Creed of Greed (Thieves, PM for entry)

[Rogus]

Rogus sat on a crate in an alley behind one of Santaruz's seedier taverns. He had a bottle of liqour sitting next to him, un-opened as if he were waiting for someone. In point of fact, he was. Rogus had slipped a note into Ryuzaki's hand earlier that day after they played "Spot'n Swipe" in the markets earlier that day. A little strategy used to pick pockets more efficient; after spotting a mark, one would distract, the other would swipe their coin purse or whatever valuables they could take without getting caught. They were to meet in the alley at dusk to split the earnings, but during the few hours between Rogus had hatched an idea he was eager to pitch to his partner.

It was after he talked to his contact within the city's castle about Oleg's daughter when he thought of how much more successful he had been recently. With Ryuzaki watching his back, the two had racked up quite a few small scores with little trouble. Picking pockets only got them enough loot to keep drinking, and they'd only been able to pull off a few small burglaries for the real dough. Besides the time they robbed the church in Caelin, the two hadn't been able to even attempt a larger operation. They were simply... under-staffed. It wasn't that they even had to work together, it was simply they weren't pulling in enough profit for Rogus's liking. If they had more contacts, more deft hands and light feet, they could pull off multiple jobs in one night, or even tackle more high profile marks. It was simple really, they needed a team. He'd work all the logistics out later, it was the idea that he was focused on.

Until he had Ryuzaki onboard however, he wasn't willing to try and organize it himself. So he waited for the man to show up. Rogus glanced at the sky, and the sun was just dipping under the horizon.

If he's late, I'm drinking the stuff myself.

[Ryuzaki]

"Hey."

Ryu dropped down from a small ledge above Rogus, landing nimbly and tossing his partner a loaf of bread and a chunk of ham. "Butcher wasn't expecting me to come in through the open upstairs window," he laughed as he dug into his food.

"You said you needed to discuss something, and that you had summat to drink...? So first off, let's get the liquor flowing, and then we'll hear this brilliant plan of yourn, mate."

Ryu laughed as he finished speaking. It was good to be working with Rogus, enjoying life and living off of the lazy, careless people. It was refreshing, although sometimes he had to struggle to get enough coin or goods to make it through a week. Quite simply put, Ryu thought they needed to find more thieves. Bur he wasn't sure how Rogus would take the idea... Maybe it was best to hear his plan first.

[Rogus]

Rogus caught the foodstuffs as they were thrown and sliced through the bread and ham to make a sandwich in a few quick movements of his knife. Holding the foood in one hand, replacing his dagger and grabbing the bottle in the other, he un-corked the bottle with his teeth, and offered it out to his friend.

How's about you drink while I explain, eh? He laughed, So, we both know how merchant groups and mercenaries form unions and companies to bring in more gold, yeah? I know it'd be difficult to find the right sorts, but you think that'd work for thieves? He asked, he knew what he suggested was prone to absolute failure, and possibly getting robbed themselves, but he thought if they could find the right people that they'd easily build a nice realm of influence and an even nicer pile of gold. He looked at his friend with a questioning glance, seeing his reaction to be ready for whichever response he'd give; whether it was refusal, acceptance, or the ever popular "let me think about it" Rogus was only looking for a hint that he'd need to convince the blue cloaked thief.

He should have let the man drink a little, with some alcohol in him he'd probably be more open to the idea. His mind was still highly active in thinking more into the plan. He began to fashion a future in which he was the king of thieves... "King of thieves" He quite liked the sound of that.

[Ryuzaki]

"Hahaha, there's a reason we work together. It's because we've got some wicked synergy, Rogus. Wicked synergy. I'm gonna give you a solid yes for this one, with one condition -- we'll run it together, like everything else we've ever done.

Can you imagine it, Rogus? Can you taste the possibilities? The riches? The power? The influence?

Our band will creep through the cracks, we'll permeate society to the core. We'll be the shadow in the night that comes alive... We'll be wraiths, shadows, mirages. Together, with our group... There will be no one safe from our wrath. No job too tough or too hard.

Just see it in your mind... We could base ourselves behind some tavern or in some abandoned old building... I know a few. And we could recruit the best and brightest. Soon, we'd have a core group all of whom we can trust and rely on. Together, we would act like an octopus... Our minds together the head, and each of us a tentacle, acting independently to strike.

We could rule the world, Rogus."

[Charlotte]

A hot day always made for a slow day in the market for Charlotte. Her usual rented stall had seen barely enough customers to pay for itself for the time it was open. She lazily looked over the table, wondering briefly if there was something different about the display. Her assortment of trinkets, jewelry, and other baubles just wasn't holding the attention of the crowds, and the young woman couldn't blame them. Hell, even she was bored when she looked at the table. Of course Charlotte was looking to sell something, but what she was really looking for was a consulting job.

