The setting: Our heroines have just arrived in the city of Carbuncle, where they are applying to the Guild of Thieves. After a night sleeping in the small closets called dorms, they arrive in the center courtyard for the entry exam.

The courtyard is an inner Italian sort of atrium, with the building on all sides around it. People start collecting around the edges of the courtyard, first and second floors, about quarter to nine. Nobody enters the courtyard itself except Nikole and two boys.

GM: Is Darklis in the courtyard yet?

Darklis is! And unlike *some* people she hasn't had any breakfast.

Nikole says "They *did* say 'in the courtyard', didn't they?"

They did.

Okay, you're both in the courtyard. The two boys are hanging together and looking kind of nervous. They eye you.

They look a lot like Darklis; too-big handmedowns with patches, dark colors.One is short and stocky, with brown hair and eyes and a very stubborn jaw; one is tall and looks like a budding street fighter, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Darklis, in that case, sidles a bit nearer to the boys, and eyes the very nicely dressed Nikole with outright suspicion.

Nikole watches all the ratty city people from the corner of her eye, and finds someplace to sit down. People who think they're important always make people wait.

At precisely five till, another boy strolls into the courtyard, trying very hard to look casually elegant and almost succeeding. He's got a sweeping black cloak (clearly cut down to size), and all his handmedowns are black. Unlike the others, he has shoes. And red hair.

Everyone on the edges of the courtyard is sizing up those inside. There is a lot of whispering and pointing.

Nikole notices the red-headed boy since after all he's red-headed.

The red-headed boy smiles charmingly at Nikole, and sweeps her a bow.

Darklis ignores those outside with the nervous superiority of one who suspects she's in the wrong place but won't admit it. The redhead starts to get a little bit of a smile, but then he bows at Nikole and *that's* history.

Nikole blushes! but stands up and curtseys with at least a little more grace than most girls her age.

The redhead says politely, "Shouldn't you ladies be moving to the sidelines? The masters are about to enter, you know."

Nikole was leaning on a wall, but quickly moves to another side of the courtyard. One with no doors. Like the one by the redhead.

Darklis snorts. "Not until you leave, buster."

He says, confusedly, "I beg your pardon?"

Darklis says "I'll move to the sidelines at the same time *you* do."

The redhead says, patiently, "But I'm not moving. I'm taking an exam."

Darklis smiles brightly. "What a coincidence."

Nikole says "Hey!"

Nikole scowls at the redhead and moves to the exact center of the courtyard.

The truth dawns. All three boys look stunned. Those bystanders near enough to hear giggle a lot.

The redhead recovers first, with a smile. "Well, this should be entertaining."

Nikole says "As we watch you slink off with your tail between your legs."

He waves a hand at the other two boys. "I'm Reynard- what?"

Nikole glares.

Darklis almost grins at Nikole as she takes center stage, and then *does*, and sidles towards the other girl, looking delighted.

Reynard turns to smile at Nikole, still charmingly. "I'll remember you said that, later."

Oops. Maybe I'll just stay here. In the middle. Darklis looks bland.

The stocky boy says, laconically, "What, yer' going to take her out to dinner and demonstrate it?"

Nikole says "I hope it keeps you warm after you fail."

Reynard flushes in anger, looking his age for a moment. "I'll remember you *too*."

The third boy says, "Good memory, hasn't he?"

Nikole doesn't actually turn and smile at Darklis, but moves a little closer to her in instinctive common cause.

Reynard sulks and attempts to look mysterious and elegant. He just looks silly.

Nikole snorts.

The alert boy kicks the other one, lightly. "Argus."

The stocky one returns, "Job."

The bells start to toll nine. Bong...bong...

Nikole says "I'm Nikole of the Irazok-"

Nikole's introduction is lost under the bells.

At seven bells, another boy comes flying into the courtyard and collides with Darklis, in the middle.

Darklis giggles quietly, and says, to the boys who are introducing each other, "Darklis," before rolling back on her heels and looking up at the belltower. The roll continues over backwards, as she shrieks, and lashes out with a startled punch.

The other boy promptly goes down, sprawled on the flagstones. The ninth bell strikes.

