The glance directed at Kadoodle by Udo Koro Kai hosted no special attentions.  [color=C9A0DC]“You answered our call for aid.  If there's a mistake here, it was your judgment, not ours.”[/color]  Perfect balance could only be achieved through methodical, precise control of emotions, and Kai judged that splurging them on this tentative goblin would be unwise.

What questions followed came rather quickly.  After the esteemed Madam Delacroix and her telepathic guardian voiced there concerns, Kai quickly decided that he'd have to listen to all and then answer them in order later.  He his frown, however, beneath his mask when the wolf mentioned an earlier expedition.  He and the mayor had done their best to make sure that the disappearance of the first investigation team spread no further than the walls of this household.  Given the extraordinary nature of some of these people, however, he grudgingly admitted that it was possible they'd found out one way or another.  The greater part of his intrigue solidified around the ashen figure leaning against the wall, whom nobody but Kai had seemingly noticed.  With so much going on, a spare moment to accost the stranger didn't exist.

With the entrance of Levian Protego, Kai allowed his host to greet the new arrival as warmly as she was able.  A brief summation of the woman on Kai's part found her to be somewhat unimpressive to the eyes, but infused by a scrappy air.  He expected that she'd be able to pull her weight admirably when the time came.  The same could not necessarily be said for gluttonous Aron, unless the piratical ruffian hid expert skill and conditioning beneath a grubby and odorous exterior.  Kai knew the value of a technique called 'obfuscating stupidity', where an individual made himself seem nonthreatening in order to hide a truly threatening self.

His earlier concerns abated somewhat when Ash stepped forward into the limelight, carrying with him a slew of tactical knowledge, the vastness of which redeemed his untrustworthy stealthiness.  Kai sampled the papers alongside Mr. Ghurst, looking over the section that contained what Ash new of the cisterns' denizens.  Oversized rats, spiders, and vermin of all kind were listed, along with glistening white tentacled creatures that sucked the moss from the walls, but absent was any mention of the slime-man whose antagonist had nearly pulled Kai to a watery grave.  Clearly, a great wealth of wretched things lurked below, and Kai feared that only their most mundane brethren had so far made themselves known.  [color=C9A0DC]“Your eyes are very keen.  The answer to your queries answer others as well.  A previous team was, indeed, sent in.  Like you I believe they are alive, and there is a good chance of you meeting them down there: Dahlia, the wood elf in brigandine, Virgil, the living weapon, Yasahiro, the healing Traveler, Wuiwomi, the blue dragon warrior, and Quick Sylva, the young astral mage.  They were too good a team to simply fall prey to sewer vermin, but nevertheless we have lost contact.”[/color]

[color=C9A0DC]“So, it is indeed a good idea to split into two teams.  I was planning to do so anyway, given the number of you, but the three of you make it all more apparent.  There will be as even a split as we can make.  Mr. Ghurst, your plan of action is laudable.  As one large group we will descend to the lower levels, but there we will break.  One team will head down, while the other enters the headquarters of the Depth Plumbers, Ebb's hydro technicians.  Ms. Exeter, will you select the teams?”[/color]

Margaret, mostly silent thus for and happy to have Udo Koro Kai do most of the talking, shook her head.  [b]“It would be wiser to allow you all to choose amongst yourselves.  I know from thirty years of mayoral duty that some souls simply fail to resonate, and therefore arbitrating teammates can be highly self-destructive.  As...”[/b] here, she looked at her own paper, a list of those who had responded to her call for help.  [b]“Miss Helvetica said, it would be best if talent were divided.  For instance, Miss Juniper and Miss Joshin on the same team would be inadvisable.”[/b]

Kai crossed his arms.  [color=C9A0DC]“I will be joining Mr. Ghurst in the subterranean team.”[/color]

For the first time, Mancer was driven to speak.  Silently absorbing all the information present had sufficed for a while, but now he was obligated to choose.  [color=BFC1C2]“I want to remain above,”[/color] he said, his voice as confidently strident as he could make it, though slightly quavering nonetheless.  While he had originally planned to state his reasons why, namely his fear that the conditions in the cisterns would profoundly affect the rate at which his decay spread, he elected to remain silent.