The girl look around for a bit "I think one of our first priorities would be to try fool the empire into not moving right now, I'd suggest that meanwhile we are going after these spies the village tried to fake a soldier population on the town, could be fake fires or puppets, what really matters is that the empire scouts think this place has more defense than it actually has. Even if they decide to make a move they will do it with way too many troops for the mission and that would be terrible for the ongoing logistics of the war" she had a good grip of the empire's strategies being part of the academy and a possible officer, but beyond than that, her studies of how the empire could fail had given her a good insight on the mistakes of the empire.

"Hmm... thats an excellent idea, you're not just a run-out-of-mill lady..." The Mayor's pair of eyes narrowed at Magnato for a moment, then turning back and commanded,"Prepare decoy scarecrows & flares, make sure that they look lifelike! We're using it to fool the Empire!"
@Magnato

"And Rammus, you haven't succeeded in your magic, I assume?" Mayor asked, as Rammus nodded in response.

"Give me your bow, I will forge a magic weapon for you, I would've preferred for you to learn magic by yourself, but now, there ain't much time for this." The Mayor asked without any hesitation, receiving the bow which Rammus handled.

"The spies are a young adult with white hair & a young girl who always carry a book. And, they look strange. Now if you excuse me, I'm getting to my room to forge a magic item, you can enter my room at any time to see the conditions of your bow~" He strolled of back to the Mayor's house, which is easy to find as its located in the tallest area of the village.
@Magnato @Zatoshi

---

"Sooo... you're aiming to kill the spy and hinder the Empire, nice choice, but like I said, I'm off duty now =) ..." Atticus stated as he walked away from them as the young girl sprang to her heels blocked the oncoming strike with the book that she was carrying. There's no sign of damage on the book, it seemed to have a well-made book cover.

"Master's off duty now, but I've overtime, I'm still on duty, you've to get pass me first~" The young girl stated, with her cold look, the book flipped open and she drew out a sword from the open page, aiming to cut a diagonal slash towards Jacque. Still, she's just a child who have yet to hit adolescentceenjc , so her swordsmanship ain't perfect. However, by the time that clash happened, Atticus was at the verge of disappearing from sight.
@MonsieurShade

@NoobCW
Jacque grit his teeth in aggravation as he found himself having to go on the defensive to avoid being cut open by the female member of the duo. He jumped back just in time to feel the tip of the blade catch him, slicing open his shirt and leaving a nasty scar on his right breast. An honorable man would not have continued to fight from here, no, an honorable man would have just backed away rather than come to blows with a young girl. Jacque was not an honorable man. He was also not one to pull punches, especially after being wounded as Atticus' partner was about to find out

Using his free hand Jacque gripped the girl's sword hand and pulled her towards himself. The bounty hunter moved forward as he brought her towards him and drove his forehead straight into her nose. His assault didn't end there, rather than give his opponent time to recover Jacque released his grip and swept her feet out from under her before swiftly kneeling and planting his knee on her throat. He shifted his weight a bit so as not to crush her windpipe yet, but left just enough pressure to get his point across, "This is your one warning, you move or try to cast a spell and it's over. Don't test me.". Jacque made sure to pin down her sword arm before he dared to take his eyes off of the girl to look at Atticus, whom had moved quite a ways away much to his disquietude. Jacque could feel the trickle of blood running down his chest, clinging his shirt to his skin with its warm stickiness. The wound was throbbing with pain, and would probably need a good cleaning and a few stitches, which Jacque immediately took to mean more money being spent. "Unless you want to have to go searching for a new underling, I suggest you get back here!" Jacque snarled to Atticus, making no effort whatsoever to hide the malice in his tone.

@NoobCW
Irita looked at Rammus and then at the door which the mayor walked through. "He knows how to forge magic weapons?" he asked. If he did, then he had to know how to strengthen them and such. Perhaps he could help Irita with his scythe. He had felt that it was getting weaker lately, but it could be because Irita was getting stronger. Irita didn't know how to strengthen magic weapons, only how to use them and keep them in good shape.

