The Heist of Ettward Ossk's Ancient Semminatar Death Mask
With a dramatic sweep, the woman in the long coat entered the room, threw off her coat and sat down before the assembled team of thieves.
"Glad to see you're all here," she said in a slightly husky voice of either too many cigarettes, too much whiskey, or too little sleep. Probably all three. "I have worked with each of you on other jobs in the past, but this is the first time you've worked with each other."
She fished a pocket watch out of her vest. "We've got five minutes for introductions so let's get this over quick. You know me. I'm Issa, I'll be coordinating and running this team."
Issa stood up and walked around the table. She stopped behind each chair as she announced each person.
First up was the tall, whip thin man with his feet up on the table. He was totally bald but had an impressively maintained beard. "Arcus is our lockpick for this job."
Arcus waved one hand in a languid movement, but said nothing.
Second up was the man that was wearing long sleeves despite the relative warmth of the room. He seemed unbothered. "This is Navrog, he's our muscle."
He declined his head slightly. "Pleasure."
The third person was a woman with an immaculate sense of style in a high necked blouse and exquisitely accessorized. "Sem here is our face."
"Charmed," she said with a slight Minan accent.
Finally Issa walked by the youngest of the group, the tiny woman who seemed barely tall enough to sit at the table much less be involved in the job.
"This is Amthya, she's our runner."
"Hey-o," Amthya said.
Navrog spoke up. "What do we need a runner for? Is the job time sensitive or are we operating in a big area?"
Issa finished her circling and sat back down at her chair. "Yes, and yes. We're going to be going to the Clutches and stealing an Ancient Semminatar death mask owned by Ettward Ossk."
There was a collective series of groans from the thieves.
Issa gave them a moment to let them have it. After a few seconds she continued.
"Yes, yes, everyone's favorite punching bag. Ossk is extremely rich, extremely paranoid-"
"An extreme dickhole," Amthya cut in.
"That too," Issa agreed but with a flat look at her runner. "He sucks. But he is also very protective of his stuff, which is why it is going to be so hard to get this death mask."
"He also has a very nice collection of Dead Land artifacts," Arcus pointed out.
"Yes. And you know my policy for my teams. Help yourself so long as it doesn't compromise the mission. Once we've gotten the death mask and we're on our way out, you can take whatever you want. But if you take something and get us into trouble after that fact I will leave you behind. You take something and compromise the mission before we get what we need I will see you lost in the Castle."
Invoking the Castle as a threat was deeply serious to these thieves and all thieves. The Castle was a dark, inescapable dungeon that was the home of an untold number of extremely dangerous people that were too dangerous to leave out in the public and too dangerous to execute. If someone was sentence to a prison term in the Castle, there was no chance they would ever be getting out, they would be lost there, forever.
"What is the plan?" Sem asked quietly.
Issa sighed. "That's where things get complicated. Ossk is having a big gala in his Clutches mansion at the end of the week. We can get in via the guest list. I already have a few identities slipped in. But here is my confession and your one chance to back out."
The room grew quiet, tense.
"I had one team working with me on this before you. We were doing our reconnaissance, but they've disappeared."
"They walked off the job?" Navrog asked.
Issa shrugged. "Maybe. Or they were caught. Killed maybe. I really do not know what happened to them."
Amthya swallowed dryly. This was bad news. She was concerned, but not so concerned as to back out of the job. She always had a way out.
"This job is going to be very dangerous, but the payout is going to be extensive."
"How extensive?" Arcus asked.
"Five million each," Issa said.
Arcus whistled. "That's good money."
"Good money for dangerous work."
"Who is willing to pay that much for a death mask?" Sem asked.
"Some Pollepemu collective. I don't have specifics. You know how it works, intermediaries and everything. But the funds are in an escrow account so it's all there."
"And we get to nick whatever we want," Amthya muttered.
"Once the job is done, if you want to rob whatever, feel free. But only once the mask is dealt with."
"His collection of Dead Lands stuff will fetch a hefty price."
Issa leaned back in her chair, adjusted her hair, and let the team talk among themselves. None of them expressed wanting to back out. That was good. The payout would be hefty. But it was going to be worth it if they can get to the mask.
