A Five-Finger Discount

[Iris]

Well dressed gentlemen, with well dressed women. They sat among one and other, watching their little game. A handsome young man had brought with him a rather well-dressed, beautiful older woman. She wore a beautiful dress, embroidered with jewels and precious metals. Around her neck was a necklace of pearls, shining white. They sat behind the majority of spectators, all watching the game. Slowly, but surely, the jewelry of those at the joust disappeared. The well-dressed woman went to turn her necklace, and found it missing. A young woman, one who couldn't have been more than 18 sat in front of her, wearing her necklace. "Thief!" She screamed, pointing at the young girl in front of her, "Return my necklace, immediately!"

Soon enough, the entire crowd was on their feet. Wallets, earrings, and even rings were missing. Everything centered around the young woman. Soon enough everyone had turned their attention to the 18 year old girl...

[Luthien]

A stadium's set of eyes glared at young Luthien. She was frozen by the lowest paid seats for a peasant. Why is everyone glaring at me? she frantically wondered. Between her finer and thumb was a freshly snatched gold ring with ruby and sapphire embedded into it. They droves of people stood on their toes, ready to spring. The young rogue tried to meet their eyes, but she felt completely brain dead.

"Thief!" some cried, "Scoundrel!" screamed. Luthien could feel the nervous sweat collecting on her back. "Oh..." she whispered, her soft blue eyes looking at her prize. Their was a theif among the crowd, and oddly enough... Luthien wasn't solely guilty. Her heart began to pick up pace and her mind raced. What was she going to sat to these people? Did it matter? They were out for blood. She cleared her throat, but began to back away slowly. She held the ring high in there air.

"I got this... not here, " she admitted, "I got it from a lord's safe..." Her rare truth did not help her. The crowd grew deep and harsher with their rage and they started to draw nearer to the little rouge. She had her sword with her and thought about a fight... but Luthien was really a lover, not a fighter. The blood ready crowd spat insults and accused her of thins she probably would do but hadn't. She swallowed hard and tried not to giggle, she was so nervous.

Then, for just a moment, Luthien thought she saw something odd. A girl, not like the rest. Another of Luthien's kind. Lu had a special gift for that sort of thing. And that girl looked guilty. Even if she wasn't... Luthien would have better luck if she blamed someone else. Luthien parted her lips to speak in protest, only to find that the crowd was rushing her.

"OH GAWD!" she screamed, and bolted of the field at speed. Luthien had run from many an angry mob in her day, it was basically in the job description, but never to inadvertently cover someone else's pirate's den. Luthien, running with the wind ripping her raven hair, promised revenge of the girl she had seen.

[Marius Derufin]

After gallantly galloping in pursuit of that giant gargantuan, Marius Derufin came to a simple conclusion: he had no idea where he was. One minute, the red dragon was flying within eyesight and then the next moment the Knight was blinded by the Sun and he had lost him. Now the Knight Errant found himself near the outskirts of what appeared to be a tournament field. That took him down memory lane to his younger days, where had won great honors in his Lord's name, but those days were long gone. Staring fondly at the field, those pleasant memories of his were interrupted by a sudden uproar that came from the field. Thinking that a favorite champion had been unhorsed, Marius set his horse off at a brisk canter to investigate.

What he found instead of upset fans was a mob of locals chasing after a woman. Now only three possible reasons came to mind as to why the mob would be chasing her. She could be a witch, and therefore deserved to be burned henceforth. She could've dishonored someone in the crowd and they wanted vengence. Or she was merely an innocent, honest girl that had gotten accused of wrongfully stealing something, but a good girl would never have done that. Then again, good girls were hard to come by these days so Marius felt the need for some of his old chivalry to shine once more.

Spurring on Westmor, the Knight in somewhat shining armor ( for he hadn't cleaned off all the soot from the Dragon's fire) charged down the field. Passing the shouting crowd, he broke even with the running girl and checked his steed so that they were matching paces. Holding the reins in his left hand, Marius offered his right hand to the running woman. "Hail to thee running retch! Wouldst thou require a swift escape?"

