Fable - Ask Fortunes and Glory

[Kala]

Dornoch - The Painted Lady

Not the nicest tavern in the world, The Painted lady had always held a sort of charm to it. Never quiet, never overwhelming. A constant stream of miscreants, thieves, dock-workers, and dozens of other slices of life roamed through the tavern at all times. No one could ever really explain why the place was so damned popular. The Ale wasn't that good, the food was rotten half the time, and the Innkeep?

She was a surly hag that most people would have avoided on her best days.

Yet every time one ventured to Dornoch it was almost an assurance that The Painted Lady would be filled to the brim.

It was a fact that Kala had found to be true for most of her life. She had been to this city near a dozen times, each one for a different job. Invariably she had always come here, though she knew the truth of the place. At least the truth of it's basement anyway. The Painted Lady was a front, of sorts. Operating as a business on top of what most would have considered a sort of thieves guild.

They were the ones that ensured the place remained busy, kept a constant traffic. A tavern with lots of people made it easy for thieves to slip in and out of. Many faces made for easy minds, and thus it was a simple task for someone like her to slip in without one of the cities many Retainers ever catching a glimpse of her. She'd once asked Mistress Hathor how the Guild kept everyone moving through the tavern, and the only answer she'd received had been a short shrug and a pittance about how cheap ale always drew a crowd.

The Tiefling doubted it was really that simple.

Kala shook her head as she watched one man push another over the attentions of a tavern wench. A shout was raised, a fist was thrown, but before it could go any further the man was practically tackled onto the ground.

Such things were a common sight within the Lady, and most of the customers did not even turn around as the fight quickly began and ended. The Tiefling glanced down at her mug, gauging the time that had passed by the depth of ale still remaining. Her head cocked to the side, and then she pulled herself to her feet, throwing a coin of silver onto the table.

The meeting would be starting soon, and she was eager to find out why she'd been called here in the first place.

 

[Otto von Geist]

Otto must have seemed like an ordinary man--at least, that's what he'd hoped as he walked into The Painted Lady, having being cued in from some local thugs about a potential job. He needed the work; his reputation outside of Alliria wasn't nearly as well regarded, a fact that left him sour in the face for most of his waking hours. But this could be a chance to prove himself again.

The rowdiness of the tavern was nothing new to Otto, and if anything he was disinterested entirely in the goings-on of the bar. Instead he made his way to the bar, ordered something pricier than the swill they were calling "ale," then scanned the bar, eventually catching a glimpse of a lone figure at a table where a single silver piece rested conveniently in its center. He quietly made his way to that table, taking care not to draw attention to himself until he finally reached the table.

He used a faux voice that sounded just like a hapless commoner, including an idiotic smile for good measure:

"Excuse me, is this seat taken? Just looking to kick back for a bit before I get back to my job... there's supposed to be a meeting today."

 

[Kala]

Kala downed the last of her ale as the stranger approached, the swill drowning the meager rations she'd eaten before making her way here. "It's not taken."

The Tiefling said, throwing the mug onto the table alongside her silver coin.

"In fact you can take the whole table." Thieves, as a general rule, did not trust one another. Most of the time it was all but impossible to gather a crew without thinking that half of them would attempt to stab the other half in the back.

Kala never took offense to it, that was just how things were done. She had shared in her own betrayals, and had been double crossed more than once. The Tiefling could count on one hand how many of those she actually took personally.

"Unless." She continued. "We're going to the same meeting."

One would presume such a thing was secret. He could be an informant after all, a rat working for Dornoch, but that wasn't Kala's concern.

If the Guild couldn't check who was invited or not that was their problem, not hers.

 

[Otto von Geist]

Otto laughed a casual laugh in response to the tiefling. He'd seen more than his fair share of tieflings; somehow they seemed to find themselves in the lower rungs of society quite often, at least in Otto's line of work anyway. He flipped a silver onto the table, then took a seat.

"Yeah, I suppose it could be the same meeting. I guess I'll stick around until we find out. After all, it's hard for good people to find honest work these days."