After a few minutes, she spoke up again. "We are going to be working a bit blind, so we need to get there as early as we can and then work on figuring everything out. I have a general layout of the mansion, and some educated guesses, but like I said. We're operating blind. Arcus is going to be getting us through most security traps, Navrog will be dealing with the human aspect. Sem will be chatting with the guests getting information and probably picking some pockets for keys. Amthya will be getting materials to and from as necessary. As you can see the mansion is pretty big so we've got a lot of ground to cover. I'll be floating, helping out whoever needs it the most and trying to cover the gaps where I can. Everyone in?"
"Yeah," Arcus said with a small grin.
Navrog just nodded. Sem agreed. Amthya was practically bouncing, ready to get started.
"Good," Issa said. "We've got three days before the gala so any of the prep work we would usually do has to get done now."
18 notes
·
View notes
Oscar – 6 year old male Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross Labrador
This is Oscar. Also known as Ossking and Pup! He is a 6 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross Labrador. Oscar has had an unlucky life so far and now we would like him to know the true feeling of belonging in a home, loved and adored for life. Oscar arrived into rescue as a tiny puppy of about 8 weeks old via the RSPCA having been found wandering in a park alone. He was never claimed, so we assume dumped. He was successfully rehomed and life was good for 5 years. He was well socialised and well trained in a family environment. However, circumstances changed and his adoptive owners attempted to rehome him themselves without my knowledge.
For all animals here we insist on back up for life, so should an animal not be able to be kept, they need to be returned to us. The family were unaware that these were the rules,so for any potential adopter, should this happen again, this needs to be made very clear for his future. He must come back to us. No excuses. He was rehomed to The Isle of Wight and this is where things got bad for Oscar. The new owner loved him, but her boyfriend was jealous and when she was not around he was very mean to him. He was witnessed throwing him down the stairs, punching and kicking him,but because it was all hearsay, the police were powerless to act. One evening he aimed a firework at him and he bolted and that is when the islands dog warden was able to pick up as a stray.
Luckily his microchip had not had the details changed and the emergency contact number is always mine,so they were able to contact me and bring me up to speed. Of course, I agreed he must come back here immediately!! The police intercepted the return of the dog and convinced the owner to sign him over to them. He was then kept safely with the RSPCA on the island and an emergency transport run happened to get him back to us. We are of course very grateful to the police (the whole force who were concerned about his welfare yet had no proof), RSPCA and dog warden on the island who blocked any chance of him returning to his abusive home.
Oscar has been back with us a few months and this abuse has taken it’s toll to a degree. Whilst he is not aggressive, he gets scared if he feels you are telling him off and will bark and ask you to back off. This is as far as it goes. He is very restrained, but you can see how he is scared of being hurt again. We deal with this by immediately relaxing the situation and making it into a game. This cheers him up and especially because he doesn’t feel that he is in any sort of trouble.
Oscar would love to meet a spayed wifey. He loves living with other dogs and up till recently was deeply in love with a Working Cocker Spaniel pup who came into rescue…until she found a home and he lost his play mate. He meets other dogs well when out on his walks, although he is bouncy and can be clumsy with these meet and greets. His recall is very good. He loves to play ball. In fact he loves any sort of dog toy and although he wrecks them, he has a great time doing it!
Oscar is far too bouncy to live with children and because of his past we are looking for an adult only environment. He gets extremely excited by the prospect of tiny kiddies and although there is no malice, he would be extremely frightening to them, so until he gets a bit older and calms down, he needs to be kept under strict control around them. Oscar is on a strict diet of dry food only. Tinned food/fresh meat makes him physically sick and gives him diarrhoea. Safe treats are also the dry kind – Bonios, Markies, Denta Sticks. Raw hide bones makes him sick. He is a very happy boy now and he did split his tail right at the tip when he first arrived through wagging it too much. This has healed now, but care needs to be taken. Oscar cannot live with cats. He is a little too excitable and sharp with cats, although has no reaction to wild rabbits, squirrels or foxes (strange but true!). Oscar has been fully vaccinated, is microchipped (emergency contact number on the chip must remain as me) and he has been castrated, wormed and flea treated.
A homecheck will be carried out and a minimum adoption fee of £150 applies.
via WordPress https://whitneypierce123.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/oscar-6-year-old-male-staffordshire-bull-terrier-cross-labrador/
0 notes