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Post by Fish the Tinkerer on Aug 12, 2023 17:31:59 GMT -5
Fish perched atop a roof looking down at the people milling about for the festival. These had become someone of a conflicting event for Fish these days. They pretty much cut their talons on pickpocketing on busy days like this....it was through that thievery they were first discovered and taken in to be trained as a professional thief.
Four years later, at the ripe old age of 8, the festivals were almost too easy of a target. The amount of skills Fish had now made robbing the randoms that make their way through the streets barely a challenge. It was really a troubling predicament.
Cyran and Del might encourage Fish to have "fun" but stealing was fun. Morrigan wasn't here to run a scam either. They may have their complaints about the fellblod, but them being boring was never one of them.
It was when the despair seemed to grow too large that Fish spotted a raven haired woman making her way through the crowd. The stark black ensemble stuck out amongst the colors of the festival. Kamille would have something fun to do!
The kenku hops down from the ledge, letting the scarf inflate and slow their descent before landing opposite Mischief. Despite being quite a bit larger than the average crow, Fish was still surprisingly light, barely an encumberance.
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Aug 31, 2023 10:02:50 GMT -5
"I know it was you."
It sounded accusatory, very straightforwardly. Kamille had been enjoying the festival so far - lots of interesting people, handsome knights and curious whispers here and there. Bad news did travel fast, she wondered, as she recognized a head full of red hair in the middle of the crowd. The recognition was immediate, and both ex-rivals stepped out of the crowd to meet in the sidewalk.
Kamille blinked, though she couldn’t avoid a mischievous smile curving her lips.
"I have no idea what you're talking about! By the way, nice seeing you Baram!"
Baram crossed his arms, looking unimpressed. It felt like centuries ago when they were both under the same Master, and would have the - very healthy - childish urge to prank on one another, as most kids do. What was curious was that, even if their paths have parted ways, they still seemed to keep such traditions when visiting the other's city. Last time Kamille had been to visit the Mage's Guild, she managed to guide a mischievous dark fairy's destructive impulses towards Baram's tower. The little gremlin had stolen lots of valuable trinkets from her old rival, but what really drove him insane was when he couldn’t find a single pair of matching socks, and that's when he knew that Kamille was involved.
"You'll be pleased to know, then, that I added several new layers of protective spells on my tower because of you."
Their rivalry had morphed into something different, something lighter, as they put a bit of distance between each other - as their paths diverged, only to meet occasionally. Perhaps they could call it a friendship?
But unlike her, Baram was busy, and after a quick exchange, he had to excuse himself, once again dissappearing in the crowd. New protective spells, you say? Sounded like a challenge... She would love to get a closer look at it, perhaps she could even use some of them in her house, when-
It was then that she felt a light weight brushing up on her other shoulder. She should've taken Mischief's annoyed croak as a warning, but even yet her expression lighted up in a beautiful warm smile when she spotted none other than her favorite thief.
"Oh my! Fish! I'm so glad to see you! How you've been? What are you doing here? Enjoying the festival?"
She wasn’t sure Fish looked the type to enjoy festivals like that the same way she would, but... Perhaps she could have something interesting for them to so around Sol City....
"Fish, what do you know of security spells?"
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Post by Fish the Tinkerer on Aug 31, 2023 20:10:06 GMT -5
"Fish is bored, stealing from a festival is too easy." The aviankin hops down from her shoulder, only wanting to burden her for the moment to see if it scared her. Izzy always got scared at how Fish appeared out of nowhere, but Kamille was probably used to it with the Quills....Plus the witch was enamored with Fish. Izzy was not.
They tilt their head up at Kamille as she asks about spells, "Fish knows they often forget to cover some entrances...most people don't think about windows or chimneys if they place them.....Fish does not know magic to dispel them though."
Now the bird was interested. What exactly was Kamille planning? It certainly seemed more fun, proving that Fish's instinct was right once again. They look around Kamille to see she isn't flanked by anyone this time, though they were likely nearby. As Kamille talked, Fish would occasionally squint towards a shadowy area hoping one of them is hiding inside so Fish could pretend to spot them. They really hoped Poe would be the first person spotted, but any of them would do.
"Does Lady Kamille need Fish to break into something for her? Fish will only charge their standard rate instead of the rush rate because Lady Kamille is a friend of Fish."
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Sept 7, 2023 21:26:30 GMT -5
As usual, Fish could clearly spot Edgar on the distance. Edgar was the silent, tough looking one, which made it clear why he was actually visible. His presence alone was enough to discourage some small thieves from trying to reach into the Witch's pockets - but Fish would know the others to be around too. At one point, briefly, he could see Allan hiding in the shadows of a backalley close by. For just a couple of seconds, he dispelled the mantle of invisibility around him, only so he could gesture to Fish the universal gesture of:
I'm watching you.
