You know how the age-old saying goes. Finders, keepers. It's the creed of the thief. Your sticky fingers just always seem to end up in rich pockets, grabbing coin, jewel, and trinket. You have a knack for waiting in shadows, always hungry. Driven by greed. Larceny runs through your veins. Thievery always on the mind. Walking the cobbled streets of the morning, where others see citizens and townsfolk, you see targets and possibility. No guards looking. No danger in the area. Nice and quiet. Time to find you a fancy new coin purse.

All of this opportunity, of course, comes with a risk. A great one. A caught thief is a dead thief. A lone thief is a caught thief. Only takes one wrong movement, one misstep, one touch to a chap's bum before he realizes the emptiness of his pocket and the person right behind him, former contents of said pocket in the red hands of the thief. Our organization exists to unify as a band of thieves and make as much coin as possible, making sure our own don't get caught, and et cetera. Essentially, we're a group of people who would love nothing more than to rob the rich blind and find themselves with new possessions. Welcome to our Guild.

Though, you may have heard around that our outfit isn't doing so well. It is just a shadow of its former self. This is why we are trying to hire new members, as well as relearn the tools of our trade. We are taking a new approach to how we handle our jobs, to make sure our clients are most satisfied with our handiwork. No more jack-of-all-trades. The route we will be taking will be having everyone specialize in a form of crime, be it ambush, fishing, numbers, heists, robberies, fencing less-than-legal items, and et cetera. Everyone will have one specialization, and the very best just might have two. We are also expanding our resources to take on new jobs, like protective services and assassinations. Since these are fairly new, only experienced members can take them. There'll be plenty of opportunities to earn coin, so don't worry.

---

Alekzander sighed as he woke up from a particularly fascinating dream of taking the biggest haul they've ever had, striking it rich for all of the members of the Guild. Oh, how Alekzander wished to make each and every one of the members wealthy, especially himself. Have to be a bit selfish in this line of work. Only a bit. Alekzander waved the hair out of his face and sat up on his bed, yawning. "Another day in this Band of Thieves, eh," he said, though to no one really. Anyone who would happen to hop by would hear him. Alekzander slept and, essentially lived in, their hideout. It wasn't exactly the most sanitary of places in the city of Estherdame, but he had yet to suffocate, so he guessed it was alright. It was far from the worst, that was for sure.

With that, Alekzander stood to his feet and would begin getting dressed, choosing his traditional thief attire. Oh, the jobs this outfit has seen, in the one year alone. Alekzander had some memories in this Guild, and now that he was Guildmaster, he wanted to fulfill his promise to Roc and bring the Guild back to its former glory. Now fully dressed, Alekzander would walk out of the large bunking room and into the main room of their hideout, stretching out his limbs. He routinely popped his knuckles, neck, spine, arms, legs, and jaw. Have to keep those limbs limber, otherwise he would not do so well in this line of work.

So, Alekzander, having fully woken up, would sit at a table and wait for everyone else to either arrive or awake, as some lived outside of the hideout. While that was in process, Alekzander was approached by the mini-tavern's barmaid, whom had already prepared a plate of breakfast for him, remembering what he liked. "Here you are, Alekzander. Fresh from the skillet. Even remembered the fruit this time," the barmaid said, her heavy accent prominent in the nearly empty room. "Thank you, lass. I appreciate it," Alekzander replied, before dismissing the barmaid and eating his breakfast.

"Sulfur"
"Carbon, yes wait, no no no" Roban mumbled, catching the flask before it could tip its contents into what he called "The Magic Machine". What he was brewing up smelled of slight musk, and left him slightly drowsy. His workplace was fairly roomy, he could stretch his legs, move around on a chair baring four wheels at the bottom allowing for easy mobility all from the comfort of a seated position. After placing the Carbon flask back in its cabinet with all the other natural ingredients, he took a long slurp from his tea, iced of course. Working day and night has some effects on the human mind, one of them happens to be the urge to bite your hands or inflict self harm. This little experiment he was working on was all for a new brew he was fixing up.

"What if you could create a combination of ingredients from nature, so potent artificially of course, that they could force the mind to relapse then overlap its perception of time, much worse then knockout and much harder to diagnose. The subject would be a gold mine to pick, yes yes that would very very good." Roban went on, rambling on to himself, sniffing the flasks in his cabinet, hoping to find the correct one. "Note to self, write names of ingredients for better sorting." Roban spoke, to himself of course, all while working in an highly fumigated room. Dr. Roban was a man of science, numbers and probability didn't concern him, he was a man who based success off of trial and error, if something failed twice in his experiment, he would put all his effort on the third, if that failed it was scraped and reanalyzed.

