Visiting The Bones

[Eternity]

16 Zi'Da 722 (Mid Afternoon)

Travelling was worse than Eternity ever thought it would be. She’d been seated on a horse’s saddle and sat right behind the primary rider of the horse, who Eternity had paid for a trip to Almund. Her thighs and rear were more sore than they’d ever been in her life and she hadn’t needed to walk very far during the trip. The horse was one of a few that pulled a wagon behind it where other travellers sat. Eternity just happened to be so unlucky that they had absolutely no space for her. They told her she was lucky she was light and had a seat at all and she’d been naiive enough to believe them. She’d hoped to at least learn a thing or two about riding horses, but she didn’t share a language with the other rider so that’d been a disappointment. Well, she had learned a few things, such as how painful riding was and how the rider would kick at the horse’s sides to make it hurry up.

Their multi-day journey came to an end somewhere in Almund. Where exactly, Eternity couldn’t be sure. She’d never been there before and had only heard rumors about it. Namely that it was a place where criminals went, which she kept changing her mind about whether or not she would eventually kick her thievery habit. Eternity wasn’t there to commit any crimes, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t have crime on her mind. She was off to a fortune teller. She wanted to know if they could offer her any leads into good homes to steal from, perhaps ones with safes in them so she could get some hands on experience with them. The information brokers she’d spoken with in Scalvoris were unreliable at best, at least the ones she’d spoken to.

It didn’t take much asking around to find out that The Bones was the place she ought to go to. So she got directions to it and walked up to its unassuming wooden door. She knocked on it as hard as she could with her fist and said, “hello?” loudly, hoping that someone inside would let her in or indicate that she ought to enter.

[Template credit to Pyrre]

[Woe]

Woe, or Bones as he was known in Almund, felt the consequences of his pursuit of Navnea throbbing in the skin around his eye. Having run afoul of her sons, in a case of mistaken identity, the lads had gotten the jump on him and laid him out on the ground before the situation was resolved with a bit of tense negotiation. Regardless of the details of that encounter, he now walked the streets, perfectly anonymous and detached from his renown and status as Egg. The Bones was just another anonymous strangeer, black haired, gaunt of face, and pallid skin, as if he'd taken a cold.

He noticed the young woman standing outside the Bones. She knocked several times on the door, yet he stood a block away, merely sinking into the scenery of the rest of the crowd. He watched as the door gave way, allowing her entrance to the Bones.



She would find it quite empty of anyone inside, and dimly lit with some candles. There were knick nacks here or there, mostly uneeded things, little wooden cups and bowls for the reading of the bones, and tossing of the same. She was inside a good minute before a voice alerted her to the presence of another. If she'd tried to steal anything, the man behind her didn't accuse her or make any offensive motions. He merely said, "Are you here for a reading?"

He slipped by her, his feet steady and silent as he walked, and he cleared his throat as he took a seat at the far end of the table. Lacrima, for her part, was indisposed, having already accomplished a reading. It appeared business was looking up lately, this was thier second customer in a day, and third in two days. Bones felt somewhat encouraged, but also cautious if buzz was beginning to surround their little establishment.

Bones smiled at her, "Take a seat, please." He gestured toward a chair at the far end of the circular table. "What brings you here, then?" He asked, bringing out a pouch of bones that had been hanging under the table.

[Eternity]

To say that Eternity was creeped out by this place would be an understatement. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she entered the establishment and even then, she didn’t notice anybody inside. An unattended business would have been a jackpot for her, but it didn’t look like there was anything she would want to take with her among the candles and bowls. She inspected them absent mindedly at a distance, wondering if she really ought to be there at all and if it’d make more sense to wait outside.

Eternity jumped when she heard the voice come from behind her. She turned her head to see the dimly lit features of who she assumed to be an employee of the place. She mustered up the courage to say “umm” and nervously looked at the seat Bones gestured at. She was tired and welcomed the chance to rest. She let out an audible sigh of relief when she finally lowered herself onto the chair.

