[b]Vale punched the rock before him, taking no pleasure in watching it shatter effortlessly underneath his powerful blow.
"Another wasted lead. More wasted time."
Cursing in the native tongue of the Lliandrii, he slipped his hand into a pouch by his side, pulling out a wilted but appetising lettuce leaf. He chewed it absently as he walked away from the two unconscious bodies. They would survive, however one would need attention to his lung to stay that way sometime in the future. In all his searching, he was no closer to finding that dastardly inscriptionist who had taken his 'mother.' Plus all his errant adventuring on all these leads had left his once amply abundant coin pouch rather low. Being of Lliandrii royalty or not, he was far too far to get any assistance from his family, or for his name to have any sway over the local populace. He was essentially a no-body. And that suited him just fine.

A piece of paper, billowing in the wind, snapped him out of his angry reverie. He stopped and watched it flutter and float through the air, landing on a nearby rock. Leaning down, he picked it up and scanned it quickly. Some city called M'alo had a bit of a problem, and required people to help 'defend' them. But defend against what, for how long, and with how many? The coin was good though, and he was the better part of a days walk away. He would need some more vegetables soon. Scrunching up the paper and tossing it away casually over his shoulder, he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. At teh next crossroads, he took the left hand branch, as the sign said M'alo.
[/b]n