"That wouldn't be potent enough, plus the effects on someone's mind could be completely adverse and leave them.....next"

"I need tea!" he yelled, kicking his desk before proceeding to bite on his hand.

"Tea! not coffee!" Roban roared at one of his flasks, which consisted on nothing.

Robb had been up for about an hour doing some light exercise. While he wasn't the strongest person, it's good to stay in shape for his line of work. He pulled on his black jacket and slipped on his boots before walking into the hideout's main room. Like Alekzander Robb lives in the hideout. It isn't the nicest place, but home was still home. Robb nodded a good morning to the guild master as he grabbed an apple off a table.

Robb sat alone at a table near the wall, whistling a tune. He enjoyed mornings at the hideout because it was usually quiet when he woke up. Aside from the doctor yelling ocasionally, it was. The barmaid walked over to Robb with his usual morning meal. Freshly squeezed juice, and a pastry. Grunting his thanks, Robb began to eat. It wasn't uncommon for him not to be in the mood for conversation until after eating. He got up from his chair and stretched. Today felt like the perfect day to do some less than honest work. Robb approached the guild master and sat across from him at his table. Putting his feet up, Robb popped the question.

"Any work today?"

Alekzander watched out of the corner of his eye at Robb walking over to him as he ate his food, sitting and propping his feet up. Practicing for the inevitable leisure, he would assume, and would excuse it. "Aye, lad. That there is. A note pinned to the board. Looks like a simple robbery. A job for you and Jarret to work together on. Promised a small purse-full if you can get the items he wants," Alekzander said, matter-of-factly. Alekzander then smirked and scoffed. "Am I the only one that finds it humorous that you're one of the specialists on robbery, and your name is Robb? I enjoy how that worked out."

Alekzander would then wave to the barmaid. "Would you be a kind lass and get Roban his damned tea? Fool's yelling his lungs out in there. And, do mind the fumes, please. You want to keep those strong lungs just that way, lest you choke on your own throat," he said. The barmaid nodded and went into the kitchen and came back out with Roban's tea he'd ben crying out for. Alekzander scoffed once more and looked over to Robb. "All of those chemicals are going to the man's head, no doubt. Poor man runs on no sleep in a room full of chemicals, more than half of them deadly. Sometimes, I wonder if he accidentally mixed his sanity into one of his many vials of products. Or all of them, little by little. But, Roban's a good man. Reliable doctor and alchemist, as well as toxicologist."

With that, Alekzander had finished his plate of food, sliding it onto the table as per usual. When the barmaid came over to him, he handed it to her. "Thank you for the meal, lass. It was truly delicious. Place wouldn't be the same without your good cooking, good looking," Alekzander said, smirking and winking to the barmaid. Flustered, the barmaid lowered her head and giggled, before going back into the kitchen. Satisfied, Alekzander would turn back to Robb, reaching for the deck of cards on the table. He would shuffle the deck masterfully before looking at Robb. "Could I interest you in a game of cards?"

Robb chuckled lightly at Alekzander's joke. He had heard that one a few times before, and was often teased about it much to his own amusement. Work was work however and a job with Jarrett was as good as any. Robb looked forward to a chance to test his skills. Lurking in the shadows, as strange as it may sound, is what he was best at.

Roban was screaming for tea as the bar maiden rushed off to deliver it. Robb made a mental note to visit him later and see what new inventions he had waiting. Robb liked to keep up to date with the other guild members as they were like a family to him. The guild had after all taken him off the street, and given him a home. The others would arrive soon enough and Robb was eager to start planning the robbery. Alekzander reached for a deck of cards on the table and shuffled them quickly, and skillfully. Robb could tell by the way he shuffled that the guild master was no stranger to them. Looking to kill sometime Robb accepted the invitation to play. "Name the game." Robb leaned forward in his chair, smirking."And if you'd like to make things interesting, name your stakes."

