Disclaimer:
This fanfic is based off the Neverwinter Nights community module by the name of "A Dance with Rogues" created by Valine. I fell in love with this story and felt compelled to write something that compliments it. This story is rated
Mature (NC-17)
for explicit content and graphic violence. All characters except Shiloh, Bastian, Rhys, Nicca, Narev and Essex are property of Valine.
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The Wizard's Tower
Shiloh sighed heavily as she left 15 Summer Lane behind. She knew she had been manipulated by Lenton and Warent. The thought of Caron with Trissa irritated her to no end. That conniving little bitch had it coming to her and one way or other Shiloh vowed to deliver. She didn't care what the consequences were. Shiloh would teach her a lesson she'd never forget. She smiled to herself and formed a plan in her head. It had to work.
With that dilemma resolved, she crept into the shadows and made her way through the market and down the middle thoroughfare leading into the South Betancuria. She made her way to the dark alleyway guarded by Rick Cars and hugged the building. She shimmied along it, knowing if he caught her a second time that she had no money on her whatsoever the consequences might bode ill for her. She didn't relish a confrontation with him this night. She had noticed the amount of patrols had doubled. She wasn't sure if the Dhorn were expecting trouble, but she knew she did not want to find out.
Shiloh held her breath and pulled her cloak tighter around herself. She took a few more steps on her very tiptoes and noticed a middle aged man staggering towards the alleyway. She watched in horror as Rick and his gang descended upon the drunken sot. She knew this was her chance to sneak by as they viciously fleeced the man of whatever he may possess of value. She noted he put up a token struggle and called out to the guards, but no help was forthcoming. Shiloh sped up and dashed through the alleyway on feet that barely touched the pavement. She slowed down as she reached the bridge and heard a shout from one of the gang members who had at last spotted her.
Shiloh kept moving. She crossed the bridge over to the Isle of Men and hid in the shadow of an overhang attached to one of the large mansions that sat upon the island. She watched as the thug followed her across the bridge, stopping to scan area for her. She crouched against the wall and crawled into the shade of a tree. She stood and stepped behind the tree. Peaking around it, she watched as he walked past her and circled around the rather large house.
She let out a sigh and crept from tree to tree until she reached the end of the backside of the house. She peered around, noting the wizard's tower a few hundred feet from where she stood. Cautiously she viewed the area. Rick Cars and his thugs had finished robbing the man who'd mistakenly wandered amongst their midst. They had shoved him toward the river and laughed as he stumbled into the water. She gritted her teeth and vowed to put an end to their reign of terror. They would rue the day they brought harm to the citizens of her father's city.
She held her breath again as the thug who had chased her walked back towards her. He called out to his compatriots across the river and ran to join back up with them. She could hear him cussing about how the "sneak" he had chased had gotten away and watched as Rick divided the ill-gotten coins they'd just stolen. She listened carefully as one of the thugs boasted about going to see his favorite new whore again.
She shook her head and scanned the area again. She noted four different members of the Dhorn Patrol that had walked past her at varying intervals. Quietly she left her hiding place and crept over to the tower, sneaking past the front door. She circled the tower, looking for an alternate means of entry and spotted an open window on the second floor.
A-ha, that's why Cata told me to purchase a rope
! She crouched down in the shadows and waited as the patrols made their circuit before pulling out the grappling hook she'd purchased along with the rope and securely tied the rope to it. She waited for another circuit and threw the grappling hook up to the window. It caught on an inner lip of the windowsill. She tugged on it to see if it would hold and grimaced as wood splintered, causing it to fall back towards her. She cursed silently and gave it a second shot, this time aiming for bottom corner. She figured that would be more secure. When it caught where she wanted it to, she gave it a hard tug and breathed a sigh of relief as it held.
