A little past what passes for moonset here; Delachiel the dark elfess is a darker shadow in the deserted street. Fortunately for her, the offices of Salmon Picchase, Customs Broker, are prominent in the merchant district, and even more fortuitous, that worthy lives above his offices. Still, it took awhile, especially including the side trip to feed Stuffit.
The stretch-rat managed to gorge himself, and is presently being a heavy lump in Delachiel's pouch, sound asleep.
Delachiel stands in the shadows for long moments, watching, listening.
A night watchman, lantern held close to his side for what scant warmth it gives, walks slowly down the street.
Delachiel steps deeper into the shadow of her hiding place, waiting for the watchman to pass, while trying to decide whether to use the door or if there's an easier way in trough the second floor -- and a way to climb there.
The watchman pauses beneath the burned out lantern right near Picchase's door; he looks up at it speculatively. "Durn things. Always burning out."
Delachiel grins to herself, slightly nervous about the watchman taking action to repair the lantern.
Delachiel picks up a pebble and tosses it down the street, hoping that the watchman will investigate and forget about the lantern.
The watchman pauses at the sound, holding still for a long moment. This guy's good.
Shaking his head, he looks up at the lamp post again, and clips the lantern to his belt, starting to shimmy up the thing.
Delachiel gets more nervous and begins to look around for better hiding places, in case the watchman manages to repair the lantern
The elfess' hiding place is the open vestibule of a shop across the street. There's nothing really to work with here, at the moment.
The watchman, with some effort, makes it to the top of the lamp post, hanging precariously by the cross piece as he slides the glass panel up.
Delachiel tries the pebble-trick again.
The watchman looks out, peering out at the street. "Who's there?", he asks, and the response is the creak of the lamp post as the cross piece protests at his weight.
Delachiel digs out a small metallic coin, and waits for the watchman's next action.
The watchman waits, and peers around, then shakes his head, unclipping the lantern from his belt, holding it up to hook it over the cross piece. Presumably to take out the candle inside, and re-light the street lamp.
Delachiel tosses the coin after the two pebbles, hard enough to propel it for a slightly longer distance before it hits the cobblestones.
The watchman whirls, and the sudden shift in weight proves too much for the lamp post to bear; the iron cross piece snaps off suddenly, and the watchman attempts to defy gravity to no avail. Both he, the piece of iron, and the lantern fall to the ground with a thump and a shattering crash as the lantern breaks.
Delachiel winces in her hideout, then peers to look how badly the watchman was injured -- and whether the racket woke anyone up.
The watchman stirs a little, and falls back down with a groan.
In Delachiel's pouch, Stuffit stirs briefly */Didn't break it. Wasn't anywhere near nope*/
Delachiel sighs and shakes her head. . o O ( This is not my night.) She waits for a moment longer, looking around for movement in any windows, before walking over to the watchman.
Bahny wakes up with a start and looks around. He blinks sleep out of his eyes and peers out the window. "Great. Light's out again."
To the bear, there's a dark figure hunched over a prone figure, in the shadows and dark outside.
The watchman looks like he's suffered a bit of a concussion, by the way he's holding his head.
Bahny rolls his great bulk out of bed and watches what goes on outside.
Delachiel squats down behind the watchman, and asks concernedly, ~~Are you okay, sir?~~
The watchman's response is simply to moan softly. "Urh. My head.."
~~Hush, it's going to be all right.~~ She slips a hand under the watchman's shoulders for support, and gently brushes his hair off his forehead before examining him for serious injuries.
Bahny leans on the wall next to the window.
The watchman gestures up at the light feebly. "Stupid things.. neverth..work righth.."
A touch to the back of his head comes up with wet and sticky fingers. Ouch.
The soft voice of the otter, Salmon, floats down from upstairs. "Bahny? What's going on? I heard a crash.."
Delachiel bows down closer to the guard. ~~Can you try to roll over?~~ She tries to aid him with one hand while supporting his head with the other.
Bahny makes a fist and rests his chin on it. "Go back to sleep, boss. Looks like someone hurt themself. Probably trying to fix the light outside. I'll keep an eye on it."
Salmon nods. "Is anyone attending to them?"
Bahny nods, "Yeah. Looks like it."
The watchman rolls stiffly to the side, mumbling. "Where did you come from?"
The otter comes down the first floor landing. "Perhaps we should offer further assistance. Maybe it's a merchanter whom could owe me-- er, the company, a favor.."
~~I was on my way home when I heard a crash and saw you laying here. But hush now.~~ She gently parts the guard's hair to get a better look at the injury, her fingers brushing over his neck to feel for any serious damage to the spine.
