Market Mark

[Deleted]

Morith as usual was bustling, the streets had rather a lot of people in them buying selling, talking, walking, and doing a myriad of other things that people obviously do when they are in the streets of a city. Ulric stood to the side of this, at the mouth of an alleyway, watching all the people go past and searching through them for a suitable mark, someone who looked to have money, but not enough that they would hold enough influence to easily find him. His perfect mark would be a small time vendor or maybe a messenger boy if he could find one, you never know what you can find in messages sometimes, worth more than money.

But alas, today it seemed as if only the people to poor to even be considered as marks were out, and so he hadn't made a ritz all day, he needed the money though now, although he had enough to buy himself sufficient food and drink to live, he was aiming much higher. He wanted somewhere to live, and possibly some protection for himself from the hordes of angry people who would want to do him harm, especially the fathers, they were never very good if they caught up with you. 

Above that though he wanted himself enough money to do as he pleased, power came with money and not many people truly understood this, money bought anonymity if you wanted it to, it bought protection and safety, it bought the best weapons, gadgets, horses, and anything that a man could want. And that was why Ulric was resolved to earn some, so he kept his eyes peeled back on the crowds of people in the markets.

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Stamina: 19/20

[Deleted]

Gabriel had chosen the day. He had chosen where. He had chosen when. Now he just had to wait. He was back in the markets, waiting for something to happen where Gabriel could take advantage of the situation. Gabriel was back in the shadows on the fine morning and was trying to make a quick buck. He would just have to wait for the right moment to come.

Gabriel stood in the shadows on the lip of an alley way looking into the sea of people who stood before him. He had his normal black dress with corset over the top giving his body an sexy appeal and an hourglass shape, he wore his armour under like he normally did just in case and had his blonde hair flowing back behind him. He hoped that he would not stand out, he should look just like a normal, slightly weird girl but should not attract someone's eye more than once still.

Gabriel had to use his skill of sight to try and find the right 'market mark' as he called the game. You would have to find the right person who looked to have enough money that it was worth the risk and you would get an reward at the end of your troubles. Although you need to make sure that they would not be too important or rich that you would be chased down or too much heat would be pulled in. Today, did not seem to look like the best day for Gabriel though. Something had to come alone at some point, Gabriel knew this so he would just have to wait. Then he would pounce like the cougar he was and take his prize meat home, his hand clenched Sally's (his rapier) handle tightly for a second. 

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Stamina 47/48

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Ulric watched the crowd flow and joined it, weaving around and following in random directions, taking different turnings and looping around so that it looked like he was just walking somewhere like everyone else and that he couldn't really be singled out. standing still would only allow you to see a small number of people whereas moving would allow you to see lots of people and so long as your eyes were quick enough you could make a few ritz here and there as well.

Ulric was still looking for that mark, he needed a relatively easy mark if he wanted any decent money, no one to poor, someoen who could afford it easily if he took from them, he wasn't in the business of stealing from people who didn't have enough money for themselves anyway. He'd much rather take from someone who could afford it anyway, someone for whom the money would be a pittance.

Another criteria was that he had to be able to escape, that was always a tohught that weigh heavily on his mind whenever he tried, if he picked the wrong person and was caught then there'd be hell to pay.

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Stamina: 18/20ZxBZxy2L

[Deleted]

Gabriel looked around as the day was drawing into the afternoon, Gabriel knew that he should just walk around or he would have no chance at getting anything.Gabriel looked around as the market started to hit its final rush for the day and slowly drifted into the mass of people, Gabriel had to try and go unseen as he knew there would be other pickpockets about and did not want to be seen by any unwanted attention 

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Gabriel uses Sneaking I, and Hiding I to blend into the crowd of people. Threshold:35 (?(I'm not good at this yet lol))
tSmSiTpt
<fail>

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Gabriel was not sure if he was blending in well as he had not done it for a long time, he just hoped he would stay out of the eye of anyone who he did not want to meet that day, Gabriel was in the mood to get money. He was not wanting to lose money. 

Then Gabriel's mind went back to the game, finding prey which would be easy for Gabriel to get money from. He was a bit rusty so he needed it to be an easy target this time, he would slowly work his skills up t being better.

