Fable - Ask Monsters In A Cage

[Felice]

Felice wasn't sure what excited her more. The chance to see Osiris, planning a big heist in Revmire, or the ride south with Doyle. It was hard to even remember the threat of second death the trio was under with all of that going on.

"Let's go!" She called out as her crimson locks splayed out as Doyle flew low overhead and landed just before the trio. Felice leapt aboard the massive creature's back and grabbed on as she waited for the others to join in.

There probably was enough room for all three of them, he was a massive beast, but worst case he could always carry Matias like a new born kitten. As Doyle had done earlier.

 

[Matias Vaquero]

A long sigh escaped Matias, but he didn't object.

They had three days, and using Doyle to travel would undoubtedly cut their travel time. So, without a word he climbed onto the back of the massive Manticore. A part of him wanted to scream something, maybe about how a horse would be fine, but instead he remained quiet.

Without further delay Doyle began to sprint, and then took off into the sky.

Though their flight was not particularly pleasant, it was swift. By the time dawn came the three monsters found themselves within the wake of the regiment. Doyle set down just behind the large gathering of monsters.

Matias was the first to jump from the beasts back, calling out to his two companions. "Find Osiris and see what he knows!"

He called out to them.

"I'm going to find Lillen." The Frost Giant said. "She's from Revmire."

Right now they could use all the information they could get.

 

[Harlowe]

"I think it's sweet how he pretends he doesn't like Doyle still," Harlowe said in amusement as they watched Matias' retreating arse weave through the crowds. She patted the manticore affectionately on the neck and then with a shake of her head set off into the crowd too.

"This way, I can smell him," it wasn't exactly hard to smell Osiris. He did have a dogs head after all and it had been raining. The stench of wet fur offended her even from this far away. It was with unsurprising speed, therefore, that the two monsters found themselves approaching Osiris not soon after they had landed.

"Ozzy! We need to ask a few questions..."

 

[Felice]

"What's not to like?" Felice purred as she rubbed at the fur under the manticore's chin. She gave the beast a look and Doyle nodded before trotting away towards the feeding and watering troths reserved for the monsters amongst them who lacked humanoid figures.

He'd been a good boy, he deserved a rest.

Felice followed just behind Harlowe who led them straight to Oz. He was an... unusual thing. A large shell resembling a tortoise, the head of a dog, appendages covered in fur with hands that had too many fingers to count. He'd have been terrifying if he wasn't so kind. And surprisingly cute in a giant dog-turtle sort of way.

Felice knew that Osiris liked her. He was one of the few archivists to have any patience for the spunky redhead. "Hey Oz! We met a big tiger-man-demon-thing at a casino and we need to know how to kill it. Time is of the essence!" That last part was important. He tended to measure his words a bit too well.

Unbeknownst to Felice, or perhaps anyone, Osiris didn't care for anyone in the regiment. He was simply too polite to tell the hair demon no and she mistook his politeness for kindness. "You... met... a Rhaksha?" he said as his two yellow dog-like eyes widened in horror. "That's... not ideal... it wasn't in a casino was it? Oh my, oh no, this does not sound good..."

 

[Matias Vaquero]

"Sorry, you morons want to do what?"​

The massive form of Lillen stared down at him, her twisted rocky face somehow seeming even more disappointed than she usually did.

Upon accepting the contract Lillen had been turned into...well, no one was really sure. A golem was the closest thing that most were able to guess, but it was different than the sort which most people built, at least from what Matias had been told.

One of the higher ups had called her an 'elemental', but whatever the fuck that meant Matias had no idea. "We need to rob Revmire. Probably the central bank."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. The Regiment would have trouble sacking the place."​

That was saying something, but Matias shook his head.

"Doesn't matter, we don't have much choice." A loud groan, which sounded like a mountain falling echoed from Lillen's stone lips.

"I swear we have to start screening new entrants better."​

The elemental grumbled as she began to explain how Revmire worked.

Harlowe | Felice

 

[Harlowe]

Harlowe slammed her glass down on the table and grimaced; she might tell herself donated blood from the cask was better but her taste buds couldn't lie to her. It tasted foul.

