Their camp tonight was within a forest sparse enough that a decent clearings could be found just a stone's throw away from the edge. Issue was the very quality that made it a decent camping spot also meant it's very much still possible to be spotted from the road. Especially if they were to lit some fire. Just a small inconvenience, the worst of winter's chill have passed with only some lingering touches left, but they had a rather important old man coming along...

...well, Thernous wasn't complaining so she wouldn't offer.

Still having her travelling cloak on to avoid the last light of the day glinting off her metallic guards, Yvonne slowly made her way around the perimeter of their camp and fiddled with the young saplings growing around. When tied with the right knot, they'll whip in a sharp crisp rustle should anyone trip through the makeshift alarm. And best of all, they'll untangle over time as the sapling grew and within a week there'll be no more trace of it. Pretty handy when one's traversing into potentially hostile territory with minimum resources and manpower.

She returned back to the camp right in time for Smurfy's news, her eyes flickering to the hilltop where the unmistakable glow of Sparky's magic momentarily lit up. Well, so much for being subtle. Hope it wouldn't come back to bite them in the ass later.

"About time we meet these forward scouts. Look lively, ladies and gentlemen, but keep your weapons close just in case."

They've already ran into an eldritch creature playing merchant just yesterday. Wouldn't put it past their luck that the newcomers were somehow out to screw their little group over too.

---

It was night again, and camp was not exactly being made. Some of the party were expecting the unite with a recon team that, others were attempting to sort out a camp. The issue with fire came up between the bears and Louise, but otherwise, everyone was simply playing the waiting game. Jazdia had already taken to the hill. Solomon dismounted the carriage to deal with the horses. Solomon wasn’t quite sure what was the plan for the rendezvous beyond that there was to be one.

A black cat with two tails was sitting in a tree. Shortly after Jazdia had mentioned they had stopped, Athena exited the wagon to get a view of her surroundings. It took her a moment to get her barrings, having slept in the carriage almost the entire day. That was probably irresponsible of her, but it didn’t matter now. The first chance she got, she dashed through the foliage of the nearby trees before climbing up one, and sitting in wait. She could see that Jazdia had decided wait atop the hill. Athena figured that would make the most sense. It was the highest landmark, and it would give her an unobstructed view. Athena didn’t mind being where she was, but she kept her senses alert.

She didn’t know where the scouts would be coming from, so Athena didn’t keep her focus in any one direction. Her ears would twitch at new sounds, and her head to quickly turn to new stimuli, quickly checking if the source of the disturbance were the scouts. Once the noise of their horses started to filter through the trees, Athena jumped down and ran through the grass towards where she expected to cross paths. So far that appeared to be near if not on the hill with Jazdia. Not surprising. Jazdia had set fire to one of her arrows, just enough to mark herself as a waypoint.

The old man nodded to the young chap who relayed his information, making sure to tell him, "Make sure you tell Erwin before he gets paranoid or jumpy."

He looked at the bears, and the bear approaching as he smiled, "I thank you, and it seems as if someone has Erwin, but keep yourselves light on your feet, and we should be fine."

---

---

Erwin nodded at Varya and smiled, "I thank you brother..." he said as he dismounted and looked around, "since the entire group is here, do we want to move to a more secluded spot... so that we aren't in the middle of an open field? If anyone with night sight comes, we are open to their vision, likewise if someone should hear us, this seems to be a high trafficked spot."

Varya Chandrar

Varya was pleasantly surprised by such a warm response from Erwin, though he would not admit it. It is refreshing to see Erwin in a calmer state of mind, smiling, and showing a different side of himself. For the first time since they have left on their journey, he felt a modicum of respect for Erwin. "A good idea Sir Erwin, but I think the area is secure enough as it is. Let's meet up with everyone else. I'm sure Louise would appreciate us helping her with her cooking."

Location: North of the crossroads, 6 km from Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

"'Just Evan' it is then," was Veronica's cheeky reply to the pale northerner, shortly before they departed. She deigned to shoot him a similarly cheeky smile, as she took off like a shot, the steeds of the Antigone members in swift pursuit.

