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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Jan 18, 2014 16:29:50 GMT -5
"Coulda cleaned the place up a bit," Klepto said, shutting the door behind them. "Though I guess they weren't expecting company."
He was done with exploring. Done with ruins you risked your life to find treasure in only to find worthless junk. Rainlock had coereced him into waste his time on an expedition, Feathermain had convinced him to waste his time on another. At least the latter hadn't shot him.
He was done with all that. Klepto needed to get back to doing what he was good, or at least what he wished he was good at. He needed to stop wasting time and actually take the effort to become a better thief. That meant taking an airship to Trottingham, getting a fence, and doing small-time jobs. Usually that meant breaking into abandoned homes like this one and looting anything valuable. He also bought a set of locks to practice his picking in his spare time. Sure wasn't exciting, but practice made for a bird in the bush.
"Alright, what do we got here?" he spoke to himself, scanning the room for anything worth taking. Or at least anything of interest.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 24, 2014 15:40:38 GMT -5
This was the first large house Klepto invaded since he arrived in Trottingham. Usually these estates were owned by rich merchants who were constantly travelling with their cargo or otherwise on business trips elsewhere in the world and made for short stays from a day or two to a week at most. Trottingham was a hub for import and export to and from the Equestrian and Griffon Mainland and therefore such merchants would often host their associates in these estates. This was excellent for Klepto, because it meant a vacant lot with lots of prestige and lots of expensive decorations to be had and minimum security. This house didn't even have a guard, or alarm. Must belong to a pony if they're so trusting of others.
Immediately as he entered through one of the windows in the eastern wing he could see an original oil painting, seemed very griffon in its design. An original painting was always worth a bundle, so perhaps it would be prudent to take out of its frame and roll it up for easy carrying. Other than a few candlesticks of interest there was nothing in the room which could be fenced for a decent price unless he started carrying out the large furniture. Probably a guest room for servants of his associates or their security.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Jan 24, 2014 17:01:58 GMT -5
The oil painting in particular was the main thing that stuck out to him. He wasn't much for art criticism, but he knew people paid big bucks for stuff like this. Sometimes at least.
Carrying around a giant painting in-frame was a tad conspicuous, but nothing was stopping him from taking down the frame and rolling up the painting to take with him. As it canned as it might be, there could even be some sort of wall-safe on the wall behind it. Maybe where something other than some fancy-looking candlesticks was being kept. Not that there was anything wrong with candlesticks, but surely there was better loot to be had.
"And even if their isn't a safe," Klepto thought to himself as he pulled down the frame, "Maybe this guy's an art collector. Wouldn't mind taking back a few more of these."
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 25, 2014 0:57:51 GMT -5
Sadly enough, there was no safe behind the painting, but there was a number on the back - 3, part of a collection? Perhaps it would be wise to keep an eye out for similar pieces. Collections sold for much more than single pieces. Deciding to leave the candlesticks in favor of better loot, Klepto proceeded out of the room to a large corridor. The corridor was wide and cluttered with various statues of varying quality, nothing that seemed worth the hassle of carrying them out or trying to sneak them through the city. He had a choice of going either west towards the main wing of the house, or further east in hopes of finding more loot in the eastern wing. Such a big house would likely not allow him to explore every room before he'd be forced to leave, so he needed to plan out his every move.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Jan 25, 2014 12:39:31 GMT -5
"3 huh?" Klepto thought as he rolled up the painting. Maybe there were similar paintings elsewhere in the house with other numbers on the back, part of some collection or something. Maybe he could use them to start an art gallery. Or at least sell them to someone looking to start an art gallery. Or more realistically, sell them to someone looking to sell them to someone else looking to start an art gallery.
The statues in the corridor were a bust. No way was he going to be dragging those with him. Going East meant going further into the wing, but could also mean cutting himself off from better stuff in the rest of the house. He would hate himself if he walked down there and found nothing but dinnerware and jars of honey.
