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Double Star-Crossed; [P] Rin
Topic Started: Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:12 am (732 Views)
Thindraug
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The warm, night air swept through his thick fur, haphazardly parting it into clumps that made him look as though he were a feral beast. Thindraug sat on his haunches behind a large maple tree, panting as he awaited the arrival of his latest client. The scent of the tree's sweet sap filled his keen snout, but did not contaminate his perception. He could still smell the stink of the night watchman, his armpits ripe with salty sweat that betrayed his presence by the front entrance, and the reek of cheap tobacco that likely stained his fingers and teeth.

Yellow-brown eyes watched the museum's western side, repeatedly tracing out several routes to his destination. The job was simple enough in theory; enter the building, locate the target, then extract it. Stealth was his specialty, but he had been forewarned about additional security measures that his dexterous hands could not massage into compliance. Their target was steeped in magical protections meant to thwart mundane attempts at displacing it from its neat, glass case. This is where his client would prove most useful.

Precisely on time, another scent entered the horizon of his senses. It was a woman, her scent unfamiliar to his olfactory memory. She was likely the client that had hired him, but he would only know for certain if she found him and spoke the correct safe word. They had not yet met in person, as he often worked with a team of artisans and this job had come to him from a colleague whose mission it was to scout the building ahead of time.

A low growl rose from the depths of his throat and his hackles stood on end; a precautionary measure he often took to frighten off unwanted company. If this was his client, she would know to ignore this false threat, face him, and speak the safe word. He would cease the animalistic pretenses, stand to greet her cordially as any man would greet a friend, and she would be none the wiser to his true intentions for this mission.

OOC
 
Your choice of safe word, m'dear. >;D
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Rin
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The slight figure edged through the streets silently, her bare feet barely making a sound on the cobbles. She did not seem to be well-suited for skulking in the shadows, but she had enhanced her stealthiness through the use of one of the legendary weapons in her arsenal. Rin clutched the dagger tightly, its enchantment wrapped tightly around her slight frame. Carnwennan had served King Arthur well, allowing him to cloak himself in shadows in order to hide from his enemies. This replica of the dagger granted the girl the same ability, although the number of times she could utilize its power in a single day was limited. The shadows clung to her flesh like a second skin, reducing her to a jagged patch of darkness in the night. She darted from shadow to shadow like a wraith, timing her dashes across the well-lit streets so that she passed between the regular sentries.

Rinrae Dromigg was a creation of the Grand Grimoire, a sentient book with an agenda. She was an artificial construct, made for the express purpose of collecting the tome's pages that had been scattered across Imythess. The pages held a portion of the Grimoire's power to bend reality and contained a wealth of information over a wide range of topics. They were incredibly valuable resources for magicians and scholars both... and some idiot had locked one up in the basement storage rooms of the Cascadian Museum.

Although Rin was not naturally inclined to thievery due to her bubbly and inquisitive nature. So the Grimoire had instructed her to contact a thief in order to help the girl break into the museum, which possessed a score of physical and arcane defenses. Her contact was apparently a man by the name of Thindraug, and she had been instructed to meet him under a maple tree on one side of the building. Rin walked towards the meeting location steadily, the shadows slipping away from her thin form like water. As the enchanted darkness faded into the ground she slipped the dagger into a hidden pouch on the ribbons on her left forearm, approaching the hunched figure underneath the tree.

She was greeted a low growl. The girl recoiled fingering the pommel of the dagger in a manner that she hoped was not blatantly obvious. “F-f-flugelhorn.” The creature hunkered under the tree was unlike anything she had ever seen. He was much taller than the construct, as he did not seem to be entirely human. His entire frame was covered with a coat of thick, luxurious fur. Her eyes widened noticeably. He.... He's so … pretty... She tried to keep the open awe from her expression as she waited for the strange being's reaction to the safe word.
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Thindraug
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The growl died in his throat and was quickly replaced by a dogged grin. He rose from a quadrupedal position to his full standing height, which towered head and shoulders above the unexpectedly young woman. He was easily three times her size, and judging from her wide-eyed expression, he worried that it frightened her. He crouched down a little and wagged his tail, trying to appear as friendly as possible. Thindraug found that females took a better liking to him if they could think of him as an overgrown puppy. He even remembered to point his pinnae forward attentively; humans typically found large ears to be adorable on animals.

"Right then; sorry about the growling. Precautions, you know?" A chord of humor sang through his whispered words. He paused to allow her a moment to react to his unique nature before carrying on with the details of the task ahead of them.

"The name is Thindraug." He paused again to briefly clasp her dainty hand in his if she allowed it. "We'd best be moving along now before we're spotted lurking here in the darkness. How are you with climbing trees?" He gestured to the maple beneath which they stood. It was more than their point of contact; it was their key to entering the museum undetected. From here they could reach the roof, navigate to the skylight, and rappel down into the building.

"The security outside is rather lax, as the guards have gone soft with age and lack of threats to the established order of things. But the curators have not been so lulled into a sense of security, as you probably know. There will be impedances along the way to your scrap of paper."

When she appeared ready, he moved to assist her should she need it, and lead the way if she didn't.

