The story so far: Our heroines are taking the application exam for the Thieves' Guild, and have been told to find seven objects by tomorrow morning. They've just found the first one, but it seems to have defenders...

Nikole plasters a big smile on her face. "Hi!"

Darklis, cleverly, squeaks, "Spoons!"

Everyone waves happily, swinging their beer mugs or doughnuts or whatever.

Darklis blinkblinks at the assembly, and then at Nikole, and then back at the assembly. "Have we outsmarted everybody?"

Nikole says "I hope so!"

Nikole turns her smile on someone in-charge-looking. "Can we have some spoons?"

Gales of laughter. The cooks are leaning on the tables to hold themselves up.

Nikole advances on the spoon, provided no one is coherent enough to object.

The guy with the tallest puffy hat steps forward and tries to compose himself. "Ahem. No.", and then goes off into a fit of giggles.

Darklis advances with Nikole! Seems like the best tactic.

Nikole is how far from the spoons?

Thirty-five thieves and ten cooks move en masse to cover the space between you and the spoons.

Darklis says "Oops."

Nikole whispers to Darklis, "Stay by the door!"

Nikole looks for ceiling beams.

Darklis blinks a couple more times, then agreeably retreats towards the door. "What's so *funny*?"

The room is maybe twenty-five feet long, lined with tables in between cooking equipment. Each table is full of people. One thick ceiling beam runs the length of the room; it's just a block of wood attached to the ceiling, with no holes in it for grasping.

Darklis' question sets off more laughter.

Darklis sticks her hands on her (skinny) hips and looks affronted. "*What*?"

Nikole continues advancing then, just as though everyone was going to get out of her way.

One of the thieves, a stocky bearded man, raises his mug to Darklis in a toast. "Nice voice-throwing this morning." He burps.

Someone else says, "Think they'll try to buy the spoons?" Nudges, smirks.

Darklis sketches what would be a fancy little bow if she were a little higher class. It comes off as cute and uneducated, the way she does it, but at least it's cute. "Thanks. I think."

"Hey, anytime you want to..black my boots, just come on up!"

Nikole tries to push her way between the cooks.

Nikole . o O ( Keep distracting them! )

The cooks form a solid wall. The tallest one steps directly in front of Nikole, whose chin comes about to the middle of his chest.

Nikole looks up at him. "Excuse me."

Darklis valiantly ignores the way her ears flame up into little red explosions. "Only if you've got as much skill as the Master," she manages, without *quite* dying.

The cook grins genially down at Nikole, and pats her on the head. "Can't go this way, little lady."

Nikole says "Why not?"

"Because," he says patiently, treating Nikole to the beery fragrance of his breath, "you're not supposed to get the spoons."

Darklis can't .possibly. distract people if Nikole and her bosoms are talking to the cook. No fair.

The stocky man howls with laughter. "And she's witty, too!" Several people raises their glasses to Darklis in a toast.

Darklis purses her lips, and looks avariciously at the spoons. Dare she suggest a battle of wits for the spoons?

The croud doesn't seem _entirely_ in possession of its wits...but everyone looks very uncooperative.

Nikole grabs hold of the cook's arm and vaults up onto and over his shoulder!

The cook staggers back as Nikole's weight hits him, startled. He grabs for her. "Hey!"

Darklis opens her mouth to make her offer for the battle of wits, and leaves it hanging open as Nikole vaults up the cook.

Nikole drops down behind while the cook grabs air!

The next cook over shouts, "Look out, Abner!" and dodges in vain, as Abner trips over a pothandle. Nikole is flung from his shoulders, and lands with a *whump* on the table.

Everybody at the tables - about seventeen people - lunge for Nikole, grabbing her ankles, clothes, whatever. The mood of the room is now decidedly less amused.

Darklis bellows, "GO NIKOLE!" which probably doesn't help a lot, but sure seems appropriate.

