"Of course," he agrees. He pulls Ilek down into a hug, "I'll be back in no time at all. Try not to worry too much - I have been doing this for a long time." 

He nods, stepping back, and lets Jaim leave. 

Can we have the translation rune, before you go?

He pauses, "Yes, of course," he agrees, pulling the stone out of a pouch. He hands it to Ilek. 

"I will see you all later," he says, nodding to DZ and Deskyl, and squeezing Ilek's arm, before leaving the room. 

She gives Ilek a hug, too. I'll notice if there's fighting. I didn't tell him about it because my range is better for stronger emotions, if they're expecting backup I can't hear them as far away.

He nods, "And they're going to be fine," he says, steadying himself. 

That too. Do you want to watch them go?

He nods, "Yes."

"I'd also like to see the city, when you find it?" He has no reason to believe she'd suggest otherwise, but he should still mention it. 

Sure.

He smiles a little, loses it. 

"We should wait near the walls," he says, "Better not to wait on them until the Imperials are focused on the attack." 

It's not that hard to shield you from projectiles if you stay close.

He nods, brightening a bit at this, "Alright - though we should tell the soldiers on the wall so they don't worry."

They can head out of the CC, and down to the walls. Ilek finds the Captain in charge to let him know, and then they can wait just outside of the gatehouse on the walls, out of the way. 

She puts up the shield - a simple standing telekinesis effect - as soon as they're settled, and takes a moment to 'look' at the imperial encampment again.

They still haven't noticed anything amiss, though the mood of the camp is tense from the waiting. There is an argument going on between two people at the back of the camp, and those around them are some mix of uncomfortable, afraid, and angry. 

Good timing, they're distracted.

Jaim leads a group of sixteen out of one of the nearby buildings, Istaim to his right. They have a quick conversation when they reach the gates, and then Istaim spins out a very large thread of illusion, casting a spell with it. 

Apparently they're taking a page out of the Imperials' book - or else the Imperials had taken a page out of theirs. The group vanishes like mist in the light - though of course Deskyl can still sense them. 

The gates open just a hair to let them through, and then quickly close again. No one in the enemy encampment is alarmed. 

"They are? That's good. Hopefully this will go as planned, then." 

Yeah. Should be fine.

Shortly she can feel a large mass of people creeping up into her casual sensing range on the other side of the enemy fort. Jaim and his people circle around to meet them, and then they spend a short time going over plans with their commander. 

Meanwhile, a much larger party of Cialin comes together inside the gates of Kiat, preparing to march out. Someone on the walls rings the alarm bells once they're all prepared.

Jaim's group splits from the reinforcements, coming around the enemy camp to wait at a third point. The reinforcements start making their way closer to the treeline, and the gates open, the Kiat forces begin filing out, mages at the front focused and prepared to cast defensively should this be necessary. 

They want the Imperials to know they're coming - with the back-up plan that they won't know General Jaim and his elites are prepared to infiltrate their camp, if they prove unwilling to retreat or surrender. 

The enemy notices the bells, and the gates opening and spilling out Cialin. The argument is put on hold as they turn their attention to Kiat, though the Imperials who had been witness to it are still tense and unhappy.

Deskyl narrates this all to Ilek. Wonder what the argument was about. Hopefully nothing important.

They seem prepared to dig in and wait - at least, until the reinforcements cross the treeline and they see how outnumbered they are. 

There's a tense moment, as the two Cialin armies come to a stop just out of easy spell range of the enemy camp. Then, they signal retreat, leaing behind much of the camp to flee in a fairly orderly fashion. 

She reports this, too, pointing out where Ilek should watch to see them, if his eyes are sharp enough. (Do you have binoculars here? I can probably reinvent them if you don't.)

He frowns, "The magic is translating that as 'two spyglasses stuck together', sort of. So I think we don't." 

He watches. The two forces of Cialin come together as the Imperials retreat, some of them following after them from a distance, though he can't see the latter. 

It is interesting what has been lost, Stormsinger comments, This world had binoculars before the Seal. 

Yeah. Short-lived species do have some disadvantages.

They're basically two small spyglasses stuck together, yeah. I'm not sure what the advantage to that is but I bet there is one, if simpler was better my training would have recommended it.