Solo An Easy Mark

[Sh'Ky Naes]

Summer 516, Day 25

A dry, hot wind blew from the northwest, whisking away some of the smell that was Sunberth's natural musk from 'Ky's nose. He was grateful for that, at least, because the makeup he was wearing was hot, itchy, and it trapped the smell of the city, forcing him to breathe in the smell of smoke, sweat, and feces.

Shaking his head, Sh'Ky focused his thoughts. He was attempting to con a merchant, one known around the marketplace for his relative naivete. It would make selling the fake gemstones he had gotten off a friend much easier. The con would probably be a lot simpler if he knew anything about gemstones, but it didn't really matter. Taking the money and running, or not arousing any suspicion at all, either was fine.

'Ky was currently wearing the guise of a young sailor, the mask making him look to be around 20 years in age, with a wig of long blonde hair tied in a ponytail. He wore a typical sailor's shirt and pants, with the outfit completed by a large red sash, tied around his waist, he looked to be fresh off the boat, a new hire. Naive. Trustworthy.

As he approached the stand, he stood tall, and stepped with the grace that he had seen the sailors walking on the decks of their ships with, on the docks. He was certainly tall enough and muscular enough to pass for a sailor, although to a man who actually served on a ship, he wouldn't fool them for one second.

Smiling broadly, and looking around the square, as if searching for a vendor he liked the look of, he 'settled' on the mark, and strode towards him purposefully, bouncing the bag full of Jet stones in his palm. The man who had pointed out the mark to 'Ky was right. He perked up at the slightest hint of a customer, while more experienced merchants hid their interest so they could haggle for better prices. He would learn, very shortly, how to become a better businessman in Sunberth. Failure is the best kind of learning experience, after all.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

The younger man looked up at 'Ky with enthusiasm, and 'Ky nearly blew it then and there. This wasn't a confidence scheme, this was kicking a puppy. Sighing internally, he kept a smile plastered on his face, and walked up to his stall, holding out his hand to shake, like any young, friendly sailor would. Taking it, the young man said, "Greetings! I've got various wares, such as needle and thread, small silver mirrors, gold rings, and more! Feel free to browse!"

'Ky smiled, and said, "Ach, I'm more looking ta' sell to ye, but let's see what ya got, first," and promptly began to rummage through the man's goods, as if looking for something to buy. To the young merchant's credit, there were one or two interesting things among the mostly invaluable junk, such as an ocarina made of whalebone and covered in scrimshaw, and a false knife that looked almost exactly like the real thing. 'Ky set those two objects aside, in front of the merchant, smiling. "Ah'll be buyin' these two things, thank'ee kindly."

Now it was time for the big deal. "Now, I dinnae have much money ahn me, but I do have... these." Sh'Ky opened the small bag in front of the younger man, allowing him to peer inside, eyes alight with equal parts curiosity and greed. "These 'r fiftay uncut Kalean Black Jasp'r stones, got 'em offa a mate of mine on 'm ship. I dinnae have much use for black rocks, so I'm willin' ta sell it to ya fer those two things right thar, an' eighty Gol' Mizas." At the price, the merchant's eyes narrowed. 'Ky cursed internally, and ran through the checklist of what could've gone wrong. Did he see through the accent? Did he set the price too high? Was part of the mask falling off-

"Twenty Gold Mizas, and that's it."

'Ky was stunned by the sudden declaration before he realized that the young man was haggling with him. Grinning like a shark, 'Ky imitated some of the sailors he had seen negotiating over prices of cargo. "Ya wan' meh ta get throw'n ovahrboard by th' lads fer acceptin' such a raw deal? Hells' naw! Fiftay ar nothin!"

The young man shook his head, as if chastising a young child, imitating some of the other, more senior merchants. "I suppose we'll have to come to a compromise, if you keep on insisting upon such ridiculous prices. Thirty-five, and no more." 'Ky bet that he was getting quite the ego trip off of this. A bag full of fifty precious stones, which he bought for less than forty gold pieces? This was quite the score. 'Ky knew this because he would feel much the same way at his age, especially if he thought he was somehow scamming the other guy.

Snatching up the ocarina and false knife with his left hand, and placing the bag of stones on the stall in front of the young merchant with his right, 'Ky barely raised his right hand in time to catch the bag of Mizas that the young man tossed at him. With a nod, and a wink, Sh'Ky said, before slipping back into the crowd, "Thank you for your Mizas." Might as well let him know what was going on so he would be able to avoid such a scam later. The young man seemed puzzled for a bit, before dawning recognition began to spread color into his cheeks, now red with anger.