Nikole jumps back!

As the last stroke dies away, seven old men stalk into the courtyard. They're dressed in something like an English university professor's gown, except that it's more like a cape, and instead of mortarboards they have plumed cavalier hats.

Nikole straightens up respectfully.

The whispering from the crowd dies away to an expectant hush.

The boy on the ground scrambles up hastily. "Now you've made me look bad," he hisses to Darklis.

Nikole glares at him too.

Nikole offers Darklis a hand up, quickly.

Darklis takes Nikole's hand, scrambling to her feet and brushing herself off as best she can. "*You* ran into *me*!" she hisses back at the boy, and smiles quickly at Nikole.

The least decrepit-looking of the masters says, clearly, "Shut up."

Darklis squeaks, and shuts up, straightening up as tall as she'll go.

Nikole puts on the face for dealing with crochety, potentially deaf and senile, but respected elders and shamans and such.

Nikole looks completely bland and attentive, that is to say.

One of the masters shuffles forth to stand before you; the others loom like vultures behind him. He coughs preparatorily. "Ahem."

Nikole looks even more attentive. And a little nervous, but if she clenches her fingers in her skirt, they don't twitch too much.

Ahem. Ahem? That means something's going to happen, right? Darklis looks nervously at one of the boys, then back at the masters, all bright-eyed.

"You are here to apply for membership in the Guild of Thieves, and admission to our university." He eyes each of you dubiously. "You have all been investigated and found not _obviously_ incapable, of sound mind and body-"

Reynard raises his hand, and the master glares at him. "Yes?"

Nikole knows better than to show smugness at this point.

Reynard says, a little nervously, "With respect, sir, why are there _females_ here?"

Darklis, promptly, says, "To punch you in the mouth and teach you who's worthy of being a thief, Red."

The master does not smile, but he looks as though he might be thinking about doing so later. Someplace safely undignified.

Darklis then remembers she's supposed to be being quiet, and widens her eyes innocently.

An encouraging whistle comes from somewhere in the courtyard at Darklis' comment. Reynard keeps his eyes on the master.

Darklis looks smug for exactly one trillionth of a second.

Nikole surreptitiously, within her full skirts, hooks one foot around Reynard's ankle and helps him demonstrate his clumsiness on the dew-slick flagstones. Of course, her skirts are not quite as long and foot-hiding as she remembers...

Reynard dodges, barely, looking very startled, and jumps away as though Nikole had just manifested fangs.

The master says, "*Ahem*."

Nikole looks completely innocent.

Darklis grins.

"You're from another city, aren't you," says the master to Reynard. "Ganmage, wasn't it?"

Reynard nods. Job and Argus are watching this with a certain degree of horrified fascination.

"_If_ you survive to become a thief, you will learn that many females can be deft and competent thieves."

Nikole looks a little smug.

Reynard looks so dubious. The others look carefully blank.

Darklis tosses her head, smugly. This has the unfortunate reaction of causing some of her carefully slicked hair to deslick, and instead stand out at odd little angles.

"After all," adds the master, with the hint of a smirk, "their...attributes can gain them entrance to places where we cannot go. Or would not choose to.". Murmurs of amusement from the crowd. Everybody smirks.

Nikole, after a moment, blushes, and glares viciously at every single person who smirks.

The boy who ran into Darklis grins impudently back at Nikole.

Nikole ignores *him* completely.

Darklis reddens, and looks deliberately at her feet. Somewhere not /quite/ defineable, someone says, "Only reason you wouldn't choose to go into a whorehouse is not even anyone /there/ would service you!"

Nikole doesn't smirk. Not even a little bit. Well, maybe her eyes.

Roars of laughter, and scattered applause, from the crowd. The master looks like a stone gargoyle. The fierce kind.

Darklis looks up again, only after her blush has faded.

Suddenly, a voice almost exactly like Darklis', from what sure sounds like her location, says dreamily, "On the other hand _I_ would. Can I ...black your boots... after the test?"

Nikole stares at Darklis.

Hoots of laughter and generous applause from the audience.

GM: The master doesn't even raise an eybrow, but you are _positive_ it was him.

Nikole Gets It after a moment, and glares at the master.

