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Post by Game Master on Dec 16, 2009 2:14:13 GMT -5
Shiv stood outside Jhessil's trade goods shoppe with fellow thief Rombus. Rombus was four years Shiv's senior as well as his main contact with the guild. Members under the age of eighteen were considered junior members and were not allowed full access like the adults. He could still fence his goods at the jewelry store and ask to be holed up for awhile if things became unsafe to be on the streets, but for the most part Shiv was on his own. He had never met the Guilds master 'Good Heart' and never been to a meeting though he knew they took place at the Traveler's Inn just up the road.
Rombus poked Shiv in the ribs with a bony elbow. The elder thief was all bones being over six feet tall, but not weighing much more then Shiv. Gangley was the term others had used to describe him. Today Rombus was helping Shiv get better at picking pockets. He'd trained all morning and now they were scoping out potential marks.
"That one." Rombus stated. "The light skinned Southerner with black, shoulder length hair with a white stripe. See him?"
Shiv spotted the unique hair. The mark didn't look much older then Rombus. He was talking to a dwarf a little further up the road as they walked in the direction of the Traveler's Inn and the Hiring Hall. The man's coin purse thumped against his hip on a short cord. He seemed unarmed though the dwarf was decked out for battle. A mercenary no doubt. There had been a huge influx of warrior types ever since gold was found up in the hills above the dwarven iron mine. "What are you waiting for? Go get me that purse."
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Post by raptor on Dec 16, 2009 16:21:36 GMT -5
Shiv nodded moving along as if he was moved toward the mark and pulled his hood up. His is mind was working out the route to pass by him and snag the gold. It was simple look a like he was passing by and vanish to crowd or an alley. If he got clumsy he could do the begging for cash and as the mark walked away quietly release him of the burden...
That was the plan anyhow...simple. If only the rest of life were as easy. the young thief was hardly a poster child of good luck. He eked out a life of poverty in village after village after all the people in his died of an odd plague. After a few near death encounters with monsters he found group of other young toughs...
Together they formed a gang..but like most gangs. The 'wild boys' became to over confident. It was one thing Shiv wasn't, he disagreed with the rest on raid of noble convoy and stayed behind. and it was good thing he did. The group was overwhelmed and killed.
But that was the past, now he had a mark..
(Pick pocket, Palming, and conceal rolls, Prowl and MA check to blend in)
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Post by Game Master on Dec 19, 2009 3:06:45 GMT -5
ooc: check out your very own OOC thread in the OOC Threads board.
Shiv managed to cut the purse cleanly enough, but fumbled it and almost dropped it. quickly attempting to conceal it on his person he shoved it into his shirt. The bulge it made was hardly unnoticeable, but thank the Gods the mark hadn't stopped talking to the dwarf. Neither seemed to have noticed his poor performance. Giving up on getting away stealthily the young thief opted for blending in and acting natural. After a few minutes meandering he met up with Rombus beside a tall oak tree behind the main road. "What the hell was that?" The teen barked as he ripped the purse from Shiv's hand once he brought it out of his shirt. "By the eyes of Lady Death, you should have been skewered by those two!" The thief shook his head in disgust. He opened the purse strings while ranting. "Yer gonna have to do better then that Shiv. The cutting was a fine piece of work, but..." he dumped a large hand full of gold crowns into his palm and deposited them somewhere on his person. Tossing the almost empty bag back at Shiv he finished his lecture, "Enough for today. Go spend your coin. I'll see you around." He walked off toward the Drunken Griffin Tavern leaving Shiv alone.
All in all it wasn't a bad days work. Shiv had made over a hundred gold plus whatever was still to be added from this last heist. He wouldn't have to work for a week if he was frugal. Feeling smug he began walking the towns busy streets aimlessly, while day dreaming of what to do with his small fortune. He was so caught up in his own mind that he smacked head first into someone with such force he fell backward onto his haunches with an 'oof' escaping his lips. "Watch where your going boy." a scratchy male voice barked.
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Post by raptor on Dec 21, 2009 12:37:39 GMT -5
"Apologies sir!" he looked as apologetic and scoped this new person. Like most marks he needed to be gauged, Who knows the Shiv might find something more interesting than picking pockets with the 'Thinman'.
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Post by Game Master on Dec 21, 2009 21:33:49 GMT -5
ooc: love the nickname.