There was a tapping sound coming from one of the tunnels, Metal on Stone. Its pace was slow, but certainly moving closer. Father Jones called out " Blehh i never get used to the stink in these tunnels" He was feeling really grumpy today as his back was giving him pain. "Where's the good doctor, My back is going my bloody head in again," he stepped into the large room that hosted the guild hall and edged close and closer to the Table were his two fellow thieves sat. "But a friend and pull a chair out for this old cripple" He chuckled
After Robb Pulled a chair for him to sit on he slumped down and groaned in pain "A thief that can't move fast nor be silent, Haha i nether thought the day would come where that would be me, Now where is that Nutty professor!".
Pulling From his robe and placing a pile of notes and a flask of wine "This fell into my pocket on the way over here" he Uncorked it and took a swig "Ahh Vintage 19 vin rouge,no finer Red wine"

THUD THUD
Flesh smacking against sandbags.
Flint was training, punching bags of sand with large amounts of force. The bag swayed slightly from it chain as he continued the punches, one after the other.
Finally he threw a last punch with all his might, hitting the sandbag off the chain and to the floor. Flint panted softly as he went to sit on a bench beside him, he hadn't had work in awhile but hopefully he might get to punch someone today.
He grabbed some water as he walked out of the training room and soon got to the main hall, sitting away from the others as his breakfast was laid out, he was sweaty and his muscles bulged as adrenaline slowly began to decline within him. He quickly ate, wondering what the others where talking about.

-Early Morning-

Jarret swings open his door to the hall of the inn. The inn has been his Jarret's home since he first joined the guild. He keeps a stable payment flow by giving them coin that has been discreetly misplaced from the register in the lobby. Jarret walks down the hallway of the inn and out of the lobby doors, the inn keeper greets Jarret as he enters the lobby, like every other day. "Good morning, Jarret!" The old women said with a raspy voice. "'Morning, Mary." Jarret quickly replied with a small beckon. Jarret marched out of the inn and into the town of Estherdame. The inn was just a few blocks away from the guilds HQ so it was easy for Jarret to come early, but because he was so conceited, Jarret felt it was appropriate to come "Fashionably late" every day.

Jarret marched his way to the guild hideout just after stopping at the fruits stand just around the corner from it. He did his routine, giving the young merchant a kiss on the cheek as he slipped a silky smooth red apple into his deep pockets. "Have a nice day Suzanne." Jarret waved backwards as he kept walking. The sun was warm and bright today as it flow nicely over the rooftops of houses, but this sunlight faded quickly as he walked in the HQ of the guild. He moved through the various tunnels and passage ways until he stood in a room with his fellow thieves. "Here I am guys! Don't worry, I'm still alive, no need to be concerned..." Jarret went on for a few minutes before he sat at the table where Robb, Alekzanader, and Jones were sitting.Taking up the rest of the seats a this four stool table. Jarret added in the middle of one of their hands, "So, wants on the menu today?" He pointed towards the job board behind him as he watched them play cards.

Zendra sauntered to the hide out her hips swaying under her gold silks and lace she wore as clothes, a smile danced over her face as she seen the rest of her "family" it was the closest thing to family she ever had her jewellery lightly clinked against itself on her neck and wrists as she found a place to sit in the guild hall "It is good to see you all again this morning my friends" she spoke the common language very well but she had a foreign accent under it, unlike the other member's of the guild she rarely stole items or coin, she often stole secrets and whispers and shared them with her family.

outside of the guild she was seen as the Madam who ran the Golden silks, a popular brothel in the town that only member's of the guild knew was attached to them, running a brothel provided her with the girls who served them, hiring only girls she trusted to not speak of anything they hear. she crossed her long smooth legs when one of her girls brought her a cup of red wine.

"Stop the carriage here please, Mr. Hamond." Sarina gently guided from her seat in the carriage. The carriage halted in front of a ramshackle bakery, and the grimy children playing on the curb paused to gaze wide-eyed at the sudden presence of a little splendor amid the usual squalor. Sarina descended from the carriage, her gray cloak swishing around her sturdy black long boots. Garbed in a plain white tunic that reached her knees, and black deerskin leggings, Sarina would have shocked the ladies of high society if they could see her right then. She always dressed to be inconspicuous during her many forays into the impoverished parts of the city. Attracting the wrong sorts of attention would not only waste her precious time, but could also have the unfortunate side effect of death.

