RP:When A Book Heist Goes Wrong
Summary: Kiota and Seriis both stage a break-in on the Mage Tower's academic library, at first unaware the other is attempting the same thing they are. Predictably, chaos ensues when Kiota realises who else is sneaking around amidst the books.
As you stand here, towers of bookshelves completely surround you. Most of them look to be magical in nature, but there are books of more mundane subjects in the library. Some are for spell research, some are about the history of spell casting and magic, while others are just lists of spell uses and objects. The cases are of a dark oak or pine, and glow a little at the ends, where runes have been placed to protect these sources of information from aging and decay. There are tables all over the room, with people of quite a few races sitting and studying. You notice a small door behind the rows of shelves to the north, and as someone opens and enters the room you see that it is the dormitory for those who stay here and study. To the east are two massive doors with designs carved into them, a golden dragon on each door.
Kiota had finally managed to convince herself that she needed to sneak into the mage's library. Her search for teachers resulted in some people saying they would, but no one had yet to show up. She didn't even know the basics of magic. Which surely would get her kicked out of the mage's guild if she tried to join there, too. Plus, the leader was so terrifying...and unapproachable. So it was up to her! ...only it's taken her weeks just to convince herself she needed to sneak in in the first place. After all, she wanted to discard those skills of hers...move on, become better. It seemed almost like betraying her hopes and dreams, but there wasn't much choice, was there? So she finds herself trying to sneak into the library late at night. Her eyes peer from behind her glasses, perched on some rock or other. The dark colour of her fur suited itself well for the late night task. Partially why she'd gone into the business of stealing in the first place. The coast seemed to be clear...just some students burning the midnight oil. So wrapped up in their studies that they'd never notice her! She hoped, anyways. She felt almost as if she should be jumpy, scared right now...but no. This was her element, after all. Hiding, stealing, sneaking. Far too good at it for her own good, as they say. But she wasn't going to waste the opening. Hopping down from the perch, tail flashing, she streaks towards the door. She'd left her hat behind, just so she could squeeze into places easily if she needed too. It saddened her, but it would be safe where she'd hidden it, along with a little bit of bread and the remains of her money. The door was tested. A paw reaches up to adjust her glasses. Ah, here was the true secret. Her vision was actually fairly good. Those glasses had little runes in them that allowed her to see the magic of things. Auras, runes that stuck out, spells being formed like clouds in the air. It was little wonder why they were her most prized possession. She'd taken them off some mage a year or so back, and used them to spot really valuable items to take. Right now, they were helping her test the defences. A claw reaches in, quickly picking the lock, a trick she'd picked up from a pack mate. And then she was in, pushing the door aside and squeezing through and into the gloom of the library.
The rat has more than one shadow, although three of the four are not intentional, but just as silent as her own. It appears Kiota was not the only one with plans to sneak into this prestigious library tonight - Seriis' diminutive form casts only a faint shadow, the young drow wrapped in the protective cocoon of his piwafwi, while his far larger bodyguards create inky blots on the ground, deeper than the night itself. With their sight unhindered by the black cast of night, their senses sharpened by years of watchful wariness and trained skill, it does not take the trio long to spot the fermin sneaking her way over to the door to begin the process of picking the lock. Seriis' ruby eyes narrow to slits in recognition. "I -know- that rat," he growls under his breath, hidden a good ways back behind a looming building. Avarn murmurs some jibe to himself and huffs a whisper of a laugh, but his companions ignore him. Reyik, the most magically-inclined of the bunch, is about to shift into the fluid motions of a casting stance that would likely have sent Kiota flying, or crushed her beneath some boulder, or-- Seriis does not much care what he intended to do but he puts a stop to it anyway, hissing in their native tongue as he grabs the man's arm, "No. Let her. If there's an enchantment, she'll trigger it first." Eyes bright with anticipation of the fermin's gory end return to watching her back intently, but to much disappointment Kiota gets the door open without suffering a loss of limb, or sudden dismemberment, or anything. Seriis makes a mildly displeased sound in the back of his throat, then gestures to the other drow to follow him once Kiota has vanished into the open maw of the library. Without a sound they cross the road and sidle up against the door frame, and Seriis leans to peer round the door before he too slips inside. Having hung back a moment to squint through a window, Avarn follows the other two in and softly tells them both, "There are students, over there. No one else but the rat." A particularly gleeful look has entered the warrior's expression but Seriis puts a quick stop to it: "Don't kill them." Not yet. He'd rather not try and read with the stench of blood filling his nose.