[Luthien]

The faster her feet hit the earth, the more room she gained between herself and the mob. Sadly, she was already so worn from her last thieving extrusion that she could barely sprint. Luck for her the crowd was mainly made of old women and old lords. Her throat burned with dry fire and she could feel the swat collecting down her back. This is my fault, she told herself. And she believed it. If she had gotten the proper rest she needed after her week long steak out, Luthien could have outrun the crowd in a flash. What a mess.

Luthien was so focused on not getting beaten to death that she barely noticed a man and steed approach. Only when the horse's hooves made enough of a dirt cloud did she take a second to glance up. Her heart pounded violently and her heavy air consumption was hard on her lungs. And all the dust her her face didn't help very much either. Her dark blue eyes traced the outline of the animal, but a glare from the rider's armor made her squint. A knight!? she asked herself, but when she heard his words... that was good enough evidence.

The knight gave his right hand to her and all she could to in reply was give a stunned nod. A Knight!? she couldn't believe it. Luthien wasn't really the type of girl to get a man on a horse, but it must have been her lucky day... in a sense. She gripped his hand with her left and pulled herself upward. When she had pulled her hardest, Luthien used the man's own foot as a boost and swung her hips to get on the horse. She released her hand and then wrapped both arms around the shining knight's waist.

"Thanks Handsome," she said over the roar of the pursuers. She glanced behind and while on a steed it made things harder for them... so they began to slow.

[Marius Derufin]

As the woman situated herself and thanked him, Marius was suddenly very grateful that his visor was lowered. He felt the warmth rising up in his cheeks at her compliment, but he didn't want to show off his embaressment. "Not a problem m'lady," replied the Knight as he tried his hardest to sound noble. Usually he wasn't one to impress others, but it was a lady after all that he had just saved so he felt oblieged to play the chivalrous part. Spurring on Westmor, Marius increased the horse's pace so that the crowd had no chance of catching up with them.

"That was quite the spot you were in back there," said Marius through his helmet. "Those bumpkins must really be angry with you right now, but I care not if thou didst anything wrong: I'm not the picturesque person either." Glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Luthien was alright, the dark-haired man flipped up his visor with his free hand so he could get a better look at her. "Though despite many numerous wrong-doings, I still try to do a few good things every now and then."

"And I'm trying to do one of those deeds as we speak. I'm looking for the home of a red dragon. He recently attacked Avaren and got away unscathed: so naturally I volunteered," explained Marius as his eyes glittered with a daredevil attitude. Leaning his head back a little further, he whispered to the woman, "I'm also doing it because dragons usually have enormous stores of riches, and with one the size that I'm pursuing it should've had plenty of time to do just that. But I'm not familiar with these lands, so any assistence you could over I'd be glad to reward you with some of the dragon's treasure. That and it wouldn't hurt having some company for the journey." Upon hearing this, Westmor snorted irrately but continued on his course.

"Alas, where are my manners?" said Marius quickly. "I am Sir Marius Derufin, and your noble rescuer is my steed Westmor. What might your name by, m'lady?"

[Luthien]

The knight seemed to tense slightly when she spoke, but admitted it wasn't a problem for him. She grinned inwardly thinking, Of course it isn't. It's a knight's duty to save young maidens. He didn't seem like mos of the deadbeat guard she knew. They way her spoke and sort of... nobility to it. The knight sped the horse along and the half-elf held on tightly. It was hard being so close to the man with all of his pointy armor on, but she figured it would be even worse she fell off and was beaten into a bloody pulp.

"Bumpkins?" she said mainly to herself. They weren't really bumpkins. In many way Luthien knew they were better than she was. Even though the stormed on her like a group of angry peasants. Lu understood her position in life, even though she didn't always respect it. The knight turned back to face the young thief, and raised his visor. She got a good look at his face. She smiled when she saw him, he was handsome. In that rugged sort of way. As they rode away from the Jousting field he began to speak more.

