The healing light filled Swan. The strange feeling of cuts being healed reminds her a sneeze but backwards... The feeling of life being sucked back into her body is invigorating. 

As Swan watches the two bodies and the tied man she can spot some distinctions. What was seen as black trousers and jacket are in fact something else. Jacket is a bit longer, with loose sleeves, trousers are a bit wider allowing unrestricted movement but do not look like a first choice for a rouge. The guards, although everyone is dressed a bit differently, have similar gear at their belts and the same kind of armor. To her they could look like members of city militia or some mercenaries...

The guard lies tied at the Cerau's feet. He is still asleep, but his moves are a bit more frequent.

From the inside of the house you can clearly hear steps getting louder and voices...

"How many houses are we going to do?"

"How the seven hells should I know? Ask our baby..."

From the house, on a small wooden porch the two guards come out. Both have some chests or some bundles in her hands. They stand surprised looking at you.

How do you want to settle this? If you choose combat, you have the first round due to surprise and I'll roll the initiative.

Ready and aiming with her elven longbow, Sabynn glances over at Swan to see if there should be an attempt to talk them down, risking that they would call for reinforcements.

Wiri summons her most 'drowish' expression and raises an eyebrow at the looters. "Think very carefully before you make any irreversible decisions."

Swan takes a closer look at the bodies and the tied man, studying their outfits carefully. "There's something peculiar about their attire," She says, furrowing her brow in confusion. "They all have similar gear at their belts and the same type of armor. It's possible they could be members of the city militia or perhaps even hired mercenaries. That's not the outfits you usually see on rogues." 

The man standing first in the door looks carefully at Wirilone "Understood..." and as he tilts his head he speaks to the man behind him "...Please don't do anything WE would regret, ok?" He makes slow movements still keeping his "loot" in his hands "We are no threat to you... Take it easy..." he says calmly taking a brief glances at every one of you especially Sabynn with her bow and Tyto standing next to the door. He keeps his eyes on Cerau for a second longer than on anyone else...

The man behind him tries to whisper something but the first one just turns his head to the sides "Shut up, Finn. Can't you see there are five of them?" but then he turns to you with a question "Who are you? You don't look like citizens, nor travelers..."

Ask our baby... What are they talking about? What have we gotten ourselves into? Cerau looks up to the man who was talking. Not missing the way his gaze lingered on her… Why?

Cerau looks into the man’s eyes, trying to gauge his intentions. [skill]Insight[/ski25

As Cerau looks into the man's eyes, she can 'see' of feel rather there is something but it slips her mind as soon as she tries to get a grasp on the thought. 

She definetly doesn't see hate or anger, but something else... 

He avoids her look but she can spot he glances towards her from time to time... He is a bit older than the other (about 35 years old), looks quite dexterous and battle hardened. He is quite tall, about 6'1" (185 cm) with a faint scar on his left cheek. He looks calm, but ready.

The other, the that was addressed to as Finn, is about twenty years old, 5'11" however with much wider shoulders and looks chaotically to one and the other side.

"We can't stay in the open like this, others can come here at any moment." Sabynn says quietly to the others in an urgent tone. "We should hurry up to tie and gag them, then bring them back to the keep for questioning."

Swan looks to Sabynn than looks back at the pillagers, deciding what they should do. Obviously they could bring danger, but she also doesn't think they are ordinary pillagers. Do they look like they want to fight or is there a way they are open to talk?

Insight: 15 

The bound one is the most peaceful of them all - still snoozing and doesn't seam to go anywhere.

From the conscious two - the older one looks quite calm. His movements are slow and he appears as non threatening. To Swan, he looks as the most experienced one and appears to be reasonable, but she'd say he is potentially the most dangerous one of them all.

The younger one called Finn looks nervously from one person to the other... With Swan's experience, she would say the younger one is the most likely to cause problems, but he might be the most talkative of them all. He definitely is scared.

"Governor Nighthill has sent us here to investigate." Swan says, her amber eyes locked on the two men. The sunlight glints off the polished tip of her spear, emphasizing its sharpness. She gauges their readiness to fight, mentally preparing herself for any sudden movements they might make. "Stop what you're doing and answer our questions. What were you looking for in that house?"