Kamille couldn't be more ignorant of the fact.
"Actually, it's more like... You see, I may or may not have unleashed a friendly dark fairy onto my friend's tower..."
"Friendly" seemed a bit out of context here.
"And he told me he put a few magical wards around it to try and avoid it happens again..."
The fairy must've wreaked havoc, no doubt...
"I thought maybe we could go up there and... Help him spot the weaknesess of his spells? Maybe learn them? I could use a couple more wards around my house.... It's grown legs lately, did I tell you? My house, I mean."
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Post by Fish the Tinkerer on Sept 7, 2023 22:01:47 GMT -5
“Houses don’t grow legs.” They signed to a woman who could summon otherworldly beings and earthly calamities without a thought.
With that bit of information succinctly handled according to Fish, they looked back up to the tower. Scaling it would be easy enough, old towers were incredibly easy to break into. Whatever idiot decided making buildings out of field stones was an idiot. Too dumb to invent bricks tower guy? Get good. All of these thoughts passed Fish’s mind as on the outside the bird just stood still with a few blinks.
They reach into their bag to rustle out a pair of googles.[1] A stretchy band connects the lenses and clips around in the front, much easier to do that maneuvering around the beak. The outer rim of the lenses whir and shift a moment as Fish clips them on, calibrating to the bird’s eyesight and needs.
”Fish can use these to find any wards or magic in the tower then copy them down for Miss Kamille to use. Fish will take what notes Fish can, but Fish does not understand magic in the way Miss Kamille does.” Said the bird who just pulled out glasses that can apparently see magic.
1. Arcane Glasses
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Sept 24, 2023 17:53:06 GMT -5
"Houses don't usually grow legs, you're right. But don't you think my house was a bit different?"
The Witch was probably refering to the intense space bending that happened on that house, where it looked like a medium sized hut on the outside, but on the inside it was luxurious and ample like a castle - as Fish might've noticed on their afternoon teas.
Her curiosity just rose as Fish got a pair of googles from their bag. While she didn't know what they were for, once the kenku explained, her eyes lit up with excitement.
"Ohhhh! That sounds like a wonderful idea, Fish! I think I know what we can do, let's just go to someplace a bit more discrete..."
For as much as it looked impossible for Kamille to be discrete, she had an idea of what could and could not be done in the middle of the street. She headed for one of the alleys where they would have a harder time being found by curious eyes.
"First, I will turn. And then you can follow me to the tower. I can stay with you the whole time, so if you don't understand what you see, you just tell me and I can explain to you."
Sounded pretty straightforward, maybe except the part about... turning? But even that was easy to assume: As they were out of sight, she looked around once more to make sure no one was really looking, and before Fish's eyes, the black feathers of her cloak seemed to shrink and, at the same time, envelop her. In the blink of an eye, she became a raven herself. A common raven, but still much more inconspicuous than her regular self, with only the blue eyes to give her away.
"What do you think?"
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Post by Fish the Tinkerer on Sept 25, 2023 9:16:27 GMT -5
Fish always knew there was something strange about Kamille's house, but they also knew Kamille was one of the most powerful mages out there. They had seen what Morrigan could do with just sleight of hand and glitter, so it wasn't hard to imagine someone with actual magical knowledge could create some strong illusions. Fish's incredible hate for illusions is probably why they didn't investigate the home and its odd make up more intensely. If they did find a thread to pull, the would until the magic unraveled and Fish wouldn't risk that.
When Kamille mentions finding a more private place, the bird seems to just meld into someone's shadow to disappear entirely. They appear in the same alleyway sitting on a crate when Kamille arrives. Fish waits for the witch to arrive before handing her a pamphlet labeled 'FISH CODE.' A different kind of communication system the bird has developed based on taps rather than handsigns.
"If Fish is scaling the tower, Fish will not have both hands for signing. Memorize this and Fish can still communicate." Easier said than done for Fish who developed this AND also has a photographic memory which helps quickly memorize things.
"Fish thinks it will be fine." They turn their attention back to the tower, little eyes scanning the outer facing wall. There wasn't a whole lot of magic on the outside, but any entrance point seems warded in some way. Fish would have to get closer to find out what it was.
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Oct 21, 2023 20:15:52 GMT -5
FISH CODE.
Yeah, no chance she would memorize that. She did take a once over to memorize S.O.S. though, that seemed important enough. After that, she put away the pamplhet carefully. Certainly she wouldn't be able to memorize it right now, but she would make sure of it later, when she got the time for it. Sadly, she didn't have a memory like Fish's.
