It was not too long before Colors rejoined the others, thankfully without needing to be collected by either of them. While Colors was indifferent at that point, Kaleeth could not have been happier to have been leaving the brothel. It was not the kind of place she wanted to be spending any of her time, for any reason. Colors was both impressed with the initiative Sabine had taken, and apologetic for not having been there. He claimed not to have heard what Sabine said, though there was no way to know if it was true.

The amount of coin they needed to spend to pay the fare was not trivial. They had been given coin for bribes, but it would take nearly all of what they had to pay for Sabine and Kaleeth to be escorted into what would hopefully be a trap by Vile's hunters. Viper had given few details in their first meeting, but once they returned the next morning to give payment, he knew they were serious, and was much, much more forthcoming. In two days time, they were to meet in a specific inn in the same general district as the brothel. They would meet with two of Viper's men, who he had described to them, and would be led along a specific path out of town. He assured them that the Thalmor would have no presence along their path, and they would be able to meet with a wagon outside the city walls. From there, they would be taken to meet up with a larger escort farther from the city, who would put them on their way to Daggerfall. If it was a trick, it was most likely that they would be ambushed outside the walls.

The group was back in the inn, this time in one of the rooms in the basement. It was cramped but they would be able to make their plans for turning the ambush around on Vile's hunters.

"It might be best for a small group, maybe one or two, to follow them when they're in the city. Once outside the walls, we'll be able to have the space to maneuver and keep our distance, but we'll need to be careful not to give ourselves away before getting there." Malithus recommended. "We know the path, so the rest of us can be in hiding outside the walls until you leave, then shadow you until the ambush."

Kaleeth was not the only one to be glad to exit the skooma-choked brothel. The first thing Sabine did after exiting through the front door was stop and take a luxurious breath of fresh air. In spite of Colours' encouragement, she was not at all happy with how she performed. On numerous occasions, she nearly made herself too obvious or blew their cover altogether. She requested that Kaleeth do the talking when they rendezvoused with the Viper's men tomorrow. If there was any talking to be had, that is.

Of course, Fendros was impressed by their luck as well as their performance when he heard the recount of events. The price for getting smuggled was steep, though he admitted that he did not expect it to be a free service. He was more concerned with Sabine, Kaleeth, and Colours being watched after they left. Thus he had them lead the way back to the inn, following a distance behind to reduce the chances of them being seen as associated.

While they planned in the basement, Fendros ran his hand down his bearded chin in thought from the head of the table, looking up. "That would be a wise way to do it. I just worry about any changes to the path." He glanced to the others. "This city has sewer tunnels. If they use them all of a sudden, working out where they'll pop up will not be as easy. Three will go on the small team following, with one running to inform the rest of us if there is a diversion. We'll have to improvise if that happens, but we have our noses." Fendros lifted his brow and looked to Sabine. "You will be able to carry some potions on you with your baggage. Do you have something distinctive that will spread quickly if you spill it?"

Sabine nodded blankly. "I could make one tonight."

"Good. If you are taken by a different route, see if you can spill it outside the walls -- maybe by tripping and breaking the flask or something. We'll try to find the scent if and when a runner reaches us."

Sabine tightened her lips and nodded again.

Fendros cracked his fingers out in front of him and leaned forward on the table. "Now, as for the ambush itself, we'll all need to be on the lookout. If we can find them before they spring it, we'll have the best chance of capturing as many possible hunters as we can. I want the following group outside the walls to have at least two people in beast form to shock them in case we are outnumbered, but we still need people in their normal form to restrain captives. Now, we don't want Vile knowing that we have hit one of his ambushes, so if a hunter or smuggler is running and can't be caught alive, make sure they don't live."

With that, Fendros paused in case there were any questions or comments so far.

