((OOC: Hope nobody minds me getting us into the middle of a good starting place...))


"Gavin du Loch de Hallenbreich"

Gavin was neither in a particularly good mood, nor was he likely to get anymore popular in the near future. Midnight and Vitani looked half drowned, and likely were, but they'd managed to cling to his dorsal fins for the extended submergence they just experienced. His lips were chapped from giving them both a few kisses of life to survive the swim. And he was a little disgusted at himself for that, but it couldn't be helped. He had hoped to save his first kiss for a pretty little filly some day; but he'd given it to one suspicious little ferrikki, and his second to the foulest little vixen he'd ever crossed in his short life. They had surfaced in the brook, about a hundred yards from the sewers from which they had managed their escape from a wealthy merchants mansion deep within the city. The Guild Association was a virtual mall of various guilds and journeymen trade federations, which Gavin couldn't hope to count them all. All he needed to know is that a rival merchant had hired members from the Thieves and Assassins Guilds, who subcontracted six from their Adventurers Guild to help the thief and assassin get in, and if they succeeded, out again for ten shares of the booty.

Vitani was required to repair and reset any traps and alarms they stumbled upon in the merchant's catacombs while searching for his vault. The thieves weren't particularly good at leaving traps in working condition after they'd slipped past. Midnight had the street smarts and chutzpah to keep the party one step ahead of the thief and assassin should either of them pull a double-cross. Gavin had been relegated to third in command behind old Walter and Scheherazade the Nephini. He was more than capable of handling the lead, but Rowan valued the others experience on this job. It was just their responsibility to get the thief and assassin in and out, nothing more. He didn't want young Gavin to go off looking for a fight if they didn't need to.

Getting in was easy enough, the merchant's catacombs shared an entrance with an inn he owned, alas the innkeeper was greedy, and a few slipped bags of gold were enough for him to forget to lock the door leading to the cellars and below. Vitani had picked up a particularly expensive bottle of 25 year old brandy as a 'keepsake' on their way in. They made their way down the cellars, through the sewers and over into the merchant's catacombs. It took them 30 hours to get in and no less than two traps and three alarms to bypass before finding the vault. Along the way, the assassin found himself a nice place to setup a kill zone for the merchants and his bodyguards. It was about then that something went wrong, or more specifically was designed to go wrong.

The thief had loaded a saddle bag on Gavin's back to the brim. It wasn't particularly heavy but it required him to shift his weight a little more. He tried luring Midnight into the vault and attempted to slit her throat, but found the little ferrikki to be surprisingly better with her knife than he was. She had picked up the scent of Fenric's blood, the adventurer initiate that came with them and was prepared for him. In the thief's death throws he attempted to shut them all inside the vault, however Vitani has disengaged the counterweight, preventing it from sealing them in, however the alarm was already tripped! They fled down the catacombs with the merchant's guards in hot pursuit. They had the surprise of their lives when the assassin opened fire, putting flaming bolts into anyone coming down the hallway. Snuffing out Walter and Cher before they knew what hit them.

"Reacting to the situation, Gavin blind flashed the hallway, distracting the assassin long enough to throw Vitani's precious brandy at the assassin, engulfing the mongrel lupora in flames. He rushed into the sewers to dowse his coat out but Gavin charged in and forced him down into the miery fluid where his body was certain to never surface again. Once back up, they discovered that the guards had cutoff their escape, so their only hope was through the flooded, smelly pipes of the sewers and the hope that Gavin held enough air in his gas lung for the other two to breathe.

Now here they were. If there was any consolation, the one saddlebag may hold enough gold for the Adventurers Guild to break even on this venture and Vitani would likely never speak to Gavin again for sacrificing good booze and submerging all of her tools and precious equipment in the effluent of greater Horologium. But they were alive, at least until Rowan finds out about what happened and having to deal with the stories the Thieves Guild and Assassins Guild make-up about why the Adventurer's fouled up their jobs and reputations...

"Gavin du Loch de Hallenbreich"

Responding to Vitani shifting her weight, Gavin let his upper body sink abit, allowing the small vixen to stand upon his shoulders easier. "Ach lass, Aima t'inkin' ye drank nuff a'ready. If no, ye can jes' take a gewd leap starbo'rd an' takin' yer fill o' de brewk now." Gavin conjectured about Vitani's vice. Midnight, on the other hand was struggling, barely having the strength to do more than just hang onto his dorsal fins. He had cupped it close to cradle Midnight, not even sure how badly the little ferrikki had been injured in her scuffle with the thief before their swim. He had hoped, she wasn't taking in water from any of her wounds. For now, he thought it best for his comrades if he let them out on dry land. He waded slowly to his port until he could make hoof fall on the muddy, brook bottom, then slowly began kneeling so the furry forest denizens he transported could achieve shore with only minor wetting of the fur. As for himself, he would probably require the services of a family of cleaner shrimp to clear all the greywater contaminants from out of his mane, fins armor and gills.

((OOC: Just my two cents, but here would be a decent point to interject Iria, or introduce one of the Guild regulars, or even stumble upon another mysterious artifact that may well lead them on a more successful venture.))

Iria quietly padded through the dense forest following the shadow in front of her. Iria had a shadow beast follow the mission group sent to assist the thief and assassin. Their contractors seemed a bit dodgy so she wanted to keep an eye on them and make sure they were alright. When the shadow beast reported back that the mission failed and that 2 were dead and 3 injured she quickly rushed to the scene. Soon Iria heard hacking and wheezing up a head in a clearing. Iria dismissed the shadow beast and scampered into the clearing and ran to the the little brook winding itself through the ground like a blue snake. She saw the three sylesties lying on the bank and rushed over. "Are you alright? My shadow beast reported back that the mission failed so I rushed over as fast as I could!" Iria exclaimed as she fussed over the little, ginger vixen.

Iria rushed to the little ferrikki. "I can heal her but I need something or someone else to draw the life force out of."

(sorry. I meant to join in. I got a laptop for this summer. I just began getting into the habit of forgetfulness. I'm gonna join in now)

Midnight was a bit shaky after all of that. "Got out... Didn't we? We got out....... Now.... We can rest..." She said very quietly. She was trying to make sure she was not gonna fall. She was clinging on as best as she could. "Got out alive....." She whined. She opened her eyes and looked around. She began realizing that they seemed to may or may not all be here. She shook her head.

"Gavin du Loch de Hallenbreich"

The kelparie warrior smirked at Vitani's expected response to her precious mead and tools. She had every right and reason to be upset about it, and at him. "Ah've no problem wit' yer vice lassie, jest when ye al'ays seem ta need un at de wrong time." He replied back. He flicked his tail up and sprinkled Vitani's backside a little. Then his ears perked up to a familiar voice that hadn't joined them on their quest. Iria was hustling up the bank while some odd disturbance in the shadows began receding into the forest. Those strange apparitions always seemed to follow her. But he thought her assessment of their mission was a little off.

"Ach, what'cha mean we failed lass? We got'em inside a'righty. Then dey decided we were ta be de prey." He countered. "We canna' help dat we're better guards 'n what tha wee merch'nt'an's got a' his disposal." He said giving a wink towards Midnight's slit eye and a rye smile of satisfaction towards the ryori mage. "Aht the vary least, we got paid, eh?"

He kept back in the water, letting the brook flush his body clean of refuse. He wasn't going to be much help at tending Midnight's hurt the way Iria or Vitani may. He'd already sensed the ferrikki stirring from her daze, but waited for her to speak.

"Aye lass, we did. An' yewr in mewr sure paws den moine. Rest ah ease Rikki, yeh euarned et." He replied to Midnight.