If I were honest, I was feeling quite relieved about finally being out of that building. The pressure to maintain appearances while planning a robbery of the very place I stood was immense. It was a balancing act with no safety net, and failure meant death, maybe not for me, but for everyone else. Though, some would say they would prefer death over what I would have to go through again.
I needed some time to decompress, to think things through and plan the next step of this operation. The bank itself was a variable fortress, and a siege wasn’t an option. I needed an alternate path to take, something I could exploit to get us in and out quietly. For now, though, we would return to the inn and reorganize ourselves.
The path back was uneventful, simply passing by the random people of the city. Once we arrived back at the inn, I took a quick look around the back of the building to make sure we wouldn’t be disturbed. The others emerged from their little cubbies once they noticed us entering and congregated into a little huddle.
“So? What's it look like in there?” Otar asked.
“I think it will be easier to show not tell.” I turned towards Kala. “Kala, can you get out some paper and ink?” She did so, handing me the requested items. I put the paper down on a semi flat surface and started drawing out the interior of the building as I remembered it. It was by no means an artistic masterpiece, nor would it probably be sufficient for an architect to plan a construction project, but it got the idea across.
Looking over what I had drawn, there were quite a few blank gaps for places that I hadn’t got a good look at. “Got anything to add, Kala?” I handed the quill over to her as she looked over the impromptu map for a second before going in to write down what she noticed. She ended up filling in some of the blank areas with hallways and doors. There were even a few noted guard positions that she had noticed.
With the last of the additions added I began a basic explanation. “This is the extent of what we were able to see, but it’s much more difficult to get in than this makes it look. Most of the building is made of stone, the doors are solid, and the windows are covered with iron bars.”
“That sounds more like a prison than a place of business,” Holdrem commented.
“For all purposes, it is. Sure, they’re trying to make sure people can’t break in. But more importantly, they’re making sure that the money they have there won’t be able to leave without their permission.”
“So, what’s the plan then?” Jorn asked.
I sighed. “Truthfully, I don’t have one yet. Thus far, every time I think of the place, I just hear breaking and entering, which is loud, which is bad. Whatever we do, it has to be silent, else the whole damn town will come crashing down on top of us. I just need some time to think, maybe do some more scouting.”
“Well, whatever you’re going to do, think of it quick. ‘Lunch’ came by while you were gone, and grain soup isn’t exactly what I would call appetizing. If I have to choke down more than a few of those I might just rebel,” Jorn quipped with a huff and a grin.
I chuckled a little. “Believe me, I want to get this done with as soon as possible as well. Hopefully we won’t be stuck here for more than a few days.” With there being no plan right now, and nothing left of importance to talk about, I decided to call an end to this little meeting. It was time for some additional information gathering.
The others would remain in the stable while I went out alone this time. I decided to do a little more shopping for a disguise. If this was going to be a stakeout, I should look as inconspicuous as possible.
Finding a place that sold clothing wasn’t all that difficult. I found a low-end clothing store near the entrance to the city, nothing all that impressive when compared to some of the stores closer to the center, but they kept it clean and organized. I selected a few things that had muted colors or weren’t very noticeable compared to the other clothing options I had seen around the town. It was a fairly inexpensive purchase compared to the recent ones I had made.
With my new clothes in hand, I made one last trip back to the inn to get changed. The new attire was a fairly large step down in terms of quality compared to my merchant clothing, which was perfect. I bet that no one would give me more than a passing glance while I was wearing this, and if I change my hair color again, I would be a completely different person.
Walking through the main lobby in one set of clothes and leaving in another with different hair would probably raise some eyebrows unless everyone was passed out drunk. Back to the stables it was, and I got changed in one of the pens while the others kept a look out. Now dressed down, I used a bit of magic to change my hair color to blond. It was a good thing I couldn’t see myself in the mirror, because I would have probably hated the look I was currently sporting. I tucked my other clothes and most of my money away for when I got back.
With the all clear given for me to exit, I quickly made my way back to the street and was just another random face in the crowd. I weaved my way through the crowd, making sure to stay out of the way of the more well-dressed Thrainians that walked by me. There were a lot of social norms that divided the classes, and as I was now in the guise of what was probably a shop worker of some kind, I was pretty low on the societal rung.
The bank was in sight again, and taking just a moment to buy an apple from a nearby stand, I stepped around the corner of an alleyway that still had a clear view of the building. I hoped I would look like a worker on a break to anyone who happened to look my way. After a few minutes of observation, while slowly eating the fruit in my hand, I quickly came to the realization that this was going to be a very long day.
