The Great Slave Auction

The beginning of the operation went off without a hitch. Dynatos and his partner where moving swiftly through the auction moving from stage to stage until they were stopped by a guard in a cross section. Dynatos made sure his hair and eyes were not visible. Dynatos was just about to pretend to be someone else, but his partner jumped into action and began to explain who they were. Dynatos who was already ready for something like this followed suit; he made sure the Guard saw his face as he scoffed at the "rudeness" of the guard. Dynatos made sure he sounded different before he spoke to Talim. "Let's leave this peasant Talim. I have not yet found a suitable slave." Dynatos and his partner quickly made their exit away from the guard not wanting to stay there for to long.

”I’m not sure.” She pauses to recall Altair’s words about distracting the guards and pinning the whole situation on himself. ”He certainly must feel strongly about what is taking place here…that, or he’s simply serving his own motives.” She raises a hand to her chin in contemplation of the strange man who had volunteered to call attention to himself for this mission.

She’s distracted from her thoughts on the Sovereign as her eyes fall on a cage of livestock tucked away near the back of the auction stages. Occasionally slave auctions also included the sale of animals (though they were treated about the same as the people being sold), but this auction seemed to be advertising solely humans as this was the first cage of animals she had seen thus far. Upon peering closer at the contents within, she notes how impressively large the chickens are—perhaps they were for sale, but the halfling had a sudden idea of how the beasts could be put to better use. She nudges her companion beside her to gain his attention.

”Diego, look.” She motions toward the cage subtly. ”It might be worthwhile to place these on that cage. I could only help with the chaos.” She lightly squeezes the remaining magic tool clasped firmly in her hand. ”If you can distract that guard, I think I can rig these to the lock.”

Diego listened to Ayero, she seemed to wonder if the Sovereign's intentions were pure or not. He remembered the man's passionate words, Diego didn't get the vibe that he was lying. Though, he didn't think Jagang had been a bad man at first either. His face twisted up at the conflicting thoughts, his mood seemed to sink a little.

They continued walking for a bit before Ayero nudged him and pointed to a cage. She thought it would be a good idea to rig the magical tool to the lock. Diego nodded absently as he looked beyond the gate into the pen to see what it caged. As his eyes fell onto an obscenely large chicken, panic gripped him. With a stricken look on his face, Diego let out a scream of sheer terror as his body began shivering.

Ayero quickly covered his mouth, muffling the scream and shushed at him. Diego gulped and with a slow nod, took a deep breath, calming himself. It would do no good to cause a scene, but Diego didn't understand why the creatures had to be so large. Taking a few moments to prepare himself, he gave Ayero a weak smile before heading to the guard. He gave Trixie a look as he clicked his tongue a few times. The tiger grunted, lowering her body in preparation for a pounce.

Diego started running for the guard, "Help, mister!" Trixie followed him with a growl and tackled her master to the ground four meters in front of the guard. She lightly gripped his throat as she snarled at him and Diego played the part of the helpless child. "Ahhh!" he screamed. It wasn't hard to act scared when several rotund chickens stared evilly at him. A shiver of terror rent through him again at the thought of their beaks pecking him to death. It lent to the effect but he had to keep calm inside, Trixie could be in danger depending how the guard reacted. He only hoped Ayero could quick rig the magical tool in time.

Lance smirked evilly as he looked down on the ground and at the bag in his hand "I could sell these guys out..." he said with a smile as he looked at the guards that flooded the area. He shook his head "No I must use this to my advantage!" he thought to himself as he hopped off the roof and onto the ground. He walked around until he saw a person with a coat on. He slipped his hand into the bag and took out a small magical tool "These are rigged to explode..." he thought in his mind as he silently slipped it into the mans coat pocket then smiled "Sir?" he said as he tapped on the mans shoulder and pointed to a rather good looking slave "That slave looks like a good choice." he told the man and followed with a small smirk as he waved it off "Eh that slave is not the right one for me..." he muttered as he walked off.

He walked throughout the different auctions and took the time to looks around before moving along. He didn't care if he got caught because he could easily sell the other people out as well if he did get caught. He over heard some commotion about a certain Zuo prince and smirked "Nice trick..." he thought to himself as he ran after the two almost looking excited as he caught up to them "So your a Zuo prince?!" he said with a fake twinkle in his eye as he tried not to let his bag show from inside of his cloak.

