Solo [Job Thread]Hot Package

[Julia Tristal]

Winter 30 515AV

With the thick layer of snow and strong winds from the north, courier work in the city of thieves and murders and criminals had not just become more dangerous, but also more lucrative. Less competition, means more jobs, more jobs and more hazard means more money, more money means happy Julia.

She had a contract to do this season, a bunch of mysterious packages hidden about the city, each package needs to get to a certain gang member or rich merchant somewhere hidden around the city. This was not a typical job for her, and honestly she was tempted not to agree to the job, but she needed the work and the money was good, and she didn't need to get the packages there in a day, she can lay it off for a week and still have time before the deadline.

She had curled her hair and prettied herself up, maybe she could get a thug to try and mug her. She always liked getting some extra loot, and if she's lucky, she can sell the body to the Nuits, creepy undead thingies. She couldn't care less about what they did with the bodies and what not, all she needed was cold hard cash.

With a skip to her step and a smile on her face, she walked through the snow, kicking it around like a little girl on her day off from school, carefree and happy. Something you rarely see in this place of misery and death. Of course, Julia was always an optimistic girl, always looking at the bright side of things even when clearly there were none.

The cold was something she never really liked, neither was the heat, Fall would be her favorite time of year, the fallen leaves were just so fun to jump in! She couldn't think about that now though, she needed to find a black package and then look at the card where she needed to deliver it to and then collect her pay.

Said black package was hidden under a small crate under an abandoned old house where plenty of people say is haunted and only an idiot would go in there, that or someone that has something to prove. Either way, she needs to prove herself to whoever is paying her that she can get the job done, so she might have a returning costumer.

She saw the old house now. It was actually quite a marvel, it was big, a mansion almost, it had a broken down picket fence that was moldy and rotten. It was obvious that no one has been here for some time... At least no one that wants to be found. The house was huge, and honestly anyone could hide here for a long time and not be found, go out at night and steal some food and you're pretty much solid for a good season or two.

Then again, it's just Julia trying to rationalize the situation. No one has seen any ghosts here, so anybody could be hiding out in there somewhere, and attack her as soon as she enters or something, then again it could just a crazy man's story and people are dumb enough to believe it. Heck, her father believed in ghost stories anyway, sure ghost are real and stuff, but does he actually believe that one ghost destroyed a whole city.

The old house was two stories tall, had rickety windows and a broken down fence gate. It was still a sight to behold... if she could take over the building, maybe she can move here with her parents and move out of that rat hole they call a home. The wood was rotten she could smell the stench of a rotting body, and if she could smell a rotting body in this cold, that would just mean it's either in a warm place or is fresh, or both.

She walked up the small steps to the main door, each step was creaking under the pressure of her steps. "Well, into the house of hai." She said and instead of opening the door gently, she kicked it in. Might as well make her presence known. She was in an unknown territory, and her enemy can either walk through walls or know the area more than her, if she was sneaking around, someone could spot her and then who know what.

She would rather expect the expected rather than the unexpected, how can you expect the unexpected if its unexpected-able? Just thinking about it made her head hurt a little. "Right, sorry to barge in 'ghosts' but I'm just here to get a package from..." She looked around and saw a dead body, it was wearing a felt cap and ragged clothes, probably either a robber or another courier.

She saw the package still held by the dead courier's arms. "... This guy, thanks for keeping it warm, buddy." She bent down to take the package, and as she took the package she saw a thin string tied to the man's chest. Glyphs! She quickly jumped out of the way, but she was still caught in the explosion, luckily it wasn't big explosion and she got out of the main blast of the area.

Still she was rocked and bruised, she was shaken but not stirred, she could still get out of here, she held the package tightly and took out her dagger. She scanned the room, but she didn't see anything or anyone. She took the chance to run through the door she came through and jumped out into the snow. She landed on the soft snow and laid there for a while. Ghosts couldn't make glyphs, could they?