@Diabolic

At this instance, Atticus had not attempted to hide herself from view but instead stood in the open and in the wake of the tree had struck down. Her light boots barely made a dent in the soil for all her force and her arms were crossed loosely over her chest, now more evident from its sofer shape and form that this was a female. A young one. While she still didn't reveal her face from beneath the shadow of the black mail cowl she bore, her voice with its light, almost smoke-like lingering cemented the growing perception of her sex.

"I am under orders to not allow anyone to enter the critical checkpoints save for those bearing patents of nobility or assignment from the nobles or Guard itself. If you possess either I now suggest you make them visible and throw them over here. I'll return them if they are legitimate."

From her words it seemed that she was not going to allow for herself to be set into a disadvantage. She was not provoking a fight, but rather, the young woman was looking to avoid one.

Kalio didn't feel like asking for a weapon, mainly because she believed they didn't trust her yet. Even so, she excused herself to gather some sand for her spell-casting

"I will be taking some supplies for our search, it shouldn't take long" she said to her party.

The idea of having to hurt fellow imperials was odd to her, yet not something she was entirely opposed. "Its better to have a soft defeat than the hard one, only being defeated now will save the empire later" she thought.

@MonsieurShade
"Alright then, go ahead, my suborinate's disposable anyways," Atticus continued walking off despite Jacque's warnings,"But first, Alice, forget about the classified info~" Nothing seemed to happen after Atticus stated that, but if its observed carefully, there's a near-undetectable trace of foreign magic used behind the girl's forehead.

"Here's a hint, if you are able to figure out what I'm capable of, maybe you can save the forsaken Payon Village from its impending doom~ Good luck for that =) " Atticus stared back with his blue eyes. "And I wish you would do so, it would be more fun next afternoon ^_^ , cya!"

---

"Yeah, but they're weak, and his forged items are rather useless if you are good in magic." Rammus said, taking a bite on his apple.
@Zatoshi

"Oh suree~" Rammus replied to Kalio.

Ellison spent the last couple nights in Payon, she was a little beat from adventuring. She enjoyed taking some time off, also it gave Aesik time to repair himself, small scratches and dents could heal quick for a magical sword like him.
She was getting dressed to go out into town, perhaps she would find something interesting at a street shop, or maybe she would make some new friends. She slipped into a small light blue tunic, it came just above her knees. She wore lightly decorated brown boots that came almost up to her knees, and a pair of gloves, they reached 3/4 the way up her forearms. She placed a wreath atop her odd streaked hair, and slipped a shoulder harnessed sheath for Aesik, he wasn't very large for a sword he was more of a glorified dagger. Still you could refer to him as a short sword but when called this, he felt insecure with his size.

"You ready Aesik?" She said, cheerfully. She very desperately wanted to spend her time off from adventuring having fun exploring towns and villages she had yet to.

"As I'll be, where to?"

"I figured we could just follow the breeze, not knowing what you want is a good way to find what you do."

She smiled slightly, Aesik could sometimes feel her emotion, he didn't particularly need to be able to see her expressions. They were almost linked in a way.

She leapt from the door, locking it on her way downstairs, to deter any other tavern goers from snooping obviously. She waved to the barkeep goodbye and headed out the door, taking a left towards the square and began to peer through a side-shop's wares, this stall mainly kept fabrics. She enjoyed feeling them and comparing to see which was softest, whether she purchased them or not.

Jacque scowled and spat in the dirt as he watched Atticus walk away with complete disregard for his companion. It wasn't that Jacque viewed the action as distasteful, rather he'd lost his only bargaining chip. The bounty hunter glared down at Atticus' partner and sheathed his knife before unshouldering his gun once more, "You're coming with me." he growled before striking her in the forehead with the butt of his gun to render her unconscious. With her squared away Jacque stood and shouldered his gun again before tossing the girl over his shoulder before turning to retrieve his original quarry. He may not have wanted to get involved with Payon's up and coming battle, but he might have been able to receive an additional reward for dropping a warning as well as an empire scout.

