Pattin walked through Balefire, a hand on his chest. Just a moment ago, he'd seen a couple men step out of shadows next to him and go into a tall tavern-looking building with one green lantern above it. It didn't seem like a natural ability to be able to simply disappear in shadows. He rather liked the idea, however.

Pattin walked calmly along, looking at the few people around the streets. Pattin was awed by this place. It was perfect for any thief, which was another reason he disliked it. Too many possibilities of dying or getting mugged.

Pattin spotted someone, a girl who looked rather lost. She had long brown hair and green eyes, rather wide in fear. Pattin looked around and started running, following her around a corner. He'd thought she was a bit farther along, so the impact was real. Still he made the pull, lifting a purse off her belt. He slipped it under his jacket while he was on the ground.

Getting up dizzily, he grabbed the girl's hnds and pulled her up, apologizing the entire time. “I'm sorry! I didn't look where I was going.” He said. The girl seemed to have just had a heart attack. She took a couple deep breaths. “Yeah, it's fine. Don't get hurt!” she said as he walked off, apparently mistaking the halfling for a child.

Pattin waved at her and continued walking, pulling her purse from his belt and bouncing it in his palm.

Alice calmly walked down the street, she used her new cloak and had the hood up so none could see her with the naked eye. Of course she had to keep an eye open so that none would run right into her, but so far she did it very well. This artifact was amazing, useful in so many ways. Alice loved it and the good thing was that she did not have to pay anything for it either.
The sorceress eyes calmly moved around as she watched the people she walked past, she was only a few meters away when the hafling ran into the woman, she watched the accident with slight interest and then she noticed something that happened very quickly...the boy took the womans purse. Alice smiled slightly and shook her head.

She followed the man with her eyes and then she began to walk after him. As she came up to his side she quickly stretched out her hand and grabbed the purse as he threw it up into the air. "a young man as yourself should not steal from a lady, it is very rude" she said with a calm voice and looked at the purse in her hand. Pattin could hear her, but the hafling could not see her. She laughed slightly and then she calmly dropped the purse.
She had not meet many of his kind before, but she could see what he was..he not a child since he had features a child would not have...Alice knew things like that, she had experience with men. ((:hehe:))

Pattin saw the purse seem to jump from his hand, heard a voice reprimanding him, and fall to the ground. He took a step away from the purse and looked around, frowning. He put a finger to his chin as he looked at it. He pointed at it, then put his finger on his chin as if wanting to say something.

“See, now that is both cruel and unusual. A talking purse that jumps out of your hand? Well, 'm fairly sure I didn't have anything to drink...” He scratched his head, keeping a safe distance from the possibly dangerous purse. He toed it with one foot cautiously.

After a few nudges, Pattin was satisfied it wasn't going to jump out of is hand and speak again. Just to be sure, he tied it to his belt, looking at it as he took a couple steps. With a quick glance around, he muttered “Strange” And walked slowly.

Alice shook her head then she looked around for a moment to if there was any people around that would find it strange if she appeared out of nowhere.. "Well the world is a cruel place after all young hafling." she said. "Talking ourse? That was funny, no it was not the case. I don´t see anything magical about it" now she calmly lowered her hood and became visible again right in front of Pattin, she looked much like herself in her demonic form, but without the wings.

Her dress today was the green one she had made for herself a while ago. She calmly moved one hand trough her hair as she was talking and made sure it was right. "You should pay more attention to your surroundings when you borrow things from others, young thief." she laughed slightly and lowered her hand again. Her golden eyes was focused onto Pattin. "Just a friendly hint for the future" as always she placed a slight hint of her charm in the words. Not because she had an interest in this hafling...but because it was a habit of hers to do so. He would not fall in love with her but just feel a rush of emotions. Nothing more then that.

Pattin heard the voice again and looked at the purse curiously. Then the woman appeared form nowhere. “GAH!” He yelled, clutching his chest. He took deep breaths and glared up at the woman. “You shouldn't do tha--” He stopped as he got a look at her.

She was beautiful, the perfect woman in every way. She began to speak again but this time he felt something as she spoke. Somewhat like a crush. He nodded at her words.

“Very true, madam. Tell me, would you like a drink?” He asked with a goofy smile, one arm indicating the tavern.

Pattin smiled at her as he made sure the purse was still there. He felt he should trust her and believe everything she told him for some reason, completely against his nature.

