The Foreyweather Heist

[Rogue]

Ah shoulda smelled he was trouble the moment he sidesaddles the stool next to me. Historically, when someone sits down next to me they’re either too drunk to notice the glare ah shoot at them, or too smitten by my gorgeous looks to consider the consequences of getting on my harsher side. This guy was probably a little drunk, but had enough sense for himself not to start up the talk the exact moment he sat. He leaned casually on the bar, signaling Erns to get him a drink with the casual swagger of someone who thinks they’re hot stuff. Ah gave him a more direct stare, one that made it clear ah wasn’t lookin’ to be bothered, but he only seemed to smile a bit wider that ah was acknowledging his presence.

Maybe he was one of the third kind of people that kept showing up. The ones so obsessed with Dante’s damn Abyss they were still stuck on it half the year away, and positively ecstatic to spot a contestant “in the wilds” as it were. Nevermind that some of us aren’t especially fond of reminiscing on the experience, they just want the picture an’ something with your name on it. Ah’d already had to deck a bozo or two since mah stint, and sweet mercy if this little number wasn’t gearing up to be punchout number three.

“Them eyes are gonna get stuck if you don’t blink soon, Sugah. What do you want?”

“Ah, that was going to be my question for you…” The man sounded just the faintest bit disappointed, “What do -you- want, Rogue?”

Ah narrowed my eyes. Ah suppose that name had been all over the medium a few months back. Seems like option three was all the more likely.

“Right now ah want you to get lost an’ stay there. Ah’m not in the mood for games.”

The man held his hands up, still smiling easily. He was fishin’ for something, and I was probably the catch.

“I just mean, you went and proved you were one of the baddest mammer-jammers in the crossroads, and yet you’re sittin’ here in a third-rate dive bar, wallowing with a bottle like a loser. I don’t get it!”

Boy this one had a mouth bigger than his brain. Ernst and I had each swung at a man for lesser insults, and ah adjusted my position for a better arc if this suckah kept running his mouth. He noticed the adjusted, ah could see it on his face, but that smile only flickered for a second, and he didn’t seem all that concerned by the prospect.

“I make it a specialty of helping people when they need it, but I’m just having a hard time believing this is what you want out of your life. You’ve got so much power, how could someone like you not get what they want? What’s got you so down? ”

“Back home in the hinterlands we used ta call it none o’ your business pal. You find a new seat on your own or ah’ll help you find it quicker.”

The guy was trouble, but his questions weren’t exactly wrong. As it happens, Karl Jak can give out all the coupons he feels like, doesn’t mean that you’re going to find a shrink interested in dealing with someone my levels of mixed up. Not that ah could exactly blame them. All the power from the abyss was gone, ah wasn’t anybody but myself. But on occasion, ah’d still get disoriented, feel like ah were lookin’ out of the wrong pair of eyes. The kind of stuff that keeps you up at night and isn’t really something many other folks have a real handle on.

My gaze drifted down to my gloved hand, it was balled into a fist, one that’d send this fella a firm message, but that wouldn’t change anythin’. Ah’d still be cursed, or a monster, or whatever. Ah still wouldn’t be able to understand what this power even was. What ah even was. What did ah want? Ah wanted answers.

This idiot hadn’t even moved yet. He was either stupid or not worried about taking the punch to get what he wanted.

“Ah want a lady found. Old fortuneteller. Used to be people called her Irene. She’s blind too.”

The man’s smile hadn’t stopped showing since the moment he sat down, but by the arbiters if it wasn’t shining now.

“Now that is something I can help you with my dear. I have some friends with very good eyes.”

“Of course you do. How much are you charging for this little racket, hun?” Ah downed the rest of my drink as ah turned to face him, “Dante’s Abyss is a fool’s game, but it pays better than most jobs.”

The sleazeball waved his hands quickly. “Oh no no no, I’m not here for your money, Rogue. I figured you might be willing to trade a favor for a favor, hm? I’ve got a venture in mind that someone of your talents could prove immensely helpful to achieving.”

“Are you trying to rope me into a scheme?” Ah snorted, “You better be able to deliver on your end of the bargain for that, sugah.”