It was a few moments before Eternity could formulate the words she wanted to say. Finally, she said, “I heard this was the place to go if you needed… information. I have a… friend that is interested in breaking into safes. She wanted me to come by and ask if you know of any homes that have something like that. Preferably in Scalvoris town, but I suppose anywhere on the island will do” Eternity was not the greatest liar and it’d be pretty apparent that there was no friend. Still, she felt uncomfortable admitting that she was a criminal especially in a new town to someone she’d never met before. There were precious few people in her home town that even knew how she earned her money.

She let her words sink in then said, “I suppose I could go for a reading as well…” She’d nervously look at Bones and await his response.


[Template credit to Pyrre]

[Woe]

Woe could tell as he rounded the table, to take a seat at the other side that she was already unnerved by her surroundings. The mix of reactions they received at the Bones to the environs was as varied as the people who entered. Which to date was merely three, plus some curious children looking for a eerie thrill of 'speaking to the dead'. But The Bones commited to no sceances here. There were no messages from the souls that lay beyond reach, nor the ghosts that were rumored to rest within the skulls of those remains that dotted the catacombs walls.

She was unnerved by the surroundings, Woe could tell from a cursory observation. That much was clear. But she relaxed visibly as she settled into the chair. Perhaps tired by travel, as evidenced by the dust of the road that clung to her. "You came all the way from Scalvoristown?" He asked, as he pulled out a pouch of bones from beneath the table, another one, differently colored from the first pouch.

He looked up at her when she asked about safes. She mentioned a friend, which was an obvious and had Woe been a more frivolous person, he might be insulted that she thought she could pull it over him. But he was ready to humor her deception, if only to put her further at ease. It did no harm to ignore the premise of a 'friend', and answer the question directly.

"Why rob safes, when you can steal solacious letters, and get the ones who own them to give you the contents of their safes, their treasure, their bank accounts?" Woe quirked a brow, as he shuffled the bones in the pouch. "But... I could tell you of a safe or two, yes."

"That wouldn't do you very much good though. While I'm sure our friend could crack into one, with those nimble fingers of theirs..." Woe began, his eyes falling to the bowl that sat at the center of the table, "What would they do without knowing what's in them? People can only keep so many nels in safes, afterall. You would want a reliable fence, who can appraise the treasure, if not an eye for value yourself."

Woe, anonymous as he was, found it liberating to speak in such terms, scoffing at the law, speaking of illegal acts with such casual abandon. It almost lightened his mood, that he could afford to be so frank. "I'm only advising you so that you'll pass to your friend the folly of taking a risk without knowing hte reward, and always with an eye to the consequence. It never hurts to have another set of eyes, either, or another perspective, however good they may be."

Woe contemplated the young woman, wondering if he could make any use of her himself. In the end, he decided he'd throw her a hint. "But I do know of one house that is abandoned by its owner, most of the arc. It has only one occupant at present, but she will be absent from it for Zi'da. There is a safe there, behind a curtain in the main study, on the second floor."

Woe smiled, "Your friend will find at least a handful of onyx nels in there. A small fortune, and well worth the risk of breaking into a largely abandoned home." Woe could tell her where the house was, if she cared to ask.

"Now, would you care to humor the purpose of this business, and receive the forecast of the Bones?" Woe shrugged, "I ask only as much nel as you can spare for a reading."

He waited for her to answer, watching her expressions carefully.

[Eternity]

Eternity waited patiently for the mysterious man to finish speaking. He spoke with a pleasing rhythm that flowed nicely from one sentence to the next. She’d have felt rude to interrupt him. She noticed that he brought up a lot of good points, most of them she’d never considered herself. She was young and had only pulled off relatively simple thefts but the man spoke as if he’d thought about thefts at great lengths. Perhaps he was a thief himself, or had lots of experience guiding people like Eternity. All she was certain of was that this man knew what he was talking about and that she ought to trust his guidance if she were ever to take on harder jobs. So, she eased up and stopped worry about whether she ought to bolt out of the shop.

