Alaine stepped out of the street and moved under the sign bearing a bear with a raven riding its back. The Raven and Bear inn boasted the lodgings Alaine had made while in the city of Felle for work. The place had sour beer, a suspicious bartender, and surly waitresses, but the beds were soft and they had hot baths. For someone who had grown up in a Cuthbertine monastery, a bit of luxury was warranted. He had not become a libertine in his years away from his father's order, but neither was he a monk himself. He had developed a like for good food, soft beds, and especially lazy afternoons. Alaine was a man who liked peace despite his chosen profession. Luckily, it was that profession and his consummate reputation which kept him in all three most often.<br/><br/>He stepped out of the beating sun of the high noon sun on a scorching summer day and removed the wide brimmed, leather hat from his head to run his hands through his platinum blond hair and scratch a patch of sweat itch at the back of his head. Short hair was oily from sweating the whole day in the sun and the leather pants and great coat he went everywhere in had not helped. Neither had the black shirt or grey vest. Some luxuries were good, but Alaine was still a man of iron discipline as well. A simple, functional short sword hung from his belt counterwieghted by a mace mean for his off hand. A search of hsi person would have found more than a few daggers and throwing knives. One of which was even hidden in the heavy holy symbol of Saint Cuthbert hanging from his waist as well. One in his profession was best well armed. The barkeep caught Alaine's eyes and flinched but moved to fetch him his normal afternoon soup and wine. Alaine was used to his solid light blue eyes attracting attention from others, but they were quite useful to him. It was nearly impossible to tell where the orbs were focused due to the lack of a defined pupil. One of the few physical gifts from his mother's lineage.<br/><br/>He moved to a table and took out his notebook in which he had been tracking the information about this newest of cases. The local guard, understaffed and undertrained, had hired him to track down a stolen shipment from the capital which contained the guard's funds for the next months. Alaine was nearly certain the Captain was swindling the city, but he would support the local law the best he could. From what he could see, most of the guard were related to the captain or the children of wealthy craftsmen who had too many sons. Either way, he was certain a good deal of the shipment would have found its way into well lined pockets instead of honest men, but that was besides the point. There was a pattern in this town which suited his other purposes.<br/><br/>A month earlier, he had been hired for another job by a wandering priest. Apparently, he had been accosted while praying at a wayshrine to the god of travel and been taken of every coin he possessed. The man had asked him to track down the thief. He had promised to do so despite assuming he would never see the priest again. This border city had the normal amounts of highwaymen rings, brothels, pickpockets, cutpurses, and even a small, rustic theif's guild, but a few of the recent crimes in the city dd not match the low-level nature of this border principality. He crossed out a series of muggings, burglaries, and kidnappings. None of them mismatched the town's personality. Instead, in addition to the pay heist, he circled four other acts and tried to deduce the pattern in them: the Mayor's Wife's jewels had been lifted right from her person at a public appearance, a local gambler had woken up penniless and naked tied to the city's statue of its founder, a skilled tailor had reported the theft of a trio of his best outfits, and the disappearance of a lottery prize when the victor had gone to claim it the next day.<br/><br/>He sensed the pattern but could not quite reconcile the spree. He leaned back in the chair and sighed heavily as the barkeep put his meal in front of him. He set his hat on the table and began to eat. "I'll have a bath this afternoon as well. It's hotter than dragon's fire out there today."