"Shall we?" The thickest of the low-reaching branches was just within her reach.
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Rin
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The girl's nerves calmed as the strange man's growl turned into a contented smirk. He rose slowly, his full geight towering over her diminutive frame. Rin got the impression that if he wished to, this being could easily rip her limb from limb... and yet she sensed no violence in him. There was a glint in his eye that could easily be an undercurrent of mischief, but his grin was good-natured, even if his elongated snout made the expression almost bestial. His voice was low and gruff, but friendly, and the girl felt herself intrinsically trusting him. She fought the urge to reach up on her tiptoes and scratch behind the man's ears; the Grimoire had warned her several times that sentient beings did not react well to a complete stranger touching them, no matter how incredible or impressive their physique was. He introduced himself as Thindraug, but she barely noticed, mentally querying the sentient tome about her new companion. What is he? Is he a wolf... man... thing?

I would usually guess this was a lycanthope, but the moon is not full tonight... Perhaps some manner of lupine hybrid? I am not sure, Rinrae. I have not encountered a creature such as this before...


Although the Grimoire's lack of knowledge on his race was slightly unsettling, Rin was still captivated by the man-wolf. She hoped her interest in him wasn't too apparent; the girl did not want to creep out her companion by acting too moonstruck. "I can climb trees very well, Thindraug! Let me show you!" She beamed at the lupine before stepping closer to the trunk, running a hand over the thick bark. Although she could just barely reach the lowest bough, she did not want to make an unseemly display of trying to haul herself up onto the branch. Neither did she want to make Thindraug think she was too clumsy to back up her claim.

She backed away a few feet from the tree, eyes narrowing. She ran straight at the trunk, bare feet padding against the ground. Her feet pounded up the side of trunk, her speed allowing the girl to ascend a foot or two off the ground. She sprang off of the tree, reaching up with both hands to wrap her fingers around the branch. She swung underneath the bough, her momentum allowing her to flip around the limb. She twisted to land on both feet, crouched on the branch with a small, confident smile. "Let us- er, Let's go, Thindraug. I am very fond of this scrap of paper." She scrambled up the trunk, the ascent made much easier by the close-hanging bows. Although her climb was not exactly stealthy, the lupine had been correct in claiming the guards were not the most attentive sentries.

"Well... What now?" The girl had crossed over to the museum roof, quickly skipping across one of the branches that made a path to the flat surface. The museum had several large skylights that would allow natural light to illuminate the exhibits by day, but the girl could tell that each of them was securely fastened with a thick padlock. She fingered the pommel of the dagger in her gauntlet nervously, making sure to stay crouched. The girl had never broken into a museum before; it was a nerve-wracking business.
Edited by Rin, Fri Jul 29, 2011 5:09 pm.
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Thindraug
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His wolfish grin widened even further, pleased to see the girl was comfortable with his strange appearance. He didn't usually enlist the help of his clients because he preferred having as few people recognize his unique features as possible, but also because they slowed him down and risked getting them caught. However, he had little choice in this situation; her magical prowess was necessary to get past the enchantments that protected their target. Even so, he didn't mind it yet. He could see potential in her despite her slightly naïve demeanor.

Eager to get moving, he picked up his nearby pack and quickly shouldered it. Thindraug ran up the tree after her on all fours, his thick claws helping him scale it with the ease of a mountain lion. "This way," he said with a nod of his head toward the rooftop. They scampered through the leafy canopy that shielded them from the prying eyes of any guardsmen down below, slowing when he reached the final branch that hung just above the roof.

"Walk gently when you reach the roof or they might hear you inside."

When they reached the skylight at the center of the western roof, he stopped and removed his pack again. "Take these while I work on the lock," he said, and handed her several neatly-wrapped lengths of cord from inside the pack. "Unravel them over by the chimney stack."

While she worked, he kneeled in front of the padlock. It was rusted through from countless years of weather exposure, but the internal mechanisms were probably still intact. He slid two, thin metal tools into the keyhole and worked them expertly until the lock popped open. Placing it aside, he busied himself with oiling the hinges on the window frame before returning his attention back to the girl.

"Alright, time for a quick lesson then I can lower you down," he said cheerily. He grabbed two of the shorter lengths of rope and two carabineers, handed one of each to her, and guided her through how to tie a seat harness around herself. When she was ready, he secured another length of rope to the chimney stack and opened the skylight. From here, he would lower her into the museum and follow her lead through the first enchanted obstacle.

OOC
 
I skimmed over it, but Thindraug presumably spent several minutes teaching Rin how to tie a rope harness. Here are the exact instructions that he showed her: http://www.wikihow.com/Tie-a-Swiss-Seat-Rappel-Harness It's actually very comfortable if you tie it properly. It's also kind of funny when you have to squat down to tighten the rope. :XD:

Random, potentially-relevant detail: Thinny does wear trousers. They stop above his knees, and have a hole in the back for his tail to poke out of. The harness is not that awkward... >_>

I also bought you some presents that might help with this mission. :D
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Rin
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Rin nodded and took the loops of slim rope from the lupine, making sure to tread as softly as possible on the roof. At least her bare feet were quieter than any normal boots or shoes. She traipsed over to the chimney before she got to work, deftly unwrapping the first coil of rope as she watched Thindraug at work. The wold-man possessed long, nimble fingers that appeared to be just as dexterous as a human's, or even more so. He used a set of tumblers and picks with the ease of experience, his canine ears perking as he listened to the subtle noises emanating from the padlock. Within a few minutes he had managed to pop the lock open, immediately dripping oil into the hinges before he opened it.

