“It seems you have friends in high places sir.” The young man spoke before simply bowing his head and leaving the tavern, obviously eager to get his assignments done and get out of the downpour as soon as humanly possible. Marick couldn’t blame him on that. It was as if the heavens had opened and the gods were simply releasing all liquids from their bodies…which in all honesty, wouldn’t have surprised him.
Marick’s attention then turned to the letter in his hands. The feel of the paper certainly felt of a higher quality than most, so whoever had sent this to him obviously had considerable money and perhaps considerable power. The way the envelope was wax-sealed was further proof of this. It’s neither Lord Matheson’s seal, nor Kara’s handwriting…who on Earthland could be writing to me…?” he thought to himself as he placed his thumb under the flap of the envelope and pulled it open, breaking the wax seal and revealing its contents; a single sheet of paper folded in two. A letter. Marick carefully took the letter out and opened it up, quickly catching another smaller piece of paper with some kind of instructions written on it. He decided it would be best to read the letter first to make better sense of the instructions.
Dear Mister Lowell,
With some interest I have taken notice of your most recent achievements. And may I say I find it quite admirable on what you have achieved. It made me think, that you might be the right person I am looking for. Not only because of your most recent fame, or your excellent skills in combat. But also you are a mage who is not affiliated with any guild.
For you see, the task I have for you is something that can't have someone from a legal guild. It would hurt my reputation. Nor can I ask someone from a dark guild. After all those mages are better not to be associated with. So that left me with only one choice, to find a capable unaffiliated mage who can be discreet.
What I ask of you is the following, at a mansion that is owned by one of sons of our esteemed Councilor Crawford. Is a ledger, probably hidden away inside the desk. This ledger however contains certain information that could severely damage my reputation. And it would be a shame that even the slightest bit of information is leaked. So I want you to retrieve that ledger for me and bring it back. So that none of this could ever reach the press.
More information on the exact whereabouts is inside the envelope.
Yours Sincerely,
Jonathan Glass
Marick couldn’t help but chuckle. ”Oh dear…we are in trouble aren’t we Mister Glass?” He mumbled in amusement. Nonetheless he gulped down the remainder of his glass of beer and placed it back on the table before rising to his feet, receiving a few looks from some of the other guildless men and women around him. ”Right then, I’m off out. Don’t expect me back for a couple of days.” he announced, before pulling on his trenchcoat and exiting the tavern in a completely relaxed manner. This job was exactly the kind of opportunity he was after to start proving himself. This was the first step.
The following morning wad certainly no better than the previous day. The rain had continued to lash against the windowpanes overnight, and now various fields were flooded, rivers were close to bursting their banks and the potholes in the walkways were filled to the brim with the descending water. Marick’s boot landed into one of these potholes, emptying it briefly only for it to be filled again within moments of his foot leaving. He was rather a fitting image in the current landscape; a black-clad hooded man stood in a dark-grey environment, his eyes staring straight ahead, focused purely on the task that he’d been set. He was a man on a mission and he was going to achieve it regardless of what the weather had in store for him. He’d been able to see his destination for a few minutes by now, and he knew he wasn’t too far away. The rain had hidden it from view for some time, but now the building was beginning to loom over him, meaning he was perhaps five minutes away from the gates. This meant he was also about five minutes away from the start of his task, and perhaps a scrap with the Rune Knights that - so he’d been told in the letter - would be guarding the building.
His steps began to slow as the gates came into focus. Outside of the gates were three men who, he assumed, were three Rune Knights who were being paid to guard the entrance. Marick ducked behind some rocks and squinted in an attempt to get a better view of these three. One of them was carrying a spear, and was wearing quite light armour. He was stood in the middleof the gateway. Then of course there were the two slightly larger men, one on either side of the gate. Their armor looked to be thicker than the first Knight’s, with metal plates on their shoulders and each holding a shield as well as their spears. The first man would be easy to take out, whilst the other two would take some time. However, if he focused on one of the bulkier men and failed to take him out then he’d still have to fight all three out in the open. Of course there could well have been another way in without fighting them…but then he’d just have to do the same on the way out, which may not be possible in the slightest. At least if he got into a scrap and defeated going in then he wouldn’t really have failed, since he wouldn’t be caught with the ledger. If he were defeated and captured exiting…well, that would be the end of any possibilities of pushing to be a guildmaster one day. It was a tough call. After all, even if he did manage to pass these guards twice without being noticed, there would probably be more inside and, without the weather and the terrain to conceal him, he’d be spotted within moments. This pretty much cemented the decision in his mind. It was time to get to work.