Beneath this exterior of course Otto was scanning the area around to see if he'd been set up; even this far from Alliria, he wasn't sure he was safe from that lunatic guard captain who had caused him so much trouble. All the better for him to keep in disguise and play the fool, in this instance.

"By the way, is anyone else coming to the meeting? Or is it just the two of us?"

 

[Kala]

Kala rolled her shoulders. "Who knows."

It was always guess-work with these things. Sometimes a dozen would show up, other times she was completely by herself. She watched the silver bounce once or twice on the table, the coin rolling before it collapsed besides her own.

She mused for a moment, then glanced up towards the stranger.

"Where you from?" Kala asked. "I doubt it's Dornoch."

His clothes didn't fit with the locals.

There wasn't much of a need to blend in here, of course, and where a thief was from could tell you a lot about how they operated. Anirians were cut-throat as could be, Rakians more muscle than smarts, Mallians had the wild touch.

Every city had it's own style. Not always conclusive, but close enough.

 

[Otto von Geist]

"I see, I see," Otto said, keeping his casual demeanor.

"Me? I'm from a smaller city near Oban, but I came here because I heard the work was better. What about you? I can't imagine tieflings are particularly common just about, well, anywhere really."

He laughed his commoner's laugh again. His dress matched entirely where he claimed to be from.

"Then again, I suppose I shouldn't go asking that. Tell you what, stranger, you can keep that to yourself."

Speaking in lies was just the trade, or, at least that's how it always was for Otto. The only honesty that mattered was getting the job done right and making sure nobody got screwed in the end except the target. He'd had his fair share of people trying to screw each other over--but then, that's partially where he had gotten his nickname, "The Ghoul". Otto didn't forget when a betrayal occurred, and he didn't let traitors forget it either.

"How's work been lately?" he asked, plainly.

 

[Kala]

Her shoulders rolled. "They're common enough where I'm from."

Reeshov, a little hole within the Underdark.

It was not the home of her species, at least not from what she understood. Yet they had a section of the city to themselves. Daemon-hall, it was called. Entirely uninspired and playing off the fact that all of them appeared as horned Imps.

Kala had never much liked the name.

"Up, down." She mused in response. "Depends on where you lo-"

Before she could finish her sentence a large man suddenly clambered onto the chair besides her. His heft was thrice Otto's, and yet as he sat himself down the chair beneath him didn't make a single creak. His voice was thunderous as he spoke, his hand slapped down onto the table.

"You lot waitin for a meetin'? Cause I em."​

The man said, his hand drawing away to reveal a single silver coin.

 

[Otto von Geist]

Otto gave a sly smile to the new arrival. He hadn't really gotten a bead on the tiefling sitting across from him, in terms of skill or age, but then, those were both difficult things to ascertain at a glance, and the work of a thief was entirely in deception. He would probably get a much better sense in a bit here, after presumably this large man gave them their job. Otto was almost impatient with the process sometimes, but he knew there was a reason they couldn't act like this in broad daylight--what a world that would be.

He maintained the affect of a commoner even now.

"Yeah, I'm here for a meeting," he said, jovially. "I think my friend here might be, too."

 

[Kala]

"Seems I found mi rite table then."​

The man said smugly, glancing to Otto for a moment, then towards Kala. His gaze lingered on her for a moment, though not for any leering reasons. Instead it was because of her horns, something she was entirely used to.

Most folk had never seen a Tiefling before. "Indeed."

She said with a simple shrug.

"Do you know anything about who hired us?" She asked, already figuring that Otto did not know since he'd made that evident.

"No, but...know there's supposed to be two more comin'."​

 

[Otto von Geist]

Four was a crowd on most jobs--this meant Otto potentially found himself in a larger heist than he'd expected from his more humble surroundings. Jobs like this didn't usually come from places like these, at least, not in Alliria they didn't.

He gave the tiefling a warning glance as she asked about their employer; that kind of information was usually only on a need-to-know basis, and people who asked too many questions in this trade didn't usually get very far. That didn't mean she wasn't a good thief necessarily, but it did signal to Otto that there might be trouble on this job. That was the trouble with starting over: you didn't get to be very picky when situations like this came up.