"M'lady, are you certain you wish for me to leave you here like this? There are all sorts of unsavory types skulking around you know." Mr. Hamond frowned his heavily bearded face and furrowed his bushy eyebrows. Sarina smiled and comfortingly laid one gloved hand on Mr. Hamond's. She had done this countless times and yet her devoted butler never stopped being concerned. "I will be fine Mr. Hamond. We will rendezvous here again within two hours. In the unlikely event I do not show up, wait fifteen minutes and then please inform the Karof brothers." she said, referring to the burly yet sharp bodyguards under her employ. "They'll be able to find me. Or whatever shall be left of me." Sarina grinned with mischief as Mr. Hamond's visage turned a few shades paler.

"Oh do not fret so, Mr. Hamond. I will see you soon!" and with that she pulled the hood of her gray cloak over her shining black curls and began to walk away. The hood obscured her tawny eyes, and the planes of her golden brown face. Only a hint of her full bottom lip could be seen. The cloak hid the curvature of her form, and the gloves hid the sign of wealth that was unblemished and uncallused hands.

Sarina walked briskly through the neighborhood, nonchalantly passing by gruff laborers in sooty clothes, simpering prostitutes with their breasts falling out of their corsets, and scampering orphans with faces caked in dirt. The people became more scarce as she continued on her way, and soon she stopped on a street that was completely deserted. Her contact had told her that this was where the Guild would be residing. Sarina could have easily sent one of her men to establish contact but when it came to new business ventures she preferred to be there herself. This Guild was intriguing. She had done the math, and if she could start fencing goods and services for them she would make a hefty profit. Not only that but the security benefits were very tempting. The Karof brothers were decent bodyguards, but her line of business required a subtler touch, and more work in the shadows.

Sarina's stomach gave a small growl, interrupting her thoughts. In her hurry she had skipped breakfast. It had been kidney pie, a favorite of hers.
"This had better be worth it." she mused impatiently as she drew close to what looked like a rundown mini-tavern. The vaguest sounds of life could be heard from within it, muted chattering and random shouting. Sarina pulled back her hood, then tapped firmly on the door. The rectangular peephole slid open and a pair of feminine eyes stared out.

"I am Lady Sarina Mashir. I believe I'm expected." she smiled. The peephole was snapped shut and a moment later the door creaked open to reveal a brightly lit hallway within which stood a pretty woman in barmaid regalia.
"Aye mum, please come with me."
Sarina followed her into a small but relatively clean dining area. Some of the chatter ceased as the newcomer entered.

"Six men, one woman. Most of them armed. One of them very big." Sarina noted to herself, the weight of the daggers strapped to her thighs providing only a little comfort. Her sharp gaze fell on a unshaven man with unwashed black hair and a handsome chin. He seemed to have some level of command over the room. She nodded towards him.
"Are you Alekzander?"

"Perhaps I need to put this experiment off" Roban thought, fooling around in his cabinets until he came across a furiously foul smelling odor emitting from a small vial, capped and sealed in some sort of wrap. After staring at it in confusion, he was struck by a sudden epiphany. His lack of sleep has clouded his long term memory, for he had created a elixir just for his cancelation of his research. It was composed of multiple stomach acids from the most piousness of reptiles. While the stomach glands themselves aren't poisons, they have a natural antioxidant that can help with sleep deprivation, often used to keep the prey from falling asleep while in the stomachs of the predators.

"No, no that doesn't make sense, its not true" Roban yelled.

He went to plucking the cork off the top of the vial and dousing his hair in the fluids, the smell was heavily repulsive. His nose hairs shivered in the grotesque presence of the smell. His fingers grew numb and his craving for tea quickly faded to a craving for the practice of hygiene. For who in the damned world could wish upon such a repulsive smell on someone, forget lack of sleep, he had no hopes of ever going back to sleep after smelling what he just smelled. "Forgive me lord for I have sinned, I have dabbled in the science and went directly against your laws. I have stolen, assaulted and" Roban paused, his entire body stiff from the chemical sapping into his scalp like a intruding virus. His urge to bite his hand off slowly dissipated and he quickly recollected an important task handed down to him by the good ol cap.

"Oh my, I should be meeting with the group" Dr recalled, dousing his head in a more pleasant smelling liquid, cancelling out the smell of the other, leaving his scalp smelling like a newborn puppy. With that epidemic out of the way the Doctor set off for the group, with his tea in hand and a very strong smile.