Adam had arrived in Heliohapt a while ago; he was waiting until this day to put his plans to action. The great slave auction was among the desert city's townsfolk, and it was absolutely tremendous. He had read about this event and its grandeur in the library of his palace, but never expected it would be this immense experiencing it in person. However, staring at the slaves in their chains made Adam feel a burning sensation inside him; he had this strange anger boiling up that he wanted to rid himself of. The only way to free his anger was to free the Fanalis.

However, his plan would need to wait. He wandered about, looking at the people interested in buying off the slaves. He heard someone mention a Zou prince (So you're a Zou prince?!) to his left, and followed his ear to the source of the noise. One man with white hair was talking to two others, one apparently claiming to be a prince from Adam's royal house.

Ahem... Did I hear talk about a prince from Zou?

The guard had seen the young boy riding the tiger earlier and had thought the beast tame, however the little act Diego put on changed that impression. Just because the man ensured the fair purchase of slaves, it did not mean he would heartlessly abandon a child to be mauled by a wild creature.  The heliohaptan sentry stepped forwards in a hurried jog over towards Madam Trixie with his spear held ready waiting for the crow to clear. "Hyaa!" The guard shouted as he stabbed his spear towards the tiger's hide. His intentions would have been clear long before he reached the devious duo giving the swift white furred beast plenty of time to get away.

Many gazes would be pulled towards this event including the eyes of many slavers. Diego had yet to obtain a mask since he left the building and his fanalis features were still obvious and clear for all those who were present at the auction. The distraction would serve to create the opening Ayero needed, however now the young boy was beginning to draw a bit too much attention as some people in the crowd began to ignore their bids in the auction to eye the youth greedily. Whispers were passed back and forth as people tried to judge whether or not it would be worth trying to capture the unowned prize.


The guard listened to Altair's explanation with a skeptical expression and eyed the cloaked Dynatos suspiciously. He already didn't like the way he was being spoken to and the story had no proof, it was not likely he would let them go. He was about to intervene when someone else approached the cloaked figure only for another man to arrive and inquire about the subject. At this point, the guard realized there were far too many people gathering and recognized that a potential conflict was about to take place. The first thing he did was to slam the butt of his spear to the ground and then raise it high into the air. The sound this made was a signal for other guards to pay attention in order to see the raised spear. All the soldiers who laid eyes on this pattern knew to rally on that point and four more spear wielding men with swords at their waists would begin approaching the intersection. (These men will arrive in 1 post.)

With that done, the guard would then speak up and demand a real answer from the hooded man. "If you really are a Lord then you know that I can't risk not verifying your identity. Please understand the position of a guard and help me ensure that "you" are not being impersonated, Master...what was your name?"

Diego’s reaction was anything but expected, causing the woman to panic for a few moments before slapping her hand over his mouth to silence him and pull him closer to her. ”What on earth is wrong with you?” She growls, leaning so that her masked face is closer to his ear. She takes a few moments to examine the boy’s shaken figure and sighs softly. ”Diego, can you do this or not?” Ayero goes right to the point, figuring that they’d address this outburst later. When the younger fanalis nods she releases him and scans their surroundings, relieved that any onlookers attracted by Diego’s shriek had dispersed.

The fanalis woman waits for Diego’s act to garner some attention, pleased to see that her partner was taking his role to heart. She doesn’t go straight for her target, opting to take a longer path in a wide arc in order to approach the cage from a different direction. She takes care to walk with purpose but not any quicker than the flow of the crowds, tilting her gaze to the passing attractions every so often. Finally she breaks away from the sea of people, the two remaining magical tools clutched lightly in her hand. As she approaches the cage one of the larger chickens lets out a low warning cluck causing her to pause. Holding an open palmed hand out in front of her as if to show the creatures no harm she steps toward the cage slowly, eyes moving between the wary beasts and the large metal lock. Luckily the lock didn’t appear too complex; now that she had a closer look, the cage itself appeared to be a bit worn. Wasting no time, the halfling reaches for the faceplate to test any give it might have. The piece of metal had been loosened with age and she praises her luck, jiggling it until it became much slacker. She quickly jammed the remaining balls under the metal plate, nearly cracking one with her fanalis-enhanced force as it didn’t quite fit. Hopefully they would stay put until the signal was given.

As soon as the magic tools were in place the chickens appeared to have had enough of this suspicious stranger fiddling with their cage. The largest one lets out a jarring squawk and snaps at the woman’s hands with her great beak causing Ayero to leap back. ”Shit!” She curses under her breath, taking a moment to appreciate that she had come back with all of her fingers intact. With her task complete she hurries away from the cage and heads toward Diego and Trixie’s commotion. They certainly had attracted quite a crowd, she notices as she pushes through the swarm of eager-looking bidders. The words “fanalis” and “slave” reach her ears and she suddenly feels her heartbeat in her throat.

