So... You want to hear a story, do ye'? Well... Gather 'round, and let me tell you of one of my favorite stories... "The Scar in Time." Unlike other stories, the heroes weren't knights in shinning armor, or princes rescuing princesses. No... The Scar in Time is a story of tragedy, the story of a kingdom falling, a brotherhood disbanding, 7 heroes who embark on a quest to save the Realm... Now, the tricky thing of this story is; where do I start? Time is a funny thing, it can be bent, and even broken... So is the beginning REALLY the beginning...? Or is it the end...? And after the end, what comes after?

Well, you may hear this story told one-million different times, by one million different people, whom may start it from one-million different places... But this is where I believe the story starts: It all started... With a Brotherhood.
A Brotherhood... Of Thieves.



In the city of Alvion, where or story takes place, Knowledge has always ruled supreme. Now, I trust you are as smart as you look, and have already learned the story of the Fall of Alvion, aye? Good! Now... Where was I? Ah! Yes. The Brotherhood of Thieves: A powerful organization with its roots deep in Alvion. In fact, it is the Brotherhood's doing that the city still stands... But that's another story. For thousands of years the Brotherhood stood watch over the kingdom of Alvion; Acting as its guardian within the shadows. For to the Brotherhood, knowledge was everything, and Alvion was the capital knowledge. But, where does the name Brotherhood of Thieves comes from? Excellent question! Because of the Brotherhood's thirst for knowledge, they were known for acquiring it in any way possible. By bribe, trade, theft, even murder... Even though Alvion is the home of the Brotherhood, its reach stretches well into the Real.

For 3000 years the Brotherhood has begged, borrowed, and stole for its knowledge. Warbands of thieves and assassins would wonder across the world in search of knowledge, gold, and other treasure. But this time, the Brotherhood had bitten off more than it could chew...

The night of Alvion was cold, and silent. It was almost midnight, the time the others would start arriving at the meeting place. On top of the roves of the houses of the Upper-Class portion of the city, north of the Ports, was the place where the rest of the Warband would meet. On top of the meeting place, ever vigilant, stood Ajax -covered in his red hood and cloak-, resting on a chimney stack on the flat roof he and his apprentice, Korina, waited on. The both of them had been waiting for a little over 2 hours. While Ajax had waited longer for his warband, he could tell Korina was getting restless, and wanted them to get here sooner.

Standing like a statue, Ajax looked over to his apprentice, speaking lightly under his breath to her:
"They will be here any moment. You must be patient, especially if you are to ever surpass me some day..." He spoke softly, almost at a whisper.

Even though the Warband had been together for a few weeks, this was their first real job together. In his mind Ajax had already laid out the plan. He simply waited for the rest of his recruits to get there. Despite being with recruits before, he had never been a Master of them... The leader of his warband. Against his wishes he had been put into this position by the Master of Shadows. He knew it was an important job, but never had the master assassin thought in his wildest dreams he would babysit a group of 6 children, barly able to hold swords compared to his mastery of swordplay.

"What are you anxious for, apprentice? This is only a simple heist, not a complex shill. Speak, what is on your mind?" He asked his apprentice.

Unlike the others, Ajax had an interest in Korina... She was talented, if not the most talented, out of the others. But then again he had never seen any of the others on the job, and it was time to fix that. He was going to push them to the limits with this job...

Korina stood restless on the roof of an unknown civilian. Almost two hours had past since her and Ajax's arrival. Whether they were early, or the rest of her party was late didn't matter to her, she just knew that sitting here doing nothing made her anxious. She had been waiting much to long, in her opinion, for people she didn't even want to work together with. The only person she wanted to work with was Ajax, but the Brotherhood demanded he take leadership of a Warband and she, being unable to leave his side, must be a part of it.

With a sigh, she shifted her weight to her left foot and glanced in Ajax's direction. Of course he would wear that damnable cloak. She disliked it very much. It's enchanted "eyes" made her feel uncomfortable, as if they could stare deep into the very fiber of her being. She knew it was just Ajax, but sometimes that only intensified her unease. "They will be here any moment. You must be patient, especially if you are to ever surpass me some day..." Ajax said under his breath barely making enough sound to be heard. He was always silent like this and she was accustomed to this particular tone of voice. She did not heed his warning to be patient, in fact, it only intensified her impatience.

After a few moments Ajax spoke again, raising his tone only slightly. "What are you anxious for, apprentice? This is only a simple heist, not a complex shill. Speak, what is on your mind?" She frowned. He always seemed to know how she felt at any given time. She supposed it was because she had known him for quite some time. Turning towards him, she pulled back the hood of her feathered cloak. "If this heist is so simple, Master, then why do we require an entire Warband? You and I have undertaken much harder tasks and accomplished them with ease on our own. I do not understand the Master of Shadows and his ridiculous rules." She said waving her hands, having a horrible habit of "talking" with her hands.

