[i]Forgotten Ruins, Royal District:[/i]

As the three, plus one, arrived and took a reprieve from their hurried trek through the backstreets and alleys, they began to make plans for how next to proceed. Unfortunately, any genius plots and preperations they may have come up with were soon thwarted, as a voice called out to the visible trio from a bit further away to the north. Turning their heads, the party of nobles would become witness to another group, one of four, that were casually making their way south towards them. Either this team had [i]just[/i] arrived or they'd been hiding in one of the ruined manors up until now - byt regardless of when they'd shown up, they were here now.

The one who had called to them was a strikingly, almost irritatingly, handsome young man. Golden locks of hair, sparkling blue eyes, a winning smirk and dressed in fine, albeit flamboyant, attire. A large and wide-brimmed feathered cap atop his head, and a sheathed rapier at his hip, he made a grand and exaggerated gesture as his group got close enough to converse without the need to shout or raise one's voice.

"Ah, another ensemble of well-versed and fast-witted adventurers, I see!" He began, eloquently and in an almost meldoic voice. "And two stunning ladies of noble pedigree no less, you my friend-" He pointed at Locke with a wide smirk "-are one lucky man! Allow me to introduce ourselves, my name's Hawklen, and I lead this fine cadre of legendary souls!" He proclaimed proudly.

With a sweeping motion of his hand, he gestured towards one of his companions - a tall, msucular woman with short, ragged raven-black hair and equally black eyes. She had a nose-ring piercing and looked to be covered in the most unusual set of cloths you'd ever seen! ... Until you realized she wasn't wearing much of anyhting at all, but ws merely covered in tattoos of black and red that covered most her entire body. In fact, apart from a leather strap across her bust, a kilt-like skirt that was slit up the sides and a pair of fur-lined boots, she wasn't actually wearing anything else. A large, fang and claw-fitted club was resting in her hand, which she rigidly smacked into her other open palm, as she stared the group infront of her down with disdain and obvious hostility.

"This fair maiden, is the lovely Krenna of the Lion-Goat Tribe, proud daughter of the strongest tribe in all the Mithril Mountains!" Hawklen declared, as if announcing a princess or other lady of high-society... Which was a bit much to swallow, considering this woman looked more like a man and probably didn't know the first thing about table-manners or personal hygiene... Regardless, Hawklen was unperturbed, and continued to point to his next ally.

"Then, we have the Master of Marksmen, the greatest shot to ever come out of the Port City of Navanice, Norbe!"

... 'Norbe' was a stocky, but still rather tall, man with wide shoulders. Dressed in head-to-toe with studded black leather armor, and a well-polished salade helmet on his head, he sported a crossbow in his left hand, two quarrels of bolts on his back and a sheathed short sword on his hip. He gave the trio a quiet nod, but given that one couldn't see his face due to the helmet, it was hard to gauge his actual feelings or disposition. Still, Hawklen went on.

"His actual name is Norbert though, but that didn't sound quite as impressive, so we shortened it! Dashing, no?" He shot the three nobles a flashy grin, before Norbe placed his helmet-head in a palm, probably sighing. The flamboyant and boisterous blonde went on, moving to point at his final comrade.

"And here, standing alone and with nothinbg to say, the one, the only, the King of Silent Spellcasting and unspoken enchanter of unrivaled power, we have the Master Wizard, Glum!" He roared, as if announcing the presence of some sort of world-renowned celebrity.

'Glum'' was a wizard by the book. A pair of dark blue robes with a hood that covered his upper face, leaving only his nose, cheeks and chin exposed. He sported a brown goatee, though with streaks of grey in it. The hem and ends of his sleeves had white and silver tri and he was clutching a garnled wooden staff, etched with runes and markings along the haft. Just like Norbe though, he said nothing, but didn't make any movements or motions to acknowledge the eother party either. It was if he was just ignoring everything, including Hawklen. Still, with all his companbions introduced, the blonde man turned back to the one-man-short party and continued.

"Now then! I know not who you are, fine ladies and gent, but I can assume we're all here for the same reason, yes?" He winked and made a movement with his thumb and index finger, to indicate money. "As such, since we're the only ones here, I've got a splendid proposal! Rather than engage in a pointless and unecessary contest to claim the prize for one of our groups, why not cooperate? Yes, together, we can surely claim the fallen treasure with ease, and split the reward as equals! A fine idea, don't you agree?"

