As he was focusing on trying to find an open street corner to set his hat and play some tunes for some coppers he ran straight into a man knocking him down into a questionable pool of water in the road. The man was back on his feet in an instant turning to face Tom. He was a man of means, richly attired in now ruined clothes. “How are you going to pay for this you vagabond?” He yelled at Tom. Tom meanwhile started to backpedal and the man said he would have the guard on him. The next thing Tom knew everything went silent and the man clutched his throat in obvious panic. Tom somehow kept his cool as he gestured to the man to be quiet and then calmly turned and walked away until he was around the corner. As he rounded the corner he ran quick down several alleys until he was out of breath. After he caught his breath from the close call he stiffened when he heard a voice from behind him saying.
“That is a remarkably interesting ability you have there.”
Tom turned seeing a slim young man in his early twenties with close-cropped brown hair and icy blue eyes. “Who are you?” Tom asked in a nervous voice.
The young man extended a hand saying. “You can call me Nate and I have a business proposition for you. If you are free for lunch, we can discuss it at a tavern I know."
Tom’s stomach took this opportunity to growl at the mention of food. “Very well, I can at least listen.” Tom said.
“Great follow me.” Nate said as he led him on a twisting path to a rundown looking tavern.
After pausing in the door, he saw a much nicer room than expected. The dirt floor just visible under a layer of fresh sawdust, tables and benches were all old, but clean and a warm fire burned in the corner. Nate took a seat with his back to the wall and signed for a servant to come to the table.
When she arrived, Nate said. “Silvia darling, can I have two bowls and bread with ale for me and my friend.”
Silvia snorted saying. “When I see your money, you can.”
Nate made a dramatic gesture saying, “I am cut to the quick.” as he removed a silver for our meal. She took the money and headed to the bar to get our food.
Nate said, “Ok, should just be a minute to get our food. I have a question, how does that ability of your work?”
Tom hesitated before answering. “My ability allows me to create an area of silence within fifteen feet of me. When I first figured out how to use it I could only keep it for one minute. Now I can go up to five minutes, but I really haven’t used it much. It’s not a particularly useful ability.”
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Nate chuckled as he said, “You just haven’t thought of the right situations to use it in. I have some jobs were that can be extremely useful, but you will need to see if you can increase the time you can use it, and can you use it for a minute, wait a few minutes and then use it again.”
Tom considered saying “I am sure I could increase the time, but I never tried to stop it early and then try to use it again.”
Nate looked at Tom saying, “Would you be interested?”
Tom said, "What’s the pay and what’s the job?"
Nate said “The pay would be 5 silvers. Someone took something from me and the job is to get it back. They are keeping it in a warehouse down by the docks. It is well guarded, but we should be able to enter through the roof if you can handle the noise from getting in.”
Before Tom could answer the food arrived and they both paused to dig in. It was quite good, and he hadn’t had this good of a meal in a while. Tom was under no illusions about the job, they would be stealing, but he was tired of sleeping in alleyways and struggling to get food. “There would be more jobs in the future?”
“Yes, if this works out there will be other jobs and if you improve your ability and it becomes more flexible we can talk about more money as well.”
Tom and Nate talked some more about the deal. Nate had an old building in town Tom could use to practice his ability. They would go to the warehouse tomorrow night.
Tom spent his time at the warehouse practicing and learned a few things about his ability. He could use it every half day, he had to use at least a minute at a time but could wait to use the remaining time. However, it would not refresh until either he stopped using it for half a day or used it all. By the night of the job, Tom could use his ability for up to six minutes. Before he left for the job he checked his ability.
Silence, Basic Level 6 (23%)
This ability creates a sphere of absolute silence 30 feet in diameter centered on the user. Refreshes twelve hours after last use or after complete duration used at the current skill level. Minimum duration 1 minute. There will be additional benefits at a higher skill progression level.
Duration: 1 minute per skill level
The job went smoothly, using a wooden ramp from a neighboring building they broken in through the roof in a few minutes under the cover of silence. They hung a rope ladder and then lowered sacks with a rope. They worked quickly to fill the sacks and hauled them back up. The job took less than an hour and they were back across the ramp. Nate and the others were incredibly happy, and they said there would be another job in five days, which Tom agreed too. Over the next several weeks his ability continued to grow, and the jobs got more complex. It was obvious they robbed a merchant’s house, another warehouse on the docks, and a noble’s house. He found himself becoming surer with each job. Nate spent time with him talking about his life, giving him instruction with daggers in case we got in a bind, and reviewing the maps of the city.