She nods along.

(Seems like fairly standard social dynamics, at least. Warlords are something she knows, and if these Names have more personal power than others- that's familiar too.)

Luka manages to get some gossip on the guards - well trained, obedient, though often as cruel as their leader - at least from descriptions of how they behave when about town.

People do trade directly with the castle, and there's a good amount of in and out.

That could be their entrance.

They'll be arriving soon enough. The closest stop is in the port on the edge of town; after that, the boat will keep going down river. It'll be evening; does she want to spend much time in the town itself? (Luka seems anxious.)

They can keep moving.

He prefers that...

The town is - decent sized, probably, for their technology level. Tiny by any metric Elesse's used to. Crowded and smelly and downtrodden, full of cautious people under the eyes of a rather disproportionate number of guards. The castle looms grandly over the shabby town, and there's a dedicated road to it from the docks that the wealthier merchants take.

Are there any merchants on the road at the moment?

There's some heading away from the castle; no one seems to be planning on starting business now.

Are the guards alert and competent as well as numerous?

Alert, certainly. Competent - possibly. They show signs of being extremely thoroughly drilled, at least, unusually so for a place apparently this far from active war zones.

What other approaches to the castle are there?

Not many; it's well fortified against outright attack, even if less so against sufficiently clever infiltration. There's no easily visible drain, nor a profusion of entrances and exits. The trees around the town are cleared to a good distance.  There's one heavily fortified gate in each direction, only one of which seems to be usually open.

"Here are our options, as I see them," she says to Luka. "We can attempt to infiltrate directly, which will be dangerous and has a high chance of failure. We can wait until tomorrow and persuade a merchant convoy to allow us to join. One of us could cause a distraction while the other sneaks in. Or we could ambush a pair of guards and take their uniforms."

He hesitates, biting his lip. "Ambushing guards seems risky, too - we won't know their routines or anything. I - don't want to wait, but I think failing would - just make more problems..."

"Uniforms will get us up to the gate. I am fairly confident I can talk us through."

"Would that be faster than going in with merchants?"

"Yes, we could do that tonight."

"I don't want to leave her longer than we have to."

"Let us find an alley, then."

He nods.

There's a few good ones, some even decent ambush points for assorted guards.

Elesse waits for a pair of guards with approximately the correct heights to pass by. She lures them into the dark with an illusory noise and knocks them out quietly and efficiently.

Luka hangs back, eyes a bit wide.

Still, he helps her get their uniforms off fairly efficiently, and arranges them into comfortable positions after.

Then it's off to the castle.

They're not stopped, heading towards the castle.

They are at the gate. They need to state their names, ranks, and current assignment.

She reaches out to push the gate guard's mind. They've already given that information.