Chapter 2: Out of the Frying Pan

"Sure, I have studied the gods extensively and I grew up worshipping Occasa. I should be able to answer your questions." She turns to Verrian. "But please let me be part of the scout mission. It would mean a lot to me."

Froak blushes, if it can be called that with a cold-blooded creature.
"Really loud. Though no ladies have sung back yet."
He traces a circle on the map.
"If friends were here, they could hear Froak from one of his good sneakin’ spots."

Verrian studies the map intently. "So then we would need a third person to come with us. Or a pair of Whitestone discs."

"And they’d need to tell the group somehow." Viani leans over her shoulder, brow furrowed. She sits down. "We could try to send something through Epwrath’s box and tell them to tell us. But that would take a long time, and people don’t seem to think they can trust the College right now anyway."

"Even having an ally near the walls to send an alarm would take a long time."

"We do have the horses now."

"But we can’t draw attention to the group. We still don’t know exactly what these Crows want. And we don’t know if everyone can ride."

"They might patrol the hiding spots anyway."

"What if…." Ember speaks up cautiously, but shakes her head. "No, it’s too much of a long shot."

Viani perks up. "No, I want to hear it now, even if it is a stupid idea."

Ember shrugs. "I was going to suggest I could climb a tree and shoot fire into the air when I heard the croak. My meteors, or my missile. But someone would have to watch for it. And everyone’s either studying or training with Yelnar. Maybe Krav or you, V?"

Verrian speaks up. "We need to practice fighting as a group, especially since some of us don’t use magic."

Viani spins in her seat. "I have magic! It’s just not for fighting. And I can too fight. I’ve just…never killed anyone before."

"An ability, unfortunately, only learned in the moment."

"I hate to say it," Ember says, "but I don’t think we can afford to train right now. It’s super important! And I want to practice too. But our options are apparently training or keeping Froak and Verrian safe."

Verrian nods simply and looks at the map again. "I wonder if there are any safe hiding spots closer to the Citadel."

They study the drawing, seeing if they can make any guesses.

Studying the map, a few options for safe hiding spots present themselves:

At the back of the citadel, outside town, there are a few small farms. These have some buildings that might be close enough to the walls to hear a call, but it's a bit of a stretch. Still, these are pretty likely to be abandoned.

Froak can suggest that he's never seen anyone inside the buildings closest to the citadel gates (which include his rooftop spying spots), but they are closest to the guards at the gates.

North of the Citadel, on the town square, there are a few abandoned buildings that might be a good compromise: away from the gates, close enough to potentially stay indoors and hear a warning call. The building closest to the wall has suffered some damage, the doors and windows gone, but that would almost act as though you were outdoors, if you stayed in that building and listened for a warning call.

Those seem to be the most likely options.