“A young fanalis, and it such good condition too…he’d certainly fetch quite a sum.” The man next to her utters to his companion, rubbing his chin as his idea appears to echo those of everyone around her. Her stomach turns but she ignores the sensation, feeling a shot of adrenaline surge through her body at the thought of Diego up on those auction blocks. Forcing her way to the center, she rushes forward and grabs Diego by the arm and lurches the boy to the side. ”You insolent worm. Did you think you’d be able to run very far from me? You’d better thank whatever god it is you heathens pray to that I found you in time before you were mauled!” She hefts the boy up by her grip on his forearm as she scolds him so that they’d be face to face…or it would be so if not for her mask.

With this, she turns to the guard with a nod of her head. ”I apologize for him. This boy belongs to me and we are here today in order to scope out some high quality fanalis for sale. I thought this child would be useful on determining the potential of his brethren so I took him along, unfortunately for him he didn’t quite think his little escape attempt through.” She looks down at Diego and over to Madam Trixie. ”This beast belongs to me as well and is under strict orders to retrieve any runaway property.” She jerks her head at the large tiger, hoping she’d get the signal for her to come. ”Again, I apologize for the disturbance we have caused.” She nods her head in a mock bow. ”Just you wait, I’m going to give you a whipping you won’t soon forget, boy…” She growls loud enough for the onlookers to hear as she quickly drags her “slave” away from greedy eyes.

Altair had hoped to solve this with that first outburst, but now it seemed that this would require more subtlety. Altair smiled and held up a finger to Dynatos, and then brought the guard aside. He spoke quietly so that none other than the guard could hear. "You know, it's kind of sad, but you probably haven't heard of him. He is, after all, nineteenth in line to be king. He thinks very highly of himself however, so could you just play along? i promise i'll explain everything later. when he tells you his name, just pretend that you know of his exploits and that you won't be any trouble. i swear we won't be any more trouble to you." Altair then turned back to the crowd that had gathered and said back in his previous tone, "Go ahead my lord, tell the guard who you are." He hoped that Dynatos could come up with a suitable sounding Zou name.

It would appear the guard had taken the bait, the Heliohaptan was already parting through the crowd towards the helpless boy and the tiger. Diego let a soft grunt escape his throat and Trixie glanced from him to the guard, letting out a snarl. When the guard thrust his spear towards her, her muscles instinctively tightened making her a Meat Shield. She would be able to shrug off minor damage for a short time. Her jaws released their hold from Diego's throat and she moved to the side of Diego.

Diego leapt up with a cry, "Don't hurt her!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping to draw attention. As a few people began to look his way, he heard whispers spreading through the crowd. Hungry eyes bore into his skull as he scanned the crowd and all semblance of a plan fell apart. Diego realized he had not managed to find a mask while they planted bombs and Ayero's warning had been correct.

The guard was probably waiting for an explanation and Diego quickly tried to find a good reason. Ayero appeared through the crowd, grabbing him violently to her side. The Fanalis woman seemed to have taken into account the state of the crowd and quickly claimed him as her slave. Diego quickly reacted by falling to his knees and repeatedly begging forgiveness at her her feet. The stress of the situation added a realism to his sobs; the idea of Trixie getting hurt, the idea of being on the auction blocks, and the idea of what he would be subjected to afterwards.

Ayero addressed the guard with a reasonable explanation and claimed Trixie as hers. The white tiger recognized the woman and trusted her enough to follow her command. Madam Trixie understood that Ayero was trying to help Diego and lent her support in acting like her beast. With that, Ayero pulled Diego along, continuing to scold him. Diego looked back to the guard and apologized for the trouble as he was dragged away by the arm. If they could stay out of reach until the magical tools were triggered, then they could use the chaos to get away and get their original task completed.

Meat Shield: 155/160 magoi:

Dynatos became quiet and stayed that way. He should have just done what he was be quiet and keep it moving, but he felt it was going to be more suspicious for him not to say anything; in the end it would have been the better route as the guard inquired more about who he was. Dynatos let out a quiet sigh to himself so that only he could hear. Dynatos looked at the man who approached the duo. "Feng Zu." Dynatos said it loud enough for the man to hear. That was all he said if they did not buy it so be it. He was already ready to dispatch them or cause some kind of distraction. Meanwhile Ares had picked on a scent that smelled much like that of Dynatos, he in turn began to follow that scent thinking it was his master.