Intimidation: 8 

The older guard gives Swan a grin and looks to his arms still holding the loot "We weren't selling a snake oil for sure..." he speaks but his tone changes almost instantly and with his next sentence you cannot hear any joy or amusement but cold, hard logic. His voice is quiet, as if he is talking to himself.

"So you are not from the town... You rather work for the town... That's interesting." he squints his eyes as if analyzing available information. "So the governor has no idea what is going on... Smart, given the circumstances..." 

With Swan's firm voice, the younger guard just looks down devastated and scared.

"So... What do you want to do next?" the older guard asks.

Cerau's voice carries a serious tone as she states, "We work toward peace and fight for the people suffering at the dragon's display of might. What could be so worth taking that you would take advantage from others' misfortune?"

Standing up to her full height, Cerau directs her question at the Finn but keeps the older guard in the corner of her eye. "What do you stand for?" Now standing with the sleeping man at her feet before herself and the guards, she holds her own and waits. 

When Cerau mentioned the dragon the older guard grinned. 

"It doesn't matter what we stand for or against but if we will be standing the next day, miss." says the older guard.

"And we..." he takes a look at his younger companion "...have nothing to do with that dragon. That's their part..." he points with his foot to the body dressed in black.

Tyto draws himself up to his full height, while still holding his thorn-covered quarterstaff in his hand, and addresses the older of the two men.

"I think you forget that we only need to bring back one of you to the keep. And someone who speaks in riddles is no use... If you don't want to suffer the same fate as your comrades you will speak openly, tell us everything about why you are here and what it is that you're doing - and if I get the feeling that you leave anything out..." He raises his quarterstaff slightly.

OOC: Not sure if the situation makes an Intimidation check even necessary, but feel free to roll for me if so - according to our rules discussion you could also do it secretly if you want.

The guard looks at Tyto from his feet up to his face up high. Although much smaller he just gives a little grin.

"Having two prisoners is better than having just one... How would you know if he is telling the truth? But I understand your... impatience." he says looking at the ground for a moment but raises his head almost immediately "I am Arso and I am 2nd Lieutenant in Circle of Swords. We were hired for protection for them..." he points again to the black dressed body "...but no-one told us anything about the dragon and here, in this town it turned out we are to get as many gold and valuables as possible..." 

Swan only:

Swan's eyes narrow as she listens to the guard's explanation about the Circle of Swords.The Circle of Swords is known for being ruthless and will work for anyone with the coin to pay. Her suspicion about the men in black grows stronger as he reveals that they were the ones who hired them. She can't help but wonder if these men in black were working for the dragon, and if so, what was their ultimate goal? "So you're saying these guys hired you," she repeats, her tone clipped. "And you didn't know anything about the dragon? So were they the ones working for the dragon?"

Arso tightnens his lips taking a look at Cerau and giving her a faint smile. "Not until today." he says shaking his head. "You know... being a mercenary is one thing, but deeeeee..." he suddenly stops. His eyes and mouth are opened. He struggles to take a breath. For a split second you can see surprise and disbelief in his eyes as well as tremendous pain.

He slowly turns with tiny steps to look back. On his right side, just where the ribs end, you can see a handle of a knife or a dagger sticking out of his back. 

At the same time, Finn standing just behind him, drops his loot to the ground and draws another dagger from the sheet on his belt. You can see one is empty. 

Roll for initiative:

• Cerau: 16
• Swan: 5
• Sabynn: 22
• Tyto: 15
• Finn: 5

Without the slightest hesitation the white-haired elven maiden lets her arrow fly towards the backstabbing raider.
Elven Longbow: 18 Piercing: 10

Sabynn lets her arrow loose and just after a few feet it plunges, just above heart in the guard's chest.

With his eyes wide open he takes a look at the end of the arrow sticking out from his chest. Takes a look at Sabynn and speaks. "For her glory!" and he grabs the arrow and pulls it right from his chest...

The blood from the wound is flowing freely covering his chest and just seconds later his trousers. He falls to his knees. His left arm just dangles as he lets go the arrow fall on the ground and he follows it moment later.

OOC: he is dead, the combat ends.

Arso falls to his knees, as the pool of Finn's blood is getting bigger. You can almost see how he struggles to take a breath... His face is twisted from the pain, teeth are clenched.