More than petty theft (Solo)

[Jimmy Avery]

43rd Day of Summer 512 AV

It was a cold night, the bonesnapper winds blew heavily from the east which in itself was unusual for the city of Zeltiva, however what was more unusual was a new face prowling through the cities poorer quarter near the docks. Young Jimmy Avery sat coldly from his vantage point on a single bench across the road from the home of what he judged a mildly competent trade. It was approaching the early hours of the morning and as was his way he watched the windows of the upper level as he had been for the past hour or so since the last flicker of life had left the building for slumber. The building itself was a modest two story build, the lower level lending itself as a shop of modest trading goods like linen’s, clothes, drapes and old tapestry, the upper level was the home of the merchant whom owned the establishment.

Jimmy had spent the last weeks exploring the city that had become his new home, he had little love for making friends but in his time here he had picked up enough information about the place to keep him out of trouble and give him a slight edge when it came to his activities. He hadn’t tried anything as bold as this yet, the odd bit lost of a shelf and even a purse cut from a wealthy man in the market of the city, but nothing like what he had planned for tonight.

With cold efficiency he stood and swiftly crossed the road, he knew that none remained awake around here, he had made his rounds of these streets and with Zeltiva having such a small army to guard it very few patrol’s where set in this part of the city. He knelt infront of the heavy wooden door of the building tightly drawing his cotton cloak to his frame, as much to give him respite from wind as to obscure his identity, and quickly he had his leather pouch unfolded and a pair of thin picks out and ready at the lock. Tonight he would sleep a little richer, if only a little.

[Jimmy Avery]

He cursed a particularly harsh word describing a profane part of a womens body, his grip had slipped and he had just dropped the two pins he had managed to pry into place. The lock was simple for it wasn’t warded at all making it an easy one to work with, he had spent only a few minutes getting the first two of three pins up and a slight twitch had ruined his work. He took in a deep breathe to still his mind and calm his hands, in Sunberth he knew that being caught by a legitimate arm of the law was impossible, here the consequences of being caught where a little graver than in his home. As was the price of not having his throat cut in his sleep.

With a now calm hand he re-inserted the picks into the lock and within a few minutes working with a now familiar lock he had the pins up and slowly he was able to turn the lock before he heard the oh so welcoming click of a now open door.

With a smile he slid the door ajar slightly and managed to fit his slight form in slipping into the shadows with ease. The room within was dark so he spent a few minutes allowing his eyes to adjust the lack of light. When he could finally see he took in the details, the room was small taking up half the space of the lower level and was rowed with shelves containing clothes and fine garments ready for sale come the morning market. Someone with a little more sense than ambition would probably be content with swindling a few of these garments and flogging them to a fleece come morning, however two problems revealed themselves. One was that Jimmy had yet to establish a reliable fleece to sell simple goods, and two. Jimmy was far too ambitious for such small game.

[Jimmy Avery]

What felt like hours surveying the room around him turned out to be but a few moments in reality, he had soaked in a few details of the layout and had marked the door behind the counter that undoubtedly led to a back storage room which he guessed would have a back door. To the left of the counter was a door which he guessed led upstairs to the lair of this merchant, from experience he guessed that there would be a hiding hole or a safe of some kind that stored the mans savings and that was Jimmy’s ultimate goal in this small venture.

Content with his survey he slowly and quietly made his way to the door on the left, he tested each wooden floorboard as he went so as to avoid the few aging ones that would give away his presence. When he made it to the door he was unsurprised to find it unlocked but nonetheless a life time of habbit forced him to check the door over for a trip wire of somekind, an indication of a trap that would either alarm his host or cut his head from his shoulders, either was an undesirable outcome. Once content in his safety he slowly turned the door knob and opened the door slowly sensing the slight creeking of an old door in disrepair.

He made his way slowly to the top of the doors and was instantly welcomed by the open door of the mans bedchamber, he peered in to see a large double bed which held the sleeping forms of a rather large merchant and his petite wife whom he judged in the dim light to be of unremarkable features, but still a prize to a simple man. He gave no further notice turning his attention instead to the hallway to his right, there was two doors on on the left further down and one to the right which he knew had a window overlooking the road and a dining area with kitchen from his previous observation. He opted for the left door again experience telling him that a safe was unlikely to be stored in an area used for dining.

He made his way to the door and gave it the same testing as the previous though the refusal of the door opening caught his breathe, the door was locked. He gave a silent curse to whatever god gave this merchant wits and slowly slipped his picks from his pouch, he slipped them both into the doors lock and with a few moments of probing found that the lock was more sophisticated than the previous, it was warded for a start and from what his hand told him it was rather complicated but he couldn’t tell. He gave a quiet sigh, a skeleton key would be a better choice for this task and slowly he pulled out a simple black iron key from his pouch and inserted it into the lock. It took a few minutes of careful probing but he eventually managed to get the door to open and gave silent thanks that the door opened without a noise.