One of the smaller thieves, a short scrawny guy, scurries up to Darklis. "Okay, that's enough. Out, you. Shoo, shoo."

Darklis' shoulders drop, and she mumbles, "But..." And then she ducks, and tries to zip past him under his arm.

The scrawny guy yells, "Hey!", and grabs for Darklis.

Nikole dives away from the clutching hands, but one fastens on her ankle and she slams full-length to the table, and is immediately buried under a pile of drunken thieves!

Nikole squirms and struggles frantically! "Get off me you miserable pig-humpers!"

The thieves hold Nikole down by main force, until someone has the bright idea of grabbing an empty flour sack. Then they have to let go of her head to jam the sack over it.

Nikole bites the nearest hand!

Darklis yells, "Hey!" herself, and slithers under the guy's arm, barrelling towards the Pile O' Thieves. "Get off her!"

The guy with the sack howls in pain and drops it, clutching his hand.

Abner stomps over and holds Nikole's head down again, with one of his big paws.

Nikole squirms beneath the pile of bodies! "Let GO!"

Darklis scrambles towards the pile, and then looks up at the spoons, judging the distance between the edge of the table and the spoons. About three feet? No problem. Nevermind trying to rescue Nicole -- she wants to climb the pile and jump for the spoons.

The bearded guy who toasted Darklis looks disgusted. "Come on, guys, we can't let a couple of _wenches_ break our record." He grabs the spoons off the wall and sweeps them into his tunic just as Darklis leaps for the pile.

Nikole grits her teeth, thinks of the Irazoki, and deliberately rubs up against someone to get attention on her rather than Darklis.

Darklis lets out a yelp of annoyance as a hand gets stuck under somebody's leg when she dives into the pile. The yelp becomes more annoyed when the bearded guy grabs the spoons. "Those're MINE!" she howls.

One of the cooks' expressions changes suddenly to startled pleasure. "Heyyy, vixen." He gropes for Nikole's chest.

Nikole's face turns dark red.

The bearded thief with the spoons looks kind of disgusted. "Come _on_, you guys, can't you get them out of here?" He opens a small stained door - the scullery? - at the back of the room and ducks through it.

Nikole switches to squirming away from the lech, but given the situation that's probably just as distrcting.

Darklis manages to get her hand extracted from the random leg, which doesn't necessarily make it any easier to get back to her feet. Never-the-less, she wants the bearded guy. Or his spoons, anyway. "HEY!"

"Okay,you heard the man," bellows Abner. "Out with the dames!" A concerted rush and the mass of two dozen men move everyone towards the door.

Nikole squirms and kicks and bites, all to remarkably little effect. "Let me DOWN!"

Darklis shouts, not that she .really. expects it to make a difference, as they're rattled doorwards, "Would you do this if we were BOYS?"

The thief struggling with Nikole, his face ruddy with beer and exertion, mutters, "_Yes_, you wildcat!" and dumps Nikole on her head outside the door. Darklis gets tossed upside-down on top of Nikole.

The door slams shut.

Nikole says "Ow! Oof!"

Darklis springs to her feet. "Come on! There was a back way!"

You can hear a lot of loud angry muttering outside the door. "closest anyone's gotten in three _years_...."..."got to lay off the booze..."

Darklis looks right and left frantically, to see if there's any passageway.

The kitchen door is at the bottom of a thick dark oaken staircase. There are no other doors leading off.

Nikole climbs up the wall to get to her feet, trying to get her breath back and wrapping one arm protectively around her chest. "Next time, you get to slam your chest on a table. Ow."

Darklis dashes up the stairs, then! "C'mon! He's getting away!"

Nikole runs after!

Darklis tears out into the courtyard, where she skids to a halt, no doubt just in front of Nikole, and surveys the place, trying to decide where the kitchen door might come out.

At the top of the stairs are the archway in front of you leading to the courtyard, a passage to the left cordoned off by velvet ropes, the door leading outside, and the staircase up to the guest rooms.