The man who claimed to be a prince was asked his name by a guard, to ensure nobody was "impersonating" him. Adam listened carefully to the name the 'prince' would state; he had memorized the names and families of each of the princes and lords of the Zou empire.

"Feng Zu," said the impostor lord.

Adam decided it would be a good time to interfere, just to humor himself and ruin someone's day. He walked into sight.

I'm sorry, sir; however, there are no records of any royals in Zou bearing the name 'Feng Zu.' My name is Zhou Yuan-Zu, the first and only son of the emperor; I believe I would know for sure if you were a figure of high status. So, why don't you tell the guard your real identity?

Lance smirked under his hood when another person came and they got caught by the guard. He figured that now that he was out of the shadows that he didn't really need his hood so he slowly reached up and pulled off his hood to reveal his long white hair and the tattoo under his eye. He listened to what the other guy had to say with a smile "So its either your faking." he said looking at the guy with the hood "or your faking." he said to the other man that was apparently a real Zuo prince then he looked at the both of them with a small smirk "Either way this is about to get good..." he thought to himself.

He was having a hard time deciding whether or not introducing himself would be a bad idea at a time like this. Although they wouldn't know him right now the first time he actually did something bad they would know who he was and would be able to recognize him.

The guard who arrived on the scene first scowled and sucked his teeth as the tip of his spear was turned aside from a lethal blow by a thick layer of tense muscle. He recoiled from the failure of an attack and regained his footing about to try for another thrust when Diego was freed by the beast and cried for the tiger to go unharmed. The heliohaptan native looked at the fanalis child in disbelief keeping his spear ready at his front prepared to strike again at a moments notice. More guards started to arrive and converge on the scene, however none would see Ayero's hands work the sphere into place. The chickens in the cage would peck at her hands and squawk violently in response to the stranger tampering with their cage, but all eyes were turned to the youthful boy and his tiger.

Trouble was in store for Diego as an angry guard began to interpret this as some kind of twisted prank. He was tempted to let the crowd do as the pleased with him since it seemed like some of the men watching were prepared to tear Diego to pieces fighting over him. It was only thanks to Ayero's quick thinking that the beast tamer would find salvation. Her acting as his mistress paid off as the scene that was their deception fell into place. The lie made sense and brought the guard to a calmer state of mind as he signaled for the others who were approaching to know that the conflict had been resolved and that it was okay to get back to their posts.

"My apologies miss...

The guard's eyes fell awestruck upon the cleavage the halfling woman had showing. He was prepared to offer help, but the pair seemed to be departing as Ayero dragged Diego off. "Wait!" The man jogged after them and then looked around making sure none of the peeping eyes from the crowd were in ear shot before whispering, "You're looking for fanalis right? They aren't being shown in these normal auctions. But..." The guard's impure intentions were clear as he looked Ayero up and down trying to spot more of her curves underneath her mysterious clothing. The man was currently trying to imagine what kind of beautiful face was hiding beneath her mask as he made the woman an offer, "I get off my shift in a couple hours. If I show you were those monsters are being auctioned...would you let me buy you a drink afterwards?"

Maybe it was his lucky day and he'd finally found a woman he could take home to mother!


The cluster of individuals was hard to keep track of, but the guard made sure to keep his eyes settled on the cloaked man claiming to be a man of import from Zou. Even as Altair tried to pull the guard aside, his focus would remain pinned on the suspicious person. The shepherds persuasions would fall on deaf ears. When Dynatos identified himself the other guards from near by would arrive and surround the group. Two soldiers stood at each road branching off from the intersection with the guard who had called them in the center dealing with these suspicious individuals.

The guard had never heard the name before and was about to ask for more proof of "Feng Zu's" identity when another man spoke up and challenged this claim before making an even greater one himself. "And why should I believe that you are a prince? The next in line to be emperor none-the-less?" For a moment, the guard's attention would be pulled from both Altair and Dynatos to focus on Adam. Lance's presence was noticed and the guard had eye'd him carefully as he approached, but now all the pressure was on the Zouen prince to settle the dispute by proving his lineage.

In a stroke of pure luck, there appeared before the group a man who made an even greater (and crazier) claim to fame than he was.  Altair began to chuckle, and shook his head as if he couldn't believe that this newcomer was the real prince.  Altair nonchalantly took his staff out from behind him and leaned on it, looking to the man who made this claim waiting for an answer.  As he did, he began to cast a spell.  It was tough, as he did so without moving much at all, and whispered the words as quietly as he could.  then, all at once, his Crown of Locusts would emerge into the giant swarm that would block out all sight and fill the air with a sound so great that nothing else could be heard.  This would happen just at the time that the newcomer would finish explaining himself.  Altair shot Dynatos a look, and then looked down to his fingers holding the staff.  he began to count down with his fingers.  

