Operation Winter Deliveries

by **Brandon Blackwing** on February 3rd, 2015, 8:47 pm

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Day 77 of Winter 514AV

Once again the bat studied the letter he’d received a couple bells ago, holding it in front of his face with both hands.

The stuff you requested has arrived. As promised, you can find it on my domain.

This includes:
-a cart
-a small crate of metagold (the magecraft material you wanted)
-a large crate with holes near the bottom, containing notebooks
-a crate with rope
-a crate with undergarments
-a uniform

Best of luck.

The letter wasn’t signed in any way, but it wasn’t that hard for the bat to figure out who had written it, or who had ordered someone to shove it underneath Brandon’s door. Solomon Kriegsfelt. It had taken a while for the merchant to gather everything the bat needed, though Brandon found it was surprisingly faster than he had expected. Magecrafting materials weren’t easy to find and really expensive, it was rather impressive Kriegsfelt had managed to get his hands on some –what was it again?- metagold in a day or ten. The power of money and wealth, it was a force to be reckoned with.

What time was it? A bit past midnight rest or so? It was probably a good idea to put his plan into practice as soon as possible. Even though the bat technically had time until a bit after sunrise or so, he preferred to go do something as soon as possible, if only to calm his nerves. This was the big moment, the time he had been waiting for! This was the chance to rid himself of Solomon Kriegsfelt, to free himself and Engghaen from his clutches. Just sitting around, waiting only made him nervous, if he was to start the operation though, his nervousness would subside, it always did. Besides, what if the Councilor would wake up sooner? Then he’d be in a pinch, his plan would be foiled. No, that mustn’t happen, he had to act as soon as possible. That and it wouldn't be that much longer before there was a changing of the guards, which would make it easier for him to get past them. They wouldn't be as alert, and would probably be thinking of their beds or so, looking forward to the end of their tedious shift. It was important that the thief arrived just a couple -maybe ten or so- of chimes before the changing of guards; the less alert they were, the greater the chances of success.

T

And for that exact reason, Brandon had made his way to the upper tier of the peak, to Kriegsfelt's mansion, where he found the cart with every item listen in the letter within the walls of the domain. First he checked if everything was in order, pleased with his observations. The crates could be opened with ease, and the one with the undergarments was not filled entirely, leaving enough room for Bran to hide the clothes he was currently wearing among them. Kriegsfelt knew exactly what he wanted, that made things easier on him. The cart was one frequently seen in Lhavit, usually pulled by an Okomo or by the person owning or renting it. It was also labeled, as to prevent thieves from stealing it. With black paint the words “Crow Delivery Service” were written on the wooden frame of the cart, the same label came back in the design of the uniform, where the words had been woven with orange thread on the left side of the chest.

With a sigh, the bat changed out of his leather armor –hidden under the reversible cloak no one had noticed- and put on the uniform, which was a bit too large, but only slightly. The bat was a bit skinnier than the average person it seemed, but that was hardly important. Both the thief’s armor, cape, weapons and tools were hidden somewhere in the middle of the pile of undergarments, and the lid was closed. Then, the Kelvic forced his memory to remember which chest was for the Councilor, only to notice that every crate had a piece of paper with the destination attached to it. Neat.

Everything was in order, the preparations were complete. It was time for action!

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credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on February 4th, 2015, 7:58 pm

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Taking action actually required quite a bit of effort; pulling the cart was harder than he’d anticipated, especially when trying to get it in motion. Otherwise it went pretty well, except when he had make a sudden stop because the people in front of him decided it was a good idea to quickly cross the road. If they were planning on agitating the bat they succeeded, and more than once the Kelvic yelled at them in frustration. Some apologized and others just yelled back, hurling insults and the like to his head. Eventually though, the bat could pass and continue his way, heading towards his goal using the fastest route available.

Of course, those were roads that were generally not taken by the multitude of the population of Lhavit, the roads that were tranquil and not crowded at all. Sure, it was longer in terms of distance, but it was better for his mood and swifter because he did not have to assume the pace of the crowd. Occasionally he had to stop because some guy was on a ladder, fixing the roof or something, or because an old lady was stepping out of her house, clutching her cane in one hand while the other searched for support by leaning against a wall, while she terribly slowly lowered one feet off of the step that lead to her door, as if it was some abyss she was descending in. All the while Brandon had no choice but to wait for her to finish that task, watch her fail to find her key for several chimes before she could close the door and headed to wherever she wanted to be, which apparently was the same direction Brandon needed to go. Frustrating, terribly frustrating.

