Rilka notices she has immediately made the rough gnome's day significantly brighter. "Well, that kind of job is right up my alley. How much?" He seems to say almost as an afterthought.
”Toramin and Ianna, just go to one gambling den. I’m worried that going to a second might be too dangerous until we can judge how the rumors are spreading. Bjorkus please say you saw Toramin’s character, and Dalton, Ianna’s character. Good luck everyone.”
”Well I can pay you ten gold now and ten gold when the job’s done. My brother should have at least 150 gold on him. He’s a gambler, but a cheater, so he usually comes out well ahead.”
Making his way to the Illegible Scroll, Dalton hypothesized how much push this place would need for a riot to start. People are so hard to predict sometimes.
he glanced around, judging the best spot to name-drop Ianna's new guise before executing his mission.
~Gambling Dens~
The party spreads out to hit up the major gambling houses, going where Rilka directs them to best brew up the rumor mill. Bjorkus and Toramin find easy success, both of them getting some curious questions with a few raised eyebrows, and leaving the building in a sea of whispers and glances.
~The Illegible Scroll~
Dalton is slightly less lucky. At The Illegible Scroll, he wanders in and ends up casually striking a conversation up with the bartender, who gives him a wary eye. He grunts and shrugs. "Pretty bold talk there. Where'd you hear that?" Dalton notices a few people around him start paying attention to the conversation with varying levels of subtlety.
~Twilight's Cure~
Ianna finds that the Twilight's Cure is seedy despite it's name. It's a smoke filled den with some rough looking characters. She quickly senses this will not be an easy crowd...but also senses that it may be a really good way to seed the rumor if the situation is played right.
~Markal~
Markal gives a crooked grin. "My kind of guy. Always knew I was an angel just punishing the wicked." Markal collects the details of the plan and seems to be dumbly stumbling along right into the trap.
”Hmm,” Rilka says. ”He will be walking past the Rhombodazzle as he leaves our inn. He loves wearing this velvet vest he has. Blue with silver buttons. Oh and he also usually wears a cap with a feather in it. His name’s Aundo. Looks a bit like me, but slightly taller and heavier. You could attack him there or on one of the side streets. Just don't kill him.”
Dalton glances around to give the impression he was trying to conceal his words from prying eyes and ears.
"One of the lawmen. That's why I want in - way to track sticky hands. Plus, there's none who'd be happier to see him dead than them. It's not just a waste of time."
"But if you didn't see it, then you didn't hear this from me. I'm going to track 'em down before it's too late."
People can't resist gossip. That was one element that was true for both nobles and commoners.
The bartender raises his brows, and Dalton hears mumbling about the room as well. "That so. S'pose I can line you up with a gambler than. What's your name again?"
"Tell 'im to look for Red. I'll be back but will look for 'im on my own for a bit."
Dalton was short on words, leaving the gaps to be filled by vivid imaginations in the crowd. He left as he came - an unknown person on a mission.
Ianna takes the guise of someone who looks like they could be a clerk for the government when she places her bet.
Dalton walks out of his bar, leaving much unrest behind him.
Ianna goes to place her bet and she gets more than one bad look. "And what exactly is it you're betting on darling?"
The young gnome stammers, "That Villichi will die in the next two weeks."
A number of whispers and snorts and grunts break out around Ianna. The gnome speaking to her chuckles. "Yeah, an' what makes you say that?"
"That's my business," the clerk says trying to sound confident. "Will you take the bet or no?"
The gnome raises a brow, then grins and shrugs. "Fair enough. Let's go over the details." He says with an expectant look.
The clerk gives the bookie the tremulous smile of the credulous and easily cozened. She places her bet and orders a drink. Halfway through her drink she mutters "The whys must be worth something. It's not like they pay me much a city hall. A girl has to eat, right?"
Ianna sees the gnome smile broadly, waving to the bartender for more drinks. "Oh it must be stressful indeed, what kind of injustices have you been subjected to?"
The clerk begins her tale of bureaucratic woe, rising debts, and government wages.
