“And then…and then…ahahah…would you believe, ahahahaha, he actually was wearing his, hahahaha, brown pants, ahahahah!”
A couple of other distinct voices joined in the merriment, making a total of at least three men present in the room. Squeaky Voice appeared to be the host, Lord Barker. The other two were Booming Voice, quiet in general, but with the loudest laugh, and Annoying Voice, who laughed nervously, and kept on trying to change the topic.
Iareth waited silently, hiding in the shadows, trying her best to stifle a sneeze. Infiltrating the mansion itself had been relatively simple. Now that she was inside, her task grew considerably tougher. To get to the safe, she had to cross the living room. Currently occupied by three men who appeared to have no intention of going to bed anytime soon.
Lord Barker got up, and opened another bottle of wine. A fruity scent wafted across straight to Iareth’s nose, once more forcing her to smother a sneeze. It was absolutely crucial that she not get caught in this mission. This was high-stakes, and after her last couple of failed missions, she was finding it difficult to retain her rank in the Guild. Her allergies were getting worse, which hardly helped, and were probably responsible for the last two failures.
She squeezed herself even more tightly into the corner next to the cabinet from which Lord Barker was selecting his drink. She was careful not to cast any extra shadows, and hoped her Camouflaging Cloak would help her out. She had been promised the manor would be an easy heist, with Lord Barker neatly tucked in bed at this hour. Her information had been faulty, and she would have to adjust. She’d had faulty information on her previous two missions as well.
“Oh, have you heard the one about, ahahhaa, the elf hooker? You know what they say about elvish women I hope. Otherwise you won’t get this one. Hahahaha”
Iareth frowned. Not this again.
Annoying Voice interrupted.
“I’m sure it’s a very amusing anecdote, Lord Barker, but I was hoping you would be discussing the Slinger issue tonight.”
Booming Voice agreed. He said, in a deep, rumbling voice, “I was about to suggest the same thing. What’s the latest update on the Slingers? How soon can we see them in action?”
Lord Barker returned to his seat and began to speak in a much lower voice. The other two pulled their chairs closer, providing Iareth with a little more space to manoeuvre.
“They’re close. Closer than you’d believe,” he whispered. “Everything is falling into place. The Mages don’t suspect a thing.”
The men drew even nearer, as Lord Barker’s voice dropped further. Iareth was tempted to eavesdrop – information was worth its weight in gold these days – but took the opportunity to sneak past the conspirators, edging towards her eventual destination – the master bedroom. This is where, if her recently unreliable informer was to be trusted, she would find the safe. She was not to peek inside, just collect the pouch, no looking, and bring it back to their client. No peeking, no looking, she silently repeated to herself, slowly glancing back towards the group, just to ensure they were all still quite captivated in whatever plot they were hatching. And she sneezed.
The three men all rose from their chairs, one of them knocking over a tiny table in the process. Quick as a flash, Iareth took out a vial containing a lime green liquid, and swallowed it whole. She shut her eyes and hoped the potion would do its trick. She double checked the label – Invisibility Potion, 15 sec.
“Did you hear that?” asked Annoying Voice.
“I bloody well did!” said Lord Barker. “Guards! Guards!” he squeaked.
No one showed up. Iareth held her breath. She slowly edged closer towards the bedroom door, thankfully slightly ajar, but not quite wide enough for her to squeeze through. She dare not push it open further, but she also knew the potion would soon lose its power. She cursed her Guild for not providing her with the 30 second version. Damn the budget cuts! They had refused to fund her further till her success rate improved. She hid next to a large suit of armour casting a convenient shadow, and realised the potion’s effects had worn out.
“Where are the damned guards?” asked Annoying Voice.
“I forgot. I gave them the night off, as I didn’t want anyone listening in on us. Or reporting your arrival. Don’t worry, it was most probably nothing. I still have patrols outside the mansion. Impossible for anyone to have snuck in.”
“Never mind all that” roared Booming Voice. “You said the Slingers have reached the North already.”
“Hush!”
After a couple of suspicious glances either way, he signalled them closer, and continued to whisper.
Iareth, now out of invisibility potion, and hoping her Camouflaging Cloak (Sneak +15) would be enough, slowly crawled on her belly, dragging herself towards the bedroom door. Bit by bit, she gradually squeezed through, pushing the door slightly further ajar in the process, hoping it wouldn’t creak and betray her presence. It didn’t.
Still on all fours, guided by the light creeping in from the other room, she crawled towards a large safe at the foot of the bed. At least her informer wasn’t totally wrong about its whereabouts. It was now a matter of having enough lockpicks. She had seven, four provided by the Guild, three from her personal stash. Just in case. You could never have too many lockpicks.
She stuck the lockpick inside the safe keyhole, and fiddled for a couple of seconds before the lockpick snapped. No problem, it helped her to identify the type of lock, and what approach was required. It was a Model SENQE. Rumoured to be waterproof. She wondered about its contents. As she manoeuvred her way through with her second lockpick, she smirked. Those gnomes built these Sentinel Safes, thinking each time they’d come up with the fool proof version. Idiots. Always acting too clever by half. She’d just need one more lockpick, would hang on to the other one. You could never have too many lockpicks.
As soon as it snapped, she quickly inserted her third lockpick to hold the unlocked pins from slipping back, forcing her to start all over again. Rarely ever happened to her anymore, and as she navigated her way through the rest of the pins, she managed to unlock the safe. Looks like you could have too many lockpicks after all, she thought, as she carefully opened the safe door.
Immediately, a loud alarm began to ring. Cursing the gnomes’ ingenuity, she hastily picked up the pouch inside. Wondering how on earth she would plot her escape, she distractedly gazed at the red pouch, tied up with gold string. No peeking, no peeking, the mantra ran through her mind as she slowly began to untie the knot. The alarm blared on, but she was oblivious to her surroundings, completely mesmerised by the contents of the pouch.
By now, all three men had entered the chamber, Lord Barker brandishing a huge fire poker clumsily. Iareth hardly looked up, gazing inside the pouch, fascinated by its contents.
As soon as Lord Barker raised the poker to give her a hefty blow to the back of her head, she stuck a finger inside the pouch and touched the black powder inside.
And disappeared.