"Basically, Ozzy says we're fucked. Lillen says we're fucked. We think we're fucked," she summarised once the little band of Monsters had regrouped and fed back to the group what they had all learnt. Doyle gave a deep sigh and put his head on his paws, looking gloomily up at the table they had found outside the small tavern. Absentmindedly Harlowe grabbed the bowl of chicken wings and tipped it out for the monster to devour.

"Maybe we should just... change our names."

 

[Felice]

"If we change our names can I be Matias?" She realized as soon as the words left her lips that Harlowe didn't mean swap names between the three of them.

Crossing her arms and leaning backwards she took another shot of the flavored liquor. Alcohol didn't effect her anymore, unless it was that special bottle they'd found, but at least this stuff tasted good. "I don't know if Ozzy thinks we're fucked. He just thinks we're all going to die. But that old tortoise told me I would never fit in at the regiment and look at me now!"

Felice gave Doyle a scratch behind his ears as the beast let out an even louder sigh.

But they certainly had to pick a path. Choose something that was the lesser of two evils. "OK, we rob Revmire." Her voice had a rare confidence. Not the typical Felice flair of trying to seem interesting or fun. This was an actual confidence as her face turned a deadly serious.

The edge of her lips curled upwards. "We sneak in there and rob the place. No way we're going to face anything more dangerous than the Rhaksa." That last part may not of been true but it sounded convincing enough in her head.

 

[Matias Vaquero]

Matias joined his fellow monsters just as Felice declared she would like to take his name. His eyebrow raised ever so slightly. "Flattered."

He said, his voice flat.

"But." The Jotun continued. "I doubt changing our name will do much with this creature."

In truth he didn't really have much of a clue, but the Rhaksa likely wouldn't leave them much of a choice at all. The demon hardly seemed like it would want them to have any option at all. "So yes."

Matias said with a long sigh.

"We rob Revmire." As impossible as it seemed. "A few guards, a fortress bank, and a few thousand pounds of gold."

Fingers reached up to pinch the bridge of his noise. "We're fucked."

Beyond fucked.

 

[Harlowe]

A melancholy mood hung over the table as the three drank, resigned to their fate. It was go through with the impossible and probably end up dying, or wait and die. Neither ending was one they particularly wanted and the former option at least gave the illusion they might, might, just not die. They'd survived worse after all. Like death itself. She didn't think there would be a demon ready to make them sign another contract this time though.

"Well, no point drinking shit ale and wasting what coin we do have," Harlowe sighed eventually and pushed herself back causing the chair to screech across the wooden floor. "Let's get this shit over with."

 

[Felice]

Felice wasn't entirely sure why her two compatriots were so bummed. Robbing Revmire seemed like a far more preferable solution that fighting the tiger-demon. Perhaps it was because in their mortal life Harlowe and Matias had been mighty warriors so they felt more at ease when fighting their foes.

"Relax, I've got this under control." Her grin was the size of a crescent moon as Doyle trotted just behind her, "I robbed places all the time back when I was alive."

She purposely left out the part where her mortal death was due to a robbery that had gone very wrong.

Once outside the trio took advantage of Doyle's mighty wings to traverse a great distance towards Revmire. They were remarkably quiet due to the severity of their situation.

 

[Matias Vaquero]

It wasn't a long trip, but it felt like an entire week passed before the trio of monsters finally caught sight of Revmire.

The place, just as described by their fellow monsters, was a fortress unlike anything in the world. Not in the sense that it's walls were the highest or thickets, but in the way everything was laid out and constructed. It was defended by a single wall, but within that wall stood dozens of massive keeps and fortresses.

Each one not housing a King or Queen, but a bank.

Merchants and Guards walked the streets almost exclusively. Commerce carefully checked and conducted by a stream of bureaucrats wearing purple robes slashed with yellow. From on high the place looked less a city, and more of a collection of great Bulwarks put into the same place.

Doyle landed just a few miles short of Revmire itself, Harlowe helpfully pointing out that if they got too close they would probably be shot out of the sky.

