Sarafina stepped out of the shadows to the left of Gabe in utter silence, "Here's the deal, outsiders, you help us get evidence that Major Zilc isn't who he claims to be, and we'll give you the relic to be returned to the temple."

Neven looked to Irzen who merely hunched his shoulders before he turned back to the others, "How do you know Major Zilc isn't who he claims to be? Do you think him to be a doppleganger? Or a powerful illusionist? What evidence would we need? And to whom would we give such evidence? And who would believe us even if we did it?"

The guild members looked at each other and nodded. Gabe spoke up, "Both. The major was once a descent guy but the last two weeks, he was acting odd. I don't remember him being able to speak infernal and abyssal before. We want to tell the Bronze Man but he's got his own minions watching us."

"We can get an audience with The Bronze Man easily enough," Neven replied with a firm nod, "He is expecting us after all. But what kind of evidence can we provide to clearly show that Major Zilc is not who he says he is?"

Gabe went on to explain that the barracks is actually a tower that goes three levels down below street level and six levels up. The top being the look out point, with the major's quarters on the fifth level. The first four consisted of the stables, the office and kitchen, and the last two were storage and weapons supplies. The jail is below street level with a direct escape tunnel network in case of emergency. "Sergeant Talos is legit and honest as they come. Not a bad vibe in him at all. Even he expressed to us before you arrived that there was something odd about Major Zilc. We don't have access to his personal dealings but the sergeant might know or at least know someone who does."

"Documents, letters, or better yet any of his blasted minions that have been lurking around at night. Shadowy folk. The kind that chills you to the bone." Jasper added what he knew about the dealings going on elsewhere in the city.

"Describe them," Irzen commanded with hesitation, "I've dealt with more than my fair share of shadowy folk in my day and I would like to know what we could be going up against."

"You and I both know, only mages are capable of summoning fiends from the hells to achieve something on this level." Sarafina replied, "I was on a routine run in early evening when I spotted the major and a mage from his guild striking up some sort of deal. I saw a scroll signed by both and sealed in blood. Eeewww! Blood. Gross! Sorry, blood makes me squeamish. Down by the docks. There's an alcove that smugglers use when they don't want to go through customs. For those rare shipments."

Jasper walked forward, "Here's a map. We know he travels through the central one connecting the barracks to the sea port. The mage on the other hand, can't get near the jerk. Too many damn wards and the fact that they consider us riffraff doesn't help our case."

"Thank you," Neven accepted the map, "Is there anything else that we should know?"

"I have a question," Irzen asked casually, "All of you are Thieves. How do we know that you will keep your end of our bargain when we succeed in this endeavor? How much of that old saying holds true: There is no honor among thieves?"

Gabe spoke up again, "Thieves to some. Most of us hear are lookouts, messengers, and spies of sorts. What we burgle is small stuff like food and clothes to stay off the radar. Which is acceptable with the Bronze Man. He doesn't judge us for who are. Granted he's not crazy about us stealing but its what keeps us alive and out of most trouble."

"Fair enough," Irzen acknowledged with a firm nod.

"The mage's name is Sorvor. A traveler from a place called, Netherese. An old kingdom of folks who dabbled in the black arts some say. Summoning demons, fiends, and various outsiders of the planes. Creepy! Can't miss him. Bald, tattoos cover most of his head. Wears red and black attire. Sometimes red robes, and has an exotic accent. Rumor has it that he charmed his way through the ranks of the mages guild and now sits on the council there. Has a fancy mansion across the street from the guild. That map may show you a secret passage if it detects one." Jasper pointed to the runes on the edge of the map.

"Good to know," Neven replied, "But do we have your word that you will fulfill your end of our bargain when we succeed?"

Jasper, Sarafina, Seri, and Gabe spoke in unison, "We give you our word. A deal is a deal and we have a reputation to keep."

Neven turned towards Irzen, "That's as good as we are going to get."

"I understand," Irzen looked down at Neven, "Let's go."

"Wait," Neven asked the thieves one last question, "Is there anything else that we should know before we depart?"