Cedric’s job was thief, so he had to steal. The more things he could steal, the better he was at his job. But there weren’t many opportunities to steal in Greenlake, not with Nick Warman doing his rounds.

As such, Cedric spent much of his time on the outskirts of town, in areas where the moderators' laws protected him from Greenlake’s guard. When he was finding a mark, he preferred the mountain forest. It played to Cedric’s strengths; he was small—a bipedal raccoon humanoid species no taller than three feet—with an uncanny propensity for stealth. At that size, within all the trees, it made it easy for Cedric to hide.

During the day, while patrolling his favorite thievery spot, Cedric followed sounds of combat and found a human. The man wore strange clothes, including a shirt with a hole in it and a funny hat. As Cedric observed, he watched the man move through the forest, fighting tomato plants.

So many things were strange about the circumstance. I’ve never seen him in town, Cedric thought; I know everyone in town. Where did this man come from? Cedric’s initial impulse was to mug anyone weaker than him, and the man looked plenty vulnerable. Yet, Cedric knew looks could be deceiving. After all, he wore a worn leather cloak. It didn’t seem like much, but it served its purpose. It kept him concealed from the world. Did the man’s appearance serve a similar purpose? Did his appearance deceive?

Cedric didn’t want to find out. Instead of mugging the man with a direct attack, Cedric decided to lure the Turkey Titan to do it. He kited it the whole way to the man, but the man got away. Cedric decided to learn more about the mark he missed, following the man to town.

There, he learned about pizza, stole, and ate two of the delicious discs himself. He’d have saved some to share with the rest of his gang—the town called them the Trash Pandas—but the melted cheese and sweet tomato sauce tasted too good for him to resist.

Then the strangest thing happened. The man slapped the Turkey Titan, claiming whatever notable loot the turkey had to offer. It was loot that Cedric hoped to gain for his gang, but he knew he couldn’t do it alone. He’d need help.

Cedric snuck his way back to the mountain, creeping with an absolute silence through the trees. Without making a sound, he climbed over and ducked under branches. Before long, he came to a mound covered by bushes and trees. The ridge was in an area near where the Turkey Titan used to inhabit. Cedric slid beyond the foliage and into a hidden cave entrance.

The cave widened to a diameter of five feet, burrowing into the mound twenty paces. From there, it branched into three tunnels.

During the early evening—early for a raccoon, anyway—sleeping raccoon humanoids covered the ground. Cedric took care not to step on them.

When he came to a fork in the tunnel system, he passed by some guards who were awake. They had the job of raiders, a vicious group of warriors who specialized in looting and combat. To match their job, they armed themselves with short swords, bows, and iron chain mail.

One hooted. “You better have brought home something worthwhile this time, or Rumpke is gon’a to be angry.”

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Another shouted. “Bladeater’ll have your head this time if you don’t bring him something good. Doesn’t matter if you’re his brother.”

Rumpke the Bladeater was Cedric’s older brother. In his childhood, Cedric received the job of thief. His brother received the appointment of warlord, inheriting their father’s title. Title aside, the traits and skill trees for a warlord were so much better than a common thief.

If Cedric couldn’t measure up, it wasn’t his fault. He had more natural talent than his brother, but he didn’t have the skill tree. If he was the one given warlord as a job, the Trash Pandas would run Greenlake. Even so, Cedric understood he was a common thief; he knew his place.

He continued deeper into the tunnel system, dim candles lighting his way. When he past by a table where four other raccoon humanoids ate scraps of rotten fruit and moldy bread, someone at the table taunted him. “Today’ll be the day when your brother does you in. I hope you brought him something good this time.”

Cedric ignored them, continuing toward his brother’s chamber. It was a single room dug into the tunnel system at its far end. Two wooden doors provided the area privacy, a guard on each side, each armed with a rusty pike. As Cedric approached, the guard’s snickered and pushed the doors open.

“Cedric,” Rumpke’s voice boomed as Cedric entered the room. Cedric looked to the stone throne where his brother sat. Rumpke wore a formfitting, steel harness. It showed off his six-pack and rippling biceps.

Bronze battle skirt covered him from his waist down to his knees. When standing, he was at least five feet tall, by far the largest of the raccoons. “Brother, it’s good to see you today. Tell me. You do have good news, yes? You brought me something precious today? Something of value to our clan and kin?”

“Something precious, yes.” Cedric watched a smile form on his brother’s face. Cedric took it as a good sign, so he mustered a false bravado. “My dear brother, what I have for you is information.”

Rumpke’s smiled disappeared. “Not this again…”

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“You don’t need to worry,” Cedric spoke quick. “This time, it is a sure thing. A man killed Turkey Titan. That monster had to have dropped a ton of loot. We can rob the man.”

Rumpke the Bladeater scowled at his brother. “You don’t see a problem with that?”

“A problem?” Cedric forced confusion into his voice. Though, he suspected what was coming next; he’d already prepared for it. He knew his brother well, knew what to say to manipulate him.

“You think it will be easy to enter into town and mug someone strong enough to fight The Turkey Titan?” Patience was leaving Rumpke’s voice, annoyance replacing it.

“Nick Warman helped him beat the turkey,” Cedric explained; his brother spat at hearing the name. “This single man by himself is only a level seven, someone named Pete. It was a strange name. I mean, I’ve never seen it before…”

“Get to the point,” Rumpke growled.

“…right… The point is that this Pete stays at the bakery. He also hunts the tomato plants on the mountain. One way or another, we should be able to ambush him alone. At only level seven, I might be able to take him by myself, but I’d prefer one of your raiders to come with me. One of the level tens should do the trick. Give me one of them and three days. If you do that, I’ll steal all his loot. Plus, I’ll bring you a tasty treat called pizza. You’ll love it.”

“Three days?” Rumpke rubbed his forehead with two fingers. “All you need is three days?” He began to laugh. “And one of my level ten raiders?”

“It will be worth it.” Cedric insisted.

“Do you even know what the loot was?” Rumpke asked, still laughing. “Sending out one of the raiders can draw a lot of attention. They stick out in a crowd, and Nick would be on them faster than your last girlfriend left you.”

Cedric sighed. “Now, you are being hurtful. Brother, I’m asking you to trust me. I promise. I won’t let you down.”

“Fine,” Rumpke said, cutting his laughter mid bellow and glaring at his brother. “But if you fail me this time, you don’t get any more chances.”