10... 9... 8...  The guard would start listening intently to the boy's explanation.

7...6...5...  The boy would be in the middle of explaining himself.

4...3...2...  The conversation would be reaching a peak.

1...0...  Go time.  At this point, the swarm would be in full force and directly on top of the group.  Altair would run towards where Dynatos was, grab him by the arm, and run past the guards in the alley.  the swarm would follow close behind, keeping only a meter distance behind them.  Altair would attempt to grab new masks for each of them, and have Dynatos ditch his obvious black cloak.  They would run until they were satisfied they weren't being followed anymore, and then run into an alley before letting the swarm dissipate.

Crown of Locusts:

Stamina/Magoi: 230/250

Appreciative that their ruse seemed to have worked, Ayero breathed a premature sigh of relief as she dragged Diego away as quickly as possible. She felt horrible at how she spoke to and handled the younger Fanalis but was strangely pleased at how well it had worked. She hadn’t thought her actions through and ran completely on adrenaline, so focused on making the scene believable that she didn’t notice the guard staring at the exposed skin of her chest…she had found herself in a stifling heat amongst the packed crowds and popped the first few buttons of her top to try and make it more bearable. Just as she thought that they were in the clear, the voice of the guard calling out for them to wait causes both her feet and her heart to stop cold.

She nervously whips around, prepared to face the guard with more lies had he come to question their alibi. Thankfully he didn’t appear to try and expose them, but…wait, was he flirting with her…? The realization dawns on her as his eyes scan her own eyes narrow behind her mask. But the guard had her attention, so far she had no luck in tracking down any of the supposed fanalis for sale and she could certainly use this guard’s help. Ayero was grateful that her scowl was hidden behind the mask as well, for when he referred to her people as monsters she couldn’t control her outward disgust.

It took her a few seconds to process his request, after which she peered down at Diego with an apologetic look…not that he could see it. Raising her attention back to the guard, she hesitates. ”Would you really be so kind as to do that?”  She sounds a bit incredulous and even she’s unsure if it’s genuine or part of her act. ”I would be very grateful to you if you could, Sir.” Now it’s her turn to look him up and down, though she’s more subtle. She’s confident that she could handle this man if she got into trouble, but the real danger would be her and Diego’s potential to arouse suspicion.

”…I’m afraid that I will likely not have time to partake in a drink until later on this evening. This auction is quite large and I’m intent on using my time here to find the best quality merchandise. But…I’m sure that you’d know a good place for us to relax afterwards, correct?” If she was lucky, the bombs would go off after she had seen the slaves and before she had to fulfill her promise to the guard. ”If you would be so kind as to lead the way.”

As she follows the guard, Ayero loosens her grip on Diego's arm slightly, hoping to at least make her hold on him more comfortable while they kept up their ruse. She tilts her masked face slightly down toward him, wishing he could see the silent apology reflected in her eyes for putting him through this.

Lance unfocused his eyes on the guard and the two 'claimed princes' and set his eyes on the man now holding his staff and looked like he was mumbling something. Lance eyes him while he did this and silently pulled out his own staff and clutched it.

His eyes twitched rapidly as he studies the guys movements and the swarm that had been formed on top of them. As soon as the swarm was pretty big he smirked a little as he looked at the guard and the real prince "You guys may want to watch out." he said as he clutched his staff and got ready for impact "Because things are about to get a bit... buggy..." he muttered as the man and the fake prince took off running. He in fact did have a couple of bites on him and they hurt like hell but after the swarm was gone he took off running towards the man and the fake prince.

For a moment it seemed like Ayero's idea was working, before the guard called back to them. Diego's heart hammered in his chest, but he soon learned he didn't need to worry. The guard was interested in Ayero, so Diego kept his mouth shut while they talked. The armed man offered to show them where the Fanalis slaves were. When Ayero accepted his offer, though he wasn't sure what she meant by relaxing after, Diego turned to Trixie and flashed a quick smile, away from the guard.

Diego wondered if they would have enough time to help the Fanalis slaves before the magical tools were set off. He was also curious at how the others were doing and if they had any snags in their plan. Diego and Trixie, with Zanzibar on her back, stayed close behind Ayero as Diego waited to see what happened next.