"Come, follow me, Fish. The tower is close."
Kamille, in the shape of a raven, then guides Fish towards the said tower. It was... clearly close to the castle of the royal family, which meant the security was heavier than the regular - nothing Fish couldn't handle, of course, and Kamille and Mischief could certainly distract the guards on patrol if need be.
Despite not being quite on royal grounds, it was close enough to make the fair assumption the person that lived there could be related to the Court. Which, taking Kamille's background of being raised at the Court, could only mean she wanted to pester someone she knew from those times.
Kamille, still shapeshifted as a raven, landed close to Fish so they could stare at the tower in a safe distance.
"That's the one. The Master is a mage, so I'd expect all kinds of magical traps and wards..."
And with his goggles, Fish would be able to see them. Every nook and cranny seemed to have a secret: there were no guards nearby, but what looked like decorative statues were laced with magic and would probably sprout to life if they perceived a break in. From where they stood, it looked like every window and door was covered with wards, but Fish could certainly find a crack. Perhaps the chimney or an underground entrance.
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Post by Fish the Tinkerer on Oct 27, 2023 20:59:46 GMT -5
If Charon knew of computer screens and data, that is what it would look like for Fish as they scour up and down the tower. There are plenty of security measures in place. Every window is warded...there are strange and irregular ones along the walls as well. That is likely to keep people from climbing into any chimney...smart. The irregular pattern also meant the only way to solve the problem is brute force trial and error.
Fish was not one to brute force anything. Most of the wards seem to be triggered by opening the window or crossing into the boundary of the ward. So, what if they didn't need to do any of that?
The bird looks around a few of the windows before settling on one that seems relatively away from the main action of the tower. In the blink of an eye, the bird is gone and safely standing inside the tower.[1]
Honestly, Fish is a little perplexed this worked so easily. No secondary alarm system or wards? Amateur hour. Fish was ready for a challenge, but if he hadn't even thought of that then this so called wizard was an idiot.
1. blink cape
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Dec 9, 2023 10:44:44 GMT -5
Kamille watched Fish working. They were so cute as they looked around and strategized, with their cute little goggles~!
Then, they vanished. For a moment, Kamille was so caught off guard that she panicked, taking flight imediatelly. A few seconds later she landed on the parapet of the window Fish had just been a moment ago, taking care as to not actually touch the glass and activate any trap. Relieved, she saw that Fish was inside already.
"Watch out, Fish! There might be more traps inside!"
But of course Fish didn’t need her saying it to know it. They could perceive some strong magic etched to a number of unsuspecting items around: a decorative armor, the rug, a tapestry, some books...
"Ohhhhh, this fucker owed me the Neck Romancer signed by Iskald a long time ago.... Can you see it somewhere?"
Find a book. Should be easy....
...if the room Fish had just blinked into wasn’t a goddamn library, walls lined with hundreds and thousands of books and scrolls and tomes. It would be easier to find a needle in a haystack.
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Post by Fish the Tinkerer on Dec 9, 2023 11:49:24 GMT -5
Fish has no means of dispelling magic, but they leave little chalk marks near enchanted or magical things for Kamille to observe. She should be able to better assess how to disable the magical traps or at least know if they need to worry or not.
When Kamille asks about a book, Fish starts to look around. Their annoyance quickly grows as they hop along the floor, there is no organizational system to how these books are organized. Fiction is next to non-fiction, romance sits beside autobiographies, encyclopedias rest next to fantasy stories. Fish's eye twitched with annoyance.
The urge to simply shoot the wizard who owned this tower was growing. Thankfully, as a thief they were trained for searches like this and finding hard to find objects.[1] They can spot a few different books that seem out of place, even among the random chaos of this organizational search.
The bird scales up one book case to look closer at a book. A hidden lever mechanism? Interesting, if not a little cliche. Fish holds a hand out to feel a draft as the other arms holds to the shelf.
"Hidden compartment behind here, maybe a secret vault. Perhaps it is hidden down there." Fish looks to the window where Kamille is.
1. Intuitive Bloodhound
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Dec 18, 2023 17:35:30 GMT -5
There was something wrong. Baram was meticulous, annoyingly so. It had been a point of content between the two, a weakness she explored. He liked pairs and symetry, and would go nuts when she hid his socks or quills that matched his inkwells. And just about the same time Fish realised the mess that place was, she started to worry.
"Fish! FISH! Something's wrong! This is not the place anymore... I think......."
Her eyes darted inside, searching for something she could identify... If that wasn’t Baram's tower anymore...