“Far be it from me to lie to a lovely lady like yourself. I do not make promises that I will not keep.” The fellow hopped off his seat with a bit of a flourish. “Please, call me Dodger for the time being. I’ll give you some time to consider the offer, but should you find the deal amenable I would bid you to find me at the terraces underneath the bridge of good King Tyree the fifth this evening. I shall be wearing a rather ostentatious orange plumed hat!”

With that declaration, Dodger paid his fee and sauntered out of the bar without a care. What kind of instruction was that, it sounded more like a date than shady meetup. Ah was half tempted to just stand him up and let him stew, but he’d stung me deep. Ah was just sitting around like a frog in a dried up lake, wondering where all the water had gone.

Fine. I’d see what he wanted.

What was the worst that could happen?

 

[Izaneus Phortea]

The gentle quiet of a small tavern could find itself host to all manner of man, creature, even automatons were seen occasionally taking shelter from rain and rust. The nice part of this side of the Hinterlands was that most of the residents found themselves averse to asking questions. Largely because if you asked the wrong ones, you were liable to find a knife in your neck. Yet even so. When Tatio sat down, drink in hand, cold food in front of him. He couldn’t help but channel his growing feelings, and repressed thoughts into his knee, his eyes alight in the flames of his home. The home of those kids…

His knee started faster. His hand clenching the wooden cup more heavily than just a moment prior. What the hell was life trying to pull here? Fuck him over once he could understand… But… was the entire fucking thing against him? What was he supposed to do? Was he cursed? A heavy gust of air escaped his mouth as he sighed, the weight of anger and depression snuffed any hope he truly had… and where was Shikiria? She said she had one thing to take care of. Yet the thief had stayed in this tavern for near a fucking week.

Quickly he downed a large few gulps of the putrid liquid in front of him, the squeeze on its throat being transferred from the one in his chest was a major reprieve. “Shit..” He choked out as he slammed his mug against the table.

“Heya there.” Spoke a voice perhaps too eager to engage in conversation. Tatio eyed him with the same suspicion he himself had gotten upon his arrival. “Y’alright there? Holding your liquor fine I hope?” he called out, giving Tatio a gentle pat on the back, before feeling the grime on his Jacket.

He hummed for a moment, before seating himself on the opposite side of the table.

“...What appears to be the matter?” He questioned, with a half raised eyebrow. His hand twitching as light as a feather fell to the ground, and with four times the speed, nearly unnoticeable. Nearly.

“I’m wondering why a pompous ass like you wants to know how I’m handling my beer. Seeing as how I’m almost covered in twice the dirt the world has to offer.” The thief almost gnashed his teeth. His eyes unfocused, not that they needed to be. First impressions were everything, and this guy’s spoke poorly. “Foo! Bit hasty to judge are we?” He spoke with a flicker in his eye. Whether that was a twinge of frustration or an eagerness to move on. Tatio couldn’t tell.

“In any case.” He began, a strange light in his eye. “I’ve got a special kind of event taking place soon.” His voice was smooth, practiced, and skillful, but not nearly enough to fool the thief he was talking to. “ Cool, ye can shove it up your ass on the way out the door.” Tatio responded abrasively, flicking his thumb in the way of the Tavern’s exit.

“The kind where money is readily distributed amongst its contributors.”

Tatio’s eyes went from unfocused and abrasive, to narrowed, and sharp as daggers. As he stared at the man, he could now see the hint of something hidden in his expression. A smugness he himself hated. But loved showing others. It made him clench the mug in his hand ever tighter.

His smirk growing higher at Tatio’s silence, he nodded, and got up from his seat.

“But I understand that you’ve gone through rather a rough time. Should you change your mind about me and my endeavor, you may find me under the Bridge of King Tyree the fifth. Goodnight good sir.” He spoke, with a bow that made the thief want to slap him and shove him into the mud outside. But he needed money. Pockets were light around these parts and people were getting a good suspicion of who’d been lifting their coin.

He grunted, massaging the temple of his head as he downed the rest of his beer.

This was going to be a long night.

 

[Aster]

Slow days were boring, but they were at leased a blessed reprieve from the constant onslaught of rampant bullshittery that people -- not even just customers, but people in general sometimes -- were capable of. It wasn't quite closing time yet, but Aster was in no mood to wait until they were actually closed to start tidying up. One thing she hated about closing shift: you had to clean up all the shit that people left throughout the day. And the opening and day shifts around here were, despite being generally pleasant people to hang out with, unfortunately pretty awful at the 'keep things from going to shit' part of their jobs.

