Welcome to Tarantia
From GURPSworld Wiki
It all starts in an outlaw camp outside the city of Tarantia; no place for handsome boys like these. They were down to the last few silver among them, and soon they wouldn't even have the money to survive on the fish-head stew, or even the sewer rat on a stick they'd grown accustomed to. It was time for some work. Not the kind where you shovel shit or burn the dead. No, they were looking for work only the "skilled" could do. They were gonna steal stuff. The thief and the dabbler had made their way around town and learned much of its ways. They of course stayed mainly to the Old Quarter as they'd look terribly out of place in the new parts of town on the other side of the river. That was a place for nobles and wealthy merchants, not the unbathed and ungroomed. The dabbler noticed a man just sitting in a park, sometimes taking money sometimes giving it. He approached the man. The dabbler spoke and introduced himself as Thorar. The old man turned out to be Theodore Sibelius of the Sibelius Gang who controlled the Avenue of Lions. Theodore directed him to his brother to set our boys up with some work. The boys paid a silver for their meager belongings to be looked after by a guy who did that sort of thing and set off to meet Andre Sibelius in the Green Man Tavern. The Sibelius gang happen to be followers of Mitra, a charitable god who cares for cripples and coincidence. As coincidence would have it our boys did have a cripple, Hugo the poisoner, our puzzlingly attractive hunchback. Also, Andre Sibelius couldn't help but take the sage's name, which was also Andre, as a sign of kinship. And so, with a cripple, a bit of coincidence, and the right words, they received their first quest. They were tasked to find a simple black iron key held by a man known as the Prince of Thieves who had recently died. They had to do it quick, as the family was away in Argos. They set out that very night, crossing the river into New Tarantia. The boys felt great discomfort in this part of town. They had heard rumor of thieves getting their hands chopped off and the worst being hung. But they had planned at great length and it was a good plan. Don't get caught. When they saw the compound where the "Prince" lived it became obvious they should wait till dark. Hugo had another plan, he'd drug some wine bottles and gift them to the mourning servants. The others thought the idea was great, they dropped off the wine with a note "from a servant who has lost a master". They hoped this would work. When night fell and the only light was from the crescent moon the boys scaled the wall and snuck up to the door. Lix, our thief, made easy work of the door and they were in, none the wiser. They went room to room and came upon a woman in her room passed out. The wine did its job, she didn't stir. They passed shrines to Mitra and found a room with scrolls searching the genealogy of Lucius Vasalius, the Prince of Thieves they guessed. In another room they found a crossbow in pieces, Andre the sage could see the quality was superb and that it looked to be the makings of one that could even reload itself. Thorar made his way up the stairs and upon reaching the sixth step, his hairs stood on edge. He dodged a crossbow bolt just in time. It was a trap. Being the dabbler he was, he had some skill with traps but he knew Lix the thief would be able to quickly detect any others so they could get to the goods faster. Lix chose to be extra careful, and thankfully so, he found that the second to last step would trigger another trap, but it didn't seem to be another crossbow. The upper floor was much nicer than the lower, here you could truly see the wealth. Lix inspected the master bedroom door, the two sconces on either side could be moved. The traps were set with great precision, it would be near impossible to untrap this door, he had to guess. He pulled the sconces down and opened the door on the right. A crossbow bolt struck directly into the other door. He was lucky, if he had opened the other one his head would be sporting a new hole. He felt woozy though, and not from shock… the poisoner checked his hands. Lix had been dosed with belladonna from touching the doorknob. If Hugo didn't do something quick his thief friend would be hallucinating and this job might be lost. Lix knew he might only have a few more minutes of clarity and used his skills to search the room for the key. He found some jewelry and pocketed it, then found the key they had been quested to find along with a blank codex. He checked the closet and a chest and under the bed, and then gave the closet another look. He pushed the clothing aside and saw a safe and an altar, not to Mitra, but to Eremis. This was Lix's god, the god of thieves. On the altar was a fine dagger emblazoned with the sign of Eremis, a gold statue and some candlesticks. He eyed them but he felt he must check the safe first. The safe was built beautifully, there were no weak points he could see, it was free standing but might have been attached to the ground. When Lix told this to Thorar, the dabbler pushed he weight against it trying to see if it would budge. It did, ever so slightly. It also, let out a stream of gas, the two of them immediately felt sleepy, and ran out of the room. They passed out in seconds. Although they may look different Lix and Andre are brothers, twin brothers. They share a special bond, and when Lix passed out Andre could feel something was wrong and raced upstairs. Luckily Hugo heard him and warned Andre in time for him to skip the second to the last step. Andre used his smelling salts to try and wake the two, but the gas was powerful and they would not stir. Hugo knew of a way to wake them up, but it wouldn't be pleasant. He made his remedy and handed it to Andre to administer. It had to go up a place a brother shouldn't be poking around. But he did it. Lix woke up soon enough, and Thorar not long after. They went to leave. Lix couldn't move from the door though. His god had placed that dagger there for him to take. If he didn't at least try and get it he would never forgive himself. Andre could tell his brother was up to no good but stood by him when he explained what he must do. Lix took a towel and held it to his face, drawing a token of his god from his pouch. He kissed it and asked Eremis for his blessing. He raced into the room, his eyes burning from the gas, he made it to the closet. The thief grabbed the knife, dropped the token, and raced back out. Andre slammed the door shut behind him, making sure his brother was alright. They left the compound. All was free and clear, no alarm was raised so they made it over the bridge with no problems. They made their way to the Green Man Tavern and handed over the key and jewelry. Although Andre Sibelius remarked on how little they stole, he admired their professionalism and punctuality. Thorar remembered the knife of Eremis and placed it on the table. Lix visibly sighed, and told Sibelius the knife was for his god, he couldn't give it over. Sibelius noted its exceptional craftsmanship, however, showing great generosity, he let it go. He followed Mitra but respected other's beliefs. Lix was lucky. They didn't make enough to get rich, but they made enough to live in Old Tarantia another week. This was only the beginning of their adventure.