Gillyed had been busy checking over his equipment, he hadn't heard of this new Dunmer and frankly he wasn't sure if he trusted him. It all seemed far too convenient from his point of view. The man rides up right after the battle, covered in arms and armor, and suddenly everyones chummy. Something just grated with the big Nord but he kept it to himself.

"Alright then, sew away friend" he grunted, sitting down and bracing himself for the needle. "We could use those suits, but something tells me you won't find one in my size, and a mismatched set probably wouldn't get me past the guards."

Gillyed paused for a moment to think. "However, I might have a way to sneak in if there are people on the inside. The walls around the city are tall, but with a bit of magical cover and a rope someone on the inside could help me climb in"

OOC: Dunno, I've got a hard enough time telling the human races apart as it is...I think I tend to refer to Cyldreen by his mask though.

"You know, all of these aspirants could provide our disguises to get into Bruma." The woman spoke true words, even if the idea of taking clothing from hacked up corpses was less than apetizing.
"Indeed they wear the black garb that may be useful. Spare some of your thread. The disguises may require fixing and cleaning." He said. The smell of blood did not disturb him in the slightest, for it was one he was accustomed to. The knowledge that said blood belonged to people like him, did.
"Lots of cleaning." He therefore added after a moment.

He had no real idea what else to say, so he began to randomly sniff around the battlefield instead. His hands picked up random objects and dropped them just as readily, a pebble here, bit of leather there, a small bag of coin which he kept, a half-eaten and now cold bit of meat on a stick, an arrow sticking out of the ground. The Argonian stopped and looked at the arrow he held. It looked familiar, very familiar.
"Excuse this one for asking, but does anyone recognize this arrow? This one is not sure, but it looks like the one our impatient hunter was handling in the council room." He asked, hoping that the answer would be a resounding no. The arrow definitely looked like one of Falius', but the council room had been a dark place and a fisherman was not an expert regarding arrows. If it was one of his, that could only mean bad news.

Aren gave a small nod to his fellow Dunmer. "That is probably the best chance we're going to get, but there is still the fact that when we launch our attack we will be compromised...once inside I could provide a distraction, faced worse odds before and I've got the scars to prove it...won't be able to hold 'em off forever though, at least not alone".

With a pensive look on his face he turned towards the Nord. "You look like an able man, if you'd like to I would welcome the help if we decide to create a distraction once we're inside the city".

Aerona spread a bit of her green paste on the wound before she carefully sewed the gash on Gillyed's shoulder. She stopped for a moment. Aren said something about their plan to invade Bruma, but her attention was on the arrow in Swift's hand.

"Not that I particularly paid attention to his arrows, but yes, they could be his. Either Falius escaped them, or..." she glanced around nervously, "...there are more of them."

She refocused on her patient, then, not letting the idea get the best of her, "We should try to find him, though."

Nathan

The Redguard spat upon the last knight in frustration. It seemed they had been unusually competant, nothing relevant was on their corpses. Nathan paced about, then stopped suddenly. Why is my heart racing? The amulet had begun to pulse again, weakly.

He glanced around, realizing he'd walked partway back towards the ruins. Nathan held the shard out at arms length, studying it's movements as he strode the perimeter. By the time he returned to the gathering, a cold pit had formed in his gut.
For the first time, the Redguard appraised the people nearby. It had been years since he'd been in such diverse company. Perhaps he could throw in with them; with difficulty, he approached the masked man and cleared his throat. "I don't think today's work is over yet." The black soul gem shard swung in a non-existant breeze from his left hand with a flickering violet glow.

The Argonian said something about Falius' arrow. Cyldreen shot a glance at the fletching and it rang a bell. He hoped that the Bosmer was not dead.

He then noticed the Redguard approaching him, a little reluctance showed in his eyes. He cleared his throat and the breton faced him with a smile, although it was hidden by the mask.

"I don't think today's work is over yet," he said and as if on cue, the amulet he wore glowed and swung in a magical breeze. A non-existent brow raised.

"Yes. It seems sloppy for the wretched Enemy to camp outside a fort and not inhabit the inside." For good measure, he cast a spell that allowed him detect life signs. Magicka enveloped his vision and he gazed at the Fort.

There were many of them and they were scrambling to and fro, tightening their defences. He simply harrumphed.

"I am Cyldreen, and it is good to see a friendly face in these dark times." He then walked towards the others, gesturing the Redguard to follow him.

With a voice that he used to manipulate minor dukes and ladies and backed by his serpentine mind, he said;

"Do not plan for the future when the present is our current problem. Many kings made the same mistake and resulted in their downfall. No doubt you are weary and long for a rest. Regrettably, we must push onward. The Fort houses the bulk of this area's garrison and believe me when I say that they are many."

He let that sink in for a few seconds.

"Brute strength and cunning minds we shall use in this situation. Someone with the patience of hiding must find a way to enter the Fort without gaining unwanted attention. The rest of us must storm the front gate to buy that certain someone some time.

First things first. We must find a backdoor entrance, one that the enemy does not know about."

