A Thief's Best Asset is his Lie Ability (Ivory & Vinny!)

[Paradox]

Some days preceding the ring incident, things had returned to relative normalcy but Sekeo's presence was much less felt. The kobold avoided Silas's bar entirely though it pained him that he couldn't see his friend, Wulfgar.  As much as he wanted to make an appearance,  the look the knife ears had given him made him feel uncomfortable and Sekeo couldn't help but suspect that Silas was scheming to take his treasure from him. Sekeo was half-tempted to let the stupid elf have it. Let Silas deal with Sekeo's problems! But as Jassir had pointed out to him the other day, whoever he had stolen from wouldn't know that Silas had the ring and Sekeo would remain a target. Damn!

Sekeo hadn't been around Eliana's room either and he was fairly proud of himself for resisting the trinkets that she hoarded. It really was hard! She had so many sparklies and shinnies! Never mind that a lot of it was girly jewelry or clothing. It was just so pretty! Thinking about them made Sekeo's claws twitch eagerly and he contemplated sneaking to her room to pinch something. Although he'd heard that she was rolling in the sheets with that wretched elf at least once. Now he was too scared to go!   

Sekeo sat quietly in his room studying the ring he'd swiped from the merchant lord, Bassir. He hadn't told the Bandits everything, of course or he knew that they'd be furious with him. They also didn't need to know WHO he had stolen from or he'd be booted from the guild for sure! If he played his cards right though, the kobold knew that Jackal would be pleased because a successful job against someone as dangerous and powerful as Bassir would make the bandits legendary or close to that and the gold would flow...

The knocking on Sekeo's door abruptly snapped the kobold out of his daydream. He hopped off his bed and moved to open the door, " Yesss? What isss it?"



(( Wakka wakka! Yeah. Not even sure why I called the title that but uh...I suck at titles so that's what you get!

Okay, so I don't know for certain what I'm going to do here yet, but the bandits can either discuss a job or go looking for one haha. This is just a little something to move up to that and get us rolling! Buttons must get stolen!

Allow me to stress that this will be mainly a fun thread so don't sweat a ton about plot things unless you really want to!

Lastly, whomever posts first can be the person who shows up at the door. You may also use an npc if you want! ))

[Ivory]

(OOC: I was going to make Vinny second this, but it's just sitting here in my list looking so unanswered...)

Eliana waited patiently for the door to the little kobold's room to swing open.  She was impressed that the little thief had managed to keep out of her things of late -- either that, or he was taking things and she just hadn't noticed yet.  Regardless, when the door opened, Eliana was looking down at him with a smile, dressed in her usual array of fine clothing that straddled the line of decency.  The aforementioned jewels sparkled prettily on her fingers, ears, and throat.

"Good afternoon, Sekeo.  So you are still here..."  There had been some talk that, perhaps, the little kobold had scampered off to try his fortune elsewhere.  "I have a job, and I need someone who is good with locks.  Are you interested?"

(OOC: Vinny~  <3  Feel free to assume your character accompanied Eliana -- or suggested the job -- or something!  *flail!*)

[Vincent]

Standing a few feet behind the lovely Eliana , there was a shorter and stockier figure clad in dark leathers that complimented the figure but provided practical protection. "I think you ought to partake , Sekeo , "Lady Leolin chimed in merrily, "it's quite a lucrative opportunity and nearly risk-free!"

Nearly! Briana knew that this was important to the kobold because the poor little fellow was quite craven.
 
Behind Leolin, Jassir leaned against the wall and added , "Don't worry, little buddy. Your apprentice is here to watch your back since that's about the only thing I can do anyway. " He admitted. Locks , words and charms were not his specialty; he was the muscle when Wulfgar was preoccupied!

[Paradox]

Sekeo blinked a couple times and stared at Eliana's jewelry.  It was pretty! "Ooo ssshiny..."  His claws twitched eagerly , but the little thief gave his scaly head a shake, "Isss nice outfit, Eliana." The kobold complimented (even though he was actually complimenting her shinnies and not anything else)  and then he stepped aside and left his door open wide for them to enter if his companions felt the inclination to enter. 

He listened to the others and they really didn't need to say a word to catch his interest. Sekeolath'zhin did like it when people acknowledged his skill with lock-picking because it was something the little fellow had devoted his whole life to and it certainly had paid off. There were few locks that hindered him.

