[center][h2]Southern District[/h2][/center]
[center][h3]Wayland Keep[/h3][/center]

[center][@PaulHaynek][/center]

Vanessa raised an invisible eyebrow at the rather underwhelming intricacy of the keep's wards. Were these things really meant to keep unwanted intruders out? They seemed almost [i]too[/i] simple, which hinted at one of two primary options: The first being that their purpose was in fact just a deterrent, and they weren't actually meant to be anything more than a nuisance or very basic alarm-system for the Lot Knights. Alternatively, they were a trap. though in what regard, the dark mage couldn't say. She couldn't sense any hidden or concealed wards or magic cicrles elsewhere in the castle and there didn't seem to be any human mages on monitoring duties. Honestly, it all felt a bit too lax. Was this really a military facility? Then again, they probably weren't expecting someone to just come waltzing in, looking to cause trouble all while being unseen.

Still, Vanessa did make the call not to tamper too much with the Ortusian magic wards. She opted to simply take command of them and alter them to not pay any mind to herself or Iskah, while leaving them as they were otherwise. After all, her lizardman employer had competition, and if taht masked Salamander and her foreign tanuki-merchant cohort showed up here, well, let's just say it'd be good to have a heads-up. Not to mention having all the Lot Knights focus their attention on those two would be quite preferable. Not to mention, altering the wards of a kingdom's military without proper authorization may or may not be considered a rather outrageous act of law-breaking, and Vanessa wasn't exactly keen on ending up in a court under charges of sabotaging a country's military power.

Regardless, the two monsters continued on towards their destination with no real or important interference!

[center][h3]Inside the Keep[/h3][/center]

They were in, and [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAYhNHhxN0A]Mission Impossible's theme music started playing[/url].

the pair got closer and closer, eventually standing mere feet away from the gathered knights who were all seated at a table and discussing... Something... All while wearing their helmets. Indoors. Wait. Why would you wear a helmet inside, indoors when you're not under attack? Sure, you did it when you were on duty or whatever, but this was a mess hall wasn't it? Who the heck kept a face-concealing helm on their head while in a place meant for eating!? What was wrong with these men? So silly.

Still, before springing to action and pouncing upon Aun like a paack of starving jackals, Vanessa actually took a minute to simply observe and listen to their conversation. As well as scope out the surroundings and the room itself. After all, she didn't want to get flanked by soldiers hiding in the corridors or foyers or other nooks and crannies that might not be immediately obvious. The men were seemingly discussing some topic about sending Aun and some other knights to some location, without the aid of any spellcasters. It was rather hard to grasp if the one knight who voiced the matter was actually concerned about that fact, or relieved. His behavior was a bit... Mixed..

Still, Vanessa wasn't here to listen to the tactical plans or strategies or troop movements of the Lot Knights. She was here to nab a man, for another girl. And that was exactly what she intended to do. The little speckled beelte that had been leading Iskah this whole time suddenly took off from the ground, flying onto the table where the soldiers were gathered around.

And then it exploded into a blinding white flash that bathed the entire room in illumination so bright that you might as well think someone had lit an entire barrel of magnesium on fire. Fortunately for Iskah, it seemed that Vanessa had taken the time to control her little magic familiars from earlier, and as soon as the bug-turned-flashbang lit up, the little winged bug-bird-things dropped their concealment and positioned themselves infront of Iskah's eyes - well, her entire face to be exact - and momentarily shielded the lizardman from being as blinded as everyone else likely would end up.

Once the brief flash ended, the familiars zipped away up into the ceiling, to stay out of reach of the Lot Knights, whereas Vanessa had now also broken her invisibility, standing a small distance away from the gathered gentlemen, staff in one hand and a big smirk on her lips, looking straight at the Incubus Knight.

[color=lightblue]"Hello boys~ Don't mind me, I'm just here to grab someone real quick, so don't feel the need to stand up or anything."[/color] Her voice was charmingly playful and free of any malice or hostility. It more sounded like something a slightlky mischievous girlfriend would say when she barged into her boyfriend's 'boys only'-night... Or something along those lines.

What Iskah would notice though was that [i]her[/i] invisibility had [i][b]not[/b][/i] yet been broken. Which likely meant that the dark mage intended to use herself as a distraction to get the attention of the gathered soldiers. Which left the lizardwoman to do whatever she felt was the best course of action for herself. Now, optimally, Vanessa's plan was to just subjugate or render Aun unconscious or stunned, grab him and then get the heck outta Dodge, but she somewhat doubted things would go that smoothly. Instead, she opted to prepare herself for a fight, and if any of the other knights, or indeed Aun himself, were to make any moves or take any action against her, she'd be sure to return the favor in kind with a nice little binding spell. The good thing about being indoors? There wasn't really room to do a lot of fancy jumping and moving about like when running down a wide open street. Plus, walls and ceilings could serve just as well to create obstacles or hindrances from.

And if any of these fine specimens managed to get too close... Well, she could always use a 'Blink'-spell to short-range teleport somewhere else in the room.

The stage was set and the game was about to begin! The dark mage, still looking straight at Aun, gave him a wink.

[color=lightblue]"You're coming with me~"[/color]