By that time the girl had managed to completely unravel the lengths of rope. She her hand along the silky, supple material and smiled appreciatively. Although the ropes were very lightweight, they seemed very strong as well, incredibly appropriate for the lupine's line of work. She walked over to Thindraug and listened attentively as he described a method for tying a simple rope harness. The girl's fingers proved to be just as nimble as the thief's, and she managed to replicate his instruction on her first attempt. The harness pulled at her sundress in a rather unflattering fashion; the garment was not exactly well-suited for breaking-and-entering, apparently. She sighed and shook her head with a grimace of mild annoyance, wrapping the remaining length of rope around her left thigh. Thindraug opened the window slowly, making sure to keep the hinges from creaking and alerting anyone within to their presence.

"Let me check for traps before we enter..." Her words were softer than a whisper, almost inaudible. She knelt over the skylight, closing her eyes and focusing on the essence of the Grimoire that dwelled within her constructed body. The book recorded all of reality within its pages; as such, the Grand Grimoire and Rin both had an innate affinity with alterations to the fabric of reality. Although this usually served Rin as a compass in her quest for the scattered pages, when she focused it also allowed her to locate magic in her immediate vicinity. The girl spread her awareness downward, searching for any arcane augmentations to the museum's structure... and almost immediately discovered one.

Rin's eyes shot open and she shook her head to indicate that the lupine should not lower her through the skylight yet, pressing a finger to her lips in warning. The girl leaned inside the opening, her eyes narrowing as she studied the walls immediately underneath the window. Although there was no visible indication of any arcane runes, the girl could sense the magical safeguards that had been placed into the stone. Although she could not sense what would happen if the trap was triggered, she doubted the magic would assist any intruders. She grinned victoriously and pointed at the entrapping sorcery with an open palm, slowly closing her fingers into a tight fist. Rin used the Grimoire's power to iron out the wrinkle in reality, reverting the fabric of existence to its natural state. There was a wink of light as the spell failed, fading out of existence as the construct called on the power of the Grand Grimoire.

Her smile to Thindraug was bright, although somewhat strained from the powers she had just exhibited. "Now it's safe!" The lupine helped Rin over the edge of the skylight, his strong arms allowing her to descend gradually into the museum. Although the girl's eyes had not yet adjusted to the darkness, she could sense that the room she was slowly being lowered into was massive. She looked down at the approaching floor and barely managed to contain a gasp. There was a lantern floating through the museum, its illumination revealing a bored-looking guard walking through the exhibits. Rin frantically pulled once on the rope, hoping that the lupine would know to stop lowering her into the museum. The sentry continued to wander towards the girl as she held her breath to keep silent, one hand holding the rope and one hand pressed firmly over her mouth.

OOC
 
:w00t: Lothy, you are the BEST! Seriously!
In case it wasn't obvious, the whole "investigating the integrity of reality and ironing out the wrinkles" is my approach to how Rin can use these two spells. Thank you again! This should be fun!
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Thindraug frowned, rather uncharacteristically. He was always so careful, so prepared, but even the most simple and obvious arcane trappings could ensnare him before he was even aware of its presence. It was quite an injury to his pride as a problem-solver to know that his extensive skills counted for nothing in the arena of magic, and there was nothing he could do about it.

A tug at the rope interrupted his thoughts. He stopped lowering the girl and peered downward more carefully. He spotted a light below and felt his heart flutter for a moment as he considered their options. He maintained his current position, holding the girl suspended in mid-air with the hopes that the light-bearer would not think to look up and spot her dangling above his head.

Several tense minutes passed with his teeth gritting anxiously every time the cord creaked from the strain of its gently swaying weight, hoping that the guard didn't hear it. It wasn't until his arms had about all they could take from holding the girl in place that the guard finally left the exhibit, unaware of their presence.

He lowered her the rest of the way with a sigh of relief, then re-configured the ropes so he could lower himself alone. He rappelled down as though he were free-falling, reaching the bottom in a few short seconds. He shook his rope free of the metal ring he'd looped it through above and it came falling down after him. He crouched in a dark corner as he gathered it up, waving for the girl to join him.

"We're going to have to be extra careful from here on; the guards will be patrolling regularly. We'll need to sneak past this group to get to the room that leads into the basement. The longer we go undetected, the more time we'll have to retrieve the scroll and escape safely."

He crept over to the doorway that had been occupied by a guard only moments ago and peered into the next room. A few guards were gathered on the far side chatting about something or other. Their ruckus would cover any background noise of the pair of thieves creeping along the back wall might make. It would also greatly increase the risk of getting caught if they made a mistake.

He took the lead again, padding across the floor on all fours and ducking behind a statue of a former captain of the Cascadian guard. He signaled for the girl to follow while the guards were distracted. Steadily dodging from cover to cover, he made it across the exhibit and into the doorway of the next room. He glanced back to check on the girl before continuing ahead to unlock the gate blocking the basement entrance. She seemed to be doing fine thus far, so he proceeded with climbing the gate. From the looks of it, he would have to get to the top to oil a few moving parts before he could crank the handle on the pulley system. Hopefully the sentries would move far enough away to not overhear the sound of the gate lifting a few feet.