Kaleeth, before the meeting, had been collecting together what she felt would be useful to bring, but she did have some concerns about equipment for herself and Sabine. Provided their allies could keep pace and keep track of them, they would have them to come to their aid when and if they were ambushed. However, there would still be a short time where herself and Sabine would need to be able to survive on their own. "I won't be able to bring all of my armor and equipment. It would probably be suspicious of me to show up dressed like a soldier. I could probably justify a sword by saying it is my 'brother's', but I won't be able to have my armor when we are ambushed. Sabine, you can protect me with one of those shield spells, right? Until I can transform?"

"Also, we should probably try to give ourselves any other advantage we can that won't stand out." Kaleeth continued. "Maybe you can brew a useful potion or two to put in our waterskins to quickly drink when needed, without having to go through our bags? Something defensive that could keep us from getting hurt for long enough that the others can come help us. Or maybe some flasks that explode in fire to help separate us from our attackers?" She suggested.

For once in the entire day, Sabine was confident in her answer. "I could brew something for us. A shield as well as something to protect from cold. I will be able to separate us. We will need the cold protection, though."

"Do as necessary, but stick together," Fendros said before moving on to Malithus. "Malithus, the two in your pack that are the best at hiding themselves will join myself on the team shadowing Kaleeth and Sabine's escort. The rest will stand ready to meet with us outside of the walls." He scanned his eyes over everyone. "We have to keep on our toes here. There is a likely series of events, but things could take a turn for the unexpected and we should be ready for it. Our main objective is to capture as many as we can of whomever ambushes or tries to abduct Kaleeth and Sabine so they can be interrogated. Are there any questions?"

Colors appeared slightly uncomfortable as he spoke up. "I would certainly love to be there to support you all in this endeavor, but I fear that I would be of no service to you. Your expert tracking ability would be far more valuable than any advice I could provide, and I would likely just get in the way otherwise. But fear not, I can keep myself useful by watching after all of the belongings we leave here. You may rest assured that no thieves shall even get near touching them."

Ignoring Colors' enthusiasm for his minor task, Kaleeth had one, more relevant question to ask before she decided to retire for the night. "There is one question I have. Meesei mentioned that Ahnasha is also doing something in the city and might be able to help us. Maybe one of us should go talk to her tonight and see if she has learned anything helpful? We know what inn she is staying at. Even if she hasn't learned anything, she might at least be able to lend her bow to the ambush." She suggested.

Fendros conceded Colours by nodding his head to one side. "Very well. Malithus, your two best hiders." His eyes returned to Colours. "Come to think of it, Colours, it might be easier to keep you indoors during the mission anyway. If Kaleeth's 'brother' is seen following the Viper's men out of town, well...it's unlikely, but it is still possible that we might be disrupted."

Up until the point where Kaleeth suggested otherwise, Fendros had been in the mindset of working only with the people he had. It had not even crossed his mind to get an update from Ahnasha, let alone help. His eyes lit up at the reminder. "Of course. All the help we can get would be welcome if they're available." He glanced from Kaleeth to the others. "I could go tonight. If there are any changes to the plan, we can work that out tomorrow. We are not in any particular rush with the time the Viper has given us."

There was a pause where Fendros placed both his hands on the table. "Is there anything else?"

There were no other comments or objections from any of the others, so they ended the meeting to allow everyone to get some rest. All that remained was for Fendros to see if Ahnasha was in the inn that Meesei had mentioned during their briefing. The inn was in a bit of a nicer part of the city, near the markets. It was more expensive, with a less "undesirable" crowd. There was an innkeeper still awake who would give a far more friendly greeting to Fendros as he entered than the one at their inn. Though, he would not need to speak to him to find Ahnasha, as her familiar scent would lead him upstairs to the door of her room.

Inside her room, Ahnasha was somewhere between preparing for her next day, and preparing for bed. She was undressed, but had both clothing and equipment laid out on and around her room's table. She had both regular city clothing, and a more rugged set of leather armor and a sword setting at the ready. Ahnasha did not normally wear armor or carry large weapons, but if she had reason to imitate an adventurer or some other warrior, then having armor could help make that image convincing.

