Ziann was feeling a slump come on as he walked away from the Great Baska Rock towards the city center. He had some spending money after having finished a job at the rock which involved him beating up kids in a Tournament, so he should feel conflicted. On the one hand, money, on the other, beating up children. As he rummaged through the pouch of jewels, he suddenly felt it give way from underneath him and dash off towards an alley in the hands of a thief. Ziann made chase immediately, quickly bearing down on the thief, picking him up by the collar and slamming him into the wall, quite disturbed by the audacity. "Woah there, big guy, take it back, sorry for the trouble."

Ziann took back the offered pouch of jewels with a snarl on his lips, tucking the pouch into a more secure area inside his cape. "The name's Neal, and I've been cooking up something big. You look like the type that could help... Wanna earn some extra cash?" Ziann had trouble saying no to that. "Fine. What's the job?" With a great smile and a tip of his wide brimmed hat, Neal procured a list of clothing items. He gestured to the market square just down the alley. "I need these for a disguise. I don't care how you get them."

Ziann took the list and looked it over. A mask and a hat, a cloak, an all black track suit, and shoes. That was doable. With a casual flip of his hand, Ziann made his way out of the dark alley and into the light of the market. He browsed, casually, looking for somewhere that had all the items he needed. He didn't find anywhere that had all the pieces of clothing, but he did find four stalls that had at least one piece of the disguise. As Ziann approached the first, the one with the mask and hat, he was bowled over by the outrageous prices of these common items. He wasn't going to be able to afford to buy these things, especially if what Neal was paying him was trifling.

When the shop keep wasn't looking, Ziann slipped the mask under his cloak and nabbed the hat as well. He ducked away into the safety of the crowd of people without being noticed, he felt. Moving to the second of the stalls, where the cloak was held, he found that price also to be outrageous. Neal had said that he didn't care how the items were obtained, so Ziann decided right then and there that he wasn't paying a single jewel for anything Neal wanted. The cloak disappeared into Ziann's cape and he again tried to vanish into the crowd. The third stall held the all black track suit. This one was going to be a little more difficult, as it was on a mannequin. "You don't have any other sizes of this one?" The shop keep sighed. "Nah, that's my last one. Need it off the display?" Ziann nodded and the keeper of the stall moved to remove it and hand it to him to look at further.

The keeper's eyes were close on him, so he needed a distraction. If he used magic, then the tell tale Seal would give him away. He was going to need to be more stealthy about this. As he "examined" the track suit, he suddenly "slipped" on the stone and "fell backwards" enough to be able to kick out the stall's roof's supporting pole. The tent came down and knocked things flying everywhere. In the commotion of the keeper trying to pick things up, Ziann disappeared towards the last stall, the one with the shoes. As he plucked those up brazenly, as everyone was helping the suit stall pick up, a Rune Knight approached.

"Ho there! There's been a string of alleged thefts here by someone in a red cape... You wouldn't happen to know what's going on, would you, citizen?" Tucking the shoes under his cape as quickly as he could, Ziann just started to run through the crowd. The Knight gave chase and was quickly advancing on the thief. "Wind Make: Sandals!" Trying to keep all the items under his cape, Ziann applied a thin ball of wind to his feet as he ran, increasing his speed enough to get away from the Rune Knight and hide in an alley. As he waited for the Knight to lose his trail, he was suddenly greeted by Neal standing next to him very silently. "Got the goods?" Ziann nearly socked him in the mouth out of surprise, but managed to control himself. Nodding, he gave the list and the items to the Thief who looked them over, thanked the Mage, and handed over a reward. Ziann made his way out of the market and as far away from the Knight who saw him as possible. It felt good to have gotten away with it all...

831/500 WC