I now understand why stakeouts usually happen with pairs of two; this was boring as hell. Unfortunately for me, anyone I would trust enough to accompany me on this little mission would draw too much attention compared to just an anonymous ‘Thrainian.’ I had long since finished my apple and had seen nothing but the occasional affluent individual entering and exiting the bank, probably on business. I wasn’t learning much from here, so I decided to take a little walk around the building itself.
A quick glance around the left and right side of the building as I passed revealed nothing but more barred windows and solid stone construction. Once a small break in the crowd passing by happened, I slipped down the alley of the building to have a look at the back. The rear of the building had something a little more interesting.
There was a pair of wrought iron gates connected to the back of the building. They went to a semi-circle that carved a path through part of the structure and looked wide enough to fit a cart or carriage. This was probably used to accept deliveries or important guests in a secure manner. Right now, both ends of the little tunnel were chained shut, so I couldn’t poke around more than a quick observation before having to move on. Maybe this was something we could use, a discreet way of getting in, but we would need a key of some kind if we wanted to get through the gates without leaving a sign.
Committing all the details I could see to memory, I left before anyone happened upon me just staring into the back of the building. The rest of the stakeout was mind-numbing. I only changed observation positions every now and then just so people wouldn’t get curious as to why I was just standing in one place for hours on end. Thus far the only thing of interest was the hourly patrol of guards around the perimeter of the building, checking for anything out of the ordinary.
Just as the sky was starting to turn orange and the day was coming to an end, a familiar face emerged from the front of the building. The corpulent form of Larkson exited the front door and proceeded down the street. Thinking that this was probably the only happening of any interest or usefulness, I followed the man at a healthy distance.
He casually strolled down the road without a care in the world, which made my job easy. Larkson only made one pitstop for the night at a butcher shop, picking up a cut of meat before continuing on. His destination was to be expected, his home.
It was a two-story building with plenty of windows, a small flower garden out front, and had a generous amount of room between it and the next building. A small stone fence surrounded the front of his house, not really anything that would keep someone out, but enough that random people wouldn’t casually wander onto his property.
Once he was inside and no one else was on the street, I snuck across his yard and peeked in through the window. Crystal lanterns clearly illuminated the interior of the house. The furniture was all upholstered and looked to made with richly colored wood and intricate cloths. Paintings of landscapes hung around the room, and above the fireplace that sat at the center wall was a painting of himself and a woman.
The lady in question actually emerged from a back room a moment later to greet her, I assumed, husband with a kiss. She had a slim figure with brown hair that fell freely down her back. She wore a beautiful white and light blue dress that covered most of her legs, stopping just above her ankles. Frankly she seemed way out of his league, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she actually loved the man or if this was some sort of arranged marriage.
The intricacies of their married life were of no interest to me, frankly the knowledge of where he lived was the only thing of value I could take from this situation. Not wanting to overstay my welcome, I decided to make myself scarce and call an end to this day.
Back at the stables, I did a fast debriefing of everything I found out from today. There wasn’t much after all, but what was there had some significance to our plans. “So, what are you thinking our move will be?” Kala asked.
I adopted a thoughtful posture as I mulled over the option in my mind. The back entrance was the most likely point of entry that we were going to use, but we needed some way to unlock it beforehand. Just then I had a bit of a lightbulb moment. “Do any of you know if there are drugs that Thrainians use? Illegal ones?”
Kala nodded. “Yeah, my former master...” I could see some measure of disgust grace her features when she mentioned him, “used to have parties that involved the use of a drug called spirit dust. He made it very clear that mentioning its use to anyone would have severe consequences, so it’s probably very illegal.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Fantastic! That gives me an idea.” I could see the burning curiosity on everyone’s faces, so I decided to quench it for them. “The head of mercantile affairs, the man who holds the seal that we need, has quite the ambition to him. He wants to be the one running the bank and is determined to outperform his competitors to achieve that goal. I’m thinking that if we blackmail him with threats of linking him to drug use or distribution, even, he would be compelled to assist us.”
Everyone looked to be considering what I had suggested. Jorn was the first to reply with a shrug. “Well, it doesn’t sound as fun as kicking down the front door, but it would probably be safer to do it your way.” Everyone else just nodded along, apparently finding nothing to object to in my idea.
“You guys have nothing else to add? Any concerns?” They all shook their heads at me. “Alright, then I say tomorrow night we have ourselves a little conversation with the good man about providing us some access to his place of business.”
We had a plan, now, it’s time to work out the details. They had their hourly patrols around the perimeter of the building, so that was our time limiting factor, and depending on when the gate would be opened compared to the last patrol, we might not have all that long to find the documents, get them stamped, and get the hell out. With weapons not being a feasible thing to bring on this mission, it would be me going into the building, accompanied by Kala and Holdrem, as those two had more training in hand-to-hand combat should it be needed. Jorn and Otar would then be tasked with watching our exit and making sure no one cuts off our extraction point or closes us in. Although a little slow, Kala was capable of reading, so she could help me find the correct documents once we got into the room.
