PhoenixAsh
First Post
Update #20: To Catch a Thief
Darkened alleyways in the dead of night piled with faceless humanoid refuse. Rain water pooling in rancid puddles seeping into boots. Running from the shadows.
The streets of Fairhaven had always been home to him, but tonight every shadow bears a hidden menace, every slouched over figure in the back alleys concealing barely-restrained violence. Pursuit is behind him, he cannot spare time for the shadows or the slums. All he can do is keep running. The alleyways close in, contorting impossibly tall and endlessly smaller. The pursuit is gaining. He squeezes through a narrow alleyway, his footing slips on the puddle and he falls with a heavy splash, long dark hair spilling over his face, clinging to it. The pursuit has caught him, he rises to face it.
Pain, exhaustion. Can you keep running? Danger, towering and strong. More danger, slim and frail. Recognizable danger.
Only one of the four figures has a face, the face of all the reasons he had left Fairhaven, ran from his family, all of his family. His speech grates on every nerve. “Look at you, Olerude. You look terrible! We cannot have that any more. I don’t like you, you don’t like me… fine. But you’ve got talent. That much is painfully obvious. So you’re going to work for me now, Khoravar. And I’m going to have your whole family under my thumb. Before you say a damned thing, this is not an offer; you’d be too pig-headed to accept it. So here is what we are going to do. You are coming with me, or these three ‘gentleman’ are going to beat you into a pulp and then you are coming with me, make your pick.”
The three men surge forward as almost at the same instant and both wizards begin to incant, but only one spell takes hold. He runs with the three men on his heels. The face of his past stares blankly at him, soon lost.
Lucky that time, weren’t you? Will it last? How long until you trip, fall again? They won’t stop chasing you. Hide, you will have to hide.
Desperation fuels him, he gains a slight lead. He skids around a corner, barely keeping his footing as he slams into a wall. Forcing himself into motion, a spell takes form and the rain slicked alley behind him turns black. The pursuit sees him, does not see the darkness. They slip and fall. Forcing aching limbs back into action, he gains on them, begins to lose them.
Clever move. But you can’t escape them, can’t escape what they are. What you are. What you will be. You can’t escape ME.
He chokes out a strangled cry, grabbing his stomach and doubling over, burning pain thrumming through his stomach. So close! He can see the streets, a crowd, and light ahead of him. He tries to move and the pain re-doubles and he collapses. His vision blurs and spots as the pain reaches a crescendo. He rolls and spills his guts onto the alley floor. He looks up, gasping for breath. The figures, all four of them are upon him.
“Where did he go?” Dysinth Shaliste D’Phiarlan has known Ruel all of the half-elf’s life, but he does not seem to recognize him. He points a shaky figure down the alley; they run off, disappearing in the crowd ahead. His stomach still burns, but the pain has receded. The light from the street ahead turns a puddle to a mirror. He crawls towards it, looks at himself. He does not see himself. He sees an old beggar man, an alien face on his body. His stomach thrums with warmth. He lifts his shirt, his skin is marked. A dragonmark. A Mark of Shadow. He studies it for several minutes. It should not be possible, but it shows no flaw, no aberration. He blinks as his appearance seems to muddle, dissolve and reform into his own. The old man in the puddle speaks before vanishing.
I will conceal you for now, but you will be revealed later. You will not escape.
Suddenly he feels a heavy pressure on his chest…
***
“Hey, are you going to sleep… hey! Calm down!” Loki glowers at the entertainer wizard struggling beneath him as he tries to shake him awake. He looks unusually pale and as he lifts his hand its damp with sweat. “What’s with you?”
Ruel blinks and takes a deep breath to collect himself before managing a short smile. “Just a bad dream. What is the matter?”
“Its past daybreak and you all are going to miss breakfast if you don’t get a move on, what were you all doing last night?”
Ruel quickly fills in the half-giant as the rest of the assortment of crew slowly awakens and gathers itself. All except Dox, who is nowhere to be found.
“That must be why we are doing a surprise inventory of the contents of the holds,” Loki sighs. “Wish I could help, but I will probably be down there until we reach Passage. Good luck!” The half-giant strides off, leaving Ruel, Elisa and Alexandre alone.
