"Why the fuck are you taking this cat." Thief 4 said.

“Harris is an asshole. He probably mistreats the poor thing and looks. It's sooo cute.” Thief 3 said.

Curses. I am too good at being a cat. My cat form is an orange tabby that is missing a small piece of his ear. I am smaller than a normal cat should be for this age too.

“Look at how small it is. Harris is probably not feeding it enough. I say we liberate it.” Thief 2 said.

Thief 4 sighs. Thief 3 goes to grab me. My cat-like reflexes give me a moment to consider my options. Escape might be possible but I think a few of them have their hearts set on catnapping me. There is another option though. I let myself be taken. I mean I can follow this group much better if they let me. I loosen my cat focus and let myself be picked up. I can see Thief 3 better now. She is a silver dragonborn. My early guess about her strength is now confirmed. She is an absolute unit. I bet she has fantasy str too and can probably beat a bear in arm wrestling. Her eyes flash with prismatic brilliance. “Not secretly an evil creature.” The dragon woman said.

She just did some kind of divination. Might be a paladin. She then tucks me into her cloak. Wow, it's got some big pockets.

“Alright let's go.” Said thief 4.

And so the group snuck out. They were really good. I can't even hear their footsteps even being right next to them. This might actually be a more well-seasoned group than I thought. We made it to the backdoor and the 6th member was nowhere to be found.

“Folin what the fuck. Where is the lucky bastard.” Thief 5 said.

“I will message him now.” Thief 1 said. They then mumble something. I think they are casting said spell. It lets you send a short message to someone that the recipient can respond to. It's got a short range but it's wonderful magic. He was mumbling for a while. I think this Folin has a lot to say.

“He says he will be right there, he has to cash out his winnings.” Thief 1 said. What?

“WHAT?!” said the other thieves in unison.

“He was gambling and got about 1,000 gold in winnings.” Thief 1 said,

“I am taking a cut.” Thief 5 said.

“Me too.” Thief 2 said as well.

“I’m thinking about breaking his legs.” Thief 3 said.

Wow, intense group. But they seem like good friends so that's nice. I haven't seen anything that explains why they decided to rob this casino. I don't think it was for the money as the casino's gold obviously wasn't stored in Harris’s office. Only time will tell. They left the building out the back door and began to race through the streets. I haven't seen any Zho. I figured they would have jumped at the chance to collect these guys. Not good. Seems to be a bigger plot than I thought. The party kept going for about 20 minutes and eventually stopped at an Inn. Oh shit it's the Purple Cup. Not what I expected. They ditched their cloaks behind the inn. I could now see what they all looked like.

Thief 1 was a rather good-looking androgynous elf. He stunk of privilege and wealth. Thief 2 was a gnome woman. Even without the cloak, she looked stealthy. Probably a thief by trade. Thief 3 was still the silver dragonborn but now I can tell she has the aura of a paladin. I actually felt better just being near her. She removed me from the cloak and taken to carrying me. Thief 4 was a middle-aged man and gave off real dad vibes. Thief 5 was a black-haired woman in her middle to late 20s and dressed like either a sailor or pirate depending on how she was feeling. Other than their appearances I saw many items that I suspected to be magical. I mean who has a sword with a dragon mouth hilt or boots with a spider pattern? Middle-level adventures at least. I don't think the Zho could take these guys. I haven't seen Martel fight nor Captain Kali but I mean come on. Adventurers are busted. Magic is busted. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to get information on this group.

They brought me to a room with 3 beds. This is the master suite which the Cherryfoots charge a whopping 10 gold a night. It has its own bathroom, a big walk-in closet, and a balcony. Winy said it was nicer than even her parents' room. Must be nice to be rich. I’m tempted to keep being a cat. Maybe I can enjoy the finer things for a bit. Then I remember they might make me eat cat food. I am okay with fish but what if this world has some kind of pellet food? I don't want to eat that. Alright, I can't let myself be tempted by these rich adventurers. I must remember my Zhelezo oath. Even if it seems like many of the other Zho don't. Or when they bend it for monetary gain……

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“Alright, I don't think we were followed. Folis has messaged that he is clear of the casino and is headed our way.” The elven thief said.

“Nice. Lupine, what does the journal say?” The male human thief said.

“We have the evidence that Harris is supplying the Myriad with information on Shore Warden supply routes plus vessel markings and their schedules.” Lupine aka the gnome woman said.

“Alamads isn't going to be happy to hear that. Devin, when was the last attack again?” The elven thief(?) said.

Alamads? Who was that? And they are talking about shore warden attacks that Harris is causing or at least helping cause? So these guys aren't thieves but investigators for someone wanting to know why the shore wardens are losing supplies?

“Last week, just a few hours away from Brokenbank. Looks like I owe you that drink Carmilla.” Devin aka the male human said.