The thief headed West towards the main area of the house, keeping his eye out for anything of importance. Like doors. It wasn't going to hurt to take a quick peek into a room to quickly see if there was anything inside.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 25, 2014 12:58:47 GMT -5
The corridor from the east wing, which must have been the servant wing, judging from the plainness of it, led to the kitchen, a rather large one made for cooking large meals for feasts and other events. There was no fresh food or produce to be found there, only a pantry full of cans and other dried goods. There was however a door leading to a cider cabinet. Klepto's short time in Trottingham taught him the very basics of cider appraisal, these were decent, but nothing someone with such a big estate could be proud of. An interesting item of note was an old fermented Apple Family cider from a couple decades back, seemed like it could fetch a price. But carrying a fragile item could mean a tougher getaway or a mess anyone could follow if he was chased and not careful.
Other than that there was the silverware, fake silver coating, looked more like aluminium. Only a couple of big serving tools were made of actual silver and did not look like they would fetch a good price. Judging from the kitchen, it was a pony estate like Klepto guessed. The tools to handle meat were few and closed off in a dusty cabinet which meant meat was rarely if at all consumed here.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Jan 25, 2014 13:07:33 GMT -5
The kitchen Klepto found wasn't anything to write home about. Not that he had been expecting much from a kitchen. All it really had on display was some canned food, cider, and lousy silverware. There was one bottle of cider in particular that might have been worth the effort to take, but there was no way he was going to take such a risky item. Not even cider-soaked oil paintings passed for 'modern art'.
With the kitchen behind him, Klepto continued towards the main area of the house to see what else he could find.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 25, 2014 13:11:47 GMT -5
Past the kitchen was the dining room as fancy as one could expect. There were several paintings in the room, but none of them was original and the only one that was, was far too large to carry. It wasn't one of the collection anyway, as it was made in a completely different surrealistic style. Something about a mercurcy filled hourglass next to one filled with blood? The background split into an urban and forest, the forest behind the blood hourglass and the urban city (which reminded Klepto of Manehattan or Fillydelphia) behind the mercury one. Stupid environmentalists and their silly messages. There were many things in between, but Klepto would have to take a closer look to figure them out. Other than that there was nothing of note in the dining room for him to take other than several medals and trophies which at best could be smelted for their metal.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Jan 25, 2014 13:17:14 GMT -5
Klepto took a peek into the dining room, not finding anything other than some funky looking art some scrap metal hanging on the walls. He didn't spend too long trying to analyze the painting, deciding that if the artist was trying to convey some message that they should have done a better job of it.
That was another room down. Maybe once he started getting away from the food-related rooms he'd actually find stuff worth taking.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 25, 2014 13:50:04 GMT -5
Now Klepto found himself in the main wing of the mansion. No longer was the area cluttered with various things not fit to be seen, everything from this point was sparkling and beautiful. Even eccentric. More oil paintings lined the wall, reproductions, but well made ones with golden plated frames. The place of large bulky statues was now taken by more refined sculptures. Honors, merits and medals still decorated the wall as well as trophies. Whoever this merchant was must have also been an inventor, as there were several platinum cogs of recognition from the Committee of Industrial Advancement, which were only given to the most contributing of inventors. The corridor had a guest bathroom with some nice toiletry, but again nothing to really steal and fence. From there he reached the main hall. A wide room flanked by large sofas for guests to wait on and a staircase leading to the upper floors. Right in the entrance were two suits of armor that caused Klepto to stop dead in his tracks.
Two bipedal, horseheaded suits of armor.
Equiterian suits of armor.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Jan 25, 2014 14:15:52 GMT -5
Reproduction oil painting, sculptures, and trophies and medals lined the hallway as Klepto continued. The oil paintings didn't seem worth the effort of taking, mostly because they weren't originals. The sculptures were out of the question due to their size, and the medals and trophies were only as good for smelting down. Those platinum cogs though...
Klepto burst into a grin upon seeing them. Now those he could get something for, even after fencing them for smelting. The thief gladly took them with him, excited for what else the house had in store for him.
