Greg crossed his arms in thought. This kid and his friends will definitely be useful. I can let them do all the fighting, and whatever else they have planned and take the artifact back no problem. I'm sure they'd know more about them than I do anyway, and if they've done so much already, it shouldn't be too difficult tracking down this spy. Heh, I guess the Gods love me after all.

"Well, I don't know how useful Burd will be to you. He didn't tell me anything, but then I always got the feeling he didn't like us mages anyway. If you do find anything else, I'd like to accompany you to the cultist's hideout. I may not want to be doing this, but it's official Mage's Guild business, so I have no choice. I'm sure I could even help you if absolutely necessary, but I'd rather just observe. I'm not much for fighting, you understand."

Adeth nodded to the mage. "That'd be good, but you'll have to do your fair share. I'm sure you have some neat spells hidden up those sleeves of yours. And even if you can't fight, I'm sure you can help us in some way, with healing or whatever." he told the mage, before heading in to the Captain, just wanting to get over with it all.

"Hello there, Captain Burd. My name is Adeth, and I'm looking for spies connected to the mythic dawn. Jeauffre sent me" Adeth said to the captain, seeing his eyes light up the moment Jeauffre's name was mentioned. "I need to know if you've seen anyone suspicious lately. Anyone sneaking about, leaving town very often. Something like that. We've already rooted out a couple of spies, but we think there are more in the city."

Captain Burd raised and looked out his window. For a moment, Adeth was afraid he'd call the guards and have them killed. Not that Adeth feared death too much; sometimes he thought he might even deserve death, but he wouldn't feel good if he knew he'd led the others into death and misery. That was not the way of a proper leader.

"I've got something for you then, Adeth. A few of the guards have reported someone, one Jearl, leaving town quite often. A tad too often to be ordinary. Given the fact that you've already found a few spies, and the graveness of the task, I'll give you permission to look into her house, to see if you find out anything." Captain Burd said, before turning to face Adeth again. "Be subtle about it all. Don't turn the place about."

"Thanks" Adeth said, and turned to leave. Just as he headed out the door, he heard the captain speak again. "And make sure that mage leaves the castle, I've got worries enough as it is if I'm not going to deal with him nagging me for guild business all day" the captain said, and closed the door behind Adeth.

Gregory watched as Adeth walked into Burd's office. As soon as the door shut, a spark of blue electricity lit up in his right hand, and he watched with fascination as the sparks danced from finger to finger. Gregory had always had a love of shock spells. Fire was more brutal, efficient, and practical, but it held no real interest for him. On the rare occasions he had been in combat, he had always had a morbid fascination with watching their bodies twitch and convulse as the shock spell coursed through their bodies. Sadistic, perhaps, but a normal Greg was completely different from a Greg in danger. That was one thing that made some members of the Mage's Guild slightly wary of him, and also something that had put him on the bad side of the guards more than once. But he had never done anything illegal. Just killing bandits and other such scum of the earth, as well as the occasional necromancer when the need arrived.

That didn't stop people from worrying about him of course, but it gave him an excuse. And since he had no book to read or any work to occupy his attention, his thoughts naturally drifted. He extinguished his spell the moment Adeth came back out though. After all, I wouldn't want them thinking I have any power. Then they might actually expect me to do something important.

He got out of his leaning position on the wall and smirked at him, his arms still crossed. "So, did the Captain tell you anything useful? I hope so. I want this thing to be over as soon as possible, hopefully without any need for violence."

OOC: I don't know how I will go about putting these mythic dawn agents out of their miseries; both my musclemen suddenly have disappeared, leaving the very weak Adeth on his own to deal with them. I'm thinking of just writing a generic post where the two of them kill the lot once we get inside, since Adeth will think Gregory much too talentless to do much.
IC:
Adeth thought the mage looked much too smug for one without any fighting capabilities what so ever. Looked like he thought too well of himself. The man probably only pushed papers over at the mages guild, being forced on this mission because the more able mages were all out on official business.

"Yeah, in fact he did. You're welcome to accompany us when we visit the place we got out of the captain, but I don't want you running off screaming if the fight gets tough." Adeth told him, and started walking out of the castle. He'd rather not stay there for too long.

"If you want to head back and restock, we can wait, I haven't got any hurry"

OOC: I'm sorry... I've seem to complete lost it with this rp. Lost any interest or imaginative creativity or intuition to preform.

Really sorry guys... I've completely flopped on the rp. Let Iris phase out of action... Morrowind called her back because of the Crisis, or something. I just can't manage to continue. It's not working for me.

:(

Gregory walked alongside Adeth as they walked through the castle towards the exit. He kept his eyes in front of him, ignoring the looks some of the guards were giving him. They really didn't seem to like the Mage's Guild, but it wasn't very much different from anywhere else. Most people were always under the assumption that mages are all strange. Which, to be fair, is pretty much true.