He had only just finished greasing the chains when he heard a loud crash come from the next room. He glanced around and realized that the girl had not yet made it to the gate with him. This could be bad; perhaps he had underestimated how easy the journey would be for her.

OOC
 
Not sure how I feel about this post. 0_0 Anyhow, your choice of reasons for the crash, depending on how you want the topic to go. I was thinking it'd just be the guards dropping something, but you mentioned Rin not being the patient, sneaky type so we'll roll with whatever mood strikes you.
Edited by Thindraug, Wed Aug 3, 2011 4:27 pm.
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Rin slowly revolved in midair above the guard, still clasping one hand over her mouth to mask her breaths. He paused in the center of the display room, almost directly underneath the girl, and slowly turned around in a full circle. The lantern revealed a gruff face with an impressive mustache, and there was a definite air of boredom around the man. After making his cursory examination of the room he continued on his path, yawning loudly. It still took him several minutes to exit the room, and the girl felt that every breath she took would be the one that revealed her presence to the sentry. The girl felt her heartbeat slow down to a more normal level as he meandered out of the exhibit, the bobbing lantern leading the way. That was too close...

Thindraug continued lowering her to the ground after a minute's pause. Rin landed in a crouch, her bare feet barely making a sound on the smooth stone floor. She immediately undid the rope harness and dashed to one side, crouching behind one of the displays in the hall. The lupine descended into the chamber as well, dropping down much more quickly than the construct had been lowered. She suspected that it was easier for the wolf-man to gauge the distance if he was the one plummeting to the floor; it was a good thing he hadn't dropped her that quickly or else she would have been forced to silently incapacitate the guard.

The waif nodded in accordance with Thindraug's advice, following the master thief as closely as she dared. Although her footfalls were noticeably louder than the lupine's padded paws, leather boots or shoes would have been much more difficult to move in stealthily. The girl moved as quietly as was possible, darting from shadow to shadow after being given Thindraug's signal. After several stressful minutes of sneaking through the darkened exhibits and avoiding the guards the lupine stepped through a doorway, although he did not signal for Rin to join him yet.

Rin crouched in the shadows to wait, focusing on staying as silent as possible. Her mind wandered to what other arcane defenses could be in place around the page. Although it was a truly priceless artifact, she doubted if the Cascadian scholars had been able to decipher the spidery script. The fragments of the Grimoire were often written in languages completely foreign to Imythess, and from time to time the words translated themselves into a new tongue.

Her musings were interrupted by a loud crash from a few feet away. Rin swiveled instantly, her hand going to the hilt of the dagger hidden in her ribbons. To her great dismay, she soon located the cause of the disturbance: Sir Wobbleton. The living goo had oozed out of her satchel and rolled along the ground to an elaborate set of Cascadian ceremonial armor. Somehow the enigmatic critter had managed to knock the display over. She hissed in annoyance and sprinted to her pet, scooping him up in one hand as she slid to a halt. The construct could hear the guards shouting to each other as they converged on her location, their enchanted lanterns shining through the displays like spotlights

Rin shoved Wobbles back into her satchel, ignoring his muted gurgle of protest. Without waiting for permission she raced through the portal. Thindraug was halfway up a massive gate, and she imagined he was probably staring at her with an expression of mixed scorn and disbelief. She whipped the small dagger from the ribbons, brandishing the short blade in mid-air as if she were a conductor. The shadows of the museum responded in kind, coming to life around both the girl and the lupine. The shadows wrapped around them entirely just as one of the guards skid around the corner, the lantern hovering in front of him and illuminating the gateway. The spell made them look like blurry patches of darkness instead of intruders, and the enchanted shadows had an odd, clammy texture against her bare skin

Rin held her breath as the man peered at the seemingly empty corridor with a suspicious glare. Unfortunately for the intruders, he did not immediately leave, but instead shouted over his shoulder that he planned on checking the basement warehouse. The girl glanced up at the darkened spot where she knew Thindraug was perched, although the lupine would be unable to see the expression of horror on her face. He was in a rather compromising position, and Rin had no idea how to make up for her pet revealing their presence. She nervously watched the guard walk over to a handle set in the wall, beginning to crank it with both hands as the lantern floated above his head. She creeped as close as she dared to the guard, raising the dagger in both hands. If Thindraug was caught now she would be forced to knock the guard unconscious, regardless of the consequences. She was too close to go back now.
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Thindraug stared in shock for a moment. What just happened? His entire body felt as though it had gone numb, cold needles of sensation pricking all over his skin. The girl had vanished into darkness, leaving him alone to deal with the sentries. The cruel irony of her betrayal was not lost on him, and he felt a pang of guilt for what he had planned to do to her after they retrieved the scroll.

Almost in a panic over the mysterious witchcraft the girl had just used on him, he looked for a means of escape to no avail. Before he could react, the room filled with shining light that bore down upon him accusingly. He had no choice other than to admit he was caught. He raised an arm over his eyes to shield them from the light, and it wasn't until that moment that he realized something odd: he couldn't see his arm in front of him. He looked down to discover, much to his surprise, that he couldn't see any trace of himself and apparently neither could the guard. Had the girl turned him into some sort of shadow-spirit?

