services of such shady characters.

Lae'naya scanned the few dozen passengers climbing out of the cabins. “Cauhri, around six feet, strong, likely wearing a blue justaucorps coat and a dark leather hat”. With everyone's face wrapped in various kinds of head dress, a facial description would not have been much help anyway.
Sure enough though a man of such description came out of that train,  a shemagh concealing completely his face. 
The man crossed the platforms in the middle of the crowd. She waited for him to pass the doors of the main hall before standing up and walking after him. He didn't interact with anyone before walking out into the streets.
He dashed through the streets with his eyes to the floor and took abrupt turns as if he knew exactly where he was going.
Seeing the man paid no attention to his surroundings, Lae'naya allowed herself to close the distance. She was only a handful of meters behind him when he took a right turn into a dark alley. It was only a second later that she walked around the corner but he had disappeared. Nonetheless she walked a few more steps before hearing the sound of a man clearing his throat behind her.

“Sorry love, I'm sure you're really good at your job but I don't like them hairy. Well... not that hairy anyway.” he said in a cold tone.

“Consultant” is what the informants had come up, but someone more informed and capable of connecting the dots like Arbos would come to an entirely different conclusion. The man's travels coincided with a series of varyingly gruesome murders, or rather assassinations according to him.
The victims were usually shady characters themselves, nobles with unsavoury friends and hobbies and crime lords. The kind of people with enemies.

She turned around to see the man standing only a few feet behind her.
“How did you spot me?”
“You were sitting alone on the platforms holding a newspaper . You know there's a whole room with doors and no dust not ten meters from where you were sitting, right?
The better question is how did you spot me?
I mean '6 feet, strong, blue justaucorps, hat'? What's next? 'May or may not have feet'? I had to buy a justaucorps just for the occasion. They aren't even a thing a thing any more you know, haven't been for thirty years. That's an antique.”
“Why?”
“Call me curious. It's not every day that someone new is looking for me? And usually those who do want me dead.”

“I speak in the name of Arbos Xell.” she said in a very official tone. “He has sent me to recruit you into our organization and make you one of his disciples?”
“Arbos  Xell who?”
“Arbos Xell the king of thieves.”
“Oh... that one. Well that explains your impeccable stealth skills. Well you can tell him I'm not interested in classes in snatching purses from old ladies or in seducing them either.” the man said as he turned his back to her. “If you do have business with me you can have your people contact my people once I've done what I have to do.”

“You ARE coming with me.” said Lae'Naya said as she grabbed his arm.

The man turned to face her
“If you don't mind, don't take this personally, but I really do have business to attend to.”
The man winced as she tightened her grip with surprising strength.

“Fair enough” said the man before letting out a sigh.

He grabbed the arm that held his wrist and twisted it. As she let go of his hand she leaped to accompany the movement of her arm and threw a sweeping side at the side of his head which he barely dodged by leaning forward and dragging both of them to the ground.
Rolling back on his feet he found her ready to pounce, barely back on her. He dived straight into her guard and threw a straight punch to her gut. Before his other hand could connect with a second one her knee rose up and hit the back of his elbow in defense before she pivoted her stance to throw a powerful kick to his sternum.
He backed up a couple of feet. As she leaned in for a second kicked he swept her leg up with his own and threw her to the ground.
As he walked up to her, a hand over his stomach he said “Well, that's not it, is i..”. A sweep the ankles sent the back of his head against the pavement.
Before he could gather his wits, she mounted him and started punching away at his head. After a full minute of rolling around and punching each other, he managed to throw her to the side against a wall after which he put all his strength in a knee strike to her gut.

Winded and dazed, he got up on his knee. “How.. how about you show me what this is actually about... You don't seem too worried.”

She sat up and grabbed his wrist. Suddenly a jolt of pain went though his body. Lighting arcs jumped between his fingers and all the muscles in his body tensed for a second before letting go.
He flaskly feel to the ground.
Getting back up, she pulled a piece of rope from a pocket and tied his wrists before dragging his body to a car that had stopped at the entrance of the dark alley.

He had completely lost consciousness for nearly half an hour. Slowly waking up, unable to move or open his eyes, the rocking of the carriage and soft clop of the horse's hooves somewhat eased the agonizing headache he suffered. He was half asleep for some time before slowly coming back to his senses.
In front of him staring at him was the strange cat woman, her face now uncovered.
“So.... what is your name?” he mumbled, resigned.
“Lae'naya”
“There's no family name attached to that?”
“Lae'naya” she repeated, shrugging. “Yours?”
The conversation felt numb and monotone.
“You can call me Corvo.”
She raised an eyebrow as to return his previous question.
“That is not your name I take it.”
“It's the only name I care to wear at the moment. My real name is not a convenient one to bear.”
“So a common criminal running from the law...”
“No... maybe... think of it what you will.... So what does your organization do exactly.”
“We're looking for people... with certain talents.”
“To what end?”
“For something bigger than either of us.”
“I'm already set in that department. I don't need to get involved in anyone else's squabbles.”
She leaned in with a more solemn tone said :
“Whatever you've been doing, whatever you think is important doesn't matter. What we are doing bears no equal in importance or urgency.”
“So I just have to take you to your word then.”


[hr]

[center][h3][b]Now[/b][/h3][/center]

A man sits on a lone stool, his head resting on his crossed arm against the bar, mostly asleep, an empty whiskey glass of whiskey to his side. All from his hat to the cloth that wraps around his faith, his dark blue coat to his leather gloves and boots is stained by soot and burn marks. A sword hands on the right side of his belt and a holsters holds a large handgun against his ribs. The ice in his glass have been melted for a long time.

He arrived here three days ago, after dark and directly went to his room to sleep. Since then he's either been reading in a corner or just sleeping at a booth. He ate his meals alone in his room. He hasn't spoken much to anyone. All he said was that his name was “Corvo” and that he was there for the same reason as everyone else.
Even after those three days he had not once taken off that cloth from around his face in public. He didn't seem happy to be there but did not look to be in a hurry to leave either.

The past three weeks had been relief for Corvo. He had accepted his fate and his new found duty and for those three weeks the sense of urgency that constantly chipped away at his mind had withered away.
Lae'naya helped him in choosing his crystals and in  embedding them. She started by making him use a water crystal to understand learn to control his power. As she specialized in energy release she helped him install and learn to use such crystals. She did most of the surgery.
He ended up mainly installing metal, fire and electrical crystals.

The training that followed was what left his clothes in the state they were in.

[hr]

After the group entered the city walked off and went down a street a block over from the square. A single wall pierced with dozens of windows and doors span on each side of the two hundred meters long street. Both sides were connected by arches that each stood on a row of columns that split the avenue in all its length.
Corvo stopped when he spotted a large door of sculpted and varnished oak atop stone stairs and underneath a porch.
He pulled out a notebook and, from the other side of the road started drawing this portion of the wall with all its doors and windows. Pretending to be an architect was an easy way to explain away why one stood in front of someone else's property and observed it in detail. After a couples of minutes of looking at the façade, he turned the page and made a quick map of the street, noting the different arches and manholes.

Once done he stuffed the book in his coat and nonchalantly walked down the street before speeding up at the corner and walking to the central square.