---

The cool night breeze ruffled her hair and battered against the hood of her cloak, threatening to blow it back off her head from the speed she had to run at to keep pace with the recon team's mounts. The vampire took point as best she was able. Her darkvision and sure feet made for an excellent combination to help her lead the group through the night unharmed, choosing the most stable ground and guiding them around spots that would be troublesome in terms of space long before they could accidentally blindly stumble into them. Thankfully, nothing seemed keen to leap out at them from the darkness, and their travel went undisturbed. Their circuitous route was completed about as quickly as she had expected, even accounting for a mildly slower pace in the murk for safety's sake.

Breaking free of the western tree line, the recon team turned near about face towards the small hill Veronica had pointed out prior and the one atop it. Not long after they had done so, however, a bright purple light speared through the night, emanating from the arrow Veronica's keen vision could make out being held in the elf's hands. The elf's own glowing gaze, for its own part, was clearly aimed their way too.

Really, Jazdia? A signal like that? Do you seriously think I, of all people, need it? All you're doing is blowing our cover. Irritation aside, a part of her could appreciate the potentially more useful thoughts that could have been behind the elf's action, and the vampire chose to believe for her own peace of mind that at least one of them was the case.

Shaking away the annoyed thought, Veronica picked up her pace, paying a little more attention to the ground ahead, just in case any traps had been set by particularly -and laudably- enterprising sorts amongst her future teammates. Just to be on the safest side, she pushed her Sight in a particular direction and periodically glanced at her immediate future, as she shot a jaunty, two-fingered salute Jazdia's way.

Veronica slowed to a jog, as she reached the base of the hill and then to a swift power walk. Gloved fingers ran back through windswept ebony hair, clawing it back into a semblance of tidiness with a few quick sweeps. As she got within comfortable speaking distance, Veronica didn't hesitate to raise a single telling brow at the glowing arrow in Jazdia's hand, as if to silently convey her mild irritation, but she didn't waste her breath complaining about it.

"Jazdia Crystalspark," the pale girl drawled with an almost teasing lilt, eyes crinkling into smiles, as she rolled her shoulders, letting her hands hang loose and open, "we really need to stop meeting solely under the shadow of crisis. A girl might get ideas about your work-life balance." A rare, toothy grin spread across her lips in greeting, betraying how much her elation overrode her prior annoyance. Briefly, fangs glimmered under the purple light of Jazdia's magic, before Veronica's lips pulled closed once more, long before anyone else was positioned to spot them.

Nearing the close of that ride and up the hill, they seemed to have formed a triangle of sorts. Veronica in front, the two horsemen in the middle, and Evan and his three wargs at the back. The first warg sat briefly as Evan dismounted and walked off, and the three wargs immediately bolted outward to set up a perimeter around this drastically open field.

Veronica seemed to know this woman with pointier ears than normal people.
Nosy as he was, his eyes glowed a vibrant gold, which he had not been able to do throughout the entire day.
Evan was not ready for the beacon of blood that shone before him. He winced but was too curious to stop staring.
Veronica... was unusual. Her heart didn't beat. No blood flowed, yet blood is everywhere in her being. Evan could make out every layer of her being from skin to bones, every cell suffused with blood.
It was strangely mesmerizing. He stopped himself, caught himself staring... averted his gaze.

Within that far horizon was the mountain range to the north. At the tallest peak should be his house, far too small to notice from this distance.

He glanced at Veronica again, then a little aways diagonally. Something he noticed, a glowing group of blood vessels far behind the hill. A huge group of horses and... bears. Roaming peacefully around the four visible humans.
He remembered that someone somewhere along the way mentioned that they're trying to rescue a bear named Cedar. These must be relatives.

Staying mum, Evan walked beside the other two humans with beating hearts and normal amounts of blood in their bodies.

