60th of Searing, 4622
Stepping into the shop felt like a change in reality; from rags to riches, the establishment's quality, even in the backroom where Jared was currently occupying, felt carefully clean. The shop felt extremely modern by Daravin standards, as every inch of the store has exact amounts of details.
The floorboards were made of cypress, which reflected an array of colours from a light leather brown tan to tawny brown, with the grains of the boards being straight with a uniform & fine texture that produces a light mirror-like sheen from the varnish used to preserve & protect the quality of the wood.
Even the walls were elegantly plain in their stark, lime white paint, but upon closer inspection, the thief took off his glove for just a moment to drag his index finger against the surface. He quickly realised that the walls were also made of wood which is uncommon in standard lowborn architecture.
The establishment is relatively spacious, with an equal amount of space dedicated to the storefront with its elaborate displays of fine goods, the back room that holds the establishment’s stock, and a staircase leading up to the second level. The shadow-veiled rogue could only guess that the second story was extra storage space or the residential area.
“Who is this man… to be able to afford all of this just for the building & security alone…. What did you get yourself into, Jared.”
Jared was right to feel nervous as he was familiar with the common saying within the criminal underground:
‘Wealth is power. With wealth, many things are possible.’
That being said, the Nightfallen Thief could not be distracted as time did not afford him to do so. The more mistakes he made during his operation, the increase the risk of people raising awareness & so too their security. In addition, the infamy that the amber-eyed thief could stick to him wasn’t something he would like & drawing the attention of someone powerful enough to afford all these trinkets, baubles & luxurious items might spell an early demise for the Alistian thief.
As much as the thief wanted to take all sorts of items from this random merchant, Jared knew that in this case, it was better to leave things behind and just get the objective of information. If more miscellaneous items went missing, it would increase the risk of having highly skilled investigators & trackers on his tail and leaving clutter or, as Jared would like to call it, ‘pocket litter, which will increase the amount of time in which they need to investigate the cause.
“No time dilly dally… Jared, we are burning the midnight oil & there is not much left.”
With that, Jared begins to rummage through various cabinets, draws, desks & paperwork, sifting for anything that could be relative to his work. All that Jared needed to know from his client was to collect anything that had names, shipping dates, letter exchanges & ledgers which some were easy to find.
Mostly ledgers, shipping dates & cargo, were available through the various desk at the counter in the front store, which the thief would use as cover when he saw the flickering light warping around the edges of the display glass at the front & windows.
The ground floor where the shop front & back room has been cleared, nothing out of the ordinary from his brief examination of the room. Jared would seek out secret compartments if he could, and something felt off; his instincts felt odd as Jared passed a section in the backroom where the grains of a floorboard was off to the side of crates. On closer inspections, the way the grains that run along the floorboards did not match with the remaining boards around it.
“What the… Aren’t you a sneaky thing… I wonder what you could be hiding….”
Jared takes a moment to feel around the floor with leather-covered fingers, carefully feeling for a mechanism to work with to what secrets this hidden component is hiding. From the thief’s point of view, there didn’t seem to be a hidden buckle used to pry the trapdoor open but based on what occurred with the backdoor. The apprentice thief started to press the surrounding floorboards, checking for anything thing that would give way to some weight.
Finding a slight divet in the cypress floorboards wouldn't take too long. However, pressing it did cause the false panel to raise slightly but not enough for the board to be easily removed. Testing if the additional weight from the thief’s palm would cause the panel to shift more, which it did, but it would not be enough.
“Pressure sensitive… I see….”
Jared grins underneath his slightly damp face cloth as he takes a moment to Devise what little photons are present and begin to concentrate on creating a Compass the size of the marble.
The amber-eyed Nightfallen wanted his Compass to be heavy enough to possibly replicate a rather heavyweight, sufficient to cause the trapdoor to pop open so that he could remove it quickly. Imbuing the Umbralplasm with additional weight wasn’t anything new to the thief, but he had never tried to condense the weight in a finite object before.
As Jared’s body acts as a beacon to manipulate the Twilight around him, the sensation of weights clinging to his body feels immense as it collapses into a marble-sized orb in the palm of his hand despite it floating merely an inch from his clothed skin. The sheer weight & amount of concentration cause his arteries and veins to bulge slightly from his arms, forehead & neck.
Once the Nightfallen Thief completed the conjuration process, he couldn’t help but sigh of relief as he managed to make a significantly heavier Compass than he would usually make; A sign of his mastery over his raw magic improving, albeit slightly.
With the undulating sphere in his palm, Jared placed the globe on the weight-sensitive panel and watched as the wooden boards began to sink. The slight grinding sounds of metal screeching caused the Alistian thief to wince as Guards who loom close to the establishment could detect the noise efficiently.