Alice smiled a friendly smile at Pattin when he asked if she wanted a drink, he was so young in her eyes. "Well I could hardly say no to such a friendly offer now could I" she replied and moved the hair out from inside of the hood. Her gaze moved to the tavern and then back to the hafling. "But make sure to keep an eye on your...purse, because there are others that might find it interesting in this dark city" she then began to walk towards the tavern. She could see that some of the men was looking after her, but she had no interest in any of them as it was now. She had a greater interest in this young man.

The sorceress stopped as she arrived to the door. "Oh how rude of me, I have not told you my name yet. I´m Alice" she smiled at him as she said this, and the smiled reviled her perfect teeth. She still could it alright, but then again she made sure to keep her powers up all the time, improve her skills and then one day she would use them against Melmoth and the demon would not stand a chance against her charm then. Nothing of what she was thinking was showed in her face, she just looked happy.

Pattin smiled at Alice and nodded. “Excuse me! Pattin J. Lightfoot. The J is for me to know and for you to never ever find out.” He laughed. Honestly, what kind of a name was Jorbles? Pattin looked around the tavern. He smiled at Alice and walked over to an empty table. He pulled a chair out for Alice and tugged at the dress of a waitress. She looked around then down at the halfling.

'aren't you a little young...' she said unsurely. Pattin scoffed. “Lady, I'm fairly sure I'm older than you are. I'll have a simple beer and the lady can have whatever she likes.” He said, waving a hand at Alice. Patting sat down in his chair and looked at Alice.

He pulled a couple coins from his purse and slipped them into the girl's pocket with a smile. “That's for you.”

Alice laughed and shook her head. "Well I know what kind of names you usually is using Pattin, the middle name is often from the father or some other relative, that way one can take a part of the past with you into the next generation." she calmly sat down in the chair her pulled out. She listened to him as he talked to the waitress and what he said made her smile slightly. She waited until the hafling was done before she said anything more. [color=green]"Well I would like to have some tea please, peppermint with honey" she young waitress nodded and made a note, then she walked away to take care of there orders.

Alice calmly lean back in the chair and her gaze moved around the room. "This can be a calm place, such freedom in this city really" she said, more to herself then to Pattin, then she looked at the Hafling and smiled slightly. "Sorry about that...I was just thinking" she moved some of her hair in behind her ears and her skin turned a little red around the ears.
"So I don´t see many of your people in this city very often, I was surprised really when I noticed you." she tilted her head to the left and examined the young hafling with her eyes. He was cute in a way, most haflings was that.

Pattin smiled at Alice. “We're not really a social bunch. Keep to ourselves, mostly. A couple of us come out every once in a while to find some fun--” he winked at this. “--but mostly we just sit around.” He chuckled.

The waitress returned with their drinks and Pattin nodded his thanks. He took the drink and sipped it, watching Alice with not-so-innocent eyes. As young as he may have appeared, he had some rather adult behavior.

Pattin frowned. “say, how old are you, Alice?” he asked curiously. Asking such questions was not nearly as offensive to halflings as it was for others and he had no idea.

Alice listened to him as he was talking and she nodded a little now and then. His words where true what she knew, a hafling had been living in the same village as Alice when she was a child, they never saw him much anyway. But they knew he was there since he did shop things and so on, he was there to congratulate Alice when the news came out she was going to get married. But that was so many years ago from this day, she did not want to think about the old days so she quickly began to think of something else.

She smiled at the waitress as she arrived with the tea, Alice watched the hot liquid for a moment and then she took a slight sip from it. It was very hot and she would have to drink this slowly or she would burn herself. Her eyes closed for a moment as she was drinking, then she lowered the cup and opened her eyes, the sorceress looked at Pattin again and she could right away she the look he had in his eyes....men.

She raised an eyebrow to his sudden question. Lucky for him she was not the kind of woman that would become angry over such a question. "Let me give you a hint about ladies for the future Pattin, never ask for the age. If they do reply to such a question I can tell you that you can add around four years to the one they tells you." she giggled slightly and placed the cup of tea on the table. "But about your question, let me give you one in return, how old do you think I am?" she was a little curious about what he was going to reply to that.

Pattin looked away as she looked at him, wondering if she knew what he was thinking. He chuckled a little as she spoke. “I'm sorry. It isn't much of a problem with halflings.” He said, still not quite getting it. When she said you could usually add a few years, he understood. “Ah, I see.”