The approach to Ahnasha's inn was not a particularly slow one for Fendros, even though he had plenty of time. The walk gave him some time to think on his group's plan, but he was looking forward to seeing Ahnasha to sneak in some affection before their missions.

The smell of freshly cooked food that wasn't overcome or mixed with saltdamp and spilled drink was a welcome sensation when Fendros walked in. He offered the innkeeper a nod and smile as he walked past to find the rooms.

When Fendros found Ahnasha's room, he knocked lightly three times and asked. "You in there, Ahna?"

Ahnasha knew his voice, if she didn't already pick his gait as he walked over the floorboards.

"Fendros?" Ahnasha said towards the door, carrying some definite surprise in her voice. "Um, yes, come in." She said, though she walked over and opened the door for him regardless. She beckoned him inside, then wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a kiss as soon as the door was closed.

After her affectionate greeting, Ahnasha stood in front of him with her hands on his shoulders. "Meesei did mention you might stop by at some point, but still, I wasn't expecting to see you tonight. How's your mission going? Were you wanting to coordinate with me, or are you just looking to visit?"

Fendros returned the kiss and embrace. He had planned on greeting her the same way. He held his hands behind her shoulders under her arms when they pulled away.

"A bit of both, possibly," Fendros said. "The mission seems to be going well. We had an early lead that is apparently turning out fruitful." He looked around the room while he spoke. "We waited around the business of a known dealer in religious goods, who also sold drugs, and followed the first person who walked out who didn't carry the smell of carrying drugs. He was a well-off looking clothes merchant that we spied on to confirm -- it turned out he did indeed buy a shrine to Talos. Sabine, Colours, and Kaleeth went in to confront him while the rest of us secured exits and they questioned him about disappearing worshippers. His answers, thankfully cooperative in nature, given the circumstances, led us to a local crime lord known as 'the Viper.' He apparently smuggled out some of the worshippers that went missing. Sabine and Kaleeth, again, are going out under the guise of a Talos worshipper and friend to be smuggled to Daggerfall. They are meeting the Viper's men in two days time and we'll follow them out to counter whatever ambush might arise."

It was an abridged version of events, though sufficient enough for a quick report. Fendros smiled and returned his eyes to Ahnasha's. "We could always use extra numbers in the counter-ambush. But first, you'd better tell me how your mission is going."

As she was listening to Fendros' description of events, Ahnasha guided him over to the bed so they could sit down together. She expected that had some legitimate business in visiting her, so she was not surprised that they had made some progress. She hoped that the rest of the pack were having as much luck in their own tasks.

"I've had some progress too, fortunately. I was given a lead on a mercenary who was reported to have worked with the Talos hunters at some point. I talked to him to try to get some information on his former fellow hunters. He wasn't particularly loyal to them or anything, but he was a really 'manly'-type Nord. I had to challenge him to a fist fight to get him to tell me anything; Kaleeth probably would have liked that. Anyways, I have a list of names, but by themselves, they don't mean much to me. It would probably be too difficult to try to break in to Evermore's Census office, so I'll need to use another method to learn more about the names. There's a village out to the west of town that the mercenary told me about. Supposedly they had a contact there they always reported to. I might be able to interrogate him, or go through his things, to learn more about some of the hunters." Ahnasha explained.

Ahnasha's expression turned somewhat regretful. "Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to help with the ambush. The village is a ways to the west, and I need to find this contact as soon as I can. I need to set out tomorrow morning, and I probably won't be back in time to help you. But, if I am able to learn more about these hunters; who they are, where their families live, and that sort of thing. Then, well, we might be able to take advantage of that to interrogate them. If you know the route that this Viper is going to be taking them, then we can probably pick a spot nearby for us to meet up after you deal with the ambush. Anyone you capture, we can interrogate together." She suggested.