Bahny looks over at the otter, "Doesn't look like a merchant. More like one of the watch. Don't know who the other one is."
The guard, on further inspection, doesn't look like he's too badly off, but he certainly can't stay here like this.
Salmon nods. "Hmm.. Well, helping one of the watch isn't near as effective- they don't get paid well, so they never have much money."
~~You're going to be okay, sir. Do you think you can walk,~~ the elfess asks?
Bahny nods absently.
The otter goes to one of the other windows, looking out from behind the curtain.
The watchman shakes his head and moans. "I think m'ankle's sprained, too."
Bahny hmphs, "He doesn't look so good."
Salmon sighs. "All right. Go help him out. I'll be upstairs just in case it's a trick.
Bahny nods and lumbers over to the front door.
Stuffit, wakes up, licks his lips a bit as he stretches out, rolls over...and goes back to sleep in Delachiel's pocket.
Delachiel is examining the watchman's ankle as the front door opens. She looks at Bahny in a moment of panic, then forces her voice to calm down before she asks, ~~Sir! Can you give us a hand?~~
Bahny opens the door and sticks his head out, looking over at the two figures in the dark. He's holding a freshly lit candle in one massive paw. In a thick, sleepy-sounding voice he says, "Is someone hurt?"
Bahny holds the candle out and looks down at Delachiel and the injured guardsman. "Is he all right?"
Delachiel shakes her head. ~~He can't walk himself. He needs to be taken somewhere where he can rest and can be supervised.~~
The sleazy otter Salmon is a bit further inside, wondering what is taking his body guard so long and he nearly chitters, "Bahny, what's the situation?"
A hand reaches out from the tree by Salmon's upstairs office, and with some deft use of a few tools, the windows swing wide.
Bahny lumbers outside, setting the candle down near the door. "Let's get him inside then, and we can send someone running for his friends to carry him home."
Delachiel nods. She moves to the guards feet and lifts, waiting for Bahny to grab his shoulders.
Bahny leans over and tucks his arms around the guardsman's chest, easily lifting him off the ground. "Go on...and careful up those stairs. Don't want to jar his feet."
Ankhl Beiter chuckles and thinks . o O (Can't believe that silly otter keeps his office in the back of the building. Away from all the lights, away from the street, and right next to a couple of trees. Now, where are the guard patrol schedules? And the key?)
Delachiel nods quietly and follows Bahny.
Salmon looks annoyed but he calmly states, "Yes, always good to take care of the guard, they do such a nice job of protecting us from unsavory types. And who might you be m'lady?"
Bahny backs into the house, picking up his candle as he moves by.
Bahny ignores Salmon with the ease of long practice.
Delachiel sets down the night watchman's feet and pauses for a moment to regain her breath. She bows to Salmon. ~~Delachiel Zirghan, Sir. May I ask who's marvelous residence this is, so noble in offering help to one in need?~~
Bahny kneels down beside the guardsman and checks his ankle. He softly grunts, "yeah..need to stay off this for a while."
Salmon ignores Bahny in much the same way as he stares at the figure coming through the door then preens slightly at Delachiel's flattery, "You've entered the abode of Salmon Picchase **(spelling?)** m'lady. How nice of you to care for one of our injured guardsfurs."
Delachiel nods to Bahny, a smile in her voice. ~~A great honor, sir.~~ She turns to Bahny, and with some more concern notes, ~~I'm a bit worried about his concussion, though. Such a severe blow to one's head can have all kinds of complications.~~
Bahny grunts again, "If he didn't have a hard head, he wouldn't be in the guard."
Ankhl Beiter is getting annoyed, he's picked nearly every lock on every drawer and cabinet in the office, then finally finds one behind a mirror. As he pushes it open, the panel starts to tilt a fancy glass wash basin with a jug of water. The squirrel ignores the precarious situation as he works on the hidden compartment's lock."
The veiled lady just nods, eyeing both the house and it's residents with hidden curiosity.
Salmon mentally sighs but keeps up the false face, "Again, your concern is touching m'lady. I'm curious as to why you'd be out alone so late at night? Haven is mostly safe at night, but it is unusual to see lone females about."
Ankhl has the panel open, and sighs. He pockets the small pittance of gold in the compartment, then goes to pick the lock of the compartment inside that compartment and he thinks . o O (No one trusts anyone anymore. Such a shame. ;)
Delachiel says, ~~I tended to the needs of a friend, and was on my way home when I happened to hear him fall.~~
The guard appears to have dropped off into unconsciousness for now.
Bahny arranges the guard comfortably on a couch and turns back to watch Delachiel and Salmon.
Salmon nods and pads over to Delachiel, "Such a honorable and charitable woman. I've always said Haven needs more citizens willing to take care of each other."