“Yes, I came from Scalvoris Town. To be honest I’m exhausted from the journey. As for your suggestion earlier, you do bring up some good points. Perhaps it would be more… lucrative to blackmail people but my friend isn’t that type of person. She likes to avoid confrontation and to be left alone while she works. She’s the type to study forgery for a season just to fake someone’s signature rather than have someone sign a document by force. As for how my friend would appraise what’s inside a safe, I have no idea. She has never encountered a safe before, though she is confident she could get into one if she had the chance. She’s good with her fingers, you see. Anyways, I’ll be sure to pass on what you’ve said, you sound wise to these sorts of things. I suppose this place truly lives up to its reputation.”

She paused then realized that she hadn’t answered everything that’d been asked. The man hadn’t quite given her what she’d came for. He’d said he knew of a place, but hadn’t told her exactly where. He’d also offered to do the reading. No doubt he was waiting for her to show that she intended to pay for the information.

Eternity held up a finger as if to motion, “one moment please” then started digging in her pants. She was paranoid about getting stolen from during her travels so most of her money was contained in a pouch tied to her leg underneath her pants. It was cold so she had thick clothes which made it ever more awkward to access. Eventually, she had the whole pouch in her hand. She counted out a small sum under her breath and set it aside. It was money to get her back home if she needed it. She then leaned forward and emptied the rest of her coins out between herself and Woe.

“If what you’ve told me is true, then I, I mean my friend would have no problem paying this much coin for the location of this abandoned home. And, I suppose for the reading.” Eternity had no idea if she was overpaying or not. Truth be told she’d pay this amount just to be in the same room as a safe just so she could study one all to herself. Even if she never got it open it’d be worth it just for the thrill of having something actually challenging to break into, a challenge that she hadn’t experienced in a long time. Eternity looked at Woe, once again feeling a bit nervous. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d paid for something that didn’t turn out to be true.


[Template credit to Pyrre]

[Woe]

Woe might've found her clinging to the charade of 'a friend' tiresome. He might've been annoyed if it didn't signal a certain stubborness of mind-set, one that revealed a more disciplined mind that was a basic requirement of a thief. Yet, As ever, he assessed, appraised, and judged based on the merits of such a quality in a person. In the end, her consistency toward that basic lie was commendable, if ill-formed. There might be other opportunities for her to grow her ability to deceive others, so long as she developed her talents for all the tricks a thief needed just to survive. While he was not fooled, and in truth it'd be a feat to lie successfully to one such as Woe, he could admire the lie-craft that went into that most simple of deceptions. Even if it would have been just as transparent to a drunken idiot. Woe admired the process, if nothing else, and the commitment to the lie.

"Feel free to catch your own breath as long as needed then." Woe said, of her journey from Scalvtown. "It's none of our business what brought you here, of course, but here you are."

He watched as she spilled out some coins from a pouch. He shook his head, "Only one is needed. Copper, silver, or gold will suffice. No need for haggling."

She did enquire to the location of the safe, and the house it was stored in. And he told her. "It's quite difficult to get to, so the approach may be troublesome. I'd recommend an excuse to make the crossing across the railway. Perhaps you're a messenger girl, or have a parcel to deliver. The person who owns the house is somewhat important, and receives many such messages. It's at the harbor of Scalvoristown, across the water on a large rocky plateau that rises from the water. There's a climb of stairs to get up to the house itself. I would advise avoiding the cavern entrances through the house. Rumor has it that he keeps traps there, unless you were willing to test them, having been informed of their existence."

"The safe itself is in their study, in a loft at the top floor, accessible from a ladder from the gymnasium." As for the specific placement of the safe, that much I cannot see. You'll have to find it, but the study isn't too large. Using your imagination, and thinking from the perspective of the owner would go a long way toward discovering its location."

"Now, let's see what the bones say..."

So saying he took the cup full of the rune-marked bones, and tossed them across the table. One of them reached farther than the others, and this one he applied another roll of a bone die. It rolled an unfavorable conclusion. Woe furrowed his brow as he inspected the bone that had singled out.

"This is from a forearm, referring to occupational fortunes." He pointed to the die, and shook his head, "You may have trouble at work soon, and it will challenge you. It's unclear whether this will lead to lasting trouble with an employer or client."

Woe shook his head, and decided to try another roll, and see if it could come clearer with the next. The dice fell, and as often happened one was isolated from the rest by various means. "Meditation and forethought will go a ways to alleviating this situation." Woe pointed to the bone, which belonged to a little toe, marked by a rune in a language Eternity couldn't recognize. "So long as you keep calm, and maintain mindfulness, the job will succeed."