“You? Well, you can't possibly be that old.” He looked at her. Judging from her general appearance, he thought about it and came to “Twenty nine?” He asked, completely unaware of how much he was off by. The golden eyes should have given him a hint of her demonic nature, but no.

He wasn't the brightest halfling.

Pattin sipped his drink as he waited for a reply, wondering the real answer. He himself wasn't too old, not that halflings and human aged the same.

Alice smiled slightly to his guess how old she was. "I good guess, but my people do not count our age in years like humans or other races" she said and moved her hair away from her pointy ears. "I am elf after all" she took another sip from her tea before she kept talking. "But your right that I am not that old, just around 100 or so, I can tell you that is young for a elven person" she smiled at him when she said this.

She made a slight pause and examined her hands, then she looked back at Pattin again "Now let me guess your age shall I?" her eyes calmly watched him for a moment. "Well someone that have never meet one of your kind before would think of you as a child, but I can see that your a little more mature in your body then a child, my guess is that your around 25 to 28. I have really no ide you lifespan so I just went fro what I can see" she took another sip from her cup as she was looking at the hafling. "Was I right?"

Pattin smiled embarrassedly. “ah. Well, I've never met an elf. So how would I know that?” He poked his tongue out at her and sipped his drink. “Well, you don't look a hundred. So I'm just going to think of you as thirty. I don't care what you say. Deal?” He said with a wink.

Pattin chuckled as she said she'd guess his age. He closed his eyes and grinned. Most thought he was either much younger than he was, or much older, just out of pure ignorance. Many people judged from height, not looks. He sipped his drink when she spoke.

Pattin looked at her with an eyebrow cocked. “twenty seven, actually. That's impressive.” He said with a laugh. “At least you judge by looking. That's much harder to do with elves, mind you.” He said with a playful glare.

Alice smiled and placed one hand on his hand and gave it a slight pat. "Well I don´t blame you for that, if you have never meet an elf then how could you know about our ages" she laughed and at his nice words. "Okey, I will not speak against you on that, deal then" she moved in her hair in behind her ears as she was talking. This hafling was funny and he did not look that bad, just a short human if one looked at it that way, Alice never looked down at any race..well she did not like sun elfs because they where snobbish.

The sorceress listened to him as he told her his age, she nodded slightly. "Well I rarely judge peoples ages without taking a closer look." she said and took a sip from her tea again. This was true since she did not like to old people very much, with elfs was it okey but when a human was around 50 + things was starting to be a little boring, she liked young people, they often had more stamina and endurance. She giggled when she noticed his playful glare "Well I can understand that, I sometimes have a problem to see another elfs age to be honest." she tilted her head to the left and examined Pattin calmly with her eyes.

Pattin chuckled heartily. “i can understand not knowin.” He grinned at her and looked her over. Somehow she seemed too ladylike, too beautiful to fit in so nicely with Imythess. It wasn't exactly an easy life, there was a fair amount of work and hurt involved.

“You don't seem to me the type to hang around bars. Like a little adventure? We could do something, perform a burglary, erm...” He looked to the side. He knew of little else to do. Thieving gave him a rush, it was a pastime to live for and occasionally, die for.

“We could go bandit hunting!” he said, trying to make it seem like a small thing. Honestly, he wasn't much cut out for fights. He was sneaky, and he had his mace, but knew little of how to use it.

“Could be fun. Gimme some ideas.” He said earnestly.

Alice laughed heartily at his words, she calmly took another sip from her tea, it was starting to be colder now and easier to drink then when she first got it to the table.
She became a little surprised by his sudden suggestions, she had never really done something like that in her life, not that she could not do it. She did not care much about other people and if it helped her get what she wanted she liked it.

She thought about his words for a moment before she said anything to comment them. "Well your right that I don´t usually run around places like this once my dear Pattin" she began with a soft friendly voice. "and of course I like a little adventure, what girl don´t" she giggled lowly and took a sip from her tea again as she was talking. "I´m sure both the ides you just said could be fun, and to have fu is something I love very much" she moved some hair from her face and gave Pattin a slight grin that showed her teeth again.

She lean back in her chair and calmly examined the cup in her hands. "Ideas you say? Well let me if I have some of them, I have heard there is a noble in this city that have gone on a trip to Taras to buy some new furniture for his summerhouse, the mansion he has here in this city should be empty now...if you want to break into a house then that is the one to do it in" she smiled and laughed slightly.