Reynard and the fourth boy fold up in silent laughter. Job, surprisingly, blushes. Argus smirks.

Darklis looks /horrified/. /Horrified/. She turns a shade of scarlet previously only known to sunsets, and then, eyes terribly, terribly wide, and still blushing, she composes herself -- sort of -- enough, at least, to purse her lips, and blow a weak kiss at the master. And then she turns even redder.

The master says, as if nothing had happened "-- of sound mind and body. Today, we will discover if you have the wits, quickness and courage to be a thief."

Nikole grins at Darklis, and then resumes her listening politely face.

The master says, "What are your names?" He looks at each in turn, starting with the boys.

Reynard draws himself up to his full not-very-impressive height. "Reynard, son of Chenik, First Degree Thief!"

The master says kindly, "That's nice. Do you always hide behind your relatives?" Reynard promptly deflates.

Darklis manages to forget about blushing long enough to roll her eyes at Reynard's introduction, and grin at the master. Oops. The master. She blushes again.

Argus and Job give their first names, frozen-faced. The late arrival says, cheerfully, "Sneak!"

Darklis giggles. "You or them?" she whispers.

"Sneak...?" says the master.

Sneak folds his arms. "A nickname. From my village."

Nikole looks questioningly sideways at Darklis.

There's a *lot* of sniggering. "Oh," says the master thoughtfully. "You know, we don't normally let anyone have a name like that until they've proved themselves. I think you'd better take a different nickname."

The master thinks a moment. Sneak looks uncertain. "From now on, you will be known as .... Beauregard."

Beauregard turns pale. Everyone else laughs. (This is clearly the most entertaining event of the season, judging by audience reaction.)

Darklis shoots Sneak a sympathetic look, despite him having run her down.

The master looks at Darklis.

Nikole looks rather sympathetic too. Nothing she was thinking was as bad as *that*.

Ooops. "Darklis, sir."

The master looks at Nikole, without comment.

Nikole says "Princess Nikole of the Irazoki, daughter of Tello son of Eleder, and no, my relatives stand behind *me*."

Darklis' eyebrows fling upwards.

Nikole looks quite proud of her family, actually.

The master looks profoundly unimpressed. "I see. And how do you plan to steal anything, with all your relatives standing behind you in the alley?"

Nikole says "It makes it a lot easier to steal big things."

He clucks sympathetically. "You're going to have a hard time today, then, since noone outside this courtyard may help you. Can you manage, all by yourself?"

Darklis sticks her chin out, like she's getting ready for it to get punched. "*I'll* help her."

Nikole blinks startledly at Darklis, but doesn't object.

Nikole says "I reckon between the two of us, we can carry off anything you might want us to steal."

Darklis mutters to Nikole, "You'd better steal as well as you dress."

"How sweet! We must hope the two of you together can bring us an item." He raises his voice back to audience level. "Your task is to find the following seven objects, and to bring them back to this courtyard by nine bells tomorrow morning."

Nikole winks at Darklis.

Nikole listens attentively, ready to memorize the list in the way that only someone from a strong oral tradition can.

"The rules are simple. Killing anyone is an automatic disqualification; it indicates poor judgement and planning. You may not be assisted in thievery by anyone outside this courtyard. We will know. You may not leave the Southwest Quarter during the test."

The master finishes, "Master Kei will announce this year's items." An expectant rustle from the crowd, as a short master steps forward.

Master Kei clears his throat. "One: Seven matched pearls."

"Two: The fingerbone of a wizard."

Darklis stares.

Nikole turns slightly pale.

"Three: One bar of solid gold, with the mint mark still on it."

Argus is starting to look slightly green. Reynard is trembling. The croud murmurs thoughtfully.

"Four: One of the Five Diamond Carp."

More murmurs from the crowd, and a subdued snerk.

Darklis clears her throat. "The, um, what?"

Master Kei looks down his nose at Darklis. "Did you speak, young lady?"

Nikole nudges Darklis.

Darklis glances quickly at Nikole, and then says, "Um, no?"

He clears his throat, and continues. "Five: One vial consecrated holy water."

Nikole whispers to Darklis, "Don't let them narrow it down!"

