Awwww, but snakes are delightful!

"Good luck."

And she wraps herself in the chameleon technique again.

He looks around, waits a moment, then edges around his desk and out the door.

The Keres steps aside to let him pass.

"That was successful, I think."

"Could have gone more smoothly, but I don't think there's anyone here with true ambition, so."

"I suppose now the question is what to do to fill the time until he's ready."

"I think it'd be fun to do a very thoroughly planned campaign. Identify targets in the order we want to hit them, rather than running by our whim."

"We should go find some templars, then. This Knight-Commander Meredith, her subordinates."

"Quite. They'd be almost necessary, for an opening move."

"We might also consider the Chantry's power structure, and the secular leadership."

She nods. "They'll be so much more vulnerable without their heads."

Off to find some templars. Meredith is leading a group of trainees in training exercises. She's an older woman with a harsh voice, and is clearly used to command. The templars are all in fear or awe or both of her.

...Hisame can't resist a few illusory sounds that only Meredith will be able to hear. Just to damage her reputation a little, get her twitchy...

But her main goal is figuring out the chain of command, here.

If Meredith gets twitchy, she hides it well.

The command structure seems to be as follows: the Knight-Commander, who directs all the local templars. Eight Knight-Captains, who report to her and manage three Knight-Lieutenants each. A Knight-Lieutenant leads a squad of up to twenty regular templars.

Such a tiny little organization. 

Which of the Knight-Captains seem most competent, most nervous, most paranoid...

There's a spectrum. She can get a pretty good idea of everyone's basic characteristics over some time of covert observation.

Good.

She fucks with the Knight Commander a bit more, slow creeping plausible deniability hallucinations, overheard conversations no one's actually having...

She gets visibly frazzled as the day goes on. Her subordinates step even lighter than usual as she gets snappier.

Hisame eventually lets the hallucinations fade out.

She's getting a bit bored here, and thinks they've gotten a good first round of information, especially since they aren't blowing up the Gallows quite yet. 

Unless the Keres has other business here, she'd like to return to the city.

Back to the city is fine by her. Their boatman is napping. A column of water lifts out to slap him in the face. He startles awake. "Whazzat- Oh. Y'back."

"We return. No talking."

She laughs, and looks out over the water on the ride back, filtering through any assorted chaos her clone has gotten up to (surprisingly no murders) so she can update the Keres when they get back to the house.

The Qunari they passed on the way to the docks guard the entrance to an entire enclave full of the ox-men. They've barricaded off and fortified an entire block. It's much cleaner and more orderly within their borders than without. A representative of the viscount came by while Hisame's clone was sneaking around to ask again if the Qunari knew when they would be moving on. The leader, the Arishok, said that they are waiting for a ship. The representative asked if they had any word on when the ship would arrive. The Arishok said nothing. The representative left, defeated. Afterwards, the Arishok gave orders that the search for the woman and her stolen prize be redoubled. The Qunari are very disciplined, and don't react amusingly to attempted mischief.

As far as finding Bartrand the dwarf goes, she knows he's merchant, which makes the dwarven Merchant's Guild building in Hightown a logical place to begin. From there, she can pick up his trail, which leads to a bar in Lowtown, the Hanged Man. A former favorite of his dead brother. He's drowning his sorrows and telling his story to anyone who'll listen. Apparently, Hisame and the Keres are dreadful demons with wings of shadow, seven feet tall and half-darkspawn, who have but to look at a man to make him fall over stone dead.

This is all intensely amusing, and she somewhat idly relays it to the Keres.

"Quite the effect we've had on him."

"Apparently he didn't think at all to mount a rescue expedition for the one I knocked out! And I could have sworn I mentioned that one was alive."

"Some people have no sense of priorities. I do hope he recovered quickly enough. Eaten by wildlife while unconscious is such an ignominious end."