Rancid Chronicles: part 15

There is a little Sun Tzu in all of us.
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Lo Ki
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Posts: 46
Joined: Fri Feb 14, 2003 12:24 am
Location: Michigan

Rancid Chronicles: part 15

Post by Lo Ki » Tue Dec 16, 2003 2:51 am

I was in the parlor stretched out on a couch reading when he appeared again. I had attached a bell to the shop’s street door to alert me to any customers. I guess I was to absorbed in my reading to hear it. My first clue was when Rancid called out to me from the overstuffed chair in the adjoining room. “Do you normally keep you customers waiting?” he chided.

Startled I leapt to my feet and nearly tripped over myself getting to my desk. As I settled in I noticed a mischievous grin on his face. I just gave a heavy sigh as I readied pen and paper.

“So, as I was saying,” he began, “I still had the ring and it still had its powers. I thanked Jerome and the priest for their kindness and promised to repay them someday. I left the temple and went straight to the thieves’ guild. Not the smartest thing to do; but, my temper wasn’t moderated by experience at that point in my career.

The guards were surprised to see a halfling who knew the location of the guild. Apparently there were no halfling members. They took me to the guild master who did remember me after a bit of prodding. I offered him the ring to prove I had passed their test, although not in a very timely manner. The guild master took the ring and put it on and turned to stone. I guess he never heard about the mage’s window decoration!

I laughed at his misfortune for a moment before I noticed the angry murmurs among the others in the room. I realized that even if I could make it to the exit, I could never outrun these humans. So, I jumped up on a table and loudly proclaimed myself to be the new guild master. This elicited a round of laughter. A large man who looked to have more brawn than brains stepped forward and drew a large wicked looking knife. He said I could be guild master for as long as it took for him to kill me.

I had sense enough to realize that to continue to be bold if I hoped to survive the next few minutes. So, I hopped down from the table and walked up to him. Just as I was getting in reach, I turned my head slightly to look past him and nodded. I then jerked my gaze back to his face. As I had hoped, he fell for that old trick and looked over his shoulder. I took the opportunity to hit him with an uppercut to his nuts. He dropped like a rock and curled into a fetal position holding his balls. I finished it by stomping on his head. He was a tough guy and it took three tries to knock him unconscious. I then looked around the room. ‘Any more challengers?’ I asked. They weren’t laughing anymore and no one else stepped forward.

That’s how I became master of a thieves’ guild very early in my career. Unfortunately it would only last a couple of months. I was too young and inexperienced to grasp the complexities of the position. I did not understand the politics involved. My decisions were impulsive and shortsighted. It didn’t take long for my subjects to begin grumbling, and plotting. I did have the sense to start using food testers; I went through three of them in one month. I also enlisted four bodyguards and guaranteed their loyalty with periodic small gifts from the treasury. I lost two of them but twelve would-be assassins paid the price. Even a blind man could see the writing on the wall. I raided the treasury for gems, jewelry, and other easy to carry items of high value. I plotted my escape but never got to follow through on the plans. Next time I’ll explain why.”

The little thief reached into his pouch and pulled out his usual earthenware bottle. After taking a long pull from the bottle, he tuned to me and asked, “So, how is the new place working out? Found any fringe benefits yet?”

“I like this place very much,” I replied ignoring the second question. He let the silence linger until it had just started to wear on my nerves before he laughed and rose from the chair. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” he said as he headed out the door. This time I heard the bell quite clearly.
Lo Ki Level 80 sword
Brion Level 46 spear
Ahn Lo Level 49 four school mage
K'tellen Level 52 trade mule

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