The Incredible Case of the Missing Artefacts (PT)

(OOC: Panzer, this group might be a bit smaller than what you were thinking of, but I think all of the members get more personality this way and it makes catching them a bit harder. Also, I decided that they would steal from the Grand Temple of Okawaru and get actual artefacts with power. And yes, the spelling is intentional.)

***

The Grand Temple of Okawaru, Stormfall Citadel

Three hooded figures hid near the back of the Grand Temple of Okawaru in the Stormfall Citadel, the most central location for the state worship of Warmaster Okawaru, but also the repository of many divine gifts of the Warmaster to his Avatars over the ages. One of the three hooded figures was a light skinned man with clutching a spellbook, who was muttering arcane words for some ritual unknown. Another was a lightly tanned young woman with auburn hair who would be considered fairly attractive but took care to hide her features to avoid attention, and she clutched a dagger dripping with magical poison close to her body. The last was an older man with grey hair and yet an imposing posture that gave him an aura of nobility, and appeared to have a saber sheathed as his weapon.

After a few minutes, an arcane circle of some kind materialized on the ground, and the man with the spellbook gave a nod to the others. He then pointed his arm at the wall and then with a few mumbled arcane words the wall shattered, giving them entrance into the building. Naturally the shattering wall drew attention from inside, and soon armed warriors of Okawaru guarding the back vault of god gifts arrived at the scene. The man with the spellbook then smiled again, before mumbling a few more arcane words. The guards fell into thick and unnatural sleep, induced by ice magic, and the other two of the three moved in. Within moments, they dispatched the well equipped warriors of Okawaru, striking with precision and lethality. And then within moments of that, they were gone, and along with them were some powerful and priceless artefacts.

***

The Imperial Palace, Stormfall Citadel

Empress Deea shook her head in disbelief as she received news from a courier of a theft at the gift vault of the Grand Temple of Okawaru. How could anyone, break into the thick steel walls of the Grand Temple, take the artefacts, and get away with it? The artefacts were the Shield of Resistance, a shield that conferred useful resistances against the elements for the bearer, the Gauntlets of War, which when worn increased damage and accuracy of the wearer's attacks, and the Sword of the Doom Knight, a terrible necromantic sword forged of adamantine. Who could do such a thing, and why would they ever do so?

Another courier soon arrived, and updated the Empress with new information - most importantly, the results of an investigation dispatched to the site of the incident. The result of the investigation concluded that the wall of the Great Temple had been shattered by powerful earth magic, presumably Lee's Rapid Deconstruction. Inside, the thieves somehow disabled the guards and quickly killed them in cold blood, before escaping. The investigators, however, were at a loss as to how the escape was done. There were no tracks coming out of the gap, as they ended at a point just in front of the gap. Teleportation was likely to be involved, but that had issues of its own as teleportation would have taken enough time to kick in that the thieves would have been seen. In other words, they had absolutely no clue from the escape on, and Deea sighed. A notice was sent throughout all of Konosis, but that was all they could do.

***

On a Ship Heading Towards Ermarian

The three mysterious figures that had previously perpetrated the theft at the Grand Temple now had managed to stow away into a ship heading towards Ermarian. They had managed to evade detection by the Konarian Army on the way to the Ermarian Fort, and since news of the theft had not yet traveled into the region they managed to stow away into the ship with little difficulty.

The man who had the noble appearance then said to the other two, "Well, Sato and Joza, it seems we are finally well on the way of completing Thaerisk's objectives. We will be swimming in wealth soon, once we scour the lands of the Ermarians for more suitable artefacts of power and return to Neo-Konaria. Oh, to think of the power Emperor Thaerisk will reward us with..."

Sato, the mage, nodded, and said, "Oh, yes, yes, the power. With those artefacts, His Majesty will surely be able to advance the Nationalist cause yet again in Konosis and install himself as true Emperor of the Konarians and dismantle the pathetic state cult. It is a shame that we had not managed to take the artefacts when we fled to Neo-Konaria, although then again the state cult was much stronger then."

Then Joza, who had killed many of the subdued warriors, nodded as well. She leaned on Sato, as the two Nationalists had become quite intimate over the course of their covert actions in the Mainland, and said, "Yes, surely we will all be rewarded with noble titles, or in your case, Lorias, have them restored. But, before we dream too much, let us think of practical matters. Lorias, what are your plans for Ermarian? What do you know of the land."