Ianna is attempting to seduce the bookie into trying to bribe the clerk. She believes that he will value the information more if he winkles it out of her. If he does bribe her, she will confess that she saw in a Watch dispatch that a legendary assassin from the east has been contracted to take out Villichi when she was doing some transcription work for the High Councilor. Apparently, the Watch leadership is in a tizzy because although they want Villichi gone, they are worried about the effects of the coming struggle on the beleaguered city. While the High Councilor would never deign to discuss such matters with a lowly clerk, he (she?) seemed to take the threat very seriously.
Ianna does not trick the gambling den.
She captivates them.
By the time she is done, the den of criminals and lowlifes are practically eating out of her hands.
The gullible, if adventurous, clerk will make sure to get her receipt for her wager and make her way out into the night.
Sure enough, Ianna sees two gnomes from the gambling den scratching their heads and looking about confused after a few evasive tactics!
”Dalton,” Rilka says, ”how big is the time portal you make? I thought ‘Is it possible to send The Revelation into the future?’ when I woke up this morning. If we could manage to do that, we’d technically never really steal it. All we’d need to due is make sure that the area it normally occupies remains clear at the appropriate time. Is anything like that feasible?”
As promised, the burly gnome is skulking about, right on time, perfectly falling into Rilka's trap.
Rilka disguised as Aundo gives Bjorkus an invisibility extract. ”I’ll go into the inn where Aundo is reportedly staying and walk towards the Rhombodazzle. You lurk in the area invisible. Keep me within view, and if I can’t take Markal after a few passes, feel free to hit him in the back of the head. We don’t need to kill him there, better if we don’t.” Rilka points to her backpack with a gag and rope for tying him up. ”It should be dark enough that we can hide him in some bushes while the rest of the heist goes on. I did buy some oil of restfulness but he may be physically hardy enough to resist it.”
Bjorkus nods in understanding and tucks the vial away. Before he moves into position he grips the halfling's shoulder and whistles a jaunty tune.
Rilka comes out disguised as the description she gave Markal, who wastes no time in skulking closer. He comes up with a big grin. "Hey pal, out late?" He says, stepping in front of Rilka to step her advance.
”I have no problem with you,” Aundo says. He looks annoyed. ”Step aside before you regret it!” His hand is on his dagger's hilt. "Were you at Reggio's table? I'm telling you, I didn't cheat!"
Markal narrows his eyes, looking cautious. "Reggio? Ain't no Reggio gambling in there." He takes a step back, glancing around.
Markal draws a vicious little dagger and waves it at Rilka. "You're gonna tell me what's going on here."
”Reggio’s table from two nights ago?!” Aundo says sounding confused and unsure. His eyes focus on the dagger. ”What’s going on? I’m defending myself from a thief.” Aundo draws his dagger. Got to remember there’s no need to add extraneous details that could provoke someone’s suspicions.
Markal growls, looking less worried and more angry. "Prolly some newcomer. Doesn't matter, time to pay." He lunges forward with his shortsword!
Rilka takes a cut on her arm, then responds by bashing him in the shoulder with the pommel of her dagger. He growls and swings again!
Markal goes for another swing but this time Rilka ducks under it!
Rilka stabs quickly at Markal twice.
Markal dodges away from both attacks and growls. "Freaking tough one aren't you?"
But his next swing misses as the two nimble creatures dodge around each other!
Rilka thinks, This is so embarrassing...but it shows I shouldn’t take any opponent lightly.
Rilka smashes him once on the side of the head, and with a grunt he falls to the ground unconscious.
Making sure their fight didn’t attract attention, Rilka binds Markal’s hands behind his back. After securing his feet as well, she drags him to the bushes. She pours the oil into his mouth, careful not to have him choke.
”Okay,” she whispers to Bjorkus. ”Let’s signal the others and proceed with the plan.”
Moving invisibly, Bjorkus follows Rilka's lead and scoops up her victim. "Let's do it."
”Yes,” Rilka tells Bjorkus. ”Time to put the plan into action.”
”So Dalton think about using a time spell to send the Revelation into the future,” Rilka takes a sip from her mug as she consults her notebook.