Bringing both sources of light with her, Jazdia walked that grassy hillside to intercept the recon party. Side by side they looked at each other until finally stopped right at the foothill.

"Jazdia Crystalspark," she regarded her teasingly.

"Well, well, well, if it's not Lady Veronica herself. Had I known you were that person in our schedule, we might only need to sit tight and wait. "

The purplish hue in her eyes dimmed as the fire on her arrow slowly retreated into the arrowhead, leaving only a smoldering crystal that emitted a faint light. With her natural eyes, Jazdia took one deep glance at the pale woman. Instinctively tried to verify, despite her mind assuredly telling herself that her presence here shouldn't be something surprising.

She simply overlooked this factor. Fred knows his assets very well.

"we really need to stop meeting solely under the shadow of crisis. A girl might get ideas about your work-life balance."

The woman extended her hand and grinned. A grin Jazdia once thought she might never get used to, but here she was now, unable to find a fault in such a cordial gesture. The elf answered that offer with a handshake and smiled bitterly at the remark. "Fate is never on my side."

Despite saying that, she found the words amusing, if not ironic. It also brought up some upsetting truths about her life lately. Dealing with a national crisis and averting it was part of her job. Her old job. Something he should stay away from, but she couldn't, for one reason or another... or was the reason simply because she couldn't let go of that 'desire'?

So much for being retired.

Jazdia shifted at another pale fellow with ember eyes, who had been glancing at the rest of the party for quite a while now. Before turning to Veronica again

"Now you mentioned it. I have not written you my reply about the canceled shipment. But let us speak about it later. We need to meet the rest of the team. Especially Thernous, I think you should report to him first."

Still holding her glowing arrows and lantern, Jazdia walked toward their camp.

Location: North of the crossroads, 6 km from Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

"Fate is never on my side."

Veronica clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "Well now, that just won't do." Her lips quirked, as she affected a faux boastful tone. "How could fate not be on your side with a trusty Seer like me beside you?" True to her words, she fell into step beside Jazdia, as the elf began walking towards the camp proper.

At the mention of business matters between their companies, Veronica inclined her chin in wordless understanding, smiling and nodding. "Yes, that can keep for later. I have my speculations, but I'll withhold them till I can hear the tale from the horse's mouth... as it were." She released a small chuckle, eying the approaching campsite. "I'll admit, however, to my genuine surprise that a figure as high profile as Lord Thernous would be accompanying us, especially for a mere rescue mission." Her crimson gaze was searching, not quite narrowed but certainly intent. "I take it the mission parameters have been... expanded?"

Jazdia squinted her eyes, a sensitive question, that was, but quickly she reminded herself that Veronica deserved to know.

"Diplomatic mission," she said emotionlessly. "We are going to Meche after this."

They arrived at the camp, and Jazdia immediately introduced the recon team to the rest of the group. Veronica went to the Thernous first, to give the old man a proper report.

"...though, I only acquainted with Miss Veronica." a chuckle escaped her. There were some pleasantries and more small talk exchanged before Jazdia approached Thernous. "I think we can keep the introductory short, eh? It is important for us to wrap this up quickly. We arrived at the less optimal hour, and assuming we strike sometime before or after dawn, we need to ensure everyone has enough sleep."

She then shifted her attention to freshly made stew. Cooked without fire, impressive.

"Everyone, can I have your attention?" she inhaled a deep breath and smiled." Relax, feel free to continue with your meal. This will be long, so I suggest you get comfy."

---

As black cat got closer to the scout party and Jazdia, its form suddenly began changing. After a bit, Athena was walking near the elf and her fire arrow.

“I guess, you didn’t need me, after all. I didn’t expect one of your friends to be among those sent by Antigone.” said Athena. The yokai looked towards the scouting party. Interestingly enough, they were just as an odd mix of characters as the initial party sent by Kin Fredricus. When Athena first approached, she could only count three, but there were four present.