He spoke of a red dragon, and he mind automatically went to the city's recent encounter with the beast. It was all people where talking about... everywhere. There was fire in the man's eyes as he spoke of the dragon and good deeds, but that fire was only equaled by Luthien when she heard 'treasure'. She grinned wildly and her blue eyes were ablaze. She locked her arms even tighter around his waist in a hug. "You really know how to please a girl don't you?" she said and giggled softly. "Sure Handsome, I'll help you find your dragon".

Luthien was going to hunt a dragon!? Holy Hell! At least she wasn't going to do it on her own. And all that treasure? She knew all about dragon's and their hobby of hording treasure. Luthien was the best thief she knew... she was going to be an asset to this knight. He attention was turned back once more to the knight as he introduced himself and steed. "Greetings Sir Marius Derufin, " she said serenely, "and you Westmor". She gave the horse a hardy pat on the side.

"The name is Luthien..." she paused, "Luthien Auvrea-mitore". She very rarely gave her elvish last name, but they they were going to be partners he should probably know. "Call me Lu if you want, " she added. They rode for a minute and finally she spoke again, "What do you say we head to the Avaren Tavern? We'll grab a drink and I'll get some intell on the mysterious Bloodwing."

[Marius Derufin]

With the crowd of angry nobles now out of sight, Marius slowed down his horse and let him take a break for a moment. As Westmor grazed, Marius smiled inwardly before he turned to face Luthien. He was no good at all when it came to information gathering and he was glad had found someone who was. Sure, he knew how to pick up a rumor and follow it: any one could do that, but whether it was the right rumor or not was the real trick. Luthien seemed to know what she was doing so Marius was more than glad to give her a cut of the treasure. Looking at Luthien, the dark-haired knight smiled slightly and said, "Yes, I know that entering into a partnership with regards to treasure must be done properly or we'll wind up killing each other for it in the end. And I concur with your statement: I do know the way to a woman's heart"

There was mirth in his eyes as he said this, which was something rare for Marius to display, but she was his partner in business now so why not? "Well then Luthien, I agree that the best place to begin would be the tavern: after all lubricating the minds of a few individuals is always a good place to start asking questions, no? And from there we can gather any additional supplies and then set off. However..." Marius paused slightly and leaned a little closer to her as he whispered conspiratorially, "I must try to keep this to ourselves. The more people that get involved, the less treasure we'll get. And if one of those high and mighty 'Champions of Avaren' involve themselves, they might try to give all of the treasure back to the kingdom. And frankly, my coffers have been empty for a few months now so I'm opposed to that outcome. And Paladins, oh if a Paladin gets involved then all those riches are going to line the pockets of the Faithful."

"So we must try to keep this between ourselves." Derufin seemed like he was finished, but he immediately remembered something very important. Slapping his hand to against his forehead, which he instantly regretted due to the fact that it was covered in a metal gauntlet, Marius said, "On my travels to this place, I came across a mage who offered me his services in Dragonology free of charge. Naturally I was suspicious and his character hints that he might be a vampire, but never refuse free help when its offered, right? But as I still don't trust this mage one hundred percent, this is where I need your help Beautiful," explained Marius as he ended it was a dashing smile. "He hasn't met you yet and knows nothing about you, so I need you to keep an eye on him at all times. The second you suspect foulplay, let me know and I'll deal with him. Do this and instead of just a cut, we split the treasure trove right down the middle: fifty fifty."

"What do you say Luthien? Still in for the long haul and glory undying? Not too mention untold wealth waiting for us at the end of this adventure. Are you with me?"

[Luthien]

{{ooc;; this might suck... but i will start the next thread}}

Luthien agreed that they should keep the list of who was involved short. That had a few problems. She didn't know if Marius was powerful enough to slay a dragon on his own... Luthien wouldn't be a lot of help. She knew how to fight, but she was more of the "sneak and grab" type. The other problem she foresaw was her contacts. If she talked with people to get the necessary information, word would get spread.

Marius spoke of some mystery mage and Luthien knew what to do right away. "All right, I'll keep on eye on him". He smiled handsomely and she retuned the gesture. Luthien laughed heartily, "Of course I am with you! Let get to the Tavern already?"