Cyldreen was either a born leader, or he simply felt that someone had to take charge for the moment and he would be as good a choice as any. Regardless, what the masked man said made at once sense, and at the same time it didn't. That there were more inside the ruins belowground was a reasonable assumption and Swift-like-Fish berated himself for not realizing that himself. After all, with the rainy climate of Cyrodill, few would camp outside if they had a choice in the matter, something that had escaped him before as he personally had no problems with either water from a pool or water from the sky. Further evidence was all around.

The shoddy benches and state of the campfire revealed that there had been plenty of activity for these last few days and that the dead hadn't just stopped here for a short rest. Yet there were no tents or other signs that people had actually slept here. Ergo, there was more of the camp in a place with a ceiling and the interior of the fort was the only nearby location that fit the bill.

As for Cyldreen's suggestion of storming the gate however while someone else found a backdoor, that made less sense. The masked man himself had implied that they would be outnumbered in such a fight and the Argonian saw no reason why they couldn't just make themselves scarce while they had the chance. Except for the possibility of Falius being a captive.

He weighed the arrow in his hand. If the Bosmer hadn't ran off, then the choice would be easy. But even with the current situation, Swift couldn't run away with an easy conscience. Cyldreen seemed confident enough, so perhaps he should just put his trust in the man.

"A backdoor forts always have, a way of getting out unseen. This one is a ruin though, and if the backdoor still exists, it will be guarded. An unknown backdoor is unlikely, except for one that is no door at all." He said slowly, saying the words as he followed his one line of reasoning.
"The ground we stand on is wet, very wet. There is a lake nearby, no? If the interior is belowground, it would be dry, unless the walls have cracked. You say there are men inside, so the fort is not flooded. But forts must withstand a siege for a long time. THey will have a well. To ensure clean and ample water, the well will go deep, with a direct connection, a tunnel to the lake."

"If a tunnel to a well exists, this one can find it. If it exists, this one can enter the fort. However, what should this one do once inside? This one is no hunter of men."

Gillyed was perplexed by what was happening, suddenly they were about to storm a fort, a fort, filled with hostile men and women, most likely well trained and better equipped, while a second man attempted to secretly sneak in, alone, for...no real reason.

"Hold on a minute" Gillyed growled. "What you're suggesting makes very little sense at the moment. Storming a fort is suicide. The front gate is made to be defended, and our small group cannot take on a garrison. We've got skill or arms, but not that much. Stealth will better suit us here."

He stood up, gently rolling his shoulder to test the stitches, before nodding a thank you at the priestess who had helped. "Could I propose a solution? Obviously we've got means of detection. If we've got an objective inside the fort, then we need to focus on that and not take on anything more than we need too. If our Argonian friend here can make his way inside unseen, it'd be better for him to help us in through a side passage, and from there we have to make our way through, with as little commotion as possible. I suggest that the most silent of us takes point, and we neutralise any guards we encounter quietly, or we'll bring the whole place down on us."

OOC: Bloodlust is difficult to restrain and in Cyldreen's case, its almost impossible! He's getting more of a luggage than help, eh?

He was getting impatient by the passing seconds. If the others were so keen about going by the shadows, fine. They could be that way and miss out on the image of blood splattering the floor, limbs flying with red wings, cries of the damned forever echoing and their eyes showing fear as Cyldreen hacked them to pieces... He relished at the idea and his eyes took a distant gleam.

To just pass that chance, chance to unleash their inner demons and wreak havoc on the battlefield like gods among mortals.. It was pure madness in Cyldreen's mind. On the other hand, his spy instinct berated him and told the breton that the others were right. Two distinct personalities battled for control, for decision. Cold air passed from the West and with it, the bloodthirst was temporarily sated by reason.

"Fine," he growled back at the Nord. "But if we encounter the first guards, they're life is mine for the taking."

Aerona put her sewing tools away and listened. Cyldreen wanted a fight, while the others wanted to avoid it. She agreed with the stealth approach, but was unsure of how easily it could be achieved. Those inside the fort had to be aware of their ragtag band of fighters, and she wasn't very sure of where she would fit into either plan.

"Only a few of us should go inside," she finally said, "The others should find a rendezvous point away from here and wait. That way if one of us dies, or those inside fail, Nine forbid, our mission continues."

"If Swift can find that tunnel, I can go inside with him. I can breathe underwater with spells, and keep us booth unseen. There just isn't much I can do if it comes to blows."

Aren nodded to Arona's words. "A sound advice girl, but if you do get discovered both of you are gonna end up dead quick...you need someone with you who can fight and I can certainly do that...quietly too I might add and I have the potions needed for underwater travel".

He leant back against a tree and crossed his arms over his chest. "Your descision of course".

Swift-like-Fish shrugged.
"Those who wish to come, come. This one has no problems with this, as long as the numbers don't grow so large that an unwished for retreat becomes impossible. Three can overcome more obstacles than one. For instance, if the well is covered with a grate, then this one may need help in removing it. Fire to melt the iron, or strong arms to help shift it. In any case, speaking of plans here is perhaps not the best course of action. Now the hostile ones are hiding within their lair, but they may choose to come out and attack at any moment. This one would rather not be here if such an event came to pass." He said, nodding to both Aerona and Aren.