Alekzander thought for a moment, and then would say, "We will play a simple game of Blackjack. Seems easy enough. As for terms, aces go both ways, play to 21, and for betting, well...stakes are 50 from both of our pockets, making for 100. Sounds pretty fair, lad?" Alekzander smirked and would shuffle the deck quickly and skillfully, before passing cards to both himself and Robb. After pulling several for each, he set the rest of the cards to the side and would reach into his pocket, pulling out 50 froms. Froms were the typical currency found on the people of Estherdame. "You may go first, lad."

As people started entering, Alekzander would greet each and every one of them, continuing the game with Robb. "There's a job that you and Robb will work together on, Jarret. It's on the board, if you want to look upon it. Decent amount of pay, lads, equally split," he said, to both Robb and Jarret. After taking his next turn, he turned to a table adjacent to him, turning to Zendra. "How's the brothel faring these days, lass? Is it living up to its namesake, Golden Silks? Golden skin, silky smooth v-...well, you know. Anyways, I just might have to pay a visit there, as a customer," Alekzander said, flashing his trademark winning smile to Zendra. "And, you look as sensual as ever, lass."

After a while, Alekzander cocked his head up and looked as a woman in a cloak entered the room. Alekzander smiled and stood from his seat, walking over to the woman. "Aye, that I am, lass. That I am," he said as he approached her. He outstretched his hand to the woman. "I am Alekzander Kaeles, Guild Master. And, you must be the Sarina Mashir I personally sent out for...On behalf of the Thieves and myself, it is an immense pleasure to meet you, lass, and welcome to the Guild. These are your new comrades. Take a moment to meet everyone here, lass. You're bound to get acquainted with them anyways, might as well be now." With that, Alekzander gently took Sarina's hand and led her down a small set of stairs to the place where everyone was at, save for Dr. Roban.

"It is a great honor to meet a group of such infamy. Greetings all." Sarina grinned as she gave Alekzander her hand, and then smiled at the others. Her gaze darted to examine their faces. New comrades huh? They were a familial bunch, it seemed. Sarina felt mildly out of place, but she did not let that show, and walked with complete composure as Alekzander led her to the seating area.

Once he released her hand Sarina gave him a small curtsey out of habit before she took a chair and sat with her long legs crossed. "I apologize for interrupting your card game. I am content to be a spectator until we are all ready to discuss business." she smiled.

Shae rolled her shoulders, a quiet sigh accompanying the action, before stretching her arm out further, leaning further away from the ladder she was poised on, eyes focused on the small figure of the person studying the placement of her hand and the small, wooden target clutched in it. When Lim's finger came to tap at her chin and the girl released a considering hum, Shae paused her hand and raised an eyebrow, a questioning glint in her eyes as she peered down at the girl. Lim nodded up at her before affirming, "That's good leave it there." and knelt down to gather her shortbow off the floor.

Shae arranged the target on Lim's chosen spot, hanging it from a protuding nail, and settled back to sit on a wide step of the ladder, form relaxed and anticipatory, leaned forward slightly to allow for the stretch of her own bow wrapped around her back, watching as Lim took up a practised stance, having collected an arrow and pulled back the nocking point of her bow. Lim aimed for the target, inhaled, and exhaled, before releasing the arrow, sending it catapaulting in Shae's direction. To her left, Shae heard a dull thunk as the arrow hit the target, and turned her eyes towards the wooden face, watching as the arrow tried to pierce for half a second before breaking from it. As the arrow fell to the ground as did Lim's face, and Shae couldn't help a slight amused quiver of her lips.Lim cast a glare up at the woman, bringing her bow to rest at her hip, "Well your turn then if you think it's so funny." Lim mumbled, a playful lilt to her goad that made Shae give a quick nod, and a slight roll of her eyes, before she raised herself up to slide down the ladder, springing off the apparatus when closer to the floor and landing on the wooden boards swiftly.

Lim, in turn, put her bow on the floor again before climbing up the ladder with the speed of a mouse, leaning across and grabbing the target off the wall, turning her head back to Shae, a question poised on her lips which was quickly replaced by a suprised squeal as an arrow came flying and pricked into the wooden target, prompting Lim, in suprise, to drop the wooden target, sending it to land on the floor below in a loud crash of noise. Lim glared down at a still steadily poised Shae, teeth gritted and forming into a snarl. Shae slowly lowered her bow, her eyes following the downwards motion until they rested on the fallen target on the floor, arrow shot clean through the face, Shae noticed with a small nod to herself. At a heavy thump from somewhere above her, Shae moved her eyes upwards, towards the overhanging upper level of the room that her, Lim and her caretaker lived in, the latter of whom was now leaning over the railings that cordoned off the upper level, face slumped in an unimpressed, and tired, expression.