“For what it’s worth, the two on horses are with Antigone.” Athena stood by observing the pale man and her two colleges from Antigone while the Jazdia caught up with the lifeless lady, Veronica. Whatever news the king had sent them didn’t seem to include the change in the mission. For the best, giving it a second thought. It would not do to have valuable information in the wrong hands should the messenger be shot. But in the end, Athena was glad that the meet up went off without any complications.

Athena walked down the hill with the others as they continued their brief chat. At the same time, Athena spoke with Farris and Charles, asking them how goes the traveling and their mission. While Charles started to explain it, Farris cut him off, toting that it would be better if everyone, especially Thernous were present to hear it. Athena shrugged and they reached the camp shortly after.

Back at the camp, Solomon walked away from the horses after a few of them started to settle down to sleep. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it looked like scouting party had arrived with Jazdia and Athena. Among them, Solomon was surprised to see Veronica. He could have sworn that after the last incident, she would be done with these kinds of missions, instead wanting to focus on changing her newly claimed land. His head lowered covering his face in further shade. The king must be pulling as much talent he can across multiple facets of the edging war.

Rose huffed at herself. If the old man had already known, then so be it. She could smell the stew cooking, and figured she should go get some of it before her sister ate it all. Sharing was caring, but you only had to share when others were at the table. Those were the rules at home. (Granted, a lot of that was to please their mother, but it seemed a perfectly good rule to her too. Sadly, it did have its down-sides, when you were the one not at the table.)

At a decent trot, she paddled up beside her sister, who was still nursing her dizzy head. She always got that way after really using her powers. She wished she had the head for magic-- She'd help her sister out with this kind of thing as more than just 'her other half', but every time she tried to study, her head just swam, and rebelled against it. She could direct energy just fine, but bending it to DO something besides just push, or pull? Nope. She much preferred her potion making.
"Yuh's doin' a'righ sis?" she asked, dropping in along-side her. "Worked it tuh har' din' ya?"

She was referring to her sister's stooped over, distressed posture. It was obvious she had pushed herself too hard. It wasn't a truly bad thing; she'd be better in the morning.
"Yeah.... uh did.... But i's wort' it Rosie-- Dis thang's amazin!"

A gleaming set of white teeth shown in the moonlight as her sister smiled brilliantly.

"Ain't seen you dis happeh since paps brough' 'ome at jar a honneh when we's 3. 'Member 'at?"
"Yeha... Yeah uh does!"
The two of them giggled, then nestled close to each other. Rose looked at her sister, and noted that the 'bubble' around her was substantially smaller than earlier.

"How much ya think 'at thang hold? Look like ya used a good bit o' it up--"
"More an' I has muhself! Uh knows at much! --- At Good'nuff fellar wanned us tuh buy magic potions--"
"Said yuh'd git a 'hangov'er' if'n ya didn't... buh uh ain't got no blueburries, nor no wat'r wasps Lil, caint make ya none."
"Uh knows-- but when I delv'd it, it were thirsteh-- mebbe ya coul' give it push?"

Rose rolled her eyes at her sister. She always had the dumbest ideas sometimes. "aright-- uh'll give it a shot... Bu' no promises naow!" she said, gently clasping the blue bug looking pendant on her sister's neck, then gently funneling some of her own power into it. Shortly after she started, Jazdia broke her concentration, but only for a moment.

"Everyone, can I have your attention?" she inhaled a deep breath and smiled." Relax, feel free to continue with your meal. This will be long, so I suggest you get comfy."

"Look like we's gots more friends.. "
"Hope she made 'nuff!"
"Dun worreh, she lef' you at bit o'er yonder."
"Well.. Hot dayum..."

Lily of course, had pointed out a rather large tub of stew, much like her own, indicating that this was the serving reserved for herself. It was quite a serviceable helping. She gave her sister a loving bump on her shoulder, and a nod of appreciation for her role in getting food cooked, but said nothing more. Instead pulling her portion near herself to keep it claimed, then set back to work on trying to refill the strange pendant.

Jazdia then shifted her attention to freshly made stew. Cooked without fire, impressive.