Shiv took one look at the man and went pale with fear. He was rarely seen, but all the locals knew Gardrax the Great. The mighty Alchemist who owned the Nexus Point Magic shoppe stood before him now. He appeared human, though Shiv knew others swore he was an elf and others whom saw him as a gnome. "What you lookin' at boy? Hmmm. you got the glow of magic about you? Now how is that I wonder?"
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Post by raptor on Dec 24, 2009 11:29:20 GMT -5
"Not sure, sir" he tried not show concern or fear but was not likely doing that well, "I have no knowledge of the dark arts. It's nothing to dangerous I hope..." he showed a bit more concern to this reference. Maybe his last mark was a Spellslinger and put curse on his gold. Shiv wanted to see if the rumors were true, but he guessed that man's gaze may turn him stone or something painful.
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Post by Game Master on Dec 26, 2009 20:31:59 GMT -5
The great Alchemist cocked an eye brow at the youth, mumbled a phrase and motioned with the fingers of his right hand before speaking. "That pouch boy." he pointed to the newly accuired money purse. "Be a good lad and give it to old Gardrax for a look-see will yea?"
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Post by raptor on Jan 2, 2010 15:39:00 GMT -5
"You can only examine IF I'm there. This might be worth something I want my cut." he stated with a grin. No way shiv was going to be cut out of loot. Magic was expensive and he wanted his share.
"Since you might need my help with this..." Shiv added humbly, and we should take this elsewhere perhaps?" he looked briefly at the bag and back to Gardrax. Gardrax was a feared man this kind of association could keep rivals of or provide adventuring opportunities to make real money. and impress the guild.
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Post by Game Master on Jan 4, 2010 3:15:54 GMT -5
Gardrax cackled in laughter. "Smart lad." another laugh. "My shop has everything I need." a mere chuckle this time. With another wave of his hand and speaking a few words that could only be a spell, the world suddenly went hazy and then black. An eye blink later Shiv was astonished to discover he was inside The Nexus Point magic shop. Behind him the days light filtered in from the stained glass windows set into the doors. In front of him was a room so vast it couldn't possibly fit inside the building that was Gardrax's shoppe. Items lay everywhere. Shelves, book cases, chairs, Cabinets, barrels and chests all filled to over flowing with do-dads, thing-a-ma-bobs, trinkets, baubles and just plain stuff. Gardrax stood next to the young thief and before him...a Troll. A big, mean, ugly, pointed toothed TROLL! The beast was armed to the teeth and decked out in armor as if ready to go to war. He looked down at Shiv with little beady eyes. "You bring me a snack Gardrax?" the monster snarled in heavy accented Southern.
"No, no. He's...a customer." the Wizard replied. Before Shiv could say a word (or soil himself) Gardrax ushered him down a long corridor away from the troll. They passed many doors and stairways. Again the small unimpressive exterior of the shoppe came to his mind. He saw it almost every day and it simply wasn't this vast. Magic. Had to be magic. "Don't mind my guard. He only eats thieves. Keep that in mind while in my shoppe will you boy? It doesn't pay to pilfer things from me. I'd hate to feed you to him, but I do have a reputation to uphold so keep your hands in your pockets if you think it will help." he chuckled in delight. "Ah here we are."
The two entered a room that was about twenty paces by fifty paces. No other exits except the floor to ceiling windows overlooking...a volcano. Volcano? Shiv stared at the mountain with black smoke rising from it's peak. He'd never seen a volcano though he had heard men speak of them. His little mind tried to grasp how he was viewing a volcano when he knew of none near Garrotten. Meanwhile the Alchemist was clearing a large table of papers and scrolls. "Bring the pouch here me boy. Come come. What do you think of my home?"
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Post by raptor on Jan 5, 2010 20:28:31 GMT -5
Shiv did as instructed, ever careful to keep his hands from grabbing any of the valuables around. Many that would provide for the rest of his life. He was young but smart enough to know that putting his hand bear trap was not worth any prize.
"How did we get here..." he stopped and chose not to ask. More curious how he came to get magic of some sort.
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Post by Game Master on Jan 7, 2010 13:42:08 GMT -5
"Hmm? Oh, just a simple translocation spell. Nothing fancy." The mage didn't look at Shiv as he spoke. Taking the pouch he dumped out a half dozen gold crowns on the table as if they were nothing more then lint. Peering into the pouch Gardrax exclaimed. "AHH! Here we are." Finally he glanced at the boy and winked. Reaching in he pulled out a small piece of blank parchment paper. It was perhaps two inches by three inches in size and even though it had been stuffed in a money pouch filled with coin there wasn't a single crease on it. "This my good boy is what was radiating magic. So it appears you are a little thief after all. Yes? No matter. One must do what one must to survive. So, the next question, assuming you have no idea what this is would be, do you want to know what this is?"