He quickly sifted through his deck to grab a card, then shuffled the rest and placed them back in his holder. He’d need them later. Carefully and as quietly as he could, he snuck around the side of the guards, pressing himself against the wall of the courtyard. Marick could feel his heart beginning to race as he was just seven or eight metres away from the guard on the left side of the gate. It was now or never. He gripped seven cards from his holder before quickly playing the one he already had in his hand; his trusted Black Joker. The guard in the middle of the gate fell unconscious to the ground as Marick appeared behind him and hit him hard with his elbow. The cards favoured him today as he gripped two cards from his hand and played them; two 6’s, one aimed at each of the other two guards as they turned to see their comrade unmoving on the ground. The surprise attack worked perfectly, smashing both men hard. Of course Marick couldn’t guarantee they were unconscious, and so he drew another card and threw his entire hand at the two guards – three cards for each of them. If the fireball didn’t KO them outright then the Discard Throws certainly had, as the two men crashed to the ground.
Marick stood in the centre of the three, taking a brief second to admire his handiwork before he began looking for a way into the building. There certainly weren’t any obvious entrances barring the gate. But the building and its surroundings were clearly quite old, and the wall had some stones loose in places. Using his initiative, Marick heaved out a stone that was sticking out more than the others. Some of the stones surrounding it were also loose and, after a minute or so, he had removed enough of the stones to squeeze into the interior of the courtyard. He’d have to be quick now though. If anyone were to spot that hole in the wall before he got back then he’d struggle to get out of the courtyard with the ledger later on. He pulled a couple of the stones back into place and stuck a flower into one of the gap so that he’d be able to find it later. It wasn’t perfectly concealed, but it was hidden well enough that it wouldn’t have been immediately obvious at least. With one last glance at his concealed escape route, Marick rushed towards the building and slipped in through a small door to the right side; the entrance he’d been advised to use by his client.
The room he’d entered was what seemed to be a kitchen, although it was currently empty. It was around 2PM, meaning the lunchtime rush had been finished, and there were around 4 hours until dinner would be served. Cooking would begin in around an hour he guessed, giving him only a very limited time to locate the ledger and get out of the vicinity. This sounded simple enough, but with the fact this mansion was massive and that there would undoubtedly be Rune Knights here and there, it was going to take a while to actually get the ledger. However, Marick did have a plan of action. The ledger is likely to be in the office of one of the Crawfords…if it holds some dangerous information then chances are it will be guarded until whoever has it gets the opportunity to spill its contents to those who’d amplify the damage…find the Rune Knights, find the ledger… And then he was off again, exiting the kitchen and ducking down behind a large statue. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and read through it. It was the instructions he’d received within the later, giving him the locations of each study in the mansion and which ones were usually guarded. Whoever this ‘Glass’ guy was, he was certainly thorough with getting his information. After reading the information Marick decided to head for the study that was closest to him. It was the study that was being guarded the most recently, along with another one around the corner. It could be either one, so needless to say he had to be careful here. He sifted through his deck again and grabbed the Black Joker. He’d only be able to cast it to get into the room, but that would be enough to discover whether that was the study the ledger was in or not. If it was, perfect. If not, he’d have to distract the guards outside or draw them into the room and deal with them in there, where the noise wouldn’t attract any further attention before heading to the correct room. A fifty percent chance of success. Marick smiled. He liked those odds. A proper gamble where he may not necessarily come out on top. He began crept up the steps, ensuring not to step heavily. With a hall of this size and with it being rather empty, the sound would echo like crazy.