She should have been more cautious with her words. Any other day she would have not been so careless, but her impatience drove her to let things slip. The Master of Shadows had spies everywhere, always watching, always listening, always waiting for someone to make a single mistake or betray the Brotherhood. She should have been more grateful, after all, it was he who had accepted Ajax's proposal, but she could not feel thankful to a face she had never even seen. She pulled her hood back over her head, looking about. She could do nothing else but wait for these new faces.

The tavern music did nothing to drown out the sound of chairs scraping backwards and the hustle of people backing away. While the music remained bawdy and loud, a tense silence passed between the three men who had stood. Zulgos watched the two across from him, attention focused on the one in a red shirt, mark of a local gang. Taking his time, Zulgos arranged his scimitar on his belt to be seen better. "I said you're cheatin' scum that owes me fifteen gold pieces, are you deaf or dumb?"

One of the tavern wenches, Marie, ran up and took his arm, "Zul, they're not-"

The girl thought she was in love with him because he had spent his nights in this town sharing her bed. She was foolish if she thought he would be deterred by a woman.

The red-shirted man, an eager look in his eye, had been waiting for his opportunity and sprang onto the table, a stiletto appearing as if from nowhere. At the same time he gave the wench a rough shove, Zulgos stepped forward and kicked the table out from underneath the ganger. The second had already started moving toward the door.

The halfbreed's first inclination was to put a dagger between the cheater's shoulder blade's, but that would bring undue attention. Tavern brawls happened by regular course, public murder was investigated. Instead Zulgos reared back and punched the ganger as he stood, dropping him like a stone.

Checking his pockets, Zulgos found thirty gold pieces that quickly disappeared into his own pockets. The giant then turned and walked out, with nary a glance at the woman sobbing on the floor.



Zulgos hefted himself onto the rooftop with a grunt, a rope clenched in his teeth. His yellow eyes peered from the darkness at the two waiting figures. He spit the rope into his hand.

"You're early as usual, Ajax." Zulgos's face split in a predatory smile, revealing large incisors as he nodded at Korina, "Evenin', darlin'."

Turning his attention away from them Zulgos tied the rope in a loose knot that could either be tightened or undone at a moment's notice. The other end of the rope was tied to a heavy leather sack that held various tools of the trade that Zulgos personally found useful. A shovel and crowbar among other things. The rope was taut, it's length hidden behind the pole Zulgos had used to scale the structure.

"Huh. I'm usually the last one here." Zulgos commented as sat with his back against the chimney.

As his apprentice spoke Ajax chuckled under his breath. Slowly he walked to his apprentice, his steps silent on the top of the roof. "If this heist is so simple, Master, then why do we require an entire Warband? You and I have undertaken much harder tasks and accomplished them with ease on our own. I do not understand the Master of Shadows and his ridiculous rules." This statement reminded Ajax of himself, long ago when he joined the Brotherhood.

He nodded to his apprentices statement, understanding her inpatients of the matter."Not all who join the Brotherhood are as naturally skilled as you and I, child. The Master of Shadows knows this more than any. The reason we have been put on this task is to show the recruits the power of the Brotherhood and, with training, what they can become. Our jobs are to simply insure the mission goes smoothly. They will do most of the work..."

As the time approached almost 1 in the morning, Ajax could hear one of his warband climbing up the building. From the grunts of effort, he calculated it was none other than Zulgos, the warband's muscle. Zulgos was one of the more interesting of the members of the warhand, being the only one taller than him, maybe even stronger than him. As the man pulled himself up, Ajax calculation was correct. As he spoke, Ajax stood silently.

"Huh. I'm usually the last one here."

Ajax checked himself over one more time, before speaking back. Insuring he was ready. "The rest of them will be here any moment... Give it time.

Night had fallen over the Alvion, shadows creeped and lurked through every corner and turn. The night life filled the air with the sounds of brawls and drunk laughter, it was an all to familiar sound to Noah who had perched himself upon a stable next to a bar. He balanced quite easilly upon a small wooden beam and brushed his red hair under hs hood impaiently. Below him his latest target lay unaware. Checking the time he figured he woudl have about half an hour before the meeting would begin. In that time Noah planned to get back at the man that had been so rude to him for flirting with his grilfriend in the morning.

