[centre]West Watch Tower -- Abida Qisaf[/centre]

After the out of breath spymaster had explained the situation, the Blade's were advised to split into separate groups. Members quickly began breaking off, heading towards the central and eastern parts of the time. Abida looked upwards, shielding her eyes from the midday light. "The sun travels west," she mused, "and so shall I." Ravens with black wings continued to flit across the sky as she looked, their paths leaving shadows on her vision even when she turned her gaze back to the horizon.

She set off at a quick jog, not waiting to see who else followed. The greatsword slung across her back shifted as she leaned forward into the movement, it's familiar weight pulling at her as always. Deviating from the path in lieu of the fields, Abida let the tall wheat stalks brush against and past her. Their leaves and tips felt almost frisky as they harmlessly slid across her bare hands and neck.

She drew to a halt as the tower rose up ahead of her. Four militia stood guard atop it, seemingly oblivious to the device among them. Confused, Abida absently rubbed at the tattoos near her eyes. The spymaster had mentioned an illusionist; perhaps these militia were not as real as they appeared. She moved closer and whistled to catch their attention, hoping that any illusions lying upon the tower were not too powerful to blind even her magicked eyes.

---
[centre]Town Square -- Thailen Vicarris[/centre]

The journey to Arian had been an ordeal in silence. One of her traveling companions, accompanied by a servant and donkey, spoke with an accent Thailen recognized as being of a Liverian noble. When she went to begin a conversation with the noble woman however, she saw the distinctive silver eyes of a vampire. Disgusted, she had turned away only to nearly walk into the minotaur and centaur, both of whom were loud and boisterous beyond a fault. The wide array of the unholy and bizarre that found itself a part of the Queen's Blades only increased Thailen's disillusionment to the point of disgruntled silence up until the spymaster Mikan came running up to them from Arian.

As the panting women finished explaining the situation, Thailen had little time to think over options before others began calling out their intentions and moving off. In a few short moments, several members of the group had split off, with little in the way of planning. Still, with Dean and Mikan both present, Thailen decided not to voice her criticisms. Noting that the only person who had left for the town square so far was an apparently unarmed woman in a cloak, Thailen elected to direct her sword there. "I'll head to the town square," she said before moving off.

Even with brisk strides, she found herself lagging behind the cloaked woman's jog. She kept her pace steady anyway, not wanting to tire herself prematurely. Upon arriving, a group of militia came into view. One of them said something upon seeing the group, but Thailen herself was still too far back to hear. As the woman began to reply to the militia, Thailen once more picked up on the familiar accent of a Liverian, although this time less pronounced. She let the woman talk to the unusually frightened militia, and continued onwards and past towards the fountain.