The Trent Job

Sitting about the Maidenhead one afternoon four people who had become friends by chance and circumstance were chatting about the need to acquire a little more hard coin. While mulling over their various options such as getting an extra job, day laboring, or even hiring out as secondary talent to base craftsmen. One of them happened to mention that the Moneylender called Trent the Cutter had a weekly card game and that the miser had hit a nice streak recently and amassed a small fortune in gemstones. The thought of procuring the moneylender's easily earned wealth was far more appealing to the quartet than earning extra money through more "reputible" avenues. When they learned that damaged sewer tunnels and storm drains had forced the excavation of chambers running next to Trent's own home and cellar by the Cityworks the opportunity was sealed as surely as a maiden's virtue.

After much deliberation a plan was hatched. Journeyman Turen would secure a seat in the card game by creating a moment that would allow him to save the dealer's life and coin. The young Mistress Lora would contact a rather shady merchant she knew of to borrow the bankroll needed for Vin to buy-in to the game itself. While the gnome and human were busy with their odd jobs, the halfling Belkar, along with his brutish looking half-orc friend, would visit a local Locksmith shoppe and permenantly borrow the select tools needed to open any of the more difficult locks that might be encountered. Given the natural fear of orcs possessed by the apprentice on watch at the shoppe the initial heist was even easier than they could have hoped for.

With money in place and the time set, the four only had to wait. When Godsday finally arrived and the cunning plan put into action the spirit of the small band was running high. The gnome's job was to serve as a distraction to the moneylender should anything seem amiss, the other three were to serve as the actual criminals at hand. Knowing what he did of his adversary's past, the quick mind of Vin made a last minute change to the operation already starting play. Journeyman Turen invited the ever lovely Marysa to join him as his escort fully aware that Trent had once been very close to the dancer. The small grifter was confident that this adjustment would cement his success in the evening's crime.

While a deadly game of cat and mouse played out across the card table in Trent the Cutter's parlor that matched wit and subterfuge against paranoia and gile, the trio of criminals entered the tunnels leading to the small but fashionable manor house. Round after round of cards passed above, showing the cagey skill and sharp eye watching for anything that might be amiss as everyone at the table was confident all others would cheat if given only the smallest of opportunities. Below the game the trio of bandits dispatched a small gathering of rats that, in hunger-fueled ignorance and animal witlessness, attempted to waylay the well-armed thugs. With the rodents removed after only a minimal delay, the three set back on track the burglary at hand.

Straining his over-muscled physique, the half-orc smashed through the thin layer of crumbling brick that served as a wall to the moneylender's cellar. Any danger of discovery was hidden beneath a carefully orchestrated outburst by the gnome mastermind over a drunkard's misplayed hand. As the card game was brought back down to a moderately civilized level, the lower gang bullied their way past the simple locks holding fast the outer door and destroyed with no real effort the sole guardian of the merchant's vault; a laughable threat barely made by a poorly made and crudely disguised construct that served as a bit of gaudy statuary.

Once the overly active decorations were dealt with the hardest part was at hand. With a lack of experience typical of someone with his limited training, the halfling thief Belkar managed to trip the only real alarm in place alerting the already painfully paranoid master of the home. Realizing the folly of his friends, the brave gnome Vin sprang to his diminuitive feet and flung the table across the room, declaring the last truly hostile player a cheat and a boor. With such a brazen provocation the rattled merchant ordered his hired muscle to dispatch the gnome and his lovely companion. With a battle prowess seldom seen in such rooms the small rogue darted and dodged, parried, and haranged. Taking on two enormous goons and protecting the fair lady that was his escort, he beat back both enemies with such grace that Trent's own suspicions were redirected at the gnome's assailants, the waivering orders buying the burglars the few last moments needed to steal away the easily accessed vault below.