Kavim Nilgast
From Reydala
Kavim and Sten were staking out the freehaven marketplace in an attempt to apprehend a notorious thief who had been plaguing the local merchants over the past week. So far he had eluded all the guards and his sleight of hands usually went unnoticed until far too late. The two stood in the center of the hustle and bustle, surrounded by throngs of people on all sides.
Kavim put his arms behind his head as he sighed, leaning against one of the decorative pillars of the central square. "This is useless, there's probably a thousand thieves here already, the merchants are the ones doing the real robbery... I mean, have you checked the prices lately?"
Sten was on the opposite side of the pillar, keeping a close eye out for anything unusual. "Perhaps the merchants were forced to increased their prices to cover losses from theivery?"
"Bah! There will always be thieves where there are merchants, one of the great facts of life. If we stop one, two more will just spring up to replace 'im"
"This one is getting away with alot more than the others, however... The client has reported incredible losses."
"What he should have reported was an accurate description! What do we have? What the back of his head looks like?... We're not getting anything with just that."
Sten smiled, Kavim complained alot, but those complaints were usually amusing to hear at least. "Good things come to those who wait, if he's spotted today, we catch him and turn him in, easy job, easy money."
"In this crowd? Any thief worth his salt would be near invisible in seconds.."
"Maybe to your average city dweller maybe, that's why we're here"
As the spoke one of the corner minstrels began to play, a soothing melody of a stringed lute that echoed amidst the stalls and carts. Barely swelling over all the sounds of bartering going on. "What's that damn racket now..." Kavim frowned, "this job is bad enough."
Sten blinked. "It sounds pretty good to me, kids obviously got some talent..."
Kavim started moving toward the source of the sound. "Yeah yeah, I know talent, and that ain't it, that's something else..."
Sten stared at Kavim as he disappeared into the crowd, wondering just what that was about.
Kavim squeezed his way through the waves of people to the corner of the square where a bard was strumming his lute, a young boy in his teens at best. The crowd seemed to be swayed with the music, and the musician was receiving quite a few coins from the surrounding populace. Kavim was not swayed, he looked at the boy in anger, staring down at him. In that child, he saw himself as a boy..
"Quit with that damn noise, Kid. This is no place for you." He said loudly, the populace suddenly turning to him in suprise, making hushed whispers.
"I..Is there a problem.. sir?" The boy stopped playing for a moment, staring toward the man who had pushed his way to the front of the crowds.
"You're trying to fool everyone with your talent, that's the problem. You don't have any, it's all her isn't it?"
The crowd suddenly started to back away, sensing that there would soon be trouble. A few of the city guard began to make their way toward that location.
"..She dances when I play, does it matter who gives the chords their depth?... The music helps the hearts of the people..."
"Bullshit, the music helps you get lots of money. When you really need that help, she won't be there for you... You'll cry and scream for her to do something, but she won't even lift a finger. Is that the kind of person you want helping you!?"
"W..What are you talking about sir? I'm just a humble musician..."
Two guards arrived on scene, staring at Kavim with contempt. "Move along sir, if you don't like the boy's playing, I suggest you go somewhere else... You don't want this to escalate any further."
Just then, behind him back toward where Sten was, there was a great shout over the heads of the people. "Thief! Thief! Guards! Help!".
Sten cursed, looking toward where the thief left, pushing through the crowds heading north. Where had Kavim gone?! This was the most important time!" The gnome went off on his own after the suspect, the guards that were focused on apprehending Kavim following close behind.
In the end, the thief eluded all three, the defeated gnome returning to the pillar where Kavim now stood again. Panting as he stared toward the rogue incredulously. "Where were you just now?! The thief got away!!"
"Ya see? I told you it was useless in this crowd"
"You didn't even try.."
Kavim grinned, placing his hands behind his head. "Who says I didn't? Did you see me not tryin'?"
The merchant looked around helplessly in front of his store, angrily marching over to the two guild watchmen he had hired. Sten groaned, this wasn't going to be pretty.
"S..Sorry sir, he was just too quick for us today" Sten started, "I'm sure that next time we'll be able to apprehend him"
"Next time? Next time?!" The merchant fumed, "I hired you to succeed the first time, I'll not be hiring you again, I'll be sure to inform the guild all about your blatant incompetence!"
"Would you relax?" Kavim yawned. "The thief won't hit the same store now that he's been spotted, and here" He removed a sack from his belt pouch, tossing it over to the merchant. "You'll find everything that was stolen in there"
The merchant caught the pouch with look of disbelief, the same look was present on Sten's face as he stared toward Kavim. The merchant quickly drew open the tightly wound bag to stare inside. "T...This does look like my merchandise... Perhaps you were more competent than I first assumed..."
Kavim grinned, giving a thumbs up. "Ya see, you can rely on the guild. Trust me, that thief won't be bothering you again."
The merchant seemed more than a bit confused, "W..Well, see to it then! You've already done me more service than those useless guards, I thank the guild for that!" The merchant made a his way back to his store, a bit in a daze.
"K..Kavim... how did you..? I saw you move in the exact opposite direction the thief went! That was incredible!" Sten said in awe. "It was like you were in two seperate places at once!"
"What thief? I've just been nicking items off his customers all day." Kavim shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
"...Y...You're kidding, right?..."
"Am I? The client's satisifed, our work here is done, and we'll get a glowing review. Seems like everyone wins to me!"
"Especially the thief..."
"Hey, if those customers were paying those prices, they were already getting robbed, it won't hurt them to lose a few coin. Maybe that merchant will actually start cutting them some deals now!"
Sten thought it over, most of the customers at that jewelry shop were the excessively rich types. Most of the gems and gold in that shop were anything but, it was just a costume jewelry shop for a gaudy piece here and there. Sten didn't really think it was the right way to solve the problem, but he couldn't argue that the impact was mostly harmless in the grand scheme of things. The guards might get far more robbery reports; but that would only step up their presence far more than one large report, and make the thief much easier to catch if he did strike again.
At that moment, Sten wasn't sure if Kavim was a unscrupulous thief or a diabolical genius.
Character Sheet
| Level: 7 | Class: Rogue | Paragon Path: N/A | Epic Destiny: N/A | |||||
| Race: Human | Size: Medium | Age: 27 | Gender: Male | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 168 lb. | Alignment: Evil | Deity: | Origin: Nuln |
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