It’s 5:58 am, and you watch Ameronis as she disappears into the shadows across the street. Ahead of you, Silas silently settles down near the front door of Bradwyn & Holden’s. You remain where you are, glancing about to make sure nobody sees you.

You crouch around the corner, watching the front door of the building closely. Soza should be arriving any second now. And he does.

Less than 5 seconds later, the sound of footsteps faintly echoes down the street, and you tense. You peek around the corner. A man approaches. He is not very tall, a little below average by your estimate, heavy-set, bald, and dark-skinned. You feel another, brief flutter in your stomach. Soza.

Approaching the shop, he immediately catches sight of Silas, lying slumped on the ground, wearing ragged clothing, a scruffy hood obscuring his face. He becomes angry, waving his hands back and forth, complaining about Silas’ existence, and trying to shoo him away. Silas, mumbles and mutters incoherently for a few moments, before getting to his feet and starting to stagger away. Soza curses after him, watching him go for a moment. Then he turns and begins to unlock the door in front of him, and that is the cue. When he starts walking, Silas pauses, and as soon as Soza opens the door, Silas turns and hurries forward, scrambling to the door as quickly and quietly as he can.

He grabs Soza from behind, one arm wrapping around his neck, his other hand clasping Soza’s mouth, muffling a surprised yelp. Silas bundles Soza into the store, where the two of them struggle for control. You rush in to help, and you hear the faint sound of Ameronis approaching as well. You pull down the brim of your large hat, obscuring your face, then punch Soza firmly in the stomach; he doubles over, and Silas shoves him to the floor, where he writhes for a moment before attempting to get up. You kick him, as Silas moves to the front door, stepping past Ameronis in her large black veil, and she approaches to help you. You’ll both take over from here. It won’t take long. Silas closes the door behind him as he returns outside to keep watch. So far, so good.

You and Ameronis continue to beat Soza into submission; he tries to fight back, but he is no match. Soon he is restrained and gagged, and bound with rope, and you drag him from the shop floor into one of the storage rooms. When you return without him, Ameronis is already ransacking the shop, having climbed into the display to retrieve Silas’ pendant. Within a few minutes, you’ve grabbed as much as you can, and have had no warning calls from Silas, who keeps watch for any unexpected arrivals. With heavy sacks full, you close the door behind you and sprint off with your ill-gotten gains. Silas lingers for a few seconds longer, before eventually dispersing too. Not a minute later, a young shop assistant approaches Bradwyn & Holden’s.

You take your sacks of treasure to the tent city, emptying piles of gold, gems and jewellery. The homeless quickly adorn themselves, with crowns, necklaces, rings and bracelets contrasting against their tattered rags. They spread around the area, sparkling like stars despite the brightening daylight. A sudden feeling of worry hits you; won’t they all get spotted? It doesn’t matter now. It’s done.

You leave Silas and Ameronis and head back to Slaryn House. Time to rest. You enter your room. You’re faced with Soza. He is sitting on your bed, his eyes burning, and he is holding a loaded crossbow, which he points directly at you.

“… You thought you could get away with it?”

He fires a bolt into your chest. You jolt.

You frantically look around the room, feeling groggy and clutching your chest. There is no bolt, and Soza is not here. You are in your room though, with daylight behind the curtains. Everything else…

You lie back and take a moment to calm down; you realise you’re breathing heavily, and are feeling incredibly anxious. It was just a dream, but… that was weird. That’s not what happened. Everything is fine.

You remain in bed for a while longer, going over the details of the dream again, questioning your reckless decisions and use of violence. The plan was apparently your idea, but the whole thing was so risky and could’ve easily gone wrong… Is that why you’re feeling stressed now? Even after you dress and grab some breakfast, the feelings linger in the back of your mind.

You idly sip the remnants of your tea as Ameronis arrives. She nods in greeting from across the room, gets some food, and then saunters over.

“Morning”.

You return her greeting and top up your tea.

“Good to see you ready on time today. Rest well?”

Your rest would’ve been better if you hadn’t spent the last of it tossing and turning. You’re still a little groggy, and a little stressed, but you’re fine otherwise. You mention you had a silly dream but shrug it off. She enquires about said dream. You’ll tell her later. She looks curious but doesn’t push, instead focusing on her meal. A short while later, she’s ready to go, and the two of you make your way back to the tent city, along with a handful of fruit and fresh rolls that you smuggled out of the canteen.

Weaving through the mess, you eventually reach Finn’s camp, where, for the first time, all 5 of them are present. As usual, they greet you warmly, especially Rufle, who bounds over to you both, happy to receive pets. He wuffs at you, tail wagging.

You hand the beggars the fruit and the bread, and as they dig into their breakfast, you sidle over to Silas. He smiles at you and welcomes you both to take a seat on a couple of crates nearby.