He peered up curiously at Eliana, "Maybe..." He replied hesitantly and then remembered Silas had been close with the woman lately and he scowled , "Only if the ssstupid knife-earsss issss not coming, then I will consssider! "

[Ivory]

Eliana's smile was serene.  She always dressed to impress, and she expected people to notice -- and, yet, it always pleased her when they did.  "Thank you," she answered warmly as she stepped into the room.  None of them had what she would consider to be luxurious or spacious quarters, exactly -- that was the price of living in a fortified tower in the middle of nowhere.

She moved gracefully aside to allow the other to entry as well.  The Bandits were typically pretty fair in their operation -- but not all thieves respected the Code, and only a few months ago, one of their number had been filleted for trying to steal a job...

"Who, Silas?"  Eliana gave her head a slight shake, accompanied by a roll of her eyes.  Really, if one more person brought that up...  "We don't need an assassin.  Or a vintner.  We need someone to break into a tiny little box inside a safe inside a great big vault with the best locks money can buy.  Naturally, we thought of you."

[Vincent]

Leolin followed Eliana inside, but Jassir hung back and leaned against the door frame. At the mention of the vault, Jassir rubbed his chin and frowned, "A vault ? No one ever mentioned that to me."

Leolin moved over to the man and patted his shoulder, "There, there, darling. 'tis but a trifle."

"Trifle? Vaults tend to be heavily- mmmph!"

Leolin slapped her hand over Jassir's mouth and chuckled, " Rookie, you worry too much! If I didn't think we could pull it off ,then I wouldn't have passed the job along this way. Sekeo is the best at what he does, Eliana is the best at what she does, and I'm the best at what I do and you, well, I'm sure it won't be too difficult to take care of any bad men that might come along to ruin our fun," She smirked at him and removed her hand from his lips.

"I wasn't suggesting that I was afraid. I was just saying that it would be nice to know that ahead of time."

Leolin ignored him and approached Sekeo. She reached into her coat pocket and drew out handful of silver and gold buttons, "Look, we even brought you a little incentive, darling."

[Paradox]

"Sssilasss, yesss. Good!" The kobold turned around again, nodding his approval. He was very pleased to hear that the stupid elf wouldn't be around. He grinned at the compliments paid towards his abilities and then eagerly snatched the buttons from Lady Leolin's hands and hugged them tightly to his chest. "Yesss, yesss. I'm in! Where isss thisss vault?" 

He didn't wait for an answer, moving away to his dresser. He set the buttons down on top and then opened one of the drawers and reached inside, pulling out a small lock box. The kobold produced a key from one of his many pockets and unlocked the box. He opened it and picked up the buttons, one at a time, giving each one a kiss before he placed it inside and locked them all away.

((Buttonsss!))

[Ivory]

Well, Eliana thought as she watched Sekeo carefully put away his buttons, she supposed it wasn't much different from how she behaved after stealing a beautiful piece of jewelry...  The fact that it was jewelry rather than shiny buttons had little to do with it, after all.  If buttons were what made the little kobold happy, then let him have his buttons.

Especially if it kept him away from her jewelry.

"Arca."  The beauty smirked slightly at the thought.  She had always liked Arca...  "We'll have to travel there, of course, but our employer was very generous in his offer.  Even if we divide his offer by four."

Now, here was the part that troubled her about hiring Sekeo.  Yes, he was better than anyone else in their merry group at opening locks.  However...

"But there are parameters...and not the least of those is to be discrete, even among our friends."

[Paradox]

Sekeolath'zhin nodded his approval. Yes. He liked Arca. It was ripe with profitable opportunities! He also liked the sound of the words "generous" and "offer" .However, at her last remark, Sekeo looked up at Eliana questioningly, " Dissscrete? What do you mean?"

((Short and to the point!))

[Vincent]

"It means, my scaly little friend, that when we reach Arca, we'll need to keep our distance from one another," Jassir informed the kobold, " If people see us together often, that will draw undesirable attention. "

Leolin added, "It also means that you need to be on your best behavior, darling. No pinching any extra goodies , no nick-nacks, treasures , bobbles , and so on . You steal nothing. You just focus on opening the locks you're instructed to and this will all go smoothly and you will find yourself swimming in a room of all manner of fancy buttons that your heart desires! Doesn't that sound marvelous?"

ooc: Apologies. I won't be this tardy with my posts again.

