A smile split Temiker’s face and he peered out at the street once more. Seeing nothing visible, he sprinted across the street and down another alley. Swiftly and furtively, the wizard negotiated alley after alley until he was in the north section of the city. Standing in an alley not far from the North Gate, he summoned the fog around his feet and let it build to a thick roiling cloud. With a flick of his wrist he sent the cloud spewing forth towards the gate like an ocean wave descending upon a tiny isle. While he would have liked to watch the reactions of the invaders, Temiker turned and ran back up the alley. Shouts rang muffled through the mist as the bald mage crossed a street and headed along another alley.

Temiker was getting winded from the run across town and paused in one of the muddy alleys to catch his breath. He gazed up between the buildings and saw the first hint of the morning sky. While dawn was still some time off, the darkness he was using so effectively would be receding quickly. Removing his white robe, Temiker dragged it along the muddy alley until it was filthy. He scooped a handful of mud and smeared some on his face and bald head. Donning his now filthy robe, the wizard took off down the alley again. Each time he waited to cross a street, he brushed at the mud on his head and robe. As the caked mud began to dry, portions of it flaked off. By the time he reached the south section of the city, it no longer looked as though he covered himself with mud, he just looked filthy.

As he neared the South Gate, Temiker adopted a hunched-over walk and shuffled his feet awkwardly. He glanced anxiously about as he rolled his head from side to side as he walked. There were four Imperial Guards at the gate. There were also six men who could possibly be with the invaders, all of them darkly clad. Temiker hobbled across the street to the city wall and leaning against it, slid down to a sitting position. Rolling his head from side to side, he looked every bit a drunken beggar, yet not so drunk that the Guard would arrest him.