Building Bhakashal - The Thaumaturge - Saldeah Vade

Saldeah Vade waited and watched as the sinking red sun blazed bloody on the square. 

The Thaumaturge adjusted the belt across his chest while sipping his drink. From his current perch he could see the manse of the merchant Hrug Ghollap, a tawdry black marble affair, somehow combining solid, classic bones with strangely cosmopolitan flourishes. 

Ghollap was a creature of habit, and for the past two weeks Saldeah had watched his home every day from the roof of the Brick and the Barrell, the tavern ideally located to give him a clear view. The Togmu merchant, bedecked in a loud red floppy hat, sporting a thin black walking stick capped with an ostentatious diamond, a long pink and black cape (vainglorious fool, who wore a cape in this heat!) and tall black leather breeches, flanked by two large ogres, left his home most evenings after sundown to frequent his favorite haunts.

Saldeah had followed him several times already, and in each case he ended up at a tavern, a Chimera House or a friend’s estate. The chitin was confident that he would be gone for several hours if he did leave tonight. His patience was rewarded as he saw the flash of steel daggers in the belts of his two ogre bodyguards, emerging from his front door.

The Thaumaturge had planned out his moves in great detail, leaving a coin on his table he left the tavern deck and headed down to the street. He arrived in time to see the merchant and his ogres turn a corner and head towards the canal, likely grabbing a water taxi to head to one of Ghollap’s favored watering holes.

The merchant’s gaudy home had a stable for his gess, the roof of which was level with the roof of a nearby building, each connected by bright, flower laced foliage. Saldeah moved with the crowds around to the adjoining building. He could have run directly, but the key to subterfuge was to blend in. 

The cost was time, but it would buy him stealth.

Saldeah found shadows to conceal him as he waited for the right moment when the street was clear, then he began to climb the neighboring building. Between his four arms and two powerful back legs the climbing was effortless, and he was quickly on the roof. 

He patiently scanned for any sort of sentinel, many Bhakashal rooftops had giant lizards, spiders or any number of other nasties waiting for the rooftop thief. 

But none were here.

He slipped quietly through the foliage on the roof, looked over into the lush compound of the merchant’s house, and climbed down to the grass.

Anyone he encountered here would have to be slain with lightning speed, otherwise they could raise an alarm. The Thaumaturge took out four daggers, one for each hand, each delicately balanced for perfect throwing.

Thankfully whatever creatures Gollap might have had to protect his home were not in this part of the yard, and the Thaumaturge gained quick access to the main building. There was an entry door immediately in front of him, but he decided it was too risky, sheathed his daggers and began to climb again. There was a second storey window above that would prove the perfect entryway.

Feet softly landed on cool floor, and Saldeah crept forward, the hallway was dark, Gollap had left the house unlit in his absence. Saldeah arrived at a series of doors, all metal bound and thick. If his information was correct, the door he was looking for would bear a rune upon it. 

Three doors down, he reached his prize.

The rune was large and glowed a dull red, otherwise the door was unremarkable.

The Thaumaturge had two scroll cases on his bandolier, tucked into his back. He took out one, removed a scroll, and unfurled it. Bathed in the red glow of the rune, Saldeah read the words clearly and slowly, mispronouncing a word, saying the wrong word, an error in cadence or tone, any of these could damage the casting of the spell.

“Tépd szét a varázslatot, tépd szét végtagról végtagra”, Saldeah spoke evenly and clearly, then he repeated the phrase again. 

The rune began to dim and waver, shimmering and sparking, the Thaumaturge felt a pressure in his mind, and while repeating the words a third time, he focused and pushed back against it. He could taste something, like burnt bread, abjuration magic always felt like burning.

The rune shook, there was a brief flash of red light, and it disappeared.

Success!

Saldeah replaced the scroll, which still had several spells upon it, into its case.

And that was when he felt something land on his shoulder.

Hairy and cold, the Thaumaturge saw something black in his peripheral vision. 

A spider.

