There is no better time of the year than the few weeks leading up to Winter's Crown. The excitement, the festivities, and all the goods being shipped around in order to satiate the greed of nobles with far too many Solars than they reasonably should have. All so focused on merriment that they are blissfully unaware that there are many wolves salivating at the chance to snatch away a little joy if given the chance. Or in Tsarra's case, a greedy little guppy who just wants to hoard all the shinies in her own little treasure trove. 

After all, ships were expensive. 

While charity or vigilantism wasn't really her thing, the prospect of getting celebrated for stealing was a hard thing to pass up when you're an aspiring infamous dread pirate queen. Ambitious dreams called for ambitious actions. 

Thorock wouldn't strike anyone as being a particularly pretty locale with a bunch of rich folk. Though it does have its own version of nobles, most of them were either crime lords themselves or medieval industrialists. Not the type to take kindly to anyone bold enough to steal from them. 

Unfortunately for them, boldness and stupidity were often close cousins.

Tsarra had 'agreed' to join some Red Rogues who were going to make an attempt on a dwarven warehouse that was supposedly threatening to burst with goods that would benefit many of the down and depraved denizens of Thorock who were locked into impossible debts due to strings of bad luck and corrupt coercion. Needless to say, what was in the warehouse could get a lot of people out of some real shitty situations. 

She didn't really care about that, but it was an opportunity to get into the warehouse and have her pick of some Winter's Crown gifts for herself. Seemed like a win win situation if they were successful so she wasn't feeling particularly guilty about using the Red Rogues' resources and manpower for her own selfishness. Hell, she was providing them a service, it's only fair she gets something out of it, right?

The warehouse was located down in the underground tunnels that criss cross under the mountains beneath the town proper of Thorock. These man-made caverns were created to connect underwater rivers to the ocean. The perfect hidden access for all sorts of pirates and smugglers. Being a place teeming with shadier folk, that meant anything of value needed some decent muscle defending it. This warehouse was built out of the stone and only had a few access points including three doors on the front and a second story with a few barred windows. A pair of burly looking dwarves stand guard out front, but intel suggests that the inside might actually be clear. The difficult part was getting in.

Tsarra peers around the corner of a building across a pathway from the warehouse. She stood out like a sore thumb, not dressed like the locals nor being a race that is commonly found so far north. It'd be hard to hide in plain sight if she was spotted by the guards during the heist. Luckily the little ring on her finger gave her a few more options than she would normally have. All she had to do was get over to the wall without being spotted and she could get in easy peasy.

Time for a distraction. And if she had learned anything in the last few weeks, guards were easily distracted by crabs. Taking a bottle out of her belt pouch, she dumps the contents of it out on the stoney ground. A mess of tiny little hermit crabs come tumbling out and scuttle across the ground towards the guards.^[1]

The guards, not expecting to see a tiny army march upon them, give each other a weird look before one of them steps away from the door to investigate the swarm of crustaceans. Tsarra covers her mouth to keep herself from snickering too loudly at the ingeniousness of her plan. Hyll would be so proud. 

---

[1]Bottle of Crablings (Snowlings)

SPOILER: Click to show

Description:
There are thousands of poor families across the nation that will be spending the Winters Crown fighting to stay alive. We need you to help us by stealing goods from a rich noble. A local storehouse has been identified with very minimal guards. The job is to obtain these goods anyway you can. You can be sneaky and silently remove the goods or go in blazing, storming the place.

Requirements:
- Requires exactly two people (you and one other, can be doing opposing quest) )
- You must make at least 5 post to complete the mission with each post being at least 200 words
- Once you complete this mission you gain access to chapter two. (which needs to be a separate topic)

Leopold should have known better than to stick his nose into things that didn't involve him, but it seemed that he had an instinct for getting into trouble no matter how hard he tried to run away from it. After quite a bit of confusion and polite silence on his part, there werewolf had somehow found himself joining a group of vigilantes who called themselves Red Rogues. At first, he was inclined to ask about just how he could be useful in a mission that likely required some level of stealth, but in the end, too polite to interrupt the impassioned speaking of his erstwhile recruiter, Leopold simply had nothing else to do but go along with the attack.

He held his neck a little straighter than usual, using all of his nine feet to strike some level of fear into the hearts of those who would dare to stand in his way, hoping all the while that it would be enough to get them to step aside, without a fight.

As he approached the entrance, though, it seemed that one of them were already distracted by something else on the ground. Rethinking his earlier approach, Leopold decided that surprise was on his side - they couldn't block what they didn't expect, after all. Rolling up the sleeves of his fine shirt, the werewolf quietly climbed a small structure nearby, positioning himself for a pounce to land behind them.

Of course, the wood creaked, complaining against the great burden of his weight.

"So much for stealth," he whined, making eye-contact with the remaining guard, only moments before leaping right atop him, fist aimed at the man's face, Leopold's claws carefully placed against his own palms - he just wanted to put the man to sleep, not scar him.

"Sorry," he whispered to the downed man, before turning to face the other guard. Leopold raised his clawed fingers and snarled as he spoke. "I'm just here for the goods. Keep your silence, and you will keep your life!"

Goodness, he hoped he sold that performance.

Watching the chaos she started, it soon gets even more chaotic as an actual wolfman appears on the scene and takes down one of the guards before threatening the other. 

What? Hey! This mook was trying to rob her of her job! It never crossed her mind that this man might also be part of the Red Rogues. She wasn't too bright. 

She stomps over to the wolfman, ignoring the fact that she could still opt for stealth if she was smarter. 

"Oy! No knickin' my job, fuzzball!" 

As the other guard reaches for their weapon, the triton's attention snaps to him and she forms a whip of water between her hands before smacking the goon in the face with it, knocking them flat on their ass. 

Tsarra turns back to Leopold. 

"Well? What do ye have to say for yerself? Better have a good excuse before I cut ye pooper to snooter."

It should be noted that in addition to having some control over water, the fish lady was armed with a pirate's cutlass at her hip. She hadn't drawn it yet, but the threat was pretty clear.

The still conscious guard attempts to get back on their feet, but the swarm of tiny hermit crabs weasel their way under his clothing and armor and get to pinching. He flails and rolls around on the street making a loud ruckus which may draw unwanted attention if permitted to continue.