As Jacque came closer to his horse thief, the bounty hunter hawed in aggravation as he realized just how close to dying the man appeared to be. "This is why I told you not to fucking run you idiot!" He growled before gripping the man by his color and dragging him along as he continued to head towards Payon.

As it turned out, the trip wasn't all that long much to Jacque's surprise. His mad dash after the horse thief had actually managed to lead him closer than he'd originally thought, as evidenced by the quaint sign that he passed by as he stepped back onto the road. Jacque completely ignored the looks he received from frightened or apprehensive passerby's, having grown accustomed to it years ago. When he was inevitably stopped by a concerned authority figure Jacque calmly produced his license and asked where he could drop his bounties off, then headed in the direction he was pointed at with a deep scowl as he began to tally up how much money he'd have to spend on supplies.

@NoobCW
Irita took a step closer ant took out his scythe. "I was wondering if you could do some maintenance on my magic weapon. It's been a while since I got this checked up on..." he told the mayor.

"I can strengthen your magic weapon a bit, and maybe modify it to suit it to your affinity~" The Mayor looked at Irita while hammering on Rammus' weapon along with some dark crystal thing.
@zatoshi

---

Rammus was carrying along a few completed decoy scarecrows, moving towards the town square as he fixated them along the area, tying them to a support. "Hmm... that looks lifelike~" Rammus commented to himself, carrying along the other decoy scarecrow as he moved to fix it on another forementioned area. "Move move!" He hissed.
@Diabolic (Ellison)

@NoobCW Ellison saw a boy approaching her, placing scarecrows around the area. What was this odd character doing?
He had medium length black hair and a straw hat.

"Woah, watch it kid!" Ellison shouted to the boy.

Aesik was pushed into someone near Ellison as the boy moved her aside.

"Excuse me" The sword muttered.

"Ah, Aesik you aren't supposed to speak to anyone but me, you might get found out! How would I explain that!?"

Ellison was excited due to being almost knocked down by a stranger, and the fact that Aesik had completely disregarded her previous orders.

@diabolic ~ Ellison
"You're too short, I can't see you~" Rammus muttered in sarcasm. ('And is it just me or that I heartd a voice from somewhere?') He got puzzled from the voice he heard, but probably its just background noise or something, he thought.

"Who's Aesik?" Rammus stopped as he planted another decoy scarecrow on the ground.

---

"Supp, Atticus Jr & the mask guy?~" The white haired Atticus approached the both of them, who are close to the borders. "Just on my way to Swyn, my assignment to spy Payon Village, one man's got taken down by a cowboy. I forgot to bring my identity documents, sooo mind if I just pass through?"
@Resentment Fray @Diabolic(Wolf)

@NoobCW

She crossed her arms, puffing out her chest. "Hmph!" "Short?"

"You're one to talk!" She stuck her tongue out and made an angry face at Rammus, though she was 18 she had a lot of time to herself and being childish came natural when you spend time talking to a sword.
She was rather short, though she wouldn't prefer to agree.

"Another thing, Aesik is none of your business that's who!"
She bounced on her hip and placed her arm behind her shoulder on Aesik.

@NoobCW

[WOLF]

"Apparently papers are needed here, for those known to the Empire, and all the lands as well.
Don't suppose you're to pass, if it was my decision regardless you wouldn't either. I suppose you know who I am, but this woman does not.
Papers are of no mind to me, you say you are who you are and I decide to rend your flesh or not. Imperials pass, others who are at war, sadly... Do not."

The Wolf gripped his hilt. And shifted his attention towards this new traveler.

After a brief pause to grab a few fruits from a passing food wagon, Jacque located and entered the local police department and swiftly made his way over to the desk that served as the check in for captive criminals. "Well as I live and breathe...Jacque, my boy! Is that you" The grizzled old man behind the desk exclaimed as he pulled out a pair of glasses to examine the bounty hunter before him. Jacque blinked, then scrunched his face a bit as he tried to place the old man's face, "What's with that look, boy? You forgot your manners, or did you really forget your father's old partner?", "Wait...Adrian? Adrian McNamara?". The old man gave an approving nod and stood to properly greet his partner's son, "The very same one who helped teach ya boy. You've really grown a lot since then, and by the look of those two sorry sunsofbitches you got there, your height ain't the only thing that's changed.", "Yeah, good meals and plenty of exercise thanks to these criminals. Not to be rude, but what exactly are you doing out here old timer?".