The merchant had spiders in his house trained or charmed to stop intruders, it must have dropped from the ceiling, this one was as big as a small dog, and very likely had poison.

It’s mandibles dug deep into Saldeah’s shoulder before he could react.

Fortunately, Saldeah’s bandolier cut across the left shoulder, and the beast bit into it rather than him. With his lower right arm he grabbed the foul creature by one leg and hurled it across the hallway into the wall. He heard a crunch, and it crawled slowly away with two broken legs.

There could be more of the creatures, trained to kill intruders, so he quickly entered the rune door room and closed the door behind him.

The Thaumaturge’s eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room quickly. This was clearly Ghollap’s trophy room, the ostentatious merchant had accumulated a number of treasures, the Thaumaturge fought his desire to begin scooping up everything in sight, focusing instead on finding the item he had come for, a figurine of three crows.

The guild had sent him to retrieve the item, it had been “acquired” by Ghollap several months ago, stolen on his behalf from a powerful Brass Blade Guild Spider named Triglam the Deft. Triglam had been humiliated by the theft, and she needed to save face, sending Saldeah in to retrieve the item for her. 

Nothing looked worse for a Guild Spider than losing a powerful item to theft.

Triglam didn’t actually want the item back, she wanted to take it from Ghollap to restore her honor. She wouldn’t sully her own hands, getting a subordinate to steal it back was more humiliating to Ghollap, and made her look better.

The Thaumaturge’s instructions had been specific - find the statuette, and grab at least one other item to return to Triglam, then get out.

Saldeah knew that time was the enemy, and got to work.

Fortunately he had been in Triglam’s hideout several times and seen the statue often enough before it was stolen that he could use a spell to find it. He removed the second scroll from the tube and unfurled it. The cluster of symbols written in magical script wavered and shifted as he looked at them. Only by concentrating would they settle down and allow him to read.

He took a deep breath, and began to read the words.

“Amit tudok, az azzá válik, amit a kezemben tartok, találd meg most, mielőtt kihűl”

His eyes began to feel itchy and warm.

He whispered, “Amit tudok, az azzá válik, amit a kezemben tartok, találd meg most, mielőtt kihűl”

His eyes now began to glow with a wan, orange light, he closed them as he continued.

“Amit tudok, az azzá válik, amit a kezemben tartok, találd meg most, mielőtt kihűl...”

He opened his eyes, and the world looked strange, watery, shifting, unreal. He looked around the room, and suddenly the wavering view clarified in a particular place, the room as a whole still rippled as if made of water, but one chest, directly across from him, was crystal clear and real.

His target must be there.

Slowly the Thaumaturge concentrated and the spell wore off. He walked forward and took out a pouch from his belt. 

At this point Saldeah was wagering his safety, it was unlikely that the merchant would have magical protections over every box in the room, that was too unwieldy. But he might have mechanical traps on any of the chests.

It’s what any good thief would do to secure their treasures, multiple layers of different defenses. 

Saldeah studied the chest, looking below the table it was placed upon, seeking the signs of a latch, a wire or any kind of device. There was nothing obvious, so the Thaumaturge took out a metal strip, rigid but thin and long. He slid that strip along the edge between the top of the chest and its body. A small amount of pressure and the strip slid in. Gingerly he slid the strip to the right, testing for resistance. 

Nothing happened.

He slid the strip in the other direction, and halfway down it hit something, Saldeah stopped, waiting breathlessly to see if he had applied enough pressure to trip the wire, but nothing happened. He removed the strip and grabbed two clamps.

Now came the hard part.

He had to separate the top from the main portion of the chest without breaking the wire, secure the wire on top and bottom to maintain tension, then open the chest. Wire traps like these were generally set so the top could be opened a certain amount without tripping the trap, otherwise they could be set off too easily by mistake. 

Saldeah took out one of his daggers, said a brief prayer to the cat headed thief god Mubere, and gently slid the dagger tip in between the chest and it’s lid.

Several breathless seconds later, when nothing had happened, he twisted the dagger slightly, opening a space, barely thicker than the blade.

Still nothing.