Nikole turns in the direction of the back door from the kitchen and goes that way, ducking under the rope.

Darklis chases after, leaping the rope nimbly.

The rope sways a little. Nothing happens.

The long dark hall stretches ahead of you, with wooden doors on either side. At the end of the hall there's a stone staircase leading down.

Nikole plunges down the staircase!

The staircase is short, curved, and slippery. At the end there's a heavy wooden door reinforced by iron bars. Fortunately it's ajar.

Darklis goes running hell-bent after Nikole!

Nikole skids to a halt, putting out her hands to stop herself against the wall.

Darklis slams right into Nikole, with an ooooof! "Open it, open it!"

Nikole peeks carefully through the crack, ready to jump back if someone bursts through.

It's dark inside. Dank and smelly dark.

Nikole yelps as her already-battered chest gets squashed against the wall. But quietly!

Darklis whispers, "Maybe they keep wizards in there."

Darklis adds, "Sorry."

Nikole mutters, "Are you sure having a chest is good?"

Darklis says "Better'n'not! Should we go in?"

Nikole slips quietly through the door, opening it as little as possible.

Inside is a large room; it's completely dark, but the breeze whispers of open spaces, and vaulted stone, and wood and wine. The floor's kind of wet.

Nikole moves away from the door and looks around for light of any kind, like from under a door to the kitchen.

Darklis whispers, "I wonder if they'd take expensive wine instead of a golden spoon."

Nikole whispers, "I doubt it, but maybe we can get then drunk enough to accept brass spoons."

After a minute or two, as your eyes adjust to the dark, you can see a faint sliver of light ahead.

Darklis giggles. "Good idea. Hey, light. Let's look."

Nikole creeps toward the light, quiet as a stalking lynx.

The light resolves itself into a small wooden door, locked with an iron latch.

Darklis creeps, quiet as, well, a thief. Creep creep.

Nikole whispers, "Do you know locks?"

Nikole tries the latch carefully.

Darklis nods. "Yeah, a little," she whipsers, and then delves into a too-big sleeve to find a narrow black piece of iron, just right for picking locks.

Nikole stands aside then, keeping eyes and ears open to the darkness of the cellar.

Small scurrying sounds filter through the darkness.

Nikole is not afraid of rats, but is afraid one of those scurryings is seven golden spoons.

Darklis closes her eyes, since it's dark anyway, and twiddles the iron pick into the lock, sticking her tongue out a wee bit in concentration. A minute goes by, and then there's a tiny click and, as she bounces triumphantly on her toes and pulls it open, there is a long and alarmingly loud SQUEAAAAAAK.

Nikole jumps!

Nikole drags her heart out of her throat and prepares to grab escaping thieves!

Darklis claps her hand over the lock, as if that'll make it quieter.

As the door swings open, light spills into the cellar from a small, very dirty, and very empty scullery. You can hear the sounds of drunken singing from beyond the far wall.

Nikole puts an arm across the door to keep Darklis out.

Nikole looks for tracks in the dirt and dust on the floor.

Darklis' about to duck in when the arm gets in the way. "Whaaaaa...oh."

The floor is thoroughly dirty. Humans, rats, roaches, and felines have been scuffling all over the flagstones.

Nikole goes down on one knee, looking for fresh tracks indicating the rat already took off.

Nikole is afraid he did, since the other door was ajar, but he might have just hid and then gone back to the kitchen.

Nikole leans her mouth to Darklis' ear and whispers, "I don't think he came out this way. So he's probably in the kitchen."

Darklis whispers back, "So that means the spoons still are. And they're getting drunker 'cuz they think they beat us."

Nikole creeps forward to the kitchen door and tries to peer through the keyhole or around the edges or whatever.

Darklis creeps with Nikole. "Can you see?"

There's no lock on the door, but you can see through the crack if you put your forehead right up to it. Beyond is the kitchen, sure enough, with people waving mugs and standing on tables and singing, "For they are jolly good wenches..."

