Sitting at his usual table he lifted the bottle pouring himself a drink as he surveyed the room. There were a lot of usuals in today. Most of them common pick pockets, some just scam artist. Nothing really out of the ordinary for a rogue's den in the capital. It's a rarity to see a new face here, simply because a thief doesn't trust a thief. When he first arrived here when he was ninety, he only knew basic magic and how to hide in plain sight. He was on his own, no place to live or anything to eat. Being an elf had its benefits in the end because he never truly slept. He just needed to give himself food and that's when he began his decent into the darkness.
He would pickpocket here and there being caught from time to time. As he got better at simple tasks such as stealing a man wallet while distracting him with a little magic to causing fruit and bread stalls to collapse and the product just happen to roll his way. He was starting to make a name for himself in this town in a short amount of time. Not many people, or humans anyway were taught the arcane arts like he was. He was an anomaly here in this place and it would just be a matter of time til he was caught by someone worse than a guard or angry salesman.
He decided that he wanted to try something a little bit bigger, a bigger pay off in the end. Instead of working all day for little things, if he could manage a big heist to last him for a month he wouldn't have to struggle so much anymore. He could rest, and manage his time better. That's when he heard of a rare trader coming into town. The trader was named 'Solomon of the Sand', He was more of a scavenger than a trader. Solomon was one of the few not scared to travel into the desert and collect the leftovers from adventurers who didn't fare so well. Solomon would be arriving in two days times through the southern gates of Kornia. He always traveled alone with just his giant tortoise to carry the store on its back along with any goods Solomon found while scavenging.
Faris found himself sitting by the gates to Kornia, looking out to the desert thinking of how he could pull this off. If he did it in the desert, he wouldn't be able to come back to town, Solomon would follow him and the guards would find him in time. He also knew once Solomon was in town with his reputation there would be extra guards stationed near his stall. So how was he going to pull this off. The time he had left to think began to dwindle and with only a day left until Solomon would arrive Faris found himself leaving the gates of Kornia traveling into the desert.
Faris had enough water to last him for a day, and food but needed to look the part. He pulled out his dagger and cut his clothes, drenching himself and his belongings into the sand for an hour or two. This would give him the look of a lost traveler. Solomon would see him and provide him with directions or even safe passage back to Kornia. This would get him close to Solomon, once in town getting close wouldn't be an option anymore, not like this anyways. Faris decided to meet Solomon a bit further out, traveling four hours into the desert, as the sun began to fade out of the sky the temperature began to drop and Faris found himself shaking. He hadn't thought about that in his planning. After dousing everything in sand and cutting up his clothes to give himself a rugged appearance he didn't think about what to do once the sun had actually set.
The sand held the heat for a decent amount of time, longer than Faris had expected it to. Once the warmth faded the cold began to sink in, "Maybe this wasn't the best idea... It was a gamble worth taking, If I freeze out here so be it." He said attitude about the situation was bleak, either it was going to work out or it wasn't. There was no plan B. As the moon continued to rise, the shivers began to sit in, teeth chattering soon followed. As long as he stayed awake, he would be ok, or at least that's what he kept telling himself. Seconds into minutes, then hour, time began to slow down for him and soon he faded into sleep.
"Boy, wake up and drink this"
Faris fumbled around startled to find himself under large quilt. The warmth was intoxicating enough that he didn't realize he was being offered a drink, "Where am I? Who are you?" Faris said his eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light in the room.
A small human stood in front of him maybe 4 feet tall and rather plump. The clothes of the man were a bit gawdy to Faris but to each their own. The small man wore a purple hat and jacket to match with green slacks. A comfortable look, just the color purple was sure to stand out. "My name is Solomon, I found you half dead in the desert. You're lucky ole Ba'la didn't squish you... "The man said handing off the hot tea to Faris. "What were you doing out here? You're no adventurer, look at you. "
"Honestly, I was just trying to find a better way to survive" Faris said calmly taking a sip of the tea. "Survive? You tried to die. Seems to me you wanted to take the easy way out. If you want to survive then you need to be in a place where you can thrive, not in a forsaken desert." Solomon sighed looking back at Faris, "I'll take you back into town, get some rest". Soon after that Faris found himself nestled into the quilt fast asleep.
'The sun is up; I can feel the rays hit my eyes' Faris came too sometime later feeling the sun's rays against his body. He was no longer under the quilt from the night before, he was in some kind of chair. "Why is the window way up there, it makes no sense to put a window near the roof. Wait..." He said softly trailing off looking around the room. No Solomon, the window was now by the roof and he was no longer moving. Someone had moved him from the carriage of Solomon's and put him in this room.
"Shit! I lost my chance!" The realization of him failing his task had set in finally and his knees became weak, losing all strength to stand his legs buckled, then his torso soon felt the hard wood floor. "What... Is... Happenin.." Faris was beginning to lose the ability to speak towards the end of the sentence.
"Faris Hendrix, Welcome to the Den of Rogues of Kornia, you barely passed the test but your will to survive was enough to sway me in the end. Don't get me wrong, it was a stupid idea, a big risk" The familiar voice of Solomon was heard from the hallway, "Once you wake up again you will begin your life again, for the third time it seems."
"Gum..ble" Faris tried to speak spitting as he tried to sound out the syllables, "What was that?" Solomon laughed, "I said... Gamble..." Finally, able to get it all out Faris soon found sleep again