The crowd sounds downright impressed. They whisper a lot.

Darklis' eyes widen, and she nods a little at Nikole.

"Six: One of the gold serving spoons from the Guild Kitchen."

Master Kei pauses, for dramatic effect. "Seven: One lethe-snifter."

Nikole looks blank, but covers it quickly.

The crowd noise rises. A couple people can be heard to say, "A _what_?"

Several of the masters are suppressing laughter.

"If you return with these items by nine bells tomorrow morning, without breaking any of the rules, you will be accepted into the Guild and the Academy. That is all."

Darklis looks sidelong down the rest of the row of young thieves, to see if /anybody/ looks like they have a clue.

Job raises his hand. "Uh, sir?"

Nikole is lost in calculation.

Reynard looks thoughtful; Beauregard looks daunted; Argus looks seriously confused; Job looks stubborn.

Master Kei looks down his nose at Argus. "Yes?"

Argus stammers a little. "Um, sir, if there are only five Diamond Carp, we can't each get one."

Master Kei says comfortably, "Why, you're right. I'm glad you can count; it will be a help."

Darklis reaches out and tugs Nikole's sleeve.

All the masters turn on their heels, as one, and prepare to stalk out.

Nikole blinks and leans her head over to whisper with Darklis.

Darklis suggests, quietly, "They .said. we could pair up. We have twice as good a chance of winning. What's a lethe-snifter?"

The silent processional of black leaves, and the courtyard buzzes with noise. Everyone in the crowd is loudly discussing your chances as they move off. In a surprisingly short time, the place is empty.

Nikole whispers, "I don't know! But I bet we can find out."

Job folds his arms. "_You_ can pair up. I don't think much of your chances."

Nikole whispers, "If we pair up, I bet we need two of each, though."

Darklis says "They didn't *say* that."

Reynard says rather plaintively, "Does _anybody_ know what a lethe-snifter is?" Nobody does.

Nikole looks mysterious and knowing.

Darklis looks up at Job, and sniffs.

Nikole says "Good luck finding out."

Nikole ignores Job.

Reynard takes a deep breath and stalks out.

Nikole says "They said anyone who brings back everything gets in. If we bring back one of each, they might only let one of us in."

Beauregard gives Darklis a slightly apologetic shrug, and follows.

Nikole says "We better not chance it."

Argus volunteers, "that's not true, actually. My cousin teamed up and got four of them."

Nikole says "But did he get in?"

Darklis considers Nikole's creamy hair, skin, and bustiness, and just /guesses/ which one of them would be let in. But she brightens, at Argus' statement. "Did they *all* get in?"

Nikole considers her foreignness and Darklis' flirting with the master and just *guesses* which one of them would be let in.

"Oh, yeah," he says proudly. "All three of them. 'Course, they did it by going round the bars beating everybody up, but nobody actually _died_."

Job says thoughtfully, "I bet there are less than seven of lots of them. Maybe only one of some."

Nikole says "There might only be one lethe-snifter in the city. And five diamond carp."

Nikole says "But the rest sound pretty common."

Darklis looks after Reynard, and then at Job. No, Job was a jerk. She won't invite him. "D'you want to work with us, Argus?"

Nikole says "Fingerbones come in sets of 28..."

Argus snorts. "You ever *seen* a bar of gold? With your own eyes?"

Darklis says "They didn't say we had to bring *just* the fingerbones. I bet we could get a wizard to come with us."

Nikole blinks at Darklis. "I didn't think of that! I was wondering where we could find a grave."

Nikole says "I like your idea better!"

Nikole eyes Argus.

Darklis wrinkles up her whole face. "Graverobbing. *Yuck*."

Argus looks tempted for a second, and then shakes his head at Darklis. "I work better alone. But yah, if you offered yourself to a wizard, he might come along. They're pretty picky, though. You'd probably have to give him something in exchange, like a finger."

Nikole shudders.

Nikole says innocently, "I'm sure Darklis could give him something."

Darklis balls up her fist and smacks Nikole in the shoulder.

Nikole grins.

Argus says cheerfully, "Lots of the more complicated rituals involve pretty girls. You'll do all right." He waves and strides out.