An expression of gullible joy spread across the guard's face as he believed Ayero's words and proceeded to introduce himself. "Great, my name is Shaniff. I'll wait for you at the fountain in the Sun God's Plaza once I'm free. But for now, follow me so I can uphold my part of the deal. The dark skinned man flashed a grin of pearly whites as he gestured for the halfing to follow before turning around and clearing a way through the crowd.

As they traversed the sea of people, Madame Trixie's keen nose might notice a few scents were following them as a few masked men who eyed the young Fanalis boy earlier decided to pursue him at a distance. It was a stroke of luck that she was downwind of the men and that the day's heat had made their musk significantly strong. The men had come to the auction specifically for fanalis slaves and since none were to be found among the common auctions, they decided that it was best to take their chances at stealing an already owned slave rather than risk leaving Heliohapt empty handed. But now was not the best time to act on the following men and it would be hard for the tiger to accurately convey this information to her companion when he was being dragged along by Ayero to a place of interest.

Shaniff led them down a couple blocks before coming to a street that was blocked off by a handful of guards. "I'll handle this, just let me do the talking... He stepped forward and stated their business, "I've got a V.I.P. buyer here looking for the Quality merchandise. Apparently the routine was to get a guard's escort as that was all the men needed to hear before uncrossing their spears which had been held in a perpendicular barrier to prevent unwanted trespassers. "Go on in, but your...tiger will have to wait outside." The lead guard said, eyeing Madame Trixie with nervous caution.

The men who were following the entourage were watching from across the street mingling with the edge of the crowd that was interested in a nearby auction. They would wait and watch to see whether or not their target stayed behind with the tiger and began to discuss among themselves in whispered tones the possibility of trying to steal the Tiger as bait to lure it's owner and her fanalis "slave" out to a more favorable location should he accompany his master past the checkpoint.


The guard was not looking at Altair as he brought out his staff, however Lance's words before the spell took full effect notified him of the looming swarm. This warranted the guard enough time to shout. No full words would escape his throat before the buzzing of countless locusts drowned out the noise, but it was enough for the other guards surrounding them to ready themselves for some kind of threat just before the cloud of bugs descended upon them.

The guard that had been questioning the men flailed and waved his spear around as he tried to yell for his allies to give chase, but all he accomplished was to end up with a mouthful of biting pests. The other guards would react in a similar manner slashing the heads of their spears in all directions. One would injure his fellow guard with the unguided attacks, however luck was on the side of the Heliohaptan soldiers.

Since they surrounded the men, Altair and Dynatos would have to pass by a pair of spear wielding fighters while their weapons flew wanton through the air. As the two fleeing men moved between the guards, both would take a stray blow, Altair on his right arm and Dynatos on his left leg. The spears only dealt D-tier damage in cuts, but this would be enough to draw blood and leave a crimson trail behind.

Once the swarm left, following it's creator, the guards would rally and give chase. Three guards remained behind along with Adam including the one who had been speaking with im before. They approached the prince with concern for his safety as the fact he had not fled the scene made him appear somewhat innocent. "Are you alright?"

Meanwhile, the guards who were pursuing the life magician and his cloaked companion took notice of Lance who was likewise following the locusts and one inquired after his intentions, "Who are you? This is no time for citizens to be playing hero!" Little did they know that his help was perhaps a most useful boon should he be willing to offer it. If Lance did indeed make a gesture that he would be assisting them, the Heliohapt soldiers would not protest as they recognized that all they would need all the help they could get when dealing with a magician for an opponent.

Altair and Dynatos fled down the streets, watching as people clung to the sides of the walls to try to get away from the massive swarm of locusts that trailed behind them.  Altair's mind raced.  They only had so much time before the magic tools exploded on them, and they had to be set up before then.  But with the guards surely on their tail, they would have to either lose them, or at least distract them long enough for them to finish the job.  First things first though, they would have to change how they looked.  Altair pulled the obvious black cloak off of Dynatos, ripped two strips off of it, and then threw it into the locusts.  The bugs would devour much of it, leaving only a tattered rag behind in their wake.  He then tied one strip around his arm and gave the other to Dynatos to tie around his leg.  this would catch the blood they were leaving behind, in lieu of a proper healing which would take time.  Altair ran up to two women in the crowd and said, "Pardon me misses."  He took each of their masks, and flung one to Dynatos to put on.  He removed his own, pocketing it, and put on the new mask.  As they continued their sprint, Altair looked to the people to see what most of them were wearing.  It turned out that the color of the day was orange, and many were wearing cloaks of the same color.  Altair sprinted into the crowd and removed two orange cloaks from a stall's rack, yelling, "Official business!" as he took them.  They donned the cloaks and ran for a little more.  Altair noticed an alleyway that would take them into the main road, and pulled Dynatos into it.  He commanded the swarm however to continue it's course forwards for a bit, as they retreated into the safety of the main street, and all of it's orange cloaks.  The swarm would continue for another 20 meters, before stopping, reversing course for a second to catch the guards in it for a moment, and then dispersing.  Altair hid his staff under his cloak, hiding it from view.  He took Dynatos into the thick of the crowd, and up to a stall where they would wait until the guards were thoroughly confused.  Once they were sure they had lost them, they would continue to place their bombs in the correct locations, but this time making sure to spend a small amount of time at each stall so as not to arise suspicions.