The trio ambles off towards the Liralen’s dining facilities to find Audric in conversation with Denneth. After a short exchange, Denneth moves off down the corridor and Audric approaches them, “It is as I suspected, Denneth was merely interested in Errol as a means to Wrel. I believe we can rule him out.”
“What if he’s lying to ya?” Elisa challenges.
“I am fairly certain he is not.” The monk’s calm confidence is unflappable, and any further debate is forestalled by the appearance of Dox.
“There you are! Hey, guess what, I checked out Goldsmith’s quarters. There’s a wine stain on the carpet!”
Audric narrows his eyes, “What do you mean you ‘checked out’ his quarters? And why does it matter that there is a wine stain there?”
Dox raises his hands, “Hey, I know, I know! We are supposed to be careful about the passengers, but with Errol incarcerated someone had to clean Niall’s quarters.” He grins, “I volunteered! And in case you forgot, only the three women were drinking wine at the bar the other night, I know for a fact the hobgoblin and his friends don’t touch the stuff. It was a pretty fresh stain, and it was right by Niall’s chest.”
“I wonder if any of the ship’s wine stock has gone missing recently…” Alexandre rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Suppose we’ll have to help with breakfast anyways, let’s check it out.” He and Dox walk off towards the kitchen.
Elisa grunts and looks at Ruel, “Between your so called ‘heel mark’ in the holds and this wine stain I guess we can narrow it down to Sarenti, Jewell and Nyla.”
Ruel nods, “Indeed. This should be as good a time as any to find the passengers gathered in one place. Why don’t we see what we can learn from them Audric?”
Elisa pauses a moment, alone in the corridor, “Guess I’ll just eat breakfast then.”
***
Audric approaches a small table where Jewell and Nankivel d’Lyrander, are chattering over quiches (predictably) stuffed with all manner of breakfast meats. The pair looks up at him as he approaches and bows his head politely, “May I join you for breakfast?”
“Oh yes, certainly!” Jewell bubbles. “Its Audric right? I’m Jewell and this is Nankivel.” Nankivel nods, but does not get in a word edgewise over Jewell’s stream of conversation. “What do you think of the Liralen? Isn’t she a wonderful ship? I love the food, although it’s a bit, ah, heavy for me sometimes.”
Audric smiles and nods, “Yes, it is quite an amazing ship. Though I hear there may be a small problem with thieves onboard.”
Jewell leans in, “Really? I haven’t heard anything about that! Something’s been stolen?”
“Well, they are still investigating all that, but I hear they’ve arrested the ship’s cabin boy…”
Jewell pouts, “Oh that’s a shame, he seems like such a nice boy. And I didn’t even get a chance to return this to him.” She rummages through her purse and produces a button. “I found it after that unfortunate incident at the bar.” She grins at him. “I was really impressed with how well you handled that.”
Audric smiles slightly, “Thank you. You know, I met the boy in Fairhaven and I was going to visit him later, if you like, I will return the button to him. I’ll bet he would still appreciate it.”
Jewell quickly agrees and hands over the button. “So do you think he did it?”
Audric shrugs, but watches Jewell very closely as he answers, “I’m not so certain. I hear they found evidence of a woman in high heels committing the thievery.”
Nankivel laughs, “High heels on an airship? Not practical at all! State of the art or not there is still turbulence now and then. The last thing you want to do is fall when you’re several miles up in the air.”
Jewell nods, “I love my heels as much as the next gal, but its just not a good idea onboard ship. I haven’t put mine on since we left Fairhaven. Well, Nyla wears them. But she seems the type to live dangerously, you know? Of course, she should learn to not live dangerously when playing cards with me,” she smirks.
Audric nods thoughtfully, “Yes indeed.”
“Can I take your order, sir?” Standing above Audric with his arms folded, Alexandre gives him a wry grin.
***
Ruel watches Sarenti d’Orien sitting by herself and drinking a large cup of coffee while observing the room with a critical air. The woman observes the wizard and lifts an eyebrow. Breaking into a smile, Ruel approaches her table. “Enjoy your breakfast this morning?”
“It was passable.”
Ruel hesitates for just a moment, “I admired your shoes last evening at dinner.”
