Thieves Guild

Thieves Guild - Prologue

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The moon above the land of Misteria was a full one tonight, Lorcan noticed. The glow it emmitted caught in the clouds and the gentle smoke rising from chimneys around the city of Talibut, and glanced off the polished helmets of the guards patrolling the streets.

High above on the rooftops,  Lorcan and three others lay prone, shrouded in shadow, their thick dark cloaks seemingly allowing them to meld into the rooftop. Anyone happening to look in their direction would see nothing, only the gloom that lay like a sheet on top of the city. Lorcan pulled his cowl low over his face and turned slightly towards the moon. A thick, dark cloud was about to pass in front of it. This would be the time to move, he knew. 

He silently moved up into a crouch, and his companions followed suite. Their padded boots were noiseless as they traversed around chimneys and illuminated attic windows. Wraith like and invisible, they leaped to the next building and continued. Lorcan's senses were finely tuned and he could see well at night. Now, sensing danger ahead, he skidded to a halt and hurriedly held up a fist as a warning to the others, who smoothly ducked out of sight. Lorcan dodged behind a protruding window.

A rooftop guard was looking in their direction. The slight movement of the mans hand on the pistol in his belt had caught Lorcans attention. He knew the man would be tired and bored. His careful examination of the stolen guard rota the night before told him that at this hour the guard was on the last leg of his watch, and so all attentiveness had naturally dissipated. He waited until the man had turned and then motioned the others forward once more.

Eventually the group came to a halt as the buildings in front of them dropped off to a large thoroughfare, beyond which was the Keepers' hall, who was the city official. Corrupt and power hungry, most Keepers had long since abandoned their duty to the people after having a taste of the wealth that came with their position. Lorcan examined the streets below and did a quick sweep of the area around their roof before he motioned to his second in command, Elspeth, who nodded and un-strapped the harpoon gun from her back. About a meter long, the gun was a modified whaling utility. Though once used to cut through thick whale skin and haul the carcass back to the huge ships that occupied the waters around Mysteria, this was transformed by the Thieves Guild to penetrate hard brick. Elspeth braced the gun on the side of her foot and cocked it ready, while Lorcan produced his timepiece from inside his cloak. Gears whirred as he looked at it. 11:55, they were early.

After a few minutes of waiting Lorcan tapped his forefinger to his temple, the Thief code for 'Get ready'. He could see the patrols that surrounded the hall. There were at least a dozen guarding the front. Unlike the roof guard, these were utterly committed to the Keeper and were switched out for fresh guards regularly. They would have to be careful. One false move could mean a Pistol round, and death shortly after. A deep chime reverberated around the city, which meant the clock tower on the Keeper's hall was striking twelve. Elspeth knew this sound would mask the release of the harpoon and the whistling it would make as it traveled to it's destination; the thick walls of the hall; not to mention the dull 'thwack' of the impact. She pulled the trigger. 

'Click'. The gun was jammed! She hastily pulled the release lever back and began re-setting the mechanism. Lorcan was calmly gesturing that she had ten seconds left before the chimes stopped, and the mission couldn't be continued. There was no way they could get into the Hall any other way, and without the chimes they'd be heard before they'd even got within five meters of the place. She smacked the cogs in annoyance and there was a satisfying 'clunk' of working order. Three seconds left. She re-braced the gun, aimed, and fired in one smooth motion. Elspeth was rocked back as the harpoon was propelled outwards. As expected, all sound was covered as the thick metal spike and the heavy cord trailing behind it scythed through the air and rammed into the stone wall. The group let out a collective sigh of relief. The planning that had gone into this mission was more than considerable. It would have been disastrous if it had to been abandoned.