[COLOR=BLACK][i][b]“What a superstitious lot,”[/b][/i][/COLOR] Aehren thought as he observed Lady Vekk attempt to intimidate the soldiers into standing down. It was wrong of her to have showcased her less-than-mundane abilities, but he couldn’t fault her for believing it would cow them. Unfortunately, he knew the Niratremi quite well—especially the commoners hailing from the region he called home.

These men before him were an uneducated lot, but they were strong, hardy men. One had to be solidly built if you wanted to survive the western marches. The soldiers appeared they were no longer going to back down. There was no escaping a battle. He refrained from glaring at the drunkard that started all this.

Immediately, Aehren began to calculate how they were going to get out of this mess. Considering that the city was occupied by soldiers, the best way to go about things was to ensure that none of the soldiers were killed. That way they can claim that it was just a drunken brawl and—the golem just killed a man with a swipe of its arm.

It was good that Aehren was a patient man.

Patrons of the tavern that were still present quickly started leaving. He couldn’t blame them. When people started getting killed it was best to leave the vicinity immediately. These people would know what he and the rest of his group would look like. They were rather distinct, after all. How could they escape this mess?

[COLOR=BLACK][b]“Kill every soldier but the captain,”[/b][/COLOR] he announced to his comrades. Though he didn’t raise the volume of his voice much, he prided himself in speaking with an authority that befitted a person of his station. [COLOR=BLACK][b]“We can still salvage this.”[/b][/COLOR]

Aehren stood up and used the ensuing chaos to slink away unnoticed (though he left advice for Calwen to hide under a table before parting). It would not do for them to draw any more attention. He made his way to the front of the tavern and stood just outside it. For now he would keep a lookout for any patrols or other soldiers that may come.

All that was left to do was place his trust that his companions would be sensible and follow his suggestion. It would be a shame if they didn’t. That would just mean he would be looking only after himself and the client afterwards.