Mattias landed on the ground with a solid thunk. A hand running through his hair. "Alright so..."

He began slowly.

"What's the plan?" The Jotunn asked. "Lillen said that the First Trev Bank will be our best bet. Apparently they're known for not having much security because they just send assassins after whoever steals from them."

Mattias notably did not sound optimistic at the prospect.

 

[Harlowe]

"Just assassins," Harlowe muttered beneath her breath so low on another being with keen hearing would have been able to hear it. Sure, if those assassin's expected that they were hunting human prey they would be easy enough to kill, but if they sent monster hunters...

"Right," Harlowe nodded and heaved the bag of things she thought they might need up onto her shoulder. There were grappling hooks, ropes, swords and more. Standard robbing things, or so Felice insisted. The vampire had a sneaking suspicion the girl just really wanted to swing a Morningstar around.

"Felice goes in and scopes the place inside, pretending she wants to deposit something, we'll check the outside, meet up and then figure out from there."

 

[Felice]

Revmire was impressive. If, no when, they pulled this off it'd be the biggest heist Felice and her band of badass thieves had ever completed. Not that she was in charge of her old gang, and she certainly wasn't in charge of this trio of monsters. But it didn't hurt to dream a little.

"Easy. I've scoped plenty of places, can't imagine the First Trev is any different," she said while securing the morningstar to her belt. If anything went down she was going to bash in some skulls with it. Felice had never seen a weapon that was in her exact style like this before.

After a short trek towards Revmire the trio split up and Felice headed towards their target location.

Alright. Just need to walk inside so that I can deposit this gold necklace. In reality it was fool's gold. Some cheap trinket they'd picked up with the other essentials necessary for pulling off such an elaborate robbery.

The inside of the First Trev was a sight to behold though. Stark white marble flooring that seemed to reflect your image, wide beams of stone that separated each teller's window, and multiple vaults with thick steel doors. There were standard humanoid guards that dotted the walkways but none of them looked particularly threatening. What was concerning was the rafters of the place... every few feet dotted with a crow.

Likely crows with some sort of enchantment to alert the assassins Matias had mentioned.

Felice approached one of the windows and completed her drop-off, paying particular attention as to how the man handling her deposit headed towards the vaulted area in which the goods were stored.

 

[Matias Vaquero]

As planned Mattias and Harlowe stayed back.

They had purchased some normal looking clothing, and put themselves just a block down from where the bank was. They had a nice view of the entrance, Harlow's sharp eyes watching the upper windows while Mattias kept his eyes on the comings and goings. "Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a disaster?"

He asked Harlowe, leaning against the wall behind him and plucking one of the apples they had purchased on their trek through the market.

Mattias, unlike Felice, was no thief.

Not that he looked down on her or anything, at least not anymore, but he had been taught to be a warrior. He was a nobleman, raised to fight in battle for honor and glory. Robbing a bank wasn't exactly what he thought he'd be doing in...well, ever.

"We should have just tried to kill the demon." He remarked.

 

[Harlowe]

"We did try to kill the demon, and it nearly killed all of us, remember?" Harlowe replied dryly, keeping to the darker shadows so the thin rays of sunlight that made it through the thick cloud couldn't touch her. She had heard of such things known as daylight rings, that allowed a Vampire to feel the sun on their skin, but she had never found a witch who knew such a spell as of yet. It was the one thing she really missed the most about being human.

That and food.

"I think we might be able to get in from the roof," she remarked quietly, her eyes picking out the small dip which indicated a roof latch, no doubt for the staff in case a fire broke out.

 

[Felice]

Once she was certain she knew the route that the teller took to deposit their fool's gold necklace Felice took the claim ticket she'd been handed and moved back towards the door of the First Trev bank. Her hair shimmered slightly as she waltzed past the two or three guards who were actually present in the bank.

Mattias' information had been correct about the lax security but the crows that nested throughout the rafters of the bank put her on edge.

Once she exited into Revmire she hurried towards her two comrades and only once they were out of earshot from anyone else she explained all she had seen.