“Shit…”
Darting his gaze over to the false panel, the thief pulls the board off to see what the contents of his hidden compartment hold, which holds a chest with a padlock. Wanting to get this done as quickly and finish his search as soon as possible, Jared quickly manifests his lockpick tools with some Umbralplasm attempts to fiddle with the lock using his short hook lockpick & ‘L’ shaped torsion wretch.
Manipulating the pins within the padlock in a hurry would leave some evidence of it being tampered with. In his case, Jared concentrated on trying to pop the lock as quickly as possible while maintaining the Cylinder's integrity. In a minute, Jared could get the padlock to release its grips over the chest; it was something he was more familiar with compared to the abomination that was the lock design for the backdoor, which leaves a mental scar from intense panic-induced stress he had to endure.
Nonetheless, once Jared removed the lock, the chest lid was in pristine condition since a wealthy & powerful man owned it. The contents within this dark oak chest also reflect what kind of wealth this particular man had; a substantial amount of farthings, various notes & ledgers and most importantly, a small stack of letters with a wax seal with a symbol of two feathers attached at the hollow shaft that has yet to be opened.
"Seems like I hit the jackpot."
He quickly stowed all the contents of the chest into his robbery satchel. Jared quickly reassembled the chest, placing the padlock back and locked it before putting the false bottom back as if Jared hadn't touched it. From there, the marble-sized Umbralplasm is recycled, adding it to his Obscura cloak for later usage. As much as he would like to examine the contents, the thief knew that any attempts to see the contents would ruin the waxed seal.
"Let's head upstairs… Probably more stuff is available, but time is ticking, and they are not a patient person. Also, maybe I could play it off."
Jared's brief moment of confidence quickly becomes sombre as the job is not over. The Nightfallen Thief had to search more profound, but with every step & second passed, increasing the likelihood of the rogue getting caught.
"Alright, let's do this quickly. The faster we search, the quicker we can leave…."
With his mentality set to delve deeper. The Nightfallen vagabond makes his way over to the wooden staircase. He attempted to tread lightly as the floorboards gave way to his weight echoes a faint creak.
With his heart pounding ever so slightly, quickening at a crawling pace, the thief makes his way up the staircase, shrouded by darkness which makes it harder to see, yet his next obstacle appears as a wooden door that extends into the second floor.
"Deep breathes, Jared, deep breathes…."
With a reluctant gulp of air, the cloaked thief approaches the door, not knowing what might lie behind it and vigilance would be needed to clear out his objective.
The floorboards were made of cypress, which reflected an array of colours from a light leather brown tan to tawny brown, with the grains of the boards being straight with a uniform & fine texture that produces a light mirror-like sheen from the varnish used to preserve & protect the quality of the wood.
Even the walls were elegantly plain in their stark, lime white paint, but upon closer inspection, the thief took off his glove for just a moment to drag his index finger against the surface. He quickly realised that the walls were also made of wood which is uncommon in standard lowborn architecture.
The establishment is relatively spacious, with an equal amount of space dedicated to the storefront with its elaborate displays of fine goods, the back room that holds the establishment’s stock, and a staircase leading up to the second level. The shadow-veiled rogue could only guess that the second story was extra storage space or the residential area.
“Who is this man… to be able to afford all of this just for the building & security alone…. What did you get yourself into, Jared.”
Jared was right to feel nervous as he was familiar with the common saying within the criminal underground:
‘Wealth is power. With wealth, many things are possible.’
That being said, the Nightfallen Thief could not be distracted as time did not afford him to do so. The more mistakes he made during his operation, the increase the risk of people raising awareness & so too their security. In addition, the infamy that the amber-eyed thief could stick to him wasn’t something he would like & drawing the attention of someone powerful enough to afford all these trinkets, baubles & luxurious items might spell an early demise for the Alistian thief.
As much as the thief wanted to take all sorts of items from this random merchant, Jared knew that in this case, it was better to leave things behind and just get the objective of information. If more miscellaneous items went missing, it would increase the risk of having highly skilled investigators & trackers on his tail and leaving clutter or, as Jared would like to call it, ‘pocket litter, which will increase the amount of time in which they need to investigate the cause.
“No time dilly dally… Jared, we are burning the midnight oil & there is not much left.”
With that, Jared begins to rummage through various cabinets, draws, desks & paperwork, sifting for anything that could be relative to his work. All that Jared needed to know from his client was to collect anything that had names, shipping dates, letter exchanges & ledgers which some were easy to find.
Mostly ledgers, shipping dates & cargo, were available through the various desk at the counter in the front store, which the thief would use as cover when he saw the flickering light warping around the edges of the display glass at the front & windows.