"This one will be down by the water. Prepare swiftly, then come." He added and hurried away to where he felt the ground was most wet, lower and as such, closer to the lake.

Gillyed agreed with the group. "3 sounds like a good number to me, you've got your way in, your defence, and general help. I'm far too big to sneak around, and in a fight those close quarters will not do me well. Not even mentioning it might break these stitches so early."

He paused for a moment and pushed himself to his feet, looking around the area they had stopped. "We need to agree on an area not too far away, easily defendable incase you are chased, but with an escape route if we need one. Also it's just a little bit corpsey here."

Aerona unfolded a piece of parchment pulled from her bag, "Take the road north. There is a loop in the road here," she said, pointing to the place on the map, "There is an old Ayleid well along that loop; we can meet you there. Oh, and if someone could carry my things to the wagon, I would be grateful."

She left the map in Gillyed's hands, and began securing her belongings. It would make no sense to bring any of it. It would ruin her equipment and ingredients, not to mention weigh her down underwater. A glance towards the lake told her that Swift was heading into the water. There were a few more moments before he found the tunnel, if it even existed.

She took a deep breath, "Stay safe, everyone, and wish us luck. Shall we go, Ser Aren?"

"Somebody said that the corpses of our friends, can be used here right?" Cyldreen mused, to himself rather than others. "If maybe those who sneak in can wear those, the chances of sneaking in may improve by a small percent. The aspirants' uniforms are uniform black; one could easily detect what I'm implying here.

And if one DOES get caught, one will just have some scolding rather than death," he then looked at the others.

"Do you know what I mean?"

At the lake's edge, the Argonian lowered himself gently into the water. For a moment, he wondered if he should wait for the two Dunmer to join him but then decided not to. They had both claimed to have some means of breathing underwater but neither had told him for how long they could do so. Without knowing how long the search for an entrance, if there indeed was one, would take, it would be best to start looking while they prepared. There was no need to tax their reserves.

"The water is quite clear. Good, that makes the search easier." He thought as he dove for the bottom of the lake. Again he went over his own line of reasoning. It seemed sound to him, though he also realized that he was not the most knowledgeable person regarding fortifications.
"Don't ask the siegemaster to fish, don't ask the fisherman to design a fort. Nevertheless, the rules of minimum effort and maximum results still apply. The entrance should be nearest to the fort as possible, to reduce the length of tunnel and such the possible points of collapse. It also should be deep and due to erosion, it will no longer be right at the edge. The entrance should be hidden to avert the eyes of hunters...but."

With a quick sweep of his tail, the Argonian brought himself to a halt. There, were the gentle descent of lakeside ceased, he'd spotted a small inlet in the lake's edge. Now those were nothing unusual for a lake like this, often the result from erosion and plantgrowth. This one however, was just too regular to be natural. The weeds growing from the sand were also clustered thicker here than anywhere else. Swift-like-Fish moved in for a closer look. He pushed the swaying weeds aside and proceeded further into the thick growth till the light of the sun above him made place for the shadow cast by a stone ceiling. He had found the entrance.

Swift-like-Fish returned to where he'd started out and returned to the surface. He would wait with following the tunnel till he'd been joined by Aerona and Aren.

"The Temple put me to work studying the Order when I was in Bravil," Aerona said, "As I understand it, aspirants live to die. They are the fodder of the upper ranks. Very few of them move up, and only do so by killing each other. These clothes lying around may get us past a town gate, but I'd venture to say that they'd sooner kill us than scold us. Disguises couldn't hurt, I suppose, but I suspect wet clothing would only weigh us down."

She looked towards the lake, and saw Swift emerging from it. There was a look on his reptilian face that told her that he'd found something.

Looking to Aren, she spoke once more, "We don't have much time. If you think we should wear them, then we will. I leave it up to you."

Aren looked down at the black robes of their dead enemies with disgust.

"As much as I'd like to leaver these rags behind we may need 'em, up close we'll be spotted, but from a distance we'll look like the rest of those filthy bastards...and I can get 'em before they get close enough to identify us", he said while calmly stroking his bow.

Grabbing one of the robes he slipped it over his armoured form, but not before he removed his spear and schimitar, "I'd appreciate if someone could keep an eye on these for me, there won't be need for 'em in there".

Looking over at swift who had returned he let out a small grin. "Please tell me you found something".

Swift-like-Fish nodded.
"There was indeed an underwater path, obviously made by hands and not time. This one thinks it was well hidden against the eyes of a soldier, but to those familiar with the land, its disguise was an unnatural one. This one has not yet followed the path, but could see no obstructions from the entrance and is certain it will lead to our destination. Are you ready to follow?"

"Lead the way Swift, once inside Aerona could take lead as I suspect that she knows a detect life spell...jus' be sure to tell me where the enemy is".

Opening his bow and making sure the bolts were properly secured he revealed a nasty grin. "I'll make sure we won't see any trouble", loosening an arrow to demonstrate, he nodded in appreciation as it penetrated a small tree only to get stuck in a larger tree behind.