Chapter 4: Nearkant's

The guard stood there, by the wine cellar entrance. Shifting idly, he hummed a tune to himself, looking around at the garden that was laid before him. The garden had been thriving, but now it was starting to become sickly and not nearly as verdant as before, thanks to the Mechanists and their workshops.

Suddenly, the guard heard a noise that sounded awfully close to footsteps around the corner. Drawing his sword, he peered around the side. Just then, he saw some movement to his side. About to raise his sword and thrust towards the spot of motion, something heavy and blunt came down on his head and he saw, heard, and felt nothing else.

Garrett let the guard's unconscious body slip down onto the ground. Patting down the guard's body, he found a regular-looking metal key and a purse with ten gold coins on it. Tucking it in his robe, he looked for a place to hide the body, eventually settling on a ark corner behind a large leafy plant. Now back to business.

Garrett looked around. The tavern he had inadvertently incinerated was bound to draw off some of the City Watch. So he had figured that it would be a perfect time to hit Lord Nearkant's, which was rumored to have a safe full of coins; after all, Nearkant was a banker, and his lavish quarters doubled as his workplace. The coins would be preferable to objects, being as almost all of his trusted pawners were locked in Shoalsgate Station.

Going over to the wine cellar door, he took the key that the guard had had and put it into the lock. The key easily conformed to the lock, and the door slid open with ease. Ducking into the cellar, he locked the door behind him. He lit a flare, and looked about. Rack after rack after rack of presumably premium quality wine lay before him. I could get rich just with his booze, Garrett thought to himself. Taking only a few, lest they weigh him down, he proceeded on towards the stairs.

He found himself at another door, presumably to the kitchen, which was covered by stone and walled by ornate wood. No lights were on. Testing the door, he found it was unlocked. Peeking out of it ever so slightly, he found no one there.

No one but the mechanical head that was revolving slowly as it surveyed its surrounding. Damn heads! The head swiveled towards his hidden location. Fortunately, he was in the dark from his current vantage point. As soon as it turned away from him, he dove underneath it. The watcher turned back, unaware that an intruder was directly under it. Garrett sighed in relief. When the watcher was looking the opposite way, a dark figure ran out form under it, pushed open a door opposite of it, and dived in. By the time the watcher had turned the door had been shut and latched.

Inside the room, Garrett leaned against the wall in relief. That is, until he realized that his breathing wasn't the only in the room. Scarcely breathing, he waited crouched on the cold tile floor. Listening a little closer, he realized that the breaths came from someone who was sleeping. Walking slowly and cautiously, he made his way to the sleeper. What he saw frightened him even more than when he had first heard the breathing.

The man was unconscious and in a small corner that was out of the light. He sure hadn't fallen asleep in that position, and that could mean only one thing: there was another thief in the house, and was probably sharing the same objectives as Garrett!

Realizing that there was nothing he could do at the moment, he tried to figure out where the thief might have gone. The vault was probably somewhere over near the bank part of the house, which was over on the east end of the first floor. Standing up from the unconscious man's body, he tried to figure out where he was. It would be extremely difficult, being as he had no map. Pulling out his compass, he headed in the direction of east.

Fifteen minutes later and Garrett was almost there. He had found more evidence of the thief: bodies in the bathtubs, blood on the carpet, and broken arrows. Finally, he reached the vault. Hoping that the thief hadn't already beaten him to it, he stepped into the large atrium, where the massive door of the vault lay before him.

After looking about from a dark corner, Garrett concluded that the thief probably hadn't come by here. For one thing, there was a guard on a rather tight patrol. Not even a master thief like Garrett would be able to open the door, get in, and shut it in the 30 seconds that the guard left the room. For another, the place was well lit, and a watcher was looking directly at the door. Nothing hostile would be able to get past it. And finally, there was the lock. The lock had three separate keyholes, and all of them would probably be impervious to lockpicks.

Yet as Garrett watched, he saw a shadow move. From behind a desk, a dark figure darted into a nearby room. A few seconds after, Garrett watched, fascinated, as the watcher was deactivated. The thief then set himself up in a position that would allow him to get out quickly, most likely to knock out the guard. And sure enough, as the guard walked away, the other thief ran up behind him and hit him with a blackjack. The guard crumpled to the ground, and the dark figure grabbed him and stuffed him in the security room.

Garrett laughed to himself. This was perfect. He'd wait for the other thief to finish the work, and then stop him from doing it. Readying a broadhead arrow, he stopped short and instead loaded a gas arrow. This thief had been very nice to him; Garrett would let him live.