At any rate, he still felt very alive and the sentry had decided to check the gate to which he currently clung. Hastily igniting his hope of escape, he re-assessed his surroundings. There were quite a few useful handholds on the intricate stone framing of the gated passageway, so he reached out and grabbed a hold in time for the ironwork barrier to rise without his added weight. He dangled above the corridor by his fingertips, tail flicking back and forth to help him keep his balance. The intruder slowly inched over to the side of the gate opposite of the crank until he could grab on with his footpaws and cautiously descend to the floor.

Crouched in a corner still uncertain of where the girl had gone, he could only hope that she realized this was their one chance to sneak inside unnoticed. The guard meandered inside the basement stairwell, lantern sweeping from side to side in search of anything suspicious. Thindraug took a moment to creep over to the crank and jam it with a small metal tool before tip-toeing after him. If they lost sight of the guard, he'd still have time to escape before the gate closed thanks to the wedge he'd just driven between the gears. He trailed behind cautiously, keeping tens of feet between himself and the watchman until he disappeared around a corner.

Which way now? he wondered.
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Rin dared not breath loudly until the guard began to crank up the gate, the metal screeching in protest as it was to open for admittance. The lantern above the guard swiveled as he panted and heaved, keeping a silent watch out as he was distracted. The construct did not dare to get closer to the guard until he had stopped opening the gate and descended the staircase. She looked up to see if Thindraug had managed to get off of the gate, but realized that her arcane protection made the lupine almost impossible to see. She thought she spied a darker patch of shadows detach from the wall and drop to the floor, but the girl heard no sound of landing. Worrying about the state of her companion, Rin still proceeded forward, crouching to pass underneath the gate and follow the guard into the bowels of the museum. Just after she had passed she heard a soft, almost inaudible metallic clank behind her. The girl looked back to the opening to see a shifting patch of shadows. The girl grinned, her apprehension replaced with relief. Not only had Thindraug managed to escape ensnarement, he also seemed to be prepared enough to prepare their escape route.

The construct followed the guard down the staircase into a section of the museum that was obviously not meant to be seen by the common visitor. The floor nearest the walls was coated with dust, although the center of the corridor had been swept recently. Boxes were stacked along the walls, and there was a desk or two that seemed to be buried in dangerously leaning stacks of paper. Rin waited for the guard to go around a corner before she turned her attention back to Thindraug... although she could not see the lupine. She snorted in frustration and cancelled out the spell on the enchanted dagger, the shadows flowing off of her thin frame. She turned around and barely managed to hold back a gasp of surprise; her companion was directly behind the girl, his body crouched on all fours.

She jumped back in shock at his proximity, but quickly calmed down. She leaned closer to the thief, whispering softly. "We... need to go left here. The opposite direction of the guard..." She paused and cocked her head to one side, eyes going wide. There was a set of booted footsteps returning from around the corner. Rin swiveled rapidly, staring at the bobbing light approaching their location. Options rifled through the girl's head so quickly her felt like it was spinning. There was a stack of three boxes nearby, but the cover it provided would not be nearly sufficient to hide both of them. Carnwennan still had one use of the obscuring darkness, but she knew that it would not hide them before the guard rounded the corner. The only available option was something that she doubted Thindraug would approve of, but they had very few options left.

When the guard meandered around the corner, mumbling about false alarms, he only had a moment of warning before Rin dashed forward. She had reversed her grip on the blade so that the edge rested along her forearm. She punched upwards, slamming the pommel of the dagger into the man's shin. There was a stacatto crack as she shattered his jaw; his eyes almost immediately rolled back in his head. Rin grabbed the neck of his armor before he could fall to the ground, ruthlessly slamming the hilt of the dagger into his temple in order to make sure he was truly knocked out. She lowered the unconscious man to the floor gently, shaking her head with a trace of regret on her features. she doubted that this man was even aware of the treasure he was guarding...

Her guilt was interrupted when the lantern suddenly began to emit a howling noise. She gasped as she looked up at the floating item; its light had been transformed to an angry crimson glow, and it was zooming around almost too quickly to be followed with the naked eye. Rin snarled and made a quick gesture towards the enchanted object, closing her fingers into a tight fist as she wiped out the alterations made to the fabric of reality by enchantments. The lantern immediately ceased the alarm, the light fading as it fell to the floor with a crash. The construct stared at the object with obvious fear for a moment before glancing up at Thindraug. "Well, maybe they didn't hear-"

The thought was interrupted by a shout from upstairs, which was quickly accompanied by the pounding of boots. The girl bit her lip and immediately began tearing down the corridor in the direction she had indicated, mentally cursing the guard's decision to only make a cursory inspection of the basement. Their options had just been severely limited...

OOC
 
Your choice of what obstacles they might encounter in the basement! I imagine the heaviest protection was probably on the upper floor of the museum, but I imagine there will still be locked doors.
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Snout to the ground, Thindraug tracked down the girl's scent and followed it closely. She hadn't left him after all, and she seemed to be on the right path to the much-desired scrap of parchment. He crept behind her on all fours, hoping that she was watching out for enchantments he couldn't detect, when she suddenly appeared in front of him from behind the shadows. She looked just as startled as he felt.

Relieved to be free of the prickling sensation on his skin and back among the living, the lupine stood and tried to think of some wise-crack to make about the experience but found himself untimely interrupted. It seemed the guard had quickly grown bored of wild goose chases and decided to head back the way he'd come; the way in which they now stood, exposed.