Which left a lot of menial chores to do at the end of every day.

At least today had been mercifully slow; only a couple dozen customers through the entire open hours, as opposed to the usual hundreds. Almost seemed like some kind of bad omen, but whatever. Meant there was less to do for her now.

As she idly plodded along, sweeping up the film of dust and general shoe debris people had left walking around, she was almost entirely absorbed in her own little world. Engrossed in listening to the latest episode of 'Abroad in the Crossroads', and chuckling to herself at the host's cynical humor and wacky hijinks of his co-hosts. It was nice; made her wish she could travel sometimes. But that was just a pipe dream. It would be so expensive, and she'd never have the time set aside, and the sheer anxiety of doing something that foreign and far from home...

Well. After Dante's Abyss? Not likely to happen. Not of her own volition, at any rate.

"Excuse me, miss?" an unfamiliar voice spoke up.

Aster gave an irritated sigh; thankfully, it was store policy she didn't have to be super polite and maximum customer service mode when she was on cleaning duty. She lifted her head to look at the besuited schmuck. Business casual all the way, though with a worn-out and not-quite-raggedy looking overcoat worn over it all. Like some overworked office john who was somehow still happy with his job. A little on the overweight side, but somehow still looking like he could probably deadlift the office printer if he got ticked off one day. Like a powerlifter who let his training regimen go to pasture and evolved into dad bod. His hair was beginning to go silver at the roots, but he had been spared the travesty of a thinning hairline at least, and he sported only a few-day-old coating of stubble.

All in all: honestly not a bad looking guy. And his pleasant demeanor at least soothed any immediate flare-ups of Aster's temper for his interruption. "Yeah?" she finally muttered, reaching up to pluck her earbuds out. "What's up?"

"Ah, you would be...miss Aster, correct?" The man smiled pleasantly, pulling one hand from his pocket and offering it out in a handshake. "Forgive the sudden intrusion, but...I was hoping to get a chance to meet you."

Aster just stared at the guy with a flat, unamused expression. "Uuuuuh-huh." She leaned against her broom, pointedly ignoring his offered handshake. "And why's that, exactly?"

His expression didn't falter one whit, though after a few seconds he did lower his hand again. "Ah, well. I noticed your performance in last year's Dante's Abyss event. You might not think you did especially well, but...considering it was your first time out, and the rather unfortunate run of bad luck you had, you did quite well, considering."

The mere mention of the event made Aster visibly flinch, her eyes dropping to mere slits as her face screwed up into a scowl. A dull shiver ran up her spine, and in the crackling of the store's background music she could almost swear she heard the rustle of leaves in the wind. It was all she could do not to scream, as her hands tightly clenched the broom handle, making it crack and deform under her sudden vicegrip.

"Ah, well...I see that's still a tender subject," the man murmured. "My apologies, I didn't mean to drag up bad memories."

"It..." Aster took in a deep breath, trying to force herself to relax. Bite down and shove aside the paranoia; it was a brightly lit store, the weather wasn't even bad outside, she was in the middle of an aisle with only two ways anyone could approach her. It was fine. It was fine. It was fine. "....it's...it's okay," she finally managed, her voice only trembling a little. "Just...prefer not to think about it."

"Of course, of course. I understand." The man's tone was, to his credit, genuine in his sincerity and apology. "But moving past that...please, miss Aster, you can call me Shivers." He reached up with both hands to adjust the way his coat sat on his shoulders. "And I'm here about a particular...opportunity, I wanted to present to you."

"Already got a job, buddy." Aster gestured around vaguely to the store with one raised finger. "Or didn't you realize?"

"Oh, well, this isn't strictly an offer of long-term employment. Just for a single business venture." He raised a hand, index finger extended, as if to punctuate his point. "I'm representing some...well, 'friends' is a strong word, but let's use it anyway -- some friends of mine who are seeking a few people with very particular skills."

"This already sounds shadier than standing beneath a tree under and overpass during an eclipse, pal." She waved a hand before her face, in open dismissal and disinterest. "Besides, somehow I don't think I got the skills you're looking for, anyway."

