Argent realized they were in a difficult situation. One of the slaves had disappeared, and now there seemed to be more guards waiting for them.

But before he addressed his brother on what to do next, the half orc came standing next to him. Argent was surprised the man now decided to speak to him, but he was glad to speak his mind.

"We are as much slaves as you are. We have no choice but to bring you here. Still, keep your eyes open. I think you will not be in here for long."

He shot the warrior a meaningful look. He had implied a lot just now, and therefore he had spoken in a low voice, avoiding the ears of the others.

No matter what his intentions once the slaves were in, they needed to enter the building. He motioned for the others to wait, and keep back a bit, to see if the guards were going to continue patrolling, or whether something else was going on.

(OOC: I think we should wait a bit, to see what happens. I'm sure those guards are not going to keep standing there if they don't belong at the mansion.)

Thiferl walked in the back of the group trying to get someone to talk to him, to no avail. When the group stopped short he couldn't see over the slaves to see what they were looking at. When the slaves began milling he stuck his nose out around the corner to see what the fuss was all about.
"Oh." He said, though it took him a good fifteen seconds to say it.
He looked up and down the row of slaves, making eye contact with the rogue, the sorcerer and his brother. As if to say, now what?

(OOC: I am delaying the game update so you guys can figure out a course of action. Though I do wish to say thank you for posting. Once someone posts a plan on the main thread I'll post an update. Thanks!)

The half-elf eased over to the closest guild mate he could find and whispered as discretely as possible, "What are we waiting for? Weren't our orders to escort these people to the warehouse here? I know the armed guards may be cause for concern, but if this is what we were assigned to do, then is it not best to do as ordered? The guards here do not bear the same emblem as the ones that attacked us earlier, and the warehouse does bear the brand we were told to seek out."

[OOC: Hey all, I'm going to be reprising the role of "Skit"... though, I'm retooled him to work for me, so if he acts slightly different, forgive me ]

Daleel looked over the group of restless slaves, and back towards the guards near the warehouse. I don't like the looks of this... he thought anxiously. Normally, the halfling rogue would have liked to have some company if he was going to be sneaking about. But Daleel figured the rest of his mates would be best used here, trying to keep control of the frightened mob.

"Think quick, Skit!" he heard his brother's voice as he said the words. Turning towards the dwarven brothers, the halfling spoke his plan:

"W-w-whatcha say I go t-t-take a quick w-w-walk 'round... see if I can get a b-b-better look at those guards out-f-f-fits and that well-t'-do f-f-fellow. Maybe m-m-make my way 'round back, see if there b-b-be another w-w-way in."

Without waiting for much feedback, Daleel was off."You'll hear me if I need help."

[OOC: Steelight, I'm looking to have Daleel sneak stealthly like around to get a better view of the guards in order to identify them. I'm looking for a balance between efficiency and as much cover as possible.

If the guards appear to be the ones we are looking for (i.e. not enemies), Skit will report back. If they look like bad news, he'll look for another way into the building that would be easy to sneak the whole lot of them in. If that doesn't present itself, then Skit will just be looking for a way in to see who's home.]

Much of the group looks on as the guards around the warehouse take up positions outside of the main door. They seem to be watching the nearby street carefully, though they haven't noticed the group or their "cargo" as of yet.

Skit sneaks off along the side of the street, disappearing easily amidst the other street walkers and beggars. (His findings have been sent to him via PM.)

Meanwhile, the slaves are getting restless. Most have begun to slither into a side alley, out of the view of the guards. Many are frightened. Their eyes and the shivers that cascade through them are evidence enough of that. The red-haired woman is still nowhere to be seen, but a few of you do begin to get the feeling that someone is watching you. It is more a tingling on the back of your necks than anything concrete, but it is definitely there.

(OOC: Short one this week. Once Skit returns with his information, the group can plan what to do next and go fromt here.)

Skit moved quickly back to his companions. He noted with some anxiety that the number of slaves had thinned out even more during the few minutes of his scouting. Not good! Not good! Time to make a move or there will be noone left to deliver...
Coming up to the dwarf brothers, Daleel reported his findings, "The g-g-guards are wearing the s-s-same ins-s-signias as the ones b-b-back at the w-w-warehouse. L-l-looks like trouble for s-s-sure. There's a w-w-way in through th-th-the back, b-b-but it'll t-t-take a f-f-full half hour t-t-to m-m-make that d-d-delivery."

He looked around at his team. "Either we d-d-distract the g-g-guards away from the d-d-door and m-m-move the people through the fr-fr-front. Maybe one or t-t-two of us sn-sn-snipes at the guards and dr-dr-draws them away, then b-b-backtracks b-b-back to here?

"Or w-w-we tr-tr-try to sneak in th-th-the b-b-back. But w-w-we b-b-best move fast as we're losing our p-p-package r-r-rather quickly.