Kiota could see in the dark. Perhaps not as well as a drow, but her vision was keen to the lower levels of light. Being magically changed from sewer dwelling rats granted her better senses then most. Sharp hearing, a decent nose, and her eyes. Rather then scamper around on all fours in the open, she'd opted to climb a bookcase and stand on that, instead. What a human wouldn't have been able to manage for being too large, the tiny fermin was able to accomplish. The bookcase was a handy ladder, and she got onto the dusty tops. Few people looked up, after all. And the gloom hid her dark fur well. A furtive glance under her shoulder. Was she being followed? Oh, no, was it some guards? Someone must have saw her...that door was closed, wasn't it? She suddenly panics, and decides to scram before she stops herself. It was probably just some late night students, that was all. She could find...some book and just leave. No one would be wiser! Books must leave the library all the time. Now she just needed to find what book to take. Looking down at all the rows, mundane tomes and magical alike, only then does she realize just what she'd gotten into. "Oh..." Her whiskers twitch, and she rubs behind her ear. Then she was off, running along the tops of the rows. She'd find...something, she was sure of it.
Seriis throws Avarn a sharp look to go along with his hushed order, but the glint in his eye contains a small spark of hope for the warrior. He may yet have his way with the oblivious students, if he listens for the time being. The prospect of a 'reward' seems to please Avarn and he reaches under the scholar's hood to scruffle his hair up some, earning himself a muffled huff in irritation and a nudge to his elbow. "See if you can find anything...interesting," Seriis tells him and Reyik before he vanishes into the myriad aisles of books, his dark, covered form swallowed by the shadows cast by looming bookcases. Deft movements carry him in silence through the maze as little more than a ghost caught out of the corner of one's eye; an apparition appearing for a moment upon passing under the gentle glow of protective runes, before melting into obscurity once again. The air tastes of dust and years but Seriis notes how the books are relatively untouched by the hands of time and, in a moment of curiosity, brushes his fingertips over one of the blazing sigils. He comes to realise their use and considers the magic with a slight tilt of head as he moves on, never stopping for more than a second or two at a time, scouring the shelves for anything of particular interest. There has to be some tome bearing secrets overlooked by the mages; a book that should not be here, that should be contained in a less public locale. Seriis desires any knowledge he can get his hands on, but the most desirable scraps are always the most elusive and hard to reach. Pausing amidst a small, dusty circle of cases, he glances around and a certain book catches his eye - a spell book, it would seem, whose contained magic seems to whisper from its pages and touch even his unskilled ears, located on the highest shelf at the end of the row. Stretching up onto his toes, Seriis reaches for it, his dark fingers breaking out of the blackness. The young drow has unwittingly followed Kiota across the library and she is not two feet from him now, though he is still out of her sight for the moment...
