trans_9 | Monsters and Mazes

"It's personal" The old crone snapped and then turned on the Dwarf, "Do I have to plan the whole scheme out for you? It shouldn't be that hard for you two to pull a fast one on the stuffy blue bloods." She really didn't seem to like Clamor as much as Ellise.

The Dwarf rolled his eyes at the woman and crossed his thick arms. "Yeh, cos I remember seein' SO MANY Dwarves among nobles, righ'? Yer bein' righ'ly rude fer someone o' wants a favor done fer'em, ye crone."

Yeah...he probably won't be making that diplomacy check.

Ellise made a hushing motion towards Clamor and frowned.

"Tis' fine, in the end it be a mutual arrangement. Jus' be warned that I don' take betrayal lightly." The words were sweet when uttered, but that poisonous warning had a very dangerous undertone.

"We'll be makin' preparations. I take it you're the type to 'find us when da deed be done' den?"

"I'll be keeping my eyes and ears open." She nodded and reached into her cloak drawing out a scroll. "This here's a map of the city. The party is to the north. There's also some alleys marked that lead to the sewers in case you need them.

The Dwarf looked positively displeased, but he remained silent through the old woman and his companion's exchange. Even during fake adventures, he got the jerk treatment. Suddenly a thought hit him that wiped his previous annoyance away.

"Ellise," the Dwarf started, sounding more like 'Nokosi' than 'Clamor'. "I don't know how what to do at a noble's party. How am I going to 'fit in'?"

Ellise smiled and held unto the dwarf's arm. "Dear, I'm feeling kind of miffed, I don't think this is the right place for me."

She hurried off with dwarf in tow until they were ways away from earshot. Once she was comfortable enough, she smiled. "We won' be goin' as nobles dear friend. We'd stand out like a daisy in a sea of grass. We'll be going as entertainment." She mused, giving him a wink.

A fair enough plan if there ever was one...especially because...

"Hey!!" One of the adventurers that had been ripped off shouted, "Who's got my money bag? Someone's ripped me off!!!"

Cries of outrage as more of them found their money missing.

"Wot?" Clamor questioned. The Dwarf opened one of the many pouches strapped across his waist to do a check on his items. With a furrowed eyebrow and a frown, he looked up at the mass of unruly people.

"Why tha's an outrage! Someone call th'guards! Tha' yellow-bellied sea-snake knickin' goods wonnae get away with it!"

He wasn't even aware that Ellise had pick-pocketed half of the adventurers in the bar, he just assumed that was the appropriate reaction for a Dwarf to have.

"Right! We'll go call 'em right this instant~" She mused in a sing-songy voice, sounding as much of a maiden in distress as she could.

With a sly grin on her face she tugged on the dwarf's arm whether he wanted to leave or not.

The city itself was cool this evening but the flickering lights of shops and houses gave off a sort of warmth that kept people moving. Shop keepers were closing up their stands and children were being called in for bedtime. The guard was starting their evening shift and the sounds of merriment drifted down from the nicer neighborhoods up the hill.

When they had gotten far enough from the bar that the yells and shouts were a distant memory, Clamor turned his blue-eyed gaze up to Ellise.

"Oy, lass. Tha' plan ye had fer the...ball or party or whatsit. Wot type o' 'entertainment' did'ye mean? Nae so sure tha' those 'blue blood' types'll appreciate th'fine an' long tradition tha' is Dwarven storytellin'!"

"Aye, they might not, but a flashy lookin' dwarf with a 'dancer' will peak the interests of any'a male." She gave him a knowing look with a smirk.

"You remember how heads be turnin' when one o' my sisters walked into the noble quarters back home aye? Let's not even go into either of my mothers."

It wasn't a long walk to the nicer part of town, the party seemed to be taking place withing a circle of grass and spread out to the surrounding street. Temporary carts had been set up by vendors with food and trinkets, and everyone was in their finest. It was like a royal ball under the stars.

Everything from the streets to the buildings had a special sort of shine to them. Everything just seemed better here.

And why shouldn't it? These people had few cares.

"So wot's th'type o' sound ye'll be wantin' ol' Clamor te play, lass? An will I need te be beatin' th'low-willed men and women offa ye once we're done o'er here? I'm allowed to put an arrow between their eyes here, right?" His accent slipped back to 'normal' during the last sentence and he paused for an awkward few seconds before speaking up again, this time in a whisper.