"The more the merrier," Otto said, plainly.

 

[Kala]

The two more coming were apparently twins.

Before Kala could offer up any more questions they arrived in what she could really only describe as a prance. Seats at the table were quickly filled as two women slipped opposite one another. They were elves, from what she could tell, though sometimes it was hard to tell them apart from human.

"Well hello there."​

They spoke in unison.

It was an effect that Kala absolutely did not care for, but neither of the women seemed to notice. Instead they simply smiled, slipping their own silver coins into the middle.

"Here for a meeting?"​

They asked chirpily.

Kala opened her mouth to offer a biting rebuke, but once again she found herself cutoff before even getting a word in edgewise.

"Yes. You are. So follow me."​

The words came from a gruff looking man that swept behind Otto, his face a menagerie of scars. The man didn't even break his stride, rushing forward and heading towards a door just besides the bar. Kala looked at the others, then quickly stood and followed.

 

[Otto von Geist]

As soon as the elves spoke--and of course they were elves--Otto felt almost immediately deflated. Of course it was some tacky gimmick here at the bottom end of the thieving ladder. He immediately missed being in the pocket of those Allirian nobles, who were at his beck and call, and he was the one coming up with jobs. He'd hoped this low point wouldn't last long--he had way too much gold to be putting up with something like this. Maybe he should have just retired with it. No, that guard captain would still be after him.

Otto got up and followed with the rest, grimly anticipating whatever was about to come next. He imagined that most likely they'd be doing a decently dangerous job for chips; this was always the case with these lower end jobs. They were still expendable down here, at least if he was reading the nature of this job correctly. If not, then maybe once he'd be pleasantly surprised. Deep down though he knew not to hope. Not in this business.

He gave the tiefling a quick look as they got up, just the most passing of glances. She would have to be his partner, he thought, since there's no way he was going to be buddy-buddy with a pair of synchronized talking elves. Besides, she seemed less likely to turn traitor once the job was done between the two of them. He wished he'd had more time to talk to her and figure out more about her.

He hated going in blind.

 

[Kala]

Kala tried to keep her snicker to herself as the elves moved in unison towards the door, head shaking in disbelief.

The gruff man was about as nondescript as could be. He wore a gray tunic, gray pants, and his hair was slicked back over his head. If Kala asked for his name she assumed she would get something like 'bob' as an answer. No doubt a lie.

Before long the five thieves were brought to the Basement of the Painted Lady.

There they found a large table laid out with a map, two lanterns lighting a dingy and dark space. Another man stood at the end of the room, though his manner of dress was far more fanciful than any of theirs. Robes of crimson dashed with purple adorned him, his eyes like hawks shifting over the various thieves brought before him.

"Ah. I see there's one more of you than expected."​

His voice thrummed in the air, inhuman.

Kala watched him, a frown on her lips as she positioned herself in the back of the group. Her eyes wandered immediately towards the map. It was blueprints to an estate, a rather large one at that. The Tiefling thinned her lips, watching and waiting.

 

[Otto von Geist]

Otto's apprehension faded a little bit at least when they finally descended into the belly of that tavern, where he could see so many of the familiar trappings an organized crime operation. He only half paid attention to what was being said around him as he began to examine the map, his mind already beginning to calculate what sort of job might be ahead of them. It looked like a home of some sort, or estate: a simple robbery was usually well within his capabilities, and while sharing the loot on such a job usually didn't have a big payout, this was all about reputation, and Otto needed as much of that as he could get right now.

He did, however, wonder who among them was the extra. Was it the tiefling? Or was it him? He'd happily leave if this wasn't his business, but he'd stay if they were offering the job.

Otto caught another glance at the tiefling, and could see she was doing the same calculations. Yeah, she'd have to be his partner for this mission. The only thing almost as rough as going in blind was going in alone, and he'd done that plenty in his time.