Sarenti rises and towers over him, several inches taller than him, and looks down at the entertainer, “I would think, the Lyranders would train their crew to show more decorum.” Turning she strides out of the dining hall, leaving the wizard at a loss.
A moment later he shrugs, deciding that someone so tall probably would not wear heels anyways. “I do not understand the women on this airship.”
***
After the breakfast hour the five of them gather in the now deserted dining hall. “No one saw Nyla? Odd, I wonder if she is still in her quarters,” Ruel muses.
Audric nods and looks askance at Ruel. “I am certain Jewell is innocent. And, despite the reticence of Sarenti, it does follow that with her height she would not make use of heels. Did either of you find any of the wine missing?”
Dox nods, “A couple of the best are missing, seems our thief has struck there too.”
Ruel brightens suddenly, “Alexandre, do you recall at dinner a few nights ago, how intently Nyla was watching Errol and Goldsmith?”
Alexandre shakes his head. “I just remember them talking about how the ship would fail because it had too much red marble onboard.”
Ruel blinks and then shakes his head. “No, I remember that Nyla was staring at Errol and Niall quite intently. I think she may have been sizing them up for her theft. Goldsmith was casting Detect Thoughts, and he even talked about how if anything was going to go missing he would blame Errol first.”
Alexandre nods, “Now that I do remember. Shouldn’t that be enough to convince the Captain to let us search her quarters? Or at least track her down, I don’t know if anyone has seen her this morning, this ship is big, but not that big.”
The group of them approaches Captain D’Meryl, who listens attentively as they explain what they’ve found. When they are finished he quickly summons Adjutant Tagotah and all of them descend upon Nyla’s quarters. Tagotah’s heavy knocking goes unanswered and after short consideration D’meryl bids him to unlock the door. Before he can even get his keys out, however, Dox has lockpicks in both hands and springs the door’s lock. All gathered look at him closely and his eyes widen.
D’meryl mutters, “An exceptional collection of talents indeed.” Shaking his head he gestures for Tagotah to open the door.
Ruel folds his arms, “Dox?”
“Hmm…?”
“Stay away from my locker.”
The changling ducks his head but follows Tagotah inside Nyla’s quarters, the quarters are luxurious but nothing looks out of place. Dox moves immediately to Nyla’s chest and finds it unlocked and filled with clothing, personal effects and loose change, but no stolen wands. Amidst the loose change, however, is a single button that matches those from Errol’s jacket. Undaunted, Dox searches the chest more thoroughly and finds a loose seam no more than half an inch from the base of the trunk. Tracing a slender blade along the seam, he finds it extends nearly all the way around the heavy chest. Probing carefully, he suddenly grins and lifts up along the barely noticeable seam, opening the chest from its base. It crashes against the cabin’s floor as he blinks and steps back, nearly blinded by a bright light issuing from the opening that descends into the floor itself.
Ruel steps forward and peers at the opening. “I believe this must lead to an extra-dimensional space. The stolen wands must be inside!”
Dox smirks, “Well you’re the expert, go take a look.”
Ruel hesitates a moment before carefully descending into the luminescent opening, but shortly thereafter he lifts his head out of the opening and calls for Audric to join him.
After he adjusts to the light, the monk’s eyes widen not at the massive display of wealth before him, but the source of the light in the room: the Lightstone stolen from the Vidari’s. Ruel is holding a case of wands in both hands and smiles, “It looks like we’ve solved your mystery too.”
***
Outside the cabin, Elisa is watching the hallways carefully. While the rest of the crew is ogling the wealth pouring out from inside the trunk, she’s waiting for Nyla to return. And sure enough she does.
Elisa and Nyla lock eyes for a moment. Nyla turns to run, but Elisa is faster. She charges after her and barrels into her, tackling her to the deck. Nyla struggles and swings a heavy, dark glass bottle at the barbarian, but Elisa grabs her wrist, squeezes and twists. Nyla lets out a scream as she is easily maneuvered into a pin. “And just where do you think you’re going, huh!?” Elisa grins, as Nyla squirms helplessly under her grip. Looking over to where the bottle rolled she calls out behind her, “Hey Dox, I found your missing wine!”
