After many hours, the monk and the priest finally arrive at the entrance to Urenda's main city. Silent as ever, the brown-cloaked man stands almost completely still as the priest verifies his identity, and relays his tale of the journey through Urenda's outskirts to the guards, demon attack and all. The guards, noting the apparent skill of the traveller in question, ask him if he might perhaps assist in protecting Urenda from the demonic threat, or help with the oncoming threat of the Creeping Death. He declines, but mentions that, if he finds the time and reason to do so, he may venture back into the outskirts at a later point. Satisfied, the guards open the gate for him, and he begins to walk into the city; at the last second, though, one of the younger guards calls out to him, asking the traveller for a name.

'Kos Henir,' he responds, not turning back to face his questioner.

[hr]

It is getting darker by the time Kos finds his way to the tavern, still in traveller's cloak. Entering quietly, unnoticed by most who were not immediately nearest the door, he sees the larger majority of the patrons making merry to some extent or another, though in a mostly subdued manner. Tense would be the word to describe the atmosphere; even the bartenders are seemingly not quite able to forget the impending threat that lurks outside the walls. Taking a menu, and a seat at the nearest unoccupied table, Kos lowers the hood of his cloak, revealing a quite sturdy face, scruffy-haired, with dark brown eyes visibly hardened by something or other, and watchful, ever so watchful as he glances round at the patrons. Nobody of particular note, it seems, though at least one of the dwarven visitors emits quite a large quantity of noise relative to the rest of the bar.

With no apparent threats present, Kos turns his gaze to the items on the menu; a few minutes later, when approached by a waiter, he asks simply for a glass of water and the cheapest meal available. He is not a man of great means, a fact that shows in his frugality - his income is primarily derived from what valuables he can scavenge and sell, and whilst he sometimes comes across an object of great worth, he is mostly forced to gather trinkets for profit. Still, he generally finds that he has enough for day-to-day purposes; at the very least, he has found maintaining his fitness and health easy enough, if only by sacrificing luxury in their place. Then again, luxury hasn't seemed to be high on anybody's list for the last twenty years, and, at least in his mind, one cannot afford luxury when one is on a quest.

He will, he decides, consume his meal; then, starting tonight, he will search for clues as to Jaene's whereabouts. Even now, he may be too late to find her within the bounds of the city; he must be swift if he is to catch up to her kidnappers and reunite with her once again.