Before he could act, the girl rushed the sentry and cracked him in the jaw and then the temple, rendering him unconscious, fractured, and likely concussed. The rogue stood with his mouth agape, shocked at the girl's incredible speed and the ease with which she had incapacitated him. She was definitely the best ally he could have for a job like this, and he felt his chest swell with pride. She would make a great partner if he ever found himself in the market for one. Too bad she wasn't likely to be very friendly toward him once he got his hands on the scroll and disappeared without handing it over to her. It was a pity, really.

Almost as soon as they found themselves out of danger, they fell back into its clutches. The lantern let out a deafening howl as it angrily animated itself, letting every guard in the museum know exactly where they were and what they were up to. He clapped his hand-paws over his ears, whimpering at the high-pitched shriek that accompanied the howling, which his accomplice likely couldn't hear.

Something about the noises compelled him to chase after the lantern as it zipped around the room, and he inexplicably found himself running and jumping after it, frantically snapping at it with his teeth despite barely being able to track its movement. Moments later the lantern fell from the air and shattered on the floor, releasing Thindraug from his frenzied state. He caved to his knees and whimpered pathetically, confused and slightly dazed but glad to be in control of himself again.

He looked up at the girl pitifully. "I hate magic," he choked out.

He had barely gotten back on his feet when the commotion of roused guardsmen reached their ears. This mission was not going very smoothly... The pair took off sprinting toward their goal, assuming that they had a small window of opportunity in which they could get out of sight. As was the trend of the evening, however, they were wrong in their assumption.

A clatter rose in front of them, like the sound of a steel bear trap snapping open and shut in rapid succession. He squinted at the dark corridor ahead, scanning the floor for traps but saw none. Then he looked up. Fluttering across the ceiling like maligned bats were two pairs of metal shackles, wings of steel and bodies of chain. He let out an exasperated sigh at the injustice of the arcane arts.

The closest pair dove down and grabbed at him, chomping its metal jaw shut just inches away from his right ear while the other pair made a move toward the girl. He dodged and swatted at his assailant instinctually, making a grave mistake. The shackles snapped open again then clamped shut again around his left wrist with a loud clang! The free shackle tugged at his arm, trying to latch onto his other wrist and drag him back down the hall toward the guards.

Realizing the danger he would be in if he were to be immobilized, he used every ounce of his strength to fling the shackles away from his right hand, whirling his left arm like a lasso while he looked for a way out. He did the only thing he could think of in that split second and slapped the other cuff as hard as he could with his tail. It took the bait and clasped down, pinching his fur in its metal teeth then falling still, satisfied that it had landed both cuffs securely on its target.

That wasn't so bad, he thought. His tail was long enough that he wasn't so much limited in his range of movement as he was inconvenienced by the awkward bond between arm and tail. They could still grab the scroll and escape so long as they weren't caught.

He whirled around to check on the girl, hoping she hadn't been hurt or cuffed. That's when he noticed a glowing pair of eyes approaching them from behind. A guard dog had run ahead of the sentinels to lead them to the pair of thieves, summoned by the howling lantern. A growl rose in both of their throats.

OOC
 
I put a twist on your description of the lantern's "howling." I am interpreting it more literally, imagining it to sound like the howling of canines. This is an enchantment the lantern possesses that summoned the guard dog (and shackles), which also had some effect on Thinny, explaining why he started chasing the lantern around. XD

If you get cuffed, Thinny is good at picking locks.
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Rin
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Rin was soon outpaced by Thindraug; his longer limbs gave him a much faster gait than the girl. She continued to run down the hallway, pumping her legs as fast as possible in a vain attempt to catch up with the lupine larcenist. She had gotten the thief into this mess and did not plan on abandoning him to face the traps of the dungeon alone. She rounded a corner and saw the lupine directly ahead of her, although he seemed to have stop running and was instead batting at something she could not quite see. Rin frowned and charged forward to assist her companion, but that quickly proved to be a mistake. A clattering from above was the only warning that she had of the next set of enchanted defenses. A pair of shackles zoomed towards the girl like a bat, the manacles opening and closing rapidly and making an awful racket. Rin winced at the harsh sound, throwing herself forward in a somersault to avoid the shackles. However, they moved much faster than she had expected, changing course almost immediately to shoot at the girl. She attempted to slash at the fetters with Carnwennan, but the black dagger simply rebounded from the enchanted metal.

Rinrae! They're powered by
magic! Cancel out their enchantment!

The Grimoire's interjection was so unexpected that she faltered, pausing just long enough for one of the manacles to slap against her right wrist. The iron cuffs immediately slammed closed, locking with a staccato click! that sent a wave of dread crashing through her body. She attempted to keep her other hand away from the yearning fetters, but their pull was too strong; the second manacle managed to catch her free arm within moments and clamp down. She muttered a curse at both the shackles and the Grimoire under her breath, staring at the polished metal links and focusing on the alterations done to reality in order to turn the plain metal into a vengeful force. Although she managed to cancel out the enchantment, the cuffs were still securely locked around her wrists, significantly reducing her maneuverability. She snarled in frustration. This heist had quickly turned from a great success to a disaster, and she was acutely aware that everything that had gone wrong was her fault. Well, her and Ser Wobbleton. The girl was not accustomed to being stealthy; perhaps after this ordeal was over she could pay Thindraug for lessons in how to move and fight silently.