Saldeah was dimly aware that time was ticking away, he couldn’t take too long doing this or Ghollap would return, significantly diminishing his odds of success. 

He twisted the dagger further, and the gap was large enough.

It would have to be.

Using one of his four hands, he took a clamp and slid it in, gripping the wire at the top. When it was firmly in place, he placed the other clamp at the bottom. With both ends secure, Saldeah stepped to the side, just in case, and took out a pair of heavy clippers, prayed to Mubere a second time, promising to sacrifice a bird in his name, and snipped the wire.

After several hearbeats, he opened the chest top.

Success!

Inside the chest were three objects, a black statue of three crows, a ring with a large red ruby, and a pair of bracers. Saldeah did not have time to waste, he took out a small sack he had tied to his bandolier and tossed in all three items. He tied off the sack again, and turned to leave.

That’s when he heard noise from below, someone was entering the manse. It could not be Hrug Ghollap, he hadn’t been gone long enough. Still, someone was here. Saldeah moved quickly, heading to the door and peering out into the hallway. He headed towards the window he had entered in when he heard cursing from below.

How did they know! As the chitin looked out the window to the yard below seeing it clear, he realized. The spider, he hadn’t killed it, and it was probably downstairs crawling around with two broken legs. Tangible evidence of his wrongdoing.

Amateur mistake.

The Thaumaturge crawled down the wall swiftly, being six-limbed had its advantages. He bolted for the stable building, planning to leave the way he came, but thought better of it, if he was caught climbing the wall he would be defenseless. He would have to find somewhere to hide.

Fortunately Ghollap’s compound was filled with foliage, so the Thaumaturge found a concealed spot and waited, drawing out four knives.

Patience wins the day.

In a short time one of Ghollap’s ogres appeared, it had obviously been sent back by the merchant to retrieve something, saw the spider, and perhaps heard him leaving the building. The muscle bound bodyguard had a bardiche in its mighty arms, and was scanning the yard, slowly.

When it was looking away Saldeah found a stone and threw it towards the stables. The ogre sneered and bolted in that direction, going right past Saldeah’s hiding spot. When the creature passed, the Thaumaturge lept out, driving all four of his daggers into its broad back.

The ogre howled in agony as four steel claws sank into its back, each one drank deeply of its blood. Saldeah backed off as the ogre lurched forward, crashing into a tree. Daggers protruding from its back, the beast grabbed the tree and snarled in rage. 

Saldeah had hoped it would be finished off, but no such luck.

He grabbed the first scroll from its case again and unfurled it. 

The ogre turned its head to look in the Thaumaturge’s direction. Haggard eyes viewed the chitin with pure hate.

“Kicsi vagy nagy, gyorsabb, mint a szél”, spoke Saldeah, “Kicsi vagy nagy, gyorsabb, mint a szél”.

The ogre turned, so enraged was the beast that it charged rather than throwing it’s axe.

“Kicsi vagy nagy, gyorsabb, mint a szél”

The beast’s trajectory wasn’t true, the daggers had done a lot of damage, but it was still headed towards the Thaumaturge with deadly intent.

“Kicsi vagy nagy, gyorsabb, mint a szél”

Saldeah pointed at the creature, and a thin ray of purple light shot forth, striking it in the chest, full on. There was a momentary delay, during which Saldeah was convinced things became completely silent, then the ogre shrank down precipitously, when the spell was complete, the ogre was only a few feet tall.

Saldeah laughed, and bolted for the stables. 

The ogre, shrunken and bleeding from its back, grabbed the bardiche it had been wielding, now many times its size, and dragged it along behind, bellowing in pure hate. 

Saldeah easily outpaced it, climbed up the wall of the stable and over the edge of the fence to the street.

By Mubere’s blessing, there were no soldiers nearby.

The Thaumaturge disappeared into the night, taking his prizes to Triglam the Deft. The figurines were his to keep, and he had decided to keep the ring as well, no need to mention it. He would give the Bracers to the master Spider to fulfill his commitment.

 Mission accomplished!