Nikole looks down at her dress. "Let's go up to my room so I can change. And we can think."

Job slouches towards the archway, hands in pockets. At the last minute he turns back. "Uh. Don't mess with wizards, you know. They're _mean_." He leaves.

Nikole says "You just have to know how to handle them."

Nikole leads the way back to her room.

*Change*? You have *more* *clothes*? Darklis looks genuinely offended, and skulks along behind, staring at her bare toes.

Your rooms are at the top of a stairway. Most of the Guild has been blocked off by velvet ropes; you have the idea that it would be a Really Bad Idea to cross them.

As you go up the stairway, you see that one door in one hallway is available on the way.

Nikole says "Of course I have more clothes! You reckon I go vunnock-stealing dressed like *this*?"

Darklis mutters, "I don't know anybody who owns more than one outfit."

Nikole looks slightly appalled. "I thought city folk were rich! Where I come from, everyone at least has fair-best besides regular clothes."

Darklis stops, and stares at Nikole. "Do I *look* rich?"

Nikole says "No, but I thought city folk- hey, that door's not blocked off!"

Nikole seizes on a chance to extricate her foot from her mouth and peeks in the door.

It's lit inside.

Darklis snorts. "That'll teach you to think." She peers first over, then under, Nikole's shoulder, trying to see in.

Darklis hisses, "Open it!"

Nikole opens the door a very slow crack.

You can't see much. Nothing happens.

After a second,you can pick up a faint scraping sound.

Nikole holds very very still and listens. What is it?

Sounds like metal? A knife, maybe?

Nikole opens the door a bit more...

Darklis leans, trying to peek.

Inside, there's a wooden counter. A lanky teenager leans on it, cleaning his nails with a knife and then scraping the dirt off on the counter. He smirks at you. "Hi."

That is not what Darklis expected. She blinks a few times.

Nikole says "Good morning!"

Nikole smiles at the boy and looks around the room.

The teenager stares at you openly. "Wow, I heard two girls were taking the test."

Nikole says "That's us."

"You here for some stuff?"

Nikole says "What kind of stuff do you have?"

Darklis looks around. "What's in here?"

"This," he waves his arm around the bare room proudly, "is the Guild Armory."

Nikole says "With all the things we use to not kill people?"

He beams at Nikole. "Exactly!"

Darklis giggles.

Darklis comes in a little further, peering around. "Got any diamond carps or lethe-snifters in here?"

Nikole grins.

He puts the knife down. "'Course, most of the stuff's off limits to you, but I could sell you a few things...for the right price."

Nikole says "What kind of things?"

He snickers. "Lethe-snifter. What the heck _is_ that?"

Darklis says "Something you sniff lethe from, I guess."

Nikole looks interested, which might be misinterpreted as interest in *him*.

He glows, a bit. "See, Master Kei always comes up with one really exotic item, every year. This is a good one; nobody seems to know."

Nikole says "What was it last year?"

Nikole says "Did anyone get it?"

He grins. "Seven teardrops of the Sea Queen. Nobody got it, but one kid brought in pearls and put up a good argument for them."

Darklis' eyebrows go up. "Where're the pearls now?"

Nikole nods thoughtfully. "Thanks! That helps a lot!"

Nikole says "So they do let people in if they don't get all of them. Hm."

"Heh. Don't bother; they're long fenced."'

Darklis shrugs. "He doesn't know anything else helpful, Nik. We should go. The boys are getting ahead."

The teenager straightens up and starts rooting around behind the counter. "Oh, yeah. Nobody's ever gotten them _all_. Master Lohy got six his year, though."

He looks startled. "You don't want any stuff?"

Nikole says "You never said what you have!"

"Well, you were busy _talking_," he says aggrievedly. He dumps three boxes on the counter. "There."

Nikole looks in the boxes.

Darklis blinks. "Oh." She comes over to look, too.

One box is full of small cloth bags, tightly tied; another of small gold charms; the third of copper bracelets.

"Oh, yeah," he adds, "and I have exactly one of these." He sets a tiny glass vial on the counter.

Nikole says "What *are* they?"

