The mage finally found his prey, detecting her as she by chance came in his direction. He could feel her anywhere - it was a distinct feel. Perhaps not to most, but one with his training had to know differences. The sage was most certainly different. It was time to strike

Immediate scanning of the area revealed rather tight defenses - save one section. A section that appeared quite sloppy in the making. While the rest of the defenses would be nearly impossible to dismantle without revealing himself, he figured he could make his way through that section. He came towards where he felt the weakness to be strongest.

It was a wall, to be exact. [i]Great, now I've got to walk through walls...[/i] There were spells for it, of course, but nothing that wouldn't immediately cause a distraction, and certainly nothing non-magical that wouldn't make a ton of noise. At least, that he was good at. He went with the last of his options - not a very good one, but a step up from detection, he reasoned. He walked up to the wall closely, keeping care to not draw averse attention with his cloaking, and half a minute later completed a lengthy incantation to remove a small hole for him to climb into. It was a risk of detection, especially considering the amount of magic presences he felt in the area, but there was no turning back and he had his talisman as a last resort if things went south. 

He kept very particular care of his mental defenses and cloaking himself - he noticed at least two magically aware presences and one actively seeking mind. They were unlikely to find much - he hoped - and his mental security would not be an issue, but it still left him apprehensive to be walking in the den of magic users just upstairs. All this he thought as he made his way slowly into the household through the all-too-small entry, and he took every mental precaution to mask himself. He hoped the rogue had not messed matters up - he wouldn't be detected if they weren't aware, but given the lateness of the day when compared with the activeness of the house's occupants - he suspected the worst. Nonetheless, he made his way through the 'cottage' - noting the irony of the name as he observed the furniture alone worth the sum of a wealthy lord's fortune - towards the northern towers. She would no doubt be capable of noticing him even with his cloaking, but he would be too near for her to do anything about it given the fact the others were back on the other side of the building.

He moved with a purpose and a will, ready to come upon the sage's door...