Inside was a simple room, it seemed a storage room with a few barrels containing food and a few finer clothes and tapestry than could be found downstairs. It was logical of course, store the good stuff upstairs where it was less likely to be stolen but even then, he was up here wasn’t he? He gave little more thought to it as his eyes spotted a plank of wood in the corner left slightly ajar from the floor, he could not help but to smile, how foolish to leave your days takings so obviously open to the casual eye. He made his way swiftly to the floorboard without a single care and it was his own foolish blunder as he felt his foot brush across a thing wire.

His heart Stopped.

He heard the snap and by the sound of a cog moving overheard he judged he was about to lose a limb, he leaped carelessly to the left his shoulder stripping the wall hard as a bundle of heavy iron bars fell from a perch above where he had been stood. The impact made a sound that was enough to wake the entire street nevermind the merchant in the room beside him, he cursed allowed. Without further thought he leaped at the floor board and with nimble fingers he snatched up the board and then grabbed a small pouch of coin, he didn’t even probe to find more but if he survived the next five minutes he would at least have a few coins for his effort.

Now with his prize in hand and the sound of exclamation next door, he swiftly drew a dagger in his right hand and made ready to bolt…

[Jimmy Avery]

He had but moments to act, his coin was in his pouch and his dagger was in hand, he knew that within moments he would be a running battle for his life and he had to quell his excitement quickly to make sure his mind ran clear. He had a plan, he would make a sprint down the hallway and make for downstairs, without a doubt guards would be swarming the streets in a matter of minutes so he would have to make for the back door and slip into the streets where his skills would, hopefully, keep him alive in the escape. Nevertheless his brow began to moisten with perspiration as the few scant seconds to formulate the plan slipped by.

The time for thought had ended and quickly he made his dash out the door swinging to the right, he had barely noticed the bucket on the way in but on the way out his foot knocked it over and fluid which he thought to be simply water quickly drenched the floor. In truth it was his saving grace as the blade of a long sword gave a dull thud as it struck the wooden wall where his head would have been, slipping carelessly across the water had saved his life but now a towering fat man stood above him. For that brief moment he saw the red faced man look down at him with surprise which quickly turned to one of intense anger before he almost spat the words in fury “Thief! A Thief in my own home!”

He gave a loud curse as he rolled to his left, he judged that the man was quickly bracing for a further assault, without a further moment he pushed himself forward and to his feet. He didn’t look back for in truth he didn’t need to, as his feet propelled him down the stairs he heard another thud as splinters of wood flew above his head, within moments he was out the door and into the shop bellow. He gave a single moment for consideration, behind the storage door could easily be another trap but he didn’t have time to examine the door, he didn’t have any time at all to think so his next move had to be impulsive.

A harsh shout from behind him was his only warning that allowed him to leap forward twisting in mid air to land heavily upon his feet dagger in hand. Before him stood the fat merchant which he judged couldn’t possibly match his agility but his bulk allowed him to take advantage of the larger weapon, he had but a pair of daggers and not the skill to use them effectively so a drawn out fight would be to his disadvantage. He stood ready to move in a moments notice, he studied his opponent watching for whatever it was warriors looked for, but he was not able to anticipate the savage strike from the right and was barely able to parry with his dagger aided by the shifting of his weight to the left.

He had a half second to react and quickly as the merchant pulled back his weapon Jimmy stepped forward as his left fist connected with the larger mans jaw. It was nothing in truth, again Jimmy was at a disadvantage for the blow would give him but a further moment or two to react as the larger man simply spat his distaste at been stricken. Jimmy gave the man a smile, he was to goad the man into another assault and he succeeded, another savage blow came from his left, which he had prepared for as he used his nimble agility to kick himself backward out of reach.

With his renewed position he circled around the shelves to his right putting them between himself and his foe, he ducked low to avoid a third sweep which would have taken his head. He didn’t stop to continue the fight and simply slammed the doorway with his shoulder, a maneuver him he quickly regretted, it seemed that what he hoped would be a heroic charge through the door was instead a boon as his shoulder stung with a dull pain. He cursed but rather than tally he instead quickly opened the door and bolted through a moment before the fat merchant was in pursuit.

The next room was exactly as he expected a storeroom filled with goods ready to sell and a backdoor directly in front of him, he tallied not a moment as he opened the door and sprinted out onto the streets behind the building. The streets where beginning to stir, he could hear the shouts of neighbors and the distant calls for the authorities. He thought little of it as he sprinted down the back alleys and within moments he knew he had outrun his foe, his agility surpassed the fat merchant and what ever weakness in the martial arts he had where balanced by his ability to quickly disappear into the gloom.

His smile faded quickly for he knew that despite his haul he had acted without caution and had it not been for a couple of very lucky events, he would definitely be spending tonight in a cell. Displeasure at his modest haul was indeed, an understatement.

[Paragon]

Adventurer's Loot Jimmy Avery's Loot : Jimmy Avery Skill XP Reward Larceny +2 Stealth +2 Dagger +2 Acrobatics +1 Running +1 Observation +1 Lore: Checking for Traps, Skillful Escape Items or Consequences: 1 Job Thread Complete I'll certainly accept this as a job thread. Good job, I really enjoyed the thread, and your description is beautiful - if you have ANY questions or concerns about this grading, don't hesitate to PM me.