Willow and Irzen finished their ales and followed the sergeant as well. While Serna made a note of the place before she joined the others.

"Talos, I have a question, where is the Thieves Guild?" Irzen asked, "In some cities, I have noticed that some of them have operated out of the Merchants Guild using it as a front for their illegal operations. In other cities, the Thieves Guild has served as front for the Assassin's Guild. Still in others, the Thieves Guild operates independently. Which is the case here in Asylum?"

Leading the party out of the Gallows Pub back onto the main street heading to the western part of Asylum where the Merchants District lay. "The Thieves is said to be under the city proper. As for the Assassins Guild, that's up to the far eastern side near air ship docks where you and friends came in, I'm guessing. There's only a few air ship captains I know of. One is the half orc, Bruno."

"We know Bruno too!" Serna chirped.

"Bruno is--or was--an airship captain?" Neven asked no one in particular.

"One of the best air ship captains of Asylum." Talos replied.

"I guess everyone has to have a hobby," Irzen quipped, "Personally, I thought his main job was being a professional jerk but I'm glad to know that I am wrong."

"Bruno owes the Bronze Man a great debt. That fact that you and your friends found him is incredible. The half orc has a talent of vanishing which unfortunately caused a lot of problems elsewhere in the Realm." The sergeant remarked glancing in the swordsman direction, "Some could say the same thing about you, Irzen. You are far from being infallible. No one is perfect."

"I never claimed to be perfect, Sergeant Talos," Irzen nodded in agreement, "But I am loyal--loyal to my friends and loyal to my cause. And for the time being that has to be enough."

Serna and Neven snickered.

"The half-orc is the least of our problems," Willow added bringing them back to the task at hand, "We still need to rob a merchant, make sure what we have taken is equal to the value needed and deliver it to a fence in under twelve hours."

"Or we need to rob a merchant's shoppe," Neven corrected Willow, "We do have options, Master Willow, just not very many of them."

"I'm curious, Talos," Irzen asked, "Where are you from? You seem to be more of a transplant to these parts than a native of Asylum."

"Born and raised here. An orphan. No parents. Studied under the tudorship of the Bronze Man at the Temple of Bahamut but alas it was not my path. I admit devoting myself to a powerful deity is a bit much. I prefer solving crimes through a more normal approach using science and alchemy as my tools. I've been in the militia for more than ten years now. I have met people from your world and others since the location of this city is set in a juxtaposition within the cosmos." The Sergeant said as they approached the Merchant District.

"So who holds sway here?" Irzen continued, "Who are the real powers that make Asylum run? The City Guard? The Temples? The Guilds? Who are the powers that sit upon the throne and the powers behind the throne?"

Talos went on to explain that there was on one ruler in Asylum. There is a council that presides over the city comprised of all the guild leaders, a mayor elected by the common folk, the militia run by Major Zil, The Bronze Man, and lastly the embassy. "The people here don't rely on a sole ruler, they know from past experience that usually ends poorly and so are allowed to govern themselves. What I do know is that the Bronze Man has been the guardian of Asylum for at least five hundreds years."