[center][h2]Verius Sanctian[/h2][/center]

It wasn't the first time Verius had been to Hammerfell.  Aside from all the times he had to pass through on the way to High Rock, there was a posting at Wind Scour Temple for a few months, an undercover assignment in the Syffim for a few years, a failed diplomatic expedition to Craglorn one time.  He learned a few important things from that last one- Lamias do not see Tsaesci as kin, red-on-black bands do not indicate a lack of venom, and many of the same martial techniques for fighting dragons also applied to them.

None of that really mattered now- over a thousand years had passed and the Hammerfell he once knew was not quite the Hammerfell of today.  For himself, blending in should be as simple as singing up in the local fighter or mercenary guild, but this group was unusual enough that sooner or later people will notice their unusual composition.  Fortunately, there were a few things in their favor.  For one, Sentinel was a Forebear port town, meaning that it was normal for all manner of foreign folk to come through here, and the locals.  Second, "Getting away from the Thalmor" ought to be a pretty common motivation for coming to Sentinel.

During the boat ride to Sentinel, Verius had plenty of time to collect his thoughts and take notes about the rest of the Empress' retinue.  The Chantry knight seemed straightforward enough- a Breton warrior of Akatosh, wanting to serve the Dragon God in a more direct way than whatever politicking was happening in High Rock.  The Vigilant was a devotee of Stendarr, belonging to a younger religious order dedicated to combating Daedra.  For those two, nobody would find it unusual for them to be in Sentinel.  

The Altmer mage was pretty typical for his kind, and would probably have ended up in the Thalmor had the current organization not been so extreme in its dogma and overzealous in purging dissidents.  He might turn some heads and inspire some distrust, but there were enough Altmer that were on the Thalmor's bad side, and from what he had gathered while getting up to speed on the Fourth Era, Sentinel had already been the site of a major incident of the Thalmor purging Altmer dissidents.  If the Blades and Empress trusted him, so too would Verius.  Regarding the Dunmer, Verius knew of the Telvanni and their unapologetic "might makes right" policy all too well.  Fortunately, with Sentinel on the opposite end of Skyrim from Morrowind, it was unlikely that anyone would pinpoint her as a Telvanni.  As long as those two mages weren't caught raising the dead or trafficking with Daedra, they ought to be able to stay under the radar.

Lastly was the Minotaur.  According to some of the myths and legends of Cyrodiil, they were believed by some to be descended from Alessia and Morihaus.  Whatever the truth was, they were also considered to be bestial brutes that existed entirely outside of civilized society.  Then again, the same things were considered of Orcs until Potentate Savirien-Chorak brought them into the Empire.  The local authorities could probably be permitted to allow him if they assumed him to be a pet or trained beast, but it might be a good idea to not have him wandering the city.

Currently, Verius was at the table, looking over a map of this corner of Hammerfell.

"I concur, Fighters Guild, or whatever passes for a mercenary guild here, would be a good start," he replied to Colcette, looking up from his map.  "Solve problems, get paid, and no unnecessary questions need to be asked.  In the meantime, if anyone asks, I'm nothing more than an ex-Legion soldier-of-fortune."