“Told you it wasn’t pirate attacks. Pirates are way more sloppy and/or boastful about how they attack ships.” Carmilla aka the human woman said.

“So what do we do now? Have Abaxis portal us Port Zoon? Or are we going after this Harris guy?” Said the dragonborn whose name still hasn't been said. By process of elimination, Abaxis must be the elven man.

“I am fine with heading back and being done with this job. I still want to get those sabers made in Uthodurn.” Said Carmilla.

“I want to message Alamads and ask him what he wants. Can we trust the local Zholezo to take care of Harris if we bring them the evidence?” Devin said.

“Probably not, unless their boss or boss's boss twists their arm.” Said Lupine.

At that point, there are three knocks at the door, followed by another two knocks. The dragonborn stops petting me and gets the door. “Zenix, so good to see you.” I hear from the other side. Next, I see Zenix aka the dragonborn grab and throw a deep orange tiefling into the room. Must be Folis. He seems to be the flamboyant type.

“Ow Zen that hurt. I bring you gold and news and this is how I am repaid?” Folis says.

“I should be breaking a bone or two for ditching us in the middle of a stealth mission,” Zenix says.

“And we want a cut of your winnings.” Said Lupine gesturing to her and Carmilla.

“Huh. I am hurt. You all only see me for my wealth and my body.” Folis said. Wow, he seemed to be an ass.

“Folis just hand over the gold. You can walk into any casino and pull gold from the wall anyway.” Devin said.

“Fine, you're right. But I can't help it. It's hard to find places where I am not barred from entry. Too many accusations of cheating. Now for the news I have. Harris drew the attention of the guard today. It seems he uncovered proof that the son of Franklin Oveso is responsible for a string of local killings going back 4 years.” Fois said.

What? Does this day just live to be filled with plot twists? That's why he pulled the guard away. To personally get credit for catching a serial killer? So he didn't know about this group? I need to lie down, my head is starting to spin. As I do I hear a small “awww” from Zenix and Lupine. I am now the center of attention for half this group.

“Why do you have a cat?” Folis said.

“Zenix found him in the Golden Hand and took him.

“Look how skinny he is. He must have been neglected. Who can do that to such a cutie?” Zenix said. She was not making this guilt any easier the more she got attached. Folis began to eye me. I eyed him back. What? Jealous. I gave my best smug cat expression. That got him a little mad. I went for the kill and rolled over. Immediately I was given belly rubs. Oh, that got him miffed. He decided to retreat and do something else. I was now left to plot my next move. I needed to confirm that these people were who they said they were and that the evidence against Harris was real. I will probably have to wait for them to be distracted but with 6 of them that will be hard. I might need to wait for nighttime. The elf will meditate so that means only around 4 hours of uninterrupted search time. But if they decide to take a watch I am screwed. I might be able to pretend to play with stuff but I will need to be quiet.

I spend a few hours laying around and poking about their stuff. They have a bag of holding. I didn't want to mess with that too much. Lupine had a bunch of traps and other things I would expect from a thief. Ball bearings, caltrops, fishing line, lockpicks, a crowbar, glue? Hope it's not the magic super glue. Best to leave that alone. Zenix has books, like a bunch of them. Most seem to be cheesy romance novels. Carmilla doesn't have much but she seems to be a drinker from what I can smell on her stuff. Devin is the serious type and screams party dad energy. He has bandages, healing herbs, fire starters, a compass. If you got lost in the woods with him you would probably either make it out in a day or have food, water, and shelter in an hour. I left Abaxis alone because he didn't seem to like me much or didn't want to get attached. But Folis was always watching me and not in a good way. He was suspicious. I don't know how but he suspects something. I will need to be careful around him. Eventually, I get the room to myself when everyone leaves to go drink and eat. I hope they bring me something. But that can wait time to find that journal.

Lupine had stuck it inside the BoH. I knocked the bag over and tried my best to stick my head in and not get stuck inside myself. With my head covered I extended my head and jaw and used a dog head and teeth to get the book out. Once out of the bag, I hid myself, the book, and BoH under a bed. Cats had darkvision so I could at least read a little down here. It was actually pretty saucy. It was a full journal of blackmail on other people in town including a good number of Zho. This journal could probably end quite a few people in jail. I frowned when a slave ring being run by one of the wine families was mentioned. This was a bomb. I don’t know if I can even trust Captain Kali with this. If even half the things in this journal are true then the entire city could collapse. Numerous merchant families could be arrested overnight with their entire fortunes seized. At least a couple dozen guards would have to be arrested. I can’t let this fall into anyone's hands. The only people that can handle this are the heads of the Clovis Concord. I don’t even know if I can let the head of Feolinn have this. They would probably sweep half of it under the rug or use this blackmail themselves. I need to get this book out of here. And just as I thought this, I heard the door open.