Kiota was getting more and more panicky. It was the drow! That one! The one that threw a knife at her! And made her cry. Why was he following her? Did he see her? Was he stalking her to get her alone? Stab her? His cronies were out somewhere, no doubt to corner her all the better! She was sure of it. Her heart was pounding. Why did these things happen? She just couldn't win. Fingers reach out from the darkness, making her inhale sharply. She almost bit that hand, she almost did. That surely would have made an enemy for life, though, there was little doubt about that. As it was, she nearly fell off the shelf, scrabbling madly and getting purchase. Maybe a book or two fell, she didn't know. She just knew she had to run. Now, as it were. Jumping from the shelf she was perched on the edge of onto another, and making another leap, moving on all fours as she did, covering a startling amount of ground in that way that rodents can when they're seeking to. The cat was out of the bag, the goose was cooked, and she didn't have what she was here for...unless. Was that the rare book section? She forces herself to stop, adjusting her glasses. The aura of magic was palpable around the section, behind the glass doors. Some students had heard her ruckus and were sleepily wondering what was going on. Chains of light were all around those glass doors. Magically protected, no doubt. The rare books were the true prize. Everything else in the library was so much trash, in comparison at least. It made sense, allowing the younger students access to the more public works and hiding the others. Some private collections were no doubt better, but try breaking into a house like that. But how to get in? A glance around. People were alert to her. That drow was probably following with his knife out, or those two thugs. But...was that an air vent? Books needed dry air to stop from being eaten by the elements. The rare books, the old ones, even more so. It looked far too small for even a dwarf would have trouble squeezing through. But she wasn't a dwarf, or an elf, or a human, was she? She was a fermin, from a species that could squeeze through minute cracks and gaps. A few hops and jumps, and she was picking at the locked gate, trying to keep quiet.
Seriis, being as small as he is, cannot quite reach the highest shelf nor his prize. Stretching his body as far as muscles will allow yet finding he's still a good few inches too short, the temptation to simply climb the lower shelves is rising, but all thought of that flies out of the drow's mind when he spots Kiota above him. He scowls harshly at her, though with the thick darkness of surrounding book cases and his piwafwi's hood shrouding his features, he's not sure she even catches it. The scholar's mouth opens to warn her against trying to steal his book but the fermin has already fled, scampering off across the tops of the cases, foolishly dislodging some parchments and books in her rush. Paper crinkles and flutters, the books hitting the ground with a heavy thud that echoes, and Seriis freezes for a moment, listening. Sluggish murmurs of confusion reach his ears from further across the library where the magelings were studying and the dim flicker of a lantern spreads pale fingers of light to illuminate a nearby set of shelves - they're coming to investigate the source of the ruckus. Cursing under his breath, Seriis is forced to ditch the tome entirely in order to make a swift escape. With movements punctuated only by the gentle rustle of ensorcelled spider silk and fabric, he ascends the book case in a single, fluid motion and makes a leap to the adjacent one, crouching low so as to centre and maintain his balance. Larger than Kiota, but not by much, he moves with relative ease and the natural grace of a drow, stalking away from the curious students. Sharp eyes pick out Kiota headed for an air vent and Seriis scrutinises the glass doors of the locked room it leads into - his scholarly instincts scream and pull him toward those doors but his fine-tuned senses tell him it is not a place he can simply waltz into. Perhaps the rat knows that, too. Marking the position of Kiota and the air vent, Seriis takes a detour first, hopping across the library via the narrow pathways of the book cases until he finds Avarn and Reyik all bunched up in a corner. "What are you doing." The two blink up at him and then Reyik stuffs a book in Avarn's face, drawing a muffled protest that the mage silences with a jab to the ribs, knocking the air from the warrior's lungs. Seriis rolls his eyes at them both, leaning out into empty space so as to whisper to them from his perch. "There is a restricted section, over there, and a vent going into it. The doors are probably protected. Check it out, Reyik? Neither of you will fit through the air duct."