"Ah! No time to think about that, time to see who I got to deliver this to." She took out the a small piece of paper tied to side of the box. She opened it up and read the note. "You've got to be kidding me..." The note said the recipent of the black package was in the old abandoned house she just came out of. "This is some sort of joke, right?" She sighed and went back in the building.

[Julia Tristal]

She jumped in back into the window and ran through the room and into some cover behind an old ruined chair. Everything seemed quiet, the first trap seemed to be the last, hopefully that meant finding her client would be easier. She peeked out of her cover and jumped over the chair. The eerie quiet of the abandoned house was very unsettling, like small crawling bugs under the skin, something you can't seem to see, but can feel.

She crept along the room, careful as she felt like she was being watched, she tucked the box inside her coat and moved around slowly, close to the walls. There were old, expensive looking paintings hung on the walls of the room, though it seemed that these paintings are too old and worn to be of any value to anyone, even the most avid of collectors.

There was a scorched rug in the corner of the room, and what looked like another black box. She was cautious as to what this was, was it some sort of sick joke from a very rich sociopath or a test to join one of the gangs or maybe just a ghost being bored and such.

She went over and slowly took the box, there was another string attached to the box, but she hadn't triggered the trap. She pulled out the dagger and cut the string attached to the box and took the box. "Right, this is weird." There was a note attached to the box with a name and the contents of the box.

"Hmm... The same recipient... Hmmm? One severed Zith head? Right... Not the weirdest thing I've delivered, but still up there." She said and tucked the box inside her coat, and made her way through the rooms of the building.

She walked through the kitchen, seeing that this was relatively cleaner than the rest of the house, it seemed that there was someone living here, someone very reclusive or very paranoid. Julia was sure Ghosts don't eat food. She noticed a small chest in the corner of the little kitchen, and there were signs of a fire recently, well... about a night ago maybe.

She pressed her luck and went over to the small chest, she bent down and pulled out a small leather case filled with the tools of her trade, and that didn't mean being a courier. She took out two metal picks and tucked the leather case back into her bag. She slowly put in the two picks and felt around the lock, looking for that "Sweet spot". She felt the tumblers inside the lock, trying to find the right spot, she was no expert, but she at least knew how locks worked... sorta.

After a few chimes, the lock clicked loose, dropping on the floor with a loud clang. She pushed open the lid and took a peek inside the box. There was nothing much of value, some dried meat, spices, and such. Nothing really worth "borrowing" from whoever lives here, she better get some more than what was promised, this was not part of the deal.

She closed the chest and felt a chill run down her spine as if something was breathing on her neck... Something or someone! She drew her dagger and turned around to face whatever was behind her, but she saw nothing, just the same dull kitchen she walked into. She could just be paranoid, but ghosts do exist, and an abandoned house in a city full of murderers and thieves meant a lot of people die on a daily basis, and maybe whoever lived here were killed slightly less justly than others.

She sheathed her dagger and sighed, she should check upstairs, though she doesn't exactly trust the stairs right now, it's a perfect place to kill someone, a little slip here and then a broken neck and death. She may or may not have a phobia of stairs, most likely not though, she would never let stop berating herself if she did have a fear of stairs! She would sooner die of embarrassment than the actual stairs.

She made her way back to the common room, where the stairs were located. She walked passed the dead body and then looked over to the stairs. The stairs were old and rickety looking, flimsy looking boards were bent up at the corners, this does NOT look safe at all. She sighed, there was no point in turning back, she needed the money to buy stuff! Stuff that would be cool to have! Like somewhere to hide a weapon, the dagger is cool and all, but a thin needle hidden in her hair or in her sleeve might be useful if she couldn't use her dagger.

As she went up the stairs, each step she took made the boards creek under her weight. This unsettled her greatly, with a small gulp she walked slowly up the stairs, looking around to see if something or someone was with her, floating or otherwise. "Calm down, if the recipient isn't here... I'll just leave the stuff by the door, yeah. That'll work... Hopefully." She tried reassuring herself with these words, it worked only a little, giving her a false bravery that she needed right now.

With a little smile she made it to the second floor. "Hello?! Anybody here?" She waited for a few chimes and then...