"Hello there. I am Louise Ironside, squire and ward of Lord Thernous. You guys must be tired, I prepared a dinner for everyone including you guys." Louise greeted the scouting team with a warm smile except Veronica who was heading to her Lord for the report. Ironside side first greeting tradition is unnecessary on this time.

"Everyone, can I have your attention?" Jazdia inhaled a deep breath and smiled." Relax, feel free to continue with your meal. This will be long, so I suggest you get comfy."

"You heard the Madam. Just grab an extra mess kit nearby the stew container and help yourself to take your portion." Louise continued.

Location: North of the crossroads, 6 km from Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

Veronica's eyes widened slightly at Jazdia's words. "Diplomatic mission?" Her gaze flickered to Thernous again, as they neared the camping grounds. "No wonder..." she muttered. "If we want anything we say to have any real weight, we need someone to be the voice of the King with the authority to make promises the King will likely agree with, and I can think of few better for the role." She nodded with finality and understanding. Though a frown crossed her lips, as she whispered back, "Which means this team also just became a protection detail; if anything happens to Lord Thernous, we lose the voice we need..."

She trailed off, as they got within more comfortable earshot of the rest of the camp, leaving the thought hanging. She parted from Jazdia's side, as they approached Thernous, stopping to sketch a small bow as a nod of courtesy to the elderly lawmaker and royal advisor. "Lord Thernous, Veronica Blackwater, reporting on behalf of the recon team," she smiled in her typical close-lipped way, projecting her voice loudly enough without shouting to make sure her name was clearly hearable by those present in the immediate area. A simple and sweet way to introduce herself to the majority indirectly, without going out of her way to make a specific deal of it.

Almost immediately after saying that, she shrugged off her backpack from beneath her brown cloak and set it on the ground, fishing out a small scroll case and glancing around. She shot a glance the direction of the rest of the recon team, her gaze an open invitation to step up and aid in the presentation if they wished. After all, it was hardly like she'd done all the work herself by any means. It had been a group effort, and at least Charles, in particular, seemed like he had been eager to say his own piece.

While she waited for the rest of the team to gather around in one form or another, Veronica cast curious looks towards the newcomers and sent a small smile and nod of greeting towards Yvonne and Solomon. She restrained the urge to make with pleasantries for the time being, even if she was immensely curious as to what relation the two bears -female, judging by the sound of their voices- had to Cedar. The peppy, blonde female knight she'd spied before seemed to have managed to mysteriously whip up a hot meal without a fire; though, Veronica didn't see herself partaking on this occasion. The male -and similarly blonde- knight nearby was twinging some form of recognition in her, but she couldn't quite put a name to his face yet; his body language and the way he held himself, however, certainly gave off the impression of someone with at least a personal sense of importance and authority. Then there was the extremely blue -in the most literal sense- elf, along with a knightly woman with a rather peculiar hairstyle and a pair of twitching cat ears and tails. The latter also seemed to be familiar with the Antigone members of the recon team.

All in all? Quite the eclectic group, just on appearances.

Man, Lord Fredricus sure knows how to pick 'em.

Evan stepped aside to let the two horsemen get some grub from this Louise person. It looked like pottage stew. A little bit nostalgic, it was a common meal prepped up back when he wasn't yet... alone.
"Thanks. I'm Evan." he said soft-spokenly towards Louise as the two others settled a ways away from him. A floating ice mug picked up stew from a floating ice hand holding the ladle already on the skillet, then the ice hand picked up the floating mug and followed Evan who had already walked off.

The subconscious calling to not attract attention, it ate at the back of his mind. He didn't know these people, and it was best not to be a nuisance to them. He sat at a middle spot of the camp where most of everyone is facing away or towards Veronica who'd started presenting their team's findings. Veronica took a glance at Evan. Unaware of social cues, he did not know why, and did nary but resume picking the floating chunks of food off the then-lukewarm stew, with a stick of ice.

