[First to leave, first to arrive. Nick arrives back at Crossroads on his as yet unnamed horse. This being the middle of the night, the streets are pretty well deserted, though some light can be seen from the general vicinity of the Temple of Wal, God of Merchants, He Who Will Not Be Undersold.] [Mini... START!] * Nick rides his horse, now named 'Stu', towards the Temple of Wal. * As Nick nears the main marketplace, he becomes more and more certain that the Temple of Wal is still open, even this late. ..Of course, it's open late. * Nick sighs and keeps heading for it. * As a matter of fact, the Temple IS the source of the bright light, as the massive yellow smiley face is radiating sunlight, and light streams from the first floor and several of the higher windows. * Nick stops right in front and looks for a place to tie Stu up. * There are hitching posts and troughs out front. More than a few of them. There's also a stable with an attendant. * Nick dismounts, a bit easier than he got on, and leads Stu over to the attendant. "I'm just going in for a minute, how much?" * The stableboy's nametag reads "Hi, My Name Is: Istvan". He looks up tiredly at Nick and holds out a hand. "Two bits." * Nick struggles mightily to keep the laughter in, handing over the reins and seven copper pieces to the stableboy. * Istvan takes the reins and gently leads Stu away, mumbling softly to the horse. * Nick checks to make sure his weapons are peacebonded, straightens his clothes, and heads into the Temple proper after wiping off his boots. * The inside of the temple is well lit, but still seems somewhat... dim compared to earlier. A pretty brown-haired woman of perhaps twenty five years bows to Nick as he steps inside and says cheerfully, "Welcome to the Temple of Wal." She smiles brightly as she straightens up. Hey. ..How do you get that big smi-- welcoming face to light up? * The girl's nametag, which Nick hasn't really noticed up to this point, says "Hello, My Name Is: Rebecca". She continues smiling brightly, though she looks a little confused as she answers, "Magic, of course. The blessing of Wal shines brightly in the darkness." Huh. Anyway.. I'm leaving town kind of soon, and I was wondering if I could get one of those symbol-things. Certainly. Follow me. ^_^ * The smiling greeter walks off into the labyrinth that is the temple of Wal's first floor. * Nick shrugs and follows. * Rebecca leads the way to a large shelf of smiley face necklaces of varying sizes. She turns back to look at Nick and asks, "What kind of symbol were you looking for, precisely?" Kind of smallish, really.. What's the difference in price? * Rebecca smiles brightly and begins speaking as if by rote, "Your basic holy symbol. Made of sturdy wood, priced at twenty solars. Not especially blessed, but good for most purposes." She moves on to a slightly smaller one and continues, "Made of chemically treated silver that won't tarnish, this one is much more difficult to break, dent, or otherwise damage. Fifty solars." * She moves on to a MUCH larger symbol, about the size of a hubcap and continues, "This symbol is the first of the specially blessed symbols, excellent for the adventurer expecting to encounter undead. A steal at only three thousand solars." I think we've gone a bit past my price limit.. * Rebecca smiles brightly, not that she ever stopped, mind, but still. "I understand, sir. Would you prefer a wooden symbol or a silver one? I personally reccommend silver, as it's effective in a pinch against were-creatures." Silver would be nice, but fifty sounds like a bit much.. You're paying for quality, sir. This symbol is guaranteed never to tarnish, not even under the assault of the dreaded rust monster. ..By the way, what do you mean, 'were-creatures'? Werebeasts. Humanoid creatures capable of assuming the guise of a specific animal. The most common are werewolves and wererats, though you generally only get wererats in the big cities. ..Are there weretigers? Yes. If you'd like more information, I can guide you to the book section, where we have copies of Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Professor Van Richten is a very reliable source. ..How much are those? * Rebecca thinks for a moment. "I believe they're priced at a hundred solars each." * Nick grimaces slightly. "Back to the holy symbols.. Couldn't you, say, knock the price down to forty or so?" For a follower of Wal? Certainly. * Nick digs into his pouch and pulls out, miraculously, four platinum pieces. This is enough, right? * Rebecca gently takes the beautiful smiley face symbol down from its place on the wall and exchanges it for the coins. "Please note that the rear can be used as a mirror, thanks to the anti-tarnish treatment." ..Huh. Cool. * Rebecca smiles brightly. "Would you like to see those books now?" That's alright.. I'd like to see one of your priestesses, Tanisha. I'm afraid she's not available. Ah, well. Mind showing me the way out? It's kind