Woe sighed, and then looked up at Eternity. "I hope that helps? In any event, I wish the best of luck to your friend."

[Eternity]

Eternity was taken aback when the price turned out to be a lot less than she’d thought. She thought that surely such information ought to demand a hefty reward. Then again, she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She shrugged and put all but one of the coins back in her bag, leaving one golden one for payment as Woe explained in great detail where the home and safe could be located. It was hard to believe that someone could possibly know such detailed information but Eternity wasn’t complaining. She thought that she’d find out fairly quickly if this was all just an elaborate ruse and it’d only cost one coin. The thought did occur to her that perhaps so much was known about this place because many had tried and failed.

She nodded along as Woe spoke and wished she’d brought something to take notes with. She’d commit to memory the main details, like the general location of the home and that she should avoid the cavern entrances. Oh, and the location of the safe because that was the most important part. Speaking from experience it sounded like a relatively simple job if the location was indeed vacant and there weren’t any guard animals.

The fortune was ominous to say the least. So, if she were to believe in superstitions then she was to expect trouble on the job but staying calm would fix that. She shuddered. The last time she’d tried to take on a big job she’d gotten so scared at one point it’d been difficult to even move. She visibly gulped and looked at Woe with slightly scared eyes.

“Well, thanks for the information, the reading, and of course the well wishes. I’m certainly going to need it.” She sat for several moments while she summoned the energy to get up. Before leaving she said, “I suppose if everything goes well, we’ll be seeing each other again. If not then, well…” She gave a nervous chuckle then hurried out of the building and out in to the streets. She was glad to be out of that creepy place. Now she could find a tavern and rest up for the long, cold journey back home. At least she had something to do in the meantime – think about getting to that safe.


[Template credit to Pyrre]

[Winston]

Review & Rewards

Magic xp: N/A

Skill Review: Appropriate to level.


Eternity

Feedback

Hello!

As always, I am impressed with how well you play to your skills. The honesty regarding the likelihood of her lies working on Woe was really well played. I'm also interested to find out what she will do with all these finely honed skills if she were to go straight. Perhaps she could become a full-time security agent, testing and fixing people's security holes.

Also, I noticed your mount training going on. I love to see training happening in 'non-training' threads.

The bit with "one moment please" made me chuckle. It painted an amusing moment in my mind. I always enjoy reading your threads.

I look forward to finding out how the heist goes and hopefully Woe has not set her up!

Enjoy your rewards in the UCP.

Rewards

• XP: 15

Knowledges

• Mount: x1
• Endurance: x1
• Deception: Committing to a lie
• Socialization: Offering a large payment in the hopes that you get something valuable
• Socialization: Leaving the end of a statement open ended and open to one's imagination
• Socialization: Gauging whether or not someone is open to discussing illegal activities
• Appraisal: Sizing up the value of a store's contents
• Appraisal: Recognizing the value of information

Woe

Feedback

OH! Woe has an alter-ego and I LOVE it!

First off, thanks for using the Knowledge and Skill BB Tags. These both make the reviewer's life so much easier.

I loved seeing another side of Woe and as always, your writing was smooth and easy to read. The way you overlap your posts with progression in conversation etc is always spot on.

The entire affair felt like he was giving her a target he wanted to be taken out. I hate to imagine what poor sod has crossed Woe in order to make them such a target.

Enjoy your rewards in the UCP.

Rewards

• XP: 15

Knowledges

• Stealth: Hiding in a trafficked street.
• Business Management: Setting an atmosphere for a shop leads to mixed reactions
• Appraisal: Noting travel worn quality in a person.
• Tactics: Recognizing when it did no harm to play into a deception
• Appraisal: Sizing up a thief, for their potential skill and value
• Appraisal: Recognizing a potential beneficial quality in a thief, stubbornness and discipline.
• Appraisal: Consistency is another good quality in a potential deceiver/liar.
• Appraisal: Recognizing commitment to a story is another important quality to a thief's repertoir.

Winston's Catch of the Day is YOU!