He reached out towards Sh'Ky, and yelled feebly, "Stop," but he was already lost in the crowd, making away with his money.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

As he walked away from the young merchant's stall, 'Ky kept a vise-like grip on the bag of money, holding it in his pocket so pickpockets wouldn't steal it, and so other, stronger thieves wouldn't be attracted to the money and attempt to take it with force. He wasn't taking chances with such easy money, because he wouldn't have the opportunity to get it in the future. The younger man had lost any traces of naivete today, and a naive person in Sunberth was soon set upon by people like 'Ky. Sh'Ky was just lucky that he found such a person first, before anyone else had the chance to rob him.

Ducking into an alleyway about three blocks away from the marketplace, Sh'Ky quickly disposed of the makeup on his face, pulling off his sash and wiping his face with it, making sure none of the skin-lightening stuff remained. Taking off the wig, he stuffed it in his pocket, and threw the sash away from him. Pulling off the loose, billowy wool shirt, he tossed it over the sash, revealing a tight black linen shirt, which bore no markings except the stitchwork which held it together. Abandoning the clothes, he exited the alley, and made his way to the south of the city, cutting through forgotten alleyways and hidden paths.

Once he had reached the edge of the Tent City, 'Ky looked for a weatherbeaten, mustard-colored tent, which sagged under it's own weight. Pushing through the tent flap, Sh'Ky stood inside, blinking to adjust his eyes to the smoky darkness. Seated on a cushion in the center was a tall, thin man, with crimson hair that fell down to his shoulders, dressed in billowy black and tan robes which lent him an exotic look. Putting a two-foot-long pipe down across his lap, and exhaling a smooth, fragrant cloud of smoke, he smiled, and said, "Ah, Solomon, my friend, welcome! You are just in time, come, sit!" The man patted the ground in front of him, gesturing for Sh'Ky to sit. As 'Ky sat down, the robed man picked up a second, shorter pipe from beside him, and grabbing a bit of some pipeweed that 'Ky identified as from the Cyphran region, offered it to 'Ky, which he accepted.

Lighting it with some flint and steel, Sh'Ky took a deep breath of the pipeweed, and puffed it out, feeling the smooth texture of the weed as it left his lungs. It was good, but it wasn't what 'Ky was there for. Tossing the bag of money onto the ground in front of him, Sh'Ky spoke. "Caiden, I got the money. I actually managed to get more than we expected from him, too. Thirty-five gold pieces right there. Nineteen gold, twenty-five silver for you, fifteen gold, seventy-five silver for me." Caiden immediately picked up the bag, and counting out his share rapidly, tossed the remainder, still in the bag, to 'Ky, who caught it in midair, and emptying the small drawstring sack into his coinpurse, dropped it in the dirt beside him.

Caiden, taking a deep breath from his pipe, and filling the tent with fresh smoke, looked at Sh'Ky, smiling. "Good news, though. I found a body that has about the same height and build as you." 'Ky frowned, and sucked on his pipe, thinking of the different ways Caiden could've 'obtained' a body with such specifications. 'Ky didn't like assassination, although he was willing to kill if he had to, but Caiden didn't have any such qualms. However, Caiden noticed his frown, and waved him off, laughing. "Don't worry, I bought it off a corpse cart on the way to the graveyard. I didn't go around stabbing random strangers until I found someone who vaguely looks like you."

'Ky nodded, and said, "Good. Killing's a serious thing. However, I have to ask, are you ready for your bit in the plan?" Wincing, 'Ky took another puff from his pipe, and looked Caiden over once more. "You're not the most... inconspicuous of people, after all. Remember, let me do the talk-"

Caiden waved him off, rolling his eyes. "That's why you're going to do the talking, disguise me, et cetera. I know my part in the plan. I'm a background actor in this grand charade. I got this, Solomon." Hesitantly, Sh'Ky nodded and took another puff from his pipe, contemplating the next step in his plan. He needed to disguise both Caiden and a body before tomorrow. Alright. He could do that.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

Sh'Ky grimaced as Caiden picked up a bag with a melon-sized shape inside it, with dark red stains marking it as the one holding the head. 'Ky opened it, and looked inside. The head appeared to have belonged to a square-jawed, blue-eyed man with a skin tone matching 'Ky's almost exactly. Looking at Caiden, 'Ky quirked his eyebrow.

"Not to cast doubt on the origins of the head, but... How the hell did'ja get a hold of a head that looks this much like my own? I mean, gods damn, it's uncanny." Shuddering a bit, 'Ky picked up the head by the hair, and set it on the ground in front of him. Looking it over as it oozed into the dirt, 'Ky pulled off the wig he was wearing, and put it on the severed head. This.. was quite disturbing, disgusting, and several other things at once, but 'Ky wasn't about to complain. It was the best plan he had, and good plans were hard to come by.