He glanced up to the man with the slicked hair, expecting him to start explaining the details of the job. Otto wouldn't admit it, but he was starting to feel excited.

 

[Kala]

"Nevertheless, if you're hear, you may as well listen."​

That was a rather...cavalier attitude, but Kala didn't object. She was of the school of thought that anyone who had found out about this meeting likely deserved to be here. Even if they did end up working for Dornoch, at least they did the leg work to trick them all.

"This is the Katsaguri Estate, home to the Katsaguri Clan for the last ten or so generations. I need access to their vault."​

Slowly the man looked at them all.

One by one his gaze flickered across the thieves.

"You will get me access."​

Kala frowned for a brief moment, looking at the blueprints. She could read them well enough, though her knowledge of the local tongue was limited. Lips thinned for a brief moment. "Get you access, or get something out of it for you?'

The man seemed to pause for a moment, staring at Kala.

"Either."​

 

[Otto von Geist]

I've never felt more welcome in my life.

He'd never heard of the Katsaguri Clan, but if there was one thing he knew, it was how to swindle and burgle people in high places--he was practically a thief-for-hire for nobles back in Alliria.

Otto listened to the details of the job, including what the man meant by "either," poring over the map again before chiming in with his own question:

"Anything we should know about the Katsaguri Clan before we royally piss them off?" he asked.

Otto was skeptical of the job once again. He'd still take it, but he was starting to get a really bad feeling.

 

[Kala]

The man stared at Otto for a while, as if the question was a strange one to ask.

"They are a minor family, though one with a long legacy. Most of their trade is in the gold mines of the Steppes, though as I understand it they have recently begun to trade more with Nira."​

Kala mused for a moment, then slowly leaned over towards Otto. Her voice was low, low enough that he would be the only one able to hear. "They are also known for their Shinobi. Fierce warriors, and highly skilled."

A fact which likely some others at least at the table knew.

Testing them would be a challenge, but that was part of why Kala did all of this in the first place. Her gaze drifted over the map for a second more.

"What is it you need from the vault?" She asked, her voice louder this time.

"A book of contracts, held within. Anything else is yours to take as far as I'm concerned."​

The man said with a shrug.

 

[Otto von Geist]

They are also known for their Shinobi.

Otto had heard the term in passing, and he nodded as Kala confirmed what he'd already suspected--this book must have held some significance if it was being guarded as such. Then again, maybe the local custom here is to have actual bodyguards instead of cheap drunkards who would let you walk in for petty bribe.

So, they were to be robbing an up-and-coming gold mining clan for a book, a book guarded by dangerous warriors, potentially getting themselves a personal grudge from the soon-to-be-robbed Katsaguri Clan. Maybe he was just old-fashioned, but he really liked jobs where he didn't have to punch somebody. And from the sound of it, this might get messy, fast.

Otto looked over the layout of the map again, and took a minute to formulate a quick entry and exit plan. Time was not kind to thieves, and Otto planned to be as efficient as possible here.

"Smash and grab a book. Got it," Otto said. "If I'm reading the plans right, it seems like here..." he traced his finger along an entryway, "might be good to enter, and we can take this route..." he said, tracing his finger along a clear path on the plans.

"What should we do if we run into trouble?"

 

[Kala]

The man just shrugged in answer.

"Not my problem how you deal with that sort."​

Kala raised an eyebrow. It was not usual that a client didn't care about that sort of thing. They either wanted to keep it quiet in order to ensure word didn't get out, or they wanted the opposite to ensure that it did get out. not caring made this...strange.

Her lips thinned for a brief moment. "Why exactly are we doing this for you, then? We could just break into the vault and take what we want."

A wicked smile crossed the mans lips.

"Glad you asked."​

There was a brief moment, and then the man put down a seal onto the table. It a was a symbol that made the two Elves gasp, though Kala did not recognize.

"Whatever you take, I'll double. That book is worth quite a bit to me, but the more hurt put onto the clan, the better. Understood?"​

Kala looked over at Otto, wondering if he was thinking the same thing she was. This was personal, not business.