Delachiel thinks . o O ( Damn. Now how am I supposed to get any information out of Salmon. )
Delachiel turns away bashfully, while watching Salmon and Bahny intently from behind her veils. ~~You flatter me, sir.~~
Bahny asks, "Where does your friend live?"
Delachiel says, ~~Oh, Sharlene lives five blocks north of here, a nice elderly lady.~~
Delachiel chuckles a little. ~~Although a bit silly. She keeps talking about other worlds and people traveling between them in large boats and such.~~
Bahny hmphs. "Stories like that have always sounded fishy to me."
Ankhl finally gets the secret secret compartment open, and happily gets out the schedules and plans for the raid on the museum and the "Holy Bacon". He growls as he sees that the key is attached to the bottom by resin. He starts hacking at it with his knife, setting the wash table to wobbling.
Salmon tries to keep a straight face, as he thinks . o O (Thank goodness people like Bahny aren't running the show, we'd still be living in caves.) and he smiles, "Well, the old tales of spacers probably had a bit of truth in them."
Bahny keeps his mouth shut, but doesn't look agreeable to the prospect.
Delachiel tilts her head, ~~Oh?~~
Ankhl is halfway through freeing the key as he feels something moves and looks around in horror just in time to see the glass jug and basin fall over and *SMASH* onto the floor. With a yeep! he hacks frantically at the key.
Salmon nods, "We have a few old items from those times, and several rather quaint customs that date back from then, and of course we....what was that?"
Bahny snaps his gaze to the ceiling. He turns and runs up the stairs to the second floor with a most un-ursine-like haste.
~~Oh my. That didn't sound nice.~~
Bahny runs into Salmon's office growling. "Who's there?" In the darkened room, his bulk makes for a very impressive sized shadow.
The panicked squirrel finally pulls the key free and throws it into his shoulder bag as he turns to run for the window, at Bahny's shout, he freezes in the shadows.
Salmon hmmms at Delachiel, "No, it didn't. No one was up there when I came down to see what was going on....?"
Delachiel listen's to Bahny's growl and lifts a hand to her mouth. ~~Goodness! Is that a burglar?~~
Bahny scans the room and moves to block the way to the window. "Come out, thief. If I have to come searching for you, I'll break you over my knee."
Ankhl pulls out his knife, but he's shaking. He's known for his stealth and his nimbleness. A fighter he's not.
Delachiel walks closer to the stairs, peering up into the darkness -- and coming very close to Salmon.
Salmon's act goes out the window and he squints, "If it is I'm going to have a few questions for you, miss "Delachiel".
Bahny catches Ankhl's movement out of the corner of his eye. "And put the knife up, little one, or I will make you eat it." He takes a few steps toward Ankhl's hiding place.
Salmon gets behind Delachiel, assuming the female was just used as a distraction, so should be a pushover.
Delachiel takes about two seconds to stop her act. ~~I believe it is me who asks the questions. Don't scream or try to get the bear back here, or I'll rip your spleen out.~~ The sharp point of a black dagger presses against Salmon's side.
Ankhl ponders, then tosses the knife right at the bear, though it's clear from the throw that it's meant as a distraction, especially as it ends up approaching hilt end first as the squirrel tries to dodge around the bear towards the window.
Salmon eeps in spite of himself and then nods.
~~Tell me more about the artifact you planned to use.~~
Bahny ignores the knife and swipes his arms at Ankhl. "Ah..ah...I don't think so."
Salmon tries to look surprised and says, "Oh, you mean the ..uh.. the water finder? I have this mountain chalet and it needs a new well.."
Ankhl Beiter scrambles around as the bear grabs his tail, he falls on the floor by Bahny's feet.
Delachiel breaks Salmon's skin with the daggers tip, while circling behind the otter, another dagger in the hand that curls around his throat. ~~Try again.~~ she hisses in his ear.
Bahny leans over to grab Ankhl's neck, "Well little thief. What are you trying to get by with tonight?"
Salmon comes unglued at this point, "It's the Holy Bacon. The mystical spacer artifact that we use on that silly contact day. After 1000 years the hopes of calling on the space swine have faded, but just recently we've seen signs of spacers again. We hope to be the ones to get the trading rights first. But we need the Holy Bacon to do it."
Ankhl Beiter, realizing where he is, lives up to his name and chomps, hard.
Delachiel says, ~~And how is the Bacon used?~~
Salmon gulps, "Well, supposedly only the scholar mages know that."
Bahny growls and clamps his hand around Ankhl's neck -- hard. "I suggest you let go before I snap your neck."