"So, I don't think it's going to be a problem to get in and get out with the goods. But going unseen is another question..."

 

[Matias Vaquero]

"We should have tried harder." Mattias remarked plainly, his voice about as dull as a mirror that had been painted over.

When she mentioned the roof Mattias immediately looked up. He saw the same latch as Harlowe, but he slowly shook his head in answer. "No."

He said as he pointed towards the rooftops opposite. "Don't think they're with that bank, but they're with another bank and they'd see us."

When Harlowe looked up she would see Crossbowmen on the buildings around them. Not Guards for the institution they were looking to rob, but Guards nonetheless. Revmire really did seem to have it all covered. Annoyingly so.

The Jotunn was about to complain again when Felice joined them.

"Great." Mattias said with a sigh. "So we'll just make another set of enemies."

He complained, rubbing at his face.

 

[Harlowe]

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine," Harlowe frowned at the frost giant. She didn't like the situation they found themselves in either but... She had decided to take a leaf out of Felice's book; there was no way but forward and dragging their heels was not going to make the situation any less depressing.

"As for unseen, I do have an idea," she pushed off from the wall without further comment. Sticking to the shade she meandered back down the street. On their way in she had noticed the Arum Lillies outside the tiny book shop on the way into town. They were unusual flowers, Arum Lillies, and not often seen. The only times she had seen them were usually when a witch was casting a spell. Hoping she was right she pushed the door open making a tiny bell jingle.

"How can I help you my dear?" the willowy woman at the counter asked surrounded by stacks of books which she hadn't managed to cram onto her over-full shelves. "If you're just browsing please take your time."

"Actually... it's not a book I'm after."

 

[Felice]

"Another set of human enemies," Felice corrected Mattias, not really sure if she was correct.

She assumed that, even with its vast resources, the bank of First Trev couldn't be employing anything more terrifying than human assassins. For better or worse Felice had settled into her life as a monster and often disregarded the threat that humans could possibly present to her. Maybe it was because her diet consisted almost entirely of treating humans as prey?

With an eyeroll the redhead followed behind her vampiric friend into the quaint shop. The jingle of the little bell was a pleasing enough sound but she was more than a little confused about what Harlowe had meant by going unseen. Perhaps this place could sell them masks so it would be impossible to tell who was robbing the joint? That wasn't a half bad idea.

Felice spent the remainder of the time in the shop looking at the various pieces of fabric and leathers as it dawned on her that she had no idea how to create a mask.

 

[Matias Vaquero]

Matias frowned for a moment, tilted his head, and then nodded as thought Felice had actually said something wise. "Good point."

They could kill humans.

That much they had proven dozens of times over. Even if the assassins were skilled, the best in the world, there was a good chance that at least one of them survive. That was somewhat heartening he supposed, and with that new found lead on life the Jotunn followed after his companions.

He watched the streets as they wandered towards the flower shop, mapping the path they would need to take his head.

Better to have a picture of the place now. He doubted that Doyle would be able to pick them up in the midst of the Urban Sprawl. Not if they wanted the Manticore to survive. Too many crossbows here. Far too many.

Mattias thought, leaning outside the shop and watching the patrolling mercenaries.

 

[Harlowe]

There was a tense silence as the implication set in and both women eyed each other up; one trying to tell whether or not the other was saying what she thought she was before showing her hand, and the other watching to make sure the shopkeeper didn't make a run for it. Finally the stand off ended and the witch pulled a book on a shelf that swung inwards to another room.

"If you'd like to follow me, lovelies? What kind of spell are you after exactly?"

Harlowe hesitated a moment, glancing to Felice, then followed.

"We need to disappear, or at least... appear different."

The witch seemed to mull it over as she took her place before a great book which she idly began to flip through.

"Transmutation potions are pretty simple but there is a shelf life so to speak. After an hour and the disguise will start to fade. Invisibility is harder still, and much easier to do with a cloak already bewitched which I unfortunately don't have in stock right now."

"The transmutation potion then," Harlowe nodded. "An hour is all we need." It would have to be.

 

[Felice]

"Transmutation potions?"

