Noodles and a Future Heist

Even in Goblintown, the mists descend, despite a few enterprising attempts to banish them. Numerous torches along the street are lit, providing beacons one can follow through the grey. One might think that the Goblins would have no need, and they honestly don't.

It's that some of the bigger folk don't do as well in the mists. Goblins loath being stepped on or tripped over. And no one wants to crash into Bertie's Alchemical Fire & Gunpowder stall. Again.

But the mists do lend themselves to certain enterprises. A few floors up, above the layer of mist below, a small form sits on an object which has no right being called a balcony, but is. Choler pulls in her cloak more closely around her black gi, her head and face covered by a black head covering, with only her eyes visible.

It's a good night to practice being sneaky! Harshad glides through the mist, barely visible even though he's moving along the road. Deftly stepping out of torchlight, moving behind stalls and crates, just a flicker in the mist as the half-oruch's soft-soled boots carry him down the narrow Goblintown thoroughfare.

With his hood up, it's hard to see his face, but for all his stealth, there's still a spring in his step. Perhaps due to a score, or just the prospect of making some money is presenting itself. Harshad is a simple man at heart.

GAME: Choler rolls acrobatics: (14)+11: 25

<OOC> Choler says, "Just to inform pose. :D"

Bare feet move quickly across the rickety walkway above, the metal rattling and creaking, flakes of rust dropping down.

Choler leaps over the edge, and with a few leaps and jumps, using the crowded and random construction of Goblintown to make her way downwards.

A few steps from Harshad, there's an almost inaudible squish as the Goblin lands in the mud in a crouch.

With a triumphant ahah!, she bounds up at Harshad.

<OOC> Harshad says, "Rolling to inform pose as well :)"

GAME: Harshad rolls perception: (7)+8: 15

The cowled figure keeps walking, but then his steps slow as he looks around in confusion. Harshad evidently wondering where the noise is coming from. His hands slide cautiously under his cloak... and then Choler lands in front of him!

The half-orc actually recoils a moment, a scraping sound coming from under the cloak before he recognizes Choler. "What the... damn it, Choler, don't do that! You know I get twitchy about things comin' out of the sky!" Harshad straightens up again, grumbling. "If only it was just birds..."

Giggling, she flaps her arms up and down. "Caw caw! No one here but us crows!"

She pulls at her head covering, revealing her face and broad, cheeky grin. Stepping closer to him, she sniffs at the Half-Oruch. "Uh huuuuh, someone's scored..." Another sniff. "Yestereve, was it?" Her little hands reach for his arm, to tug on it lightly.

"Shall we get noodles and sake to celebrate?"

Harshad snorts. "Sort of. I found a little windfall so to speak. Dunno where they came from -- this city's fuckin' weird sometimes -- but I found a butterfly made out of crystal. It was a stone bitch to catch it without damaging it." He chuckles. "There's a guy researching magical oddities, and he bought it off me for a tidy sum. Evidently they've been seen around, but hey -- Lady Luck did me a solid."

He lets Choler tug him along towards aforementioned noodles. "Been thinking about getting some new kit, but haven't decided on anything yet. Got any ideas?"

"Crystal butterfly?" Her eyes open wide, and then she frowns. "Why didn't you let me see it before you hawked it? That must have been neat!" She cants her head slightly.

"Hmm, well, there are two things you gotta worry about when the shit hits the fan. Defense and offense. So I would suggest something that either lets you fight better, or avoid getting hurt."

Choler rubs her chin. "Oh, I know, they have these fancy magical capes, which lessen the effects of the elements, and magical conditions which might adversely affect you. Maybe something like that?" The Goblin takes a little step back, squinting. "Yes a cape might be rather fetching on you, I think."

Harshad hmms. "Well, I did ask around and they've been seen before. Someone said there were a few in the gardens, so you might try there." He spreads his hands. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were interested in that sort of thing."

"I tried to cover defense a bit." Harshad shakes his coat. "The coat's got an inner lining of mithril mail. Expensive as hell, but it's kept a knife out of my ribs a time or two." He reaches down to rub his thumb along the hilts of his rapier and dagger. "Maybe I ought to get these enchanted. They're good blades, but normal steel will only take you so far."