It had almost been a month since she had last been able to really do her work, her true passion. Getting people to buy things was simple, menial work; anyone with common sense and five minutes could sell a small dish or a pretty jade necklace. But getting people to buy her created personas, her more... intangible goods: now that was what kept her interests piqued.

Charlotte looked up, seeing that the sun was creeping towards the horizon. This day is done, the platinum blonde thought, standing from her stool and packing away her stall, deciding she'd rather have a few ales at a small tavern that was a stones throw away, rather than waste any more of her time sitting out here. She'd made enough money to at least fund a few more days in this city, and she'd made a killing at the last market she participated in anyways. One bad day wouldn't kill her. It also helped that her profit margin for every item she sold was always 100%. Thievery and deception definitely had their perks.

[Rogus]

Maybe the underworld. He joked, The entire silly place would be a waste of time. He laughed, glad the other man was so enthusiastic about the idea. And now, he would begin the fun part, with Ryu's help of course. They needed members, but not just any foot-pad claiming to be the softest-footed thief this side of Lycia should be allowed in. An idiot like that would get them caught in seconds. No, they needed quality, not quantity. He'd devise a test.

Okay... Here's the plan, there's surely a few candidates inside the tavern. I'm going to spend my share of the loot getting drunk, and brag about how my "brother" and I found a bandit's stash, and that there's a golden statuette along with a hefty sum of gold. I hid my cut of the church fiasco in the stonework of the eastern wall, the loose stone has an 'R' carved into it. Just take it out and the lockbox is inside. Rogus explained, he trusted Ryuzaki with the information only due to their past. He'd never screwed him over before, why would he now with the promise of greater fortune?

Wait at the south gate, I'll make sure everyone inside knows I'm drunk, and carrying valuables. It'll seem almost too perfect, but a thief would be willing to risk it since its a low end tavern, anyone trying to try this for a mugging wouldn't be getting much out of it, get me? They'll tail me, and if they're good they'll follow us until we make camp outside the walls. You're a better look out than me, so you'll be the "guard", I'll pass out with the lockbox near my hand. We'll see what they try, if anything at all, from there. Rogus knew Ryuzaki wouldn't have to be told twice, and got off his crate to walk around the alley into the rear entrance of the tavern.

He quickly surveyed the place before taking a seat at the bar, and ordered a drink. If they didn't find anyone worthwhile here, they would have to try again elsewhere. Things like this may form perfectly the first time, or they might fail miserably and have to be done over and over until it succeeded. It was a toss up, a gamble, and it was absolutely enthraling to someone so prone to boredom as Rogus.

[Burgid]

Burgid was sat in a lesser tavern wearing a simple lad's outfit writing in a small book. She had been finding that even the most experienced guards expected a woman to be a woman, not a man. She found the whole thing amusing in a way. But she was in hostile lands right now. She had came to get some inspiration for her plays she was writing. The whole world looked different when you were someone else, and it was mind freeing in its own strange way. She continued writing about some of the more interesting things that happened earlier, like when she swiped a guard's outfit, when a man walked in though the back, looked about then ordered a drink at the bar, not three paces from where she was sitting. She finished her writing and closed the book, putting it away. She gazed around smoothly for a "job".

[Charlotte]

With everything rolled up and stored away in her now locked traveling trunk, Charlotte smiled, glad to finally be able to leave the market. She really needed to consider hiring someone else to run that stall for her when she was outside of Laus. See, back in Laus Charlotte had a fairly nice stall, with a lot of foot traffic and a spot in the shade, meaning a lot of sales. Even when she was away that stall was running, under the close, watchful, and trustworthy eyes of her "closest" friends (as close as Charlotte could have, anyway): Kiloh. A brute of a man, Charlotte trusted her sense for someone's character enough to leave her stall in his hands while she was away, and even gave him a decent part of the profits as well. Still, there weren't many men like Kiloh, and she certainly hadn't worked Santaruz to find any trustworthy hired hands.

Her walk to the tavern wasn't terribly long, so before she knew it Charlotte had a seat in the middle of the bar, having already drawn the attention of a few of those seated near her. The tavern she had chosen wasn't known to have, well, the likes of people like her in it, which was something she loved. While other sat in their non-descript clothing, traveling cloaks and what have you, there Charlotte sat, her blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, her deep blue dress accentuating her curves, showing her shoulders and her chest, her skirt rising to her knees and then gracefully falling to her heels. While there were perks to blending into the background, Charlotte couldn't help but want the limelight, the attention. It made things... exciting.

"What'll you have, miss?" The gravely voice interrupted Charlotte's thoughts, but she looked up with a smile nonetheless.