"Ah! Hello? Somebody out there? What is it?" An old elderly voice called from inside one of the rooms. A few tumblers and locks unlocking later, an old looking man, wearing slightly fancy clothes, though torn at some areas and the colors were very faded. His clothes looked like they were made from very fine velvet silk, giving it a bright, though slightly faded, red color.

The man gave an angry look, raising his walking stick to try and shoo away the intruder, but then he stopped and looked at Julia with an angry yet curious look. "What are you doing in my home? What business do you have with the master mage, wizard, warlock, enchanter that is me, The great Yuri!" The old man said with flair and Julia could almost hear a trumpet in the distance, or maybe it was just in her head.

"I come with a package, actually two packages. One from a dead guy downstairs and one from my costumer. I don't know what's in them." Well, not one of them at least She pulled out the two black packages and gave them to the old man. "Right, I'll be on my way then. Have fun being... alone?"

As Julia was about to turn back down the stairs, the old man grabbed her shoulder. She tensed and instinctively had her hand on her dagger. "Wait, I'm glad you were persistent enough to deliver these two packages, the least I could do is give you some tea or some bread, sadly it is a bit stale, and the tea isn't as good as it was a few chimes ago, the cold temperature cooled them down greatly."

Julia really wanted to get out of here, but she also wanted free food, Safety or free food. Free food won, hands down. "Right... Some food would be lovely, Mister Yuri." Julia said with a small curtsy and followed Yuri to his room. "I wanted to ask... I know this may sound a bit silly, but is there a ghost here? I'm not very fond of ghosts..." She said with a tiny smile.

[Julia Tristal]

"Ghosts? Oh heavens no! There aren't any ghosts here. Don't be silly!" He said with a laugh and followed Julia inside. "Well, except for my wife." With that follow up statement, a transparent ghostly figure appeared and walked through Julia, and then floated around Yuri.

The feeling of someone walking through was... unsettling to say the least. She shivered and watched the ghost and Yuri. "Well... A-Ahem. N-nice to meet you, maam." She said with a small curtsy, although a bit shaky. "If you don't mind me asking, what did I deliver to you?" She said with a slight curious look at the black boxes Yuri was carrying.

"Oh? Well, body parts of course. I miss my wife terribly, even though she's right next to me, I miss holding her in my arms, I'd do anything to have her with me again. So I am constructing a body for my wife using magic, experiments and research! Oh don't worry, I don't plan on killing you, I only order already dead bodies or body parts." With that he pulled out the severed zith head and placed it on the table. "I ordered a zith head since they were affected by a strong magic when they were created, so I assume their bodies react better to magic. Though I also have other parts here and there.

Julia coughed and noticed the two tea cups set on the table. "Were you expecting me, Mister Yuri?" She asked and took one of the cups.

"No, I always make two cups of tea for me and my wife here, though she doesn't talk, or eat or drink much anymore, this is just a custom I never really got out of my system." He said and sat down on a slightly worn leather chair. "Help yourself to some bread and tea, dear." He offered a tray of some biscuits and bread, they weren't freshly baked, but they weren't old and moldy either.

Julia took a round fluffy bun and took a small bite out of it. "This is good, though a bit hard on the outside." She said as she chewed. It wasn't very lady-like but she honestly didn't care, she had shown courtesy at the start and that was good enough. "I can't stay long though, Mister Yuri. I've got a few more deliveries before I can call it a day."

"I understand, child. Oh, I forgot to ask your name... You can come in whenever you like, my dear. Though... knock first and try not to set off any of my traps, I hate having to fend out a stray bandit or thug, so that's why I set up a few traps around. My wife rearms them after they've been set off, though she usually adds her own twist to it."

"My name is Julia, mister. And I understand, Sunberth can be very... rowdy at times. I must beg my leave. Thank you for the bread and tea, Mister Yuri." She said and gave a large smile at Yuri and his ghost wife. With that, she ran off to do her rounds.

[Aladari Coolwater]

Grades Withheld. Notes: 4 months inactivity. No seasonal expenses paid. Player PM'd.