"Anyone got a b-b-better plan?"

Argent heard Skit's findings, and knew they had to act before the whole mission went to dust. He held up his hand to gather everybody's attention. He spoke in low tones, but loud enough so everybody would understand.

"People, we've almost reached our destination. Those guards over there have come to return you to your captivators. We have to move around the building to the back, where they will not find you. Follow our little friend here."

He pointed at the halfling and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Lead the way, my friend." he added softly.

It was always at moments like these that Echo wished he had more power at his disposal than he did at this point in his personal growth. Were he just a little more powerful, with just a few more spells at his disposal he may have been of more use in this mission. Now instead of dealing with the guards they had to try to sneak around the building and avoid detection, all while more and more of the slaves wandered away. In the back of his mind he couldn't help but remember that the last time they had tried stealthily moving this mob they had been detected and attacked. Whispering to no one in particular, but still only loud enough for the nearest guild mate to hear, he protests, "I'd just like it known that I am not too keen on this plan..." All protesting aside though he took up his post in the dwindling group and did his best to corral the scared slaves to the back door.

Shifting the body of the dead slave to the other shoulder Thiferl mentally calculates how many spells he'd used already today.
This is not how he envisioned today going. Break into a warehouse re-acquisition some crates move them to a new warehouse. Sounded easy enough this morning.
His stomach growled. He wondered when the last time these slaves had eaten was. He felt bad for them, hoped their true owner took good care of them.
He tried to remember how many had started this journey, and compared that with how many were still with them. The red-haired elf was the only one that he knew was missing for sure. It almost seemed pointless to be carrying this body around. He'd brought it this far though, he'd see it the rest of the way there.

Daleel gave Argent a quick nod, "Alright, l-l-let's go."

The little halfling took the lead, carefully picking his route to the rear of the warehouse for maximum concealment from the guards up front.

[OOC: Skit will be on high alert, looking to make regular perception checks as he goes.]

The half orc took both of his new ascertained long swords and prepared to stalk the darker night with the silence of a gliding raptor. He took to the side along with the stuttering halfling that had reported in.
Let us see if this eye can perceive what his eyes could not...
(OOC: will move silently and hide whenever possible, and will try to make perception checks as well.)

You herd the slaves through the shadowy darkness of the alleyways. By Skit's accounting you are just over half way along the path when two flashes of metal buzz past both Argent and Echo, embedding themselves in the sandy ground. A strong, masculine voice echoes in the alley.

"Did you know that stealing is against the laws of Calatain?"

A figure clad in flowing robes stands atop one of the buildings, silhouetted against the moon and stars.

In an instant he descends to the ground, almost running vertically down the side of the building before landing, perfectly balanced about 20' in front of the group. All of his features are covered by white cloth that looks like cotton or silk in the dim light. Even his hands are wrapped in the smooth white cloth.

"The merchant who most recently owned these slaves would be very happy to get them back, I'm certain. He must be for the price he paid to get them back."

The sound of metal once again echoes through the alley as he draws a pair of short-bladed swords.

"Now it is time to fulfill my contract."

(OOC: So far as you can tell, you face a single opponent that is blocking your way through the alley. There are other side alleys branching off of this one, but you have no idea where they go. After the first rounds actions are decided I will roll for initiative and we'll go from there.)

The half-orc gave a menacing glare to the arrogant new comer. He had no desire to fight here, as it would probably bring the other guards into the fray; however, it seemed like a physical conflict was immanent with this character's speech.
The half-orc made his way up to the front of the group as he continued his undaunted stare, this intense anger surging through his whole body and seemingly jumping to the confronter like a synapse link.

(OOC: Move action to front of group, Standard action to use Intimidate to demoralize- If my present account seems a little off, we can add grunt for the verbal part as the rule states that the target use both see and hear you. If Uthgar cannot get to within 30 ft. of the target, he still tries to intimidate.)

(P.S. You never said anything about initiative, So i decided to take it )

(P.S.S. Ayrn pointed out the rules you said on Init. Sorry for my lack of awareness, hope this post is still legit >.<)

Everything seemed to be going smoothly up until they were about halfway through the alley, then Echo had to flinch as what appeared to be a shard of metal buzzed by him. I knew this seemed to easy, now we've got this guy to deal with.
Diplomatic solutions seemed unlikely as this man already had shown his hostile regard for them, it seemed he was being paid to undo what they had worked so hard to do themselves. If diplomacy had been a possibility before, it sure wasn't after the half-orc stepped up menacingly and seemed almost to growl at the new comer.

Echo decided instead to brace himself for the fight that was sure to come and assumed a defensive stance and stepped back just to be sure he was out of range to be able to cast anything he may need to cast.