”Maybe causing a distraction would be a good way to lead the guards away, so we could slip inside and deal with the piece. I thought maybe using an art piece as a distraction, but that would just draw them into the main room, probably. Unless it’d be easier to deal with them as a group.
“Toramin, what’s the cellar and below ground environment like? Do you think your elemental could do some scouting?”
She makes another note, ”Sorry to be so focused on magic Dalton, but I think it’s essential for this ‘heist.’ Is there an intangibility spell? If so, we could cast it on the piece, and move it through the floor into an underground chamber we make.”
The halfling smiles after another sip of her tea. ”Well I’m sure there are plenty of ideas from the everyone else. What are you thinking?”
The mage didn't mind being asked the questions put to him by Rilka; it was simply he wouldn't be the level of help she hoped.
"I imagine one could be made intangible, but I haven't the talent to do that. What I can do is warm the stone in the floor and warp it back after the piece is moved. That or use a short-range dimensional hop to go there directly." The wizard coughed, something bothering his throat.
"Yet what I cannot do, at least with any level of safety, is sending the piece into the future. It is one thing to ease or stiffen the passage of time, but to jump about the passage of time itself is dangerous. That's why our foe is so deadly, so elusive." And who knows about the secondary consequences, perhaps like vanishing from existence upon seeing your duplicate! The thought always made him jumpy, even in his old age.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You have been through more trials in the clandestine works of the Aestherics than any of us, and you've thrived throughout. I have complete trust if anyone can see us through this, it's you."
Rilka nods with an understanding expression as Dalton talks about time travel. It is better if we don’t play around with those forces...
”Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she says as he finishes talking.
”That’s an excellent idea. I have a gnome for a victim. Bjorkus could help carry it too. A couple extracts of Ant Haul and we’ll be able to lift it. Some guards were found unconscious if I recall. Apparently we met some resistance. Sleep would be useful.” She rubs her head slightly. ”I know I’ve said it before, but it gets confusing trying to remember what we heard about the robbery and trying to match those reports. Five people were said to have escaped. If we don’t all enter the museum, does that mean our information was wrong or that some event will make the rest of us go inside? I guess there’s no way of knowing at this point.
Now do you know of any items that won’t go into a magic bag? In other words, is there a reason the Revelation wouldn’t fit into a bag of holding? Maybe if it has some planar aspect...”
Rilka knows that the bag of holding is large enough to contain the piece of art, but the problem is getting it through the opening. She has seen it go through a dozen different forms, so it's really hard to predict if it will be in the correct shape to fit through the opening of the bag.
”Now do you know of any items that won’t go into a magic bag? In other words, is there a reason the Revelation wouldn’t fit into a bag of holding? Maybe if it has some planar aspect...”
"As long as the opening is wide enough, unless there is some rejection to plane manipulation as you alluded, there should be no issue. The other us managed to make it vanish though, and I can't see another way if it is so magic-repellant; the manipulations involved in a bag of holding aren't even affecting the objects directly!"
”Well,” Rilka says with a smile, ”that sounds perfect for our needs. Indeed, we ‘did’ this before thus we’ll do it again. Any final considerations before we put the plan into action?”
"Not that I can think of, Rilka. Your plan seems sound."
"Not that I can think of, Rilka. Your plan seems sound."
"Agreed. Let's get on with it!"
"Let me know if you need help wresslin' this art piece into the bag. "
Ymir guides us to the nearest underground tunnel...
Ymir is sent off for a while to scout, and ends up discovering that there is a basement floor below the main room that's full of old art currently not on display. He finds a room with a ladder leading up to the east of the main room. The room is twenty feet high.
Dalton stone shapes an opening.
After an hour of walking in the light of Dalton's magic, the large mage opens up the wall into the basement, currently abandoned.
An invisible Rilka with a silenced pebble, courtesy of Ianna, goes in and...
A blaring alarm spell rips throughout the building, clearly augmented to be much louder than normal! Rilka moves forward unaware, the silence spell making her deaf to the fact her cover was blown.