The only thing we needed was for Larkson to sufficiently believe that we would ruin his chances of getting the promotion, and maybe even get him thrown in prison. After that, he would leave his office open and unlock the back gate before leaving for the night. A single piece of paper probably wouldn’t be missed, so if all goes according to plan, then we will be no more than ghosts.
It was probably as good a plan as we were going to get, at least not without some serious time and expense being put into it, neither of which we had in excess. With nothing else to discuss, I donned my merchant guise once again and turned in for the night. Tomorrow I will need a little bit of preparation to make sure everything goes right. It was difficult to get to sleep with all the anticipation, but the bed was comfortable enough that I eventually nodded off after some tossing and turning.
I woke at first light the next morning, and after getting a meal from the inn, immediately got to work to enact the plan. I got into my commoner disguise as I felt this would be more effective for my idea. First order of business, more clothes. I felt like I was doing an obsessive amount of shopping recently, but I needed some kind of face covering if I was about to blackmail someone who I had talked to and made an impression on.
There was a shop selling traveling gear and a few winter related items for keeping warm. I ended up walking out of there with a hood that draped over my shoulders and a scarf that I could use to hide most of my face. The next part was a little more suspect, and I was not entirely comfortable with the notion of doing it but felt it would be a powerful visual aid. I was going to buy some drugs.
Well, I was going to attempt to at any rate. It wasn’t necessary to plan, but I figured the squalor outside the city gates probably created a steady customer base for dealers. It’s an unfortunate truth that people who have hit rock bottom just want to find an escape from their miserable existence, even if that escape only serves to poison them in the long run.
My nose was assaulted as I exited the gate into the shanty town that surrounded the city. The air was practically fetid with the smell of shit and general mal hygiene. I had to force down some bile that crawled its way into my mouth as I grit my teeth and entered the thick of it.
I was wandering around pretty much blindly. Never in my life had I even thought about purchasing drugs from anywhere. This might be a little difficult to find someone willing to sell a stranger...
“Hey, you need something to help you relax for a bit?” A random guy sitting in between two disheveled houses called out to me as I passed.
Or maybe it will be far too easy. Not wanting to appear overly eager, I cautiously proceeded. “You really have something like that?”
“Sure, got a little something for everyone's tastes.” He removed a small bit of folded paper from his pocket. “What do you feel like? A little woodland sprites for the stress, how about some good old fashioned dream weaver mushrooms for a pleasant night?”
I played a little more into the nervous first timer, which was easy considering I was a nervous first timer. “Oh, well uhm, I don’t know about any of those. I sort of heard about another one before, I think it had dust in its name?”
The man raised an eyebrow and smirked a little at me. “Spirit dust?”
“Yeah, I think that was it.”
“Going for the hard stuff ehh? Can’t fault you, the world’s gone to shit, and we’re all stuck in it. Need something powerful to make you believe that you ain’t living in the pits themselves.” From the depths of his clothes, he removed another little folded bit of paper containing the illicit substance. “Tell you what, I'll give this one to you at a discount, and if you like it, you know where you can get more.”
The small parcel was exchanged for ten copper coins, and I walked away from that interaction with my very first drug deal in my whole life. The preparations were all in order, now it was a waiting game. I spent some time familiarizing myself with the layout of the town, plotting any escape routes we could take or hidden areas where we might hide out. Once I had finished with that, I returned to the inn to wait out the remainder of the day until nightfall.
In my free time that I had to think things over, I realized another point of concern for the security of my identity. Larkson might be able to recognize my voice, and I needed a solution to that fast. I decided to get a little experimental with magic again. With a focus being drawn on my vocal cords, I tried adjusting them just slightly, tightening them. When I tested out the results, it was surreal. Hearing myself speak in a voice that wasn’t my own without even trying threw me for a loop. I quickly undid the changes, not wanting to listen to myself like that for longer than need be.
It would be night soon, so I gathered everything I needed and even had Jorn accompany me for the trip. He seemed like he was itching to do something, and if I needed some intimidation factor, he would serve that purpose nicely. The sun set, night fell over the world, and we slipped out through the alleyways, sticking to the darkest areas to avoid detection by anyone who happened to be out at this time of night.
Luckily, it seemed that people did not go out at night all that often. Everyone was either asleep or enjoying a drink at a tavern. The only thing we had to look out for was the occasional stumbling drunk or pair of patrolling soldiers on the night watch. None of them seemed particularly alert, so we quickly arrived at Larkson’s house.
