The Scorpion Crown Heist

*"Welcome to Bal-Agra, city of a thousand stories. Each tale is like a thread on a loom, by itself it is a simple yarn of vivid color, but when interwoven, these stories become a vivid tapestry that show a greater truth.*

*This is not the Bal-Agra of Ducane’s Adventuring Guild, no, this is Bal-Agra some four centuries before the tale of our brave heroes. And this is not a story of heroes, no, but thieves, plots, and silent deeds in the dark. The streets are more narrow and dark, the building are more sandstone and draconian, and the streets are not made of quarried stone, but sand. Obelisks, statues, and camels dominate the city.*

*This story begins in a tavern in the slums of Bal-Agra, with four figures hunched over a piece of parchment. These are men who disregard the idea of possession. Our humble thieves have set their eyes on one of the greatest treasures of Bal-Agra: the Scorpion Crown, but the outcome of the next twenty four hours has yet to be set in stone. Will tonight be the night that the sacred headpiece of the ancient pharaohs disappears without a trace? Will tonight be the night that armed brigands boldly carried away a priceless treasure into the night? Or maybe tonight will be forever remembered as the woeful of end of Thrin, Silvern, Krex, and Kash."*

## The Crew:

### Kash Steelthumb:

Born simply 'Kash', has a strong love for order and precision- and taking things apart. At a young age he was hired by a local locksmith, who wanted a strong pair of hands to do work around the shop, and discovered he had a knack for the workings of locks and other mechanical things.

Lacking much, if any, moral compass, Kash slowly slipped into a life of crime without incident. He made a name for himself as an efficient, quiet, and effective burglar, who followed plans to a tee.

A few years back, a job went wrong, and Kash was forced to rush a safe cracking job. In the process, he slipped, and triggered a trap, which severed his thumb at the knuckle. Kash managed to escape the botched caper, though only with 9 digits.

Some may have been deterred by the loss of such a vital appendage, but not Kash. In a back-alley smithy, he forged himself a brand new shiny thumb, with all sorts of attachable implements and tools. Some say Kash is even better now, with his silver finger, but one thing's for sure - Kash *never* rushes a pickjob.

### Krex Dustoff:

Krex is small, even for a halfling. Krex is nimble, even for a halfling. And Krex is good at what he does, even for a halfling.

What is Krex good at? Krex is good at climbing. Krex is good at jumping. Krex is good at squeezing into tight places, and Krex is good at getting into places that the slightest shadow couldn't squeeze into.

Krex Dustoff, a man so dedicated to his craft that some view him as monk-like, has a mysterious past. Noone is sure what lead him to a life of crime, when he could be a powerful king's contortionist, or the headlining act in a traveling circus. Krex doesn't mind talking, but he sure doesn't like to talk about himself. Still, from half-mumbled whispers here and there, some suspect that there was, or is, a young halfling female, that is an integral part of Krex's story.

### Silvern Wainsworth:

Hark, ye who listen, to the woeful tale of Silvern Wainsworth, charmer, debonair, seducer, and above all else, the most talented actor who has ever lived!

...is perhaps how Silvern would describe himself. And he'd speak those words so truthfully you'd believe it, as Silvern is nothing, if not a convincing showman.

Silvern was born in one of the great seven cities of the Adji Peaklands to the northeast. There, he earned a name as a most extraordinary actor. He made audiences weep, laugh, and cheer. He earned his weight in gold, and slept with any beautiful creature that caught his eye. Indeed, the latter was his undoing- when he was caught between the legs of the mistress of the Daimyo of Messia. He fled through the window, and across the known world, where even now he fears the bounty hunters of the vengeful, prideful lord.

A life of high-level crime pays well, and for the most part, keeps him out of the public eye. His talent for performance, persuasion, and deception compliments his chorus of criminals well. But Silvern craves recognition and applause more than anything, and so is ever keen for even the smallest audience.

### Thrin Tinynuggins:

The fiery and intelligent Thrin was born into the minor noble house of the Tinynuggins of Gnometree, and was the youngest son of his father.

What made Thrin unique, however, was his talent for sorcery- even amongst Gnomish kind. And while he found spells of fire and thunder to falter and fail in his hands, spells of enchantment and trickery came easily to the Gnome. And so, when the time came, as is tradition amongst his people, he set out into the world, eager to find a use for his unique talents.