At this, the woman who was a veritable living tapestry, spat on the ground and turned to look at Hawklen with an angered, furrowed brow and deep-set scowl.

"Oi, wha'chu talkin'bout, bard? You's said we's gonna claim that star-piece for ourselves! Now ya wan's to go sharin' it with 'ese nambi-pambi city-lickers who ain't even kno'ow to wield a knife!? Shi' on'at! I sday we jus' gut'em 'n be done with 'em!" The woman roared, in an unsurprisingly deep voice.

A bead of sweat appeared on Hawklen's brow, though only for a moment, before he let out an exaggerated laugh and bowed to the group of three. Rising, he smiled friendly and shook his head in a 'oh dear'-like manner.

"Ah, you must forgive my dear friend, here. She can be a bit brusque and rough around the edges. But I assure you, she means no ill to any of you." He tried to smooth things over. "So, what do you say? Shall we cooperate for the benefit of everyone's sake?"

While Hawklen was trying to hawk his pitch to the nobles, there was something only a perceptive person would notice. And that was Glum. He was moving his lips, but no words - not even any sound - were coming out. In addition, Norbe seemed to have walked away during the blonde bard's long-winded introduction and spiel, now being strangely missing... Or hiding... Krenna, on the other hand, was still eyeing the group like a barely chained dog, ready to snap at any moment.
[hr]
[i]The Old Church:[/i]

Unfortunately, as Vani called out to the woman was following after him and his lizard friend(?), he became witness to an unpleasant sight. A group who had been following the trio of elf, lizard and foreign girl, suddenly sprung and ambushed the girl in a three-way formation. Before the elf had time to come to her rescue, as he surely would have, a sudden wall of bones rose infront of him in the opening of the church - but not before a completely [i]different[/i] woman, this one an elf too by the looks of it, came dashing through and just barely made it inside. Like prison bars, these bones made getting back out onto the street impossible, and no matter how hard the paladin would try to shatter or break the boney bars, they would simply mend themselves straight away, or be replaced by a new set altogether. He, and his makeshift ally, were now trapped.

Speaking of the lizardman who had run ahead, he would find himself in the center of the church now. It was empty, quite clearly. Not even the wooden pews wwre left, and cracks and holes in the floor indicated that they had been removed at some point. Truly, this was a thoroughly picked-clean ruin. Strangely though, despite this being a place of worship, Kaze would notice that there were no windows, or even openings, to let sunlight in. There were alcoves and indentations that seemed to shaped and fashioned in the shape of large, panrmaic windows, yet they were made from stone, just as the rest of the structure. In fact, apart from the floor, the inside of the church looked remarkably well-maintained, even if there was nothing here of any worth or value. Apart from a small heap off to one side of the room, there was nothing...

... Except for the man. The lonely man, drssed in brown, mundane robes, kneeling at the far end of the chapel. Kneeling where the podium had once surely stood, he was flanked on either side by twin lit candles. Upon hearing the footsteps of someone behind hum, the fellow stopped whatever prayer or mutterinhs he had previously been engaged in, and slowly rose - with seemingly great effort - from his lowered stance. Turning around to face the intruder, he spoke, with a hoarse and somewhat nasally voice.

"Mmmmmm'yeeeees? What have we here? A supplicant? A pair? Oh no, a pilgrim perhaps? Are you? Oh no, no, no, no, no, no... Your face, unfamiliar to these eyes they are. Tell me." The man spoke in a most jittery and unpleasant way.

Now that he had turned, Kaze could get a good look at him, even though the lighting was poor and he was wearing a hood, his features were still visible. His face was gaunt, as if extremely malnourished. His eyes looked like they were bulging, nearly ready to pop from their sockets, and the left one twitched and had erratic, unpleasant spasms at irregular intervals. The lines on his face were prominent and deep, and despite probably not being further on his years than maybe his mid thirties or early fourties, the man could easily have been mistaken for a senior citizen of advanced age. His hands, hanging from his sleeves like bent talons, were gnarled and bony, with nothing but skin and sinew seemingly. He stared with toxic green eyes at the lizardman before him, awaiting some kind of answer to a question he thought he had asked.