The sleep was brief, by my best guess I had been out for maybe three hours when one of my wards triggered. It was a simple alarm I had set outside my door. They wouldn’t have any clue it woke me.
“He should be out ‘at particular poison never fails.” I recognized the voice of the flirty girl who brought up my food earlier. “He’ll be out for hours, or dead.”
“He betta not be dead, da boss is gettin annoyed wit da bodies ya been mak’n.” A male voice snarled.
“Yeah at last one want even posed to be dead, she wanted ‘im alive.” A nasal voice sniped.
“How was I to know he’d be allergic?!” Her voice was defensive now. “I used it the way she said to.”
“Ats why ya ain’t dead.” The snarling voice again, cold and hard now.
I could feel them moving slowly toward the door as they spoke, my wards telling me everything I needed to know. A large man, two daggers dressed in dark leather followed by a lean hawk nosed man dressed similarly. The girl followed behind to, doing her best to stay out of the way. None of the three looked concerned about anyone else in the hotel as the reached my door. A smirk found its way onto my face when I saw the lean man slide forward with lock-picking tools. I wonder how he’d feel if those broke? I sank my senses into the lock, it wasn’t complicated. There were only three tumblers but they would be enough. As the first pick entered and pinched the first tumbler up I fused the two metals together and waited. It took just a few second for him to torque the pick slightly, the soft snap of metal almost echoed in the silence.
“Shit!” The nasal voice almost echoed with the sharp whisper.
“Garin?!” It was a question and a warning from the larger of the two. Well now I had the name for one of them.
“Pick snapped.” Was his only response, just then I relaxed the broken piece of the puck and let the light tinkling of metal falling down to echo in the dark. I could feel all three of them tense at the noise.
“Get it open.” The bigger man snarled out the command.
I waited my senses still inside the lock, waiting. Sure enough in a few seconds another pick slid in depressing the first tumbler again, I let it hold this time and waited. The next pick reached the second tumbler and I melded the two together again then waited. As the third pick slide in the pressure on the second one reached its breaking point and it snapped. Illiciting another sharp curse from Garin.
“What the fuck?!?” He growled out. I timed releasing my hold on the metal with the end of his curse. Letting the noise punctuate his hissed expletive. The following silence was very rewarding, all three of them stood frozen in the dark outside of my door. As the silenced stretched out I waited, curious as to what would happen next. It didn’t take long, of course it was the big man who broke the stand off.
“Did you break another pick.” He growled out.
“Yeah an at don happen Luke.” Garin assured him. “Least not naturally, at only happens in wit magical locks, an is ain’t one.”
“What the hell?” The still unnamed girl asked.
“Means either Garin ain’t worth a spit as a thief, or the locks been magiced.” Luke growled his response in a sharp whisper. “An I know he kin pick a lock.”
“But the lock isn’t magic, I’d know.” She argued.
“Wouldja?” He turned snarling at the girl.
“Haveta tell me I clean the rooms.”
“An yer sure he ain’t no mage?” Luke was starting to have a bad feeling about this job.
“Da ring didn’t tell me nothing or I’da never called!” The defensive tone in her voice was ringers with fear. Shame her ring could sense past my suppression field, a convient trick I had figure out to hide the power of my shards. To anyone’s sense I would feel like a mundane, guess it worked on enchantments too.
“Sumthin ain’t right Luke.” Grains shrill voice was laced with fear now, rightfully so but I doubted he knew why he felt that way. Some part of his lizard brain kicking in to signal the man.
“Agreed, we come back another time somethin ain’t right.” I had to give it to Luke, he didn’t dawdle about making a decision.
“What about my money?” The girl hissed, anger and greed reaching past the fear.
“Drop it Dahlia, if it goes well you’ll still get paid.” Luke was already walking back down the hallway followed closely by Garin. She hesitated another few second before following them. I slipped into the wood of the building and followed them, conveniently they would likely lead me to their boss. That was the meeting I really wanted. The maid broke off on the bottom floor and the two headed further around the ring. I followed after stepping from the wood into the ground.
It suddenly hit me that I was casually moving though hard surfaces. Another learned thing that I was experiencing for the first time since leaving my training. Moving through the ground outside of training was different, my perception flowed out covering most of the city. The only exception was the lords manor, it had a barrier preventing my casual sense to penetrate it. I felt like if I pushed I could slip through it but that wasn’t my current goal, maybe later. Right now I wanted the underground boss and I could only hope that’s where these two were going. Either way this was going to be recon, contact would have to come after shopping. I needed a creepy villain outfit, which meant I needed an outfit to modify that I didn’t care about.
The two had ducked down a back alley between two taverns while my mind had been wandering. As I watched they popped open a hidden door at the back of the alley and they stepped into it. I could feel the slight buzz of a ward around the spot. unfortunately for whoever had done this ward it was half assed and week. I slide through a gap in the magic, easily avoiding the alarms.
Easily following along as the two traveled through the tunnel that lead slightly down and further under one of the taverns. They hadn’t spoke much on the way back, their uneasy silence continued as they walked. I wasn’t sure why they seemed uneasy but there definitely was something. I could read it in their body language, a skill you picked up living on the streets as a kid. Knowing how aggressive or dangerous someone was came in incredibly handy. These two were nervous about something, that much was obvious.