Most of the lights in the house were out, but there was one corner of the building that was still illuminated. Peering in through the window, Larkson was sitting in his personal office room writing on some papers. The room had a few bookshelves that I could not tell if they held personal or business-related books. There was an overall theme of rich wooden colors with only an intricate rug, some paintings, and a few sculptures of horses sitting on his desk to break it up.
Now was probably the perfect time to confront him. I told Jorn to stay low and only move in if he hears any kind of struggle. Meanwhile, I looked for a good entry point, examining the windows first before my eyes fell on the front door. Is it...? No, it couldn’t be.
I walked up to the door and turned the handle. There was no resistance, and the door slid open with barely even a creak. I sighed a bit before shaking my head. These people were too lax in their security, or maybe he just didn’t lock up because he was still awake. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I assumed the latter, but still took full advantage of his little mistake. Using some magic, I changed my voice to a deeper version of itself for added intimidation factor before pulling up my facial covering.
Using my training, I glided across the floor towards Larkson’s office. His door was ajar with his back turned towards me. Stepping towards him, I made my way into his office and was close enough that I could reach out and touch him if I felt inclined to. Now was the time to announce my presence, so I cleared my throat to get his attention.
His reaction was predictable. He jumped in his chair before spinning around with shock written on his face. “What the... Who are you? What are you doing in my--” Before he could finish the sentence, I lashed out with my hand and clamped his mouth shut as he was being a bit too loud for my taste. His eyes were wide, as shock turned to terror, and his hands instinctively tried to remove mine, but I would not budge.
I pulled my other hand up, and extending my pointer finger vertically in front of my face, let out a wispy shush sound. He stopped struggling so much, but he was still terrified. Slowly, I removed my hand from his mouth, and he did not yell out immediately, which was a good sign that he understood the situation he was in.
He started talking again in a slightly lower voice. “What do you want? I don’t keep much money in the house and stealing my things won’t do you any good.”
“You misunderstand my intentions.” My deeper voice was bizarre, but I didn’t let it show that I thought as much. “I’m here on business, and I would like your cooperation for a simple task.”
“What business?” he asked cautiously.
“I simply need you to let me into your place of business, how should I put it, after hours.”
His face dropped again. “You ask the impossible, I cannot do such a thing.”
“Oh, I'm certain a man as resourceful as yourself could do something as easy as accidentally leaving the back gate unlocked before heading home.”
“Why would I do anything for you.” He spoke firmly, apparently growing a little bolder.
Time to tear him down a peg. I removed the small parcel and unwrapped it, revealing the silver white powder within. “Are you familiar with what this is?”
He furrowed his brow at me. “If you are thinking to bribe me with narcotics you should know that I am not a user and will never be.”
“Admirable, but not my intention. No, I'm going to threaten you with this.” He looked confused, so I elaborated. “You see, Mr. Larkson, you seem to me like a man of ambition, many grand dreams and aspirations in your future. What would happen if a concerned citizen were to file a report about noticing you with this in your possession? It would certainly be unfortunate if in the investigation a few hidden stashes of drugs turned up in your house.”
He paled a bit as it clicked for him. “You... it wouldn’t work, I have friends in positions of authority, they would sweep it away.”
I leaned in and placed a vice grip on his shoulder. He squirmed under my gaze and winced as my fingers dug into his collarbone. “I too have friends Mr. Larkson, and I don’t even have to go through all the elaborate trouble of hiding the drugs and making some nebulous report about you. Maybe one day as you’re walking to work you suddenly find yourself pulled into an alleyway where you have a fistful of this shoved into your face, and once you are so out of your fucking mind that you can barely walk, I'll make sure that you get to work on time for everyone to see.” I practically growled every word at him, and I could tell that it had its desired effect.
He stammered in desperation for a way out of this. “B-but if they find out I let you in, that I helped you steal from the vault, I'll lose my job, and be out on the streets!”
“What I am after is not money, in fact, I'm fairly certain no one will even notice its absence. And no, I will not tell you what it is.” He opened and closed his mouth a few times, failing to come up with any words of protest. I pinched him a little to focus his attention again. “Tomorrow night, you will leave the gate in the back unlocked. Do that, and this will all be nothing more than a bad dream.”
Using a little magic, I attacked his vagus nerve which caused him to jerk in his seat for a second before falling unconscious. Turning him back towards his desk, I left the little bit of drugs folded back up on top of his paperwork to make sure he understood that this was real. Extortion successfully executed, I retreated from the building as Jorn and I quickly made our escape from the scene. Everything was in place, the events lined up, and the plan in motion. Tomorrow will be one hell of a night.