Kiota picks the lock as she had the door out front. It was a little tougher, and she had to nibble her fingernail down a little, another trick she'd learned. But she managed it. Her paws were deft things, after all. Carefully, the vent is pried off and set to the side. This would probably only work once, so she had to make it count. A glance at the floor and the bobbing lanterns swaying all over the library. It was only a matter of time before she was discovered by other people. She didn't have time to fret, though, and sticks her head into the vent. A tight squeeze, even for her. And covered in dust! Yuck. She was wearing her only shirt, too...not that it really was much to look at. Berry stains and sewed up patches. She pushes through the vent, her tail whipping and feet scrabbling. Unpolished stone caught on her clothing, damaging the already sad looking state of affairs. When this was done, she'd probably have no shirt left to speak of. And when she got to the other end, she'd realized a bit of neglection. There was a vent on the other side, and now she was stuck. A whimper escapes her lips when she realizes it. It was a very good thing she wasn't claustrophobic. One tended to get over that very quickly in the sewers. This wasn't her first locked gate in such a position, either. The lack of any liquid running over her body made it almost comfortable, even. A paw is snaked through the grate, seeking out something to pick. She gets one, then two, but the third was stuck and she'd wasted so much time already. She didn't have much strength in her tiny body, but she was facing the right away. Hammering her paws into the grate, it gives just a little. Eventually, and with much noise, the thing gives all the way and clatters to the floor. Her body swiftly follows. So much for subtlety. Eyes glance around the room. The thing was filled with so much magic, she could barely see anything. Finding the most potent book would be quite a task.
"I'm not the best at breaking barriers but I'll see what I can do." Rarely will so many words leave Reyik's mouth at once and Seriis almost smiles at him; the mage's voice is soft, husky, and tinted with dulcet tones. In stark contrast, Avarn is all harsh edges. "I thought that's what our training was for?" he mentions with a muted laugh. He receives little more than a sigh in response and, "The training is for -making- barriers," and then Reyik drops the topic by pushing past his companion and somewhat rival, making for the doors of the restricted section. Avarn's shoulders shudder in the telltale beginnings of a louder chuckle but Seriis smacks him on top of the head before the sound can escape, whispering, "Quiet. The mages are investigating. Kill any that come near those doors." And then the drow is off again, leaping from book case to book case as the raucous clatter of metal striking stone resounds from the direction of the locked room. The air vent! Seriis curses again - can't the damned rat be any quieter? His eyes dart across the library and he watches the lights of the candles begin to move toward the source of the noise; but then one flickers out of existence without warning, though no sound is made to alert the other students to the hunter prowling in the shadows. Confident Avarn will make quick work of the sleepy magelings, Seriis hops over to the open vent Kiota recently fell through. He glances down at Reyik, who is busy scrutinising the invisible magical barrier blocking entrance to the room beyond. After a second, the mage shoots him a look and shakes his head just slightly, and Seriis puffs his cheeks out in quiet dismay. That will be bothersome. He peers into the vent. It's small and will certainly be a tight fit, but he thinks he should make it. Going head first, the little drow wriggles his way into the tiny passage, undeterred by the sense of claustrophobic dimensions - there are many narrow tunnels in the Underdark and traversing them is part of daily life, though most are not quite this small. After much squirming and spitting, Seriis makes it through and drops to the ground on the other side, only just managing not to land flat on his face. A knee is scraped in the process but mostly he avoided any tears to his clothing, which was protected by the enchanted fabric of his piwafwi. Picking himself up, the scholar inhales a lungful of breath heady with the aroma of magic. The very air in this room tingles with energy radiating from the books stored on the shelves; an expression of childish excitement summons a grin to Seriis' features and a greedy glint to his eyes. He's like a kid in a candy shop, unable to choose just where to start with all these wonderful, wonderful books.