He glanced at the rest of the team. The bears... could speak. One of the humans had a tail, and their oddly triangular ears were pulled further up the skull.
But the most unusual of all, was that tall hunched man with a large cloak. His heart didn't beat, his blood didn't move. Unlike Veronica who had blood in every cell in her body, this one had barely any, and what little remained is dried-up and blackened.

Evan should really stop staring.

A sip off his mug. Cold soup.

Thernous smiled softly and nodded to the new arrivals from his little spot in the carriage, he had a small bit of bread in his mouth as he just looked at the woman. He took it out of his mouth as he slowly shrugged out of his little encampment in the carriage's extra parts. Thernous stood slowly as he looked down at her, "It is good to meet you." he said with a smile, "now... about the first part of our journey, this hour might do us well depending on the information we have. If not, we can do it as early as possible."

He relaxed a bit and smiled, bowing his head for a moment before he slowly went back into the spot. The old man relaxed for a moment as he looked towards where Louise was doing her soup. But he figured it wouldn't be much, he relaxed just a tad and smiled.

"But... we should be prepared, so Miss Blackwater, what all have you seen when looking through the area?"

Varya Chandrar

Varya accepted the soup cooked by Louise, somehow without a fire, a nifty trick to have. "Thank you Lady Louise." It was nice to have warm food in this cold weather. "It's pretty good, thank you." He'll have to ask how she managed to heat the soup without fire later. He sat next to Athena as he enjoyed his soup as he dipped his bread in it. The new arrivals came, four of them, no doubt the scouts the King mentioned. Varya watched them and tried to take his measure of them, making sure not look to closely around the eyes, focusing more on their feet instead. People can tell when you are watching them, especially directly. There were two that stood out.

The first was introduced themselves as Veronica Blackwater, a young woman of light complexion and long dark hair. She was smiling, perhaps a sign of confidence or a mask of false bravado, he could not say for sure, though judging by the way she presented herself more of the former. There was an air of Shakti, power about her, and her posture seemed to reflect that dignity. They seemed to know how to carry themselves.

The second was an almost equally pale and young man with white hair peeking out from beneath his cap. He was much more quiet and to the point than Veronica was, something that Varya found refreshing. In Varya's line of work, it was usually the quiet ones you had to watch out for.

Considering this group managed to gain intel, presumably without alerting the compound to their presence, it spoke of a high level of competency. As someone whose job often was to scout ahead of the main force, Varya knew how difficult and dangerous reconnaissance was. He was interested to hear the information they have gathered. These two strangers were promising individuals, with Varya paying special attention to Evan due to his quiet, more reserved demeanor. It was nice to see someone who was more conservative with their speech, made Varya feel more comfortable about his own introversion.

Lily was busy horking down her stew, which made working on the silly thing she was wearing near impossible. Further, the amulet was not accepting any of what she was trying to push at it.

"Hol' still Lil! How's yous es'pect meh tuh try an 'charge dis crazeh thang with you movin' roun' like 'at!?"

Lily made only a momentary pause in her rapid consumption of her dinner to address her sister with a cheeky snort, shimmy out of the pendant, then hand it to her for further, uninhibited study.

"Ya gunna e't 'at!?" she asked greedily, pointing at Rose's pot of soup.
"PAWS OFF LIL' 'ATS MINE!"
"'Ats da Rosie uh knows!" Lily chuckled, then dug back in to her own pot.

Rose pulled her helping close and made a leer at her sister, then started slopping it down herself, putting the amulet around her arm like a bracelet with the chain wraped around a few times to hold it on, to avoid losing it in the shuffle, and enduring the odd feeling of "expansion" it offered.

She'd see about refilling it later.

Location: North of the crossroads, 6 km from Stritzel's Estate, Western Kindeance.

---

Inclining her head at Lord Thernous's prompt, Veronica straightened up, tucking her scroll case under one hand and withdrawing a leatherbound book from her bag. Flipping it open, she paged to some of the more recent entries and nodded, glancing around to check that the entire party seemed to be gathered. There was a lot to go through, and she'd prefer to only say this once.

