"I agree. We could demolish the fortress here and have our run of the city unimpeded, if we wished."

She grins. "That could be a fun opening move! Imagine the panic sweeping through them..."

"They would not know how to react, the lynchpin of their defense stripped before they knew they needed it."

"They'd be oh so vulnerable, afraid at every turn and bump..."

"Though for full effect, we might wish to wait for the dwarf's tale to percolate through the city more fully."

"Patience does so often pay off - though I am very tempted to set a clone to following him, and see if I can't get him telling it to a crowded room at the same moment we act."

"A clone?"

"I can't show it here, but I can make a duplicate of myself out of chakra. They're called shadow clones. Fairly fragile and expensive, so not entirely effective in combat, but when they dismiss I get their memories. A rather wonderful espionage tool."

"I see. That sounds like a good idea, then. We could also use the time to prepare the ground with either the templars or the mages, if we wish to do more than simply incite terror."

"I'd like to see the end of that nasty Tranquil business, at least."

"Mm. It is unfortunate."

"I can't imagine Tranquil mages would be at all fun to kill - I wonder if there's a way of restoring them..."

She is about to say something when a templar approaches the two of them.

     "Excuse me ladies, but the Gallows is not a gathering spot. If you have no further business here, you need to move on."

"Oh, I'm quite sorry. Just admiring the view, you know. Do we have further business?" She turns the question to the Keres.

"-None the good knight-lieutenant here need to concern himself with, I think. It would not do to distract him, lest his charges summon more demons under his nose. The weather here is better than in the south, don't you think? And the promotion suits you."

     "I..." He looks vaguely stunned. "Y- Move along." He waves his hand, though it's unclear if the gesture is to urge them on, ward them off, or dispell an unpleasant odor.

She laughs, walking away from the stunned knight-captain - but not back to the boat.

Once she's plausibly out of earshot: "Want to try slipping inside? I can split off a clone now, too, to go look for our erstwhile dwarf."

"Yes. All the interesting mages are kept inside, I think."

There's an immensely faint shimmer as Hisame forms a clone and immediately layers a chameleon technique over it.

Clone takes off back to the city, to stalk the dwarf and probably get distracted by random alleyways. (If she sees any exceptionally tempting targets, murders while they have a solid alibi would be very fun.)

"That would fit the pattern."

"Yes. Circle around outside or sneak in from here?"

"I could manage either, though from here might be interestingly challenging."

"There's a door at the top of this wall that leads into the tower and is presently unguarded on either side. Would you like to make it a race?"

"Sure," says the clone Hisame leaves in her place as she darts off, invisible.

There's a flash of light among the Circle mages, drawing everyone's attention. The Keres teleports to the door and steps through it, passing through like a ghost.

Oh, if they're playing with teleports...

Hisame swaps places with the Keres.

Tch. Almost made it. She blinks back up and moves through the door again. It's still locked, so if Hisame can't phase through it, she might yet win.