Fendros laughed through his nose at the mention of Ahnasha fist-fighting the answers out of her contact. "I hope you didn't beat him too hard," he commented.

"I understand if you are busy. However, it just so happens that we were given a rough route," Fendros said optimistically. "There is always a chance that it could change, though we could certainly meet up. If we can corroborate what they say, it'll be easier on us both."

Regardless of his official business, Fendros' visit was not purely pertaining to the mission. He put an arm around Ahnasha's waist and lowered his voice. "And how are you feeling about this investigation?"

"Well, if you have a route, then I'm sure it will be easy to pick out a spot to meet. Even if they detour from it, they probably won't detour by that much." Ahnasha commented.

When Fendros moved closer to her, she placed her hand on top of his and grinned. "I'm thinking we'll get some results together. Vile's people have never held a candle to our pack, and these particular hunters are not even looking for us. Whatever strange reasons they have, we'll figured it out."

Slowly, Ahnasha reached down and pulled Fendros' hand off of her waist, allowing her to move back onto her bed.She kept her eyes locked with Fendros the entire time as she laid down in a very intentionally provocative pose. "You intend to stay here with me tonight? I wouldn't mind a nice long talk." She grinned.

Fendros couldn't help but return the grin. Ahnasha rarely made it hard to know what she wanted.

"Well," Fendros said, slowly leaning to follow Ahnasha. "I deferred any changes to the plan until tomorrow, so..." He positioned himself over Ahnasha until their faces were nearly touching. "I think we have plenty..." He kissed her quickly. "...of time..." Another kiss. "...to talk..."

They both savoured the night away from children and their packmates. The relative rarity of such occasions tended to make them special again.

The day after was one of trivial preparation. Sabine brewed her potions, others honed their weapons, enough rope for bindings was bought, and a plan to rendezvous with Ahnasha's group after the ambush was permeated to everyone. It actually served to answer the hanging question of where they would take their captives; the city was not exactly a place where they could pretend that they were driving slaves.

The morning of the meeting, Kaleeth was walking through town alongside Sabine, past the brothel they had visited previously and towards the inn where they were to meet Viper's men. Viper himself, to their knowledge, would not be joining on their trip out of the city. They were not likely to actually see him again. Instead, they would be meeting with two of his men, whom he had described to them. One was an Orc wearing a dark, yellowish tunic, while the other would be a Redguard warrior with the look of an adventurer, wearing chainmail armor. Sabine and Kaleeth had been described to them, so there would be no need for any real introductions.

Kaleeth herself had exchanged her dress for something that was a bit more rugged. She was wearing leather pants and a cloth tunic, and was carrying a shortsword sheathed on her side, along with the rest of her bags. Her ensemble did not quite make her look like a fighter exactly, but more like someone who was simply expecting to head into the wilderness; perhaps a woman who intended to go camping outside the city, or just a traveler. At any rate, it would not draw any more attention to her than the fact that she was Argonian would. She did not know exactly where Fendros or Malithus' pack were hiding. If everything went to plan, they would not be able to see them until the ambush itself, so they would just have to trust that they would be able to keep pace. Otherwise, Kaleeth and Sabine would have to find a way to survive on their own.

Sabine had followed suit with Kaleeth by wearing more functional, low-key clothing to their meeting. Unlike Kaleeth, she wore no sword and had a shoulderbag with a number of potentially useful potions. By the bulk of it, it passed as her luggage. Both she and Kaleeth also wore waterskins over their shoulders that Sabine had filled with a potion that would protect them from most physical harm as well as magical cold, just as she had outlined in their plan.

The other encounters had included Sabine needing to speak to gather information. She was more confident this time, for her role was meant to be limited to following the smugglers. She approached the Orc and the Redguard and cleared her throat. "Ready," she said.

She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder to try and spot the others following.