Olos sighed, drawing a calloused hand down his ruddy face, fixing his gaze on his Daughter, still perched on the ladder that, he dimmly noted, was supposed to be the way up and down to the staggered landing they used as a sleeping area. His grey eyes moved to the wooden target laid on the floor, to Shae's bow still clutched in her hands, his eyes then moving up her relaxed form to regard her face with an expression of slightly detatched disapproval. "It is much too early for both of you to be locking horns..." Olos, sighed again at Shae's responding shrug, "...can't you give an old man some peace?"

Shae's clutch on her bow relaxed as she turned away from Olos' gaze, wandering over to the low table in the centre of the room, heavily laden with a mismatch of objects, from books to polished arrow heads, to a flat plate of hard, cured beef from last nights meal that Shae swiped a scrap from, bringing the meat to her mouth and making a point of chewing loudly, her back still turned to both Olos and his daughter.

Lim slid down the ladder, an apologetic expression on her face, "Sorry for waking you father but-" Lim explained as she dragged the ladder across the room and propped it up to rest against the railings of the upper-level, "-because Shae's head is so thick you have to be loud to get through to her...", finishing her task Lim sauntered over towards Shae, hands on her hips, and dug a sharp elbow into Shae's side, Shae batting a hand at her in reaction. Lim smirked, and turned her head up towards her father again, "...because Shae is a fiend and full of herself.", complimenting this last insult with another playful dig to Shae's side.

Shae herself simply leaned to the side, bringing all her weight to rest on her left foot, her defined jaw moving quickly as she chewed and swallowed before she lowered her chin to regard Lim with an amused expression, one eyebrow quirking slightly upwards. With another small smile crooking at her lips Shae replies, "Well, I imagine that having total confidence in your abilities and talents, as well as a good deal of fiendishness are pretty useful traits to have, when you're in a business for crooks." She turns her body fully towards Lim, using what advantage she has in height to loom over the girl, "It's why I was already available for service when I was your age." Shae goads with a teasing lilt to her voice, vocally complimenting the way her eyes narrowed in mirth. Lim visibly bristles, her face flushing pink and the corners of her pretty lips twisting downwards sharply, her offence at Shae's sly dig evident enough that Olos sees fit to firmly interject, leaning further over the railings to look down on them both with a critical stare.

"Speaking of being available for service Shae..." Olos chides with a firmly authoritive tone that brings Shae's spine to stand straight out of instilled habit, she turns cautious eyes towards her caretaker, her teacher, and rests her face into a blank expression as he continues, "I think you've had enough time to rest from your mistake, so why don't you go and see the new Master, see if he'll give you a job?"

Shae's shoulders stiffen, and her hand clutches tighter around the grip of her bow, her lips twitching downwards. After a few seconds, Shae gives a stiff nod accompanied by an affirming hum and tears her eyes away from Olos, and then from Lim, before turning away to make towards the cloth bundle containing her working attire, choosing to ignore the way Lim had looked up at her just then, the line of her lips pressed into something half-triumphant half-concerned.

---

It had been an clear error on Shae's part, and an embarrassing one at that, that had left her incapacitated for nearly two months, embarrassing for her in how laughable a circumstance that one who so well known for flighting swiftly and soundlessly across the rooftops of Estherdame could land herself in an accident upon the very slates she might call her own playground. Yet, it had happened, when a job that had seemingly gone off without a hitch found Shae sprinting across the shingles pursued by several goons who weren't supposed to have been there at all, and although Shae had polished them off quickly and with not too much fuss, she had misjudged the distance jumping from a hanging flower basket off a gable to the roof of a house much lower down than it. Thus, Shae had skid across the slanted surface, sending several pieces of tile flying, before wrapping her left ankle around the pillar of a chimney. The sprain had been bad enough that a few days of rest wouldn't have been enough to repair it, and so Shae had found herself out of comission since, largely bedridden for the majority of it.

