Rennish was standing at the corner of the building people watching. He was marveling at how many of the people standing around the docks were human and not just demi-humans.
"Is it always like this?" Rennish commented over his shoulder.
The assassin shifted behind him, "Be a little less vague, please. You're making my head hurt."
Rennish scoffed and pointed out at the crowds. "So many humans this far south..."
She leaned around his shoulder and looked out. "You think the boats are segregated? Humans sail with Demi's. Thus the docks cater to both. It's really the last equal place you can find on the planet."
Rennish nodded, it made sense. You had to be a certain level of nuts to want to brave the wide-open seas. So why would any captain discriminate when someone was willing to risk their life on the boat.
Rennish sighed and went back to watching. Occasionally a good strong whiff of the dock air would come through his nose and remind him just where he was. The line of people waiting to go into the warehouse was standing still for a few moments. Rennish was looking at the way that the warehouses were built onto the loading docks. They stood suspended above the water.
In some cases, the docks went through the warehouse. This one warehouse just sat off the edge of the dock. The boat behind it was floating peacefully while people scurried around it. It appeared they were scraping off sea creatures and polishing the wood. Maintenance was a huge part of life at sea. Especially with salt always trying to destroy everything.
Rennish was just about to start daydreaming when the excitement began. At first, the people at the door started to shove out of each other's way. A mad rush of bodies was trying to escape the building. And as the doors opened Rennish heard it. The scream, if you could call it that, of a dead man.
The assassin pushed past Rennish as he sat there laughing. "What the hell have your friends done now?" She said with shock and surprise.
"He got us a distraction. This works right?" Rennish was chuckling.
"We make the most of our opportunities." She said shaking her head and pulling her hood over her head. It was cliche to cover your face but in this instance it made sense.
Rennish pulled the hood up on his own cloak and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the bag of instruments and pictured something very firmly in his mind. "Instrument of distraction." He hoped he had the image in his mind correctly.
The bag shook for a second before Rennish reached in and pulled out the pan flute. "Old trusty... Don't fail me now." He said as he thought of wharf rats and blew out a single note.
If you have never seen a wharf rat they are huge. Without the tail, they are the size of a normal house cat. Rennish had built the image of them running up the wood of the dock and heading towards the building. The screaming was a good start, Rennish just wanted to add to the chaos.
Rats started running up the poles and into the crowd from all directions. People of all kinds started running and screaming They were trying to avoid the plague-infested demons that were now trying to over-run the town.
Satisfied that only rats were running into the fray, Rennish tucked the lute into the bag and then whispered again. "Instrument of theft." He tried to imagine grabbing the body and running. He didn't have a clear idea of what he wanted to get from the bag.
The bag thought to itself and then rustled. Rennish put his hand inside and pulled out an even larger bag. It was covered in black and white stripes. He shook the bag to get it all open and laughed to himself. "This stupid bag. I really need to be more clear." And he put the bag under his arm as he started to run towards the dock.
The assassin darted between people. She moved with a purpose and people naturally tried to avoid her. Rennish stood out. He was taller than almost everyone and bowled over several people. He was always a few steps behind the assassin as he tried shoving his way to the front.
They reached the door just feet after each other. The assassin slipped in beside two people as they ran out the door. Rennish pulled the door open and scared a woman who was fleeing. It took a second for Rennish eyes to adjust to the dimly lit inside. He felt a hand tug at his cloak before he heard the voice of Erust. "Center Table. We will grab the 'parts' off the far table."
Rennish nodded and closed his eyes and counted to 2 before opening them. The assassin had closed her eyes before running in and had not needed a second to have them adjust.
The pirates were scurrying around trying to grab all the bits of flesh and bottles of souvenirs that were wildly thrashing about. Felgar was sitting against a wall eating his divine steak which was violently twitching now also. A twisted smile on his face as he felt the divine power flowing into him.
The rest of the people inside were either trying to take advantage of the pandemonium or thrashing to get out.
Rennish saw the assassin look back at him from in front of the body. Rennish nodded and ran over to the body.
"Oh my god!" Rennish said with exaggerated emotions. "It's come back to life. Quick someone help me grab it!"
