From: 344LWKC@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU (Mike Sander)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [Ga] Brent: To (Not) Catch a Thief
Date: 3 Oct 92 22:05:33 GMT
Organization: Central Michigan University

<a little ADMIN first...>

jgreene@dorm.rutgers.edu said:
>Wait a minute. The back door. The creature, monstrosity, or THING, however
>you wanted to call it, did not look too friendly as it stood in the doorway
>Brent hoped that the patrons of the inn could deal with it, as he did not
>want the guard, and therefore himself, to be called in. Tonight he wasn't
>feeling particularly suicidal.
Well, MAINLY, I wanted to provide an exit and entrance local for people,
even if Brent WAS <sigh> the only one to use the back...

>The back door it was, and from there, to...
>Well, that's a story for another time.
How about now?

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Brent stood across from his target --a house near the river owned by a
moderately wealthy family. All things considered, he couldn't believe what he
was about to do. The favors he'd called in, the chance he was taking --it had
better be worth it. And for a change monetary gain wasn't the primary focus
behind the activities to come --proving his abilities was.

He had changed from the "confining" guard unifrorm to a deep, dark blue
[ADMIN: There's probably a shortage {:-)!} of black anyways...] cloak and
charcoal-covered skin, as well as the "tools of duty", as one thief had
referred to them. But this was a guild-protected house, and that could mean
trouble in more ways than he'd care to count.

So why was he here? Why was he helping someone he had only met earlier today?
Despite this not being the first time for such an event, if he had been posed
that question he wouldn't have been able to answer it. True, he liked being
ahead on "favors", but htis was something else. Fortunately, Brent didn't
think about this, considering the process seemed nearly automated anymore.
"Reaction" was a better word than "thinking" for what he was going through.

The first order of business was to find a way in. And scouting around the back,
he eyed a second story patio that would suit his purposes. *Whoosh* UP goes
the padded grappling hook, easily connecting with the wooded railing without
noticable noise. After climbing up to the patio --rolling the rope up behind
him-- he faced a pained door. But that was no trouble for someone who knew how
to use a glass cutter, along with tar paper to prevent the glass from falling
and attracting attention. The glass cut, he reached into the hole and unlocked
the door.

Then finally, he was inside. He heard some movement coming from the downstairs,
and silently cursed as he realized the house likely contained a "pet"
patrolling it. He quickly moved upstairs, where he found the obvious owners
asleep. Brent quickly gagged and bound the couple, also allowing them to see
the dark skin --so that they'd attribute the robbery to Jaq Spayde-- as he
collected a few "rewards" for his work. Everything was taken care of, except
for the trademark Jack of Spades. Except that Brent felt Zebron would react
negatively to his "copyright" being broken [ADMIN: Well, Jon suggested I
didn't use it], and using another card might point towards a copycat thief
more than nothing at all.

He mentally sighed at the rules he had to follow to TRULY complete this.
Perhaps it would help if he seemed distracted. And he remembered the
animal downstairs; in fact, he could see it lying on the floor without a
care. *Swoosh* Down went a net upon the unsuspecting beast. As it tried to
rise, it barked heavily at the quickly descending Brent. Brent smiled as he
headed towards the exit --the guard would come, but he would be long gone by
the time they did so. And it DID help to know where they'd generally be.

However, his plan went slightly astray when a young man came into the room,
obviously hearing the barking. The man seemed a mage, although Brent didn't
bother to look, tumbling towards the door as something flew over him. Now
having a bit of distance and time, he used it to run through the still-open
patio door. There were sounds eminating from below, and Brent realized that
going down the same way he went up would spell doom.

Then he saw a tree nearby enough to climb upon. He grabbed the rope and hook,
stashed them in his pack, and carefully climbed on a limb. Sitting in the
tree, he could see the guard had fully arrived by now, with some searching
around the house. He dismissed them, and instead made his way to another tree,
then down to the ground by the river.

He ran for a bit along the river to the west. After being assured of losing
any pursuit, he produced a cloth and washed off the charcoal from his body.
He found an appropriate covered spot, and changed into a more normal style
of clothing. He then made his way as quickly as possible to the Keep, in
order to catch a few hours of well-deserved rest before he would be likely
awoken by news of another Jaq Spayde robbery. After awakening, the next step
would likely be to meet up with the group again.

As he made his way back, Brent could not help but think about how the attempt
had gone. It had been TOO long since he had done anything resembling this,
and therefore somewhat counted himself lucky to have as little trouble as he
did. He was glad to know he COULD do it in case the other parts of his life
ever turned sour, as they had before.

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Michael Sander 344lwkc@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu
AKA Lancos Erredan (and Brent)