Nikole grits her teeth and tries to get a look at the wall of spoons.

The fireplace is immediately to your right on the wall; you can only see the edge of it.

Darklis hisses, "Are any of them facing this way? Can you open the door just a *little*?"

Nikole checks the fastening of the door. Is it locked?

It's not locked.

Nikole *very* *very* carefully opens the door a tiny crack. Luckily this is the dark side, so there won't be any light to alert the thieves.

Through the widened crack you can see a bit more of the room; there's the bearded guy, leading the singing.

Nikole tries to see if he has spoonish lumps in his shirtfront, or if the spoons are on the wall. If she can see the wall.

Nikole crouches, so Darklis can look over her head.

No spoonish lumps. You still can't see the fireplace; it's on the same wall as the door, right next to it.

Darklis peeks over Nikole's head, scowling faintly at the bearded guy, and trying to see if she can locate the spoons.

Nikole pulls back, nudging Darklis toward the other door.

Darklis mutters, mostly just moving her mouth, but follows Nikole.

Nikole, once safely away from the theives, whispers, "They're looking this way, but if someone went around and tried to sneak in the front very obviously, someone could sneak in back here behind them."

Darklis eyes your chest. "You distract. I'll sneak."

Nikole says "I don't think my chest is going to be very distracting! It's probably turning yellow already. But okay."

Darklis squints. "It's not yellow in *this* light."

Nikole curls her arms protectively over her breasts. "The problem with sticking out in front is that's what runs into everything first."

Darklis, doomfully, says, "I'll never know. Now go on. I want one of those spoons!"

Nikole says "Get as many as you can, and we can sell the rest to buy you a padded corset."

Nikole gets out of range quickly!

Darklis scowls daggers!

Nikole can't see, in the dark.

Darklis hmphs and creeps back to the door to peek.

GM: The scullery is lit!

Nikole can't see because she's oblivious.

GM: Oh. :)

Nikole makes her way back through the cellar, looking as she goes for loose pebbles (she's used to root cellars, not neatly-finished basements) or anything else bullet-sized. And a bucket of water or other liquid or even dirt would help.

The floor can provide a handful or two of dirt, if patiently scraped up between stones. And some pebbles. No buckets.

Nikole will look for buckets when she gets upstairs then. or a bowl or pot or anything. Even a wash basin or chamber pot if she can get one from a room.

Darklis keeps peeking. Are any of the thieves cute?

As Nikole emerges from the stairwell into the hallway, she can see a number of thieves wandering along the hall.

A few of them are cute! The bearded guy is. If you like beards.

Darklis might like beards! She peeks around, trying to figure out if the spoons are sitting around somewhere convienent or if they're in the bearded guy's shirt.

Nikole buttonholes the cutest one in sight. "Hi! Do you know where I could find a bucket of water?"

He focuses on Nikole's chest for a moment, then jerks his chin upwards. "Oh! Um, um...hey, you're the newt!"

Nikole says somewhat annoyedly, "No, salamanders don't have breasts."

The spoons are not visible to Darklis anywhere. Noone in the room seems terribly concerned about them.

The boy chuckles. He is kind of cute; brown hair and freckles and green eyes. "No, I mean a newbie. You're not supposed to go beyond the ropes, you know."

Nikole covers her ears. "Never heard that! Can you tell me where to get a bucket of water?" She looks ruefully at her clothes and hands, which are smudged from brawls and cellars and such. "I need to clean up."

"Oh, sure." He glows with helpful chivalry. "May I show you to the washroom? My name's Dasyl."

Nikole beams at him. "I'm Nikole. Which way?"

Dasyl takes Nikole's arm, familiarly, and starts steering her down the hall ( he leaps the velvet rope) and towards the staircase up to the rooms. "Um, right by the newt dorms; don't you remember seeing them?"

Nikole says "Oh, I was hoping I didn't have to go up the stairs."

Nikole looks sad.