The last two months have been hell, Shae inwardly recounted with a grimance beneath the mask covering her mouth as she slank along the dingy passageways, her bow and quiver thumping softly against her back with each step. And they had been hell, for someone like Shae who was always seemed to have energy thrumming through her body, the rest had been torture, and she was eager to be back on her feet...although the thought of facing the other members of the guild, one of them the Guildmaster no less, for the first time following her embarrassment provoked a displeasing feeling.

Shae pulled the wrap of her mask up further, a light flush blazing onto her cheeks as she steadily approached the open doorway up ahead, an assortment of voices leaking out, drawing her into the light of the room. She peered around the gathering, eyes drawn to a familiar face in the crowd, unshaven and relaxed, 'The one with a bit of a nose' Olos had mumbled to her one time within another crowd, when he had pointed out the man during his induction as Guildmaster. Shrugging her bow further up her shoulder, Shae moved towards the table several other folks had gathered at, offering a small tilt of the head to Alekzander.

Alekzander smiled as he saw Shae walk her way into the gathering area. It made him really happy to see her again, all healthy. Her accident had been a nasty one, indeed. And while it was, in fact, her fault for misjudging the distance of her jump- at least that's what he believed she said, Alekzander would not start criticizing the lass. She had just gotten her ankle healed up, no need to break her heart shortly after the repair. Besides, by the way Shae carried herself around the Thieves, Alekzander could definitely tell that she knew she screwed up.

Alekzander reached a hand over to Shae and patted the poor girl's shoulder. "Welcome back, lass. We all missed you, dearly. And now, you're back," he said, flashing his trademark smile. After that, he brushed some hair out if his face and said, "Don't worry about the job. None of us could have escaped, or probably even gotten as far as you did. The worst of it happens to the best of us, even I." Alekzander smirked and scoffed as he took his turn, turning over the card he needed in Robb's and his card came. "Perfect 21, lad. You know you lost."

Alekzander would then put the cards up and sit in a different position. "Speaking of failure, I'm going to tell you all a story. So, this was back when Roc was training me for the Guild. One day, Roc was training me free running as part of an escape lesson. Well, on this particular day, I was attempting to jump off of a wall and grab onto a ledge. So, the old man and I are out here, and I'm trying to get this down. On one such attempt, my foot slips from the wall on the beginning part, and I ran straight into the wall, my face getting the worst of it. I broke my nose with that lesson, was all bruised and cut, and was half-conscious. Roc, that old codger, he laughed for days on end at me. Every day I showed my face, he would laugh."

Alekzander laughed himself as he remembered how it felt. "It hurt for a long time. Moral of the story...look out for walls." After a good chuckle, he would say, "But seriously. The worst happens to the best of us, sometimes. Now, enough storytime. Anyways, we have a few missions on the board up there. There's a robbery, and a jailbreak job. More will be coming soon, so don't fret. In the meantime, we can just sit around and be merry." With that, Alekzander stood and walked over to the small bar place, where the barmaid, Sylverianne, was working. Sylverianne smiled and leaned forwards and exchanged murmurs to each other, Sylverianne. giggling occasionally. Sylverianne would go into the back room for a minute, before coming back out, with no obvious change, followed by more murmurs.

Teeth gripped the reddest apple Suro Shahn-Lee had ever been able to get her hands on whilst busy hands filtered through the tanned paper. Every few seconds, juice and spittle would overtake her mouth and she would be forced to slurp if she were to carry on. Letters from parents and brother, Sunny, dominated her mind as she thought of what to reply and when she came across the rare useless mail, she'd rip it in half and toss it into the nearby gutter.

The way to the Thieves' Guild was so familiar, she didn't have to think of where she was going as her feet already knew the way. Of course, she would occasionally stumble into someone in which she would reply with a bowed head of apology, but her mind was focused on other things. Not only did she have to reword a letter in her mind, but she had to pay close attention to the ground to ensure that no cracks were stepped on and no black cats had passed. Suro could handle a lot of things; bad luck wasn't one of them. The blonde was so preoccupied that she didn't realize she was about to knock over an old lady until actually happened. The crouched woman shouted curses and moaned about her back after Suro flipped over her bent over figure and landed with a hard thud on the ground. Her blue and bronze scarf saved her cheek from engrained dirt, though it could not salvage her sore head. Picking herself up, she bended at the waist in apology and rushed as far away as she could from the anger-sprouting hag.

When the thief arrived at the tavern, she sighed in relief through pants...though it all sounded the same. Collapsing in a nearby chair, she flicked her fingers in hopes that someone would retrieve some water for her as she leant back and rested her eyes. Old women were scary sometimes.

