The next day, Oriana did her usual routine, which ended up with a very nice breakfast that also included a small soup using the bones from venison, to add some flavour to it.
She didn't do too much after that. Make an appearance at the adventures guild, visit a few stalls, simple stuff.
As the afternoon came, she headed out to the location they had decided to meet up at. She had to slip past a few of the patrols to do so. It was getting rather annoying having to do that.
"Hey, you came."
"Of course."
Bethany came over, looking like she did when they were waiting for the Rose for healing in the slums.
She had slightly tanned skin, brunette, ruffled hair, and patches of dirt across her face.
"Okay, let me show you the place its being stored."
The sun was still out, beaming down on them. Oriana followed after her, winding through backstreets. As a pair, they had to hide from another patrol.
After seeing them go by, Bethany just turned and gave her an odd knowing look.
"What?" Oriana asked.
"Nothing. I was just wondering what it's like in the castle."
"How would I know? I've never been."
"…"
Leaving it at that, they continued on and finally came across a gated area. High wrought-iron fences circled the perimeter, and at its centre stood a massive building.
It was bare, almost unassuming if it wasn't for its size. Wood and stone made up most of its composition, with some metal here and there, likely to reinforce certain areas.
All around the building, she could see people patrolling.
They didn't look like Peacekeepers, but they were just as well-armed.
"That's a lot of guards."
"Yeah, personal guards of the noble who owns this place. He has a load of land and realised he could use it as a storage space, hiring it out to people as they need it." Bethany explained.
"And a lot of land with a lot of valuables means a lot of security."
As they spoke, they saw a carriage slowly heading towards the gate to the place. The guards beside it questioned the driver before opening the door for it to come through.
"And that is the carriage with our prize."
Oriana looked it over as it went into the warehouse. As she did, she realised something.
"Why go for this specifically? I'm sure there is plenty of expensive stuff in there."
Bethany just stroked her chin. "We could, but none of it is as expensive as that piece. And I have a buyer for it. But if you feel like pinching something, go ahead. But most of it is junk compared to the artefact."
Pinching was not really what Oriana was about, aside from adding something to her collection, but why not have a gander? They would hopefully have full roam of the place, so it was possible she would find something nice.
She had added a few things to her collection since her time here in the city.
From the Merchants guild, it wasn't a very exciting possession, but she had one of the trade agreements that was ruined and left on the floor after the ant incident.
And from the castle, she had managed to grab something. Not something she expected, as with all the fuss, she didn't really have much time to choose. But it was quite a relevant piece to the whole night.
A piece of torn cloth.
From the banner that had saved her life.
Quite an important one in her collection, and one that was going to remain in the back of her mind for a while.
But now she had the opportunity for another addition.
Heading around the area, Oriana and Bethany took in the whole site, learning the layout and looking for possible ways in.
The front gate was not an option.
They would need a carriage, items to store, and documentation to show what they were storing and for whom. None of this was readily available to them.
The guards themselves might even have information telling them what to expect. Which, again, Oriana and Bethany did not have either.
This left finding a way through the fence.
Simple when said aloud, but not so much in practice.
The height of it alone was daunting, but it was also enchanted with magic, likely to cause an alarm should someone try to mess with it.
But for someone like Oriana, while known for her illusion magic, she was very skilled with nature magic as well.
"Okay, I have an idea."
Bethany stood there waiting for Oriana to continue. Only to slump over when she just started walking away.
"Hey, hold up."
Oriana headed around the perimeter and came to an area that was a little more forested than the others.
In that, she meant there was actually a tree here.
Heading over, she used her magic to help it…grow a little more. Its height increased, but she focused on lengthening its branches, pushing it so that at least one was hanging just over the fence.
Then, with an extra kick, she caused a vine to form at the end, creating a rope.
Bethany, who had caught up to her, saw the tail end of her magic, seeing the vine form.
"Huh, nature magic of some kind. Nice. Got any more tricks up your sleeve?"
"Maybe."
With a way in and a way out, they waited around for a while for things to get a little darker.
The patrols in the fenced-off area continued to do their rounds, not having seen anything suspicious yet. Oriana had curled the vine up for the time being to ensure that it was the case. They might have noticed the tree, but how many people look at a tree and wonder if it looked like that earlier?
As time went on, they saw the carriage from before leave the area. Since then, two others had turned up, but it looked like it was just carrying fabrics and other such materials.
As they waited for one of the nearby guards to continue along his patrol route, they crouched in the tree, changed their personas to something unassuming, and then made their move.
Climbing down the vine, they made their way into the fenced area. They had a short window of time before another guard would pass by.
Moving quickly, they made their way past the other obstacles in the area, crates, barrels, the sort of goods that could remain outside without issue.