So that’s what having a job is like, the Kelvic mused, I think I’ll stick to thievery…

Eventually, when the old woman had managed to enter the residence of her friend (which had also taken more than five chimes), the bat could regain his own pace, dragging the cart behind him. The next challenge did not wait in presenting itself though; to reach Elysium Hall he had to travel up two tiers, and that was not so great when pulling a cart. It was steeper than it had ever appeared, and never before had the bat had so much trouble traversing the city. By the time he had reached the second tier he decided he needed a break, giving himself a couple chimes to catch his breath and wipe away the tiny bit of sweat that had escaped his pores. And he still needed to up one more tier. I’ll never do deliveries again. Not even if it’s my disguise. I’ll find another way.

Yet, since he had no other choice but to press on and endure, that was exactly what the thief did, heading up the third tier to reach Alses’ mansion; Elysium Hall. Of course there were guards stationed by the gate and there was a patrol not so subtly always circling the domain, as to make sure no one invaded, a result of Bran’s earlier break-ins. It mattered little, something like this wasn’t going to stop him, and his disguise was perfect, so there was nothing to be worried about. No need to time the arrival of the guards, no need to figure out where there were others hiding, observing the mansion. With his disguise he could just enter without one them actually suspecting anything. Confident, the bat made his way to the gate, where he was stopped by one of the Shinya guards.

“Halt! What brings you to Elysium Hall?” spoke the guard, taking his task very seriously and obviously not wanting to let any criminal character into the domain. Too bad for him, criminal characters usually avoided the guards altogether and chose to hop over the low wall instead. Anyone with a bit of a brain realized this, but the Shinya did not waver in his determination to thoroughly question any visitor of the Hall.
“Ah, yes,” the bat started, relieving his arms of the burden of the cart. “I came to make a delivery. Councilor Alses placed an order for magecraft items a while ago, so I come bringing them.” The Shinyaman raised a brow and demanded to know what exactly it was Brandon had brought. To that the bat couldn’t reply, having forgotten the name of the material, but he just apologized and stated he wasn’t really familiar with the craft or the materials. He was but a simple delivery boy after all.
“Then can I have a look?” queried the guard in a way that made it clear he wasn’t asking.
“Sure, go ahead.” Brandon replied, already slowly walking around the cart to check the labels (and to make the Shinya believe he was a slowpoke, which should give him more time to do what he had to do), the Shinya on his heels. It made Brandon feel rather uncomfortable, those watchful eyes glaring at him, but he did not let it show. He couldn’t screw this up.

“That’s quite the collection of crates you have there,” the man commented, an eyebrow raised while Brandon found the right crate and lifted the cover, revealing the contents.
“Yes, indeed, I have a couple of other places to go deliver goods to as well. ” Again the guard raised his eyebrow, and this time stated he wanted to check the contents of all the crates. Getting a bit nervous and frightened, the bat could only respond that he was okay with that in order not to let any suspicion arise. Luckily for him –and thanks to some planning of course- the other guard interrupted. “Really? You’re going to check everything? It’s almost the end of our shift, only five more chimes or so, if I’m not mistaken. Let him pass and he’ll be out of here sooner, which means less trouble for us to deal with.”
“Yes, but still…” the man wasn’t convinced. Brandon wisely kept his mouth shut, since he figured it shouldn’t matter to a delivery boy whether his wares were searched or not.
“Besides, any suspicious character would chose to enter via the wall instead. It’s safer, for them, or so they believe. Like we’re so stupid to only have one patrol guard the domain.” A snort followed, as well as a fit of animated laughter from the both of them. Apparently, that was funny when you were a Shinya.

“Yeah, okay. You may pass. Be quick about it though, okay.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

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credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on February 6th, 2015, 4:10 pm

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The path from the gate to the door was not that long in terms of actual distance, but the cart and the weight the bat had to pull made it seem as if he had to cross the whole of Lhavit. The path was broad enough for the cart, fortunately, though he couldn’t take it with him to the front door, since the steps were in the way. It mattered not, he could managed to get a crate up there with ease… Probably. Once arrived, the bat walked around the cart, and started to drag the largest crate –the one he’d store Alses in- out of the carriage, and onto the floor, soon followed by the small crate which held the metagold. Both were labeled with Alses’ name. A hand rapped the door with its knuckles a couple times before the bat spotted the brass doorknocker attached to the wood.