Her tug becomes more insistent as they get closer to the noodle stall. A few other people are settled on stools, and the Goblin pulls Harshad to a side where no one else has taken up residence, and she bangs on the little counter, "TWO PLEASE!" Choler's quickly seated, pulling a second stool over for Harshad to sit.

"Well, I've never seen one before, so I am sad I missed out on it. Perhaps I'll got to the gardens and look around. Wanna come with me on that, we could share the coin even!" Her eyes go to the weapons he bears. "Well, enchanted weapons re good, but also expensive. You want to find a good enchantment that will last. For example, fire? Really good for a lot of things, but so many critters are resistant or immune. Also, if you set something on fire, you have to worry about it flailing around and maybe setting other things on fire. If you're going to do that, better to use something like alchemical fire. Hmmm, perhaps uh, what is that called... Oh, cold iron! Works on fairy critters and fiends? Something Alexandria's always being inundated with."

The half-orc plunks himself down next to Choler with a grin, pushing back his hood. "Looks like a busy night for this guy anyways." Indeed, the cook and the proprietor are dishing out bowls of noodles as fast as they can cook them. "But hey, he's making good coin."

"Yeah, the problem with cold iron, though, is you can't just stick it on a sword like you can with an enchantment." Harshad scratches his goatee. "And yeah, fire's just something that seems like a lot of non-ordinary critters are resistant to. I might look into something that gives electrical shocks, instead."

"This is true, you can't just slap that on. But it makes for a good foundation, I am told. It'll still hurt, even if a thing isn't vulnerable, and it'll take an enchantment."

Choler glances around and then makes a happy sound as their noodles arrive. She snaps the chopsticks apart, and begins to feed. "Yahummm, they ah makin' coin hanover fist.", the Gobbo mumbles around her noodles.

Swallowing, Choler nods. "Ah, electric shocks are probably pretty solid. Maybe you can get one that throws lightning! That's be pretty whiz!"

Harshad begins eating his noodles as well, happily digging in. The drinks are soon forthcoming as well. "Or boots that make me quieter. Can always use something that helps me move a little less noisy." He hmms, thinking to himself.

"Gold's no good if you're not alive to spend it. I'll look into some weapon enhancements. Even if I don't get something in cold iron a sharper blade's never a bad thing." He taps his fingers. "Biggest problem is that I use two of 'em. Means more money."

Sake does arrive, with two small cups. The warm bottle cases away a little of the mist around it.

"Oh, that might be a good ideas, Har. Never under estimate the power of stealth. It'd be good for quickly getting around a rooftop or warehouse, where people aren't likely to be looking, but might hear you." Choler shoves a mouthful of noodles and spends a bit chewing, before swallowing noisily, hiccuping. She holds up her cup. "T -hjic- to a good score."

Tipping back the sake chases away the hiccups, and she begins wrapping the next mouthful around her chopsticks. "Uhm... perhaps you could get some leathers enchanted to make you silent or hide you? Protection and stealth."

Harshad takes a sip of his sake to chase the spicy noodles. "Hmmm. Maybe. I haven't got a -lot- of scratch. Enough that I'm kinda careful at the moment." He grins. "Otherwise I'd be shoppin' for a magic ring or two. Those are always fun. Or maybe a belt."

"It's funny, really. Everyone brags about what they'd do with the 'big score', but nobody really -knows- what to do if it comes their way. Then they usually blow the money, and have to go right back into the life." He snorts. "I knew a couple guys like that."

"That's the rub, isn't it?" Choler shoves another mouthful of noodles in, practically inhaling them.

"But being careful is good. You haven't got a lot, but at least you have a roof over your head, and four walls, and a bed. Warm when it's cold out, cool when it's warm out. Can't complain too loudly at that." She clicks her chopsticks in his direction. "Not to mention your crew." Those chopsticks point her way. "Namely me!" Her grins is broad. "You have a bit of company, right? Even if you do snore." Her grin is barely hidden, and she uses another mouthful of noodles to obfuscate it.