They reached the edge of the warehouse with little issue; dodging a few patrolling guards was child's play, but before they could go any further, the light from a passing guard appeared right in front of them.
Before Oriana could do anything, Bethany tapped her on the shoulder and shook her head, indicating that she would take care of it.
So, staying in the same place, Oriana just watched as the guard came closer and turned toward the two of them.
Oriana did not like the idea of leaving her safety up to someone else, especially someone she did not know very well or for long. But seeing the guard look towards them and do nothing was quite a surprise, and made her realise that maybe Bethany did have some of the skills that she boasted.
From her perspective, nothing had happened. But Bethany had put up a one-way illusion in front of them, creating an image of the building's wall.
It was simple, but very impressive. Illusions for Oriana were usually just solid images, visible from all angles. To make one that allowed you to see through it in one direction, but not another, that was quite a skill.
Skilful, but not perfect. No illusion was.
And for this guard, there was something that seemed odd to him as he passed by Oriana and Bethany. A flicker, the light bouncing off oddly, maybe even a sixth sense, it could be anything. But whatever it was, it was enough for him to pay attention to where they were and start to wander over towards them. All the while resting his hand on the sword at his hip.
Oriana, quick on her feet, cast an illusion of her own. She sent the sound of a box being knocked over. More specifically, she used the sound of the crate falling from when she entered the castle. You needed something to take reference from for any illusion.
Casting it away from them, the guard's ears perked up and turned towards it, forgetting about the oddness in the wall before him. He quickly turned and headed towards the sound, the more likely indication that someone had got into the area.
With the guard out of the way, the two sighed in relief and moved along the edge of the building. Before long, they found an entrance to the warehouse.
"Locked…of course", Oriana said as she reached for the doorknob.
"And done magically as well," Bethany said as she looked around the edge of the doorway.
"So, which do you want?"
"I'll find the magic circle. I've been here before, and I'm pretty sure I know where it might be." Bethany responded as she headed off around the side of the building.
Magically sealing a door, like with many permanent spells, required the use of magic circles. The spell itself allows the caster to enter without issue and deactivate it until they want to lock up again.
The magic circle, however, needs to be in a location that is…connected to the door. The walls, the ceiling, or the door itself could be used. But, in the interest of safety, they are placed outside of the building, hidden and out of reach. Sometimes, even with illusions on top to hide further.
This needed to be done because of issues where the caster has died, temporarily lost their magic for whatever reason or just was not around to use the spell. This made it impossible for people to enter places that had been locked, the right people, that is. And depending on the spell, it could lead to serious injury, maybe even death.
From their analysis of the door, the magical seal was on the door, not the lock. So, while Bethany was looking for that, Oriana got to work on the lock itself. She had no need for lockpicks, as her nature magic allowed her to pick the lock with much more ease.
Picking up a nearby stick, she slowly pushed it into the lock, reshaping it to fit as she did, filling in the empty sections, creating something that would match the original key. She did have to be careful, though, in a world where this is possible, lock designers have added pitfalls into the lock's design. If you create a key that includes prongs for those holes, when you try to then unlock it, it sets off an alarm itself or maybe even a spell, depending on the designer.
She had failed to break into a few such locks before…but by now she had gotten quite good at it. So, with a little finesse, she managed to create the full key.
All of a sudden, she felt the faint pulse of magic failing nearby, and she realised that it was the spell on the door. So, with the magic down and the lock sorted, she opened up the door and peered inside.
At first glance, it looked to be empty, guard-wise. But with the amount of furniture, ornaments, jewellery, and the like in the building, it would be hard to tell whether it was devoid of any guards.
Before long, Bethany came up beside her and ushered her inside.
"It's empty. The guards are paid to stop people from getting in, but are not paid to patrol inside. Too much chance of them breaking something…or stealing something." Bethany quietly said. "But, it's not soundproof."
Closing the door behind them, as quietly as they could, they now had free rein over the building.
"There is so much stuff in here." Oriana brought up as they wandered around, fully taking in the sheer size of it all.
"Yeah. All rich folk stuff. Storing it here to sell later, or keeping it for a time before they can send it somewhere else. When looking into this place, I'm pretty sure one noble was storing all of the jewellery they got from their illicit lovers here, so that their fiancé didn't find out."
"Really, wow."
Heading around the room, they looked through all the stuff there, as they knew the artefact was in this warehouse, but had no clue about its specific location.
According to Bethany, it was some sort of statuette, inlaid with rubies in the base. The figure itself was of a woman, holding up a vase of something with water flowing out of it and around the woman. So that is what she was on the lookout for.
But that's not to say she couldn't have fun with a little window shopping as well.