Darkened alleyways in the dead of night piled with faceless humanoid refuse. Rain water pooling in rancid puddles seeping into boots. Running from the shadows.
The streets of Fairhaven had always been home to him, but tonight every shadow bears a hidden menace, every slouched over figure in the back alleys concealing barely-restrained violence. Pursuit is behind him, he cannot spare time for the shadows or the slums. All he can do is keep running. The alleyways close in, contorting impossibly tall and endlessly smaller. The pursuit is gaining. He squeezes through a narrow alleyway, his footing slips on the puddle and he falls with a heavy splash, long dark hair spilling over his face, clinging to it. The pursuit has caught him, he rises to face it.
Pain, exhaustion. Can you keep running? Danger, towering and strong. More danger, slim and frail. Recognizable danger.
Only one of the four figures has a face, the face of all the reasons he had left Fairhaven, ran from his family, all of his family. His speech grates on every nerve. “Look at you, Olerude. You look terrible! We cannot have that any more. I don’t like you, you don’t like me… fine. But you’ve got talent. That much is painfully obvious. So you’re going to work for me now, Khoravar. And I’m going to have your whole family under my thumb. Before you say a damned thing, this is not an offer; you’d be too pig-headed to accept it. So here is what we are going to do. You are coming with me, or these three ‘gentleman’ are going to beat you into a pulp and then you are coming with me, make your pick.”
The three men surge forward as almost at the same instant and both wizards begin to incant, but only one spell takes hold. He runs with the three men on his heels. The face of his past stares blankly at him, soon lost.
Lucky that time, weren’t you? Will it last? How long until you trip, fall again? They won’t stop chasing you. Hide, you will have to hide.
Desperation fuels him, he gains a slight lead. He skids around a corner, barely keeping his footing as he slams into a wall. Forcing himself into motion, a spell takes form and the rain slicked alley behind him turns black. The pursuit sees him, does not see the darkness. They slip and fall. Forcing aching limbs back into action, he gains on them, begins to lose them.
Clever move. But you can’t escape them, can’t escape what they are. What you are. What you will be. You can’t escape ME.
He chokes out a strangled cry, grabbing his stomach and doubling over, burning pain thrumming through his stomach. So close! He can see the streets, a crowd, and light ahead of him. He tries to move and the pain re-doubles and he collapses. His vision blurs and spots as the pain reaches a crescendo. He rolls and spills his guts onto the alley floor. He looks up, gasping for breath. The figures, all four of them are upon him.
“Where did he go?” Dysinth Shaliste D’Phiarlan has known Ruel all of the half-elf’s life, but he does not seem to recognize him. He points a shaky figure down the alley; they run off, disappearing in the crowd ahead. His stomach still burns, but the pain has receded. The light from the street ahead turns a puddle to a mirror. He crawls towards it, looks at himself. He does not see himself. He sees an old beggar man, an alien face on his body. His stomach thrums with warmth. He lifts his shirt, his skin is marked. A dragonmark. A Mark of Shadow. He studies it for several minutes. It should not be possible, but it shows no flaw, no aberration. He blinks as his appearance seems to muddle, dissolve and reform into his own. The old man in the puddle speaks before vanishing.
I will conceal you for now, but you will be revealed later. You will not escape.
Suddenly he feels a heavy pressure on his chest…
***
“Hey, are you going to sleep… hey! Calm down!” Loki glowers at the entertainer wizard struggling beneath him as he tries to shake him awake. He looks unusually pale and as he lifts his hand its damp with sweat. “What’s with you?”
Ruel blinks and takes a deep breath to collect himself before managing a short smile. “Just a bad dream. What is the matter?”
“Its past daybreak and you all are going to miss breakfast if you don’t get a move on, what were you all doing last night?”
Ruel quickly fills in the half-giant as the rest of the assortment of crew slowly awakens and gathers itself. All except Dox, who is nowhere to be found.
“That must be why we are doing a surprise inventory of the contents of the holds,” Loki sighs. “Wish I could help, but I will probably be down there until we reach Passage. Good luck!” The half-giant strides off, leaving Ruel, Elisa and Alexandre alone.