What Thrin saw in the great wide beyond shocked him. He had grown up with the privilege of a noble gnome, in Gnometree, which itself is isolated from the greater world. Poverty, suffering, hunger, seemed to assail him on all sides. But he was a small gnome with no talent for combat- how could he alleviate the ails of those who suffered around him?

Weaving a spell to convince the petty noble to share his stored food with the people of his hamlet was an easy task. And so was using shadow magic to slip by the guards in the next town, raid the coffers of the taxman, and redistribute the wealth to the hardworking farmers (after spending what he needed on himself of course).

Thrin never had much respect for the rules, but he has love for those less fortunate than him. A coin here, a crown there... what's the harm, especially when those who benefit are the huddled masses? And himself, of course. But self-reward is the benefit of self-risk.

## The Heist

### Pre-Planning

*"The candlelight illuminates the piece of parchment in front of you, as shadows from the candle’s flickering dance across the sketched map.*

*The last job went badly, very badly. A simple heist job, relieving a noble of his overabundance of wealth, but the information was bad, the timing was off, and as result Flim, the “muscle” of the group, was killed, and you four fled north up the east coast of the Valucian peninsula, and arrived at Bal-Agra.*

*The road has not been kind. Forced to sell most your possessions, weapons, and armor just to keep moving and eating, you had at last arrived in the Capital, Bal-Agra, and had a chance to breathe, briefly, and decide what the next move was.*

*The group pooled what little gold remained, and Kash used his connections with the Thieves’ Guild to purchase a tip, for a job, a heist, any bit of work that would keep them from starving.*

*And he heard back about the Scorpion Crown.*

*The Scorpion Crown was the ancient, solid-gold, ceremonial crown of the Ancient Pharaohs of Bal-Agra. Centuries old, and of immeasurable significance, the crown spent most of its time locked in the underground, magically sealed and demon guarded vaults of the Pharaoh's palace, if not resting on the Pharaoh's head. Except, it would seem, for one hour, every year, during which the crown was left in the Pharaoh's tower of residence- a tall ancient tower, which lies in the middle of the Palace’s holy gardens. The Tower can be seen from the Palace walls, but accessing it is another matter.*

*Tomorrow night is the festival of Kor-Anu, the Patron Deity of the Royal lineage of Pharaohs. The palace is opened to hundreds, whom hold a massive festival/feast. Once the festival is complete, the Pharaoh returns to his chambers, with the crown, and quickly returns, in a different garb, for the religious ceremonies. The head priest of Kor-Anu, the only person besides the Pharoah who is allowed to handle the crown, goes to the tower after the ceremonies are complete to transfer the crown to the vault beneath the palace, where it is all but inaccessible. If someone were to infiltrate the tower in that time, they may be able to swipe one of the most valuable treasures of Bal-Agra. But who would be crazy enough to do that?"*

A team of desperate, professional thieves might.

By virtue of teamwork, they managed to acquire a map of the tower, sketched by a palace maid who used to clean the tower. Each of them, additionally, had come across another piece of information each, which they shared with the rest of the party at your leisure. The festival started the next night, and they had just one night to plan. During the time of the festival, assuming they could infiltrate the palace, they would have free reign of most of the palace grounds, like the hundreds of other of Pharaoh's honored guests. However, they would not be able to enter the holy gardens, where the tower resides, unless they could find a way in.

The plan was drawn- Krex and Sylvern would get into a drunken brawl, and Kash, dressed as a guard, would haul them off to the palace dungeon where, they had learned, there was a secret corridor used to swap garrisons of the Pharaoh's personal guard. From there, they would play it by ear.

### The Night of the Festival

The team was rested, and ready. The day of the festival, each of the three party members set off to find something - Silvern managed to acquire a set of invitations, Krex found a set of clothes and Kash discovered some more information regarding the layout of the tower.

On their way in, they were, as a matter of course, stopped briefly by the gate guard. Kash dressed as a guard, Sylvern dressed as a noble, and Krex dressed as a servant.

Krex almost overplayed his part, but Silvern whipped out his lute, and played an entrancing song. The nobles streaming into the palace stopped and applauded- the night was off to a good start.

Inside the palace, the three began canvassing, figuring out the location of the dungeons, and mingling with locals. At one point, during an attempt to share information, Kash was spotted by a captain. Their cover was almost blown, but a quick talk down by Sylvern saved the day.

As the night progressed Sylvern and Krex pretended to get/actually got more and more drunk. Eventually the signal was given, and the two began brawling. It quickly turned into an actual fight, before Kash stepped in and dragged them off.