"FISH! This might be one of the former councilmen's tower now! Ohhhhh! We might find something interesting here! But watch out! Please watch out! What is this secret compartment? I can’t see it from here! Are there any interesting documents there?"
Baram might've played her - which, she had to admit, was a common thing to happen - but she wouldn’t get out of there before finding something interesting! If that wasn’t Baram's tower anymore, it could mean a couple of things... Either he was promoted, or someone got demoted. Damn, she was so late on the Capital's gossips! She wanted to know more!
"Baram would have a stroke if things were as messy as this... Do you see some signed letters? Or maybe a portrait?"
She wanted to know whose tower it was now.
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Post by Fish the Tinkerer on Dec 20, 2023 16:25:47 GMT -5
If Fish had the capacity to look angry and disappointed, they would right now as their little eyes slowly turn to look at Kamille. This was the last time they did a job without doing some scouting before hand. Fish should have known better than to take work from Kamille no questions asked, this explains why Allan sucks at his job. Fine, Fish will recover.
There is plenty to be had here. A few of the books look like first editions which means they could go for a lot of money. Couple of random knick knacks that disappeared into Fish's pocket. Might as well take what they can get.
The bird hops over to the desk, a hand searching around for any potential traps or tripwires. Hmm...whoever it was this person didn't invest heavily in security. They quickly flick open a drawer and grab a few letters a long with a signet ring. That should be enough of identifier for Kamille.
Unfortunately, before the bird can make it out the door starts to unlock. Fish ducks under the desk and holds themself off the floor by stretching between the sides of the desk.
"Of course M'Lord, right away." A servant sighs as she enters the room. "Yes, Mirabella, just find the lord's favorite book Mirabella, while you're at it grab a needle from a haystack Mirabella."
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Post by Lady Kamille Verlithax on Jan 7, 2024 20:07:16 GMT -5
If Kamille had the ability to perceive Fish's dissappointment, she'd probably be trying to compensate for the turn of events they just went through. But she looked far from dissappointed - actually, to be snooping through a councilmen's chambers was exciting! More exciting than to mess with Baram, to be fair! She wasn’t up to date to the Court's arrangements lately, so anything she could get from it would be exciting! Was that a recent retiring, maybe? Or perhaps Baram was the promoted one and got himself a better place...?
And then, the door opened.
Kamille would've panicked if it wasn’t Fish right there, as she knew Fish to be completely capable of handling the situation on their own.
But she needed to do something...!
Kamille tapped her beak at the window, trying to catch the servant girl's attention. Mirabella turned to face the raven outside of the window, cocking her head the same way Kamille did.
"Oh, great..... SHOO! You're gonna poop there and who's gonna have to clean? Why, Mirabella, of course! SHOO!"
Wow, that was rude....!
Okay, focus. What would Mischief say...?
"CAAAW! Help! I can help! Help find book! CAAAAAWWW! Give shinny! Help find book!"
"You want to help me find the book? Do you know how to read?"
.........in her experience, ravens didn’t know how to read. Mirabella interpreted her silence as a "no". It seemed the servant girl was quite used to weird stuff happening around her master, she didn’t even questioned the fact the raven before her was a bit more eloquent then a regular raven.
"Like I thought. Just go away!"
"CAAAAW! GONNA TELL MASTER! MIRABELLA THINKS MASTER FAT! MIRABELLA'S MASTER FAT!"
"WHAT?! I never said that! You little punk! Come here, I'll have the cook make a stew out of you!" Finally getting heated up, Mirabella went to the window to open it, hopefully to grab Kamille or just shoo her away.
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Post by Fish the Tinkerer on Jan 9, 2024 21:11:10 GMT -5
Oh good....it's getting worse. Fish holds their position while reconsidering how many times they are going to work with Kamille in the future. They just had to wait it out, but how long this little interaction is extended will determine how annoyed Fish is.
When Mirabella flung open the window she attempted to just shoo the bird away. The young maid was not above slapping the bird on the beak and scolding it if it did not leave. She would mutter about how she is overworked and undervalued, debased to chasing after birds and impossible to find books.
Growing frustrated, Fish mimicked feet coming up the steps.[1] The noise was enough to suddenly snap Mirabella's attention to the door. In a huff she grabbed the closest book and shuffled out, leaving the window open but closing the door.
Fish dropped down and hopped out from their hiding place. Kamille is once more given a look of disdain. They go back to rifling through the drawer for anything of use. They start setting things on top of the desk for Kamille to see.
Nothing fancy, signet ring, pen, velvet pouches, little bits of accessories and jewelry that could be sold for a few solars at a time. It's all baudy, but hey free is free ya know?
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