I was hired by a dwarf... a quite disgusting one, at that. But he had a good job, a job worth taking. A job that required me sneaking into a Lord's home, breaking into a safe, forging his signature, replacing a forged document with the real one, and escaping without leaving a trace of my presense. A task that sounds easy enough before you add in the guards, the Lord himself, the annoying cat, and the shadow that haunted the place.
I smuggled myself in by sneaking onto a supply wagon that was going into the residence. It was an uncomfortable, smelly ride among the pork bits, but I remained unseen. The cart also had some human bodies in it, so I believe the driver may have been of interest. But I had a job, and so there was not time for investigating it further.
The guards proved little difficulty, although the dwarf's agreement required I leave no trace, and a dead guardsman would have been trace enough. I was going up to the second level when my shadow seperated from where it should have been, and tipped over the shadow of a vase. This caused the real vase to tip over. That was my closest shave with being caught... My own bloody shadow tipping over a vase. I figured little of it, as I was on a mission and some foolish shadow would not stop me from recieving my pay.
I made my way to Lord Rensault's quarters, and used the magic pen the dwarf gave me to forge his signature onto the forged document. I also found the combination to the safe, as well as a diary entry that detailed his wife dieing in childbirth, and the child being a mutant who they now keep locked up. At the time, I still thought little of it.
The cat in the hall outside of Rensault's quarters proved more difficult than the human guards (Who seemed fond of setting off their own traps, might I add). I could not kill it, because the death of a pet would have been noticed. However, it needed to be eliminated before it meowed so loud Rensault woke. I resorted to alchohol. I soaked a piece of corn bread with Will-O-Wiskey, and the cat seemed more than happy to eat/drink until it passed out.
I found the son of Rensault's quarters, and a top. A shadow was spinning the top's shadow, which was causing the real top to spin. The shadow then whispered into my shadow's ear, and I heard the voice as if it had whispered into my real ear. It said it's name was Constantine, the son of Lord Rensault. It asked me to come free it. We agreed that it would aid me in getting to the safe, and I would free it.
We trapped the old man watching the safe under a vase, and I opened the safe and swapped documents. There was a good amount of gold in the safe, but I restrained myself from taking it as to not leave a trace of my existance in the building.
I then snuck downstairs, to the dungeons. There was a dwarf there as guard, but I struck him with his dinner plate and the butt of my knife. He fell unconsious, and I tried to make it look as if it was the work of the shadow Constantine. The son of Rensault was a horrific creature, but very skilled in the art of stealth. He agreed to teach me how he fades into the shadows from plain sight, and dazes a foe with the shadows, in return for my freeing him.
Constantine is a very skilled stealth artist. If he was born of Dark Elven herritage, he would be almost admirable. But as he is, I will always be superior to him. Still, his tutoring is valuble enough for me to continue learning from him. My mission is complete, my payment recieved, and I have found a valuble ally and tutor in the arts of stealth. And, as per the agreement with the dwarf, no blood spilled, and nobody was aware of my presense in the building.
I have been hired to kill a "Brint Stiffle". He is supposedly a warrior of some skill, so a plan is in order to keep this assassination running smoothly. I have set in motion a plan that I hope will allow me to eliminate the target with no risk of injury or being caught.
Step One: Cause a commotion seen by many by interogating a barkeep or some other publicly visible person on the subject of Brint. With any luck, this will either yield the location of Brint or another source of information.
Step Two: Find whoever the last step pointed to, and pose as a Roferianite taking them into protective custody in Port Hempstead.
Step Three: Get Brint to believe he is being placed in a protective custody safehouse in Hempstead and get him onto a boat.
Step Four: Kill Brint and dump his body, then call "Man overboard" once it is too late to save him.
Step Five: Return to Vehl, and claim the reward.
My plan went off with several hitches, but the job got done, and that is what was importaint. Brint was involved in a rather large group, which I had not anticipated, and that group was smarter than I had anticipated. Notes for future contracts, of course. But a good shot from the rooftops finished the job that I had been unable to finish on the ground. Either way, payment was recieved and all parties (Except for the Fiercerocks) were satisfied.
I met a pair of dark elves on the Dragon Isles. One called himself "Beast" and the other Cal'tana. Or something similar to Cal'tana. I do not remember for sure, names are only titles. The true way to get to know a person is by watching their fighting style, their strengths, their weaknesses.
I feel that they believed me useless, the two of them both being warriors. They tore their enemies apart through ferocious fighting, the one called "Beast" using a great two handed sythe. I, on the other hand, fighting with a pair of small blades not suited for fair combat, was not fairing as well against the trolls and other beasts. But the open battle is not my place to fight. My place is striking from the shadows, quickly and efficiently. I could have defeated either of them with ease; they would not have had time for fancy devastating combat attacks. They would be dead before they knew what happened, and I would be the victor.