Upon slamming the knocker into the spot it was meant to collide with, the bat could hear quiet footsteps nearing the door, turning a key and opening the portal. A distinguished gentleman in a butler uniform stood in the opening, letting his gaze drift over the bat’s form for a split-tick before politely questioning what he could help him with. Brandon of course claimed to be a delivery man of the Crow Delivery Service, a statement backed up by the uniform he wore. He then continued with saying he came to deliver a couple crates the councilor had ordered, containing magecraft materials, and asked if she was around to confirm this. Of course, Brandon knew well enough that she wasn’t –well, she was, but she was asleep- and the butler –who introduced himself as Silver- worded Brandon’s thoughts, confirming them.

“Then, shall I come back another time..?” Brandon spoke hesitantly, but the butler shook his head. “No, her Grace would be furious if she knew. The sooner she has her materials the better, I’m certain whatever project she is working on has a deadline too.” He opened the door as far as possible, and waved his hand, gesturing for Brandon to bring the crates inside. “Place them in the hall, if you don’t mind,” he said, then stepping forward to help the bat with the largest of crates, the smaller one on top of it. When they passed the door, the bat used his elbow to pull the portal to a close, so there wouldn’t be any spectators for the next part.

Once the crates had been placed where Silver found they were out of the way, he asked if he could check the contents of crates, which might have been triggered by the thief closing the door behind him. Brandon agreed of course, believing it would serve well as a distraction. Right now it mattered not that the man had some suspicions, the thief was inside and so were the crates. It was too late. The time Silver should have checked the contents was before he’d let Brandon enter, but he had not, for whatever reason. Maybe he hadn’t thought about it. Perhaps the man wasn’t suspicious at all, maybe he was just curious. It mattered not.

Brandon stalked closer quietly as the butler opened the small crate, and studied its contents with an interested sort of humming noise. He commented on some aspect of it, something Brandon did not care enough for to actually process what the man was saying. With just a couple steps, Brandon stood right behind the butler, reaching down and wrapping one arm around the man’s neck, the other pushing the butler’s head towards his elbow. Silver couldn’t scream as his trachea was cut off and breath could not enter nor exit his lungs, but struggling he could, and he did. But it was no use, Brandon firmly kept his hold in place, squeezing the man’s neck with his arm, ignoring the butler’s struggle. It didn’t take that long for the butler to go completely limp, knees failing, and struggle ceasing, but the bat did not undo his hold, instead he just relaxed his grip, only wanting to render the human obstacle unconscious.

The technique known as ‘sleeper’ did render an opponent unconscious quickly, but recovery was as fast, and therefore Bran did not release the man immediately, wanting control once the butler would wake up, so he could easier knock him out with a different technique. The reason why he hadn’t started with striking the temples –like he would do now- was because there was a chance that the man would notice last tick and move, which could result in Brandon striking a different area of the skull. Now however, that wasn’t something he had to worry about. Silver’s body steadied itself, the man regaining consciousness and control of his body, though still a bit dazed, no doubt. Wasting no time, Bran let go of the butler’s head, yet the neck was still held between forearm and bicep, and struck the temple quickly with a knuckle. Once again, the butler went limp, but for a longer while this time. Then the thief released his victim, gently laying him on the floor, opened the largest crate, grabbed some rope and started tying the butler up, removing the man’s gloves so he could stuff them in the man’s mouth later – a gag of sorts.

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credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on February 8th, 2015, 5:06 pm

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There was no way Brandon could be considered competent in tying knots, but he did not need to be to actually tie up a butler. If there was no quality, he’d go for quantity. So, the bat tied lots and lots of knots, until the man’s feet and hands had been trapped in an intricate network of knots that would be hard to undo, or at least intimidate anyone planning to. Unless of course they had a knife or dagger, or had a keen insight in how exactly to go about the task of untying the rope. It mattered little, the man would get loose eventually, but in case it happened sooner rather than later, Brandon decided to stuff him in a closet or so, or in a room that could be locked.

