47th of Searing, 4623
Engaging in thievery was deemed a dishonourable and unethical occupation. However, the degree of reprehensibility was subjective and varied based on one's perception of the world. Despite possessing a range of proficiencies, such as culinary expertise, the Alistian burglar was cognizant that thievery was his only path. He opted to dwell in the shadows, stealing objects that could be exploited. His primary objective was not to amass power for himself but to assume the role of a sentinel of secrets, for that was his true vocation.
The pursuit of hidden knowledge can elicit divergent reactions from people. While some may deem it a noble endeavour, others may consider it an illicit or wicked goal. Yet, knowledge is power, and where power is involved, no one is exempt from harm's way. Even the most virtuous of people can succumb to the seductive lure of greed.
Engrossed in contemplation while strategising for a heist, the thief was jolted back to reality by this verity. He held a luminous orb in his hand, which he had mastered to regulate its radiance. Though the globe was not sentient, it gave the solitary thief solace.
A particular thief set his sights on a guard house in the upper district. He desperately needed to gather some essential information to plan his next heist. The guards stationed in that guardhouse were more capable and skilled than those in the lower districts. The thief knew that the usual entry points needed to be more prominent or out of reach for most people. However, he saw these obstacles as a way to test his limits and knowledge gaps. Knowing that no one was perfect, he didn't want to be delusional or overconfident.
"Time to weasel our way in…. Remember quietly if possible; if push comes to shove, you can find your opponents off if needed. Take your time but not too long and remember to cover your tracks less you want to leave traces behind…."
It was not uncommon for the Draedan possessing amber eyes to engage in monologues, whether it be to boost his morale or to recollect the crucial principles he had been taught earlier in life.
In any case, Jared was eager to experiment with a few of his concepts and ascertain their viability. However, he had to infiltrate the guard's station to achieve this. One potential entry point was to scale a second-floor window and maneuver his way downwards. By doing so, he could gain access to the offices of higher-ranking officers, where he may uncover valuable information, such as a map of the area he was situated in.
Nevertheless, the thief had some work to do; grabbing the edge of his tattered black cloak, the Draedan began to infuse his divinity into the fibres of the fabric, bleaching the darkness out into almost nothing as the colour desaturates until it was virtually see-through in one end. Checking for a moment if the guise of his cloak had any imperfections, the thief would nod slightly to himself as he admired his work.
"Not bad, getting better at it. It would be nice if I could make everything invisible, but that would be too taxing for extended periods; selectively making it transparent from certain angles was far more doable, but more work on my end to avoid getting caught flat-footed…."
Snapping his fingers albeit softly, his warm and bright companion of light would flicker out as it was time to start his operation and conduct his testing. Scurrying quietly as the thief would bob and weave through the streets, seeking different angles of his mark whilst avoiding patrol guards who were usually paired, but what caught the thief by surprise was the increased frequency of guard dogs being present which was a relatively new thing for the thief.
Quickly darting behind cover, the thief couldn't help but mutter to himself, cursing that he would need to figure out an alternative method to distract animals which weren't something he usually dealt with from his experience as a seasonal thief.
"Well shit, didn't expect this to happen… It seems like guards. You don't see mutts coming with the guards in the slums, but it seems far more common the higher you climb the ladder…. I need a way to distract them, or I am simply circling them without getting closer to the goal…."
Despite being in a cloak of transparency, the Draedan’s scent was not entirely masked; nor did the thief know how to obfuscate one’s odour from animals. While it was confirmed that one could distract animals with various goods and treats, the thief didn’t know how well that would work on a trained animal, and no sooner than letting out his ragged breath, the hound began to bark, which caused Jared’s internal stress to build up.
“What the fuck is this mutt doing? Going berserk all of a sudden.”
While the thief couldn’t see the guard and the hound themselves, the thief could envision the small group staring down in his general direction, and while the thief was good at hiding his presence, Jared took a moment to take a broken shard of glass that he kept under his cloak, extending his divinity into the shard to change the surface to become highly polish to resemble a mirror.
Viewing the reflection from the polished glass shard, the thief could see that there were two guards and one hound who was tugging at the leash that one of the handlers was trying really hard to fight back.
“I think the mutt has found something… Who goes there? Show yourself, or we will use force.”
At this point, Jared had to devise something to get these guards off his trail. Thinking quickly, the Draedan took a moment to look at the shard and wondered whether his gaze could bounce off of surfaces. All the thief knew was that he needed line of sight for Wildering to take its effect, so the Draedan decided to take a gamble and focus his gaze over at the dog barking uncontrollably. Infusing his vision and directing the intent through the looking glass, the amber-eyed thief’s divine essence would quickly infuse itself into the dog’s body, causing it to wimp for a moment before long, the creature begins to howl as it tries to move but finds its mobility hindered by a significant amount as the dog tries to walk but could only stumble before letting out a piercing screech.
While the display looked rather painful, the thief started to make his move as he attempted to scurry away from the guards, who were briefly distracted by the sudden change in their hound, who was aggressively barking at the shadows. In amidst of the confusion, the thief was still looking at the reflective glass for just a brief long before withdrawing his divinity from both the glass shard and at mutt that current in distress; Jared noted that Wildering had a tapering effect, where once the concentration was broken or is unable to sustain the drain in his divinity upon his target, the debilitating effects would slowly fade away and the speed at which the effect decays varies based on how long Wildering was active and from his guess, his mastery over Wildering in general.
As the thief quickly disengaged from the scene, the amber-eyed rogue couldn’t help but feel disappointed that he would need to step away from his mark for a day or two since he had expended a decent amount of divinity from what he could tell based on his feeling of being drained slightly and being at total capacity was needed if he wanted to try invading the guard post in question.
Despite the setback, it was a good teaching moment for the thief as he needed to make sure he had all the tools necessary to deal with sudden events, just like a few minutes ago with multiple patrol groups having canines available at their disposal. The Draedan needed to figure out methods to create a distraction and a way to remove his scent from the trail if he wanted to make a clean escape. Another thing that was becoming more apparent is that it was likely that there were a couple of practitioners of Brand that could be roaming around as well. Their ability to track mages was a possible encounter as well.
From what the Draedan of Saren could recall, Brand Magus was able to track divinity since it was, in essence, a far superior version of raw ether in general, excluding the fact that there was a limit to how many gods a Draedan could have at any point, in time before needing to rest.
“Alright, Jared, need to head back and draft some plans…. I cannot afford another encounter like that, and the sudden stress is taking its toll if I am not careful enough.”