"I have nothing to get. I dislike physical weaponry. It's too... Well... Blunt for me. Not nearly stylish or dramatic enough. I also don't use potions. Me using alchemy usually results in something blowing up. I'm Gregory Rolston, by the way, if I didn't introduce myself earlier. And I wouldn't worry about me running away. Much. I'm sure you and your friends are more than capable of handling it all yourselves, but if the need arises for me to interfere... Well, we'll see when the time comes."

OOC: [censored] FC, we'll try our best without you.

IC: Odeen soon ordered everything in his leather bag, and, instead of double-checking everything like he usually did, he lifted the entire bag over his shoulder, closing the top. "Alright...I guess. Whatever works for you works for me. I'll probably just wanna talk today anyway." He replied, automatically agreeing to Karst's offer of heading into town. "Oh, and I think it would be...uh...good for us to know the layout of the town. Besides, I think it's too hot in here...I-I mean, the fireplace..." The Argonian shook his head and loosened up the collar of his robe with his fingers. Odeen never did like fire, and whenever he knew one was near he always felt unnaturally hot. On the other hand, though, the poor Argonian has trained enough with frost magic to the point of ignoring the cold altogether. However, this proved to be dangerous as he never knew when it would be best to seek shelter or warmth. He was lucky he didn't get frostbitten or signs of hypothermia on the way to Bruma.

Odeen shifted around impatiently, and once again crept his hand up to his collar. "U-uh, can we go now?"

OOC: Zelric! I've missed your strong and comforting arms lately.
IC:
Adeth wondered if the mage was all he seemed to be. If he would do what he could in a fight, and not run with his tail tucked between his legs. Well, not that the man had a tail. And hopefully nothing like that would be necessary. Iris seemed capable of handling herself, even though she apparently didn't death quota. Perhaps Adeth could help her with that. The mythic dawn deserved little more than death.

"Yeah, we're pretty capable. That's why we're on this mission." Adeth said, somewhat pleased with himself.

They soon closed in on Jearl's house, a small wooden house not too far away from the chapel. Adeth stepped up to the door and quickly produced a few keys.

"I bet one of these keys I got from the last agents we met unlocks this door" he said with a grin.

ooc: ahh [censored]. I'm still in this, even though I havent had any motivation, I'll try to get a move on.

Paulus walked towards Cloud Ruler temple, Adeth and the others headed towards Buma. Paulus and Francois walked in silence, the only sounds coming from the shifting of equipment, the creak of old bones, the birds in the trees, and the gagged Mythic dawn spy he carried on his back. In an attempt to break the silence, Paulus decided to find out more about this aged Breton.

"So, what have you done for these last several years?"

Was the first thing that came to his mind.

Gregory gave a small, if not entirely convinced smile at Adeth. While his companions might be able to take care of themselves in a fight, Adeth himself didn't look very capable to Greg. Of course, he was never one to judge someone by appearances, for obvious reasons, so he'd let the kid and his friends do their thing. If it was just one spy there wouldn't be a need for him to fight anyway. They can't be that dangerous, right? They're just a bunch of cultists after all.

He watched as Adeth pulled out some keys, which he said would probably open the door. So, Gregory waited, standing a bit back from the door, just to be safe.

With a crack, the lock turned around and the door swung open, letting them all into the house which would probably reveal more agents loyal to this Mythic Dawn cult. Maybe even a evidence so they could plot out what this cult was planning, apart from killing Martin.

Inside, Adeth started looking through whatever property this Jearl might have. He cared little about making sure not to make a mess, she would probably after all try and kill them all should she find them. Trying to kill them certainly deserved a tad mess.

Seriously, who would hide their valuables right here, in broad daylight. She's got to have a hidden storage somewhere. A basemant or hidden chest. Adeth thought, just as he almost fell over a trap door on the floor in a corner, just barely covered by a rug.

"She's got to be down here" Adeth said, agitated by the proximity of their price.

As she came down the stairs, the Altmeri fire mage felt eyes on her. A slight tilt of her head allowed her peripheral vision to see William watching her. From the look on his face, she had to wonder what he was thinking.

"Tim?" The first words out of his mouth after she introduced the boy spoke of surprise. Melanarde again found herself wishing she knew what was going on in the man's mind. Mostly, she was curious what he'd expected Tim to look like. "Oh... Off to? Oh! Yeah, just let me gather my pack and we'll head out. I'll tell you of our destination just when we're away from curious ears."

When they'd gotten outside, the tall elf watched as Will led them towards the gates that exited the town to the north. Why the heck is he leaving town? If she's not in town, where would that Khajiit girl be staying?