However, seeing as this guy was a butler, he probably had a master key or something, so locking him in a room while he still had the key on his person would defeat the purpose. For that reason, Brandon then looted the man, pilfering any object that could be used to open doors with and hid them in a potted plant that was standing nearby. Then, Silver was thrown over Brandon’s shoulder and with some effort transported to one of the few places Brandon knew the location of, namely the library, though he did realize along the way that it was rather far of and would take too long. And Silver wasn’t exactly a lightweight butler…

So in the end, Brandon found a room that was unlocked, some kind of guestroom or something alike, placed Silver in there and closed the door. Lockpicking tools –which he had not stored with the rest in the undergarment, because they came in handy every so often- were fished out of his pocket so he could lock the door. It wasn’t all that different from unlocking the door, really; one only had to apply the torque in the other direction, which was what Brandon did. His pick moved subtly, playing with the pins, pushing them up, persuading them to stay there and those that did not listen were forced. He pried and pushed, turned and twisted his wrist until all the pegs were set in place and the cylinder could be turned, the latch closing and locking the door. And that was that. One obstacle removed.

Through the hallways the bat walked, heading back to the entrance hall, noticing much to his annoyance that the corridors still echoed, sounds bouncing off the walls and being sent to everywhere, both far and close by within the mansion. Yet, there was little need to be sneaky this time, so Brandon did his best to ignore it, instead focusing on doing his job a little faster than usual. He wasn’t exactly running, but it wasn’t just walking either, something in between, a gait that brought him to the front door in less time than his pace had distanced him from it. How much time did he still have left? A chime or two? Maybe three, if he was lucky, if the Shinyaman had been a little off. Either way, it would be wise for him to speed up a bit, it wouldn’t hurt.

Well, he’d have to be swift and accurate, making mistakes would mean failure, and failure could not be accepted. Not now, not when he was so close! With two treads at once the bat flew up the stairs, legs launching him up and forward, allowing for a quick covering of distance. His breath went in through the mouth, maximizing the air intake and thus the energy converted into movement and speed. It did not matter he might exhaust himself when reaching the Councilor’s bedroom, he had to make it! He had to!

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credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on February 11th, 2015, 4:37 pm

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And so Brandon sped through the corridors, passing rooms with doors both opened and closed, feet drumming on the marble floor, sending echoes through the mansion. It did not bother him, he was in a hurry, there was no need to be sneaky anymore and thus he ran. By the time he had made it to Alses’s bedroom –which he had reached in little time, really- he was already panting heavily, a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead, which he quickly wiped away with a sleeve of his shirt. Was he tired? No. Out of breath? Yes. The dash had been a little too speedy for him to actually not break a sweat, but adrenaline more than made up for that.

The downside was that his hands were now trembling, and upon testing the door, he almost screamed in frustration, now aware that it was locked. Alses seemed to have learned from the past, but it should pose no real problem… only, it did, since his hands were trembling and he couldn’t really think straight anymore. Was this a light panic attack? Nerves? Stress perhaps? Brandon did not know, nor did he care, the only thing he focused on was picking the lock of the door sealing the entrance.

Trembling did not make it easier on him, it was quite the opposite in fact, it felt as if he was sent back in time. Or maybe as if his skills had been swapped; a beginner, that was how it seemed right now. Though, a simple lock such as this one shouldn’t be able to stop him even if he was temporarily back to novice fingers and overly hasted state of mind. A couple deep breaths were to calm him down a bit, however it barely had any effect.

Having no other option than to wrestle with the lock, Brandon started working, but his efforts yielded no results. He was too forceful, the torque changing to drastically and more than half of the pins he tried to push up slipped off of his trembling tool, or came back down. This wouldn’t do, like this he did not make any progress at all. With a sigh, Brandon closed his eyes for a couple ticks, and focused on his breathing. In fact, the bat forced himself to calm down, determined to go about this as fast as possible. Not the correct mindset to actually be calm, but hey, it was worth a try, no?

To aid in regaining his usual calm, Brandon started to encourage himself, thoughts presenting facts that served to calm him, they were reassuring and brought him peace of mind. Reasons to be calm, lectures of his mother and the image of what it would be like to fail; strangely enough, this combination was more than potent to bring the bat back to his usual state of mind. His hands stopped trembling, and his eyes opened. Had it been long since he’d first started on the door? His mind told him it had only been a chime or two, three maybe. Brandon sighed and shrugged. Just continue with what you’re doing, Bran, there’s no use in panicking, it will only waste your time.

