It was a dark tavern. The windows were shuttered, and the fire was only bright enough to cast the surroundings into flickering shadows. Mysterious figures lurked in every concealed alcove, while a variety of colorful characters ate, drank, and shared stories with each other. It was the perfect place for an adventure in a fantasy world to begin.
For some reason, they had a strict ‘no boats’ policy. I hadn’t believed Jim when he told me that factoid, but it had apparently been scrawled on a hanging board along with a half dozen other unusual rules. So instead of having this meeting inside, Jim and I were resting in the water just outside the tavern. The place had been more than happy to do takeout, and seated on the dock next to us with their legs hanging freely were Wiz, Themis, and Stella. Immediately behind them was Snozzy, engaged with the beef bone that we had picked up alongside our current meals.
Free food had been a good enough reason to gather this group of disparate individuals, but it would take more than that to convince them to sign on to the crazy plan that Jim was proposing. Even now, a part of me was tempted to call it all off, to tell our group of friends to go about their own business and to forget that this ever happened. To choose safety and rationality, even if Jim might be hurt by the surprise betrayal, small though it might be.
I didn’t. Perhaps it was simply my passive nature, where I preferred to avoid conflict even if it caused longer term problems. Perhaps I was afraid of losing my only real friend in this strange world. But most likely was that Jim had ignited some strange passion in me. Life on Earth was functional, at best. There were no storied heroes or destined events. The enemies I faced were all too banal and mundane.
No matter the world, people seemed to be people, and it was easy to fall into the same patterns and habits that I had left behind, but every now and then something happened to remind me that I didn’t know everything. This was a world of magic and wonder, where things that I thought impossible happened twenty times before breakfast. I didn’t have any evidence that I was a tool of prophecy or had fate itself behind me, but there was also no evidence that I didn’t. And as much as I wanted to dismiss it as childish, there was a lure to this that drew me in. A part of me wanted to be part of a grand adventure, a part that I thought had faded as I lost myself in the intricacies of architecture, but here and now it found new life. Planning a heist might not make sense, but it didn’t have to.
It just had to work. The first step to making it work would be convincing the others that it could work, something that might take a while.
“So you want to steal these valuable items from the Ferrymen guild? And you don’t know exactly what they are, only that they’re stored somewhere with a permanent guard. And somehow you want us to pull this off so smoothly that no one even suspects it was us.” Stella asked, carefully pointing out the many flaws in Jim’s proposal as he had shared it with them.
“Well, yeah!” Jim cheerfully responded. “I’m not saying it would be easy, but between us all we have some unique and powerful capabilities. I have a rough Idea of how we can leverage those to get in and out safely, and if you agree to work with me I’ll make sure that you all get a say in the planning process. I haven’t done anything like this before, but Robert said that inexperienced is only a problem when working on established operations.”
“Robert? Who’s Robert?” Wiz asked.
I groaned. Out loud. While I had wanted to keep my existence a secret until we knew if we could trust this group further, Jim had accidentally spilled the beans early. “I’m Robert, pleased to meet you all.”
“Robert is here?” Stella asked, somewhat confused.
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“No one else here, Stella.” Wiz told her, acting as a pair of temporary eyes for the blind seamstress. “In fact, that sound seemed to come from the water, which means…” He snapped his fingers. “So that’s how you managed to take over my spell! I didn’t know it reacted with a person like that! How did you come to possess your current form? Was it a curse, or something voluntary? How does the experience of being a boat compare to that of being a human? Or were you a boat the entire time?”
“Robert is the boat?” Stella asked, confusion evident in her tones. Not being able to see what is happening must be difficult for her, and I carefully lifted and waved one of my oars, making the motion slow and large enough for her to discern with her alternate senses.
“Robert here, I am the rowboat, and I woke up with this body a couple of months ago. I miss being a human, but it does have its advantages.” I stop there, not wanting to get into my history or my exact capabilities at the moment.
Jim spoke up to fill the air and return to the topic of conversation to the smuggler’s den. “Robert doesn’t have eyes, but he can hear anything that’s said in an area around him. It’s thanks to him that we were able to find this warehouse in the first place, and he will continue to help us out by spying. We’ll be going into this operation with as much information as he can gather for us, and once we're actually busy with grabbing the items Robert will be there waiting for us. His abilities make him one of the best getaway boats that exist.
“But what do you want me for?” Stella asked, still somewhat confused. I’m just a blind seamstress!”
I answer before Jim can say anything that might scare off the skittish woman. “You bring a lot to the group. If we were to try and perform a normal robbery on this warehouse you probably would be a hazard to have along, but we’re not. We’re going to be trying some very unusual tactics. You might be blind, but that pales in comparison to your abilities with cloth and thread. Even if you don’t come with us to actually steal things, there are a few items that you could make for us ahead of time that would help us out.”
Jim cut in before I can elaborate further. “Also, it really sucks what those bullies and enforcers were able to do to you when you first started out. I thought you might like to have a chance to get back at them for that, at least a little bit.”
He stuttered to a halt once he felt everyone switch their attention back towards him, before he gamely picked up his courage and pressed forwards.
“You have so much talent and capability, and it’s a shame that everyone looks at you and only sees a blind beggar. Helping us with this theft won’t get you the recognition you deserve, but it will give you the money you need to really make a life for yourself, instead of just scraping by. An actual shop to display your wares in, instead of whatever corner of the market happened to be available.”
Before Stella could respond, Jim turned his attention to Themis. “I felt sorry for you the moment I heard your story. You came here to our city in pursuit of justice, only to find that no one want to help you with your goal. I might not be able to help you catch the thief, but we can at least steal everything back and make things right that way. It will show up the same thugs and smugglers who politely laughed at you, even as they knew the criminal you were chasing.”
“Wiz.” Jim started, and then stopped again. “Your magic is amazing. I was captivated by it when we first met, even more than I was annoyed at your cheapskate nature. I don’t have a good reason for you to help us, nothing that means you should throw your lot in with us, but there will be money in it for you, if you’re interested.
“Money makes the world go round, Kid. How much money are we talking about, exactly?”
“We don’t know yet.” I admitted. But even if Jim doesn’t have anything to offer you, I do.” If you help us with this, I’ll let you examine me, and we can see if there’s any other magic we can collaborate on.”
“Deal.” Wiz answered. “Now why don’t we take this conversation somewhere we can talk more freely. There aren’t a lot of people out and about, but it only takes one for everything to go upside down.”