The pirate guarding the body was Chester's replacement. He had been kicked in the head as a child and wasn't that sharp. The Demi-Human pirate who had handed out the knife to Erust was currently trying to stop the beating heart from jumping off the board it was nailed too.
Erust had moved over to the table of bottles and curios and pretended to trip in the mayhem. He fell all over the table and knocked it to the ground. He used the distraction to grab as many as he could into his cloak before Ashra came over and helped him get up.
"Quick, let's get out of here!" She said with surprise in her voice. She was either a great actor or really wanted out.
The pirate guard at the body was trying to hold the thrashing screaming corpse down on the table. He had put his hand over the mouth but the lack of lips and face muscles meant that there really wasn't a way to stop the air coming through the windpipe. Anytime he did the screaming took on a horrible gurgling wet flapping noise that made even Rennish want to gag.
Rennish ran over and put his hand on the body. "Hold this hand here!" He pointed to the guard who nodded and took the hand.
Rennish smiled as the assassin walked up behind him and hit his ear hard enough to rattle his brain. To the others looking it appeared he fainted. "Oh no, he has fainted." the assassin said dryly.
Rennish resisted the urge to smile. He grabbed the bag from under his arm and took the head. He shoved the head and hands into the bag as quickly as he could. Rennish's returned strength meant that he was stronger than all the humans here and all but the most robust Demi-humans. Picking up the 145 pound partially directed corpse was easy.
The bag wasn't just any thieves bag. The bag of instruments had a sense of humor. The bag was imbued with the power to compress anything placed inside of it for easy transport. A sage in another world had created it. The only problem was that anything inside became whatever the shape of the bag was. The corpse was going in very easily and the bag was barely having to be stretched out. The corpse would need to be stretched back out when it came back out.
The guards were trying to control the masses. The total heist was complete in less than two minutes. Rats had flowed in once the door had been thrown open from people and the intruders.
The rats were carrying off anything that hit the floor. The vermin were ignoring anything related to Rennish, they avoided Erust, Ashra, and the woman who was currently helping them. They scurried up the pants of the pirates and nibbled at clothes. Any spare drop of blood that sat on them was quickly chewed off the pirate.
Felgar fought off the rats using his own powers. He quickly chomped down the writhing steak as quickly as he could before the rats could get it from his hands. Those rats still trying to crawl up this body were turned to stone by the short fat man's powers. Felgar wasted no time in getting out of the building. He hurried between bodies and grabbed his bag from his side as he ran out the same side door he had come in.
The distraction was a great time to avoid paying for his latest meal. The bag contained all of his most valuable possessions and he was going to keep them for his trip out of this town.
As soon as the corpse was bagged up and Erust had made his escape Rennish looked over at the assassin and nodded. "Time to go honey!" He said with a smirk.
"I will cut that smile from your face later. Let's get out of here." She said. He couldn't seem the half-smile under her covered face so he just shrugged. He didn't know if he was going to die or not yet.
Rennish pushed the table over and screamed across the room. "Look a fire!"
This caused more panic as the remaining panicked people looked for the supposed fire. The assassin reached into her clothes and pulled out a smoke bomb before throwing it at the wall with a thud. The chemicals inside started to smoke, it smelled of chemicals and sulfur. People started to gag and choke as they ran for the exits even faster.
The remaining few pirates looked for buckets to put out the fire and protect their warehouse. Rennish threw the bag over his shoulder, it currently looked like a large potato sack. He shoved through the doors, the assassin had already made through the crowd and was holding it for him.
As Rennish exited the building she slammed the door shut and smiled. She took a small wooden mop and jammed it into the frame at the hinge. The door creaked and wouldn't fully open or close now. "That will slow them down." She smiled as she darted up the road and away from the commotion.
Rennish adjusted the bag on his shoulder and took off for the edge of town. They had agreed on a rendevous just outside of town. Erust and Ashra should have already headed that way. Rennish sighed and smiled. "That went well." He mused as he trotted away from town. The large comically colored bag slapped against his back as he moved or else he would have taken to a full run.