The trio ambles off towards the Liralen’s dining facilities to find Audric in conversation with Denneth. After a short exchange, Denneth moves off down the corridor and Audric approaches them, “It is as I suspected, Denneth was merely interested in Errol as a means to Wrel. I believe we can rule him out.”
“What if he’s lying to ya?” Elisa challenges.
“I am fairly certain he is not.” The monk’s calm confidence is unflappable, and any further debate is forestalled by the appearance of Dox.
“There you are! Hey, guess what, I checked out Goldsmith’s quarters. There’s a wine stain on the carpet!”
Audric narrows his eyes, “What do you mean you ‘checked out’ his quarters? And why does it matter that there is a wine stain there?”
Dox raises his hands, “Hey, I know, I know! We are supposed to be careful about the passengers, but with Errol incarcerated someone had to clean Niall’s quarters.” He grins, “I volunteered! And in case you forgot, only the three women were drinking wine at the bar the other night, I know for a fact the hobgoblin and his friends don’t touch the stuff. It was a pretty fresh stain, and it was right by Niall’s chest.”
“I wonder if any of the ship’s wine stock has gone missing recently…” Alexandre rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Suppose we’ll have to help with breakfast anyways, let’s check it out.” He and Dox walk off towards the kitchen.
Elisa grunts and looks at Ruel, “Between your so called ‘heel mark’ in the holds and this wine stain I guess we can narrow it down to Sarenti, Jewell and Nyla.”
Ruel nods, “Indeed. This should be as good a time as any to find the passengers gathered in one place. Why don’t we see what we can learn from them Audric?”
Elisa pauses a moment, alone in the corridor, “Guess I’ll just eat breakfast then.”
***
Audric approaches a small table where Jewell and Nankivel d’Lyrander, are chattering over quiches (predictably) stuffed with all manner of breakfast meats. The pair looks up at him as he approaches and bows his head politely, “May I join you for breakfast?”
“Oh yes, certainly!” Jewell bubbles. “Its Audric right? I’m Jewell and this is Nankivel.” Nankivel nods, but does not get in a word edgewise over Jewell’s stream of conversation. “What do you think of the Liralen? Isn’t she a wonderful ship? I love the food, although it’s a bit, ah, heavy for me sometimes.”
Audric smiles and nods, “Yes, it is quite an amazing ship. Though I hear there may be a small problem with thieves onboard.”
Jewell leans in, “Really? I haven’t heard anything about that! Something’s been stolen?”
“Well, they are still investigating all that, but I hear they’ve arrested the ship’s cabin boy…”
Jewell pouts, “Oh that’s a shame, he seems like such a nice boy. And I didn’t even get a chance to return this to him.” She rummages through her purse and produces a button. “I found it after that unfortunate incident at the bar.” She grins at him. “I was really impressed with how well you handled that.”
Audric smiles slightly, “Thank you. You know, I met the boy in Fairhaven and I was going to visit him later, if you like, I will return the button to him. I’ll bet he would still appreciate it.”
Jewell quickly agrees and hands over the button. “So do you think he did it?”
Audric shrugs, but watches Jewell very closely as he answers, “I’m not so certain. I hear they found evidence of a woman in high heels committing the thievery.”
Nankivel laughs, “High heels on an airship? Not practical at all! State of the art or not there is still turbulence now and then. The last thing you want to do is fall when you’re several miles up in the air.”
Jewell nods, “I love my heels as much as the next gal, but its just not a good idea onboard ship. I haven’t put mine on since we left Fairhaven. Well, Nyla wears them. But she seems the type to live dangerously, you know? Of course, she should learn to not live dangerously when playing cards with me,” she smirks.
Audric nods thoughtfully, “Yes indeed.”
“Can I take your order, sir?” Standing above Audric with his arms folded, Alexandre gives him a wry grin.
***
Ruel watches Sarenti d’Orien sitting by herself and drinking a large cup of coffee while observing the room with a critical air. The woman observes the wizard and lifts an eyebrow. Breaking into a smile, Ruel approaches her table. “Enjoy your breakfast this morning?”
“It was passable.”
Ruel hesitates for just a moment, “I admired your shoes last evening at dinner.”
Sarenti rises and towers over him, several inches taller than him, and looks down at the entertainer, “I would think, the Lyranders would train their crew to show more decorum.” Turning she strides out of the dining hall, leaving the wizard at a loss.