Crown of Locusts:

Stamina/Magoi: 220/250

”…Maria.” She offers her own name in return, albeit a false one. She follows closely as he leads the way, standing behind him at a respectful distance as he conversed with the small blockade of guards sectioning off the street. So the auctions weren’t necessarily open to the public, were they? At the guard’s request she turns to face the man-sized tiger that had trailed after them, hoping that she’d be able to understand her command. ”Very well. Er, Trixie! Stay here.” The halfling instructs to the beast, nudging Diego subtly in hopes that he could produce one of his tongue-clicking sounds that he used to communicate his intentions to Trixie. She wasn’t particularly worried that the beast would be in danger, after all there were guards all over the place.

Still alert after the scene with the guard, Trixie noticed a familiar smell lingering on the wind. When she glanced back, she couldn't discern the source with the crowd, but she recognized the scent from before. The hair on her back raised as she could feel eyes on her and Diego. She let out a low warning growl to Diego, looking up at him and then back to the crowd. Diego raised an eye at Trixie, but when he followed her sight, he didn't see anything noticeable in the crowd.

While Shaniff conversed with the checkpoint, Diego noticed Trixie still acting weird and looked back at the crowd. He thought he may have glimpsed a familiar mask, but in a sea of masks it was hard to tell. Still, Trixie's behavior concerned him so he gave her a reassuring pat.

Upon hearing that Trixie would have to wait behind, Diego looked to Ayero. "Master, I can stay with her, if it would please you." He tried to signal to Ayero that he didn't want to leave Madam Trixie alone.

The fanalis woman pauses, taken aback by Diego’s request. After searching his eyes and some hesitation, she figured that the beast tamer must have sensed something amiss. “Very well. Don’t you get any ideas now.” With that, Ayero turns to the guard to lead the way to the auction.

Diego nodded to Ayero before she left and then led Trixie to the side, out of the way of the guards to wait. He stroked her fur as he kept an eye on his surrounding, hoping that Ayero would be alright.

Lance heard the guard telling him that he should not be playing hero and smirked evilly "I am just trying to help." he said with a chuckle. He smirked at the guards "You guys think that you can take down a mage by yourself?" he said with a laugh "I am a mage as well... I may be able to provide some assistance..." he said then licked his lips.

He honestly was tempted to pull out his bag of bombs and hand it over to the guards, framing the two for what had happened. He gripped his staff and looked at the guards "I have been following a group of people for a while so I have some information about those two as well as the other people that split up with them..." he told them as he turned his back and started walking towards the way the fake prince and the other guy went. He slightly glanced backwards and smirked again "Oh and my names Lance." he said with a bit of a darker tone to his voice.

Whenever he was around people he seemed to give off an creepy vibe. It could be the way he licked his lips when things got exciting or the fact that he almost always wore a evil smirk on his face.

((There is one more round of posting before the magical tools go off.))

The guard speaking to Ayero would raise an eyebrow at her allowing her slave to remain outside with the tiger, but chose not to speak on the topic. What the woman did with her property was her business, he supposed. He would then lead the masked woman into a large manor where many Fanalis were being held, each contained in full body shackles made with thick, reinforced alloys. Each of the red-haired captives were muzzled like dogs, adding to the sick sideshow feel of the manor. To the side, grouped with several other Fanalis, was a male slave Ayero might recognize. A thin, elderly man was moving between captives, overseeing the prices on the slaves and several nobles were perusing the selection, hoping to find their ideal slave. The elderly man would approach Ayero not too long after she enters, eager to show off his “wares” to another prominent customer. "Greetings, Miss. As you see, we have a wonderful selection of the finest quality Fanalis slaves across the world. Would you like to remove your mask, so as to gaze unhindered upon these slaves in all of their splendor?” He would not push the topic overly much unless she showed interest in making a purchase. He would turn to another potential buyer to answer a question on prices as Ayero perused the selection. When the male noble expressed interest in making a purchase, the elderly man would oversee the transfer of money before nodding at a guard discreetly. The area was being closely monitored by guards scattered regularly throughout the captives, each with a ring of keys to oversee the transfer of a slave to a buyer. Once the monetary portion of the transaction had taken place, the scrawny man would turn back to check on Ayero.