The goblins stand no chance against me. Oblivious, blinded by interest in raw meat and other foolish activities they keep themselves busy with. I walk through the shadows cast by the red lights and kill them before they know what hit them. Goblins are the same as humans, on a smaller scale. Weak points in the same spot, same methods to take them down quickly. I just have to bend over a bit. Or a lot. But the principle is the same.
It has been too long since I have had a real job. Killing petty bandits and goblins is a poor use of my skills... The last real excitment I had was the Fiercerock halfling clan. I need to build a name for myself... I need a way to identify my kills. A calling card. Something to do with spiders, of course. But as of now, I need to find work. Worries of building a reputation can only come after having something to build a reputation around.
I have started honing my skills in the creation of poisons. I have always dabbled in the art, in honor of the Prince of Hate. But if I want to begin developing my carreer on more options, I need more ways to kill someone than just a crossbow bolt or a knife to the back. Poisoned food is a whole new way to deal with a target, much less hands on. Most likely, less risk as well, especially if the target turns out to be a warrior or some other dangerous foe. I have to keep my options broad, because situations will always arise where one path is not viable. My father taught me that, and by honing my poison crafting skills I am heeding that advice.
I must find new targets. The goblins outside of Hlint are no longer challenging to me. I know their caves, their patterns, their movements. There is no fun in stalking prey that does not stand a chance. The shadows cast by their red lights conseal me, and I walk through them unseen. I want to put my skills to use against something more worthwhile, something that could impact more than a tribe of goblins. A true stealth artist knows that there is more to stealth than aquiring personal wealth. It does not matter how rich you can become through theft and looting of dead goblins. With such power as walking through the shadows, it should be put to use shaking the foundations of this surface world.
One of the dark elves I have met on the surface, a female warrior skilled in wielding the katana, has decided to teach me how to flank fight. I agreed to learn, if only because when in a group of my kin, my skills cannot be demonstrated easily. The warriors tear appart their enemies, the mages call down lightning and fire, and my stealth skills are all but lost in the fight. By learning to 'flank fight', I open myself up to become more adaptable in a fight. I can go into the front lines of a battle without fear, and make my presense known. I am working on perfecting my father's technique of crippling an enemy, by striking the important muscles or where they meet tendon. These skills combined have the potential to make my existance known on the battlefield.
But regardless of my skills on the battlefield, my true tallent will remain in stealth. The skills being taught to me for flank fighting only serve to hone my reflexes, my accuracy with a blade, and my stamina. All of these are also traits that will help me as an assassin. Because no matter what happens on a battlefield, I will know that I could slay any enemy I face if I snuck up on them, and dealt with them silently. Perhaps I can use that to my advantage among my kin to eliminate enemy mages while they deal with the warriors.
Cal'tana, the female dark elf, sent word to me of a job. It will be a relief to work for one of my kin, doing petty jobs to settle the squables of surfacers lost its appeal before the first job. In addition, it may be an opportunity to show my true skills to some of my kin who seem to have deemed me as useless. Hopefully, the job that awaits me is sometihng that suits my skills... An assassination. Perhaps I can earn my keep among my kin on this job. Because I know I will not fail, no matter what the task. My skill in stealth, in the shadows, is great enough that I am confident. I can handle whatever is thrown at me.
I need work... The longer I sit idle, the more gold goes to others with my same skills. Practicing stealth and dealing quick death on goblins and orcs only does good if you can put it to work on a real target. A real job has more complications, you need to be able to think on your feet. Orcs offer no such challenge, they are quick and easy to deal with. There is little chance of a plan going wrong, a need for quick thinking or reacting. In a real job, anything could happen. A trap could be triggered, a door be unexpectedly locked. These are things I may be losing practice in dealing with, since my skills are becoming more focused towards killing.
I have almost mastered the art of crippling enemies. Soon enough I will be a much more effective flank fighter, weakening enemies so that the brutes can finish them off. Although this will also help fighting alone from the shadows. Strike and weaken the enemy, and make the rest of the kill much easier for yourself.
I made large advancements in my skill today. I was in a group with a less-skilled stealth artist, and the beserker Magnus. I found my flank fighting to be very useful with him, and I saved his life on many an occasion by striking down the mage from stealth. These "assinations" saved the party several times and also allowed me to demonstrate my superiority to the foolish human, who seemed altogehter too sure of himself. Someone ought to put him in his place. But either way, he may prove useful. Vehl would be better without the Temple of Roferian... and he seems very keen to burn something down.... anything. Perhaps if his rage is directed he can prove useful.