Delachiel says, ~~Which one is helping you with your plan?~~
Ankhl gahs and lets go as he feels the powerful paw nearly separate his vertebrae. He goes limp for now, exhausted and terrified.
Salmon swallows, "We were planning on kidnapping one of the students to help us."
Delachiel says, ~~Did you have someone special in mind?~~
Bahny picks Ankhl up by his neck and lifts him to eye level. He growls angrily, "If I get an infection from that I'm going to hunt you down and rip out all of your teeth."
Bahny shouts, "Hey..boss. I caught a thief in your office!"
Salmon is getting desperate, he's a coward, but he's not about to give away the biggest windfall in a millennia to someone who walks in like this and he says, "What is your interest in this?"
~~Perhaps I'm just a concerned citizen? But if you don't tell your bear to tie down the thief before you come up, no-one's concern will make you alive again.~~
Salmon is trying to hide his shaking, "You kill me and the guard will never let up till they find you."
Bahny absently starts divesting the thief of his bags and loot. Again he calls out, "Boss?"
The Xardeth rests her chin on Salmon's shoulder. ~~Do you really want to take the chance to reason with a strange female?~~ Her dagger shaves of a tiny bit of his cheekfur.
Salmon swallows and can't argue with that logic, he calls up, "Bahny, tie him up for me. When you have him secure let me know so I can come up and 'check him out'." He doesn't emphasize the last three words, but hopes Bahny will remember that they mean he's in trouble.
Delachiel whispers, ~~What's the name of the student? If you play your cards right, I may even help you. I trust you agree that I'm good in convincing people.~~
Bahny finds the makings of bindings and a gag and starts to tie up Ankhl. "Can't have you getting away, little thief. The guard would be most upset if I did."
Salmon sighs as Bahny seems to be clueless as usual, he stutters, "Timothy Zabender. Nearly ready to graduate, and he takes care of the Holy Bacon in it's protective stie now and then."
Delachiel says, ~~Now, that wasn't so hard. I hope whoever burglarized you didn't do too much damage. It would be a pity if such a minor thing would ruin your evening.~~
Salmon just gurgles, with a mixture of fear, frustration and fury.
Bahny finishes tying Ankhl up and slips out of the room and sneaks to the head of the stairs.
Delachiel backs away, steps out of the door, and vanishes into the darkness of the night.
Salmon takes a moment to catch his breath and screams, "Bahny!!!!!!!!!!! Get your furry behind down here!!!"
Bahny moves down the stairs, checking the room as he does. "Where'd she go?"
Salmon is ranting, "This whole thing was a setup! Her friend up there distracted you so she could nearly kill me to get our plan. I think my neck is bleeding?!?! Get some bandages! And don't you remember what "check him out" means?"
Bahny sighs and shakes his head, "If I'd run downstairs when you said it, she would have just run you through."
Ankhl finally calms down and wiggles over to the broken glass of the wash basin and starts cutting his bonds, praying the bear is distracted for a few minutes.
Bahny digs out some bandages from his room and hands a roll to Salmon. "I had to come slow, and I wanted to tie up the thief so he couldn't get away."
Salmon is really irate at that and purrs, "Now you think? And how did you know she had a knife at my throat you oaf? And where are those bandages? She's going to ruin everything, I just know it."
Salmon blinks at the roll in his hand, trying to figure out how to be upset for the bear doing what he asked this time.
Ankhl finally frees his hands, then cuts his feet loose, grabs the backpack and nearly flies out the window, which slams shut and breaks with a loud crash.
Elsewhere, on a bench in the shadow of a large oak, the Xardeth sighs heavily. She's now wanted by powerful enemies and the guard. She suddenly feels very alone again.
Bahny turns back to the stairs, "If you used the phrase, then I assume you're about to be impaled on the point of a knife. End of story."
Stuffit pokes his head out of Delachiel's pocket and snugs, chittering **(How went contract negotiations?)**
Stuffit burps while waiting for an answer.
Salmon sits on a table with a sigh, wishing he had stuck to normal low scale graft like his father.
Bahny lumbers up the stairs, "I'm gonna collect the thief."
Delachiel draws a deep breath and hides her feelings behind a smile and her veils. She pats Stuffit's head with a gloved finger. ~~Okay, little one. I think we should find a young fellow called Timothy next.~~
Stuffit blinks his little eyes at Delachiel and nodnods, chittering happily.
The squirrel thief is running as fast as his sore legs can carry him, and he's going to have a serious talk with someone about the wisdom of this double cross.
Bahny reaches Salmon's office and finds that Ankhl is gone, "DAMN! I swear if I get an infection from that little thief, I'm gonna tear all his teeth out!"