Noah had thought himself innocent in the matter, and that the womans man should be proud to have such a bonny lass that Noah might present her with flowers. The man of the woman, however, was not so pleased, thus resulting in a nice shiner to his right eye. The fight hadnt lasted long as Noah's small yet incredibly strong legs had taken him out of the fraw even before the man could raise his fist for a second blow.

It was pay back time. Rolling his shoulders he let himself drop so he was hanging from his hands from the beam, ignoring the soft splinters in his fingers he let himself swing slowly at first and then built up momentum. Once he had a good swing he let go and hit the wall of the barn, that of course was not his intention but he rolled with it and let himself hit the ground hard. He was sure to have a few more good bruises. Luckilly the night's activites were loud enough that no one had noticed and Noah crept slowly towards his prey.

***

Half an hour later Noah was 50 coins richer and had earned himself a nice new dagger which had a few small yet inticate carvings on it. He hopped from roof to roof, taking care not to slip or make too much noise. When he reached the meeting place he announced his arrival with a small cough and looked over at the three members of the warband. There were still a few to come andhe was happy he was not the last. "Hello." He lifted his hand in a small wave and then shifted both hands to his pockets and crouched on the edge of the building. He glanced over at Korina and winked at her "Hey Sweetheart" He and Korina both knew she could take him within a few scant seconds but that didnt stop him from bothering her when he could. Noah glanced at Ajax "Good to see you sir..." then to Zulgos "Big guy, Heard some fighting a while back dont suppose you had anything to do with it?" He grinned at him and the turned his head back out towards the city, his eyes searching for the others.

The moon light glowed pleasingly between soft clouds of grey. 'Twas the strangest contrast between the sky above and the bar banter and late night ne'er-do-wells slugging each other below. The very buildings themselves were forging a line of safety, the shadowing they offered making the lower portion of everything just the more dangerous. The roof tops however were far easier to use for avoiding everything that was transpiring, and were a beacon of hope to one soul in need of a refuge.

Tetsuya walked alone as he'd become accustomed to doing during the late nights. He couldn't remember the last time the daylight held any sort of interest to him. He could see the moon and that was all that he wanted, the only company he'd had for the last few months. This was about to change however, and the group upon the rooftops were becoming a closer goal on his mind, though this city was still quite alien to him.

He took it upon himself to gain a little extra elevation to aid with the discovering of his position within the large city. Not only would it help him get where he needed to go (He was already late) But it'd help him avoid the fights within the taverns and the like. He'd already seen a fairly large brute of a man helping patrons become accustomed to the floor's comfortable stone, and though he could handle himself.. he'd rather not challenge things too much.

Tetsuya walked up between two buildings, one of the inns and a barn that stood behind it, the latter being comprised primarily of old wood. Brandishing sharp claws, which were a few inches long on his gloves, Tetsuya clambered up the wood, using his spikes to latch onto any small gaps in the wood. It eventually boiled down to latching the claws between two planks that were poorly lined up, and propping his feet on the wall. It took a little while, but considering where he was, it was the best option to reach the higher points on the city. From there it was only a short dash towards his destination. He ran, jumped and climbed to the roof top where he needed to be.

Unlike the others, he was yet to know anyone in any sort of friendly manner, and so upon arriving, his sickly skin hidden aside from his nose downards, he spoke with a voice that matched his apparent afflictions. "Master Ajax. I must appologise for my late arrival, I am not accustomed to this city as of yet." He was as formal as it came, and wasn't used to the casual attitude some of his peers, though what he lacked in friendship, he made up for in his natural skills.

Istillo Anselm


"They will be here any moment. You must be patient, especially if you are to ever surpass me some day…"

Something was obscuring one of the windows of the three-story building. A figure, perched precariously on the thin sill. Pushing his back into the left the frame, Istillo kept his seat with one boot up against the opposing side.

"What are you anxious for, apprentice? This is only a simple heist, not a complex shill. Speak, what is on your mind?"

The assassin sat quietly, tearing another piece out of his smoked meat. He surveyed the dirty street below, but his vantage point was not a needed precaution. The streets were long since deserted for warmer interiors as the morning was young, and it's air cold. He was seated here to listen.

It was curious. There were heresy in the southern lands of these two assassins: fearsome tales whispered by careful tongues of rouges and thieves alike, and spat from outraged maws of the guards of those more fortunate… or more corrupt. They seemed to be the dark folk heroes to the common masses, and hated just as fiercely by those of opulent ill repute.

"If this heist is so simple, Master, then why do we require an entire Warband? You and I have undertaken much harder tasks and accomplished them with ease on our own. I do not understand the Master of Shadows and his ridiculous rules."