 

[Otto von Geist]

Whatever you take, I'll double.

"Yeah, understood." He looked at the stunned elves. "Is there something up with this symbol? Not that it matters to me; job's a job, and if you need that book, you'll get the damn book."

He met Kala's eyes for a moment as she looked over--little details like that rarely escaped Otto, and it encouraged him somewhat knowing that he wasn't the only one bothered by the nature of this job. In a way, this was exciting to him; the potential challenge got Otto in the mood for crime, perhaps the first time he'd felt that way in months after his forceful excising from Alliria.

Otto wasn't ignorant of the greater politics at play here, potentially. There could be a hit out for him, the group he's working for, or he could get embroiled in some kind of crime war. And those rarely ended well. That said, currying favor with one side or another could reap great rewards, and Otto was always looking for great rewards...

 

[Kala]

The Elves shook their heads. "Only the nature of our employer."

Was their quick and terse answer, though they seemed far more tense than they had been before. Kala frowned for a moment, fixing the symbol in her mind so that she could later recreate it. her head shook, and she decided it was best not to ask questions here.

Not in front of that man.

"Book, gotcha." She said with a nod of her head, and then turned towards the others. "Shall we draw up a plan?"

They had a map which she assumed was up to date, and that alone put them ahead of most plans. "What's everyone the best at?"

The Tiefling asked, deciding that someone would have to push all of this forward.

 

[Otto von Geist]

"What's everyone the best at?"

"I'm a regular con man and a pickpocket. Not as good with locks but good enough. Also, you won't see me unless I want to be seen."

It was a resume he had repeated before. He'd wished he was better at picking locks, since it would make solo heists much easier, but he'd spent enough time among nobles that sometimes that aspect of things didn't even come into play. In fact, most of the later heists Otto did were at large events like royal balls and the like, where he'd filch just about anything for the right price.

He was also a planner. He pored over the map again as he waited to hear what the others had to say. His growing suspicion of the others was starting to look like it might be a real concern, but this time Otto was determined that he wasn't going to be the one who got thrown in the slammer. Not this time, never again. He'd get his revenge someday. But he needed some help.

Maybe the tiefling, he wondered, feeling a rare optimism. Trust was a currency for a thief, and he was willing to invest some in her if things turned out well. That was always the rub, though. If.

Kala

 

[Kala]

The others quickly went down the list of their capabilities. The two elves titling themselves as smiths and the big man calling himself a basher.

Neither of those things were too surprising.

"Alright." The Tiefling said with a frown as she poured over the map alongside Otto. Lips thinned for a brief moment as she ran through a number of different plans, ways they could get in, what they would have to do.

"Looks like this south wall is the easiest way in." She said with a frown. "So no going that way."

That would be too expected. "Here, the roof tops are close enough to the buildings besides..."

She mused. "Might be able to jump over."

 

[Otto von Geist]

Otto was at once impressed with Kala's reasoning as he had started to reach the same conclusion about their point of entry, but she'd beaten him to the punch on that. Maybe he was getting old. Otto had some thoughts about the security, which he chimed in with.

"Judging by the location of the entrance, I'd think they'd probably post guards here..." he pointed to the map. "And here. And if these are veteran warriors like the tiefling says, then we'll need to be extra careful about the noise we make. I'd say to keep the big man outside until he hears the fight start."

He wasn't messing around. He knew doing that in a job like this might get them killed.

 

[Kala]

There were some curt nods around the table. "Getting through the Vault door won't be easy, you two will need to take care of that."

Quick terse nods came from the two elves, both knowing that this was the role they were best suited for.

A moment passed, Kala still studying the plans as though she were building up something in her mind. After a few seconds she turned to the big man, deciding that she had another idea.

"He's right, you stay outside...but maybe instead of waiting you could prepare a diversion." The Tiefling offered. "Dornoch is famous for it's fireworks...if we can get some and cause a bit of a raucous..."

It might help with their escape. "The timing will be difficult though."

Kala offered, glancing around the table for solutions to that particular problem.