Darklis squeaks! "Holy water?"

The boy puffs out his cheeks proudly, displaying his mastery. "This one's -hah, no."

Nikole says "They wouldn't make it that easy."

Darklis clicks her tongue. "Oh well."

"These bags are sleeping powder; put one in someone's drink and they'll drop right off in a quarter-hour. The gold charms are for warding off alarm spells."

"The bracelets are new stuff, and, um, they don't work all the time; we kind of got ripped off on them. But don't say so around any of the masters."

He looks kind of abashed. "They're supposed to make you invisible."

Nikole looks quite interested! "Can I try one?"

Darklis, suddenly, says, "Hey. What's your name?"

"Sure. Don't try to steal it, though."

Nikole says "It's not on the list!"

Nikole grins and slips one of the bracelets onto her wrist.

The teenager ducks his head. "Um, Sachi."

Nikole remains very visible.

Sachi shrugs. "Well, they work sometimes."

"I'm Darklis. I can still see you, Nikole. How come you're helping us?"

Nikole looks down at herself. "Not today, I guess." She tosses the bracelet back.

Nikole leans over and whispers in Darklis' ear, "He likes you!"

Darklis pokes an elbow at Nikole.

Nikole squirms out of reach.

"Cause it's my job," Sachi grins. "I'm minding the Armory. Any of you newts could buy this stuff; you're the first to think of it, though."

Darklis, dryly, says, "Aren't we clever?"

Nikole says "I reckon girls are just smarter than boys."

Darklis says "How much does it *cost*?"

Nikole pokes the vial with a finger. "What's this?"

He bridles a bit. "I'll have you know I got _three_ objects on my exam. Let's see how well you do. And _that_ is a charm drink. Slip that to someone in a drink and they'll decide you're their best friend and talk your ear off. 'Course, they'll probably try to lay you, too, being girls..."

Nikole smiles mollifyingly. "I didn't mean *all* boys were idiots."

Nikole blushes a little. "Oh, it gives them good taste!"

He melts under the smile, visibly. "Well. The sleeping powder's twenty,that's standard. The charms are fifty. The bracelets, well, _you_ can have one for ten."

Darklis eyes the sleeping powder. "Ten," she says.

Nikole looks appropriately appalled at the prices. "No wonder no one thought to buy anything here!"

Nikole looks somewhat annoyed that Darklis doesn't appreciate the theatrics of haggling.

"Hey, this is the city; it's not like this is birch bark tea. This is the real stuff," he retorts, nettled.

Sachi taps his knife on the table. "Nope. I'm not allowed to bargain on this. Don't even try."

Darklis has seven impossible things to get before breakfast tomorrow. She's on a schedule. Theatrics can wait. "Twelve."

Nikole fingers the anti-spell charms. "Do these wear out or anything?"

He snorts. "Let me guess. You don't have any money."

Nikole says "Not *that* much!"

Darklis, blandly, says, "Nikole will trade you her dress."

Nikole says "Hey!"

Darklis' eyes widen.

"Nope!" Sachi says proudly. "Since they're cheap, though, they - huh?"

Nikole blushes. "Darklis!"

He eyes Nikole up and down, thoughtfully. "Good cloth. Probably worth ten or fifteen."

Nikole blushes more at being ogled head to toe.

Darklis says "C'mon, you can get more for it than /that/. It's worth at least twenty-five."

"But-" and he's back to looking stern and important - "I can't take barter. It's in the rules."

Nikole claps a hand over Darklis' mouth.

Darklis licks Nikole's hand.

Nikole says "I can't sell this dress anyway. My grandmother made it for me."

Nikole is used to wrassling brothers, who bite, so is not discommoded.

Sachi snickers, watching you. "Look. You don't have to buy them now, you know. I'll be open the entire time of the test. Go and make some money, and if you want stuff, come on back."

Darklis says "You're outgrowing it." Actually, she says, "Mmmrr mmgrmgh mmb."

Nikole says "But I was thinking maybe you could lend me one of the charms?"

Nikole smiles winningly.

Sachi smiles paternally. "Nice try, little girl."

Nikole scowls. "Three items, huh? We'll see!"

