<div class="floatright">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/c/c0/Serpent_long_hair_edition_by_memymine-d6fr1rs.jpg)</div>Serge Renard: An Unlikely Mage<br/><br/>A beefy giant of a man with a dark red ponytail to the small of his back and short, matching, neatly trimmed beard.  He wore black trousers and jacket over an emerald green silk shirt that brought out the sparkle in his matching eyes.  Well tanned and with a greataxe sheathed across his back, Serge was not someone likely to be mistaken for the accomplished mage that he was!<br/><br/>Before he sat down, Serge greeted all those he already knew.  To Sim and Wren he offered a “well again,” and a wrist clasp, which he turned into an embrace and a kiss on the cheek.<br/><br/>Of Sim, he inquired after her parents, and how she was progressing in her arcane studies.<br/><br/>Of Wren, he inquired if the wound she’d suffered when they fought the sea serpent last season had healed fully.<br/><br/>The last to receive a personal greeting was to the raven haired beauty attired in scanty red ribbons.  “Maid Inana,” Serge’s eyes lit up as they met hers, and burned as they wandered briefly down her body.  “Serge Renard,” he introduced himself, taking her hand.  “I don’t know if you remember me.  We met briefly last week at the Celebration.”  By this he referred to the celebration of The Endless Revel of Life, in this instance a festival put on by the temple of Sharess.  The Feasthall Maiden’s clergy saw every new day as a cause for celebration.  And every new nightfall as well.  The red haired mage bowed over the bard’s hand and brushed his lips over her knuckles.  “I look forewords to working with you.”<br/><br/>His eyes took one last quick trip down the bard’s body before he found a seat next to a snow haired girl with eyes red as his hair.  He suspected she was a tiefling, but that didn’t bother him.  He wasn’t exactly human himself, truth be told…<br/><br/>As much as he would enjoy spending more time on the eye candy, when the watchman began his address he had Serge’s full attention, as did the older woman who shared his profession when it was her turn to speak.  Occasionally he nodded thoughtfully.<br/><br/>Wren was the first to speak up.  Serge nodded in appreciation of the clever swashbuckler’s savvy, and spoke up quickly that he agreed with her on accepting the jobs, and appreciating the generous retainer.<br/><br/>The next to speak was a somewhat androgynous being in red robes…  Was that a Thayan accent?  It sounded familiar from the enclaves where he’d gone to purchase healing quaffs and spell access when there was no viable alternative.<br/><br/>After the two of them had expressed their theories about flushing more kidnapping victims out onto the street, he added, “It’s also a good strategy to incite a riot.”<br/><br/>His emerald eyes fell on the waifish girl with and her friend on her shoulder.  “Mr. Whiskers.”  Serge bit his lip not to laugh in delight, and his eyes danced.  Oh, should he feel guilty for how attractive he found her?  He could tell she was old enough for love despite the glazed eyes and whimsical speech, but he might be as much as ten years this girl’s senior?<br/><br/>Later on, when the androgynous man spoke up about being a conjurer, the burly axe man added, “I have some skills with divination myself.  Between us, and with some persistence, we can probably come up with something useful.  Also, there are communication spells that can facilitate operations like these.  For example, sending important information straight to a ranking watch officer’s secretary with a whispering wind.<br/><br/>Serge continued to ponder through the discussion.  Finaly, he spoke up.  “For those who don’t know me, I’m Serge Renard.  I’m an Eldritch Knight, skilled with divinations as well as spells based on force and fire.<br/><br/>“I have one thing to add at this point.  On the topic of places to hide hundreds of kidnapped victims or bodies at once.  Outside the city, bellow in Undermountain—especially skullport.  These are two of the best three options, yes.  The last one is particularly appropriate if these victims are already dead.”  The redhead pointed to a map of the city, to a walled graveyard taking up almost a fifth of the city.  “The City of the Dead.”<br/><br/>He steepled his fingers for a moment, then finally offered, “While normal magical methods make the sewers the best option for moving that many people, certain beings can pass between the planes of existence as they please.  I’ve made a study of ethereal creatures and effects over the years, as I have some special techniques for dealing with them.  What actually comes to my mind, though, is the Githyanik.  Raiders and reavers from the astral plane, they’ve been known to come into this world and leave it with equal ease, sometimes taking prisoners or loot with them.  This is just one example of how extra planar creatures are something we should look out for on this investigation.”<br/>