Robb pulled 50 from out of his pocket, and placed it on the table. More and more guild members began to arrive, and most of them sat around the table to watch. Just before Robb was about to draw his cards a woman he didn't know entered. As she spoke Robb remembered that Alekzander had indeed informed him about her. She was definitely a valuable asset to the team.

Returning to the game, Robb ran his fingers through his thick hair and sighed. He wasn't good at card games but he still didn't want to lose 50 from. He considered the fact that he could make it back easily on the job with Jarrett but hey, money was money. Quickly, Robb layed out 3 of the cards he had taken. A 10 of hearts, an 8 of clubs, and a 7 of spades. That added up to 25. Robb cursed under his breath and waited for Alekzander to play his hand.

"I think we both know you're going to win mate." Robb said with a laugh, as he leaned back in his chair. "You always do."

Just then Suro entered the room panting. She dropped into a chair, and shut her eyes. Robb watched curiously. He wondered what had happened to the shy thief.

The smile on her face became more sly as she took a drink from her cup "my girls would be glad to assist you...in any way my friend" she gave a light laugh "but my girls have feed me whispers about possible scores, men are loose of lip when the wine flows and a beautiful girl sits in his lap....even more so when he does not know she speaks his tounge, I will deposit those information's later tonight"

Her eyes went around the room landing on each person,watching the card game she smile behind her wine as Alekzander won, she then looking to everyone else coming in and with a snap of her fingers she summoned one of her girls "see to it that everyone get what they will my dear" she girl who must have been about 15 bowed and replied with a yes m'ladyas she left her side to make sure everyone was happy.

Zendra finished her wine "my little robin" she turned to Robb flipping her golden hair from her face "if he always wins....there maybe a reason to that" she lightly giggled to herself "like most here he does have quick nimble....and very sly fingers"

When Alekzander's hand met her shoulder in a forgiving pat, Shae leaned downwards with the motion, giving another nod before allowing herself to take a seat around the table. She glanced over the card game lain across the wooden surface, noting that Alekzander had won against Doctor Robb, who had been one of the healers to take a look at her ankle and firmly let her know she wouldn't be doing any jobs anytime soon. She offered the doctor a short nod before settling in her chair, body leaning forward and crossing her arms atop the table, keen eyes peering round at the rest of the gathering.

Shae allowed a small, amused smile to quirk at her lips beneath her mask as she listened to Alekzander's story, Olos had mentioned it before to her, and it was refreshing to know that even the Guildmaster had made honest mistakes in his career, which made things look more promising for Shae herself.

Jarret pressed his hands firmly against the stained wooden stable, propping himself up to a hunched standing position. Jarret quickly twisted and turned cracking his back, followed by a obnoxiously loud sigh of relief. He pivoted on his heel and headed towards the job board posted beside the bar counter. He stood there looking at the board, examining the various jobs that suited the different members of this guild. Only two really stood out, and it was obvious which one was intended for himself and Rob. After looking over the details, Jarret rested his head backwards on his neck, pointing his chin high in the air. His head turned to the door that was letting all the members flow in. He watched as a new person came in, she talked with the guild master briefly than took a seat on the sidelines. Shortly after he saw Shae walk in. Jarret felt a bit of nostalgia as he laid his eyes on Shae, this thought was quickly dismissed when he remembered why she was gone for so long. Jarret cracked a smile, followed by a chuckle that was quickly muffled by his hand. Oh yeah, the ankle thing he remember. Jarret gathered his composure and was about to walk to over to her, preparing to make an inappropriate joke about her mishap. But his eyes snapped to the anti-social thief who stormed in and sat on a chair.

"It looks like everyones here!" Jarret shouted across the room. Making sure everyone heard his enthused yet slightly raspy voice. A couple of heads turned towards him, only fueling his need to be acknowledged, "It's no surprise this room starts getting lively when I arrive. It's only a matter of fate!" He added with an elegant swirl of the hand, his voice equally as loud and energy imbued as his last statement. He walked through the room, his head held unnecessarily high, making sure to take a seat next to the new comer. His eyes laid on her dark robes which flow over her. He held his hand out to her, "My name is Jarret Flower, of course you probably knew that since almost all the stories of this place revolve around me!" He said as he raised his other hand to his head, letting his finger circle around his face.