Lorias shrugged, and said, "In fairness, I do not have too much information of the lands of Ermarian, but I do know of some of the items there from information from some of my contacts in the region of the Ermarian Fort. Namely, the Orb of Thralni, which permits flight for short periods of time. I am sure that it would be of great use to Emperor Thaerisk, though I do not possess full knowledge of its defenses."

With a shake of her head, Joza sighed, "That's not very reassuring, but I guess that will do," and the three fell to silence.

(OOC: What I'm planning is to have them caught in the act by the Ermarians, but get away, and then once the Ermarians realize that they have strange appearances, mannerisms, and magic that they are not Ermarian natives and contact the Konarians, who at that point realize just who they are and send over Dalor, Daedas, and Credic to join up with their Ermarian counterparts to stop the thieves. Is this acceptable?)

(OOC: That's fine. The artifact in question is in Lorelei, capital of the Midori Province in Valorim. It's on loan from the kingdom of Avernum to the Temple of the Anama in the southwest of the city. They'll have to trick the magical defenses inside into believing they are members of the Anama, likely with fake Anama rings purchased from the local Thieves' Guild. The guys in question will likely arrive in Gale, as that's a major port city and closer to Lorelei.)

(OOC: Do we have a new PT restructure map? So I can join with Blolrus and know what I'm doing? Thanks .)

(OOC: From what I understand, it's Konosis in the East, Ermarian in the West, and you somewhere in the middle, with a random continent somewhere near you for a psedo-Monerite.)

(OOC: That's correct, and at some point, both empires ganged up on and conquered pseudo-Monerite.)

(OOC: I though we settled for influence games because there is the chance that someone might show up that doesn't want to RP someone either of our nations and have something else instead.)

(OOC: Oh, right. Forgot that. Are we going to be RPing out the theft?)

(OOC: Well, I kind of need to know what they're up against to really do that )

(OOC: There's a Thieves' Guild branch in one of the stores in Lorelei. Jack, who's in a hidden room, will sell fake Anama rings. Then it's just a matter of proceeding to the Temple of the Anama in the southwest. The only real defense there are a few Anama priests and an enchantment that does not let anyone inside without Anama rings. You can be spotted but people can't get in.)

(OOC: Alright, was thinking on how I'd handle this. I think I'll have my guys go into the guild, and then we can do a brief exchange before they go in, take the Orb, but get sighted before they can run. Then of course you guys would notify us and we'd send our people in.)

(OOC: Yes.)

As the three of them sneaked out of the ship that they stowed away on, in Gale, Lorias explained to the others in hushed whispers, "I know that there iss a system of magical defenses around the Temple of the Anima that holds the Orb that could be fooled with a fake ring of the Anima from a local Thieves' Guild. The Temple in question is in a city called Lorelei, not far from here. I am sure that the job should be far easier than the Temple of Okawaru."

Sato and Joza nodded their concurrence as they set out on foot towards Lorelei. Once they arrived, Thaerisk picked out the local building which he believed to be the local Thieves' Guild, and the group entered.

They enter a room full of leather goods, such as gloves. The shopkeeper looks up.

"Hello. I'm Kendra. What can I do for you?"

"Greetings. I have heard from some in this region that your store has some special goods for sale... some pertaining to the Anima, perhaps?" He then briefly glances towards the back in a visible manner, and continues, "I think you know what I'm getting at."

(OOC: It's Anama, though I could chalk it up to a foreign accent.)

She eyes them for a moment before deciding they aren't undercover guards. "Next time, just ask for the guild." She turns around and pushes a panel on the wall, which slides open. "Hurry it up."

He quickly goes in and mutter something about how they undervalue subtlety.

As they walk in, the wall slides in behind them. A man sitting at a desk looks up. "What is your business with the Thieves' Guild?"

"I'm here to purchase some fake Anama rings. Name your price."

"Standard price for it. 3000 aurei. No negotiations."

He nods, and says, "Fair enough," and puts a pouch of coins on the desk, having earlier converted his Konarian coinage to Ermarian coinage.

He counts them out and, satisfied that he hasn't been cheated, hands them their rings. "Be careful not to let any real member get too close a look, especially those higher up in the priesthood. They can and will remove those rings."

(OOC: Anama rings, fake or otherwise, permanently affix to your finger until you get kicked out of the church.)

He says, "I'll keep that in mind," before they set off towards the temple.

As they enter, a gentle voice speaks. "Welcome to the Temple of the Anama. You may proceed."

They enter and quickly visually scan the Temple.

The orb is sitting on a pedestal in the back of the room. There are a three Anama priests milling around. One of them approaches. "Ah, a pilgrim. Welcome."