Istillo snorted. It did seem rather ridiculous; however, the objective was clear to him. Succeeding in a heist, no matter how small, would earn him coins. Coins would earn him food. If the Master's "ridiculous rules" fed him, then he would readily follow them.

"Not all who join the Brotherhood are as naturally skilled as you and I, child. The Master of Shadows knows this more than any. The reason we have been put on this task is to show the recruits the power of the Brotherhood and, with training, what they can become. Our jobs are to simply insure the mission goes smoothly. They will do most of the work..."

So it is a test. Istillo's musing cut short as something flew over his head, casting a brief shadow in the ally below. He went back to chewing on his smoked meat with disinterest. Noah's voice floated down to him. That made four. Where were the other two thieves?

With a quiet sigh, Istillo stuffed the rest of the meat in his mouth, and tied a piece of cloth back around his head to cover the lower half of his face. Standing, he lent back out over the street, and reached up- jumping to grab onto the roof's ledge. Toes finding holds, he pushed off to lift himself up onto his forearms, and to clamber over the side. Another figure was advancing towards the small party just before him. Tetsuya, the thief.

The soft soles of his boots made little noise as his stride slowed before the war band. Stepping into the semi-circle, Istillo joined their ranks. He crossed his arms, looking over the faces of those present, before settling his gaze on the blue eyes that burned under the red cape.

"M'ster," he said quietly, tipping his head in a show of respect.

Istillo's northern accent was strong, but not altogether unintelligible. His pink eyes flicked back to the biggest of their group, eyeing the warrior. He was from the North as well, but until their first meeting, Istillo had never seen one such as him. Largely uneducated and not much more than a vagabond, the assassin had been more than surprised to meet the orcish descendant. He still remained wary of the strange man.

Turning to his left, his eyes fell on the thief Tetsuya.

"Bru'hr. You do not luk vell. 're you ill?" Istillo asked, frowning at the dark bruised-like shadows under the man's eyes.

The knight started to become thicker, and the air colder, as they rest of the warband gathered around. It had been hours since Ajax and Korina first arrived, and another 2 hours Zulgos, the first of them, arrived. But who knew how long the Snow Leopard had been there? Finally, off in the distance to the east, the son started to rise over Alvion. From Ajax' estimations, it was about 5 in the morning. The son over started to barely appear over the horizon, peeking only its very end over the world. As iv it was turning its head around a corner, checking to see if there was anyone there. Its light was turned a mix of blood red and gold, and the sky reflected the same color.

"Finally, the Snow Leopard emerges from his hiding spot." Ajax stated, turning his gaze to the Istillo. "Tell me, Northmen, did you really expect I wouldn't have known you were listening? You wound me so..." The assassin stated as he walked towards the western edge of the roof, dismissively. It was the perfect hour for the heist, and Ajax wanted to waste no more time dallying.

"This is our target, Shadows..." Ajax said kneeling down, looking out to the massive spanning city in front of him, lit up with lanterns and lights from city below, and the sun's light above.

In front of the eyes of the warband was the High District, the "rich" part of Alvion. The High District, even at this early hour the city was starting to fill with merchants, nobles, and plain towns-people. The High District was the home of the Market Square, the home of trade in Alvion. Like a creature giving breath for the first time, market stalls and shots started to have their first inhale of costumers, those who wanted to get the early-bird-special, and their exhale of those disappointed with their prices, or what they were selling.

The homes of the High District were a great deference from the meek shacks of the slums, where Ajax had grown up. Unlike in the slums, where the biggest most homes grew was the size of a barn at the most, the houses of the High District were massive. Mansions, like small castles, with their own hired security. These buildings housed the most wealthy people in Alvion, nearly 2% of the entire population of the kingdom.

It had never made sense to Ajax why, when some of the city was still in ruins even after 3000 years from the sack, the wealthy got more, and the poor got less. Nobles who had never done an honest day's worth of work in their lives pranced around, calling themselves Lords and Ladies. Why? Because maybe 1000 years ago their ancestors bought a mine, or a farm, and accumulated wealth off of that, then put it in banks so it would collect interest. The whole district was perfect for a heist... And no one would miss a thing.

Unlike the slums, that had guards patrolling up and down every street, the High District had guards stationed on the entrances to the city, and not that many on the inside. Where the warband was standing was already inside the district, so guards wouldn't bother them all that much.

Standing up and turning to face his warband, Ajax spoke once more, raising his voice a little more because of the bustle of the city below. "Our mission is simple, but necessary. Below us is the High District, and the Market Square. 3 different shops, and one piece of property, have been bad in their dealings with the Brotherhood. They owe us a deal of money, a deal of money we are going to collect."