Chained at the wrist, Rin continued forward to see what new threat Thindraug was facing. A large dog was facing off with the lupine, both of them growling harshly. Although she still held the dagger in one hand, the girl knew her chances of wielding it effectively while fettered were basically nonexistent. She tried to edge past the watch dog while it was focused on her companion, but it almost immediately turned on the girl, snarling ferociously. The girl swallowed nervously and backed away, not exactly confident in her chances against such a fierce canine with her hands shackled. The dog seemed torn between attacking her or Thindraug first, but she knew that the true danger of the dog's presence was that it indicated their pursuers were closing in. They really did not have time for her companion to fight one of his distant cousins.

She tore into her satchel, her movements hampered by the thick links around her wrists. Within moments she victoriously withdrew the living goo once more, who was gurgling merrily, several coins floating in his innards. Rin whispered a few reassuring words to Ser Wobbleton before throwing him at the guard dog, who instinctively snapped the green glob out of the air. Wobbles squealed gleefully, wriggling happily in the dog's maw. The dog itself was much less pleased with his new companion, but no matter how hard it shook its snout it could not dislodge the sticky mass. The dog curled up, incessantly pawing at the living goo and whimpering. Wobbleton made a soft bubbling noise that the girl knew meant he found the sensation ticklish, and she grinned slightly. No matter how inconvenient he could be a times, she was quite fond of her pet.

"Let's go Thindraug..." Rin dashed away again, hoping that the thief would follow. The corridor shortly forked, with one door leading to a steep staircase and another stretching opening into what appeared to be a large storage area. Rin focused for a moment on the Grimoire's presence, sensing it emanating from the floor below them and knowing that they had no choice but to take the stairs down. She shared this information with Thindraug and began to descend the stairs, but as soon as she set foot on the uppermost one a loud alarm sounded. Rin tried to jump back out of the staircase, but it was too late; the stairs had all melted together, forming a long, featureless slide. Unable to keep her footing on the steep incline, the construct found herself sliding down the slide, slowly gaining speed. She attempted to slow her descent by plunging the dagger into the stone, but to no avail. She grit her teeth and curled up into a ball, hoping that the end of the slide had a large mattress for her to land on... at this speed she would be lucky to not break her neck.

OOC
 
It's your choice if Thindraug wants to follow her down the slide, or if he feels up to finding a different way down into the basement.
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He stared at the green, gummy substance that oozed from the dog's mouth and cringed. Gross! That goop will be stuck in his fur forever! He edged away from it cautiously. Whatever it was, the vibrant, gelatinous slime had just increased their - albeit slim - odds of escaping, and he was going to capitalize on it.

The pair of thieves sprinted off together, desperately looking for somewhere to hide. Eager to grab the scroll and escape, he followed on Rin's heels, almost to his downfall. The instant her foot touched the next stairwell, it shifted into a chute that swept her away into the darkness below, a siren screaming over any noise she might make on the way down. He barely had enough time to stop, which left him teetering precariously at the top of the slide for several heart-pounding moments until he regained his balance - task made more difficult by the tether connecting his wrist to his tail.

What the hell is with all the magic!?

He stared down the path ahead, then glanced back at the one behind him - one that was likely to be filled with guards at any second. Only one of the options led to a payoff for the work he'd put into this, and the thought of leaving Rin alone and helpless the way he'd felt earlier weighed him down with more guilt than he could bear. She didn't stand a chance of escaping alone and cuffed like that. There was only one real option.

He sat on the ledge of the stairwell, placed his free hand and both foot-paws along the walls, his cuffed hand on the surface of the chute, then pushed off and began to slide downward on his back. The increased surface area of his spread form against the chute worked to slow his descent to an almost tolerable speed, though the idea of his fur sweeping up the ancient layers of grime coating the stairwell left him with an uncomfortable grimace.

He sped downward until the slide spit him out at its foot into a surprisingly comfortable landing. Too comfortable. Everything was wet and gritty, and it took him a moment to realize he was sitting on top of a pile of thick, watery mud.

"Gods DAMMIT!!"

He rolled over to get up, swearing, but gasped in frustrated surprise to find that it made his legs sink in deeper. What the... ? This didn't feel right. He reached in to scoop a handful of mud out to inspect it, discovering that it was actually sand. Quicksand, to be precise, which now refused to let go of his hand.

Panic overcame him and he began to flail, desperate to escape the cruel trap but it only served to draw him in further. They were going to be swallowed alive and die! Flashbacks of rancid, decayed peat came rushing back to him and he gagged, completely overcome with terror. This was it, he was done for.

OOC
 
Here's how they'll have to escape the quicksand.

Thinny was caught just like this in a peat bog as a child and was nearly swallowed alive. This is replicating a MAJOR fear that he has, so HALP! :)
Edited by Thindraug, Sat Aug 20, 2011 5:51 am.
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Rin was light enough that when she reached the end of the slide she literally flew off of the polished surface. The girl cried out as she spun through the air, attempting to get her bearings. Her flight came to an abrupt, unpleasant halt when she plunged into some sort of thick, sticky material. Her first instinct was that she had fallen into a puddle of mud... but that seemed impossible here, of all place. They were in the middle of the Cascadian Museum... why would there be a pool of mud present? Still, in the flickering light of the torches on this level she could see that what she was half-submerged in did appear to be mud of some variety. The girl attempt to stand up, assuming she would pull free of the gloop, and was slightly surprised (and worried) to find she could not extricate herself from the material. She began to flail wildly, but that did nothing except make her sink further into the mire. "What... what is this stuff?!?" Thindraug had followed her into the trap and was not faring much better, slowly sinking into the ooze. Her first instinct was to dispel whatever foul sorcery made the substance into an inescapable trap, but she could discover no trace of reality being warped with magic. Panic began to set in as she realized she had no idea how to escape.