The ground floor where the shop front & back room has been cleared, nothing out of the ordinary from his brief examination of the room. Jared would seek out secret compartments if he could, and something felt off; his instincts felt odd as Jared passed a section in the backroom where the grains of a floorboard was off to the side of crates. On closer inspections, the way the grains that run along the floorboards did not match with the remaining boards around it.
“What the… Aren’t you a sneaky thing… I wonder what you could be hiding….”
Jared takes a moment to feel around the floor with leather-covered fingers, carefully feeling for a mechanism to work with to what secrets this hidden component is hiding. From the thief’s point of view, there didn’t seem to be a hidden buckle used to pry the trapdoor open but based on what occurred with the backdoor. The apprentice thief started to press the surrounding floorboards, checking for anything thing that would give way to some weight.
Finding a slight divet in the cypress floorboards wouldn't take too long. However, pressing it did cause the false panel to raise slightly but not enough for the board to be easily removed. Testing if the additional weight from the thief’s palm would cause the panel to shift more, which it did, but it would not be enough.
“Pressure sensitive… I see….”
Jared grins underneath his slightly damp face cloth as he takes a moment to Devise what little photons are present and begin to concentrate on creating a Compass the size of the marble.
The amber-eyed Nightfallen wanted his Compass to be heavy enough to possibly replicate a rather heavyweight, sufficient to cause the trapdoor to pop open so that he could remove it quickly. Imbuing the Umbralplasm with additional weight wasn’t anything new to the thief, but he had never tried to condense the weight in a finite object before.
As Jared’s body acts as a beacon to manipulate the Twilight around him, the sensation of weights clinging to his body feels immense as it collapses into a marble-sized orb in the palm of his hand despite it floating merely an inch from his clothed skin. The sheer weight & amount of concentration cause his arteries and veins to bulge slightly from his arms, forehead & neck.
Once the Nightfallen Thief completed the conjuration process, he couldn’t help but sigh of relief as he managed to make a significantly heavier Compass than he would usually make; A sign of his mastery over his raw magic improving, albeit slightly.
With the undulating sphere in his palm, Jared placed the globe on the weight-sensitive panel and watched as the wooden boards began to sink. The slight grinding sounds of metal screeching caused the Alistian thief to wince as Guards who loom close to the establishment could detect the noise efficiently.
“Shit…”
Darting his gaze over to the false panel, the thief pulls the board off to see what the contents of his hidden compartment hold, which holds a chest with a padlock. Wanting to get this done as quickly and finish his search as soon as possible, Jared quickly manifests his lockpick tools with some Umbralplasm attempts to fiddle with the lock using his short hook lockpick & ‘L’ shaped torsion wretch.
Manipulating the pins within the padlock in a hurry would leave some evidence of it being tampered with. In his case, Jared concentrated on trying to pop the lock as quickly as possible while maintaining the Cylinder's integrity. In a minute, Jared could get the padlock to release its grips over the chest; it was something he was more familiar with compared to the abomination that was the lock design for the backdoor, which leaves a mental scar from intense panic-induced stress he had to endure.
Nonetheless, once Jared removed the lock, the chest lid was in pristine condition since a wealthy & powerful man owned it. The contents within this dark oak chest also reflect what kind of wealth this particular man had; a substantial amount of farthings, various notes & ledgers and most importantly, a small stack of letters with a wax seal with a symbol of two feathers attached at the hollow shaft that has yet to be opened.
"Seems like I hit the jackpot."
He quickly stowed all the contents of the chest into his robbery satchel. Jared quickly reassembled the chest, placing the padlock back and locked it before putting the false bottom back as if Jared hadn't touched it. From there, the marble-sized Umbralplasm is recycled, adding it to his Obscura cloak for later usage. As much as he would like to examine the contents, the thief knew that any attempts to see the contents would ruin the waxed seal.
"Let's head upstairs… Probably more stuff is available, but time is ticking, and they are not a patient person. Also, maybe I could play it off."
Jared's brief moment of confidence quickly becomes sombre as the job is not over. The Nightfallen Thief had to search more profound, but with every step & second passed, increasing the likelihood of the rogue getting caught.
"Alright, let's do this quickly. The faster we search, the quicker we can leave…."
With his mentality set to delve deeper. The Nightfallen vagabond makes his way over to the wooden staircase. He attempted to tread lightly as the floorboards gave way to his weight echoes a faint creak.
With his heart pounding ever so slightly, quickening at a crawling pace, the thief makes his way up the staircase, shrouded by darkness which makes it harder to see, yet his next obstacle appears as a wooden door that extends into the second floor.
"Deep breathes, Jared, deep breathes…."
With a reluctant gulp of air, the cloaked thief approaches the door, not knowing what might lie behind it and vigilance would be needed to clear out his objective.