"The shops are your targets. Tetsuya, your target is a general good's store to the west of here called 'The Spice of Life". The keeper there is an elderly man who had us kill an associate of his to keep his store in business, and hasn't payed up. The man is a master of wit, and will attempt to anger you into doing something drastic. Istillio, your target is a smith-shop to the north of the district, a 20 minute walk from here. A dwarf crafted us a few flimsy swords with iron rather than steel. He is a brute of a man, and a threat when he has an axe in hand.

"Zulgos, Noah." Ajax stated as he turned to face the ork/elf and the boy. "You two have the hard job."

Turning again to face the district, Ajax spoke: "In the center of the square there is a troll merchant by the name of Koh. Koh had a store front to sell gems, and crystals -something trolls are good at collecting naturally-. But these gems are fakes, and he uses them to hide his real products. The troll sells Moon Ale. The drink is something he makes, and his highly illegal in the entire kingdom of Alvion." And in fact is only legal to drink on the north. "Occasionally, the higher warbands of the Brotherhood speak to him to buy some, to celebrate success on a heist or a victory in a battle. Recently, a close acquaintance of mine was prematurely parted from this world from a drink of a batch of poisoned Moon Ale, bought from Koh." After a moment, Ajax spoke again.

"Your job, is to kill Koh. Any way possible, with any means. It is important that the troll is never able to sell the ale again, so you must find out where he keeps it, and then burn it. If you can destroy the rest of the ale, you will be rewarded handsomely... By myself."

Standing up, Ajax walked to his apprentice to address her. "Korina, you and I will investigate the property." Again, Ajax turned to face the team , waving his hands over his hood to remove the effect of the blue eyes, both of them melting away into the blackness of his hood, leaving only the darkness of the hood. "The rest of you. When you are done with your tasks, meet Korina and I back at this spot..."

Noah watched as the last of their little band joined them and he shifted his weight and turned to watch Ajax as he spoke. He settled down, sitting comfortably on the edge of the building, he sat legs folded under him and took in all of the instructions. He smiled when he learned the mission involved thievery and leaned in closer to hear.

He listened to the other instructions and nodded as their respective tasks seemed all good and well, when the time came for Ajax to say his name he found himself paired with Zulgos. Noah glanced over at the giant orc/elf and he supposed he could take comfort in the fact that he would have the big guy there to save the day if he go into a spot of trouble. He listened carefully about the troll and the moon ale and found himself remembering a few tastes of that hallowed drink that he had managed to sneak in before he had been caught, that had been years ago but he had greatly enjoyed it and was eager to try more, his excitement however was dampened when he was told it was poisoned. "Guess no drinks for us." He said softly to himself.

"Your job, is to kill Koh. Any way possible, with any means. It is important that the troll is never able to sell the ale again, so you must find out where he keeps it, and then burn it. If you can destroy the rest of the ale, you will be rewarded handsomely... By myself."
Noah couldn't help but grin as he understood the partnership between him and Zul now and he looked over to see how he was handling the information and then looked back at Ajax who was finishing up his instructions. Once he was done Noah stood up quite gracefully and stepped his way over to Zul. He stood next to him and looked in the direction of the shop. "Uh... I'll hold him... you punch?" he joked knowing very well that would not be the case.

Noah slipped his hands into his pockets and let out a low whistle "Or I guess I could be the distration and you could sneak up behind him and lop his head off. That works too." He said softly to him, "Of course your input is welcome as well." Noah glanced over at him and flashed a smile. " What do you suppose the reward will be?" He was in a talkative mood. Noah didnt know Zul all that well but he was interested in finding more out about him. He looked at him carefully taking in everything.

Korina listened a little more patiently as Ajax spoke."Not all who join the Brotherhood are as naturally skilled as you and I, child. The Master of Shadows knows this more than any. The reason we have been put on this task is to show the recruits the power of the Brotherhood and, with training, what they can become. Our jobs are to simply insure the mission goes smoothly. They will do most of the work..." She felt a little more relieved. At least Ajax was understanding of her plight. Korina straightened as the rest of the Warband began to arrive, wanting to appear more authoritative in front of them. As the night drew on into early morning, she got a better look at the mismatched group. The Orc looking man that arrived first could be none other than the tank. He seemed to have the brutish look down. Then there wast he red-haired man who had arrived next that had joked with the Orc. She was unsure of what role he played, though she guess that he was a thief. The man with the covered face had come after, apologizing for being late, though he wasn't the last of the party to arrive. A white-haired man stepped from behind his hiding place not far from where they had gathered. She was certain she had heard a noise in that direction a while ago, but dismissed it as a rodent. she cursed herself inwardly. She was getting rusty.

