[b]Perhaps so weak we may even be able to pick what remains of them apart ourselves.[/b]

"That does seem to be the implication from Breck," Leon agreed. However, he had long ago learned that the intelligence gathered on an enemy rarely lasted through the hour in which it was gathered. He had no reason to suspect the Talons had made any overt moves against their competitors, but fortunes changed hands like coin purses in the shadows and until someone admitted that the Talons were on the verge of collapse, he was inclined to believe they still had enough blades to finish off three overly curious interlopers. It was fortunate that they were being allowed to approach in their own way. Iliskra's skills would make her irreplaceable when it came to recognizing their marks and traps.

Leon's eyes shifted over to the dwarf as he approached, though he made no move for his weapons. His instincts were sharpened much in the way Iliskra's had been, but he was used to presenting himself as a non-threat, then surprising an opponent later on rather than diving straight into combat against an unknown foe. 

[i]Twin axes. Durable armor. Tempus's name on his lips and in his heart from his words.[/i]

His training on Tempus flooded his mind, books and lessons in the temple strictly outlining common practices of the god of chaos in war. Infiltrating the War God's own was a more direct task than the Maskarrans usually felt necessary, but in these times, every god should keep a close eye on their shadows.

"Welcome, Hammer-Arahar," Leon dipped his head in a gesture of respect, though it was an empty one. From what he had been taught, Tempus's chosen cared little for anything beyond two very simple subjects: Where is the fight, and how do they get there. He cast a look towards Iliskra, at least they both knew now who was likely to die first. An excitable fighter with heavy armor did little for stealth operations... but with a little bit of preparation he could be a very large and very unexpected knife to the vitals of an enemy.

He chose not to disclose that he was a cleric to Ibdur, though if the dwarf had more than a few brain cells to rub together the presence of his mask and the runes along it's edge would reveal it as a holy symbol.

"You are welcome to what glory you may find," Leon said, tilting his head to the side at the dwarf, "though I suspect you may have a while to wait. We'll need to establish if the Talons are worth rescuing from their current state before we start making moves against the other factions in preparation for Breck's forces. Though with foes like the Red Wizards and this... Shagarm person, there will be glory aplenty. We just need to live long enough to see it."

They heard the ferry man long before they saw him, the man singing a loud song about some kind of encounter between a bear and a maiden that was probably a local favorite. Leon looked on carefully as the man's raft approached, noting no signs of unusual construction or places where a trap might be hidden. The man himself was ordinary enough, an overweight human thick arms from poling the raft up the river. 

A brief negotiation settled on a small handful of coins passing from Leon to the man, as well as a second handful and a quiet, but very thorough threat of what would happen to the man if he made the mistake of telling the story of the day he transported three strangers on his raft from one side of the river to the other. Were it not for the presence of the dwarf, he might have just cut the man's throat and dumped him into the river. Small secrets always had a way of undoing major plans.

The trio seemed to reach an agreement of sorts not to talk on their way along the river. There was little need to and giving the boatman more information would just end up reversing Leon's decision to leave the man alive in any case. Of course, his mask hid any such thoughts from the boatman, even if his body language showed a man that was ready to spring into action, specifically in the direction of the boatman at a moment's notice. 

The boatman tried to make idle conversation with them, but Leon intercepted as many of the questions as he could, telling outright lies when it suited him and obscuring truth when that was more effective.