"Au contraire," Shivers said jovially. "You have...well, let's just say you'd fit right in. We need someone who's willing to adapt and improvise, in spite of the unexpected. Someone able to work with...the rest of the group we've picked out."

"And you came...to me?" Aster said flatly.

"Naturally." Shivers chuckled. "Think it over, miss Aster. We aren't asking something for nothing, here; we're willing to compensate you. Monetarily, or a favor for a favor." He offered a polite nod before turning to excuse himself. "If curiosity gets the better of you, come to the terraces under the great bridge of our good King Tyree the fifth this evening. Look for a gentleman wearing a rather....ostentatious orange-plumed hat. A colleague of mine, who can fill you in on the specifics, and introduce you to the rest of your...team." And he quickly walked off.

"Ugh...jackass," Aster grumbled under her breath, already moving to put her earbuds back in and get back to work.

"...oh!" Shivers paused at the end of the aisle. "And before I leave, could you tell me: where is the milk?"

"Aisle twenty-three!" Aster snapped irritably, hunching her shoulders and pointedly turning away from the besuited man. "Jackass..."

But...well. At times like these, she really was grateful she wasn't a cat. Because as much as it sounded like the shadiest shit she'd ever heard, it also really did grab her curiosity. The bastard had worded it just vaguely enough.

....plus, promise of a payday better than 'barely more than minimum wage' was a nice thought, she couldn't lie.

 

[Rogue]

Say what you would about Arcadians, the blowhards knew how to make a bridge! The sweeping arches of Tyree’s Bridge sat far above the river, a good twenty or thirty feet higher than the terraced streets that lined the water’s edges. The Bridge linked the Grand Arcadian Academy of Honors to the GoldMeadow District directly. The rich types hadn’t wanted to have to cross the same roads as the common folk or some such ah suspected. Typical Arcadian Nonsense.

Ah was leaning on a stone railing, watching the trade boats on the river or the bustlin’ street behind me whenever ah got bored of the other view. It was a nice enough evening to be honest, but ah was feelin’ too pissed off to enjoy it properly. Ah was almost convinced that Dodger had just been blowin’ smoke when the prick shows up again. He’s got the same damn easy smile and a hat I hate the moment ah see it.

“Ah wonderful! Wonderful! I’ve caught the Rogue’s curiosity after all!”

“Keep that smugness going and ah’m gonna dump you into the river, Sugah. You and your stupid hat!”

Dodger put on a hurt look. “My dear, I told you to be on the lookout for my orange feather! This is a busy part of town! Not all of us are blessed with such distinctive looks to stand out in a crowd, my dear.”

Ah squinted faintly at the compliment, then turned back to the river.

“So what’s the job?”

Dodger just laughed, “I can’t go explaining the details before the whole group has assembled! I’m afraid I’m not that much of a talker, my dear! The plan is at least a bit detail-oriented. My poor voice would be run ragged halfway through!”

That was it. Ah grabbed Dodger by the collar of his stupid shirt, glaring him down.

“Sugah, ah’m sure you think you’re suave as an alleycat, but you listen good.Your pitch got me curious enough to turn out, but my patience is limited, and your song and dancing eats it right up! If this ends up being a stupid waste of time, ah’m walking in a heartbeat and you’re ending up in the drink behind us. You feel me, hun?”

Dodger put his hands up with that same unflappable smile. The guy didn’t scare easy.

“Couldn’t feel even if I wanted to.” he said it so fast ah almost didn’t catch the slight, but he kept going before ah could make him regret it, “Ah! Look! There’s one of my friends just now!”

Ah let go of Dodger quickly. That probably wasn’t a good look if he had buddies around. Ah wasn’t afraid of a fight, but it would get messy in this much of a crowd. The fellow that walked up definitely looked down on his luck. Dodger’s apparent prosperity was probably just and an act, sure, but this guy couldn’t even pretend not to be broke. Ah had a sinking feeling this was all about to get messy.

“Tatio, my friend! Holding up fine? This is Rogue, by the by. Rogue, this is my good friend Tatio!”

Tattoo scowled deeper at Dodger every word he was speaking. Honestly that was a good sign. It meant this wasn’t just a crew that all worked together regularly and needed outside help.

“This is a stupid place to have a meeting like this.” Tattoo crossed his arms, “It’s busy.”