The study he was going to infiltrate had two guards outside of the door. He was around the corner at the moment so they hadn’t seen him, but he could see them clearly and they looked a lot tougher than the grunts he’d dealt with outside. They were both wearing full plate armour, and were armed with a broadsword and a slightly smaller shield. From the looks of things these two were definitely higher up the food chain. Marick gripped the Black Joker and played it, immediately appearing on the opposite side of the wall. He looked around and took in his new surroundings. The study had bookshelves lining the walls, each filled to bursting with books on a variety of incredible and downright weird books. Whoever it was who studied here was either very curious or very odd…or both.
On the opposite side of the room from the door was a large window, beneath which was a desk. This was his priority and so Marick’s attention immediately turned to that as he walked over and began carefully opening the drawers. The first two simply contained documents, but as he came to the third and final drawer he found it wouldn’t open. ”Locked…bugger…” he muttered to himself. Still, this was a good sign. There was clearly something in there that the owner wanted kept safe and hidden. Marick looked around the room but found nothing he could really make use of to open the drawer; no keys, no long instrument to use as a crowbar, nothing. So he had no choice; he’d have to break into it by force, attracting the attention of the guards outside. With a quick inhale he flipped the desk upside down. That noise was loud enough, but the thudding from his fist smashing into the bottom of the drawer and eventually smashing through it would certainly attract attention. As his hand burst through, Marick felt around as quickly as he could. Inside he could feel a book, and so he immediately grabbed it and threw it into his pocket. He turned around just in time to see the two large guards bursting into the room.
For a few seconds there was no sound apart from the door creaking closed behind the Rune Knights. The wizard and the knights simply stared each other down. Marick gripped his cards and drew seven of them, before drawing an eighth as he drew a 2. ”What happened to knocking?” he asked coolly, before casting a 6, launching a fireball across the room. One of the guards blocked the hit with his shield, but that only caused it to down and hit the other guard in the stomach. However, the armour he was wearing took the brunt of the hit, causing the two to smirk. This didn’t look good. The first guard rushed forwards and slashed vertically, with Marick barely dodging the strike. By now the second guard was upon him and slashed horizontally, catching Marick’s arm. It cut through his coat, but narrowly missed his skin. The next swing was from a shield, which caught Marick straight in the face. He crashed to the ground stunned, with his back turned to the guards. They were approaching him now, one of them pulling out handcuffs. He could hear the chains jangling as the guard held the cuff loosely at his side. They said something to him but he was a little too disorientated to listen. Something was happening.
These two were too powerful for his magic alone. He needed something more. As if on cue he could feel something building up within him. As the handcuff were placed on him he was turned to face the two guards. They watched in horror as he closed his eyes and pulled his arms backwards, then dislocated his shoulders as he brought his arms around in front of him. His shoulders popped back into place as his arms reached his chest level and his eyes opened. The two guards watched in both horror and disgust. ”Your stomach’s clearly aren’t as strong as you are.” he said coolly, as one of the guards ducked to the side and vomited. The other guard was quickly struck down as Marick smashed both cuffs of his bonds over the Knight’s head, breaking them in the process. He could feel an insane amount of power within him, something he’d never felt before…and it felt amazing. ”Chimera Blood…so…the old man was right…” His attention then turned to the other guard, who was steadying himself against the wall. Marick gripped the first knight’s shield from the floor and brought it crashing down on the man’s head, sending him face first into the wall and down into the pool of what Marick assumed was the remains of his lunch that he’d brought back up. He straightened himself up and quickly looked at the book in his pocket. It was indeed the ledger he’d been sent to collect, and so he immediately placed it back in and fled the room. He wasn’t nearly as quiet as he entered the hall this time, as he burst down the stairs, back through the kitchen and to the wall outside. In one quick charge he broke back through the stones in the wall and was outside of the mansion’s courtyard. But he didn’t have time to rest. He kept running until he was at least half a mile away from the mansion, knowing all too well that one of the Rune Knights could wake up at any moment and alert everyone of what had transpired. The rain was lashing down even heavier now and once Marick finally stopped, he looked up to the sky and let the rain drench him as he caught his breath.
Last edited by Legacy on 16th January 2014, 5:47 am; edited 1 time in total