Outside of the manor, the men that had been eyeing Madame Trixie and Diego brightened to see the Mistress had abandoned her slave without protection and slowly moved closer under the guise of examining different slaves. The tiger would be able to scent them easily as they approached. The guards outside of the Fanalis Holding Center would be keeping a close watch on the massive tiger, as she made them nervous with her growling and pacing. One guard would yell callously to Diego, “Control that beast, slave boy!” before scanning the crowds for any other suspicious activity. The behavior of the slave boy and the tiger had raised the tension among the nearby guards and they were all nervously scanning for any more trouble while trying to also keep an eye of the beast and boy.




The guards pursuing Altair and Dynatos would quickly gain ground during the chase, following the swarm of insects at a relatively safe distance. While Lance’s choice to accompany the guards would be idly noted, the guards would be too preoccupied with attempting to catch the fugitives to concern themselves with the man. When the two men stopped to bandage their wounds, the guards would finish catching up and some of the guards would attempt to approach them but would be buffered back by the swarm, making any real damage nearly impossible. The guards would continue to pursue the swarm of locusts down the road and past an alley before the locust swarm simply stopped and assaulted them for a moment before dispersing. The guards looked around wildly, trying to find Altair and Dynatos in the crowd but were not expecting there to be a change of masks and clothing. One guard would become suspicious of two men attempting to disappear into the crowd, shouting out to them before a din would break out and draw his attention. A cloaked man was shouting angrily in an apparent argument with a confused looking shop keeper. The guards would pause in their fruitless search of the two fugitives to see about calming down the angry man.

Diego ran his fingers through the large tiger's fur as he watched Ayero follow the guard into a manor behind the checkpoint. His touch seemed to soothe Trixie's mood, she had quit growling but her muscles were still tense as she glanced into the crowd. Trixie's anxious behavior worried Diego and he noticed that it upset the guards as well. One of them yelled at Diego to control his beast and Diego nodded in a submissive manner before apologizing for the disturbance. When Trixie glanced to the crowd again, he tried following her looks but could not find anyone in the crowd that stood out. People were either passing by or looking at slaves, all normal activity for a slave auction. He thought he saw someone give him a furtive look, but the man quickly turned back to inspect a group of slaves penned up.

Diego was sickened by the events of this day, between the people selling, the people buying, and the looks on the slave's faces. He briefly wondered if he should have followed Ayero into the manner, but he remembered how skilled she had been at fighting bandits. He trusted that she could hold her own, on the other hand, without Trixie, Diego wouldn't be much help to her. If she got in trouble, Diego hoped she could hold her own at least until the magical tools the masked man had given them went off. The distraction might give the guards at the checkpoint something else to focus on so he could slip past with Trixie and help Ayero.

For now, he did his best to focus on the crowd with his hand idly caressing Trixie. If she noticed a threat, the tension in her body would alert Diego to the danger.

Altair and Dynatos waited in the throngs of the crowd for just long enough to hear the search get called off.  Altair let out a small sigh of relief as the guards disbanded.  They were lucky.  His plan had multiple steps, and a failure on even one of them would have meant they would have been caught.  It wouldn't be prudent to try something like that again.

With Dynatos having a noticeable leg injury, Altair told him to wait behind until he finished placing the bombs.  That way he wouldn't draw attention to himself and restart the chase.  instead, he would wait until the bombs went off, and then begin funneling the slaves to safety.  Altair on the other hand would take his more active roll.  He went around to the stalls they had missed and placed the remainder of the bombs on them, this time taking a small amount of time to pretend to be looking for a purchase.  Once that was finished, he began preparations for his appearance.  He once again donned his crown mask, entered the tallest building in the area and headed for the roof.  From there, he would be given not only a perfect vantage point for viewing the situation, he could also make a large mark on the face of the building with his red paint.  Luckily, there was some rope and a tether on the roof of the building, presumably for repairs to the outside, that Altair made quick use of.  He tied himself to the roof,and rappelled down the front.  On his way down, he painted his symbol on the wall, along with the word 'Sovereign'.

This activity garnered many shouts from the people below, only some of whom actually recognized the symbol.  the murmurs began to grow louder.  From above the crowd, with people looking on, he yelled to them, "In the name of the Sovereign, and the rights of the people, I declare these slaves free!"