Adrian gave a shrug and adjusted his glasses a bit, "Caught word that the normal collection officer for Payon got killed by some bandits a few weeks back. Since I retired from bounty hunting years ago and needed something to do, figured i'd come give these folks a helping hand. Figured people like yourself wouldn't take too kindly to bounty hunting and receiving no bounty. Speakin' of which, who you got on the floor there?"

Jacque released his grip on the horse thief's collar and dusted his hand off on his pants, "Horse thief from Rudibrium of all places. Guess he couldn't hack it as a smith and chose to steal instead.". Adrian leaned over his desk to examine the thief, then clucked his tongue, "Poor bastard doesn't look like he'll make it through the night. Probably for the best anyway, thieves hang here, just saves us some rope. What about the little miss you got there? His accomplice?" "Glad you asked. Caught this one snooping around with an older male who was either kind enough or stupid enough to tell me he was a scout for an empire assault heading this way. Says they'll be here by dawn.". Adrian's brow furrowed as he absorbed this newfound information, "Do you believe him?" he asked lowly, "I don't know what to believe. All I know is that i'd rather get my money and supplies and go rather than find out come tomorrow morning." Jacque retorted.

As soon as those words left his mouth, Jacque knew he'd screwed up. Adrian locked eyes with Jacque and jabbed his finger into the younger hunter's chest, "You're just going to up and abandon these folks boy? Everyone? The women, children, and elderly? You know damn well your father raised you better than that Jacque. You're a bounty hunter, not a damned monster.". That stung. The words cut deep, causing Jacque to visibly cringe as Adrian stared daggers at him until Jacque could no longer look him in the eye. The old hunter shook his head and turned away, "If you're really certain that you want to run, then fine. I'll go fetch the bingo book and a check so you can get your money." Adrian made it approximately three steps before Jacque let out a low groan "Fine damnit it, i'll stay and help. Twist my arm a bit more why don't you old man.". Adrian didn't turn back to face Jacque, if he did, then Jacque would have bore witness to the most smarmy shit eating grin ever seen, "Knew you had it in you boy. I'll go get your check, then we can warn the sheriff and the local militia.". As Adrian walked away, Jacque began to repeatedly whack himself in the forehead with his palm as he wondered what he'd just gotten himself into.

@Diabolic Ellison
"Where's your papa? O_O" Rammus continued on his sarcastic reply as he continued, "Right now, I'm just preparing scarecrows against the Empire dogs that will invade here tomorrow, sooo you better stay at your homes tmr O_O"

"Hmm... the scarecrows are done early, that spy suree have reliable info about them~ Ima camp at the borders tonight, check if there's any weird shit happening >.<" He stated, as he finished tying his last scarecrow down the spot. He then hopped up to a tree branch, travelling via tree branches, towards the direction of the borders.

@Diabolic Wolf
"Huh... don't you happen to be the what, The Wolf of Orbis?" Atticus asked, he got the name correct, but the country wrong. ('The cowboy from Swyn, now another one') He hissed rather impatiently, 'cause he would want to get on the train back to the Empire, and have a good night's sleep. ('there's no need to waste more time...')

"LOOK! A FLYING PIG BEHIND YOU!" Atticus pointed towards Wolf's back, took to his heels at the same time, his speed seemed as if he disappeared in a blink of an eye. Turns out that Atticus is now riding a black pig that he summoned, that is flying like a stupid pig who just learned how to fly, still... a pig can't fly faster than a zeppelin.

@NoobCW
Irita smiled brightly. "Then could you please do that?" he asked and held out the scythe towards him. It would be great to finally get it checked up on.