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credit goes to Euthisa

by **Brandon Blackwing** on February 16th, 2015, 8:03 pm

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Once calmed down, the lock proved no challenge at all; few pins, rather big in size. The only thing he'd have had trouble with -if this had been seasons ago- was the torque and the shifting of it so the pins would stay up in their casings. Now though, it was about as easy as putting on a shoe, or slipping out of a shirt. The latch gave in and retreated shamefully upon defeat, allowing Brandon to enter the chamber it was supposed to lock. Rather dark inside, yes, but no problem, by leaving the door wide open, the light coming from the corridor illuminated the room more than enough to change black into twilight, and the bat could see what he was doing.

Upon the bed there lied a pale creature, with gills moving as she breathed, and scales glittering slightly, reflecting the light of the skyglass. Compared to the shiny Ethaefal the Councilor was by day, this young female was but a pale shade, and in fact, comparing them almost was a crime in itself. Surprisingly though, Brandon liked this form more than the Synaborn form, simply because he found she was too perfect by day. It was wrong for some reason, it felt wrong, her walking the earth was akin to him being invited by the gods to have some tea with them. Or a beer or two.

Arms pulled away the bedsheets and picked her up gently, carrying her back to the corridor carefully, his nose picking up the same scent he'd smelled a couple seasons ago. The drug no doubt, tainting her breath and holding her consciousness hostage in the realm of dreams and slumber. It made things so much easier. While the Kelvic was not hurrying through the hallways anymore, he did stick to a rather fast pace, wanting to have the … Konti?... in the crate as soon as possible. If he was spotted now, he could forget his freedom.

The stairs were descended with care, the bat not wanting to risk a fall and the possible awakening of the Councilor, followed by screams for help. Eventually, Brandon made it to the large crate, placed Alses on the floor for a tick while he took away the lid of the box and emptied it a bit. Then, the councilor was once more picked up, only to be lowered into the crate, nested between lengths of rope. Uncomfortable no doubt, and she'd definitely feel it once she woke up, but Brandon couldn't care less. There were no crates that came with soft mattresses embedded in the bottom, so ropes would have to do. The ropes he'd thrown out were placed back inside, ordered so the councilor would not move all that much, and so she was not all that visible anymore, covered by the wires. Not too much were laid on top of her of course, she needed to be able to breathe. Otherwise he really would have a problem!

With the crate closed again, Brandon used his foot to create an opening between the wood and the floor so he could slide his arms underneath the crate, lifting it up with a lot of effort, bending backwards to compensate for the weight. Step by step he made his way back to the door, his elbow used to push the lever-like knob down and open the portal, a foot pulling it to a close behind him. Panting rather heavily, and arms already starting to burn, the bat reached the cart, and placed the crate on it as quietly and carefully as he could. Then, he left, pulling it back to the front gates, one of the guards walking his way rather hurriedly, a scowl on his face.

“I thought I'd told you to hurry up!” The best Brandon could do was muster a nervous smile and rub the back of his head with one arm, the cart having come to a stop. “Aha ...ha... ha... yes, I'm sorry, Mr. Silver offered me a drink and I couldn't resist,” Brandon lied, hoping the Shinyaman would think the sweat on his head was because he truly was nervous to be scolded by a guard. “I'm very sorry, sir.” He bowed at that, visage facing the ground, as to emphasize his apology. “Yeah yeah, just hurry up and get out of here. You're lucky the others are a little late. Saves us a lot of trouble.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

And with that, Brandon set himself and his cart back in motion, dragging the transportation for the crates through the gates and away from the mansion, headed to the shack he'd been planning to use.
There his freedom would be put at stake, and he refused to lose it. He would not be rid of his freedom. The beginning of Kriegsfelt's end was near.

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credit goes to Euthisa

by **Neologism** on April 13th, 2015, 6:38 pm

Hey! Great thread! I must say, I really do enjoy your style of writing. Not sure if you do this naturally or you've worked towards this, but you have an excellent balance between detail and movement within each post. You go through the plot at a nice pace which isn't too slow or too fast, and it makes your writing very pleasant to read. Please edit your post in the request thread as 'Graded', thanks.

Skills:

Lores:

NOTE: Just in-case anyone is checking up on me, I have confirmed that Alses gave her consent to be kidnapped.