Eventually, as they stepped up to the gate, she had to just ask. "Why are we leaving the town northbound? There's nothing out there that way, unless this girl lives on the outskirts of Skyrim." Mel inquired politely. She knew, of course, about Cloud Ruler Temple, but also knew that the Empire generally disliked people speaking freely of it. When she was younger, she'd paid the fortress a visit once as the mage escort for a messenger. It'd been a rather impressive place, from the bits of memory that she could still latch onto.
_______
Karst watched as her friend arranged his potions and alchemy gear. Why he was taking them with him to breakfast was beyond her, but she didn't question it. "Alright...I guess. Whatever works for you works for me. I'll probably just wanna talk today anyway." Karst was pleased both at the agreement and at hearing he wanted to talk. Maybe she could get him to relax a bit for once. "Oh, and I think it would be...uh...good for us to know the layout of the town. Besides, I think it's too hot in here...I-I mean, the fireplace..."

After the last bit of that statement, Odeen seemed to squirm a bit. Karst couldn't help but giggle for a moment, but she quickly stopped herself to prevent further embarrassment to the poor reptile. "U-uh, can we go now?" He asked, seeming to wish to be out on his way.

"Yeah, of course. Let me get something other than these stupid pants on and toss on my coat." The feline female explained and laughed again. She set a hand on Odeen's arm as a comforting gesture. "And you know, you don't have to be so nervous around me. I'm not gonna turn and slap you for anything." She gave a gentle, almost motherly smile, patting his arm before turning and grabbing her coat. After putting it on, she sat down on the bed, facing away from him and swiftly changed into the ruffled purple skirt she'd bought to go with the shirt she had on. The Khajiit was very careful that she didn't expose herself at all, lest she terrify the poor man again.

When she got up, Karst turned to him again with one hand on her hip in a playful manner, one ear tilted inquisitively. "So, whaddaya think? Okay, I hope?"

"Though I'd really like going to Skyrim right now, with the Nords probably having this whole Oblivion situation under control, probably even started drinking to celebrate how they won, " William started, getting quite sick at the thought of even more alcohol, "but we're not going there now. We're going to Cloud Ruler Temple. It's a fortress built ages ago for the imperial family. You know, so they can be all protected during crisis. See how much good that brought..."

William looked back over his shoulder to make sure they were both still with him, before heading into the woods in a decent pace. "Hopefully we won't see any more of those infernal gates on our way there."

Gregory entered after Adeth, looking around the room in curiosity. He'd been wondering what the living conditions of this Mythic Dawn agent might be like, and he was a bit surprised. "How... Quaint. Somehow I expected something more."

He examined the beds and other pieces of furniture in the room, taking the time to inspect every item. After all, he had no idea what the artifact looked like. It could very well be a piece of the furniture. He was interrupted from the exceedingly boring process when he heard Adeth say something. He turned to see a trap door that had been hidden under the rug.

"Well that's not a cliche at all. I was expecting some magic barrier or an invisibility spell or something, but just a regular trap door? How uncreative. I hate caves, too. "

He walked over to the hole and looked down, then back to Adeth, then back to the hole. "Yes, well... Why don't you go first and I'll be right behind you, eh?"

Odeen felt as if a small percentage of his burdening awkwardness had been lifted when Karst explained she wasn't going to hit him. He had no idea why, but it helped ever so slightly. However, when remembering that the Khajiit had mentioned changing, he gave a short whimper as a reply and shuffled out of the room altogether, waiting. The alchemist cursed his awkwardly timid personality, and tried to tell himself to calm down and not be so jumpy. While it did help somewhat, he felt something else was missing. Odeen dug his hand into his pack, and instinctively found his way to the further depths of his pack, where he stopped dead in his tracks at something cold.

Grasping the colder object, he slowly dragged it out. For some reason he felt marginally better than he did without this item. Or better yet, this spirit. "Hello there, sunshine." The raspy Dunmeri voice greeted, giving Odeen a familiar chill in his own skull. Oddly enough, slipping this gauntlet on made him feel safer, and even a bit brave. Instead of replying to Corshanx, the Argonian said nothing, keeping his silence. "Where's Ms. Fur?" The spirit questioned, chuckling.

"And it begins again..." Odeen thought solemnly.

"Damn right it does, lizard. Now where we headed?"

"We're waiting for Karst to get-"

"So, whaddaya think? Okay, I hope?" Karst queried, snapping Odeen's train of thought in half. The alchemist whirled around to face her, and looked her up and down.

"Oh, uh...y-yeah. Sorry. I just feel a bit shier than usual...I guess I'm just jumpy right now." Odeen tried to explain, holding his hands behind his back in an attempt to hide the gauntlet from Karst. He didn't want the two arguing again.