A thief's luck (solo)

[Nyahna Sasin]

Fall 89th 510 AV

Winter. He hated winter. It wasn't quite winter yet, but it might as well have been for him. He was already freezing, even wearing as many layers as he thought he could get away with. He shivered again, and ran his fingers though his hair. Rubbing his hands together, he glanced around the market again. One thing he had found most irritating about winter time was the fact that it made him slower than usual. He was already feeling a little sluggish, and had had to shake himself awake a few times already today. He growled a little in disgust. He had nothing to show for his efforts today. It was pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

Glancing around, he watched a young man examining swords and a woman buying a scarf, before dismissing them. Normally, they would be a great catch, but he was cold, and tired, and he knew perfectly well that in a situation like this, trying to steal from them would be much riskier than usual. There were less people here than usual, and he honestly didn't care very much how much he netted, as long as he got something.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and he turned in time to see an armored man, possibly a mercenary, knock a boy to the ground, and start yelling "Thief!!". A crowd started gathering, and he saw the knights begin to move in the direction of the turmoil. He smirked a little. Perfect.

Weaving his way through the crowd, he spotted a coin purse dangling from a belt. The man it belonged to was tall, definitely a human from the smell of it. He looked a little strange, and stood out, as if he wasn't used to being here. Definitely not from around here, and likely unused to the thieves that walked the market. In other words, easy prey. Sasin eyed the furred cloak and brocade vest the man was wearing enviously. They looked warm, definitely, but expensive as well. Slipping a hand into his pocket, he pulled out the tiny blade he used, and moved forward, bumping the man, slicing through the string of his coin purse, his hand poised to catch it.

It didn't happen. Glancing down, he cursed inside as he realized that the knife had not gone all the way through. Even worse, the man was glaring at him, although luckily, he didn't seem to have noticed. Sasin grinned sheepishly, and apologized.

Well shyke. No way he could get that purse now, unless...

Glancing around, he noticed a dirty, scrawny young boy gaping at the scene. Likely the would be thief was a friend of his. It was no matter. Slipping to the boy's side, he shoved past him, as if eager to see, and, as he hoped, the boy smacked into the man, who turned away from Sasin to sneer at the boy. Quickly, his knife flashed out, and he caught the coin purse, turning away in that same instant.

The man, noticing his missing purse, started yelling at the boy as well, who started protesting his innocence. Sasin turned, disappearing into the crowd as quickly as he could manage. He didn't need that boy pointing an accusing finger at him. Extracting himself from the crowd, he slipped the coinpurse into his satchel, and congratulated himself on a job well done. Now, he decided, he needed to go back to his room so he could sleep.

It was petching cold, and he wanted nothing more than a warm bed to fall back on.

[Nyahna Sasin]

Of course, he would have no such luck. He had barely taken three steps before the boy started rattling off a very rough, inaccurate description of him. He breathed out a sight of relief as he realized the boy had only gotten a passing glance at his face. Still, he wasn't about to risk the boy seeing and recognizing him. He strode off, keeping to the most crowded areas, and then ducked into a deserted alley way. Cursing the boy under his breath, he glanced around, then, certain he was alone, pulled out a set of clothing from his bag.

He tugged off his cloak, shivering as the cold hit him. Shirt and pants were switched from cream and black to black and brown, respectively, and he pulled out his jacket and slipped it on.

Eye's reddened as he rubbed at them, giving him a slightly more tired look, and, cursing, he carefully poured out a trickle of water from his water skin into his hand, and dampened his hair, sweping it back and to the side, flattening it. Finally, he tied a pouch full of small stones to his belt. This was a habit he had picked up lately, as he knew he was hardly the only thief in the area. With all his thieving, he had accumulated gods knew how many pouches. He sold the ones he could, but many of them were worth next to nothing. So he filled them with rocks to attract other possible thieves, and stole from them if he could. It was a neat solution to an irritating problem. He knew better than to keep his money where roving fingers could reach them.

With that done, he slipped back out into the streets. He hovered near a stall as he noticed his would be accuser come closer with the knights. He kept his head down, examining the jewelry before him, resolutely ignoring the boy, and was barely given a passing glance to. As triumphant as he was with his victory, however slight, he showed no signs of it outwardly. In a single motion, he picked up two identical necklaces when the shopkeeper wasn't looking. Absentmindedly, he ran them through his fingers, feeling each link beneath his hand, waiting for an opportunity.

He was rewarded when the shopkeeper looked away again to deal with a young woman trying to decide between an emerald necklace and ruby earrings. He quickly slipped one chain in his pocket, and set down the other as the shopkeeper looked back at him. He held his breath, hoping the man hadn't noticed that he had been holding two chains. The shopkeeper frowned slightly, then shook his head and turned back to the woman. Letting out a sigh of relief, Sasin shook his head, grinned, gave one last (fake) longing look at the chain, then turned, and set off back to the Third Tier, where a warm bed awaited him.

With his luck, he thought wryly, he'd end up back here for some reason or another.

********

Lying on his bed, ill gotten gains in his lockbox, he decided that really, it wasn't so bad, being wrong sometimes.

[Nisaba]

Grade Complete: XP Award! Name: Nyahna Sasin   XP Award Acting- 1 XP Observation OR Intelligence- 4 XP Larceny- 3 XP Disguise- 3 XP Stealth- 1 XP I know you wanted Larceny and Disguise XP, but I really saw a lot of other skills used just as much, if not more, than the two you requested. Intelligence, I believe, was used the most in this thread. Sasin examined potential targets- ultimately rejecting them based on information he gained about the surroundings and his own body. He also observed a commotion and took advantage of the fact that many people’s attentions were in that direction; while just a few moments later, he created a commotion of his own in order to finish his work and slip into the crowd. Since Sasin has points in Observation rather than Intelligence, I have given you the option to choose which skill you would like to put those points in. The stealing, of course, I attributed to larceny, as well as the descriptions of changing to appear as a different person were given to disguise. I would have liked to see more detail- such as why he used the stones and how he wet his hair, or why he choose that particular chain to steal and how he kept it up his sleeve without the shopkeeper noticing, etc- so I could have given more points in those areas. I awarded a point in stealth because Sasin slipped into the crowd easily after he stole the purse and remained undetected until after he changed. Acting like an interested shopper earned a point in acting, as well, since it was too general to be impersonation but still a complementary skill for a thief to have. If you think I missed anything, please just let me know.   Lore Award Effects of Syliran Winter Weather on a Dhani Choosing Targets Using Distraction to Advantage Improvising after Missing a Target Placing Blame on Another’s Shoulders Hiding in Plain Sight Making a Clean Getaway   Ledger + 12 gold mizas, 3 silver mizas, and 56 copper mizas (from purse) + one silver chain worth approximately 5 gold mizas if sold Don’t forget to add this to your ledger! Additional Note: This was a very nice, little training thread that examined your characters principles and priorities. I really liked how matter-of-fact the writing was- it was straight-forward and easy to follow, which was wonderful. I would have liked to see a little more detail in the skill areas so I could have awarded more points, as well as the appearance of man that Sasin stole from (etc) so I could have judged a little better how much money may have been in the purse. If you would like to go back and add some more information, I would be more than willing to re-read the thread and adjust it accordingly. You don’t have to, of course, if you’re okay with what I’ve given you. I just wanted to give you the option. Thank you very much for letting me get to know Sasin’s character a little bit.