"Your house ale, of course," she said, knowing the smaller tavern would only have one ale on tap. She also leaned over the bar, her toothy grin likely not the center of attention for the bar keep. "Oh, and a piece of bread would be wonderful. I'm absolutely famished."

After a second, the keep made eye contact with her again, giving a swift nod before going to procure Charlotte's ale and bread. In the meanwhile, Charlotte's eyes slowly began scanning the room as they often did, taking in her surroundings and studying them in case she needed to remember something later.

[Ryuzaki]

Ryu nodded and left as Rogus did, making his way to the wall and searching diligently until he found the well-hidden stone, with an "R" faintly visible on it. Pulling the loose slab out, Ryu removed the lockbox and then replaced the stone. Stowing the case within his cloak and tightening a belt over it like a strap, Ryu slunk to the gate and climbed onto a small stone outcropping, perching and idly waiting. He hoped Rogus's idea worked... Otherwise, it'd be a grand waste of time. The thief took out some more bread and began munching. No reason to let a plan keep him from dinner, now.

[Rogus]

By the time the two other thieves had settled into their respective positions, Rogus had gone through a bottle or two of whiskey and was leading a song about treasure with a few undesirable characters huddled around him. Drink splashed everywhere from the mugs the ruffians carried as they swayed about to the beat of the song. It was a rather popular one among the poor people of Lycia, and thus every lyric was sung without error, albeit off key. As Rogus finished the song he let out a hearty laugh and crashed his glass into another man's in cheers. His voice had been the only one to not be slurred or off-key and the group clapped as he balanced atop his seat bowing.

Y'know... I found me some treasure myself i did! Shouting fairly loudly, he waved off the questions his new drinking buddies threw at him, My brother and I found it in the woods, we broke the lock and found it filled with gold and a statuette of elimine! I tell you its a fortune to be sure. Could buy a whole castle I bet, probably belonged to some bandit, not any more am I right!? I'm meeting him later to take it to Laus to sell. We'll be rich, I'll even come back to buy you all a round, eh? The people exploded into drunken laughter. While what he said wasn't at all funny, the men found something to laugh about. Rogus glanced around at them and looked for a thief. Ryuzaki had once said Thieves can see another from a mile away, but he saw none in the brutes he'd gathered. looking farther off, he saw a blonde woman at the bar, and a blue haired person sitting and reading. Those two look promising, he thought, they stood out from the other rabble at least.

He told the story of the thieves who robbed a church, a favorite of his because it involved him, though he did not mention any names, nor told them he was actually the mastermind of the whole ordeal. With the story told and the thirst for adventure sated for most of the men, they left Rogus and a few spread his story of finding bandit treasure around the tavern. With his work finished, he glanced back at the blonde subtlly to see if his outburst and attention grabbing had picqued her interest, as well as if the blue haired bookworm had taken notice. Either way, he'd leave soon and hope someone would come his way.

[Burgid]

Burgid shifted, a little irritated by the drunken singing, but this is where she could find work from loosened lips by alcohol. The man she had watched come in seemed to been leading them in song. After they finished and he clanked glass with a drunk and then her patience paid off. He went on about some high value items that he "found". He went on about the wealth for a little time then the drunks exploded in laughter for no apparent reason. Burgid suppressed a smile to the best of the ability at her good fortune. It looked like work found her. But she needed a good disguise that she could follow with, without drawing attention to herself.

She gathered her things and bag and then she slipped out of the tavern into the building across the street. She quickly changed into the guard's missing outfit, thankful for an outfit meant for the proper gender. She put a helmet on over her hair and truth, honor, and justice flowed into her, no, not really. She just needed others to think that. She hid her bag and made sure her weapons were well concealed and at the ready and then stepped outside. She moved to a point where she could see both exits and waited for her loose lipped friend to come out.

[Charlotte]

Ah, how Charlotte loved a loud, ale-drowned song! While all she did was grin, she was quite familiar with the tune, having heard it more than a handful of times during her apprenticeship and afterwards too. Instead, she sipped on her drink and chewed her bread, bobbing her head and occasionally clapping along with the tune. When it was finished, one man in particular stood on his stool and began a vivacious tale about some sort of treasure the man had found.

Now, Charlotte was almost positive the man was either very idiotic or overly intoxicated. Either way, there was the potential for something to be gained from the clearly inebriated man, so almost immediately Charlotte began her plan of attack. As a roar of laughter rose up in the bar from the man's story, Charlotte gave a hearty laugh as well. When the men began to disperse after the tale was done, the raconteur took a quick look back at her, which led Charlotte to decide to take a rather... forward approach to distracting the man.

So a slight buzz coursing through her, Charlotte stood from her seat, practically gliding over to where the handsome young man sat, pulling a barstool close and perching atop of it, not leaving much space, if any, between the two. She took a split second to look him over now that the space between them was closed, noting his clothing, the way his hair was parted, the smell of whiskey hanging around him. Ah, something could definitely be gained here. She gave an alluring smile.

