In one part of the cemetary, closer to what would more properly be the Old City, there stands a lone house surrounded by a stone wall that provides a meager defense against those who might approach without invitation by foot. The house bears an architectural similarity to that of the Moz Ezley Asylum, displaying a forced perspective that makes it look taller than it really is, if viewed from the grounds. If viewed from a higher elevation – such as from the top of one of the taller mausoleums or cenotaphs, or one of the ruins of the Old City – it just makes the building look as if the walls are leaning inward.

Atop one of those nearby tombs, a figure crouches behind a corner's crumbling gargoyle, the charcoal-grey fur of a vulpine muzzle and face close against the frame of a spyglass as he peers through it, seemingly at the lone house. He is dressed all in loose-fitting black of some sort, that and the colors … or non-colors … of his fur blending into the graveyard's drifting mists.

The house is old, but has undergone significant renovations as it has been turned over to the use of the Ambassador from Babel. There are few lights within the house, mostly from the floor level, in the area around the kitchen. However, that is not to say that the light marks the only activity … peeking through the windows with the spyglass, Savanite slaves can be seen going about mundane chores … but here and there, there are hints of Eeee guards patrolling the grounds, relying more upon their legendary sense of hearing rather than sight. And, there is a black-shelled Vykarin barely visible at the entrance, sniffing the air tentatively. Fortunately, for the time being, the spy's well-chosen position is downwind of the Embassy, and even at that, the air here is broken up as it blows across and through the broken monuments and tombstones, greatly reducing the breezes that might otherwise shift now and then.

The spy watches all this activity carefully … and without sound, having carefully oiled the spyglass's rather needlessly ornate focusing rings. He tracks slowly across the lower windows of the house, adjusting his view. He starts a bit at a glimpse of golden fur, only to slump again as the Savanite it belongs to comes fully into view. The fox resettles his position and begins to do the same for the upper windows of the house, momentary glancing down at guards assuring him that he's not been noticed.

The upper story of the house shows shadows that should be windows … but part of the renovation appears to have been devoted to blocking up those portals.

It's hard to tell, really, without some specialization in architecture … but it is quite probably a recent addition to the house, and NOT in the original plans. The Vykarin, meanwhile, heads back inside … but there are signs of other movement just outside the walls about the grounds … and the sounds of implements striking on stone, and dirt being shovelled.

Kani examines the now-covered windows carefully, panning from one … to the next, all the way across the length of the upper story. He sighs and carefully tucks up his spyglass, stowing it in a soft pack strapped around hip and shoulder so as not to move much. He watches the guards until most seem to have their cupped ears facing in other directions, then flattens his own and very slowly backs from the gargoyle, to the far end of the tomb, where he hangs and drops, landing softly in a digitigrade crouch. He moves with the graveyard's mists, staying downwind as he ducks behind a mossy tombstone, peering toward those who are digging, out of idle curiousity, and then once again focusing on the house. He seems to be takeing note of where guards, doors, and openable-looking windows are. He thinks to himself. o O {I'm going to have to get in there myself, see what's in that upper floor. Too much of a coincidence that she vanished here… }

The diggers pay no notice to the fox … but one of the Eeee guards looks out roughly in the fox's direction. There's a faint ringing in the fox's ears … and the bat moves out of sight, hidden by the separating wall.

Kani freezes, knowing quite well what a high-pitched sound from bats means. He very quickly ducks down behind the tombstone, onto the mossy damp ground, dropping his pack and quickly slipping out of his black garb to reveal a dingy grayish tunic beneath. He stuffs the black clothing into his pack and hides it in a nearby bunch of scrubby plants, then scoops up some of the moist dirt and gets it onto his clothing and fur. Where a second ago there was a black-clad spy, now there's just … well … a shuffling-looking gray groundkeeper in looks. He rises in a motion as if he's trying straightening the tombstone he was behind, as it was in fact sunk into the mossy turf and a bit askew.

A big Titanian groundskeeper lumbers not far from where the fox is, not paying him the slightest heed. He walks up to where a couple of Kavis are digging in the dirt around a tombstone, then waves at them. They part way for him, as he levels a mighty sledge over his shoulders.

With a great swing, the Titanian brings the hammer down on the tombstone, doing what a Titanian does best. The stone cracks and fragments, and parts of it slide away, to be scooped up and carted off by the other groundskeepers.

Kani looks a bit startled to himself, and then, meandering as if he's looking for specific gravestones to straighten, he idly wanders past the digging Kavis and stone-breaking Titanian. "Heh. I's bein' paid ta make-nice graves f'r noble-types still livin' up in the quarter, relatives n' all … What'cha break'n those for? Not that I cares, not on list I got… "

The Titanian looks to the Kavis, then back to Kani. "Hey, you is not in dis crew. You best git. Missus Nastybat hassa orders to clear all dis, and if'n anyone causes no protest an' tries ta resist… SKTTTTTCH!" He makes a hissing noise as he draws his finger across his throat. "Dey dun gets KILT!" He then wanders over to a very very old-looking monument – fairly well-preserved, compared to most – of what is probably an Aeonian, with a very sad expression on its face. The Titanian sizes up the base of the statue, weighing the mallet in his hands.

Kani tilts his head and backs up a step, appropriately. "Missus Nastybat?" He glances up at the house. "Seems lotsa them is. Chase you off if you gets too close. Who she?" He winces inwardly as he Titanian raises the mallet. "Heh … Wonder if thing like that's worth shekels in one piece, could be… "

The Titanian grunts as his 'aim' is messed up, and lowers his mallet to lean on the butt. "Dunna matter. We git lotsa shekkies to bust up da graveyard. Better be! This graveyard is SCARRRRY!" The Kavis nod in agreement, as they scatter about, loading debris into a wheelbarrow.