[Ivory]

OOC: You know what?  I am so absolutely in love with your characters that I would wait an eternity and still be excited to get a post!  Keep up the awesome and nevermind how long it takes you to get there -- we'll wait!

"Exactly."  And worded much more kindly than Eliana could have, she supposed!  "Does that sound acceptable, Sekeolath'Zhin?  Or do you think we should look for someone else with your talent for opening things?"

In spite of his little habit for mischief, the kobold truly was the best at opening locks that the Southroad Bandits could provide.  She had every confidence he would say yes -- and could only imagine the trouble he might get into if left to his own devices...  Between the three of them, however, they should hopefully be able to keep him in line long enough to get what they had come for...

"Now, that that's settled, are any of you familiar enough with Arca to determine where we should meet?"

[Paradox]

((It's alright, Vinny. We're just glad to have you with us. ))

Really, Lady Leolin had Sekeo with the lure of even more shiny buttons! The kobold smiled dreamily at the images of himself swimming in a room full of them. It was romantic! His dreams shattered quite abruptly and Sekeo's attention returned to reality when Eliana spoke with him again. 

Sekeo thumped his tail down indignantly on the floor, "There isss no one better for the job than than me! You will find no one better in Arca, Ketra, Esssyrn or Reajh! I am the bessst! " Well, there was no telling for certain but the kobold's arrogance in this department was certainly not without any merit. 

Now, promising not to pinch anything on the other hand...Sekeo wasn't so certain that he could keep his kleptomaniac impulses in-check, but he nodded regardless, " Yesss,  I underssstand." He turned away from his companions and scuttled over to his bed and hopped up on it , pointing a claw at a map that was tacked to the wall beside it. "Here. The Sssalty Goblin. It'sss a tavern on the western ssside of the city. Isss good place to do businesss."

[Vincent]

Leolin smirked at Sekeo's boasting , but she didn't disagree with him not simply because she doubted that it wasn't true , but she also didn't wish to discourage him. Finding someone as skilled as the kobold was not an easy thing because men of such talents tended to be far more arrogant and far more demanding. Leolin preferred to have the best and for the best bargain. "See? I told you two Sekeo is the best, " Leolin beamed, purposefully expressing delight only to booster their kobold friend's ego, "not only is he the best lock-picker , but he knows Arca like the back of his hand!"

Jassir wrinkled his nose and groaned, "Salty Goblin? Not that place. "

Leolin turned her head slightly to regard the man, "What's wrong, rookie?"

Jassir shrugged, " I ....might owe some money to the owner."

"How much do you owe, darling?"

"Uh...six gold , I think, "Jassir shrugged again, "or perhaps seven."

Leolin smirked," I wonder how much he'd pay me if I turned you in?"

"You can't be serious!"

Leolin shrugged. She had only been half-joking. "At any rate, don't worry about that. I will take care of it. "

"How?"

"Don't worry about that. I can make the problem go away, dear, and that's all you need to know. So, are we all agreed then that the Salty Goblin will be our meeting spot?" She looked at Eliana , Jassir and , lastly, Sekeo. 

[Ivory]

The seductress regarded the exchange curiously, then stepped nearer to look over the map.  "The Salty Goblin, then," she agreed, wearing an expression of vague amusement.  She was rather fond of colorful tavern names; the more colorful, the more fun to be had, in her experience.

"On the first, shall we say?  That should give everyone time to wrap up their current projects and to arrive..."  As well as to make the necessary arrangements within Arca itself: scouting, certain introductions, lodgings, and so forth.  And, of course, it would be better to arrive separately, just in case their target had any spies out there with their ears to the ground...

[Paradox]

"Yesss. Isss good plan, " Sekeo agreed, happy that his suggestion had been taken. "I have businesss in Arca anywaysss. I leave tomorrow , but it isss sssmall businesss with a friend. No trouble. I won't be late." The kobold promised, speaking honestly.

"Sssee you on the firssst , then." Sekeo bid them farewell and once he was alone once more he rushed over to his dresser, opened the door and admired his newest collection of shiny buttons once more.


((End thread. I will start the new thread in Arca and send you guys the link.))