Dodger smirked, “Friend, you have no reason to believe anything I have to say just yet! If I had asked you to turn up in some back alley nobody's heard of, I wouldn’t expect to see any of you ever again! Honestly! If you turned up to an invitation like that I don’t know whether I would just run scared or try to sell you a bridge!”

Tattoo grunted by way of response. He didn’t seem altogether convinced, and neither was ah to be honest. Dodger pat his shoulder as he swept past to someone else. That guy was in his element now, and ah’d lost any sense of a threat ah’d managed to lodge in his brain a moment ago.

“Shivers, my man! Good to see you! Good to see you!”

“Hey there Artie! I’ve got one more likely to show up! A good pair I think!”

“One more, eh?” Dodger mused for half a second, then slung his arm around Shivers’ shoulders, pulling him into some hushed whispering. This was looking more and more sketchy by the moment.

Ah glanced over towards the Taito fellow faintly as the other pair conspired. Those two were clearly well acquainted, this kinda thing was probably considered old hat, standard business. But this guy was like me, he’d been brought in special for whatever this actually was. What did it say about the situation that the total unknown was the guy ah felt was the most trustworthy of the lot?

“He promise you something crazy too then, Sugah? Or are you just in it for the money?” Ah quirked an eyebrow his direction

 

[Izaneus Phortea]

The dim moonlight crashed down on the bridge above, plunging the area below it into near darkness if not for the scattered yellow flames of lanterns and flashlights. Both of which were currently directed away from Tatio and the woman in front of him. Who made the young thief’s hair stand on end. But confusion washed over him as he tried to deduce quite why that was. It was frustrating for a few reasons. But nonetheless.

“I spose so…” He speaks, gesturing to his.. Clothing. Rag-tag, worn down and dirty beyond belief. Just like Tatio himself. “Don’t exactly have a mountain of riches to my name.” He watched as Rogue’s mouth curled upward in an amused smirk, before muttering something unintelligible, which the Mutant was barely to make out as. *“Not as though my other plans were going too swell anyway..”*

The sudden influx of information that provided caused Rogue to raise an eyebrow, but hide it just as quickly. The man then sighed, and looked around briefly, “What are they thinking..? People are obviously going to notice that there’s some kind of gathering..”

Rogue shrugged briefly, her eyes kept on the two conversing in hushed silence. “Intelligence and cunning are two different things Sugah, and them two? They’re about as venomous as a rattlesnake hopped up on steroids.”

The sudden metaphor caused Tatio to step back briefly, blinking a few times as though to make sure he’d heard her correctly. Before he regained his composure and turned to the two. Now laughing jovially.

“Thanks.. I guess. What’s your name?” Call him anything, but Tatio was courteous, to a degree in any case… about as much as you could expect from someone growing up from nothing. He raised his hand, opening it for a grasp, Which he kept there as Rogue took a moment staring it, before her mouth curled upward into a smirk once more.

“Name’s Rogue.. And ah’m not quite sure that’s the best idea Sugah.”

Tatio raised his eyebrow, and opened his mouth to speak, but was thusly interrupted by a loud and piercing.

“Oi, you two seen someone snarky and punchable? I got business.”

 

[Aster]

For better or worse, the late hour of this 'meeting' didn't actually bother Aster all that much. She was more than used to making incredibly poor decisions regarding that esoteric and mystic thing called a 'sleep schedule' even during normal times. Need to be into work at six in the morning for a sudden impromptu meeting? Yeah, sure stay up until three, no problem.

Everyone and their mother preaching the "You won't be able to do that forever, girl! Age is gonna catch you sooner or later!" song and dance got really old, really fast. If there ever came a day when a little (or a whole lot of) caffeine couldn't fix a poor night's sleep then she would eat her shorts.

All that was to say, though, that she wasn't put off by the late hour of this whole shady business. Or, for that matter, by the location of it. It was a bit of a pain to get to, as out of the way as it was for her -- even with a ride she had, it wasn't what you could call a short trip -- but it wasn't such an issue she was willing to say fuck it then and there, just for that reason alone.