[Deleted]

Ulric continued to watch from his spot, waiting for a decent mark to come past, he needed to make a good haul today really, if he didn't then the next few days wouldn't be particularly good. Unfortunately enough for him though there seemed not to be any people around that looked as if they would serve as a good mark for the young rogue.

Upon inspection everyone around seemed to have some parameter about them that would mean Ulric refused to steal from them, whether it be that they looked to poor or that they were to rich and walked around with their own guard, something on each and every person he saw prevented him from wanting to steal from them.

And at that moment he noticed an anomaly in the crowd, someone who appeared to be attempting to blend in yet stuck out like a sore thumb, there was no purpose to their walk, they were just walking for the sake of it rather than to go anywhere from the looks of it. That and the fact that they were keeping an usually careful eye on the crowd drew her to his attention. Ulric pulled himself off of the wall he had been leaning against, she seemed as if she would be a good mark, so long as he could escape before she caught him with that rather deadly looking sword of hers.

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Stamina: 17/20

[Deleted]

As Gabriel walked alone Sally (his rapier) tapped his leg. Gabriel looked around nothing, even the alleys looked clear. That was something that was strange, you would always see at least someone in the alleys. Gabriel then started to worry. Had something happened, Gabriel had spent his time knowing the streets and for there to be no one in the alleys could mean that thieves had been cut down on. Then Gabriel stopped for a second and took a breath. 

He he needed to stop worrying, he was too tense. He had not done this for a while and needed to cool off and just relax. He breathed for a second, Gabriel needed to refocus himself. He waited by a stool selling dragonfruits that Gabriel knew were old and could not be healthy if you ate them. Then as a group of people came by he tried to disguise himself as one of them by hiding in the group and would sneak with them till they got to another stall Gabriel could wait at or if he saw a mark.

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Gabriel uses disguises, I sneaking I, Hiding I to blend into the crowd of people. Threshold:40 (?(I'm not good at this yet lol))
1qcYxpwT

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Gabriel walked with the group hoping he didn't stick out like a sore thumb, but from his time of not being a pickpocket for a while. He couldn't be sure if he was failing massively

[Deleted]

She stood out, looking like a rather good target if her apparel was anything to judge by, no one so important that he'd have the guards on his tail, yet having enough money that she could afford the kind of apparel that she was wearing. Overall her as a mark was almost a godsend, it seemed that he'd be eating well tonight.

Ulric continued towards her, she was fairly obvious even in the crowds, trying to be stealthy yet failing rather spectacularly, it was almost amusing how she was trying so hard and yet was failing, Ulric could only hope that he was not quite as obvious as she was and that she wouldn't clock onto his approach. If she clocked onto his approach, he had a fair bet that he'd very soon be staring at the point of that lethal blade that was at her waist.

He continued on through the throngs of people, walking with groups so he didn't stand out to much, although his hair couldn't really be helped, but he was hoping that he wouldn't be seen still.

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Stamina: 16/20

Hiding I 5 Sneaking I (unlearned) Disguises I 5 Easy 15 Knowledge 14 Threshold: 39
YrPlAaF3

[Azuloth]

The crowded street was the the location of a short clash between groups. A small squad of SKC troops were moving towards the center of the street. They were simply on patrol. There were a grand total of four of them. All of them were brutal enforcerers of Julgrava's law, and all of them were family men as well. That didn't matter to the people they ran into. Those people wanted their blood and guts spilled on the ground. They wanted an end to the subjugation that the footmen represented.

A tall man wearing a cloak bumped into one of the footmen, shoving a dagger into the soldier's neck while muttering some apology for not watching where he was going. Then the cloaked man disappeared into the crowd. The soldier fell to the ground, and people screamed.

Suddenly the three footmen were looking for suspicious characters among the crowd. They were looking for the murderer. One approached the apparent woman that had a rapier sheathed on her belt. The others stayed where they were.

"Excuse me miss, where'd you get that sword?"

The soldier asked. More people joined the crowd, looking at the dead soldier, whispering between each other. Some said the it was the Skaldi Resistance Front. Others muttered "RJG", others still mentioned "RoC". The word "Assassin" was passed around a lot.