Kani looks around and flicks his ears, then turns back to the Titanian. "Heh. Ain't ya worried if ya bust up people's graves, they gonna come back down from the Procession and haunt ya f'rever? Or … " He glances around suspiciously. "Somethin's gonna come up right out of the ground, pair'a bony claws, grab your ankles where ya standin' 'cause you broke da stone?" He shakes his head. "I ain't gonna do that. You must be brave, r' somethin. Wierd stuff around here. Supposed to be a golden vixen 'bout, too … looks real, but she's a ghost … seen her, maybe, yet?"

The Titanian shudders … and looks to the Kavis … but they've already rushed off with their load, leaving the fox alone with the large wolf for now. "Hey, dunna talk too loud 'bout da ghostie. She may come back. Somethin' up wiffin' the missybat and that ghost, yup." It would seem that he can only digest so many ideas from the fox at a time, because he's starting to lift up his mallet again, readying a swing against the base of the ancient monument.

"Likes foxies, I done heard," the Titanian says, grunting a bit as he pulls back. "Likes ta eat foxies, or somepin." Then, a curious look creases his brow, and he drops his hammer again. "Hey! YOUSE a foxie!"

Kani flicks his ears back. "Ahhh… so ya have seen her, huh … She around with that bat a' yours? Bat got a name?" He glances up at the house. "Up dere?" He looks around and grins, positioning to let his eyes catch light from the windows of the house above and glow, catlike. "Yup. I's a foxie." He tilts his head again. "Bat likes foxies, y'said?"

"Uhhhh… " The Titanian looks terribly confused. "Da ghost likes foxies. Dunno about da bat. Bat dunna like nobody, methinks. Uhhh … Kah-rah, methinks her name is. She's some hobby-snobby batbat type."

Kani hehs. "Sure the bat not bein' a ghost too?" He curls his tail about the ghost. "She scary legend … You seen her inna house up there, down here?"

The Titanian shakes his head. "She gone now. Doin' batbat snobby stuff."

Kani says, "Snobby stuff, heh? Wouldn't mind meetin' her, da ghost, I mean. Not afraid o' dem." He flicks an ear. "That Bry-an-a Karah is ya bat? She real nasty, been around rich people payin' me to do dis stuff. If ya can tell me where da ghost might be, I's can make sure bat be hearin' from people you be workin' real hard down here, earn ya more shekels… "

"Oh, da ghost?" the Titanian ponders. "I guess if'n you walk round all alone, you find da ghost vent-oo-ly. Speshly if youse a foxie." He blinks, then says, "Bry-an-a? Nope … We's all s'posed ta let da missus know if she comes snoopin'."

The wolf seems to be seriously considering the mention of some words of praise and shekels.

Kani thinks to himself, puzzled. o O {What would she be doing wandering? Did they do something to her?}… He grins. "I maybe be walkin' round all alone, den." He nods about bats. "Ahh… other Karah, den. Gotcha. Still can be lettin' her know you's a real hard worker… I's just wanna see da ghost for m'self. Keep hearin', never sees.

"Never sees is BEST," the Titanian says, and prepares to smash the statue again.

Kani gives a slightly mysterious grin. "Maybe. Ghost foxies around, how's you know I's not a ghost too?"

There are other sounds of destruction, as ancient monuments, cenotaphs, mausoleums and tombstones are being smashed down and the pieces carted away. Kavis are levelling the ground … making a nice, smooth ground that is slowly extending outward from the Embassy grounds through what is slowly becoming the FORMER domain of the Old Graveyard.

The Titanian stops in midswing, then looks at Kani … and sees those eyes that seem to GLOW in the reflected light. There is a long pause and then … "YAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE! IZZA YAMMERANTS!" He charges off, swinging his hammer wildly!

Kani watches the wolf, large of form but not of brain, run off. He looks up at the sad Aeonian statue and brushes a paw at it. o O {At least I saved this, for a while… I wonder if the Temple knows of this? And … Maza, wandering?} He sighs and turns to at least try to pick up her scent … quite difficult in the mossy ground and misty, heavy air, wondering how best to get closer to this 'Karah' and find out what's happened to Maza…

It would appear that Maza, if she has been out this way, hasn't left a scent. But then, there is so much destruction being wrought upon the Old Cemetary in some strange operation that so far seems to serve nicely to deprive the fox of any convenient place to hide within many meters of the wall surrounding the embassy grounds. A bat can be seen flying overhead … flapping off in the direction of the fox's previous hiding place.

Kani watches the bat and shakes his head. o O {Suspicious. I'll have to find a way in, definitely something as harmless as possible. Wonder if the Temple does know about this desecration or not?} He finds the bush where he'd hidden his pack, scoops it up, and wanders away from the graveyard in a direction opposite the embassy, straightening the occiasional tombstone, until he's safely away. He stops at an inn, emerging from their facilities as a now-clean, groomed gray fox in simple breeches and tunic embossed with the logo of a delivery business, carrying a package which he then delivers to his own residence, entering … and then exits a bit later in entirely different colors and clothing, heading to the Temple.

Kani, once back in the Temple, after making a simple report of the desecration to the Old Cemetery, proceeds to the Temple's libraries to request information on this 'Kara'. "Ambassador?" He reads more, then heads off to the office of the diplomatic staff, making … arrangements of some sort. Late that evening, he leaves the Temple, but does not go back to his home. Instead, the cemetery, its smashed monuments and torn earth now reminiscent of a battlefield, finds itself in the company of a solitary fox in the light of the Procession, mists swirling silently around him as he waits, just … in case.