Pattin's face broke into a grin. A big heist, it sounded like. This girl was just full of surprises. Pattin nodded, finishing off his drink. He'd heard of the man, had kept his eye on the mansion for a while, as a matter of fact. But he hadn't known if the man was there, and who knows what kind of things live in a place like this?

Pattin nodded. “Let's do it.” He chuckled. He was forming plans in his head already, mind exploring possible ways in. He knew where the front door was. He couldn't break in or be seen inside. Given the town they were in was full of shadowdancers, it would have to be relevantly bright inside.

He would need a sneaky way in. Invisibility, perhaps? He'd seen the woman do it when he thought it was the purse talking and moving of it's own accord.

Pattin stood from his chair, not much of a height difference there. If anything, he shrank altogether. “whenever you're ready.”

Alice nodded slightly. "Yes, let us give it a try. I have heard that man liked furniture and things like that. I might find something comfortable I could use for myself" she laughed slightly. She drank the last of her tea and calmly stood up from the table and brushed some dust of her dress, then she looked at Pattin. He was much shorter then her, but then again the size was not everything.

The sorceress calmly smiled at him. "I´m ready" she said with a low voice and moved some hair from her face as she was talking, then her gaze moved around the tavern, there was so much noise that it would have been surprising if anyone had heard them talk about anything. But then again not many in this town would care about something like this,it was a dark and corrupted place.
Her mind was also working on a plan to get inside, she could use her cloak and then she had the magic rope to, very good equipment for times like these.

She calmly began to walk towards the door out from the tavern, she added a slight hint of her charm as she walked just to make things more interesting. Things was really going her way today...very good. She was going to enjoy herself fully. She turned around when she came to the door and looked back at Pattin, she gave the hafling a slight smile.

Pattin looked at the woman with a grin as they walked, finding something appealing about her as they walked to the house. Strange how these things happened at certain points in their night. He wondered about it as they approached the house.

They came close, the large home looming before them like a sleeping dragon. But dragons had treasure, and the thought went from a scary one to one of greed, imagining what riches a taras nobleman left laying around his summer home.

The halfling walked up to the door and knocked carefully, making sure nobody was home. He nodded to a couple of passerby as he waited. Noticing an ajar window above them, he pulled something form his pocket and whispered into cupped hands. A gargoyle flew from his hands, the size of a mouse, and went through the window. A few seconds later, the door unlocked.

Pattin smiled as he waited for the woman to find her own way in. “Take the top floor, Alice. I'll scout below.” He chuckled and went in nonchalantly, closing the door behind him. It was a bright place. He gave the richly adorned room a quick once-over before looking at a set of stairs going down. What's this? A vault? He walked towards it.

Alice walked with him to the large building, she watched him as he did his work and smiled slightly when the door opened from the inside. That little creature was useful, might be fun to try and get one herself one day. She nodded at him when he talked to her, she walked inside with him and calmly looked around, it was a nice house and it had much things, paintings and statues. It was going to be hard to find something of with the most value.

She watched the hafling as he walked away, then she slowly began to walk towards the stair, as she walked she calmly raised her hood and dissappeared. Now no one could see hear, but her steppes was still heard as a low echoing sound in the empty mansion. She made her way to the upper floor and stopped outside of a door, she waited for a moment and then she opened it, on the other side was a small chamber with a few bookcases and a table, her guess was that this was some kind of reading room.

She closed the door and walked further inside, she stopped in front of the next door and tried to open it, but it was locked. She sighed slightly and then she looked around to see if she could see anything of use, but it was nothing there. She made a note inside of her head to come here again and then she moved on to the next door. Behind that one was a larger room then the first and it had many exclusive furniture. This had to be the living room. It had a nice fireplace and a large paining of the noble was hanging over it. She looked at it for a moment and then she shook her head slightly...she did not like this man, he was most likely a snob like all other nobles.

The halfling smiled as he walked down the stairs, head full of gold and jewels. He nearly drooled . When he entered the small room the stairs ended up in he smiled as he shook his head. “No, no. this is a trick. Make people think there is no vault. It's here somewhere.” He smiled and looked around hopefully. With a shrug, he pulled a piece of chalk from his bag and began tracing doors. Nothing.

Pattin made one last trace and saw the door open. His heart jumped excitedly. Behind it was another room, equally small. It only held a dresser and a bed, but they were well made and the thing was more of a very extravagant hotel room more than anything else. He walked in and the chalked door closed behind him, as expected. The lights dimmed somewhat and he saw something get up in the bed. A man?