Ajax began giving instructions on who would be doing what. She had to smirk, he seemed so suited to this new leadership role, though she would not be so foolish to tell him that. She was more than surprised that he had paired the Orc half-breed,Zulgos with the red-haired man, Noah. They certainly seemed an unlikely pair and he had even assigned them the task of killing Koh. She was interested in seeing how well it turned out. Of course she would be going with Ajax to investigate the property. He would not trust anyone else to work with him in such a crucial part. Stealth and a masterful eye were required, both of which she had fine-tuned over the years with Ajax.

She watched as Noah walked over to Zulgos to attempt to strategize. "It's a good start at the very least." She was very anxious to begin, hoping for this whole event to end quickly. She turned to Ajax, waiting for him to lead the way.

Zulgos grunted as Ajax spoke. The man wanted to test their versatility, which was good. Each member of the warband was more than accomplished at their chosen role. Now Ajax wanted to test them out of their element. A true leader makes a machine of men,... in small tactics the machine must be versatile and changeable. The founding warlord of Morteron had said that.

The giant halfbreed nodded as Noah spoke, "He's a troll... mayhaps I should hold 'im down."

More than once Zulgos had partaken of the Moon Ale, and it was a rare and much sought after commodity. "You are not unattractive, I think it would be an easy thing for you to put this Troll in a compromisin' position. If ya know what I mean."

Ideally he would be able to question Koh and discover his source, gaining another resource for the Brotherhood. Torture it out of him if need be. But before that would work, they would need the troll isolated and defenseless.

"Noah, let's hit the street, separately o' course, and do a little sleuthin'. I'll find a good place for us to get the jump on 'im and you can learn what you need to convince this Koh that you're his friend."

Kay listened as the Zul said that maybe he should be the one holding the troll which Noah punched him, this made him snort. He was a dreamer but he knew there was no way he could best up a troll. The thought of him pounding a creature who could easily crush his head in a matter of moments made him laugh. He shook his head and ran a hand down his face as Zul suggested that he should try and get close to Koh and he rubbed his chin and nodded. "I can do that." he agreed.

Zul went and suggested that they would split up getting information and finding an idea place. "ok." Noah walked to the edge of the building and he stood there quite comfortably and said "shall we meet up for drinks at the wailing siren down there in 24 hours?" he pointed down at a shady looking bar just down below them. He looked back at Zul and saluted "see you later." he hopped of the building and landed on the roof of the one below and ran for the next roof and propelled himself forward. He moved from roof to roof until he was in the edge of the square. He crouched looking over Koh's establishment the stood in the center of the area and then began to scale down the building. He whistled softly as he slipped his hood off and tried to make himself appear more presentable. Then he walked condfidantly into the square and walked on over to a vendor that was attempting to sell a few trinkets of the 'rare' variety. He saw Noah and immediately sprung into a long speech about an object that looked much like a tea pot.

He spurted all kinds of nonsense of it being a good luck charm and you just need to hold it like so, and the god would bless you a thousand times over. Noah waited patiently as the man somberly went into it's dark history and then offered to sell the most valuable piece for a nice price of 20 gold. Noah had been expecting a ridiculous offer and he smiled at the man and said "tell you what. You tell me all you can about the troll Koh who runs that place..." he pointed "and I'll add on ten gold." money talked, Noah knew that every man had a price and clearly he had found this vendors amount.

He grinned as the man launched into yet another big long story about the troll.

Tetsuya watched with a heavy heart as the sun started to creep into it's rightful place in the sky. The comforting vale of shadows he'd had only a few hours before were being kicked away from him, and his sickly appearance was only more clear in what of him could be seen.

Tetsuya, your target is a general good's store to the west of here called 'The Spice of Life". The keeper there is an elderly man who had us kill an associate of his to keep his store in business, and hasn't payed up. The man is a master of wit, and will attempt to anger you into doing something drastic.

He knew all too well the power of the spoken word. In his youth he'd seen a hundred times that even the slight altering of one's tone could change a conversation to a separate subject all together. It was said that with age came knowledge, or at least that was the understanding of most, the shop keeper no doubt had been using his "wit" to aid his business. It would come as no surprise if this same skill was used to save a bit of coin. Coin was the governing force of everyone in the higher district after all, without it.. You were nothing.