He blinks. "Why not?"

Nikole rubs her knee.

Dasyl clucks sympathetically. "Can't be a thief if you worry about bruises!" Shaking his head, he points to the courtyard. "Next best thing is the fountain on the left side."

Nikole looks out at the courtyard. Is there a bucket or anything near the fountain? There entirely likely is, since that's probably the water source for most of the building.

Darklis peeks. Quietly. Not too much. Don't want to get caught. Getting impatient.

Nothing bucketlike is visible from the doorway, but it sure looks like a good place for buckets.

Nikole beams at Dasyl. "Thanks! I'll be fine." She heads toward the fountain, *not* dragging him along.

The other thieves have gotten bored and walked on; Dasyl runs after them, shaking his head.

Nikole was afraid she'd never get rid of him! She goes over to the fountain to look for a container to carry a gallon or so of water in.

Darklis is getting bored. Where's Nikole?

There's a small bucket by the fountain. No handle; it's just a scoop.

Nikole takes it, fills it with water, makes sure her sling and stones are ready to hand, and goes back down the kitchen stairway, hopefully making less noise than the drunken revelry.

The drunken revelry is still going on, as loud as ever.

Nikole closes her eyes, bringing the layout of the room to mind, and then opens the door a crack and slips in, with the bucket ready. She is going to sneak toward the fire; when she is noticed, she is going to throw the bucket of water on it, and then use her sling to knock out the oil lamps and candles (which are smaller than rabbits, admittedly, but don't jump around).

*finally*. Darklis tenses, waiting for -- whatever move Nikole makes.

The song is just reaching its chorus of, "And hey, they're witty too!" as Nikole slides in, so she gets a whole three steps into the room before the cry goes up. "She's back! Get her!"

Nikole throws the bucket at the fire! SPLOOSH!

Eeek! No light! How will Darklis see the spoons? Oh well. She darts in the door, keeping low and shooting a wild glance over the walls. Please please please let them have put the spoons back!

The fire sizzles and goes out. Sixteen thieves and eight cooks dive for Nikole.

Nikole backs toward the door, slinging a stone at the brightest lamp or biggest candelabra!

The seventeenth thief - the bearded one - yells, "They're going for the lights!" and dives in the opposite direction, towards the fireplace.

The spoons are on the wall again! And the bearded guy is going right for them.

Spoons! Spoons! Spoons! Where are the spoons? Darklis stays crouched, practically belly down -- ah! On the wall! And she tumbles to her feet and runs down the wall towards the spoons! She's little and quick, so she should get there first! Right?

Nikole's stone zings neatly through a candle flame, extinguishing it, and then the mass of bodies goes WHOMP onto her.

Nikole yelps as she takes *another* bruising!

Wrong. The bearded thief leans on the wall in front of the spoons, smiling sardonically. "Hi, babe."

Nikole kicks and bites and scratches and swears again!

The pile of thieves and cooks on top of Nikole squirms about ineffectually, pulling each others' hair. They're not doing much damage, but together they make a very solid weight.

Aw, damn. Darklis looks dismayed, and then, well, what the hell. She feints to the left, to get around the bearded guy, and then reverses to the right as quick as she can.

Nikole tries to whap someone's arm so it hits someone else in the face, starting a drunken brawl. Right on top of her.

Whump. "Hey! You hit me!" "Watch yourself, you clod!" A drunken brawl starts. Right on top of Nikole.

Nikole tries to wiggle out without reminding any of the drunken louts that she's a girl. Failing that, just OUT.

The thief opposing darkness dodges to the left to catch her, and is just a little too slow on the rebound. Darklis is closer to the spoons than he for about a second and a half!

Darklis leaps! Snatches for a spoon!

The sprawling pile of fistfighting guys have completely forgotten that Nikole is either a girl or there. They're too heavy to wriggle subtly out from under, though.

Darklis' nemesis tackles her legs, a split second too late. She falls to the ground, clutching a spoon triumphantly in one fist!

