A Treasure map [FeistyMinnow]

[Trenzalor]

Cato is currently killing time in his little shop while he waits for someone to show up and hire him to do something. He hasn't had a client in a few days so he needs a client so he can get a little bit of money and increase the amount of wiggle room he has in case he goes for another while without any clients. Though the peace and quiet is certainly nice and relaxing. Cato likes relaxing and just taking a nap while there's nothing else around. Just the indistinct sounds of the bussel outside and his own breath going in and out. However that peace and quiet is disturbed when he hears someone going into his shop. when he hears his door open with a creak, Cato opens his eyes and comes to attention, looking at the person who came into his shop. Cato gives a small smile as he waves to the person. "Hello there. How may I help you?" The person who walked in gives a nod and starts walking over to Cato's desk. The man has scraggly blond hair that goes down to about his shoulder, a slight hunch, a large mole on his right temple, and he's wearing some brown peasant's clothes. He's carrying a surprisingly ornate jar with blue marking all over it. The man sits down on one of the chairs at Cato's desk. "Hey, um, could you buy this from me?" Cato tilts his head a little bit when the person says that. His little office isn't a pawn shop, so he has no idea why this person would ask him to buy this expensive looking vase. However he decides to humor the person and try to figure out what's going on. "Why do you want to sell this to me?" The man sets the vase on the desk and looks a little bit sad. "Look, I'm in a tight spot and this is all I got to sell. I need the money more than I need it. It's worth at least a hundred gold. Please, I'm begging ya." Cato thinks about it for a moment. The person seems to be sincere about needing the money, and if he's desperate enough to take a hundred gold for something like this, then he must really need it. "Alright. I just hope that you're sure about this." Cato stands up from his desk and walks over to his small safe. He unlocks it and pulls out a hundred gold, a little disappointed that he barely has any coins left after this little interaction. He re-locks the safe and sets the coins on the table. "Alright. I just hope that you can make it out of whatever's troubling you." the man quickly puts the coins into a small bag and smiles as he runs away. Cato thinks that's strange but he shrugs and picks up the vase. It's definitely very smooth and pretty looking. Cato opens it up to see if anything is inside. There isn't anything inside, but Cato notices something strange. There bottom is a lot higher than it should be. he presses his hand on it and the bottom tilts, revealing that it's false. Cato takes the false bottom out of the vase to see what's inside. Inside of the false bottom is a small box. Cato pulls out the box. It's much more ornate than vase is. He sets the box on his desk and then opens it. Inside of the is a small pile of platinum coins, printed in a mint that Cato doesn't recognize, a note, and a folded up map with a lone going from the forest to somewhere else on the continent. Cato doesn't know where the map leads, but it's certainly very interesting. And the platinum coins could definitely keep him from defaulting. He can't read the note though, so he doesn't know what it says. He puts all of the stuff back in the box and sets the box back into the vase with its false bottom. He wonders how that man came across something like that.

[FeistyMinnow]

From a fair distance beyond the treetops, Aethel closes her eyes and massages her temples. Her mind grows weary from using and abusing her power like this but she has nobody to blame but herself. She was careless and let a thief overhear her conversation with Izze as they lay resting in the field. She was bragging to her bosom friend of the possible riches or enchanting magics that they may find hidden inside the ornate blue vase she spent days tracking down. Several weeks ago, she caught a glimpse of it riding in a cart of a scavenger passing through a village her wing so happened to be adjucating. Her captain was with her that day and they were both supposed to be interviewing the village chief pertaining to a certain incident that happened three nights previously. Naturally it was mostly a conversation between the other two while her mind was, like usual, wandering elsewhere. She knew the captain was probably significantly more adept at the arts of mind reading than herself hence why she decided to direct her attentions to more interesting matters, such as the blue jar with intricate markings sitting in a pile of bloody bits and bobs sitting in a cart pulled by a grubby and astonishingly thin man in rags. The man had just entered the village from the thick forest surrounding it. Everyone that was outside and in view of him shot him a curious look but proceeded to return to their respective occupations. Aethel felt a disinterested wave of "oh, it's just him again." from the general vicinity.