"Now you have to be the most interesting man in this tavern tonight." Charlotte chuckled, tucking one side of her hair behind her hair. "And I come around here just a little more than I'd like to admit." He seemed like the kind of guy who like to have his ego stroked a bit, so Charlotte decided to keep laying on the compliments. "So..." Charlotte gave something of a pause, lifting her hand a bit as she hoped he would fill in his name. She would continue on regardless. "What makes a handsome, interesting guy like you hang around a little place like this?"

[Ryuzaki]

"Hey! You there! What are you doing?"

"...Great. A guard. Exactly what I need when I have a lockbox full of gold," Ryu thought. "I'm eating my food, sir."

"Out here? Let me see... Oh, you do have food. Well, then, sir, I guess I'll leave you in peace. Enjoy your dinner, now. And be careful where you strap that scythe of yours, kid. It looks like it'd take out someone's toes, boots notwithstanding."

"Enjoy your evening, sir."

Ryu was disappointed. This was no fun. Maybe he should kill the guard? Naah, that would be pointless. No reason to cause a ruckus... Yet.

[Rogus]

Oh, well aren't you friendly. He commented simply, grinning only slightly. His mind was warped by the alcohol, and nearly fell for the routine she had put on. However, he could hold his liquor better than he'd been letting on and attempted to swat away the urge to get played by a pretty face. He'd play for now, only to entice her further.

Far. He answered to her gesture for a name. He inwardly laughed, knowing his companion "near" was probably bored out of his mind, while Rogus had quite the good time at his expense. Her next question made him smile. Though, it was littered with a few sweet comments on his looks, it was the un-spoken challenge within her question that had brought the smile.

Well, milady... He mimicked her gesture for a name theatrically, If I told you, wouldn't it spoil the fun? He paused to send a wink to her, and continued, I find that those like myself are easily bored with facts, and answers... We love the chase, not the conclusion. He paused again, this time for suspense, Don't get me wrong, answers are all well and good, but its how you find them that makes them fun.

You see, you bore me with your methods, but intrigue me with what you hope to gain. He hoped she caught the hint toward his own actions. He put on the show, obviously and loudly, but for what reasons? What he had said was more carefully thought out than most would realize. If she figured it out, she'd be all the more intrigued by the mystery of it, Rogus would have fallen for it himself he reckoned. Really, it was all gibberish, he was too drunk to make any sense of it verbally, but it was good enough for him.

Its late, I should be going. He abruptly stood and gave her another smile before leaving the tavern from the front entrance. He cast a glance toward the book-worm one last time as he left, just to see if they were still watching.

[Charlotte]

"Myscha." She filled in the blank for him, flicking a bit of hair that had fallen in front of her eye. He was playing hard to get, which wasn't an uncommon response of those with alcohol coursing through their veins. And the amount Charlotte had witnessed Far guzzle down over the night would certainly cloud someone's judgment and garble their speech, which definitely seemed to be happening as he continued on.

Far thought highly of himself, for sure. Charlotte had no way of knowing if the man had any real reason to nurture such an ego, but then again, didn’t every man think he was the complete package? Charlotte grinned as he "saw through" her ruse, treating her as if she was a student to be taught. He thought he was being mysterious and deep, but Charlotte could have laughed at the idea, as his attempt for an air of mystery, in fact, showed Charlotte his entire hand of cards.

It was clear to Charlotte that Far - if that was his name - was in the same line of business as she was. Not her dull mercantile cover, that is, but her more…roguish activities. He was, of course, a typical man, so his sense of subtlety and resulting attempt at wordplay came off as quite hamfisted, but his profession was undeniable, and now she was even more intrigued at why he would bragging about a haul of his in the middle of a tavern. He had to have an angle, a plan, but what was it?

Charlotte chuckled at his verbal stab. She definitely didn't bore the majority of men she tangled with, but then again... "What a shame," she grinned, locking eyes with him as he stood from his seat. "Didn't pin you as that type, darling." The blonde woman didn’t know if the man was, in fact, sweet on his own sex, but she couldn't help making the comment. As he walked away, Charlotte turned to the bartender, handing him a handful of coins and counting to five before standing from her seat and stalking off after “Far,” who had just exited through the front.

Now, seeing as it was fairly late, a handful of people still filled the streets, but this never deterred Charlotte. She walked up behind Far, placing a hand on his right shoulder as she stood on her toes, her other hand sultrily brushing through his mop of hair. “But I’m not convinced that’s your type, hun,” she breathed, her lips close to his ear. Charlotte smiled; her direct approach would likely take the man off guard. HIs reaction, though, remained to be seen.