Darklis would cheer, except the wind's knocked out of her and there's this guy on her legs. So she wriggles, and then, thoughtfully, tries to pound the guy on the head with the spoon.

The spoon, not used to this kind of treatment, gets kind of bent.

Nikole squirms free, stopping to drag her mantle out of the grasp of a thief who's trying to strangle a cook with it (something about substandard dairy products), and waves at Darklis when she's looking the right way!

The thief grabs for Darklis's head with one hand and the spoon with the other.

Darklis bites, kicks, screams, and generally carries on. And she is not, by the gods, going to let go of that spoon unless her hand comes with it.

Nikole fails to get Darklis's attention, so grabs a nearby candle, breaks off an inch of the end, and uses it as a sling bullet. Being wax, it won't cause serious harm, but it will sting like the very devil.

The smoking wick disappears somewhere in the bearded thief's clothing. He yelps and looks down for a moment.

You paged Darklis with 'Okay, you can wrench yourself free while he's distracted.'.

Darklis *scrambles*! Run away! Run away! Warn the village! She flings herself to her feet and tears for the back door.

The bearded guy stops looking for the bee that stung him, scrambles to his feet and pelts after Darklis. "Come back you wench!"

Nikole tries another shot at his legs!

Darklis, the wench, certainly is *not* going to come back! If she can, she'll slam the door shut behind her and make a mad dash for the one that locks!

The second candle-end bounces off his legs, unnoticed, as the thief reaches the door *just* after Darklis and follows her into the scullery.

The rest of the kitchen is full of yells, cries, and thumps.

Run! Run! Panic! Run! Darklis only tries to close the second door if it's very easily reachable. Otherwise, she sprints like the devil himself is after her, for the stairs.

Nikole runs up the front stairs and around so she can meet Darklis coming the other way!

Behind Nikole, she hears a voice say, "Hey...where'd they go?"

Nikole runs to get out of sight of the kitchen!

The dark bearded thief is right behind Darklis all the way up the stairs, and makes a grab for her ankles at the top. This turns out to be a bad idea when you've been drinking. He slips, something goes *crunch*, and Darklis is suddenly not followed anymore.

Darklis would be concerned, if she weren't running for her *life*. Where's Nikole?

Nikole is at the end of the hallway, making frantic gestures toward the door!

Catch! Darklis fwings the spoon towards Nikole, and adds, "Run!" in case Nikole didn't think of that.

Darklis will *kill* Nikole if she doesn't catch it.

Nikole leans way forward to catch the spoon as it sails just out of reach! She snags it, but falls forward *again*! Luckily, this time she catches herself on her hands (bending the spoon more) and instantly scrambles to her feet and out the door!

Nikole is outside! The sunlight is blinding!

Whew. Darklis turns around to make sure the bearded thief is at least *breathing*, before she goes out.

He's breathing, but quite unconscious, slumped on the stairs.

From the kitchen below you hear the sudden pounding of heavy feet.

Nikole runs across the street and lurks in an alley, ready to run further if there is pursuit.

Darklis eeks and turns and runs! And leaps the cord at the end of the hall again!

Outside is a city street, medieval style: i.e., lots of people, vunnocks, carts, stenches, and buildings. Right down the street to your right there's a big crossroads; the street stretches up in the other direction with littler alleys.

Nikole goes for an alley.

Darklis bursts out of the courtyard and into the streets, and skids to a halt, looking for her partner in, so to speak, crime.

Nikole waves at Darklis!

Nikole finds an alley. It's narrow, tall, dirty, and ill-lit; what more could you ask for?

Darklis tears over to Nikole. "We got it! We got it! We got it!"

Nikole throws her arms around Darklis, nearly stabbing her in the back with the spoon handle! "We got it! We got it!"

Darklis giggles. "Okay, now hide it so we don't lose it! What next?"

