Ari ♫ ♪ ♬ (gracenotes) wrote in emillion, @ 2013-11-03 17:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, arielle chiaro, audrey leradine |
Catch the last weekend of the last week before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced...
Who: Ari & Audrey
What: Grave robbing tbh Heisting at Orsinio's
Where: The Calibri estate in the Nobles' District
When: Late tonight
Rating: PG
Status: complete!
Count Orsinio was a man destined for the grave, as far as Ari was concerned. The ball on Friday had convinced her of it -- the ever unflappable Countess had not looked pleased, and really, the result of a displeased Vivi was never good. She’d already had Ari sabotage him once and he’d nearly died. She didn’t think it would end in sabotage this time, not with the stakes raised in such a manner; she doubted sincerely that there would be wedding bells (funeral bells, now, those seemed more likely). With that in mind, they weren’t really stealing from Orsinio at all. It was practically stealing from an old, forgotten tomb. Treasure hunting. Nearly legal. (That Orsinio probably had a will and thus an heir whom they were technically robbing was a fact she blithely chose to ignore.) With Juliette soundly asleep (with a bit of bardic assistance) not three blocks away, convinced that her sister was still entertaining a guest, they had changed their clothing and made their way over the wall and into Orsinio’s garden. The trees had lost most of their leaves, but there were bushes enough to hide behind, and still no dogs. Audrey had disappeared to fulfill her part of the entry plan, and Ari had ducked behind a bush that came up right against the building. The third floor window above would open any minute. First floor trapped, she remembered from Vivi’s old instructions. The higher floors? Not so much. Really, the man was an idiot. And the idiot was out in the outlands somewhere, no doubt drinking mulled wine and expounding upon his hunting prowess of the day to a bevy of similarly idiotic hangers on. When he came home, he’d be just a little poorer. The man owned enough weapons to outfit a small army -- he’d never manage to go hunting with all of them. Ari just had to hope that he hadn’t chosen the pistols this morning -- really, Bella would make much better use of them than the count ever could. Child’s play. The map was thrown into the belt slot for the scrolls she usually carried. There wouldn’t be any need for them as Ari was with her. So with ease she cast Vanish and crept through kitchen door into the Calibri Estate. The lock on the door wasn’t difficult, it took a little jiggling, but she passed through with ease. Closing the door behind her and locking it, she continued exploring through the first floor keeping through the servants’ quarters as to not fall to any traps. Her feet were silent over the wood. Minutes passed and already Audrey had reached the third story. Care was taken with every step. Overconfidence was one’s worst enemy, she could hear Fumi’s words in her mind. Once reaching the window, she pushed the panes open. Pulling the rolled step ladder from her back, she let it cascade down, tying it securely to hold Ari’s weight. Ari scrambled up the ladder quickly; without leaves on the trees, she could well be seen if she wasn’t careful. But the grounds seemed to be deserted tonight; and she was up and over the sill in minutes. “Any trouble?” she asked quietly as the ladder was once again bundled up, to be used later in her escape. There shouldn’t have been; this place was practically wide open for the robbing. Really, Vivi’s mother should have picked a smarter man, at least. This was just insulting. Audrey shook her head. “Nothing.” As soon as she was on the third story, Audrey was quick to pull up the ladder and assemble it back into a tight roll, clamping it to her back. “I really didn’t think this place was half as pathetic as you explained it was. Really, such an impetuous man. How long do you think he’ll last?” Audrey paused, following Ari’s lead through the estate. “What do you think Reinholdt will do?” “Well,” Ari said quietly once they traversed the corridors of Orsinio’s personal wing -- deserted in his absence -- “there are a few ways this could go. Vivi might kill him herself,” she left out that she had been party to the woman’s first attempt to do exactly that, “the guildmaster might take a hand in it -- which I will expect, if it turns up looking like an accident -- or, someone particularly ambitious looking for the Duke’s favor will beat them all to the quarry. If he is still among the living at Faram’s Mass,” she said, stopping at the armory door to withdraw her lockpicks, “I will be very surprised. Keep a look out; there were no guards last time, but one never knows, he might have developed some small sense of self-preservation in the interim.” Audrey listened to her with partial attention as the rest of her sense were focused on their surroundings. Bright and alert, her eyes darted from shadow to shadow, keeping the tracks clear. Clues with their names on the were the last things she wanted to leave behind. The sound of faint footsteps caused the blonde to perk up, placing her hand on the bard’s shoulder so she’d stop. Using vanish, she crept forward with quiet footsteps, turning the hall until she saw who was making the commotion. A bored guard it seemed. Her hand reached through one of her pouches as she easily walked behind him. Pressing the