A moment later he shrugs, deciding that someone so tall probably would not wear heels anyways. “I do not understand the women on this airship.”
***
After the breakfast hour the five of them gather in the now deserted dining hall. “No one saw Nyla? Odd, I wonder if she is still in her quarters,” Ruel muses.
Audric nods and looks askance at Ruel. “I am certain Jewell is innocent. And, despite the reticence of Sarenti, it does follow that with her height she would not make use of heels. Did either of you find any of the wine missing?”
Dox nods, “A couple of the best are missing, seems our thief has struck there too.”
Ruel brightens suddenly, “Alexandre, do you recall at dinner a few nights ago, how intently Nyla was watching Errol and Goldsmith?”
Alexandre shakes his head. “I just remember them talking about how the ship would fail because it had too much red marble onboard.”
Ruel blinks and then shakes his head. “No, I remember that Nyla was staring at Errol and Niall quite intently. I think she may have been sizing them up for her theft. Goldsmith was casting Detect Thoughts, and he even talked about how if anything was going to go missing he would blame Errol first.”
Alexandre nods, “Now that I do remember. Shouldn’t that be enough to convince the Captain to let us search her quarters? Or at least track her down, I don’t know if anyone has seen her this morning, this ship is big, but not that big.”
The group of them approaches Captain D’Meryl, who listens attentively as they explain what they’ve found. When they are finished he quickly summons Adjutant Tagotah and all of them descend upon Nyla’s quarters. Tagotah’s heavy knocking goes unanswered and after short consideration D’meryl bids him to unlock the door. Before he can even get his keys out, however, Dox has lockpicks in both hands and springs the door’s lock. All gathered look at him closely and his eyes widen.
D’meryl mutters, “An exceptional collection of talents indeed.” Shaking his head he gestures for Tagotah to open the door.
Ruel folds his arms, “Dox?”
“Hmm…?”
“Stay away from my locker.”
The changling ducks his head but follows Tagotah inside Nyla’s quarters, the quarters are luxurious but nothing looks out of place. Dox moves immediately to Nyla’s chest and finds it unlocked and filled with clothing, personal effects and loose change, but no stolen wands. Amidst the loose change, however, is a single button that matches those from Errol’s jacket. Undaunted, Dox searches the chest more thoroughly and finds a loose seam no more than half an inch from the base of the trunk. Tracing a slender blade along the seam, he finds it extends nearly all the way around the heavy chest. Probing carefully, he suddenly grins and lifts up along the barely noticeable seam, opening the chest from its base. It crashes against the cabin’s floor as he blinks and steps back, nearly blinded by a bright light issuing from the opening that descends into the floor itself.
Ruel steps forward and peers at the opening. “I believe this must lead to an extra-dimensional space. The stolen wands must be inside!”
Dox smirks, “Well you’re the expert, go take a look.”
Ruel hesitates a moment before carefully descending into the luminescent opening, but shortly thereafter he lifts his head out of the opening and calls for Audric to join him.
After he adjusts to the light, the monk’s eyes widen not at the massive display of wealth before him, but the source of the light in the room: the Lightstone stolen from the Vidari’s. Ruel is holding a case of wands in both hands and smiles, “It looks like we’ve solved your mystery too.”
***
Outside the cabin, Elisa is watching the hallways carefully. While the rest of the crew is ogling the wealth pouring out from inside the trunk, she’s waiting for Nyla to return. And sure enough she does.
Elisa and Nyla lock eyes for a moment. Nyla turns to run, but Elisa is faster. She charges after her and barrels into her, tackling her to the deck. Nyla struggles and swings a heavy, dark glass bottle at the barbarian, but Elisa grabs her wrist, squeezes and twists. Nyla lets out a scream as she is easily maneuvered into a pin. “And just where do you think you’re going, huh!?” Elisa grins, as Nyla squirms helplessly under her grip. Looking over to where the bottle rolled she calls out behind her, “Hey Dox, I found your missing wine!”
I have a weakness for diplomacy. The one redeeming factor - the pilot decided to take the craft back and wait for the party in a less "confined" LZ. ![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