Nikole tucks the spoon into her satchel. "I wish I had asked if we can bring the loot in a piece at a time. I bet not, though."

Darklis says "I don't *think* so. They said to be back at 9 tomorrow morning, not in bits and pieces."

Nikole looks around to make sure no one is near enough to overhear. "So maybe we should hide it someplace, so no one can take it away from us?"

Darklis says "But if we hide it somebody might find it!"

Nikole says "I know. It just matters which we reckon is a better bet."

Darklis puffs her cheeks out. "If we keep it on us and lose it at least we'll know who *has* it, right?"

Nikole nods. "Okay, we'll keep the stuff. If we can. I don't know how big a diamond carp or a lethe snifter is, though."

Darklis ohs. "Right. If they're too big we'll...figure out what to do then. Um. Now what'll we look for? We need a gold bar and a wizard's finger..."

Nikole says "And a lethe snifter and a carp and pearls."

Nikole says "And holy water."

Nikole says "Maybe we should look for a wizard, because then we can ask about a lethe snifter and get two at once."

Darklis says "Ooooh. Good idea."

Darklis beams.

Nikole says "And we should look for a church on the way. Holy water should be easy to get; we just have to lie to a priest."

Darklis blinks a couple times. "Lie to a *priest*?"

Nikole says "Unless they have it just laying around to be picked up, we'll have to get a priest to make it, and I don't reckon he'd think getting into the Thieves' Academy is a worthy cause."

Darklis' eyes go all big. "But a *priest*. That's wrong! What if he finds out and damns us?"

Nikole makes a face. "I don't think much of it either, but I don't have a better idea. Anyway, it's not like we're wrecking a church or anything."

Darklis scrunches up her face. "Well, let's go, anyway. What're you gonna .tell. him?"

Nikole says "Maybe I can tell him my mom is possessed and needs some holy water to wash way the devil, and then while I'm leading him into an alley, you can grab the water and run off?"

Darklis' eyebrows go up, and she peeks out of the alley to see if it's safe to leave. "And what're you gonna *do* wtih him in an alley, huh?"

All is peaceful on the street (well, as peaceful as it gets at midmorning). The Guild basks in the sunshine, looking from the front like a prosperous bank.

Nikole elbows Darklis. "I was going to run off and leave him for you. You like old guys, right?"

Darklis ooofs. "Yuck," she proclaims. "C'mon, let's go find a church. Why don't we tell him we need it because your mother just had another baby and it's dying and we need it to bless it before it dies?"

Nikole says "Is that what they use holy water for? I was just guessing."

Nikole leads the way out into the streets, looking for a likely kid to grill.

There's no shortage of kids around; mostly scrawny little urchins who look like they're practicing to be pickpockets.

Darklis shrugs. "I donno. It sounds more real than being possessed by a demon."

Nikole looks for one who appears to be completely untrustworthy. The innocent-looking ones are always the worst.

Nikole says "Aye. We'll try that, then."

There's one particularly grubby urchin standing a little ways down the street, towards the intersection. He seems to be selling handbills and sizing people up as marks.

Nikole indicates the kid with a tilt of her chin. "Him, maybe?"

Darklis squints. "He looks wretched." She grins. "Yeah. C'mon." She tugs Nikole's elbow, and Approaches.

Nikole follows along, letting the expert on street kids take the lead.

Darklis stops several feet away, and looks at Nicole. "Um," she says, "d'you have any money?"

Nikole slips Darklis a few coppers.

Darklis nods. "Thanks," she mutters, and then heads in towards the kid again.

The kid is crying, "Dirt of the Day, twoooo pence! Getcher news of the day, twoooo pence!" in a singsong. He's got an awfully light voice...

He isn't really a he at all, is he? He's a she. Darklis squints, then grins, and walks up to the kid. "Hullo."

The kid looks up with a bright smile, revealing very bad teeth. She has muddy brown eyes, muddy brown hair, muddy brown freckles, and mud on her face. And a large cap. "Getcher noos of the day, lady?"