"I realize the hour is late and most of us surely weary, so I shall try to pursue brevity as far as it doesn't compromise what's critical," she started, patting the cover of her logbook. "A more detailed hourly report is contained here, of course, for those that are interested."

Clearing her throat, she glanced at the pages of her logbook and nodded. "Our recon team was initially sent to scout out the premises of Lady Stritzel's mansion. One of our secondary goals was to plant a magical geolocator." She sent an appreciative nod to Charles and Farris. "Unfortunately, the latter did not end up succeeding, partially due to an anti-scrying barrier presently encompassing the entire Stritzel estate. The same barrier limited our investigations further, and it is almost certainly the reason why the target of this recovery mission -Cedar- has been unable to be located magically." Her expression turned graver. "I should mention also that this magical barrier shares a great similarity -if not identical function- to the one utilized by Asever in Fanghorn's devastation four months ago. Out of concern for being detected, I chose not to test its upper limits prior to now, but I'm confident in my analysis."

She flipped a page, lips pursing, as she organized her thoughts. So far, her attempts to keep things less verbose didn't seem to be working, and unfortunately, she still had much more to say. "The King's blockade was thankfully largely successful in isolating the area, so our team had very little trouble making note of any suspicious comings and goings. Of particular note, three days ago, we logged the coming and going of a wagon, guarded by Delving Usuals." She paused, glancing at the bears and then elaborating. "Which is a... I suppose general term for professional 'thugs' employed by the noble family. For context for those of you who are new here, the Delvings were involved in some instrumental capacity four months ago with the conflict that eventually devastated Fanghorn and set us on the path of political and societal unrest we are walking today. That they are involved yet again is worrisome but not as unexpected as it might be."

Shaking her head, she pulled away from that topic. "We can discuss how to handle them a bit later, but suffice to say, what you need to know to at least have a basic idea what to watch out for is that they are wealthy, control much of this nation's navy and are famed for their barrier and anti-magic spells. It's something of a callsign of theirs, and it would easily explain the powerful barrier's presence. Moving on..." She reorganized her thoughts and continued her prior thought. "So, three days ago, Delving Usuals were spotted coming and going with a wagon that emanated warding magic. That was the last time anyone left the premises of the estate. On the inverse, the last time anyone arrived was a day ago, a small convoy of two wagons and several horsemen. Which brings us to the mansion itself..."

Closing her logbook, she tucked it under one arm and unscrewed the map case that was held beneath the other, sliding out a roll of parchment which she soon unfurled. "What we have here is a-" She paused, frowning, as she considered the current near nonexistent lighting conditions and that not everyone here was as nocturnally inclined as herself. "Jazdia, if I could possibly trouble you for a light?"

The elf nodded and drew forth an arrow, which soon flared into a fresh billow of purple light. "Don't touch the arrowhead," she advised simply, to which Veronica nodded, taking the arrow shaft in one hand and using it to illuminate the map she let unfurl fully to hang freely from her other hand.

"As I was saying, this is a map we've sketched of the grounds of our target." The glowing arrowhead passed over the area, as she described each detail in turn. "The main building is a three-story manor directly facing the south, protected on all sides by a rectangular stone wall that looks nearly older than the house itself and will henceforth be referred to as the 'outer wall'. The outer wall has a number of towers, one for each of the four corners. A large river runs along the northernmost wall, which in turn is roughly 40-50 meters from the mansion. Conversely, the southernmost wall resides roughly 100 meters from the manor. The western wall resides roughly 30-40 meters from the mansion and the eastern wall closer to 50 meters."

The arrowhead traced down the far closer perimeter sketched around the mansion. "This is the 'inner wall', a clearly far newer construct. At its furthest from the compound -the southern segment, it sits roughly 25 meters away with the closer segments being as near as 10-15 meters. This provides ample space for the presently hottest threat zone to our knowledge. The greatest concentration of enemy forces -largely Delving Usuals- is here in this inner wall zone, and it remains the primary barrier to entry to the mansion. The manor also has yet another tower, a much larger one built directly atop it and situated ever so slightly more towards the eastern portion of the mansion, providing excellent sightlines in nearly every direction due to both the elevation and wide-open surrounding space, not just between the inner and outer walls but around the space outside the outer wall as well."

