Yet more time passed. Lorag, Fendros and Janius remained still, but vigilant. There wasn't much more information to be had from eavesdropping it seemed, as the pack they watched passed the time with their own idle conversations. Occasionally, they would rhetorically ask why other members were taking so long and wishing they could get going, Fendros found himself agreeing with them somewhat.

Some movement heralded more activity. From the far side alley of the square, Fendros could see a shadow. The pack looked towards it and greeted it by name. As the shadow revealed itself, it appeared to be a well tanned Imperial man. He didn't look especially remarkable in his plain clothing and dagger on his belt, but he arrived with an accomplished look. This member of the pack had better luck gathering information by the sound of it. Fendros' fellow eavesdroppers noticed, and became so quiet that they almost held their breath while they listened.

"... talked to the bard who plays at the Sleepy Scamp, you remember he sung a song of a great hunter passing by in the wilds? I was able to convince him... through various means... to recount his experience."

"Did you succeed?"

"It's not much, but I found out that he had his encounter north and east of here, about three hours travel on foot. He saw the Orc himself shoot an arrow into a great beast, probably a lycan. As you can probably tell, not many people believe him."

"What was that bard doing so far from the city?"

"It's sketchy, he said he was to meet a beautiful Dunmer maiden out there that he had met earlier that week, but he never caught sight of her from that day forward."

"It sounds to me like that bard was bait."

"Did you get anything else from the bard?"

"He mentioned that the Orc had four other hunters accompanying him. Three men and a mer. He didn't seem to remember any more than their silhouettes, or the brown veils they wore across their faces."

"There's got to be more than that."

"Yeah, but at least it's something. We'll see what the others find out. Oh yeah, and Halmar, we decided it was too risky to ask the guards, they might not like bribery."

"What? but they see everything that comes in and out of the gates, I say it'll be worth it..."

An argument escalated from that point about asking the guards, but otherwise, the situation was good. They hadn't been spotted listening in yet, and they had some information to boot. Fendros didn't think that the hideout would be so close to the city, but then again, the bard didn't seem to mention a hideout.

Now they had four, there were only three more to arrive. It would soon be so dark that the the light of the moons would be their only confirmation of new arrivals.