5th of Glade, 4623
Once the locked box was compromised through his discovery of Bypass, Jared looked back to see if any of the guards' presence noticed Jared’s larcenist activities; from the looks of it, from his perspective so far, everything was in the clear, which gives a brief sigh of relief.
It was a spur of the moment as the thief slowly opened the chest to the side, the effects of Bypass lingering as the container that houses secrets had the audible mechanisms be suppressed for a while. It was a different take on breaking since his divinity was used as a catalyst to enact his will. That reminded the thief of how the matter of intent affects the desires and outcome of his abilities, just like Raw Magic is shaped.
For a moment, other aspects of his divine spark started to manifest themselves, which was surprising to the thief, and innately knowing, the remaining abilities instilled into him were rather scary yet alluring, mysterious but wondrous.
In any case, what the thief’s gaze laid upon once the young Draedan revealed the contents of the chest was slightly disappointing to the thief as he was expecting something more interesting such as a safety box of pouches or confiscated. Instead, the thief sees stacks of parchment and letters bound together by string.
With curiosity, the thief’s sticky fingers took what was his essentially at this point since no one noticed him breaking into the vault of confiscated items, and the documents in question were his for the taking. Quickly pocketing the items into his pouch, the amber-eyed thief took a moment to check again if anyone was moving from their spot.
At this point, a slight movement started as the conversations between the guardsmen and women began to lull to a stop. Then, not wanting to remain longer than necessary, the thief quickly closes the iron chest, which locks itself back in place as if Jared did not touch it.
The divinity imparted onto the chest started dissipating, causing the lock's internal mechanisms to set back into place, which was helpful regarding leaving without a trace. The remnants of his divinity would be a prominent indicator for someone who practised Brand to be able to tell but in a confused manner.
From what was told by Taelian, Divinity tends to be rather vivid due to the refined nature that is formed from ether which made sense since the capacity that one could do with Divinity was almost limitless. So it made sense as to why Taelian advised trying to remain quiet and hidden away from the world; his pain of being out was something the thief didn’t want to experience as well, but that is something that Jared or, rather, Vendrel would have to experience at one point…
Especially when the place you call home would cast you out as a heretic for joining an outsider’s religion or cause. Still, in the end, the thief wasn’t phased by that since he was already an outcast when he was born a street rat. Even before becoming a child of Saren, a well-experienced mage who managed to teach themselves a lot from experimentation, Jared never used his status as a magus to climb the social ladder. In some sense, that was a good thing since it didn’t buy much attention to himself.
The shift of movement started to make the petty thief somewhat uneasy, as his position could be compromised; Needing to leave as quietly as possible, Jared took a moment to slide underneath one of the many desks housed within the room. His slight frame and darkened clothing assist him in the deception of blending into the background.
As the seconds passed, the amber-eyed Draedan couldn’t help but hold his breath as people continued to move and gather things from what he heard from their conversations that a shift rotation was about to occur.
“Keep still and silent…. They haven’t noticed what is happening and should leave in a few minutes… Then I can look around some more before the next batch of guards come in, which would restrict some movement….”
Being relatively still and small, the thief couldn’t help but what the shadows that cling onto the wall quiver and shift. The elongated intangible mass mimicked the series of actions from the guards getting up from their seats and strapping on their armour and equipment.
It would only be a couple of minutes before the rustling of metal pieces, the tightening of leather, and heavy footsteps moving out into the distance before a door creaks open before silence echoes through the room. The amber-eyed thief couldn’t help but ponder for a moment if the coast were clear; By peeking out slightly, the young Alistian Draedan took a moment to listen to the ambient noise around him, checking if there was any other noise that did not belong to the guards’ station but after a minute has passed.
The thief would slip out of his hiding spot, slightly rattled as his nerves attempt to stabilise themselves from the close-call experience.
“Alright, let's look around just a bit more; there has to be something I can take other than these documents… Information is valuable, but finding the right buyer is annoying to deal with….”
The thief couldn’t help but mutter to himself, keeping himself close to the ground and creeping around whilst darting from cover to cover. The thief couldn’t take any chances of being caught, so it was better to move slower, even though all of this could change on a dime.
Briefly looking around to gain a bit more of his surroundings, it was from this point that Jared noted that a staircase led up to the second floor, another hallway on the opposite end of the room with the front door that led to the outside of the building. The thief could head back from the direction he had come from and exit from the cellar, but his curiosity wanted to delve deeper, knowing that the young Draedan used a sufficient amount of divinity; it was best for the thief to back out of the operation for the time being to rest up for the next few days.
Taking a moment to slip back through the hallway that the thief had just entered from and back into the cellar, the amber-eyed thief couldn’t help but ponder for a moment what the stacks of parchment and letters contained. Could it be some form of ledgers, orders or more? These were the things that Jared was generally curious about but also weary of since this could delve into a rabbit hole of conspiracy that the thief wasn’t up for just yet.
Just as the thief slipped this way back out of the streets, quickly closing the cellar door behind him, his senses started to pick up something odd as the sounds of heavy footsteps began to come closer from one of the streets. Unfortunately, there was relatively little cover to work with, and his figure was exposed in moonlight; it didn’t help that he looked suspicious, like any darkened figure looming over a nearby building.
Thinking quickly on his feet, the amber-eyed thief took a moment to find a place that he could use to climb up; his quick investigation does make it so that he could climb up but not reach the rooftops in time, but it was better than being caught on the guard. So the thief started scaling up a nearby building with little to lose; with his hood up, he took a moment to listen to what his soul had to offer, seeking an answer to his dilemma. Finally, an answer came through; two other words that wrote themselves across his divine spark.
As the thief takes a moment to concentrate on the meaning behind the words given, the term ‘Acclimate’ echoes. From what his instincts had told him, it was more about being able to adjust objects and substances that he could touch to mimic other properties. At this very moment, the thief needed camouflage, so his divinity manifested itself over his cloak. Quickly thinning itself out like a light sheen that briefly glimmers, the mantle's appearance started to change; the texture of the cloth started to become rough stone with different patches, shades and shapes.
It was all too surprising to the thief in question with these newfound abilities; it was then that the thief moved his head slightly off towards the side as he noticed a small group of people who were also shrouded in darkness. Briefly whispering among each other and from what the thief had gathered, they wanted to obtain some information from a nearby building. Once the small group has passed, the thief lets out a sigh of relief as he climbs his way over to the Thieves’ Highway, feeling a bit exhausted but not battered. The amber-eyed thief takes a moment to release his thoughts, which causes the cloak to change back to its tattered leather design.
“Seems like I have a lot I need to figure out, but until then, let's rest; I feel quite drained from all of this and will have some time to read what these documents might contain.”
With that said, the thief started to hurry home, keeping close to the ground whilst travelling among the rooftops where he felt truly free.