She paused for a moment to allow the group to digest the flow of information for a bit, a serious expression on her face. "Perhaps it goes without saying, but for a group this large, especially with the certainty that many of us are less than specialized in matters of stealth-" She shot a telling look in the direction of the more heavily armored members of the group. "-infiltrating this perimeter unseen, without things devolving into a full-on brawl, is a tall order." Loosing a short exhale, she rolled the battlefield map back up and slipped it into her map case, drawing forth a second drawing, which unrolled into what looked like an itemized floorplan of the actual building's internals. "Thankfully, it's not all doom and gloom, at least ostensibly. Once we get past the inner wall defenses, the actual premises of the manor are just about entirely abandoned, managed by a skeleton crew at best. It's almost frightening how much free reign you have once you get inside; it's the actually getting there that's the issue. Of course, I doubt any of us will be complaining about the convenience; I certainly won't."

Tapping a final section of the map, her levity drained away. "And now, we reach the crux of the mission. Our actual goal -as I'm sure you're well aware- is to rescue Cedar and assassinate the traitorous Lady Stritzel for her crimes. In all the time we have observed this estate, our team hasn't managed to catch sight of either of our targets even once... But by following the trail of goods and personnel unloaded from the convoys that came through here, we have uncovered their likely location, a final underground layer." She tapped the map again, clicking her tongue in frustration. "Unfortunately, yet again, I couldn't risk pushing deeper without compromising our presence, if not threatening both the security of our mission and our lives. So, I cannot offer a map of the complex beyond, only the knowledge of its existence and location of the entrance. By process of elimination, there is nowhere else our targets may be."

After a moment of silence, she rolled the map back up and slid it into the map case with its fellow. Screwing the lid back on, she reached over to hand the glowing arrow back to Jazdia, who took it and extinguished the lingering magic. Straightening up again, Veronica nodded definitively. "This officially concludes the main body of the recon team's report." A sheepish smile crawled across her lips, as she scratched the back of her neck. "Even summarized, it turned out longer than it sounded in my head."

The arrow suddenly lost its luster, revealing a partially crystallized head that was neither sharp nor hot anymore, and she just threw it back into her quiver and had a lantern brought up to replace it.

"Thank you, Veronica." smiling, and nodding, her gesture felt mundane and pro forma.

"Thirty minutes ago, my trusted informant notified me of a very high possibility of the presence of Jonas Delving in Dutches Stritze's mansion. It was a scheduled visit, what is he doing there, he did not know. Whatever it is, Veronica's report confirmed that intel."

The sisters stopped munching down their dinner, the moment the intelligence briefing started, and were well focused by the time their brother was mentioned. However, several things did not make sense to them.

Who was this "Dutchess Stritzel", why would she want to steal their brother, who was this "Delving" person, and why would he have hired thugs to help this stritzel woman? Could their brother have really pissed somebody off this badly?

Was this related to the town that was blown up?

After a moment's pause, in which Jazdia made her report about this Delving person's involvement being confirmed, they raised their questions.

"Es'cuse us-- Buht-- Uhm..--"
"--We's is Cedar's sis'ers-- and some thangs dun make no sense tuh us."
"Yeah-- Who dis "Stritzel" woman, and what she want wit our brother in da firs' place? Why grab 'im in da middle a da damn nigh' while he takin a sheeit for nohow?"

They looked at each other, and at the people making goggle eyes at them.

"Well dey did! We done seened it!"
"--Pay no attention tuh 'er--" asserted Rose, giving her sister a body-check. "But yeah, why dey takes him, and who da hell dis Delvin' fella? Why he sendin' dumbsheeits ta keep us out fer?"