“Thank you both again for your help. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

You assure him it was no trouble, and likewise, Ameronis politely accepts his thanks. He mentions that things got hairy for a moment, but he’s glad, and not entirely surprised that you all made it out so cleanly. With two enforcers on the scene, things could’ve gone terribly, but it all worked out in the end. You agree, but, can’t help but pause for a moment. Although you’re all talking quietly, you wonder if it’s wise to talk about this in public. Silas shakes his head.

“They say “walls have ears”, but not here. Here, what’s said and done never leaves this place, even if everyone witnesses it. News may spread here, but not to outsiders. There are many well-kept secrets here. In a case like this, with the subject being a known enemy of the community, it’s doubly true that no one would utter a word if they knew anything. But for the likes of the two of you, who are both gaining a reputation as friends of the community, if you were to ask for information, people might be a little less tight-lipped in some cases.”

You glance at Ameronis. You suppose it makes sense that the homeless would look out for and protect one another. You wonder what manner of secrets are hidden here. This must also make a good place to hide in plain sight… Unless you’re an enemy of the homeless, of course.

Ameronis snaps you back. “Does your dream relate to this?” She motions to the three of you. You nod and, figuring you can trust Silas’ judgement, you relay your dream to them, though you can’t help but speak quieter anyway. On seeing your little huddle, Leif, Melora and Finnegan deliberately move in closer to listen in.

Afterwards, Ameronis and Silas are both amused and baffled by the dream, with Silas remarking that he would have absolutely refused to follow through with a plan like that, and Ameronis asking if you’re subconsciously itching for a fight; it’s been a few days since your last proper scuffle. You scoff and dismiss that idea. No, please.

Your group discusses the implications of Silas allowing himself to be seen as a beggar in that scenario; they imagine that “Soza” would likely take out his anger on the homeless in general after that, and wonder if he’d come to the tent city to cause trouble.

Ameronis and Silas are amused by your random description of Soza. Out of everyone there, you’re the only one who hasn’t seen him in person. In reality, he is a little taller than you imagined, lighter-skinned than you imagined, and is definitely not bald; he has straw-like brown hair. It is thinning a little at the front though.

As for the description of your haul, consisting of piles of treasure that would make any pirate jealous, you note that, although you started off with just three sacks, as you did in real life, by the end of your dream, either you had way more sacks than that, or else the three you had were massive, judging by the amount of stuff that came out of them. Thinking back on it, it’s not clear either way.

“Ha! If only you had brought back enough to adorn literally every beggar in the area”, says Ameronis.

Speaking of which, you ask Silas what you both managed to grab, which of his trinkets he managed to recover, and what he plans to do with the rest of the loot; he can’t exactly sell it at Bane’s Way market.

He goes to his tent and, after a bit of fumbling, returns with a bundle of rags, which he unwraps. He pulls out a series of items, one by one, allowing you to clearly see some of the things you blindly grabbed and stuffed into the sacks; a butterfly-shaped jewelled brooch, a leather-bound journal, a silver candlestick, a porcelain figurine of a dancing lady (which miraculously made it here in one piece), a pair of opera glasses in a velvet-lined case, a vintage map of the city printed on parchment, a bronze letter-opener shaped like a dragon… AI InputLoot suggested by ChatGPT ~ Ameronis

The items are eclectic and indulgent, some fancy, others arguably tacky, but all of them worth a few times more cogs than their regular counterparts.

As for Silas’ items, he managed to regain five in total; three that he spotted himself, and two that you unknowingly picked up. Aside from the pendant, Silas retrieved a small brass compass, and a simple, brass ring featuring a finely crafted flower. You recovered an elegant fountain pen and the antique candle holder that had been mentioned before. An old house key, a leather coin pouch, and a weathered pack of cards remain missing; Silas supposes that those things were actually thrown away.

Silas shows you his recovered items; you inspect the compass as you consider your good fortune. Overall, your little band of thieves did extremely well. If it weren’t for that blasted suit of armour, you could’ve scored a nine or even ten out of ten for this. As it stands, you’ll settle for an eight.

“A jolly good job!” Ameronis agrees.

And what of the other items? Not to worry; apparently, Silas “knows a guy”. He’ll sell all the other items and use the proceeds to give back to the homeless in the area, on Soza’s behalf of course. But, seeing as you both helped, you’re welcome to keep some of the items yourself, if you want.

You consider it; maybe there’s something useful among them, or perhaps you could sell one yourself or have Silas sell it on your behalf, and use it to top up your funds. Ameronis declines, though she does agree to have a look, on Silas’ insistence, just in case something catches her eye.

As you all begin discreetly looking through the items, Silas moves back over to you and Ameronis, holding out his hands. To you, he holds out his right hand, presenting the brass compass, and in his left, which he holds out to Ameronis, he offers the black pendant.

“I want you to have these,” he says.