Sounds Easy - What's the Catch? (TF: Demon)

[Kender Bard]

Demon was enjoying some solitary time. He was more or less recuperated, though his head sometimes ached something fierce now and then. He'd left the mercenary hall to go bar slumming and visit his many lady friends. At current, he was sitting near the fountains, cooling off from an unusually warm summer day, and whistling at passing women for fun.

[Northen Light36]

A rather red faced man dressed in a perfectly tailored outfit storms over to the fountain to wash his sweaty face. "Damn thieves," he's growling to himself. "Flithy, flea bitten street rats. Like a damn plague!" He whips the water from his face and starts to leave when he spots Demon. "You there!" he shouts. "You're one of those sell swords with the guild, am I right? Come here, I have a job for you."

[Kender Bard]

Demon leered at the man but ambled over anyway. He didn't have anything better to do anyway. "You know normally you place your job with the guild, not with individual mercenaries. But I'll hear you out." If he asks me to guard his pet pooch I'll punch him in the face.

[Northen Light36]

"I'll give you a hundred copper for every thief, man, woman or brat, you capture and hand over to the guard. Those damn street rats are ruinning business, stealing everything in sight with no concern for the hard working, honest man. And the guards are too damn slow to catch a force damn COLD!" The merchant breathes heavily, his face flushed with anger.

[Kender Bard]

Demon grunted thoughtfully at the proposal. It was good pay; hell it was great pay. He could hardly turn his nose up to it, and the work seemed simple enough. Just pretend to be a guard, but better.

Honestly it seemed too good to be true. "Is there a catch?" he asked. "Or any... specific requirements? You want me to watch your assets or just patrol the city or... anything I should be on the watch for?" It wouldn't be the first time a seemingly innocent job got ugly because of some enemies that his client failed to mention.

[Northen Light36]

"I just want those damn thieves gone. I'll watch my own things, you just get rid of the damn rat plague," the merchant replies heatedly. "And the only thing to watch out for are the thieves. They tend to swarm when one of their own flithy kind is in trouble."

[Kender Bard]

"Hmm..."

Well he could take it under the table, but Sashi had been good to him. He'd go explain it to her so she'd get her cut of things, and then he'd do the rest. Perhaps he could even lasso Larissa into it. It seemed like something that would keep her busy.

Grinning, he held out his hand and replied, "Deal."

[Northen Light36]

"Good, good!" the merchant replied, shaking Demon's hand with a satisfied smile. "If you can make even a dent in the numbers of those flea bitten rats, this'll be money well spent." The man starts to walk away then stops and flushes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to give you my name didn't I? I'm Flagagan. I run a jewellery stall on the east edge of the market."

In the background, a small boy in patched hand-me-down clothing starts hurrying away from the fountains, looking worried.

[Kender Bard]

Demon nodded, keeping the name and location in mind. "You'll understand that I must first report to my superior in my guild. But I will bear your message."

Generally such commissions demanded an up-front payment but perhaps she'd look the other way, all things told. With a wide grin, he set off to go do just that.

---

Sashi was not nearly as thrilled about the job as Demon had sincerely hoped. She reclined in her chair, one foot braced against the desk, and put her chin and cheek in her hand, staring intently at him. He couldn't help but squirm a trifle, as though he'd said something wrong or insulting.

"It's a lot of money," Demon emphasized.

"I know," Sashi answered with a small wave of her hand. "Give me time to think about it. There's more at stake than meets the eye, Demon. Until further notice, consider the job on hold. I need to arrange a meeting with someone, though Taed knows how I'm gonna arrange it."

"As you wish," Demon muttered, clearly unhappy with the situation. Sashi flashed him a small smile.

"I'll try to make the wait swift," she consoled him and righted her chair as she stood. "So I'll get on that right away." Grabbing her cloak, she set off to wander around the market. She doubted it'd accomplish anything. How does one spot a thief? They undoubtedly don't go around looking like one. Maybe she'd spot one in action and apprehend him for some information. Or maybe they'd find her, like the last time this happened.

[Northen Light36]

Sashi was in luck, sorta. A few of the guild kids, including Coral were hanging around in the markets. Carefully, one of the older kids is slipping ginger buns into a small cloth bag while the youngest of the group is distracting the baker.

[Kender Bard]

Found you, Sashi thought and began to wander closer to the group, keeping her eyes on the older one. She slipped a couple copper out of a pocket and dropped them so they bounced on the ground. "Oh, damnit!" she swore and began to look around as if she wasn't sure where they'd gone to. "Young man! Young man can you please help me find my copper? This hole in my pocket will be the end of me I swear."

[Northen Light36]

The boy swiftly pulls his hand away from another bun as the baker's attention is distracted from the smallest child. With a hint of a grimace, he gives a tiny nod to the other children and he and Coral hurry to pick up the dropped copper and hold it out to Sashi.

"Here you go," the boy says. "You should be more careful."

"Yes," agrees Coral, a hint of a giggle in her tone. "There are thieves around the markets. Mummy says so, right Tanis?"

"That's what I've heard," the boy, Tanis, agrees with a poorly hidden grin.

[Kender Bard]

"Oh is that so now?" Sashi asks with a small smile but she stares at the boy - intently. "Funny you should mention that. I've heard just the same from a couple individuals. A shame, that." Lowering her voice, she murmured, just for him, "If I could find a way to speak with one of them I might have something very interesting to talk about regarding that."

[Northen Light36]

Tanis gives Sashi an uneasy, slightly confused and worried look. "I'm sorry miss... I don't know who you're talking about. Glad you got your copper back. Coral, come on, I should get you home." Taking Coral's hand tightly, he tugs her a few steps away from Sashi, mutters something to the other children and they all bolt.

The smallest, a little blond-haired water boy of about four, stumbles and falls as he tries to keep up with the older children disappearing into the crowd. Sitting up and looking around, the little boy begins to sniffle as he can't see the others.

[Kender Bard]

"Stupid brats," Sashi sighed as she looked at the kids. She just hoped they were bright enough to at least pass on a fairly obvious message. She wandered over to the boy and knelt down. "Are you all right? Come here, let me get you a sweetmeat. I'm sure your friends will come back for you." And hopefully with an adult.