I stared at the door in front of me, knowing that potential trouble lay
behind it. Standing just outside the Captain's office, I paused, both to catch
my breath, and to delay entering. I had always thought that the captain could
take a joke, but apparently not. Or perhaps I had crossed the line. I had only
heard that my actions landed him in a sticky spot, one that he had a tough time
getting out of. I had been exploring Bondero Bay when a seagull came to me, and
delivered the Captain's summons, and, fearing the worst, I made haste to make
my appointment. Finally, with a deep breath, I opened the door, and entered
with a walk appropriate of my rank, hoping he would remember that I wasn't
ranked that much lower then him and that he would simply give me a warning
instead of something worse.

The Captain was an imposing man, a rather large Merian Lord, and his build
was appropriate for his position as Captain of Celest's guard. Even sitting, as
he was now, he gave off an aura of one that shouldn't be crossed. I
involuntarily winced when I remembered that I did, in fact, cross him. I stood
for a moment, before he acknowledged my presence, and gestured to a chair. I
took the offered seat, and for a few moments we sat in silence, before he
leaned forward and began to speak.

"I fear that one among the guard is conspiring with the taint."

This statement shocked me for a moment, and I tried to think of a reply.
Relief flooded through me, and I immediately began to breathe easier. This
wasn't about my prank after all. But I wasn't sure what this had to do with me.
Unless he actually suspected me of such a betrayal. I nodded slowly, urging him
to continue.

"We've received a tip-off from a neighbor of his that he has been leaving
his house under cover of darkness late at night and we suspect that he meets
with some from Magnagora."

Interesting. But not very suspicious. How did they reach that conclusion?

"Why do you think he is meeting with those of the taint?" I asked. "Perhaps
he is visiting a lover at night, or simply enjoys the moonlight on the Inner
Sea?"

The Captain frowned, and continued speaking. "These are both quite
possible, but this young orclach has a history. He grew up in Magnagora, and
has joined us in the Light no more then two years ago. His induction to the
guard was controversial, but he had shown great combat ability, and we had no
reason to suspect him at the time. But most importantly, inductions to the
guard were, and still are, few and we needed the extra strength."

I considered this for a moment. It still seemed pretty unlikely that the
Captain was correct, but I decided I'd humor him.

"I see. What does all this have to do with me?"

He sat up straighter in his chair, and looked me in the eye. "We can't
simply barge in on him and search his house for any evidence of these crimes.
As I can tell by the look on your face, you agree that there is not enough
proof of anything to justify a search. Or at least one he knows about. That's
where you come in. I need you to break in his house, and search it without
anyone knowing it."

Breaking in! I've never heard of the guard doing such a thing! I can see
why they would keep it quiet, but at my rank, I thought I would have heard of
it by now. But orders are orders, and I had to do as the Captain wished. I
nodded my head to accept his orders, and it was met with a smile. He handed me
a slip of paper.

"This is where his house is located. Tonight he is guarding the northern
gates of Celest for another few hours yet, so you'll have plenty of time to go
investigate for letters, items, or anything else we could use to justify a full
search. You'd best go armed, because it's hard to say if anyone might be in his
house that might not appreciate visitors."

I understood this to be my dismissal, so I stood up, bowed to the Captain,
and left, my mind a flurry of thoughts, despite my fatigue in the late hour. My
first stop would be my own house. I was currently wearing a light yellow shirt,
and brown trousers. What I usually wear for exploration, as I didn't have the
time to change for my meeting with the Captain. But exploration wasn't on the
schedule tonight, so these clothes wouldn't work.

* * *

Before long I found myself staring at another door, but this time I had
even less of an idea of what the door was hiding from me. It was well past
sundown, and my black robes with the hood pulled up hid me well in the dark
non-merian quarter of Celest. I elected to leave my staff at home due to its
weight, and instead opted for a pair of venom covered daggers that I could keep
attached to my belt. So far I had been undetected by anyone to my knowledge, and
I hoped that the rest of the night would go that well. Unable to believe I was
actually going to go through with this, I willed the front door to unlock with
my telekinesis, and pushed the door open slowly. I took my daggers from my belt
and released them, leaving them in the air, hovering around me. As quietly as I
could, I slipped inside.

My glance around the inside of the house was obscured by the darkness, and
I foolishly didn't think to bring anything to light it. I made a small fire
ball, and let it float slowly around me, joining the two daggers. I took
another look around the house in the flickering light. One thing was for sure,
it wouldn't take me long to search. Being a low ranked member of the guard sure
didn't pay well. I remembered that much from my younger days. I began to walk
over to a promising looking desk, when I was shocked to hear a loud bang behind
me.

I spun around, and looked at where the door was hanging, knocked off of one
of its hinges. I examined the silhouettes that I could see. Right in the doorway
stooped a tall figure with a sword in each hand. Perhaps an Igasho. Behind him
to the left was a young merian, I'd recognize another of my race anywhere. The
third in the small group was mostly obscured by the tall one, although I could
see the shine of armor from the flickering light of my still hovering fire
ball. The tall one began to charge at me.

Thinking fast in this unpredicted turn of events, I sent my daggers, still
dripping their poisons, flying at the knight, but before they reached their
target, I felt myself grabbed by an unseen force, and flung violently up to the
ceiling causing me to lose focus. My daggers crashed to the ground, a few feet
short of my attacker. My fire ball flickered one last time, and vanished. I
felt something crack, and I had enough time to hope that it was the flimsy
ceiling that broke, and not my back before I fell to the ground, the impact
knocking the air out of my lungs. I tried to stand in the now pitch black
darkness, but before I was even on my knees, I felt a blow to my head, and I
went down.

* * *

I sat in my prison cell, my hands chained to the wall. My head throbbed,
and I was badly bruised, but I was otherwise unharmed. Thanks to the drinking
habit of the dwarf charged with guarding me, I discovered that I was in custody
of the guard of my own city for breaking and entering, attempted robbery, and
attacking members of the guard. I sat in my cell, confident that the Captain
would hear of my plight, and set things right, granting me my freedom.

* * *

It was a month in that cell before I realized that the Captain had set me
up, and had punished me for my prank after all.