of mazey in here. * Rebecca smiles brightly and begins walking through the labyrinth. "Certainly. Just follow me, sir." * Rebecca leads the way back to the main entrance, then bows once more to Nick. "Go in the light of Wal, traveler." * Nick nods and smiles. "Thanks. You too." * Nick heads outside. * Istvan looks over at Nick. "Will you be requiring your horse, sir?" That's the plan. * Istvan heads into the stable. There's a light thump, then a tiny man, perhaps four feet tall, with a rapier sheathed on his hip, comes out leading Stu. There's a prick between Nick's shoulders. * A small voice pipes up from behind Nick. "Just play it cool and everything will be okay, bud." * Nick sighs and shakes his head. Not gonna do this the easy way? * The tiny man leading Stu brings the horse over to Nick. The voice behind him says softly, "Mount up. We're goin' for a ride." This might not be the best idea.. Mount up. You've got an appointment with Mother. * Nick shrugs and mounts the horse. * Somebody mounts quickly behind Nick, reaches around and takes the reins, and begins directing the horse down some back alleyways. * The dagger held at Nick's neck has thankfully warmed up by the time the winding path through the back alleys has completed at a small complex of run down shacks. The person behind Nick prods him with the knife. "Dismount and wait." * Nick sighs, dismounts, and waits. * The mysterious person dismounts and gestures to a door. Nick can now see that she is a stunningly average woman, if a tad flatchested. The only interesting thing about her at all is the slightly pointed ears. "Inside." * Nick goes inside, shaking his head. * Inside the simple shack is a tiny woman, perhaps three and a half feet tall, sitting behind a table with one chair apparently waiting for Nick. * Nick warily eyes the chair, before sitting down. "What's up?" * The tiny woman speaks, her voice oddly larger than her body. "You can call me Mother. I'm the leader around here." ..Leader of what? The thieves' guild, of course. ..What's a thieves' guild? * Nick looks slightly confused. We're an organization of similarly-minded people banded together for mutual safety. In this case, creative redistributors of wealth. ..Okay. You, at this point, are what we refer to as a freelance redistributor of wealth. This morning, you successfully burglarized the jewelry box of a jeweler's wife. I dunno, it was kind of close, hiding in the underwear and all.. *** Rowyn has left IRC Yes, it was. The point, however, is that even inexperienced as you are, you pulled off a daring broad-daylight heist. And yet, you are a freelancer. You've poached on our turf. Ah-heh. Sorry? I'm afraid sorry doesn't quite cut it. * Mother puts special emphasis on the word "cut". ..Erm, well.. I'd give you the money, but those traps were really expensive.. Stupid weretiger. You should have used guild-approved traps. Much easier on the resources, really. You'd have known that, had you come to us. I didn't really know you were here. Or existed. He never mentioned guilds.. He? My, ah, mentor. Our resources say you came in from the south. That would be Blind Edward, then? Yep. Why he stays in that sad little town of his, I'll never know. Anyway, the way I see it, you've got two options. And because I'm me, that's the way YOU see it, too, capice? ..Sure. Your first option is to stay freelance. This means you pay twenty percent of your take and walk away from here with your skin intact. If you can't pay up, we'll take it out of your hide. Your second option, and note that I'm only giving you this option because you've adequately proven yourself, is to join up. You'll have access to our tools and equipment, the best teachers available, and generally have a much easier time of things. The second option sounds fine. You okay any jobs with us first. Jobs you bring to us, the guild gets twenty percent off the top. Jobs we give you, we take eighty percent off the top. You do anything without permission, we leave you for the watch. Um, one question.. Yes? I'm part of a group, and we're kind of heading off to Gateway soon.. Then when you get there, you put out the word, and the guild there will find you. Alright. ..They won't make me go at knife-point, I assume. Not if you report in as soon as you arrive, no. They might blindfold you, though. That's life, I guess.. And, uh, have you ever seen this before? * Nick holds up his palm. Only in VERY old tombs, and not personally. * Nick shrugs and lowers the palm. "Alright." In ancient times, it was always inscribed on the tombs of great heroes. Hey, cool. Can I, ah, go now? No. You need some... education first. * Mother motions to the woman who brought you here, and speaks gravely, "Take him away, teach him the basics. See that he knows enough to not get killed the first time he runs into a rival guild." * Nick blinks. "..Rival guild?" Yes, rival guild. Go. * Nick shrugs, stands, and follows the woman. [Session... END]