He made no comment to what had been said about his apparent illness, though he had a higher trust for his companions than most others he'd met, he found there no use in elaborating, and instead would configure an action plan for his task, but first, addressing Ajax, in a manner he was becoming accustomed to doing. "I will do as you ask, master Ajax" He begun by saying, his tone ever more formal and respectful for who had become his boss. "I'll bleed him of all his coin until the debt has been paid"

With that, he too left the roof, bowing slightly as a further respect, before jumping down upon a nearby building. He'd seen his destination in the past, it wasn't the most secluded, but was far enough off the main roads and pavements for his entrance to the shop to be inconspicuous. He leaped from the second rooftop to a third, and in that manner for the primary section of the travel. He'd make it quick as to not be seen, and soon enough reached his destination, perching above a balcony that jutted from the building he was aiming for. After that, he slipped down, and gained himself entrance to the top section of the shop, picking the lock and closing it behind him, re-locking it afterwards, so that the old man could not simply run to the guards.

Istillo nodded, a deep grimace hidden under his shroud. A test indeed. Slitted eyes traveled to the horizon, where the sun's rays were beginning to threaten, marking the morning sky with a reddish hue.

"Red skye in the morning, S'ilor's w 'rning."

It would rain later today. With a hissed sigh, he turned his gaze from the east to the north. The Master had planned this to be difficult for them. His target was twenty minutes out of the district… as well as a blacksmith. A Dawrven blacksmith. Istillo wasted no time taking off in the direction of his assignment.

"I H'vth thie best luck."

Istillo cursed as he ran through the streets, sticking to the shadows. Nonetheless, he was not as stealthy as one would expect someone of his profession to be. He had no time to pander to tact. Not now.

Dwarf? Really... Istillo's thoughts were as venomous as his eyes. He knew smithies. The smiths who worked them rose early to stroke their fires to a heat intense enough to melt metal, and toiled over these furnaces and their wares endlessly. They were… rugged, hard, and powerfully strapped people to say the least. It did not sit well with him that the morning sun was peaking.

Yes, yes. Definitely a test. Istillo's soft pants came from beneath his hood as he followed the winding road. To rob an assassin of the cover of night… Ajax was insane. It was one thing to kill a burly man while they slept. It was completely something else to kill such a man who was awake… in a forge full of weapons. It didn't help either that the Dawrves had a nasty reputation for enchanting said weapons.


"F'kmk'g- Blalgreshh!" Istillo swore as he skidded into a dead-end ally.

He did not know this neighborhood. Growling, he sprinted around the corner of the ally, thoroughly furious. Scenarios whipped through his head as he whipped through the narrowing streets. Would the Dwarf work alone? The Master had said something about him owning an axe. That will be a problem. How would he make his way out after the carnage? Dwarves were loud creatures… a skirmish would attract unwanted attention.
Istillo didn't dwell on the possibility of failure. It was simply a question of how long it would take him to accomplish, and how messy a situation could get. He was here to "do," not to think.

Slowing his strides, the assassin looked up at familiar sign above two heavy oak doors. It was the forge. There usually was one in every district, as business was fair to smiths.

Two short steel swords, their blades and bellies nicked here and there, were drawn silently from deer-hide sheaths.

Regretfully, it will be bad business this morning.

Istillo's soft soled boots made no noise as he crept to the small side alley of the low-set brick and mortar forge. There seemed to be lodgings connected to the back of the shop, and that was the direction Istillo advanced. The roof's only entrance would be the smoke stacks, and the windows of the smithy were cleverly barred from thieves; however, the living accommodations had been foolhardily attached to the main brick shop. He could not break the oak doors of the entrance, but he could find his way in through the back. The home was the well-known soft underbelly of any beast.

Istillo heard no clang of a smith's hammer, but he had learnt long ago one could never be sure just what they would come across. He hoped the Dwarf would still be asleep, but something about Dwarven prudence told him otherwise.

Zulgos gave a short wave as Noah disappeared. His hands busied themselves with the rope as he watched members of the warband dart into the predawn light. He spaced his heavy boots widely as he began to move hand, under hand down the rope. The rope quickly disappeared into the bag after a deft tug.

Zulgos suantered into the night, his mercenary swagger blending into the crowds as he reached the end of a residential block. While the halfbreed stood head and shoulders over most passerby, his menacing aura kept most eyes averted. A few orcs, larger than him, stood outside the doors of a manor tucked seamlessly between a cooperage and a master scrivener. Zulgos glanced across it quickly, not wishing to be noticed with lingering attention on what he consider a prime target for burglary.

Zulgos collected facts, gossip and the sights as he passed. Keeping abreast of the city's pulse. While he mapped his path, Zulgos looked for a secluded spot. Something in a sparsely inhabited area. Something close enough to Koh's establishment, to be tempting but distant enough to get the Troll out of his element.