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SKC Footmen: 3
HP: 400/400 400/400 400/400
Stm: 72/72 72/72 72/72
MP: 53/53 53/53 53/53

(Sword, Sword, Spear)

[Deleted]

Gabriel had carried on walking around, drifting from being serious to being in his day dreams. He followed the crowd around looking at stalls as he passed but he wanted to keep moving and not stop. He had no luck with finding a target, this was a bit annoying as Gabriel had looked to maybe a make a quick buck for his days work. Not all days ended up with bags of money though he had to remember.

Then all of a sudden the atmosphere had changed in the market. As Gabriel walked along he came to where the mass of people had all stopped and were staring at the body of SKC footman bathing in his own blood. This can't have been good. Gabriel quickly assessed the scene to try from where he stood and saw straight away that the man had a cut to the neck where he must have been stabbed. Hmm, who would do such a thi.......

All of a sudden Gabriel heard a man talk to him. Gabriel spun round to see that another SKC Footman was standing infront of him,caits another two standing back. Gabriel had always tried to avoid these men as they meant business and also they could be very dangerous. His sword? Sally, it must have attracted their attention. As the SKC Footman asked about Gabriel's sword he thought of a way he could reply to the question.

"Oh this, this is my masterwork piece of crafting Sally. It's a rapier, so lightweight and was crafted by an even finer craftsman. His name is Tyr I would say you should go see him one time. Before you ask, no I did not attack your friend, I use this sword for protection on my travels from city to city and place to place. You never know what you might run into outside the boundaries of a city. I'm sorry about your friend and if you need help finding the person who did it I could try to help, but the longer you keep questioning a weak, harmless girl. The further away they are getting and the closer to there escape they are.

Gabriel did not want to be in the spotlight for too long and hoped the guards would be on there way to track down the killer. Gabriel didn't want to Start a fight or anything and wanted to keep everything on a calm level at all costs.

[Deleted]

Ulric stayed exactly where he was, although one hand went behind his back to lean against the wall, at the same time slipping into his waistband of his trousers to grasp one of the throwing knives that were concealed there. If they were randomly interrogating and being violent towards random people then he wasn't going to stand by and let it happen, he had no love for the SKC. The footmen were mainly made up of thugs, that was all they usually were and on this occasion while they may be warranted in their actions, Ulric still wouldn't stand for this intimidation tactic.

The woman responded calmly, but the crowd was like a powder keg waiting to go off, words were being murmured and passed around now, it was only a matter of time before they exploded into action and took matters into their own hands. The crowd themselves were saying things now, and Ulric didn't fancy the words that they were passing around.

He kept his hand where it was, if thins exploded he wanted to be able to defend himself, and even if the woman did seem to be dealing with them rather well, he had no intention of letting a random woman be accosted and attacked purely because she owned a sword. If things came to a fight he would wait for the right moment and then strike to do the maximum damage.

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Stamina: 15/20

[Azuloth]

Unsatisfied, but with no real reason to continue heckling the poor girl they footmen moved off towards another person and started questioning them. Slowly the crowd started to dissipate. The more people they questioned, the more people left the area. It was beginning to be a trend, after they questioned one person two to three more would leave before the three footmen turned onto someone else.

Spectators would be within a few minutes. Conclusions would be jumped to regarding anyone still in the area once the crowd was gone.

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SKC Footmen: 3
HP: 400/400 400/400 400/400
Stm: 72/72 72/72 72/72
MP: 53/53 53/53 53/53

(Sword, Sword, Spear)

[Deleted]

Ulric watched the footmen as they sauntered off to find another target for their ire, holding the knife close behind his back and not taking his eyes from them until he was sure they were far enough away. Once they were however he returned the knife to his belt and took a much more relaxed posture, untensing the muscles he'd been preparing for fight or flight.

His mark had just been targeted by the SKC, should he still go after her or should he give up on that idea right now, it was bad enough that she'd drawn the guards attention but the possibility of them now watching her was very real. Even more pressing was the idea that she had that weapon at hand, it had looked rather well made from his experience and if he'd heard what she said correctly then it most definitely was well made. It was a blade built for speed, she could probably hit him before he was away with her purse if she caught him trying to steal from her, it would most certainly be an incredibly risky procedure.

And then when he looked around to actually find the mark in question, he could no longer find her. It was as if she'd slipped off while no one had been looking, he cursed his bad luck and the guards intervention, exclaiming rather a lot louder than he'd intended to "Fucking guards" at the fact that their appearance had lost him his prey.