The group had left the camp of the druid, and eventually made it to the town of Annib. Judging by the guards at the gate, it seemed that security was considered very important, or so the guards led them to believe. The eventually found themselves at the Cracked Goblet, somewhat of a cozy place, but a place nonetheless. Once the rooms were procured, the group proceeded to the shopping district.
Kato was about ready to head into a magic shop when the sounds of guards yelling attracted his attention. It seemed that Soran looked quite panicky for whatever the reason, and quickly took off, only to be followed by a group of guards stating something about getting the “murdering thief.” Considering they had just arrived there seemed to be a sense of miscommunication between the guards, and their newly arrived group. But then there was something even stranger. Kato couldn’t help but notice the man standing at a distance away from the group turn quite pale at Soran’s exit. The man looked quickly around as if being afraid he was being watched, then quickly proceeded to a group of…well…thugs, lowlifes, or whatever word you’d want to describe the group of a much seedy nature, and started to converse.
It took only an instant for Kato to summon an amplification spell that allowed him to overhear the conversation between Riley, the beady eyed person who had gone pale, and another person going by the name of Mortin. Somehow Soran had stumbled onto a stolen broach, obviously belonging to this Riley, who was prepared to do whatever it took to get it back, regardless of the consequences. Kato decided it was best that he follow the thugs.
“C’mon Xue,” the mage stated as they started slowly after the group of thugs. “I think it’s time we intervened.” The group started off slowly, and rather than risk the chance of losing them amidst the group of people, and the steadily diminishing light, Kato cast a spell of following on the footprints the thugs left on the ground. The lit tracks were clearly visible only to his magic eyes, and would prevent both he and Xue from losing the thugs that were intent on getting Soran.
They had just come to an intersection were the thugs had turned to their right that Kato felt a furry feeling on his neck. He quickly turned to see Calvin, who appeared to be a small, furry, typical, everyday mouse, sitting on his shoulder. Xue eyed the creature a bit hesitantly and Kato decided that introduction were in order. “This is Calvin, my familiar,” the mage stated to Xue. Kato was engrossed in thought as he listened a bit to a very quiet chatter from the mouse before turning his attention to Xue. “It seems that Calvin has picked up on a group of guards heading in the same direction as the thugs.” Kato realized that fighting off a group of thugs would probably be a somewhat easier task, but fending off the guards was another matter altogether, and being the newcomers to town, that thought didn’t sit well with him.
He pulled Xue off to the side as he readied another spell. He could now see the approaching guards, and quickly spoke the last word of the enchantment, an invisible type of a ball that grew, and grew, and grew, until it covered the guards walking down the street. Soon, the guards were coughing, wheezing, sneezing with tearing eyes, and hacking away in the streets. The stinking ball spell did that to people, causing them to cry, cough, wheeze, and everything else in between, and for Kato and Xue, which was enough to buy them more time to get to Soran. This way they could leave the guards where they were, confident in their knowledge that they would be detained for quite sometime before the effects of the spell wore off.
He quickly pulled Xue along with him as his eyes traced the glowing tracks imprinted in the ground for only him to see.