The sun had started to climb higher and higher into the sky as the band of thieves positioned themselves across the High District. The air was still lightly chilled, but slowly started to warm within the sun's heat. It's light had reached the city streets by now, and now had almost completely robbed the warband of their element. It was Ajax's plan all along, to rob the warband of their most powerful element: Surprise. But little had they any knowledge of the larger heist they were about to preform, in broad daylight.

Separated from one another, the thieves had found their locations and had started their jobs. Slowly rising up from kneeling, Ajax turned to his apprentice. It was time for the both of them to find their location for the heist. Moving back a few feet on the roof, Ajax pushed himself forward and pushed with a grunt off of the roof, over the wide city street. With no effort, Ajax's hands grasped the ledge of the building across from them -a good 10 foot jump-. After raising himself up with ease, Ajax lowered himself onto the roof of the other building, reaching his hand down to the ground and his palm out towards his apprentice. Giving her a target for her to jump too.



The upper floor of the small shop was the keeper's small apartment. Like most shops in the city, it consisted of 3 floors: The ground floor, which was where the merchandise, and business transactions were. The floor below that was usually a stockroom, a storage area, or a seller for more... Luxurious items such as wines, expensive ales, and perhaps a dash of your illegal goods. Then, the floor above the ground floor: The apartment, where the keeper would live. While most of the time this acted like a part-time house, it could be easily lived permanently... Depending on the success of the shop.

The apartment was void of live, with no noise or sounds of life. From what it sounded like, the shopkeeper was either downstairs opening up the shop, or simply not home all together. The small raised bed had clean sheets, and looked like it had been made recently. Next to the bed was a small nightstand, with a cup and bottle of wine on top of it. The keeper had slept here recently, but where was he? From the downstairs level, he could make out the sound of footsteps... Climbing the stairs to the level he was on.




The small shop the Northman found himself in was... Small. Compact. His head just barely under the ceiling by a foot or 2. The shop went about 20 feet back, and must have been only 10-12 feet wide. In front of him -in the middle of the room- was the foundry, a massive circle made of pieces of cobblestone, that had risen 2-3 feet above ground. Inside of the circle were fractals of coal, and parts of broken metals that had been chipped away from swords, and other weaponry. Inside of the coals were the light embers of the fire within it warming up.

Above the foundry was a vent, made of wood. While the foundry was active, the vent would take the smoke and let it out of the shop. Behind the foundry stood a rack of weapons, at a right angle to the floor. On the rack were spears, daggers, throwing knives, but also larger weapons; like warhammers, and greatswords. Each one of them carried the prowess of excellent dwarven craft. While the swords and daggers looked excellent, it was the larger weapons that looked like they had time put into them. They were massive, and well decorated. They were the work of master hands, hands that had created hundreds -if not thousands- of the same weapons before.

Suddenly, as Istillio walked forward into the shop, he spotted through the corner of his eye a dwarf standing to his left, ontop of a flight of stairs that lead to the next level up. As he turned to look at the short man, the dwarf smiled and threw his arms wide open as he walked down the stairs.

"Velcom!" The dwarf shouted welcomingly as he waddled down the stairs. He was short, yet massive at the same time. While being only 4-and-a-half to 5 feet tall, his shoulder width must have been the same length. The dwarf was wearing a while shirt underneath a black, leather blacksmith apron. His arms were massive, and thick like tree trunks. In Istillio's mind, he looked like a small mountain. The hair on his head was long and red, with burned patches and black spots in a few spots from the forge. His face, from what Istillo could tell, was square-ish with 2 small blue eyes hidden under thick red brows. But the most prominent part of the dwarf was by far... his beard.

His beard was the same color as his hair, a thick red, with the same texture. But instead it looked more well-kept than his hair. At least a foot in length from his chin to the end, it was a symbol of his strength and fortitude -as it is to most dwarves-. But even from the dwarves Istillio had met in the north, this mans beard was by far the greatest.

With a crack akin to thunder, the dwarf lowered himself to the final step of the stairs so the both of them were on the same level. Now at -almost- eye level, Istillio could see the massive smile on the dwarves face. Welcoming, and friendly. Reaching his hand out, the dwarve's voice boomed out once more.

"Velcom, dea' friend! V'what brings ye' to me humble found'r'y?" Much like Istillio, the dwarf carried a thick strong accent of the north, making since because of most of the north being ruled by the race. In fact, the dwarven language was the most common language in all of the north, Istillio's native language.

With a proud, thrust of his hand forward, he took the assassin's hand into a strong grip and shook it tightly, welcoming Istillio to his shop.



(To be done)