[i]Althalus[/i]

As the guardsman arrived, Althalus was feeling better about the venture. People tended to immediately go for the biggest, most armored, toughest looking opponent. Grey fit at least one requirement. Which meant that more people would be going for him, and that would allow the assassin to get a free shot at someone’s back. And it was always better to kill a mage from behind, where they couldn’t see you, than the front, where they tended to throw most of their nasty little spells. As the man tripped and fell, spilling papers everywhere and asking for help, Althalus shrugged. Why not? It’s not like he had anything better to do. Setting his crossbow down on the wagon bed, he chased down the farthest reaching ones, coming up with a handful. He waved back at Coco before glancing down at the wanted posters. As he returned to Grey, Althalus exclaimed, “Hey! I know these guys! They’re the Arson brothers. Nice bunch of kids. Tend to have a penchant for burning things, which is why they changed their last name to Arson, but they’re nice. Though, you have each of them as different people on five different wanted posters.” Riffling through the remaining papers, he commented on them. “Ah, No-Finger Pete. Surprisingly good with a knife. I know for a fact that Billy here is dead, and has been for several years now, and yet they persist on posting wanted posters for him. He’s probably laughing himself silly in whatever dark pit he was thrown in. Hey, it’s Sally! What a little hellion. Castrated a man with her teeth once. Shame she decided to try and travel to Ghannos. Reverend Parker! Revered servant of Aarem and master torturer. He also makes a very good rat stew.”

Glancing up as he gave the papers back to Grey, Althalus shrugged. “What? I grew up in Port Slaughter. Everyone there is a criminal, it’s just a matter of if you are a [i]legal[/i] criminal. The nobles abuse their power and protect and pay the guards, the guards abuse their power and ensure that the peasants pay their taxes and don’t kill the nobles in a violent uprising, and the peasants do the best they can, committing a variety of crimes in the name of survival. Or, in the case of some, just because they find it ridiculously fun.” He caught a glimpse of the last poster and barely kept himself from grinning. It was a drawing of his mask. Well, not exactly his mask. There were a few minor differences, but the essence of it was the same. [i]This is going to be fun.[/i] “I’d be careful if you started going for that one.” He said, tapping a finger on the poster. “Even when I was in Port Slaughter he was well known. ‘The Terror of the Port’ they called him. About as solid as smoke, they claimed. They claimed he was as ruthless as the nobles, but with the martial skill of the guards and the subtlety skill of the thieves. Any death that went unexplained was placed at his feet. They claim he left a calling card at the site of each death, a gold coin, caked with blood.” Then Althalus shrugged again. “Then again, they also claimed he was so handsome that the Baroness fell in love with him, that the Baron’s children are actually ‘The Terror of the Port’s children, that he has the stamina of not one, but three gods, and that he was so silver tongued that a guardswoman once gave him her armor, her weaponry, and her maidenhood, all because he asked.” He gave a smirk. “Obviously, the tale has grown with the telling. I doubt that he actually exists.”