Next came the task of climbing the rope as quickly as possible before the patrols returned to this side of the island. Bracing her feet upon the tower, she began to pull herself up as quickly as she could. She shivered as she looked down and noted the sound of approaching boots. Quickly she scrambled up the rope and shimmied her way through the window. She landed on the floor below the window in a heap, letting out a squeak as she hit her bottom. She stood up and peaked out, pulling in her rope. She left it below the window and crept along the corridor. She searched it carefully, figuring this tower would be heavily trapped. She made it a few feet before she noted something strange in an archway. She cautiously felt around, taking note of the carefully arranged trip wires. She pulled out her knife and cut through the wires then jumped over the area. She let out a sigh of relief as she realized she had not set the trap off.
She noticed a door that lead up to the next level and made her way over to it quietly. It had some pitting and scarring on it. Shiloh suspected a trap and searched around until she found a small tube imbedded in the doorframe. She studied it, figuring it was either poison or acid. Meticulously she disabled it and went about unlocking the door. Once she had it open, she crept up to the third level. She hoped she would find the wizard's bedroom up here. She encountered another trap on the floor at the top of the stairway. It covered a large area. She noted a greenish vial partially hidden and cut a wire leading to it. She followed the wire to another vial and cut the wire on it. She cautiously moved through the area, creeping along the wall. She noted a black dog with red eyes that glowed like the fires of the hells. She wasn't sure what manner of otherworldly creature it was, but it couldn't be natural. She also took note of some sort of automaton that patrolled a certain circuit around the room. She avoided it as she made her way through a parlor area to the first of two doors.
The first was locked with a simple lock that she was able to open very quickly. She cracked it open and slipped inside, finding herself in a sort of study. An alchemist's apparatus lined the wall beside a desk and a strange cylindrical device filled with murky water. She avoided it as she poked under the desk, looking for anything interesting. She lifted a strange vial from the apparatus and pocketed it. Then she picked the lock on the strongbox and pulled out a few rings and a small pouch containing a nicely cut gemstone. She slipped it inside her haversack and moved to the shelves. She examined the books upon it. Most where tomes concerning magical theory, which did not interest her in the least. She remembered a crotchety old man tried to school her in magic when she was younger, but even then she had no interest in it. She remembered well when he told her father that his daughter had no aptitude for the arcane arts and he would no longer waste his time trying to teach her.
Moving from the shelves, she made a sweep of the room before exiting it as quietly as she had entered and moved to the next door. It had a weird aura on it. She couldn't quite place it, but as she found the trap on it, she received a shock that sent her flying across the hallway. She landed in a heap and bit her lip to keep from crying out. Shiloh shook herself thoroughly and carefully rose to her feet. She patted herself down and returned to the door. Though it took several long minutes of trial and error, she managed to disable the shocking trap on the door.
She searched the door and came across a lock she had never seen before. She instantly knew her lock picks would be of no use to her and that only with a key would she get into that room. She figured this had to be the wizard's bedroom.
Leaving the room, she crept along the wall and made her way back to the stairs. Heading back down she checked the door in the hallway of the second floor corridor and found it locked, but easily pickable. It took little effort to get the door open. She cracked it open and slipped into a good sized library. She quietly crept into it, stopping only to disable yet another acid trap she had detected as she carefully searched the floor. She knew she would have to be on high alert. Once she had bypassed the trap she skulked past a few airy looking guardians to another door, which she found to be locked as well. Shiloh sighed and deftly picked its lock. She slipped into the small study and noted a large lever. She manipulated it and heard a mechanical clicking coming from a lower level as well as the sounds of a heavy door sliding open.
She hasted to leave the room on silent feet that carried her down the hallway and down the stairs to the lower level. She crossed through the shelves of books until she found one that had swung outward to reveal a now opened door. She quietly searched around the room, looking for any sort of key. There wasn't one to be found here. Perhaps she should continue her search elsewhere. She headed through the open door and made her way down to a door.
Hmmm
, she wondered where this one led to,
perhaps a basement
.