Felice asked with a degree of curiosity to her voice. They'd left the shop and she'd had Harlowe explain what, precisely, these potions did once drank. They'd only have around an hour once they consumed them and apparently this concoction would completely change their appearance. Presumably making it impossible for the bank's security to identify who'd committed the heist.

That was... so long as they got out the job done in an hour and didn't have anyone tailing them once the transmutation effect wore off.

She rubbed at her chin as she looked at the little vial. Night had fallen and they were planning to make their move soon. For a fifth time Felice raised the same question, "so this could make me look like anything? There's no rhyme or reason to it!?"

This time even Mattias was nodding to confirm. "Bottoms up then, I guess."

Felice drank the ruby red liquid. It tasted like a mixture of rust and alcohol, burning slightly as it went down. The second the last drop finished its descent down her throat she could feel her body react to the potion's effect. Felice grew nearly two feet in height and her skin began to darken from a pale color to a weird greenish hue.

Some of her teeth warped into a slightly different shape, her face protruded, her red hair braided itself into long flowing dreadlocks that were black as night, and the rest of her body began a... startling transformation as well.

Before Harlowe and Mattias no longer stood the slightly short hair demon they'd known as Felice but a muscular and extremely tall orc with hair down to his ankles. "What the fu-," Felice threw both of her gigantic orcish hands to her mouth as she was startled by the deep baritone of her temporary voice.

 

[Matias Vaquero]

Mattias held the small potion in his hand, not yet drinking it as he was transfixed by the transformation going on before him.

He managed to keep his face mostly blank as Felice shifted from a young and relatively dimunitive monster into a massive orc. Eyebrows raised only slightly when she spoke, and it was only when her hand clamped over his mouth that he chuckled.

"I think." The Jotunn said with a grin. "Personally, It's an improvement."

The sly laugh echoed from his lips, though he eyed the potion in his hands a little bit more wearily.

"Ah fuck it." He said with a shake of his head, uncorking the bottle and tipping it against his lips. The potion went down without so much as a second breath. Moments later he felt himself shift, change. His hair thinned, his beard grew a bit more dense.

Then he felt his gullet begin to grow. Within seconds the tall lean Frost Giant became the very picture of an overly fed noble. Fat, bald, and with hands the size of hams. He looked right at home in the mess of bankers and rich men that wandered around them.

"I feel..." He commented. "Awful."

 

[Harlowe]

Harlowe looked at her two companions and then the potion in her hands with trepidation. Turning into a vampire had not exactly been a smooth process and though it had been her idea, now she was unsure whether or not it was a wise one. Taking a deep breath she shoved her concerns to the side and then downed her own small vial of vile liquid. The taste seemed to burn half the tastebuds off her tongue and she gave a horrific cough, dropping the empty glass onto the pavement as she tried not to gag.

Like the others it was not long before her body began to warp and change. There was a pop and her head shrunk to half the size.

"What the fu--"

Another pop and her arms and legs soon followed until she shrunk right down, coming up to Felice's hairy knee and Mattias' love handles. A long, flowing beard took root upon her protruding jaw and when she glanced up she half expected to see a pointed hat.

"A fucking dwarf?" she bellowed.

 

[Felice]

"It's not an improvement," she said in her manly orcish voice while both of her eyes narrowed towards the overweight nobleman before her. "But I suppose it could be worse."

Her gaze traveled up and down the jotunn's new body.

He was massive. It was like someone kept stuffing food down his throat until he nearly popped. But instead of popping it just added more and more fat rolls as even more food was being stuffed down the creature's gullet. She started laughing until Harlowe's potion took its effect.

Poor Harlowe. At least the orcish body Felice had gained her some height and a decent amount of bulk. In fact, the girl couldn't stop flexing and touching her own gigantic biceps. Then she'd glance down at poor Harlowe and look on with big yellowed orc eyes filled with pity. Dwarves really were ugly little fellows.

"A dwarf, an orc, and a fat guy walk into a bar..."

There wasn't time for her to finish her joke. They were on the clock now and if this job was to be a success they'd need to get moving right away.