The answer was revealed when they reached a common area that seemed to be in a massive cave. I had never been to anything that would be called a thieves guild, but that was obviously what this was. The guards flanking the doors looked like they could be part giant, both wearing heavy armor and casually holding hammers that I doubted I’d be able to lift easily. Their glares scanned over the approaching duo with critical eyes.
“Garin, why so glum?” The one on the left asked, you could hear the amusement in his voice.
“Bad information, wasted effort Malik and we all know how the boss feels about that.” Garins tone was heavy, annoyed but also a bit of fear.
“Better get to it, she’s in her office.” Malik answered while the other man shook his head.
“Aye.” Garin and Luke walked forward heading directly to a door on the far left of the room. When they reached the guarded door the same information was exchanged and one of them stepped inside for a minute. The new room was warded like the exterior but was done a bit better but it still didn’t slow me more that a second. I slipped in ahead of the two would be thieves to take in the room beyond and its occupant.
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The first thing that struck me was the luxury of the place. Shelves bracketed a fireplace whose mantle was so opulent it could have been in a lords main hall. Both shelves full of books, the left looked like ledgers while the right held everything from fiction to religious tomes. The smooth waxed stone floor was mostly covered by a crimson rug trimmed in gold thread. The two chairs facing the desk looked both expensive and uncomfortable, obviously by design. The desk, an ornately carved wooden monstrosity trimmed with silver and gold inlay, sat facing the facing the door. The chair behind it was more like a small throne, plush cushions lined the back and arms, again the crimson and color color repeated matching the rug.
The woman sitting in it was not at all what I had expected. Foolishly I had expected some tone beauty of intermixed age with a glint of malice flicker in her eyes. That was not what I got. The easiest way I could describe the woman would be grandmotherly. She was what you could call ancient, gray hair tied back in bun. Her face was aged but in such a way that it imparted wisdom and knowledge rather that frailty. What truly caught me by complete surprise was her activity, she was knitting. Honest to god knitting, it looked like a scarf or something. The thing that truly took me back was her cackle as she fought a kitten for the ball of yarn she was working from.
“Tell them to come in dearie, we’ll sort it all out.” Her voice was clear and calm, almost inviting. I hesitated for a second when I looked at her, she was a mage. A single shard from what I could see but still a mage.
“Yes ma’am.” The guard said crisply, his tone full of respect as he turned back to the door.
I hung back in the wall watching the scarf grow slowly as her hands moved using easy motions to move the needles. Her eyes focused on the door never waivered. Studying her more closely I could see the sparkle in them, long years of wisdom and knowledges backed by a sharp intellect could easily be seen. This wasn’t someone who missed a trick, ever. The door opened and the two downtrodden thieves made their way in, stopping in front of the desk. Both of them looked like whipped dogs, but now that I could really see them I almost laughed. They didn’t look afraid, well not in a physical sense. They looked like kids caught in a cookie jar, abashed and ashamed.
“Well boys what happened?” The old lady asked, her hands never stopped moving.
“Mage lock.” Garin explained everything in that one statement. “I broke two lock picks, and they were masterwork quality.”
“What?” Now her hands stopped as she looked up at the man. “That inn doesn’t have mage locks.”
“No ma’am that’s what Bess said.” Luke this time leading the conversation. “She cleans the rooms so if there were mage locks they would have to tell her.”
“So you think the mark was a mage?” Her eyes glittered with intense concentration now.
“Only thing ‘at makes sense Ma’am .” Garin admitted respectfully.
“You left him undisturbed I assume?” Her tone was sharp now.
“Yes ma’am, never heard a sound from inside.” Luke said quickly. “Came directly here to report.”
“Good, you did right. Go have a drink I’ll look into this myself.” She smiled at both of them and they seemed to stand straighter before they turned and walked out the door. Both of them seemed much more at ease now that it was settled and they had evidently done right. I waited for the door to close, watching the old lady carefully for a few more minutes.
She muttered to herself for a few minutes and made some notes on a piece of parchment then returned to her knitting. Evidently coming to some conclusion and letting the matter end there. The mewling kitten on the desk returned to playing with the yarn and the scarf grew slowly. I had seen enough, exiting the wards carefully again I drifted around the room outside. I carefully memorized the faces, noting anything that would mark each of them. They were a mix of races and sexes, the only other one that stood out was another mage at the back of the bar sitting in shadows. He was again a single shard holder but had obviously taken a darker path. The feeling of death and blood washed off of him in waves, an obvious assassin.
After that I marked the cave, several storage rooms filled with various trade goods likely stolen. A vault behind the bar held a fair amount of wealth in gems, coin and a few magical items. They only ones that drew my attention where the three storage rings, admittedly it was out of honest curiosity since I didn’t know what was in them. Something to consider later, right now I was weaving through the wards in grandmothers office again. I realized I hadn’t really mapped out the room or even looked for her vault.
The room was empty when I return which brought up another question. Where had she gone? I would have noticed if she left, even by magic, because I had my perception spread out the whole time. I found my answer behind one of the bookcases, a passageway lead to a small living area not far from her office. The woman was having her tea surrounded by four cats who each waited their turns to get her affections.
Searching the room and office I found three different small vaults, one full of coins and gems, another with half dozen magical items and the last held journals. The journals took me by surprise but when I considered it more they made sense. Blackmail probably, or other information that the guild could use for extortion and favors. This all could be useful but I hadn’t decided if I was working with this woman yet, that decision wouldn’t be made until they met tomorrow night.