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Post by raptor on Jan 8, 2010 1:58:13 GMT -5
"Yes, I can't get a value If I don't know what it is.." He looked bothered by the statement. But knew somehow he was more drawn to the mans personality and finesse. Besides he though, That Troll was none to friendly looking and obeyed the man. That meant something.
"So are you going tell me to feed me to the troll?" he grinned.
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Post by Game Master on Jan 8, 2010 3:33:02 GMT -5
The old man rubbed his palms together and then cracked his knuckles. "Well...oh my! Where are my manners." With a snap of his fingers and a few words of magic a red cushioned chair and small side table appeared as if from thin air. The table had a tray filled with sweet meats and hot bread covered in a glaze that smelled of Orange and cinnamon. Next to it was a glass of Orange liquid. "Sit, sit. Eat up while I tell you a short story." Gardrax sat on the edge of an identical chair leaning in close to the young thief conspiratorially. "Well," he began in a hushed yet audible and excited tone. "This piece of paper is in reality a Deck of cards in disguise. When the power word is spoken it reveals it's true nature. They are very rare, very expensive and some feel very dangerous. They are called by many names, but the two most common are 'Deck of Fates' or 'Fate Deck'. They are created by powerful, magical beings of other dimentions or planes of existence. Similar to Jinns often trapped in lamps or bottles there is a creature of some kind linked to each deck. Usually a creature from the originating dimention or one of the fairy folk. If the owner pulls the top card from the deck something magical happens. That could be something of great good or fortune or could be of great ill. One never knows until the card is drawn and each deck being completely different means each deck is unique having different effects making it impossible to tell what the possibilities even are. Follow me so far?" Not really waiting for a reply he pushed on. "I have only seen two Decks of Fate in my long life. The owner of the first became the KING of the Western Empire shortly afterwords many years ago. He even allowed me to draw a card once. I...I vowed never draw a card again. The point is that this simple little piece of paper for good or ill could change your life. Now the second deck I saw was in fact rather recently. Soo recently I believe that it belonged to the man who owned this very pouch. He payed me 300 crowns just to find out what it was and for the power word of course. Having a bad experience myself with such a deck and never believing I would ever see another, I was a bit harsh on the fellow. In fact I told him never to bring the deck within five hundred feet of my shoppe." He chuckled at the memory. "Now normally I would pay a small fortune to acquire such a rare item as this, but if I owned it I feel I may draw upon it's magic too often for my own good considering I've already accumulated most of my desires. You on the other hand being a mere street rat, no offense, may prosper from this item if your brave and smart. So here is my proposal. I have already done the leg work of identifying all the magical properties of the deck thanks to the previous owner. What that means for you is it would be unfair for me to charge you the 300 crowns for a service already provided. However I do have a reputation to uphold so it would also be unfair of me to give the information to you at no cost. I am a business man after all. So lets say...." Gardrax shifted his gaze to the table where the handful of coins lay. "Six gold crowns AND you must allow me to draw one and ONLY one card from the deck. Deal?"
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Post by raptor on Jan 10, 2010 6:10:28 GMT -5
As the tail was told his brow furrowed under the thick mop of blond hair at the term street rat. Being more concerned about that me might be dodging cats and avoiding rat traps..he chose to let it go by. After seeing his old gang get killed for such heroic nonsense..
"I agree..." he nodded, especially if can he be a king. A king never worries when he'll eat next or where to sleep at night in the cold. Cato spent the better his life thus far in the cold dark streets. He wanted to have a warm place to sleep and regular meals...all the things normal people had.
It was not to be, fate had left him with no family or home..If this deck of cards could give a kingdom..or even a house and family to call his own. it was surely worth the chance.
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Post by Game Master on Jan 13, 2010 23:45:00 GMT -5
"Excellent me boy! Now there are a few rules you must know. First and formost the cards may only be shuffled and drawn upon, but once per day at the most. Secondly and you must never forget this. The Power word to reveal the twenty six cards for what they really are, you and only you must hold the paper and say 'Quarlok'. To hide them once again you must speak the word 'Loktoor'. You may always allow another to draw a card in your stead, but you must remain holding the deck. If you allow another to hold the deck in either form and invoke the magic within that person will become the new owner. Understand? If so then show me."
(ooc: see character sheet for more details)
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