Darklis squats. "Yeah, I want my noos. News." She holds up one copper. "I need to know where a wizard lives, and where the nearest church is."

Nikole keeps a nervous eye out for Those Boys.

The kid's grin widens. "Oh. That'll cost yew _four_ pence, then."

Darklis makes a face. "We'll see how helpful you are, huh? I've got to show a bunch of boys up, and your help would make it easier."

The grin gets bigger, if possible. "You're the girl newt!"

Nikole scowls a little, but just keeps her eyes open.

Newt? What the hell's a newt? Sure, she'll be a newt. Darklis nods. "Yep. I am. Think you can give me a hand?"

"Well," the girl confides, "I cin tell you where the others went. Most of them went harin' up towards the mint, but the redhead and his shadow went straight south." She nods significantly.

Darklis grins. "What's south?"

The kid blinks in astonishment. "Mindy, o'course! You haven't been here long, have you?"

Darklis shakes her head. "Just a day. Mindy? Who's that?"

One grubby hand comes up and grabs for the copper. "You just go find out, newt. Can't tell you everything!"

Darklis folds her hand over the coin. "What's your name?"

Nikole nudges Darklis with a foot.

The little girl wrinkles her nose in defiance. "What for?" She's maybe eight, nine.

Darklis says "'cuz I want to know who to look for when I get into the Guild so I can thank you properly." She holds out the coin. "Better'n this."

The girl looks deeply suspicious. Finally she holds out her hand, palm up. "Hannelore."

Darklis drops the copper into her palm. "Thanks. Hey, do you know what a lethe-snifter is?"

The coin disappears into her rags as if by magic. "Naw. Mindy might, though."

Darklis straightens up.

Hannelore looks surprised. "Hey, doncha want your news?"

Darklis blinks, then grins. "Yeah, I want my news. You forgot to tell me where a church was?"

A very definite shake of the head. "Nother answer, nother copper." She hands Darklis a handbill, though.

Darklis produces another copper, showing it briefly. "Church?"

Hannelore points southeasterly. "Cardamom Street."

Darklis repeats, "Cardamom Street," and hands over the coin, taking the handbill. "Thanks, Hannelore. Maybe I'll see you later, huh?"

She waves briefly, and then turns away to accost another passerby. "Hey! You! Dirt of the Day, twooooo pence!"

Darklis walks back to Nikole and gives her the handbill.

Nikole looks it over, curiously. "Who do you reckon Mindy is?"

It's a very grubby handbill, crudely printed. The ink comes off in your hands.

Darklis shrugs. "Dunno. Guess we'll find out. There's a church in that general direction anyway. What's it say?"

Nikole scans the handbill for items like "Thieves' Entry Exam this week: lock up your lethe snifters".

The headline, or at least the top line, says: Newts In Town! Lock up Your Gems!

Nikole rolls her eyes.

Darklis says "What?"

Nikole shows the headline to Darklis.

Darklis stares at it blankly, and shrugs.

The following text, liberally sprinked with splotches and exclamation points, claims to list the items that will be sought this weekend by the new applicants. "holy water" is the only one that matches your list.

Nikole eyes Darklis, but doesn't say anything.

Nikole reads down the list. "Well, they know we're coming. But they don't know what we're looking for, except holy water."

The other articles deal with subjects such as "Farmer's Market this weekend!", "How to Cure Warts", and "Slumming Uptown: One Woman's Story."

Darklis, defensively, says, "*What*?" and then frowns. "That might make it harder to ...well, maybe if you go in alone. You look nicer than me."

Nikole says "I guess I don't look like a thief as much. Maybe I should get my dress."

Nikole reads through the article to see if any times are mentioned.

Darklis says "If you're gonna go back in there give *me* the spoon."

Nope, no times.

Nikole says "We'll do that later. Let's go see if this Mindy person knows what a lethe snifter is."

Darklis grins. "Okay!"