Chapter 5: Pleased to Meet You

Elora is on the edge of her metaphorical seat, consciously practicing some breathing exercises to keep the edge off.

Coreene casts her spell, and for a few tense moments, it appears as though nothing has happened.

Then, from across the street, you can hear the creaking of boards and a muffled incoherent roar. Moments later, the front of the abandoned building near one set of searching guards explodes outward into splintered wood, rock and dirt. The two guards nearest it are knocked to the ground in surprise and panic as a creature grows out of the earth and rock beneath the building, gemstone-like eyes glowing as it claws its way through the remains of the front wall. It lets out a wordless roar as it looks about the street.

The two guards knocked prone struggle and clamber to try and get back to their feet. From across the street, one of the guards draws his weapon and goes to defend his comrades. The other one -- the one that complained about the patrol duty earlier -- steps back from the scene, mouth open and eyes wide. His weapon falls to the ground with a clatter. "I ain't sticking around for this!" he yells, turns tail and runs.

Erannik turns and stares at Coreene in surprise. "I don't know what you did there, but it gives us some time while they're distracted." He points out to the street. "Quick. Out the door and back up the street while they're busy. Timarra's smart enough to find their own way."

He moves quickly, but carefully, out the door, expecting everyone else to follow.

Ember follows swiftly, mimicking their guide’s steps, hoping that since she’s lighter, she also won’t make noise.

Coreene suppresses a laugh. That actually worked! she thinks triumphantly. She waits for the others to follow Erannik, bringing up the rear so she can keep the beast here as long as possible.

Swan doesn't trigger his spell, and instead follows the others, keeping to the shadows as best he can.

Yelnar is glad he paid attention to how the stealthier members of the party move, hoping he can do a reasonable representation of the same.

Eanala scowls darkly, but doesn't prevent Livia from answering.

The broad-shouldered woman glances at Eanala, and seems less sure of herself than when she first brought up the point. Finally, she clears her throat and says, "Kletiani believes we have a mole. Too many times we've run into guards where there shouldn't be any.
Had people captured in places that were safe just the day before. It's... all too much to believe it's coincidence."

Eanala sighs. "We've looked into everyone, Livia. You know that. And everyone has checked out."

Frowning, Verrian thinks about the Crows' use of people as "magic detectors," about the ring of teleportation she'd seen Ildemu use. About how Ildemu seemed to know so much more about things than he should.

"Maybe it's not a mole. Maybe they are using some kind of magic to gather intelligence."

Elora sneaks and scuttles about...

Ember and Coreene each follow Erannik with careful -- and more important, quiet -- steps, but just as Coreene turns back to warn Swan of a floorboard that's sticking up in the dark, he hits it at just the wrong angle at exactly the wrong time. It creaks surprisingly loudly and Swan stumbles forward, reaching out to grab Coreene to keep himself from tumbling entirely to the ground.

Given the chaos across the street, everyone has a moment of hope that the whole thing will go unnoticed, but... when it rains, it pours. One of the guards who's clambering to his feet happens to be looking right at the building the party was hiding in, and so sees the halting procession coming out the door all too well.

"Hey, there they a..." he starts to call out, and is raising his hand to point in the party's direction when the rock creature's stony fist clobbers him in the side of the head, dropping him to the ground like a sack of flour. Any notice he might have given his compatriots is forgotten in the sudden loss of one of their number. "Fall back! Draw it away from Mergen!" says the leader, retreating slowly away from the creature's advance, feinting with his sword, trying to keep the elemental from trampling his fellow guardsman.

It seems that disaster has been averted. For now.

Eanala shakes her head slightly. "It's possible, but... we've been losing people like this since before Crow ever showed his face in Hara. If it is some sort of magic, it's been around a while."

The elven woman runs a hand through her short silver hair. "I hate to admit it, but Kletiani is probably right. A mole seems to be the most likely explanation, but whoever it is, they're awfully good. We haven't been able to find anyone that's suspicious enough."

She turns her good eye on Verrian. "Maybe we just need fresh eyes and ears. Would you see if you notice anything that raises your suspicions?"

The request makes Verrian uneasy, though she's careful not to display it. There are any number of reasons to be wary of being asked to finger a mole in an organization she only just met. As a diplomat, she'd navigated political minefields, but this was pretty straightforward espionage - even if one of the higher-ups was sanctioning it, even requesting it.

And although this is the first time she's allowed herself to think about it directly, it hasn't escaped her notice that Eanala has only one eye. It's probably just a coincidence, but her spy training won't allow Verrian to disregard the possibility that Eanala herself might be part of the One-Eyed Crows.

But then, why hadn't this cell been extinguished completely, if that were the case?

"I'll keep an eye out for anything that seems out of order," she promises the elf. Her telepathic sense is still reaching out for Coreene, and still finding nothing. "Shouldn't the others have arrived by now?"

Erannik quickly leads the group down a side alley, through another abandoned building, down another street and into another side alley before he slows down. By the time he stops, he's breathing heavily, bent over at the waist with his hands on his knees. "I'm too old for this shit," he gasps.

"Stop. Catch your breath. If one patrol found us, you can bet that there will be at least another one before we get there."

Coreene leans against a building to catch her breath, finally letting out a hysterical giggle. "That was too close." she says, a big smile on her face. She lets out a long sigh and uses her hands to physically straighten her face out. "Alright. Okay. You're right, Erannik, that can't be the only patrol... Is there an alternate route we could look into? A sewer, perhaps?"

This was never going to be easy, was it? Ember sighs while shooting a look at the people who were supposed to know this city already.

"Maybe they'll be drawn to the commotion behind us instead?" Elora tries to offer some comfort, not believing it herself.

Swan chews on that for a second, saying, "Lead on, we'll do better with more space from that attack."

"Well we can't rest for too long. The elemental will only be able to stay here for half a minute or so..." A look of confusion and worry passes over her face. "Or was that... I'd only have control of it for half a minute or so..."

"We should probably keep moving."