As the thief stepped out, Garrett observed as the other man pulled out three keys. Testing them, he finally put them in the right combination. The vault swung open with a gigantic groan. Both thieves looked around anxiously, trying to see if anyone had noticed. After five minutes, and not a sound, the enemy thief looked into the vault. Garrett could see piles of gold, heaps of crowns, and probably some other little valuable trinkets, too. Too bad the other thief wouldn't be able to enjoy it. He raised his bow and fired the gas arrow.

The enemy thief was filling his sack with gold when he heard a noise behind him. Seeing the gas arrow flying straight at him, he dived out of the way just in time. The arrow flew on, impacting with the back of the vault and letting go of its payload.

Garrett swore. The thief was now alert, and was looking for him. Worse, the thief was headed in Garrett's direction. Readying another arrow-broadhead this time-he fired it and let fly. The arrow impacted squarely on the enemy thief's leg, causing him to cry out in pain. But this time he had noticed where the arrow had come from, and as he drew his sword and limped over to Garrett. Arming a vicious overhead swing, he brought it down on Garrett's. The sword hit with such force that Garrett dropped it. The enemy thief smiled and chopped sideways.

But just in time, Garrett pulled out his blackjack and blocked the oncoming sword. The sword cut the blackjack straight to the middle, but it held. Thinking quickly, Garrett swung the heavy club at the most vulnerable position: the man's groin. The thief dropped his sword and moaned in pain as Garrett drew a 9-inch long knife. Bringing it to bear, he slashed across the man's throat, who was still doubled over. There was a faint gurgling noise as the enemy thief slumped down, and then hit the floor, a small pool of blood forming under his throat. Garrett dragged the body to the closet and stuffed it in. Searching the corpse, he found some arrows of all types, a sizeable amount of golden crowns, a map of the building, and a blackjack, which Garrett took in lieu of his damaged one. Pawing around some more, he found a scroll. Unfolding it, he read the parchment with some interest:

Ullisan,

Lord Nearkant is becoming a problem. He is starting to cut into my business. I would normally trust this job to someone more skilled, but you alone have managed to evade arrest, and therefore I must rely on you. Lord Nearkant has a safe that is full of coins. I need you to sneak into his office chambers, rob the safe, and return with some sort of proof that you were there. Such action would cripple Nearkant, and my business will be able to run smoothly again. If you are successful, then return with evidence of your deed, such as a signet ring. I will pay you 1000 gold and supply you with weapons, equipment, and a map provided I am allowed to have one part out of two gold pieces that you appropriate. Remember that I am relying on you. You must not fail.
With regards,
Lord Eringham

Eringham, Garrett thought. Never heard the name. Of course, around here, lords and ladies come and go as quick as the Mechanists seduce them. Folding the scroll and laying it in the folds of his cloak, he returned to the business at hand. Safely stowing the body of Ullisan in the control closet and destroying the turning and lock mechanism, he then used a water arrow to wash away the resulting blood from the conflict. Only then did he turn his attention to the safe.

While the door may have been huge, the vault was not, only about one-and-a-half yards each side. But gold was gold, and Garrett began scooping it in. Using one of his loot pouches he kept in his robes, he stuffed gold in by the handfuls. Filling his pouch, (and feeling much heavier) he went back over to Ullisan's corpse. Taking the sack from the inert body's robes, he attached it to the inside of his cloak. Finally, after filling the other pouch about halfway full, the vault was clean. Grinning madly, he shut the door and removed the keys, attaching them to his belt.

Getting out was much easier now that Garrett had a map. Tracing a route, he found that the quickest way out would be through the skylights on the second floor. Looking up, he spotted a wooden balcony, which most likely was attached to the second floor. Withdrawing a rope arrow, he aimed and fired. The arrow sailed through the air, hitting the banister and releasing its rope. Garrett tugged, and climbed, although he was much impaired by the sacks of gold he had with him.

He finally made it to the balcony and threw himself over. This overhanging hallway was just as well lit as the vault atrium, but there were some objects in which he could seek cover. Sticking to these, he made his way to the skylights on the opposite side. But just then, he heard a clanging, which was growing louder by the second. Ducking under a desk, he waited until the source of the noise came into view. Garrett's blood froze in his veins. Mech guards.

The mechanical monstrosities were another gift of the Mechanists to the noble's higher class. Robots that walked like humans but stood much taller, they consisted of a spherical boiler, one ugly head, (in the same design of the watchers) two legs, two arms (one manipulator arm and one arm that shot cannonballs and bombs) and plenty of gears, levers, and other crazy things.