Opening a satchel that sat next to him on the floor, 'Ky took out a small wooden case, a disguise kit that Caiden had bought for him. It was fortunate Caiden had the contacts to get such supplies cheaply, because 'Ky hadn't had any means to get the materials for disguises for some time. Thinking back, when did he have contacts? It was... around the time Rastia died. Yeah. 'Bout then was when he withdrew from the world, yeah. He wondered if he could reconnect with a few of the old guys, like Poundcake and Smasher John. It would certainly be pleasant.

Anyways, that was neither here nor there. For now, he had to disguise a head. That would probably sound worse in context than out of it. Moving on.

The first order of business was the nose. The most prominent feature on the face, it was the feature people focused the most on, followed by the eyes. Pulling out several tiny lumps of wax, 'Ky flattened and wetted them by licking the bottoms of the wax, and placed them on the bridge of the dead man's nose, replicating the makeup he had disguised himself with. Taking out a small horsehair brush, and makeup powder that matched his skin tone, he flattened the wax so it flowed seamlessly with the skin, and carefully applied the makeup. Too much, and it'd be painfully obvious. Too little, and the wax'd be visible. Hopefully the young merchant wouldn't look too closely at the severed head.

With the first step, the nose, done, it was time to move onto the forehead and brows. The structure of the forehead didn't need to be disguised, though, because it was quite similar to Sh'Ky's own head. However, there was a troublesome scar that marred it, which led down from the head's hairline to its' left eyebrow. There were two ways 'Ky could handle this. One; turn the scar into an open wound by cutting it with his knife, or two; using makeup to disguise it. The easiest method, and the one most likely to make it look like they had fought him before they took his head off, was to slash the head with the knife. Setting the makeup down, he pulled a short knife from the satchel, and turned the head, so it was facing the light that came down from the smoke hole in the top of the tent.

Pressing the sharp blade against the skin of the forehead, 'Ky dug in a bit, to make it seem like a combat wound, and drew it along the scar, causing a jagged red line to appear in the place of the mostly-healed wound. Most of the blood had drained from the head, and so nothing more than a slow ooze came from the cut. At least it wasn't messy.

Jamming the knife into the left eye socket, 'Ky twisted the blade, and turned the eye to nothing more than a pulpy mess in the socket. Pulling it out, he began to randomly draw slashes across its' face, even cutting off an ear, letting it fall into the bag. Satisfied with the end result, 'Ky wiped the blade clean of the ooze in the hair of the wig, putting it back into the satchel. Placing the head carefully back into the bag, he tied off the top, and handed it to Caiden, who groaned as he took it.

"I realize that it's still made of flesh, but why does it have to be so squishy? Isn't the skull supposed to be the hardest part of the body? Gods, this is disgusting."

Raising his eyebrows, 'Ky coughed, and said, "Weren't you the one who took the head off the body in the first place?" Caiden rolled his eyes, scoffing.

"Of course I didn't do it myself! I paid people to do it for me." Coughing again, 'Ky just shook his head, and packed the disguise kit back into his satchel. Standing up, he offered a hand to Caiden, who accepted, and stood up, dusting himself off soon after. Taking the satchel and slinging it over his shoulder, 'Ky headed out of the tent, followed by Caiden.

Walking out of the Tent City, followed by Caiden, Sh'Ky began to head back to his house, so he could change into his 'mercenary outfit'. As the dust of the streets swirled around them, 'Ky steeled himself for the next part in the plan. It was almost done. Then, once he had pulled this off, he would have the money to leave Sunberth, to go to Kenash with Caiden.

It would be simple. One job, and he could have a normal life.

[Konrad Venger]

Sh'Ky Naes XP: Disguise - 2 Observation - 1 Acting - 2 Subterfuge - 3 Haggling - 1 Lore: Failure is a Learning Experience Subterfuge: Playing a Role, Acting a Part Best way to Escape? Be Dead Additional: +5gm for you as your part of the split, minus costs for your disguise Click Me! : Yep, the one part of this that I didn't like was the fact that you kinda skipped over how you got so elaborate and thus EXPENSIVE a disguise. Next time, spend a post and the time detailing HOW you got them, or I'll just nix your entire reward. That was, however, the one downside of this thread. The rest was a groovy! You slid into the character very well and yes, 'Ky does have something of a conscience... or at least he feels bad about conning people. One up on Kon, at least! I also liked the Caiden character, they have a great dynamic together, and I look forward to seeing more of him. Oh, and please make sure you go back and edit your post in the Request Thread to reflect the fact this one is now done and dusted. PM me with any questions and later 'tater!