OOC> Very clever Cerek, very clever.
IC> "Well, this looks like a promising band of wild roustabouts. Better not draw any atenttion. Oh, and I am sorta like an independant thief. I started out in the thieves guild, and worked my way up to the top. Now, I'm Assistant Director of the Black Blades. I have many guilds, thieve houses, and hideouts under my control in many cities. I'm generally not called for duty though, my main duty is to maintain my guilds. Anyway, lets move fast, there are some guards eyeing us." The group continues hastily down the dusty road to the bar.

"Pleased to meet you Keporith." Joram states. "So how long have you been running these type of scams?" Joram ask in a lowered tone so that only the halfling could hear him. "You seem like an able bodied fellow are you working with any of the local guilds or are you a freelance contractor?" Joram asks, with a slight grin.

<font color="palegreen">Joram is taken aback by the look that crosses Keporith's face at the mention of the thieve's guild. It is a look of pure hatred that would be more suited for a surly dwarf (or even a half-orc) than the seemingly innocent, boyish face of a halfling.

"I was betrayed by a Guildmaster once. He had me steal a sword from a fighter that had threatened the guild as my "initiation", then returned the sword the next day and offered me up as a sacrificial lamb to appease him. Fortunately, I had a couple of hidden surprises that neither of them knew about and I was able to escape. I will NEVER pledge my allegiance to ANY guild again. But I WILL repay my debt to my former "master" when the opportunity presents itself."

Keporith realized that his voice was getting louder as he talked. He took a deep breath to regain his composure, then continued.

"I found work in a traveling circus after that. My agility made juggling and tumbling no more difficult than walking across a rooftop at night. The circus also provided the perfect cover for improving my "other" skills. Moving from town to town, I learned how to breach many different defenses in a short amount of time. That was 10 years ago. The circus finally ran out of money, so I struck out on my own, using my newer skills to enhance my older ones."

"The juggling act is always a crowd-favorite. While I do enjoy the fine art of a perfectly pilfered purse, I enjoy the irony of having the crowd literally throw money my way even more. I use my "Flourishing Finish" to really whip the crowd up, then I turn to all four sides and "salute" the crowd to show my appreciation...or so they think. In reality, I use that opportunity to "scan" the crowd with my sword to see who might have some nice magic items they no longer need. Gold is great for getting the things you need, but I much prefer the challenge of acquiring magical items instead."

"How about yourself. What is your name? and exactly what do you and your...colleagues have planned for the day?"</font>

"A very nice story Keporith. And the perfect disguise, the juggling thief. That actually would make a nice story to a Bards tale. Hmm, speaking of a bard, here comes one now."
A bard walks up to the crowd, with his spear in his hand, and a small bag of gold on his girdle.
He speaks, "Hail travelers, do not be alarmed, I am just here to do some business with that one." He points to SecretMaster
"Yes, Joram, Keporith, this is my friend Joven, a bard of sorts. He and I are going to have our revenge at the Sunfere Estate. Joven and I were once attacked by his men, and he took some valuable items. So, its payback time. Would you like to join us?"

"I am Joram Shadowstalker, my parents were killed by muggers when I was 5, and since they were my only family I was on my own after that. First I begged for food and money. Then I realized that I could not rely on the charity of others, so I began stealing. It just came so easily and naturally to me, my skills grew quickly. Ive travelled around from city to city stealing what i needed. at the age of 18 i pulled my first big score. It was a noble's wedding in Tehyer. A room full of people. and I ended up driving off the noble's carriage full of all his wedding presents." Joram smiles at the thought of the adventure he is speaking of. "I am assembling a skilled team of theives to pull a job. Its going to be a really big one and it will not be without its share of risk. Before I am able to tell you more about the job I need to know one thing from all of you. Are you in or out?" Joram asks. "Well that depends" says Peps "How much money are we looking at here?" Joram smiles "roughly. . . . . . . . about a million gold pieces each." All eyes widen at the huge number Joram just threw out there as he sits back and waits for an answer from his fellow thieves.

"I'm in" says SecretMaster with a smile.

Meanwhile....... a group of hooded and cloaked figures sat in shadows in almost complete darkness around a table....

'' Greetings friends '' hissed the guild master ''Our ees in the area have brought it to my attention that there is a small gathering of non gild member theives, it is the impression that they are planning some sort of heist and as im sure you are all aware this is not acceptable'' the others murmured in agreement ''This will be monitored closely from now lest we look like fools ...noone crosses the Red Dragons and lives hehehehehehe'' ''Send out a Scout to keep a tab on our new friends''

OOC: i thought id tke the role of the other theives as its my stylee..

Red dragon leader Depravin-

Depravin
strength:16
Dexterity:18
Constitution:17
Intelligence:18
Wisdom:10
Charisma: 10

(i know hes nails but he could well end up being the arc bad gu so...)
his equipment is unknown as he tends to allow others to figth for him although he is surely a deadly opponent....all will be revealed.

OOC> Really good idea Madman. Its nice to have a human guy controling the enenmy

OOC: welcome aboard, now I just need at least one person to take on the role of head of security for the king or something like that and we shall be all set, but even more after that would just add to the thread. lets make this one a fun one

Joram wait for everyone to give an approving nod before he speaks. "Well i guess I shall have to tell you of the job then." Jorams says with a smile. He then looks over both his shoulders scanning the room. "But not here" Joram adds. "Follow me!" Joram throws a few copper pieces down on the table, and then leads the group to his hideout within the city warehouse district. on the trip Joram leads them the long way, doubling back on his own trail 3 times and going through many dark alleys and uninhabitted streets, making sure he was not followed. Joram led them into an average looking wharehouse. when they got inside there were crates abd boxes of all shapes and sizes. Joram walked of to one of them approximately the size of a person and made a jesture and touched the side of it. The side of the box opened up on a internally hidden hinge. Inside the box was empty but there were stairs leading down. They were lit by torches in brackets on the wall. "Welcome to my abode." Joram says with a smile. The room at the bottom of the staris looked nothing like one would expect an accomplished theives lair to look like. Instead of being in the lap of luxury, the room was very sparse and modest. There was a table with 4 chairs a neatly made bed and a chest. The floor was rough stone and the room was dimly lit by torches in brackets on the walls. In seeing their surprise at the furnishing of his home Joram explains "Well if i dont have anything of value here it makes it easier to abandon should the need arise." At thier seeming satisfaction to their unasked question Joram makes sure everyone is in then he pulls down on a torch on the wall and the entrance closes itself off. "Ok well lets get down to business." Joram says. "This job is not going to be easy. The goal gentlemen is to sneak into the king's castle on the day of kings wedding. We are going to then need to break into the royal vault, and transport roughly 1200lbs or gold, jewels, and magical items from the royal vault to a carraige that is going to be waiting for us. We are then going to need to escape with the bounty and tranfer it across town and then have it loaded on to a vessel, the name of which will be disclosed later. We are going to have to do all of this within a 2 hour time frame in broad daylight without attracting the attention of any guards, or the local theives guild." Joram lets his words sink in a moment before he continues. "This is a very risky job thus the very nice payout. If any of you don't think you are up to the task please speak up now."

[ 05-01-2002, 08:54 PM: Message edited by: AzRaeL StoRmBlaDe ]