In the dungeons, they were confronted with two guards, who thanked Kash and told him he could return to his duty. Some quick thinking by Kash, and one of the guards agreed to swap places with the Half Orc for the night, but the other quiet guard stuck around. This was a problem- they needed to be completely alone. However, with his hands bound and in a jail cell, Sylvern managed to convince the guard to leave using his bardic magic. Kash quickly located and unlocked the secret door, and the heist was on!

They made their way down the secret tunnel, which seemed to go on for ages. Eventually they found themselves in a small antechamber with both a door, and a flume that presumably led to fireplaces, and given their relative location, they believed they were underneath the palace tower. Listening at the door, they heard movement and conversation on the other side, so they decided to use the flume to infiltrate the tower. Krex scrambled up the the chimney, and lowered a rope for Sylvern and Kash to climb up.

They exited from the fireplace, and found themselves on the first floor of the tower. Exploring the first floor, they found it empty. It had three rooms, a large foyer, a kitchen, and a washroom. In the washroom they found a secret passage so small only Krex could navigate it. In the kitchen, they found a large trap door hidden beneath a rug. They opened the trapdoor and peered down, but could see nothing in the inky blackness. With the trapdoor open, they discussed the next move, and decided that the washroom passage deserved investigation.

Krex crawled through the small tunnel for some time and found himself in a small underground chamber...with the scorpion crown! Still, it was presumably trapped, so he made his way back and informed the party of his findings. They decided to try the trapdoor next. They entered the door, and walked down some stairs. Suddenly, a halberd was thrust through the gaps in the stairs, and Sylvern was tripped- they had been discovered by the guards hiding in the basement, and combat began.

They quickly found themselves outmanned, somehow, by only these two men- they were elite palace guard, and aside from a lucky blow from Kash’s shortsword, the four thieves found themselves unable to harm the guards. Suddenly, the door behind them was flung open, and out stepped a tall, bald man with a large nose.

This was Bal-Veemes, ancestor of Captain Veemes, known to the Ducane’s Adventuring Guild, unknown to Kash, Krex and Sylvern.

Now even more outmatched, and partly wounded, the party knew that escape was the only option. Sylvern weaved some bardic magic, and smoke filled the room, and the party ran upstairs, and hid. They heard some boots stomping after them, and then the sounds disappeared up the stairs to a higher floor. Kash gave Sylvern his guard outfit, as they were confident that Sylvern could talk himself out of any situation, and then they returned to the basement, which was now deserted. Using the map they had obtained, they made their way to the room they now knew held the crown. They grabbed in, in their haste, set of a poison arrow trap that, luckily, did minimal damage. Sylvern stashed the crown on his person.

They attempted to leave by the secret door in the basement that, thanks to their map, they knew would lead to the antechamber with the fireplace flumes. Sylvern opened the antechamber door from the other side, and standing there was Bal-Veemes.

A moment of awkward silence, as Bal-Veemes could only see Sylvern, dressed as a guard, and Sylvern stammered out an apology. Bal-Veemes said he would continue to guard this passage to prevent the intruders escape via this route, and to go search the rest of the premises.

They went upstairs, and to the front door, which they found locked. In their hurry to unlock it, they did not listen at the keyhole, and when Kash finished picking the lock, the door swung open to reveal 6 elite palace guards.

Another moment of awkward silence.

Sylvern put on the greatest act of his life, and unbeknownst to him, his last. He stated how he had apprehended these men single-handedly, and was marching to them to the dungeon.

The ranking officer of the palace guards stated that he had orders from Bal-Veemes to arrest anyone who left the building, guard or not.

Sylvern spoke, saying that there was no need- the criminals had been caught, and he was a hero.

The officer replied that even if that is the case, and if it was the case then Sylvern would be rewarded greatly in the days to come, that all three of them were leaving the building, and would be put in the dungeon, at least temporarily.

They surrendered. What choice did they have? And in the palace dungeon, the sounds of religious ceremony echoing in the background, Bal-Veemes came down to see his prisoners.

They were strip searched, and the crown was found on Sylvern, in a most unholy area. They begged, cajoled, and insulted, but Bal-Veemes was a stone wall.

One week later, they were hung in the main plaza of Bal-Agra

And to this day, the Scorpion Crown remains in the proud possession of the Caliphate of Bal-Agra.

Or so it would until Mohamed Tsafarti, First of His Name, also known as Moha-Re, 20th of his name, recovered it during the liberation of the palace in the year 1845.