Before the councilman had even left the room a hum of grumbles and murmurs erupted like a swarm of angry bees. A few shouts even saw him out though by the time the guild master had closed the door behind most of the noise had died down. Ethan had neither spoken nor shouted, he was simply too confused to do anything other than look around with a blank expression, paired with a slack jawed open mouth, though he did manage to focus his attention on the guild master once he cleared his throat to bring everyone to order. Everyone's respect for the man was clear as, despite their frustrations at the situation, they at least offered him their silent, albeit teeth grinding, attention so he could offer whatever explanation he had.

"As you just heard, this operation is on hold. It seems there was an emergency meeting and a concern about..." Owen paused and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Not only did he know his following statement was going to cause a small explosion but in truth he felt similarly. A few more seconds and a deep breath he lowered his hand and continued.

"They are concerned about how it would look if a bunch of adventurers were seen moving about in mass within the city walls. They feel it would undermine the city guard and look poorly on Cloudcrest to have an independent third party essentially doing their job."

Despite their respect for the guild master the truth of the situation caused so much agitation and anger that they couldn't help to voice their outrage.

"Then why aren't they doing anything?"

"They care about their image at a time like this?"

"What are they going to do?"

"What about the children?"

"Did that pompous walrus the cause?"

"Was someone paid off?"

"Yea, are they involved with the kidnappings?"

The guild master wasn't a novice when it came to handling angry customers, and adventurers... mostly adventurers, so he let them voice their complaints for a moment or so, allowing them to vent a bit, before regaining control of the situation right as it began to turn toward speculation. Raising a hand while he also began to reply, saving his actual response for when control had been regained, he slowly quieted everyone again.

"Okay, okay, I understand and agree with your anger. I'm not sure who invoked the emergency meeting nor how the voting fell. However, I strongly suggest everyone maintain calm when speaking ill of the council's intentions. Some of them may be elected but not all, and their power is substantial. Remember, this isn't a republic."

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He paused and looked around the room to make sure they understood the importance of his words.

"What I will say is that it has the possibility of looking suspicious, however, that doesn't change the situation, nor the limitations that have been set upon us. We will have to reach out to city hall to get more details as the councilman ra.... Owen caught himself before saying "ran" and coughed with a sideways glance before continuing, "ah, left, before he provided any of those details."

Several adventurers suddenly spoke out, one of which just happened to be standing next to Ethan, who jumped slightly at the outburst.

"So we are just going to wait?"

"We are running out of time!"

"Are they going to meet with the guild's eye witness?"

Owen held up a hand as soon as he heard the last question about Ethan, the witness, and the sudden chorus of "Yea! Are they?" in reply.

"Unfortunately, under the assumption we would be spearheading the rescue we hadn't yet sent the details of our mission to city hall. The situation had been too fluid up until just a little bit ago to put anything definitive in writing. It would be safe to assume that city hall isn't even aware of our eye witness. However..."

He stopped and glanced in Ethan's direction before looking back to the group as a whole in general.

"To make sure we don't waste the council's time in taking them a possible witness, I would like to send out a... groups of adventurers to keep our witness, who just happens to match the description of those kidnapped, safe as they walk around town. You know, bodyguards."

Owen couldn't have been more obvious to those present, with the verbal and somatic emphasis he was placing on certain words, not too much the exaggerated facial expressions, though his words kept things pretty safe. At the end he motioned toward Ethan and finished his announcement.

"If you would like to bodyguard our witness, Ethan, please speak to Lorelle. I do believe he was planning on going for a stroll here shortly, so if you're interested don't dwaddle. Also, the rest of you, make sure you are on standby. You know, just in case our witness is attacked and we need backup, or information about outside Cloudcrest is obtained. Just to be safe of course."

He offered them a smile before turning and opening the door. Once his back was to them his mouth relaxed and his jaw flexed. Despite his carefulness when speaking to the group, and his somewhat jovial display over the last few moments, the guild master was livid with the situation. Closing the door with a flip of his wrist he glanced over his shoulder to catch Cecelia's gaze and nodded toward his office. She had noted the guild master didn't say her name when speaking about protecting Ethan so had expected something like Owen's nod. As the door closed she looked to Lorelle with a nod and then moved toward a side door closer to her. Owen reached Cecelia as she closed side door and stepped into the hallway next to him.

"You and Lorelle hold things down here. It seems that the city hall really wishes to discuss things with me face to face."

Cecelia nodded in understanding, figuring that Owen was being sarcastic and simply wanted to go speak to them directly.

"Understood sir. We'll keep things moving and will ensure Mr. Kipley's safety."

He couldn't help but smile just a bit at her acknowledgement of his subterfuge, though in honesty he hadn't really been trying to hide his true intentions.

"Please do. I'll be back as soon as possible."

Cecelia nodded with a subtle bow upon stopping letting him continue his way toward his office and then, she presumed, one of the back exits.