Further down there was a bathroom (boring) and a large room filled with sofas (also boring). But what caused Klepto to stop and gawk was the suits of Equiterian armor standing on opposite sides of the entrance. What was Equiterian armor doing here? Was this guy an archaeologist? Or had some obsession with Equiterians? Did all rich people?
Maybe this was Rainlock's summer home. The idea of stealing from the mare would have filled him with joy. Except if it was, she had likely filled the place with heavy-duty security. As in traps. Or magically enchanted suits of armor.
Spotting the staircase, the thief made his way in its direction, being careful to keep his eyes on the suits of armor. He had had enough experience with Equiterian hoodoo to expect the unexpected.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 25, 2014 14:37:29 GMT -5
The statues remained stationary, but Klepto remembered that usually they were triggered by something. Which meant he had to be very careful about what he touched. Who knows how many more of these were in the house. Thinking of it, he wondered if those suits of armor were actually taken from the ruins he was in. It was possible.
Perhaps using the stairs to go up would awaken the suits of armor, perhaps it was best to find an alternative way to get upstairs. Klepto remembered spotting a dumb waiter in the kitchen, likely to serve a lounge upstairs. He could always proceed to the west wing, but he might not have time to explore the second floor after that.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Jan 25, 2014 14:49:35 GMT -5
Klepto stood there in front of the staircase, his foot hovering over the first step while he decided what to do. Would they come to life if he took the stairs? And what if there were even more upstairs waiting for him. Was taking the dumb waiter going to be a big waste of precious time?
There was also the west wing. He had already passed the servants quarters, was it possible there was more useless stuff down there? Or maybe they had actually contained something worth his time.
The thief let out a sigh, turning back around and heading for the kitchen. He'd take the dumbwaiter up. Hopefully it'd pay off.
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Post by Red Charge on Jan 26, 2014 12:49:56 GMT -5
The dumb waiter rattled on its way down from the second floor, making much more noise than was necessary. Of course, in such a large empty place, the acoustics warranted such things to sound louder than they were. Entering into the dumb waiter, Klepto crammed himself inside and was able to hit the button to lift it up with his hoof. Immediately the machine began to rattle again and soon Klepto was staring at the blank wall between the floors. A sliver of light appeared at the top of his vision as the dumb waiter finally reached the second floor, but before it could make it up far enough for Klepto to see into the room, a shadow passed through the light, darkening the dumb waiter for a few seconds before passing it. When the room came into view, Klepto saw no one there.
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Post by Klepto Moonlit on Jan 26, 2014 12:56:01 GMT -5
Klepto almost cringed when the dumbwaiter started rattling on its way down. "Seriously?" the thief thought to himself, anxiously looking over his shoulder. He was half-expecting the armored suits to come charging in after him. He held his breath for a good several seconds after the dumbwaiter had finally arrived, letting it out after he was certain nothing was coming after it.
If anything in the house didn't know he was here before, they certainly knew it now. If he wanted to get to the second floor, there was no point in not taking the dumbwaiter. "Alright," Klepto thought as he crammed himself inside. "Next stop, lounge room. Martinis and schmancy cheese on the way." The thief pushed the button on the outside, sending him upwards as the dumbwaiter renewed its rattling fervor.
The thief blinked idly in the darkness as the dumbwaiter ascended towards its destination. His only real concerns were that the dumbwaiter would stop or someone would be up there waiting for him. A sliver of light finally entered as the dumbwaiter pulled into the station, but a shadow soon cut it off.
Here he was, defenseless in this tiny little dumbwaiter, and now someone was just waiting for him to pop up. Probably so they could shoot him with a crossbow. But by whatever fortune good or bad, the shadow disappeared. And by the time the dumbwaiter had come to a halt, the room was void of intelligent life.
"Alright," Klepto thought to himself as he climbed out. "The question is who's here with me." If it was a Rainlock guard, he was screwed. But would a Rainlock run away like that? Perhaps it was another thief trying to avoid detection, which could mean a slew of things. Regardless of who this third party was, Klepto had to stay on his hooves.
"Okay, keep an eye out for others," Klepto thought, "And let's check out what's in this room."
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