The two smugglers recognized Sabine and Kaleeth by their descriptions the moment they saw them, so there was no need for any of them to show proof of their identities. Instead, they were quick to leave the inn and prompted them to follow. The part of the city they started in was by far the poorest district, and the alleyways they were being led through did not look encouraging in the slightest. Kaleeth, and most of the others, had expected an ambush outside of the city, but there was really no guarantees that they would not be attacked in a dark alley in the slums. In any case, Kaleeth was on her guard. Although, to be fair to their smugglers, it was a place that the Thalmor would not go unless they had a specific reason. They would be leaving the city via a small boat on the Bjoulsae river, as according to Viper, it would be harder for Thalmor to notice them if they were not recorded leaving the gates. It would make them seem more like simple fishermen. They would take the boat out of the city a short distance, then get back on shore and head northwest to the meeting point. Fortunately, there was a city gate near enough to the river that Fendros and the rest of those following would be able to use, instead of swimming.

The Orc, a rather tall man, looked down at Kaleeth with an amused grunt. "Expectin' trouble?" He said, referencing her sword.

"It's my brother's. He wanted me to have something to keep safe with, in case something bad happens." Kaleeth explained. She was still suspicious, but tried not to show it. They were currently cutting through an alley, and would not have many means of escape if something happened.

It took all of Sabine's will to try not to look like she was expecting an ambush. Still, she couldn't help but noticeably check her surroundings at almost every corner. This initial leg of the journey was disconcerting in its look as an ambush sight. The plan was to intercept outside of the walls, but if they were taken here...

She tried not to worry. They would be at the river eventually. Then it should just be herself, Kaleeth, and the two escorts until they landed again.

Sabine was tempted to ask if they should be expecting trouble. Her nerves kept her quiet.

Again, the Orc chuckled. "Well, if we do hit trouble, careful where you swing that oversized knife. Don't much want to get sliced in the back by a frightened lizard."

Fortunately, the four of them proceeded through the slums without incident. Anywhere closer to the docks would be ill-suited for an ambush, so if they were going to be attacked, it would be somewhere outside the city. They had a small boat tied to one of the docks that was ready and waiting for them to take. It had a net in it, to keep up the illusion of being fishermen, and was just barely spacious enough for the four of them to fit without having any danger of accidentally flipping the boat.

The trip down the river would be the hardest for Fendros and the others to follow, as they would not leave any tracks to follow, but Fendros would still need to stay out of sight. He would have to rely on finding their boat once they stopped on the shore in order to pick up their trail again. Luckily, they had stayed to their planned path so far, so the members of Malithus' pack waiting outside the city would still likely be able to follow with no issue, if something delayed Fendros.

True to the plan, the smugglers stopped the boat a fairly short distance downriver, then they set out to the northwest. Their destination was not terribly far, being only about a half hour walk. They would be meeting with a larger group in a clearing at the base of a rocky hill, who would supposedly take them both and get them to Daggerfall. However, it seemed more likely to be the place where they would be ambushed. If Kaleeth had to guess, she would say that their new escorts were actually the very hunters they were seeking.

As the group closed in on the clearing, Kaleeth kept close to Sabine. Just ahead, in the clearing, there was a wagon, along with about ten people: far more than would be needed to escort a simple pair of Talos worshipers. In fact, such numbers would only work against the goal of discretion.

Sabine was expecting the ambush to come out of nowhere, with a smell warning her, if anything. Seeing the large group ahead of them made her second-guess herself. She hesitated until Kaleeth neared her.

"Kaleeth," Sabine murmured as quietly as she could. "There is a chill on the wind."

The phrase was a signal for Kaleeth to drink from her waterskin.

As they approached, Sabine held her hands behind her back in a clawed splay, trying to gather as much magical energy as she could without getting caught. "Why are there so many people?" Sabine asked. "Are we expecting trouble?"

Out of any of their sight, a bow drew taut, ready to hit the arm of the first to pose a threat. Bigger eyes shone out from behind, ready to pounce.