Kiota was spending her precious few moments of silence cursing her short height. It had helped her through the library to be sure, but right now she could barely peer at the tomes above her. Many of the books around her weren't magical. Ancient histories, treaties between empires long turned to dust. Some of them were so old that the enchantments that kept them were, themselves, wearing out. Any private collector would pay a fortune, no doubt, which is why that as soon as the ruckus started there. Her glasses were proving to be of little use, that cloud of magic almost fogging her lenses, just about. She tried to clean them off, but her ruined shirt was so dirty, it was worse to do so. She sighs, and hears that homicidal drow trying to struggle through the air vent she had. She squeaks, her voice choked with disbelief, "He really DOES wanna kill meh!" She hadn't really made the real connection. She wasn't getting out the way she came in, and it was way too late to pick another air vent. That left...the door. But she wasn't going to leave this room empty handed, by the gods. She wasn't going to be disappointed again! Life could just go and stick it somewhere! She would be a mighty wizard, and she would get a proper spell book! Her little foot even stomped as she psyched herself up. It was nearly blown away by the sounds of Seriis getting closer. She hops to, climbing some shelf at the back of the room, about to just grab any old thing when she sees it. Stuck in a locked glass case, the tome winks with precious gems that seemed to glow with some inner fire. The magic was so thick she could barely see the thing through the glasses. She knew she had to have that one. But nothing to smash the glass with...except...a book was grabbed. Some heavy volume, a collection of crop gatherings from the ancient avian empire that some poor student no doubt had to memorize at some point. The fermin nearly topples over from its weight. "Whadda they put 'n these things, anywahs?!" Teetering over to the case as the clock ticked down, she smashes the leather into the glass. At that instant, all hell breaks loose. The bindings of magic over the book in the case snap and instantly start to scream, alerting everyone as to what was going on. Seriis was probably about out of the air vent. Kiota hopes he got stuck. She grabs the spell book, or at least what she hopes was a spell book, and does what she does best: run. Right to the glass doors, shoving the one ways open. More screaming starts and barriers pop up all around the room. Apparently, whoever designed those enchantments was more concerned with keeping people *out* then they were in. At least, that's how it appeared. The fermin was too busy running to look back, or care. There she was, tome held over her head. Running on her hind legs, like a mad woman. Weaving between anyone and everyone that got in her way, just running towards the door she'd come into. In the chaos, she'd hopefully escape unmolested. Seriis and his drow buddies were soon to have quite a pickle to handle.
Seriis is facing the same dilemma as Kiota, once again. Why he insists on choosing books on the upper shelves is beyond even his comprehension, but surely the higher they're stored, the more important they are, right? Maybe that skewed sense of logic is what he's operating on right now, as he leans up on his toes, fingers outstretched and grasping for a book that's -just- out of reach. Kiota is momentarily forgotten for all of three seconds, before Seriis' ears are suddenly assaulted by the sound of smashing glass, followed instantly by the triggering of barrier magics that send out blaring warnings to tear the night's silence asunder without mercy. Wincing, startled and with his head ringing from the earsplitting shrieking, the drow stumbles into a book shelf with enough force to dislodge a dusty tome from its perch - the massive book tumbles, bound to the shelf by a thin chain, and smacks Seriis right in the face, causing him to cry out in pain and shock, and then swiftly succumb to a coughing fit thanks to all the dust. He grabs at it, scowling. It feels magical enough, though he is not exactly skilled when it comes to discerning the more mundane books from the interesting ones. It'll have to do, he decides, as he spots Kiota rush by and burst out of the restricted section through its protected doors. This is -her- fault. If she had not drawn so much attention to herself, he would have been able to peruse the shelves for longer and take his time. Murderous intent boils in the drow's veins; a fierce flame that fills him with the desire to tortuously bring an end to this troublesome creature. "Catch that vermin, I'll skin her alive!" he roars in drow, his anger flaring into a blazing inferno that would burn this entire library were it tangible. The wannabe wizard might not understand the language but she'd certainly hear the rage and venom behind it, making it all too obvious Seriis is finished playing nice...if he ever was. Spitting obscenities, the scholar bolts in a similar fashion to Kiota, tearing his book free of its chains and leaping through the open doors - except he doesn't, for some unseen force flickers into life just then and halts his progress in mid-air, before roughly flinging him backwards into the room. He sails head over heels to hit the far wall, his body crashing against broken glass and old books. "Reyik!" The mage in question, who had still been inspecting the enchantment on the doors, made a swift grab for the fleeing fermin before the scream of his name causes him to look round, allowing Kiota to escape into the chaos Avarn is causing amidst the book cases. He's tangled up somewhere in them if the agonised cries of a student, barely audible over the cacophony of magical alarms, are anything to go by. Ignoring his companion's cruel games, Reyik turns his focus to the shimmering barrier of mana blocking Seriis' escape - a slow, calm breath inwards fills his lungs as he adopts a steady stance before the obstruction, drawing upon the latent magical energy both in the air around him and searing through his veins. All at once, that magic explodes as the mage directs it in a powerful blast to batter against the shield, creating a small, brief opening; and Seriis leaps through it, landing in the large man's outstretched arms with the stolen book clutched to his chest, covered in glass shards and dust. He has to yell to be heard, even when this close. "Find Avarn! We're leaving!"