Pattin looked closer and saw it watching him. Someone was here! He panicked and fumbled for his chalk. The man got out of the bed and sprang upon him, fangs bared. Vampire! He'd had enough of vampires. The halfling got a lucky blow to the side of it's head with his mace before getting up and making a door.

The vampire rushed out of the room before he did, escaping. Pattin whimpered and went up the empty staircase, looking around the big entrance room before giving a shriek of terror and running up the stairs, into the library-type room holding the scream.

Vampire!” he said, face bloodless.

Alice was just about to open another door when she heard the haflings voice and heard him come running. She quickly turedn around and made her way towards the sound of his voice. She noticed him in the small library. "Okey, calm down now love, you saw a vampire?" she quickly looked around to see if she could see anything off, but she did not see anything. Then she placed one hand on her forehead.

She walked into the room and calmly gave the hafling a hug taking him into her arms, holding the hafling closer to herself. "Okey, he will not come near us as long as I`m here Pattin dear" she whispered with a low voice. "I have my own protection against creatures of the night, but if you keep acting all hysterical then people are bound to notice use in here" her gaze calmly moved around the room they where in and then she sighed slightly. This was not what she had in mind when she came to this place, now she had a lose vampire to deal with...but why was it a vampire in this mansion anyway? She knew that the drow did odd things with demons, but a vampire was different...not very easy to control and very dangerous, but she was safe as long as she had her ward stone.

The sorceress closed her eyes and tried to sense if she could find any illusions in the mansion, Vampires was good at tricking the mind, even more if it was an old vampire and she could not be sure about that since she had not seen it. But as it was she did not notice any kind of illusions.

“aye I did.” The halfling said in a shaky voice, heart in his throat. Her hug surprised him somewhat, but it was not unwanted. He hugged her, calming down a bit. “Very well. I'll trust you.” He said, calmer. He hugged her for a little while longer before breaking away and looking around warily.

Vampires were tricky beasts, he knew this from experience. The only other vampire he'd met wasn't as violent as most, despite tackling him, slapping him a couple times, and several other offenses.

He chuckled nervously and looked around the room, eyes lighting up. He saw several small, valuable objects. He walked over to a desk, picking up several things and placing them in his backpack, the thievery calming him a bit.

“Take what you like, lass. It's on the host.” He winked and chuckled.

Alice smiled at him and looked around the room, he eyes stopped at something interesting, it was a small box with runes all over it. Black to the color. The sorceress walked over to that place and picked it down, she turned it and quickly examined it. Then she nodded and walked after Pattin. Her gaze moved around but she did not see anything, but she was not afraid of the vampire, she had meet many of them before and with the help of her stone he was not going to be a problem.

"So what to do now then Pattin?" she asked the short man and moved some hair from her face as she was talking. "The vampire might have been running of to get more help and I would not like to stay in this building for to long if that was the case darling." she grinned slightly and walked over to look at a paining, she tilted her head to the side as she was looking at it, then she looked back at the hafling.

Pattin smiled at her. “We should go now. I've gotten my fill.” He winked at her, patting his bag, which was nearly full of trinkets and whatnot. He laughed and looked out into the manor carefully, watching for the vampire. Seeing none, he walked in warily.

The manor was hauntingly empty, no longer seeming so beautiful to him. A shiver ran up his spine as he walked, looking out for the vampire.

The halfling heard a noise behind him. Pattin turned and pulled out his mace, swinging it hard at the source. There was a shatter as a ceramic vase broke noisily. “Oh my.” He said, realizing he may have just given away his position to the vampire.

“This can't end well.”

Alice calmly walked after him and watched what he was going, she frowned slightly when he attack the vase. "Well it was not a very good end for that urn I tell you" she said with a slight giggle. "If you stay close to me he wont even be able to come close to you. Trust me on that one please, or we might get more dangerous problems then just a vampire on our tail." she gave him a slight pat on the head as she walked past him though the building.

She smiled to herself as she was walking there in the darkness, this was starting to be fun to her, she just had to find that vampire and kill it, then she could drink his blood and not the other way around. She stopped when she heard a sound, she looked around but did not see anything so far, but she knew that it could not be far away. Yet she could not use any of her more dangerous spells, because that would most likely draw unwanted attention from the area around them...there where more houses in this city then just this mansion after all.