Rinrae! Calm down! This is just quicksand! If you keep struggling you'll sink faster!

Although all of her instincts told her that the Grand Grimoire had finally gotten a piece of information wrong, she had been hardwired to obey its every command. She forced herself to calm down despite the frantic beating of her heart, so fast she felt like it would burst through her ribcage. The sentient tome gave her very precise and hurried directions on how to free herself from the cloying sand. Once she had completely stilled her body the sinking sensation stopped, allowing her to gradually pull her arms out of the depths. She suddenly jerked to one side violently, throwing her arms out along the surface of the quicksand. With painstaking slowness she began to pull herself out of the muck, crawling forward with both arms. Within a minute she had freed her entire body from the oozing trap, although her dress was covered in black sand and her legs were caked with the substance.

Rin wanted to do nothing more than collapse and take some time to recover, but she knew that the lupine was in danger of suffocating if she didn't instruct him how to escape. She rolled to her feet, panting heavily from the strain of pulling herself out of the quicksand. Thindraug was in the sticky substance almost up to his shoulders, his eyes rolling frantically as he struggled to escape. "Thindraug! Calm down!" The girl rushed to the edge of the trap nearest the lupine, kneeling down on her knees and reaching out to touch his shoulder in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture.

Before she could begin to instruct him on how to escape the slide reverted back into a normal staircase, and almost immediately the sound of booted footsteps echoed down the stairway. Rin clenched her teeth and looked up just in time to see a guard rushing down the stairs, grinning wildly when he saw the lupine stuck in the trap. Well, our cover is blown anyway... The girl flipped the dagger up, reversing her grip on the small weapon. She had miraculously managed to keep a grip on the blade throughout this entire ordeal. The guard saw the movement and his mouth gaped open for an instant, which was the only opportunity she need. She threw the dagger directly into his throat, the black steel piercing his flesh and severing his trachea. The man shuddered and gurgled as blood poured from the wound, trying to dislodge the protruding hilt with both hands. He slowly collapsed into the stairwell, blood bubbling out of his mouth as he died.

Rin turned her attention back to Thindraug before the dagger had struck, talking swiftly and calmly to the lupine. "You can get out of this, Thindraug. I did. All you have to do is stop moving. Don't struggle at all... It will make you stop sinking. And once you do that you can pull your hands straight up out of the sand." She smiled as brightly as she could manage, her sculpted features freckled with dark splotches of sand. "After you do that, you just have to focus on crawling out... I'm here, I can grab your wrists and help you... I am much stronger than I look." Although she could hear more shouts from the guards above them, the girl did not look away from her companion, hoping her words would somehow pierce through his fear-addled mind.
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Blind and deaf from panic, Thindraug had sunk into the soft sandpit up to his triceps by the time he started going into shock. He went limp and fell into a nearly unconscious state, having succumbed to the idea of being pulled downward to his death. From his narrowed line of tunnel-vision, he saw the girl's face in front of him. He stared blankly as she moved about him freely, hardly aware of her presence. He was vaguely aware of the guard upon the stairwell, though it mattered little to a dead man.

It wasn't until Rin reached out to him and started shouting that his survival instinct began to re-awaken. A ringing sound pierced through the veil of deafness that had overcome him, slowly growing louder until her muffled words reached him.

"Don't struggle... ... pull your hands up... ... I can...help you..."

He slowly reached out for her shackled hands, his surprise at his own mobility blunted by his trance. Somehow he managed to grab a hold of her, and soon he was rising out of the sand trap. Clutching at the semi-solid surface, it started to make sense to him. It was just like crossing a frozen river, or even slowing himself on the slide. If he spread his body out along the surface it would distribute his weight out and allow him to crawl along the top instead of falling down below.

His struggle to free himself got his heart rate back up and got his brain firing again. He dragged himself to the side of the pit opposite of the stairwell, placing it between himself and anyone else who might come down the stairs after them. One dead guard surely meant that many others were only seconds away. Finally free and back on the solid stone of the basement floor, he rested on his hands and knees gasping and shaking while he recovered. A trembling hand reached into a pouch on his belt and extracted a set of keys. He grabbed his companion's shackles without stopping to explain, and pressed one of the keys on the chain into the keyhole. He fumbled a few times, switching from one key to another before the locks popped open and released her. He didn't use them often, but a supply of master and skeleton keys made an excellent backup plan when picking a lock proved too impractical.

"We haven't much time now," he said shakily. All they had left to do was grab the scroll and find an alternative exit. He didn't show it yet, but he had absolutely no clue how they would possibly manage their escape with such strong obstacles in their path, and a band of sentries hard on their tails. A nervous hand picked at the caked on sand-mud that coated his fur-clad body...
Edited by Thindraug, Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:36 pm.
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