Kiota already figured that Seriis wanted her dead. He was following her, wasn't he? He kept showing up where she was, kept trying to get her. Threats of skinning went over her head, mostly because she was gleeful at her aquisition. She had a spell book! She could learn stuff! She could finally start being a wizard! And then she could be strong enough to take on that drow and as many thugs as he could muster! Her head was in the clouds, which is probably why she smacks right into the door. Oops. She was sure that she could have gotten through. They were open, weren't they? But the magical fields that were surrounding the rare book section was in place at the entrance, too. It was something she hadn't considered, and it put the fermin in quite the pickle. All that good feeling in a rush was gone, and she was clutching her stolen book to her chest. She was about ready to cry when the field flickers from the blow that Reyik sent at the barrier made her side flicker, too, as the barrier recovers from the blow. Seeing the only opportunity she'd have, she throws herself at the door, trying to squeeze through. The book got through surprisingly easily, but the hole was too small to comfortably wriggle through. She pushes as hard as she can, squeezing as much as her body can take. Had she been anything but a fermin, it would have probably broken her bones. As it was, she'd be sore the next morning. But slowly, but surely, she was making it out. First the torso, then the rest of her, and then her feet, and finally pulling her tail with both hands. The squeeze had shredded the remains of her shirt and most of the loose fitting trousers, leaving her only in fur, but she was free...with the book. That was all that mattered. Wasting no more time, she grabs her prize, and runs for the hills to lie low for awhile, leaving the remains of her clothes behind.
Seriis is neck-deep in trouble. Speaking of, something seems to be digging into his neck, too - he reaches to inspect it, feeling a numb sting and throb, and his fingers are bloody when he pulls them away. A furious frown darkens his features but he is quietly glad the piercing glass shards did not do any permanent damage to such a sensitive area. He realises he has other things to worry about, however, when a jet of flame comes shooting for his head and the only reason he escapes disfigurement is because Reyik ducks and weaves to safety. Having still been carrying the young drow, Reyik sets Seriis down after another magical volley is fired their way courtesy of the remaining students, which have swiftly wised up to their situation and the fact that drow have apparently broken into their precious library. Avarn tackles right into one before he can let loose another spell, giving Reyik one less mageling to worry about as he gathers his own cantas and begins to let them flow. Words spill from his lips and weave through the air as the drow shifts his body, drawing back a mite then thrusting his arms forward as though pushing at some immensely heavy object, while completing his arcane mutterings with a flourish; and from his fingertips spirals a great gust of wind, the roaring gale loud enough to drown out the alarms and strong enough to push over a book case near the gathered mages. It slams into the adjacent one and sets off a domino effect, and Seriis feels each thunderous thump each time a case collapses, dispensing its contents onto the stunned students. He's sure he sees one crushed but most are only trapped for the time being - they've no time to hang around killing any longer, much to Avarn's disappointment. The warrior follows along as ordered when Seriis calls and they make hastily for the exit. By the time the trio burst out the library's main doors, vanishing into the night with their prize, Kiota is already long gone with her own.