What was really getting to her and beginning to make her skin crawl about all this mess though, was how evasive and vague that damn fool Shivers had been about all of this nonsense. Just ending it all off with such a big and well-polished shit-eating grin it was as good as a free entry ticket to Big Johnny Dick's Poo-Eating Bonanza. And that was a tightly-regulated competition, if it actually existed, she was sure. For all his smarmy mannerisms and eccentricity and vaguery, though, he had managed to do one thing very, frustratingly well. Make it sound enticing.

That was why she sat here now, just around the corner from their meeting spot for the night, still astride her motorcycle. "I could just leave now," she muttered to herself, tilting her head back slightly to look upward toward the sky. "Before they even know I'm here. Just ditch this whole thing, go back home and forget this ever happened." She sat there for a moment...then a minute...then sighed, reaching up to tug her helmet off. "Fuck it. Already here, now." And she slid down to stand, taking a moment to un-muss her hair from its horrifying state of being helmeted, pulled a pair of sunglasses from one of her bike's many hidden pouches (because if she was going to be here tonight, then she was going to be that asshole about it), then hunched her shoulders, stuffing her hands in her pockets, and trudging onward toward the inevitable scene of fuckery-to-be.

Rounding the corner, she was beset all at once by several things. Some of them she was prepared for -- the sight of some ridiculous orange plumage in the hat of some skeevy looking dude, the presence of a gaggle of other people in general. But some others, though -- the presence of Shivers in general, the fact that one of the other people present was Rogue of all people in the fucking universe -- she was entirely not ready for.

All of wind went out of Aster's sails in an instant. Her back went rigid, her tail just slowly drooped to hang listlessly behind her, and the entire world suddenly felt as if it were simultaneously about fifty degrees hotter and colder all at once. Oh. Oh, no. Oh, no no no. This had to be one of those fever-induced nightmares, she was sure of it; that was why this entire thing was happening here, next to the river, where it was--

She squeezed her eyes shut, immediately biting down on that train of thought. No, no, no. Stop it.

Almost on auto pilot, she felt her legs start moving forward, slowly trudging into the scene properly. "Oi," she started, praying that she managed to keep the shaking tremble out of her voice. "You two seen someone snarky and punchable?" She lifted her chin slightly, looking quickly between everyone in attendance. "I got business."

"Aster." Rogue's voice was...hard to read. Very, very hard to read. "Guessin' that makes you the 'one more' that snake mentioned, then, huh?"

"....y-yeah." Aster's voice came out somewhat...hoarse and ragged, forcing her to clear her throat and repeat, more forcefully, "Yeah. That'd be me, I guess. Anyone got any clue what this is actually supposed to be about? Or are we all just gettin' strung along by vague promises?"

The other one present, clad in the latest fashion trend of 'Dumpster Diver Chic', just grunted wordlessly and offered a shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine," he muttered. "Name's Tatio. Since you two seem to know each other already."

"....well, I'd say pleasure to meet you, but I don't like to lie." Aster lifted a hand to gesture around at the general scene of everything. "Nothin' about this right now is really what you might call 'pleasant'."

"You can say that again, sugah," Rogue mumbled, casting a dark glance over at the pair of conspiring doofus-mongers.

What a miserable night to be a doofus.

 

[Rogue]

This was wrong. This was not part of the deal! Ah knew she probably hadn’t really died back on that island… but ah’d buried her! With my own hands! That kind of memory didn’t just disappear like a nightmare. That chapter was supposed to be behind the both of us! A stood stock still as Tatio and Aster attempted to start a conversation of sorts. That two-bit sleeze had promised an easy job, not to drag Aster of all folks into this… whatever this was!

A few quick steps and ah was in reach to collar this Dodger fellow. This part at least wasn’t in his little plan, and ah took a dose of satisfaction seeing him squirm a little when ah had a grip on him.

“No more games, Sugah.” Ah purred with an edge that could cut silk, “The water’s right there waiting for you. You start talking or you start swimming, alright?”

“Yes, yes, yes! Quite right! Now that everyone is here and it's quite clear we’re all on the same side, we can talk about the details more privately.”

Ah was sorely tempted just to dunk him there and storm off. Probably should’ve. Truth was, ah didn’t like being led around by the nose, but this was going to bug me if ah just walked. The guy knew who ah was, and he was promising to help find Irene if ah helped him with this? He was either confident he could help, or confident ah wouldn’t be able to find him when he dropped his half of the deal. In the end ah let him go and Dodger kept right on spinning his yarn like nothing had even happened.