Nikole departs, dragging Darklis along behind.

He calls after you, "'Course, the other guys are probably halfway to the mint by now!"

Darklis, dragged, says, "You shoulda given him the dress. I coulda nicked half the stuff while you were undressing."

Nikole tosses back, over her shoulder, "And staring at the walls like the idiots they are!"

Nikole blushes again. "What do you think I am?!"

The door closes behind you.

Darklis says "Busty."

Nikole blushes darker and folds her arms concealingly across her chest.

Darklis snorts. "Where's your room? You should change so we can go look for stuff."

Nikole says "Right down here. But we shouldn't go until we figure out where we're going and what we're going to do there."

Nikole leads Darklis into her room, closes the door, and starts shucking her clothes, somewhat embarrassedly turning away to keep Darklis from seeing her chest.

Darklis watches, with sort of vague interest. "They must feed you a lot where you come from."

Nikole says "Those boys probably are halfway to the mint, and haven't a single thought about how to get in."

Nikole blushes again. It is true that she hasn't finished converting puppy fat to curves yet.

Nikole puts on a linen shirt and green trousers, with lacings to hold them to her legs, and wraps a plaid mantle around herself.

Darklis, who hasn't got baby fat, and probably never really has, didn't mean it as an insult. "How're we gonna get in, then? Got anything lowcut?"

Nikole mutters, "Maybe Papa should have sent Kattalin instead!"

Nikole says "Do we want to go to the mint? Who else has gold bars?"

Nikole says "Or do we want to try for the hard things that no one else will get?"

Darklis says "I suppose very very rich people might have gold bars...or diamond carps..."

Nikole says "Aye. The mint doesn't just *keep* the bars; they get given to people."

Darklis sits down on the edge of the bed, chewing her lower lip. "Gold bar, diamond carp, lethe-snifter, seven pearls -- maybe we should visit a jewelry store.

Nikole says "We have to find someone who knows what the diamond carp are, and a lethe snifter."

Darklis shrugs. "Find a diamond pin shaped like a fish!"

Nikole says "That's what I was reckoning. But there have to be five of them."

Darklis says "Nnnooooo. They didn't say they were identical."

Nikole says "That's right!"

Nikole says "But there do have to be five diamond carp *somewhere*."

Darklis, smugly, says, "We just have to *outsmart* them. And a wizard's fingerbone."

Nikole says "Which could have a whole wizard attached. Just smile at him like you did at the Master."

Nikole says "Right! We can outsmart a bunch of *boys*."

Darklis turns scarlet again.

Nikole grins.

Nikole says "Have you seen those dresses with little pearls sewn all over them? Seven of those pearls would be matched but they're so small they probably aren't locked up too tight."

Darklis stops blushing, and giggles. "But we'd better go, huh? Ooh! That's a /good/ idea!"

Nikole says "We shouldn't go until we have a plan. If we just charge in like boys, we'll get caught for sure."

Nikole says "A quarter-hour thinking now could save us five years in prison."

Darklis says "I like the way you think."

Nikole grins.

Darklis clicks her tongue. "What else was there?"

Nikole says "Gold serving spoon. What guilds have halls in this part of the city?"

Darklis makes a terrible face. "I'm not sure."

Nikole says "We'd have to be daft to try to steal something from the Thieves' Guild, even though that's what they wanted to mean."

Nikole says "I thought you knew the city?"

Darklis shrugs a little. "I've been here a couple of days."

Nikole says "Oh."

Nikole says "They said no one could help us with thievery, but I'm sure we can get help finding our way around the city."

Nikole nods. "I bet they lock up tight. So we need to find other places. Although they might be locked up too."

Nikole says "We should be able to get holy water at a temple. We can say our mom is possessed by demons or something."

Darklis nods. "It seems like jewelry stores must know the Thieves' guild does this every year, huh? And the mint?"

Nikole says "Where are we going to find a wizard?"

Nikole says "A wizard might know what a lethe-snifter is."

Darklis' eyebrows go up. "In a wizardry shop? I don't know."

Nikole says "Okay. The first thing we need to do is find someone who knows the city. What kind of people know their way around?"