"Perhaps he is not unknown to the villagers" came the unenthusiastic reply of a familiar voice in her head. She could almost see the yawn that followed that reply. Izze was no doubt sleepily sunning herself at some ridge somewhere on the nearby mountainside. How lucky dragons are. They can do whatever they want, whenever they please. Not that she wanted to join her afternoon nap. She was more interested at exploring whatever ridge she was at. Perhaps there was a cave filled with hidden mysteries in its face.

The new arrival stopped beside the well and stooped down, cupping his hands into a half-filled bucket for a drink. Hauling such a heavy load for any amount of distance sounded tiring. Aethel wondered where the man got such filthy junk and where he was heading off to with it. But more importantly, where did he get and where is he taking the VASE to? There really was just something about that vase that poked at her. Like a magnet drawing her exclusive attention to it. Others do not seem to be affected by it because no one else seems to feel this magnetising pull other than herself.

She felt an "ah" of disinterest from Izze.

She focused her mind and reached out to feel the thoughts of the man but was cut short as her captain called her to attention with a slightly louder announcement of dismissal at the village chief.

"That shall be all, Authun. Dragonrider Aethel over here shall be back in a day or two with further news of the developments." the tall bulky middle-aged dragonrider said as he squeezed Aethel by the arm and motioned for them to be off.

With feet going one way and face turned back towards the well, she caught a glance of the retreating form of the stranger as he walked away out of the village towards the forest on the other end.

That was the last sight she had of the vase until she finally tracked it down safely preserved underneath the overturned cart half-buried in mud and stone. The cart puller was luckily spared from the landslide but the toppling cart made him lose his balance and sadly may have made him hit his head on a nearby rock, ending his life.

She and Izze had spent part of the day giving the dead man a proper burial and offering a nod at the site where the tragedy occurred. May the spirits have mercy on his soul and may they find peace with humanity from her little reverent gesture. Hopefully, they find no one else to prey their little tricks on. The dragon and rider then alighted on a nearby field for a well-deserved rest. The sun was getting low on the horizon.Aethel marvelled at the markings that glowed purple drenched in the fiery light of the setting sun. She wondered if there was magic behind them.

Izze grunted. Perhaps not. It was probably safe to open.

The vase felt heavy in her hand. Not the kind of heavy like a purse full of silver, but the kind of heavy like an important decision to be made or waiting for a result to be made known. It was the weight of importance. This was kind of odd to Aethel but somehow made sense to her as well. This made her sure that this object had something valuable to hide.

"I wonder..." Izze started to think. But overcome with excitement, Aethel exclaimed, "Just think, Izze! Think of the treasure kept hidden inside this vase. How valuable it must be! I cannot wait to open it!"

"Well, I am glad that amuses you." Izze says as she gets up on her feet. "I hunger." she announced, taking off.

"No wait! Don't you want to open it together?" Aethel futilely called out to the beast whose hunger has turned her deaf.

"Fine then. I need to pee anyway." she sulked, turning her back and heading towards a tree. She places the vase in the underbrush as she squatted between the roots of a large tree to do her business. Then all of a sudden, a figure flew out of the shadows, grabbed the vase and took off with it back into the shadows.

Aethel gave chase as soon as she got her pants back on but the person seemed to vanish. She felt him near. She knew he was hiding somewhere. But it did not make sense to her. In the middle of solid rock? That was strange indeed. She circled the large boulder three times but came up with nothing. She poked it with her finger then again with her sword but it was all just rock. She cursed loudly and ran angrily back to the field to solicit her wise dragon's aid.

Several minutes later, Izze had smashed the boulder revealing a hollow inside. Damn it all. And the thief was now long gone.

Thus is how Aethel and Izze are now aloft, flying high above the forests and its several tribal villages, feeling for any trace of the vase or the blackguard who took off with it. She was losing hope of ever find it for it has been days since and she is running out of excuses for suddenly disappearing from her duties. She was also running out of forest to search. They were almost towards the end of the forest opening into the lowlands where the Adelan capital of Ketra stood.

Then it hit her. The magnetising presence. The one that she was looking for for the last few days. She guided her dragon towards the source and found themselves on the gates of Ketra.

