<blockquote><div><cite>Vignar wrote:</cite>"If you want to deliver a full report of the incident, you'll need my story as well. Fortunately, I have another means of conveying that message - come here, please."</div></blockquote><br/>"Yes, sir," Alyssa nods and steps forward, tentatively offering her hand to the Captain to accept his message. Seeing him empty handed, she's unsure what to expect, and even less so when he ignores her hand entirely, instead raising a spell-lit but still blank palm before her eyes. What exactly does he have in mind?<br/><br/>Ironically, the question is practically an answer in and of itself.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Elona... carriage... creature... shadow...</span>Alyssa staggers back as the images from Vignar's mind pour into her own, pushing aside her other thoughts in order to monopolize her forebrain for several long and uncomfortable seconds before finally retreating toward the back of her mind. Blinking away the last of the images, she straightens herself and returns her attention to the Captain, hoping that this will be the only 'message' of the sort that she has to carry tonight.<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>"The memory will remain clear for an hour or so," Vignar says. "See to it that your report is delivered within that time, along with this-" The captain retrieves a sheet of folded paper from his shirt pocket and presses it into Alyssa's hand. "- a message Mr. Locasta discovered during his own examination. Perhaps you'll have more luck making sense of it than I have."</div></blockquote><br/>"You can count on us, sir," Alyssa replies, resting a hand over her heart in salute before securing the paper in one of her vest's numerous pockets. As she withdraws from the Captain, she glances in Kaelen's direction, wondering briefly that the supposed merchant had thought to examine the unconscious cat himself - most citizens would go out of their way to avoid further involvement in an investigation. Then again, most citizens wouldn't have been able to dispatch an Alley Cat unaided. Clearly, Mr. Locasta isn't 'most citizens.' What he is, she can only guess for the time being...<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Perception: 1d20 (13) + 15 = 28, failure</div></div></div><br/>Back on course to the watch house, the remainder of the trip is, if not relaxing, then certainly less stressful than the rest of the company's evening. For the first time since the academy bell's sounding, Alyssa is pleased to find her immediate vicinity free of threats to her life, and reminders thereof; only a hogtied and insensate catgirl to remind her of what she isn't missing. The only challenges left for the night are an unwritten report and a disorganized feline cypher, and one of those might even be fun to tackle...<br/><br/>Of course, the promise of a relaxing evening is far too good to be true. It's as the watch saying goes: "if you've been ten minutes without trouble, then trouble is nine minutes late." No sooner are the carriages through the watch house gate than that trouble finally catches up to her, stomping across the yard in the form of Sgt. Ananda - already ruffled, as per the usual. Alyssa steels herself for yet another dressing down from her commander, but to her good fortune, Dagnyr is once again at hand to bear the brunt of her assault and answer in his usual straightforward manner - a feat she wouldn't dare to dream of, let alone try. She hangs back for a minute longer, happy to have the paladin speak in her place while she waits for the Sgt.'s head to cool. Fortunately, the ire of Sgt. Ananda burns as quickly as it ignites.<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Sgt. Ananda wrote:</cite>"This is my fault," she mutters. "I should have insisted on riding along with Captain Vignar. If only I had been there to cover him... maybe this would have ended differently..."</div></blockquote><br/>"You made the right decision," Alyssa says, adding her own reassurances to Dagnyr's. "Captain Vignar was counting on you to maintain order in the square in his absence. Without your efforts, we might have lost the demon mages we captured as well, and who knows what else."<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Dagnyr wrote:</cite>"Either way, there's later for introspection and evaluation of flaws in our decisions and tactics, right now we need to follow up on our leads," he pauses to jab a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the unconscious catgirls. "And hopefully get some actionable information that'll put us on the right trail."</div></blockquote><br/>"Constable Thuror is right," Alyssa says. "We may not have Elona, but these Alley Cats may know her whereabouts. In addition, I have a report from Captain Vignar on the nature of our enemy, and a possible communiqué discovered by Mr. Locasta. I feel that both should be delivered to the watch commander immediately."