I have mastered the art of crippling an enemy. It is not long before I can match my father's potential as an assassin. I have been recruited to work for the dwarf whom I worked for before, when I met Constantine. He has me working under the eye of Mikhail, a dwarf who seems to be short on words, like most of the dwarven people. However, he carries himself like a warrior. And if he has enough prowess in battle, his shortness of words is more than made up for by Mr. Thompson, the halfling of the crew. He is skilled with words, and I was told if I ever needed exotic poisons or other suplies, he would be able to coordinate it. And the last member of the dwarf's team is Oogie... I'm not sure what he... it... is. Some sort of ogre? With an oversized head? It matters not. He has impressive size and if I ever need intimidation or brute strength, he's the one to call on. Overall... The team that the dwarf has assembled is impressive, and it should be useful to complete the tasks I am assigned by the head dwarf.
*Kel sits down by the fireplace in his new house, exhausted from a long day of work*
Several interesting turns of events today with the organization... First and foremost, Mr. Thompson is a liar, a traitor, and a fool to cross my path. He was selling out the organization to the elves... Mikhail and I caught him in a meeting with the elves. Mikhail put a few arrows in Mr. Thompson, and together we killed Lothario, one of the three heads of the elves. So we lost an ally in Mr. Thompson, but the elves lost a member as well.
I also got to interogate my first victim today... A success in regards to the organization... but the assassin put a stop to the interogation before I got to information about him... by putting an arrow in the victim's forhead.
The assassin... He is a fellow dark elf, I discovered today... A kinsman. It is a shame to be fighting against a brother. Perhaps after the elves are dealt with I will face off with this assassin, perhaps in a civil manner or perhaps in a battle. Mikhail raised some questions about his motives... Perhaps he is just toying with surfacers. But Mikhail suggested he may be a shadow from my past, perhaps a victim of my family? The shadow of a shadow...
The elven organization has been taken down. I infiltrated the compound, boiled an alchemist with the assistance of a kitten named Mittens, and moved through the portals until I found the room of Andremar, the sea elven mage, who was in charge of security via a system of 'eyes', magical orbs that allowed him to see almost everywhere in the compound. I had no choice but to create a globe of darkness upon the room to aviod his spells, blocking both of our sights. However, I was fortunatly able to hear his ungraceful surface elven movements, not unlike a fish out of water. He was dealt with quickly enough, a poisoned blade to the chest put an end to his miserable life. I grabbed his enchanted trident and used it to destroy his security network. The explosion that resulted threw me against the wall, an impressive display of the magical power I so easily snuffed out. I then took a portal to the room of Torres, who proved a more difficult opponent than the mage. He managed to cast a spell between my blows that deafened and stunned me. He most likely would have struck a mortal wound if not for the suprise appearance of the other assassin... A fellow follwer of the Prince of Hate. Loathe to admit it but he saved my life, releasing a volley of arrows into the pitiful surface elf. Our combined force overcame Torres. However, the assassin disappeared before we could say more than a few words. Regardless, a good portion of loot was found in the compound's treasury, and the mission was a success.
But the elves struck a blow back, their final work. The boss of our organization, Kaerngully, was wounded badly by Mr. Thompson, perhaps fataly. He is in bad shape now, the doctor does not know if he will pull through. Regardless, it does not change the fact that Mr. Thompson must be gutted like the scum he is. A revenge kill is my favorite type of kill... One I will enjoy thouroghly.
Thompson is dead by my hand, vengeance has been repayed, and the scales have been evened. He struck the first blow against Kaerngully, and I struck the last.
I was quite disappointed by Thompson, in fact. For someone I used to look up to as a criminal mastermind, he was suprisingly easy to catch. He left a bit of a boat ticket at the very place he attacked Kaerngully, he stole fake gold, and he left a clear trail to where he was burying his treasure. I snuck up on him and killed him before he could make a sound, a perfect kill. More painless then the rat deserved. But if you let vengeance get in the way of a kill, try to make it too showy, give them a chance to fight back... That's when things go wrong. Its better to do what must be done quickly and quietly.
Mikhail said he had nothing more to teach me after the kill. My time with Oogie, Kaerngully, and Mikhail has come to an end. Of course, I'm sure I can still call in the odd favor, and vice versa... But no more consistant work. I suppose that makes me a freelance assassin now? An assassin. Full fledged. That has a nice ring to it...
I've taken to slaughtering the creatures of the swamp near Tilmar for practice. They resemble elves in form, their throats are just as easy to slip, their weak points just as accessable with a well-placed arrow. However, I don't believe them to be elves, or even my kin. They look the part, but they look almost lost, undead. But they are not undead, as they are weak to my critical strikes.
Nonetheless, they are good fun and practice to slaughter.
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Topic: The Surface (Read 1117 times)