handkerchief over the man’s mouth, the man struggled under Audrey’s hold for seconds before his body went limp and the blonde guided the body to the ground. She hated admitting the effectiveness of Loch’s products as well as admiring the talent of such a conniving bitch-- more so it hurt to feed gil into that woman’s purse. As soon as everything was clear again Audrey reached back to Ari, appearing again. “It’s clear. Hurry.” “One step ahead of you,” Ari said softly, withdrawing the pick from the door at last; quietly, it swung open on well-oiled hinges. “Let’s get started, shall we?” She closed the door behind them before withdrawing the small magicite flashlight from her belt and activating it with a tiny zap of Thunder. “And here we are.” She shone the light over the myriad glass-front cases lining the walls. The collection was as impressive as she remembered -- everything from the largest spears to the tiniest of accessories, lined up on velvet cushions like jewelry. She grinned as the light passed over the pearl-handled pistols. “Ah, it seems Bella’s in luck today, and she doesn’t even know it.” Entering right behind her, Audrey’s face lit up at the sight of all the toys they had just found. Immediately she went from case to case looking for interesting things. “Oh my god, Ari this is so cute,” she pointed at what appeared like an ornamental hair piece but Audrey knew better. “I don’t even think he knows this is a lock pick. I want it. Oh my god, it would look so cute on me.” Audrey opened the case pulling the hair ornament out and pretending to try it on by placing it on her hair. “But really, let’s get to work,” she cleared her throat, sliding the ornament into one of her pouches before returning to help Ari ransack the place. Her eyes drifted to the guns, “Those are perfect for her.” Collecting other small weapons and accessories, she added them to their list. “Nothing seems to be special,” she made the quiet comment, “but they’re all so pretty I don’t find myself caring.” “I feel like there are quite a few things our unwilling benefactor doesn’t know,” Ari said, muffling a laugh with her hand. This man’s general ignorance really begged the question of just how he had managed to stay alive -- and wealthy -- for so long. She thought this as she unlocked the case with the guns, pocketed them and then after a few moments of thought and examination with a loupe, a dagger with a bejeweled hilt. The blade itself was rubbish, but the gems seemed real from her cursory glance. Popping and fencing them would be no trouble at all. “I think he’ll buy anything that looks nice,” she said, joining Audrey on the other side of the room. “Pretty and functional pays for itself, special or not, though from my last… visit here, I know some of the accessories are fairly rare -- and possibly dangerous.” She looked at the familiar ring, still set in its place. Apparently, he still hadn’t spotted the cursed substitute she had planted… but had at least thought not to take it along on this weekend’s hunting trip. Even this man had to be capable of learning something. “Basically,” she said, looking over the case thoughtfully, “don’t take anything from here unless you know exactly what it does. That one,” she pointed at the ring, “could very well kill you.” Audrey raised a brow, grin pulling on the corner of her lips. “Is that your doing?” Ari grinned. “My political ambitions are nonexistent, and killing him wouldn’t do me any good, but I may, perhaps, have been the messenger who delivered the… warning.” She looked at the ring and shook her head. “Unheeded warning, in the end. Really, he deserves whatever’s coming to him.” She hefted her own bag of loot, now fairly weighty, and asked, “See anything else you like, or shall we take our leave? The cashier seems to be on coffee break. Alas -- I suppose that means all this is free. Lucky us.” Audrey hefted her bag over her shoulder, and nodded to her friend. “No, this is all I’m interested in.” Like before, she used vanish and went first, checking to make sure no other guards had gone around. As she passed the hallway, she noticed the guard still sleeping on the floor. Reappearing again, she signaled for Ari to follow. Reaching the window Ari had ascended from, Audrey put her loot down, taking the ladder and letting it uncoil to the bottom. “Ladies first,” she motioned. “All things considered,” Ari said, “I feel like you have that backwards, but never mind.” The two bags together were fairly weighty; they hadn’t been too greedy, but still, the trip back wouldn’t be quite as easy as the trip here, especially as they would have to manage to conceal themselves -- and what they carried -- from anyone who might be out in the streets this late. But still, all in all, the evening was going nearly perfectly thus far. “Well then,” Ari said, swinging over the windowsill and onto the rope ladder, “do hurry; there is wine on your counter and it is waiting for us to celebrate our success properly. See you soon.” As soon as her friend had gotten perfectly safe down the ladder, Audrey managed to quickly roll it up and tuck it away on her back. Using vanish for the last time, Audrey made her way down the stairs, scurrying quickly to get out. Turning the lock on the door, the blonde passed through and closed the door on her way out. She gave the house one last glance before reappearing close to her friend. Arms linked, the two made their way back to Vivi’s guest house. |