Garrett held his breath as the giant guard clomped passed his hiding space, reciting hymns as it passed. As soon as it passed, Garrett pulled out his bow and shot a water arrow into its exposed boiler. The water arrow hit the boiler and exploded, releasing its payload upon impact. The water hissed as it hit the smoldering coals, and the sudden temperature decrease froze the robot in its place. Quickly notching another water arrow, he took aim and fired again. This time the water splashed against the coals and completely snuffed them out. The robot froze as its internal power supple was cut off, trying to send out an alert, but failing as its voice deepened, slowed, and finally shut off altogether. Garrett sighed. Now to go onwards.

Creeping silently, he reached the skylight. Getting ready to climb out, his graceful entry was interrupted by a whir…and a shriek of an alarm. Looking back with a start, he saw yet another of the every-annoying security heads staring at him with an intensity that scared him. Yelling, "Shit!" at the top of his lungs, he pitched headfirst out of the skylight just as two bombs shot out from hidden turrets. Wonderful, explosives the thief thought to himself as he started falling. Realizing that he probably wasn't going to survive the 50-foot fall down to the street without some sort of aid, he whipped out a slow-fall potion and gulped the thing down. Garrett felt light-headed as his rate of descent suddenly decreased. The wind in his ears stopped roaring, and the thief relaxed. This wasn't so bad, being in free-fall. He have to try it again someday, but maybe not under such pressing circumstances. Ah, well, maybe in Letheritzia…

His happy thoughts were cut short as he heard someone's voice below him. Down below, three Mechanists and two mech-guards awaited him. One of the fanatics yelled up to him, "Thou shalt be spending thine life in Cragscleft, infidel! Thee shan't escape the Builder's Children and the disciples of Karras!" The mech-guards concurred with that statement by firing cannonballs at the descending figure. Fortunately, the heavy objects missed Garrett and instead impacted against a far wall.

But Garrett was full of surprises, and these fools had yet to learn just how many tricks a resourceful thief could pull. Yelling to the circle of people below him, "Not today, you cultists freakjobs!" Garrett pulled out two toys: a flash bomb and another explosive mine. At 20 feet above his would-be apprehenders, the thief had nothing to fear as he dropped the flash bomb down at the Mechanists and the mech-guards and shielded his eyes. The flash disoriented all, human and otherwise. Garrett smirked. No matter how fearsome the Mechanists made their robotic creations, they weren't immune to a large dose of light. Activating the mine, he let it drop right into the circle of the stunned people. The mine exploded and sent out a fiery shockwave to the surrounding people. The blast tore apart the Mechanists, whose body parts scattered across the street below. It also disabled the mech-guards, flinging shrapnel into their gears and inner workings. Garrett laughed as he landed in the center of the scene of chaos he had created. His good spirits were killed as he heard the sounds of running guards and more massive mech-guards. Running into a nearby alleyway, he winced at his hampered progress and increased sound due to the large bags of coins he held under him.

He was so intent on leaving the area that had just been flooded with guards, he didn't notice that the City canals ran right in front of his path. Stumbling, he fell into the canal with a rather large splash. Trying to swim, his bags of gold weighed him down to the bottom of the 10-foot deep canal. Struggling underwater to free one of his pouches, he was underwater for 45 seconds before he managed to tear off one of them and drop it. Lungs bursting, Garrett swam to the surface as fast as he could, finally breaking the surface and drawing in a huge breath. The thief experienced the weakness that accompanies lack of fresh air, and it was all he could do to stay afloat. Finally regaining his strength, he tried to recover his sack of gold from the bottom of canal that he had had to jettison. After about fifteen attempts to recover the gold and reattach it to his person, he eventually decided to swim to the bottom of the canal, drag it along the bottom, and surface when needed. This process was extremely difficult, and he was relieved when he found a service ladder that he could climb up. Lugging the heavy bag of coins, he reached the top and lay on the cobblestone, exhausted. He would have lay there forever if he hadn't heard a City Watchman approaching. Panicking, Garrett lugged the bag and himself into a dark alleyway and waited for the Watchman to pass by. Pulling out his city map, he noted with more than a little exasperation that the ink had run all over the parchment. However, he looked around and saw that he was near the marketplace he had visited earlier in the day. Barely aware that the market was near his apartment, he grabbed the sack and half carried it, half dragged it to his home.

Forty-five minutes later, he reached his home. Almost crawling up to his second floor room, he barely had enough strength to put his key in his door lock, open it, drag the gold into his house, and shut and lock the door behind him. He took one step before collapsing on his carpeted floor and passing out, dripping, tired, but a hell of a lot richer than when he had started.

Chapter 3 / Chapter 5