Darklis grins. "Thieves." Then she shakes her head. "Servants? Couriers? But who would *talk* to us?" She considers your outfit. "More people would talk to you than me."

Nikole says "Would they? I'm foreign..."

Nikole says "Children, maybe?"

Darklis says "You're better-dressed. Higher-class people'll look at you when they wouldn't even see me."

Nikole says "Not being seen is what thieves want, though."

Nikole says "But it makes it hard to talk to people."

Darklis bites her lip again. "Kids maybe, yeah." She scowls. "Being seen at the right times. Nobody ever sees streetrats."

Nikole says "We could ask my uncle if he knows anyone who knows their way around. But anyone he knows probably just knows where the cheap beer and girls are."

Darklis says "Your uncle?"

Nikole says "Uncle Goratze. He's in the city selling vunnocks."

Nikole says "I could just ask people. I'm from out of the city, so they won't think it's strange for me to ask questions."

"Oh." Vunnocks. "What's a vunnock?" Nevermind. "Nevermind." Darklis giggles. "Sure. 'Excuse me, sir, could you tell me where to get sevenmatched pearls and a wizard's fingerbone?'

Nikole laughs. "But we just have to ask where to get a wizard! That's easy!"

Nikole says "A young, handsome wizard. Unless you like old men."

Darklis says "Do they *make* young handsome wizards?"

Nikole says "Not where I come from, but you city folk do everything different."

Darklis grins. "We could say we were finding a wizard for a love potion!"

Darklis says "I mean. Looking for one to make us one."

Nikole says "Sure!"

Nikole says, innocently, "You better do that. No one would believe I have any trouble finding boys."

Darklis' expression goes completely black.

Nikole looks a little embarrassed.

Darklis, icily, says, "Hah. Hah. Hah."

Nikole blinks at Darklis. "It's only a jest."

Darklis gets up, sulkishly. "Some boys might like a girl like me," she mutters.

Nikole says "I bet lots of boys do. But you're the one who was going on about my chest!"

You hear footsteps outside the door. A group is passing by, chatting.

Nikole quiets until they pass. No sense giving anything away.

Darklis slinks to the door, and peers out after the group.

One voice says, "And I hear they have _girls_ this year. Like _that's_ competition."

Darklis scowls, black as sin. "Jerks."

Nikole scowls. "We'll show them!"

Darklis says "We'll ask a kid, and if that doesn't work, you can stop an upper-class person and ask. We'll find a wizard and see what he knows."

Nikole says "Aye. So who are we going to ask about wizards and guildhalls and diamond carp and lethe snifters?"

Darklis looks back over her shoulder. "Well. C'mon, let's go. We'll show them."

Nikole nods. "Let's do it, then."

Nikole sweeps out in a billow of mantle.

Darklis follows, somewhat less impressively. It's hard to sweep in bare feet.

As you get to the ground floor, you can see that there's one door leading outside, an arched entrance to the courtyard you came from, and another staircase leading down.

Darklis pauses, eyeing the second staircase. "Hey. Where do you think that goes?"

Nikole probably just goes outside, not paying the staircase to the cellars any more attention than when she came in yesterday.

Nikole stops. "Cellars?"

Nikole says "Do you think they have a lethe snifter down there?"

Darklis crosses to the lower stairs, looking down. "I donno! Maybe!"

Nikole says "I guess we can look. But we shouldn't take too long."

Darklis takes the first couple steps down. "We won't!"

Nikole looks around to make sure no one is watching, and follows Darklis down.

The stairs descend straight down to a massive oak door with a big handle.

Darklis, veeeeery veeeeery carefully, tests to see if the door's locked.

Nikole looks through the keyhole, if any.

It's not. Light seeps under it, and it swings easily on hinges.

Nikole peeks over Darklis' head.

Darklis pushes the door open, veeeeery veeeeeery slowly, and peeks in.

It's a kitchen. A big, well-lit kitchen, with a roaring fire, and many tables and chairs, and about fifty thieves and cooks hanging out in it. They all look slightly drunk.

Over the fireplace hang seven brightly polished golden spoons.

Everybody waves to you, laughing hilariously. "First ones! Hi!"

GM: Fade to black :)