Try to find information

Swiftly climbing down from the roof-top, Lillian considered the situation that she now found herself in.

Ivy, her friend since childhood, had changed somehow, that much had been obvious to Lillian during their meeting.

Lillian wasn?t sure, but she strongly suspected that it was the thought of the artefact that had played with Ivy?s mind, making her narrow-minded and greedy.

And if the artefact truly was of such nature that the mere notion of possessing it could distort people?s personalities, then Lillian had to do something to help her friend forget about it.

But that wouldn?t be easy, Lillian thought as she had now made her way to the entrance to her subterranean hideout, located below the main warehouse of one of the city?s more prominent merchants.

As she entered her chambers, she slid out of her discrete grey clothing and strode naked through the stone-covered floor, dropping it on her bed, thereafter beginning to look through her wardrobe.

It was clear to her that she at first needed to find out more about the artefact, what it was, and what it did. That would require use of her more diplomatic skills, and that meant that she had to dress in an order to ensure a positive reaction from those that she was to speak to.

To that purpose, Lillian slipped on a pair of thigh-high, black leather boots, a sheer turquoise skirt, cut so that her right leg was bare, while the cloth ran just an inch below her crotch.

She covered her ample chest with a snug, white top, and completed her outfit by adding several pieces of jewellery.

Facing herself in the mirror, Lillian felt confident that she would be able to gain the sympathies of most men, and many a women, just through her appearance.

Satisfied with her change of clothing, Lillian wrapped a cloak around her body and exited her lair, careful not to be spotted, and set of down the streets again, this time choosing to walk out in the open, swaying her hips as she did so.

She pondered upon possible sources of information.

Firstly, there were always the bars and taverns, where all sorts of people could be found, but that method carried the biggest risk of being noticed, especially since it was rumoured that the High Lord kept a near watch on what happened in all segments of town.

Secondly, she could make contact with the fences and other forms of criminals that she had connections with, but those bastards always wanted something in return, apart from their obvious demands about getting to ?fuck her silly?.

Thirdly, Lillian could always look around in the small magical colleges and the temples that lay dotted here and there in the city, but religious types weren?t the sort of people that Lillian got along with too smoothly, and one did best to stay away from magicians all together.