He led the bunch of us to a small bar nestled under one of the arches of the grand bridge. The place was emptier than a desert sauna, but Dodger didn’t seem to find that strange. He just tipped his hat to the fellow at the bar and we all sauntered to the back of the building simple as you please. Dodger’s buddy took up a place by the door and the stupid hat turned back to face us once again.

“I’ve the inclination,” He began, like he hadn’t already spent decent time getting us wound up in this, “That we could make some money together! Tonight, the great and famous Urist Foreyweather is hosting a grand party ball to celebrate the success his lumber company has been having over in the hinterlands. The fellow wants everyone to see his unbelievable success! They found this grove of trees that literally grows jewels! Can you imagine?”

He passed Aster a picture of a shiny gem, the facets of which twisted upon themselves in the curved shapes of twining branches. Now that was a sight and no mistake!

“You shoulda led with that, hun!” Ah murmured.

“As it so happens, I’ve been at liberty to attend, with a small number of personal invites at my disposal as well. Now with the huge number of people moving about his estate, there’s no doubt to be chaos aplenty, what self-respecting dwarf would want anything less at his party?”

Dodger started to grin.

“A little too much chaos, and someone could slip away to the man’s offices, grab some papers before anyone’s the wiser and-”

“Hold up.” Ah crossed my arms incredulously “After showing off that crazy jewel you’re hoping to pocket some trade secrets?”

“But-”

“Hush up an' listen, Sugah." Ah stated flatly, "If ah’m doing this thing, we gotta go after a score that’s worth the trouble. Ah want to get that gem.”

 

[Izaneus Phortea]

The silence that hung in the air after Rogue spoke was nothing short of suffocating. Forget a knife. You’d need the sharpest sword in Arcadia to break through that tension. Thankfully, there were quite a few wits in this establishment that currently fit the bill. Someone was bound to speak up.

“...In my experience, there’s usually something keeping these things safe right? An alarm, a guard. Or. Some kind of spell maybe?” He pauses, taking a brief look at the reactions that statement brought with it.

The verdict? Mild interest, annoyance in the employers, and of course, curiosity, as to where the thief was going with this.

“What if we use those to our advantage?”

Aster was the first to chime in. “What? Like, get caught purposely? That sounds like a real go-getter.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Shivers echoed. Crossing his arms, and narrowing his brow. Eyeing Tatio up. Like that wasn’t creepy. “I’m just saying, if we do this right, I don’t see why we can’t kill two birds with one stone..” Tatio’s voice felt… unsure, and for good reason. He didn’t know any of these people, and Rogue and Aster obviously had history. This all felt… Strange. But, with his fist clenched, he sighed, and was about to take a step back from the table. His last plan hadn’t worked out anyway-

Or he would have, if Rogue hadn’t then spoken up. “Ah say we go fer it. What’dja have in mind?”

A small huff of air could be heard from Shivers, who looked at the two with a wildly unamused expression. He was getting annoyed. Yet the room fell silent all the same.

Taking a deep breath. Tatio continued. “Well, there’s gonna be chaos right? Why not add a little more to the mix? Whoever’s going to go in and steal the documents places them in a secure and accessible location, or, just continues with them.” He begins. Watching the faces around him for reaction. Most of which seemed pleasantly surprised. Save for their hosts. But that seemed par for the course.

“Do… we have a layout? It’ll be easier to continue with one.”

Dodger nods, and simply lifts his cane onto the table. Which flickers to life with the illusory image of the estate. “Neat. Okay..” Stalling, Tatio attempted to formulate the words in his mind. “Okay. So… where are the docs?”

With another swipe of his cane. The image trailed down, which caused the Thief to groan, and Shivers to smirk. “You gotta be shitting me. His bedroom?” There was a pause and a brief chuckle from someone in the room. But still he continued.

“ Whatever. Whoever’s going in there grabs the documents, plants them somewhere for someone to grab. Or he just crashes the ball with them in hand and makes a run for it. If those secrets are half as valuable as you’re making them out to be, I don’t really have a doubt they’d be rushing to capture the… oh, wait.” He paused, eyes widening in realization.

“I’m the one going in there, aren’t I?”