"Sneaky bastard took it to Ketra. To sell no doubt." she angrily pronounced. "We shall see about that" she continued, getting down from Izze and marching through the city gates. Upon the sight of the crest emblazoned on her chest and at the back of her cloak, the guards merely nodded and let her pass. She followed the sensation towards a shop. Without further thought, she opened the door and announced, "the vase is mine!".

[Trenzalor]

Since it doesn't seem like there's going to be anyone who's going to looking through a services store looking for goods, Cato puts the vase inside of his safe for safe keeping. Whatever that it, he might be able to take it to an appraiser or someone to try and figure out what the not says and where the map leads. However for now he needs to just wait for another customer. Speaking of which, just as Cato sits back down someone comes into the store. It's an old lady who's a regular of his. She gives him a wave as she comes into the room and sits down in front of Cato's desk. Cato gives her a smile and a wave as she sits down. "Hello again. What do you need of me?" The lady takes out her usual amount and sets it down onto Cato's desk. Not much, but it keeps him fed. "Oh, I just need you to help me with my roof again. The darn thing keeps falling apart." The two of them stand up as Cato starts following the lady to her home. "Well, maybe you could talk to your son and ask him to be more careful with his chemicals." The old lady gives a small laugh as she shakes her head in response "Oh no, I couldn't. He's so happy now that he's found a hobby that he enjoys. I couldn't take that away from him. He's just so sweet." Cato smiles and shakes his head, hoping that at least the old lady won't be seriously injured by her grandson's experiments.

After a little while of walking through the busy streets, they make it to the old woman's house. Cato nods and the old woman makes her way back inside. Cato picks himself up with his telekinesis, creating a small aura around his body as he floats up to the roof. This is something he's had to do many times before so he's used to having to remake the lady's roof. Once he floats up there he sees some wood, tiles, and adhesive already there. He quickly gets to work fixing the roof, liberally applying adhesive and putting parts into place. About an hour later the job is done and it looks like it had never been broken in the first place. Cato floats himself back down to the ground and knocks on the door. The old lady opens the door again after a second with a smile on her face. "Oh? Done already? You get faster every time, I swear. Thank you again." Cato just smiles and waves as he starts heading back to his office. the old lady waves and shuts her door before going back to doing what she was doing.

Once Cato gets back to his little building on the edge of town he sits in his chair and leans back, letting his back pop a little bit as he relaxes and lets himself take a load off. He knows that she's not going to need his help for another week at least, so he needs to use as little energy as he can so that he's not constantly eating and so that he can make her gold coins last him for a while. As he relaxes his thoughts go back to that strange vase. He wonders why someone would hide those things inside of a vase like that. It's definitely not where he would think to hide something like that. One wayward bump and your entire treasure map is just completely exposed and anyone could take it. Though he doesn't really understand some people well, so he can't really make any good calls. he decides to have it checked out tomorrow so that he can figure out just what's going on with it.

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When Aethel gets withing range of Ketral, she not only feels the magnetizing feeling of the vase, but she also feels something that might even be more attention grabbing. Right next to the vase is a massive psychic aura. Psychic energy is just radiating out of whatever is next to the vase. with short, ruffled brown hair. he wears long black pants, a black long sleeve shirt, and a black caplet that goes does to his elbows. He has red eyes and a resting bitch face. Even if normally Aethel can't normally sense psychic energy, she can sense this just because of how in your face and big it is. It's just sort of sitting there and not doing anything.

When an unknown person suddenly slams open the door to Cato's little building and starts shouting about something, Cato is immediately brought to attention. He quickly stands up from his chair and stares at the person who's just barged in and started shouting. The inside of Cato's little building is rather quaint. There's a shelf on one wall that has a couple of books on it, there's a potted plant in one corner of the room that looks well cared for, and a table with a couple of knick knacks on it. At the back of the room is a desk with Cato and his chair on one side, and two chairs in front of the desk for clients. Behind the desk is a metal safe. Cato himself is a smaller person with short, ruffled brown hair. He wears long black pants, a black long sleeve shirt, and a black caplet that goes does to his elbows. He has red eyes and a resting bitch face. He's also the source of the massive aura that was close to the vase. Whoever this person is, they have a lot of psychic power in their veins. "Excuse me, but what are you doing?"