"Oy, Ellise. Widnae be a fine idea if we talked about how we're gonna get tha' necklace? We ken 'wing' it if ye'd like."

Ellise shrugged and wave her hand dismissively in the air. "Mama always said planning ahead only leads to screwin' up. There will always be the unexpected, and since we dun' know what, who and how the party's gonna be like, or how heavily guarded it'll be, there'd nah point in plannin' other that to keep close together for safety."

She smiled back at him sweetly. "Which I know you will love, you always have." She spoke the last words in a hushed sweet voice before winking at him, turning on her heel and moving along to where the party seemed to be held at.

"Far as the beat, gimme sometin' wit a fast tempo. You know I love ta move a lot."

The whiskers of his impressive beard turned up slightly, which was either a sign that he was about to sneeze or that he was smiling.

Unplugging the cork in his jug, he threw his head back and took a large gulp before slamming the cork back in place. "Alrigh'! Let's get th'show on th'road, lass!"

Turning his jug on its side, he began to play the thing like a drum with the quick and upbeat tempo his companion had suggested.

Almost instantly Ellise began her sultry, mobile dance. Her hips moved to the tempo as her hands waved in mesmerizing patterns. She had always enjoyed moving her whole body when dancing, part of it because it was how she fought as well. She moved in and around some of the people in the party incredibly fluently as well as showing her incredible flexibility and grace as she arched her back incredibly far, or performed perfect splits and flips, always keeping her sweet, beckoning smile on her face, half of it covered by the drape that was her raven black hair.

Alas, the dance was also the means to acquiring said items of importance, targeting people who were out of view, distracted, and didn't seem like they'd notice anytime soon, if at all. Specially targeting those who had found the drink section a bit too early in the night already.

It was working like a charm! The sultry dance drew eyes of those within sight, and they soon fell silent and slack jawed. They'd never seen an elf quiet like her before.

And that silence spread as people's chatter fell to whispers. Save for the band on stage who looked as if they were annoyed at being upstaged, but soon joined in with the Dwarves rhythm playing along as best they could.

Men's eyes were covered by jealous wives or their cheeks were slapped, even some of the women were awestruck though they did they're best to hide it (As such relations were just not had in the upper class. Not publicly at least)

And there was the necklace sure enough. It's owner was one of the girls who's face was red and trying to pretend she wasn't looking. Her entourage stood about her tense and stiff faced though they too watched.

Ronnae danced more vividly dancing towards the girl and smiled, "Why so shy? It's a party no? Then enjoy yourself lassie." She gave her a sweet smile and a wink before twirling away, continuing her sultry dance and flexibility display, making sure to keep the girl in her sights.

As he continued with the music, his eyes darting between Ronnae's form and and the girl with the necklace. Honestly, he had no idea how she; or rather they, were going to pull this off without getting the girl by herself.

Usually these types of stories in the Pig and Whistle ended with the 'charming', savvy thief sweeping the girl off her feet and then walking away with all her stuff with her none the wiser.

It only took him a moment of looking down at himself and remembering he had no clue what being 'charming' entailed, to realize that that was definitely not going to work in this situation.

The woman blushed and the boys around her chuckled with polite rich people laughter which was about the same as riff raff howling and hooting to her. She was blushing so hot it looked like her head might have been on fire.

Ronnae couldn't help but feel bad for the girl, and she seemed sweet after all. Taking a few more of the offerings by the onlookers, Ronnae danced gracefully towards the girl and took her hands, smiling sweetly at her.

"Care to join me then? I'm sure it'll feel much nicer than hearing the cackling hyena's." She smiled, giving her a playful wink.

His eyes followed Ellise as well, wondering if she could pull off the heist successfully. He had no real clue why they were even bothering, being left out of the loop as he was. It didn't really matter in the long run, though. Not when this was a different type of 'adventure' than he was used to.

The charm seemed to work for the time being, the girl shot dirty looks at the men and allowed Ellise to lead her away, "Yes I think I would prefer that." There was a bit of a pout in her voice to let the men know they were in trouble.

Monsters and Mazes

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