"Yeah, well... In this business, sometimes people don't think ahead. I mean, you can't have your head in the clouds, but not having a plan is a great way to have bad things happen to you." Harshad grins, and slurps some noodles. "For now, havin' four walls and a bed is enough for me. And someone to watch my back. That doesn't hurt either." He picks up his sake. "Here's to your health!" Before knocking it back.

She refiles her cup and raises it up. "And here's to yours!" The Goblin doesn't drink it right away, instead swallowing down two more mouthfuls of noodles, before sipping at the cup.

"I feel safe at your place. I can actually get restful sleep. Not having to watch my own back all the time, you know? I appreciate it!" Her smile has none of the usual cheek in it, and she stretches out to slug at his arm lightly. "So. Any news of anything... interesting that might go missing?" Her voice lowers as she speaks, nibbling more sparsely at her quickly diminishing noodles. "Something fun, maybe?"

Harshad hnnnhs. "Well... I got tangled up in some interesting stuff involving a noble who may not be what he appears. So I'm thinking I might pay him a visit. After all, if he's not 'really' a noble, he's not gonna call the guard." He pauses and grins. "Of course, we'd have to avoid getting caught."

He scowls a bit. "I might have to pick up some cold iron daggers or something, though. He might be a fiend, or... hells, I don't know. I'm not good with that shit."

Choler's eyebrows raise up, and her expression takes on a serious mien. "That sounds dangerous. Do not go alone. I will go with you." She lets out a breath slowly, before wolfing down the last of her noodles. "As bad as this sounds, you probably want to go during the day. A nice, bright and sunny day."

The Goblin shudders. "I think it would be an advantage for .. the noble, if you went at night."

Harshad grunts. "Maybe. First I need to find the bastard. Or at least, his hideout. Then we rob him blind." He finishes off his noodles. "I know a couple fences, but unloading the haul will probably be tricky if it's unique. Coin works best, gems are good, even jewelry, but I remember one guy who stole a pair of gold candlesticks and it took him -weeks- to fence them off." He scratches the back of his head. "Damnedest thing, but they were pretty ornate."

"Hitting a place in the daytime has its own problems. Especially if he's set up in the noble district. I won't fit in there and neither will you. But -- one step at a time."

"Okay, so what can I do for you, here? I'm small, I can escape notice of most things. Does this noble have a name?"

The Goblin rubs at her chin. "I could ask around, and follow folks, you know?" She giggles then. "Are you saying we would stick out like a sore thumb?"

"No. We would stick out like a very noisy gnomish parade going down the street." Harshad grins at Choler. "We do not fit in there. Believe me, I'd love to have the money to fit in, but we don't." He squares his shoulders. "So we case his place first."

Harshad grunts. "He's calling himself Augustus Alexandros, but that's a false name if I ever heard it. My guess he got it out of a book or something. But with a name like that, -someone- has to know him."

"Well, we would stand out if we tried to fit in. But, you and I would fit in as laborers, or delivery people... you know, we could do a one-man band thing, too." The Goblin counts these things off on her fingers. "We just need to be relatively 'clean' and wholesome. Enough that they tolerate us there during the day, but shoo us away at night, yes?"

Harshad hmmms. "True. We'd have to change up our outfits... maybe carry our gear in the box, but that might work." He knocks back another shot of sake. "I like that idea better than the one man band. I don't know how to work an instrument and I really can't carry a tune." He gives Choler a grin. "Of course, we'll have to come up with a plan once we know where he is."

The Goblin ponders, tapping her chin with a finger-claw. "I have an idea that might work. But it'd be tricky. We have to find out where he has taken up residence. Then you, dressed up as a worker, can deliver some stuff. I can be hiding in a crate. This might take more planning that your usual job, though. But it could get me inside... and I can find a way to .. leave a window open or something to let you in." She lets out a long breath, and refiles both of their sake cups.

"Here's to friends, past and present!", she says, hoisting up her up in toast.