Blueprint

1: A Night Uneventful

Synelis never considered himself an introvert. He was loud—obnoxiously so—and he was always looking for another faintly attractive man to spend his night with. He hardly ever shut his mouth, he loved people, and he loved attention.

With all that being said, his infiltration skills came as a shock to anyone who knew him. He was a master thief; he could pick locks deftly and silently, and bounding across balconies and rooftops came as second nature to him. He could plan, he had patience, and he had no moral objections to stop him.

His most recent target was, admittedly, his largest and most dangerous one yet. He always kept on the safe side, stealing only from the poorer nobles and the richer peasants. But now he'd set his sights on the royal laboratory, and he would not give up unless he got what he wanted.

The inventor was a peculiar sort. He had hair unlike any Synelis had seen; not because it was beautiful, but because it managed to retain the shape of a fire, pointed upwards towards the sky. That sort of hair tended to be associated with gnomes, and yet, the inventor was an elf. He also, despite his high status, held himself very meekly in the company of  others, and only stood tall when he was on his own. Synelis knew that it was very creepy and highly illegal to have been stalking the man for so long, but he wouldn't do himself the disservice of failing to plan.

Inventor Alantar had a strict schedule he followed every day. At 6:20 in the morning, he arrived in his laboratory, and there he stayed until 12:00 on the dot, where he left - presumably for lunch - and did not return until 1:00. Then, he left again at 5:40, and would only enter the laboratory again the next morning at 6:20. He was glad to have a target with such planned out days; it made things easy.

"Hey! You gonna pay for that?"

Synelis shut his notebook promptly, hiding its leather bound cover from view with one of his gloved hands. The barkeep had her hands pressed firmly on her hips, an angry expression pressed into her plump features.

"...Pardon?"

"The ink," she went on, "your well's leaking onto my tablecloth."

He looked at his small vial, noticing only then that a bead of ink had, indeed, run down its glass side and stained the beige fabric.

"Oh," he mumbled, "I'm very sorry, ma'am." He picked up the inkwell, thumbing the black-blue trail off its side, "How much did this cloth cost?"

"50 gilds."

"You're lying." Synelis accused, narrowing his eyes. "You'd be lucky to get 10 copper for this piece of... art."

"10 copper because you spilled ink all over it," she shot back, "I'll take 30 gilds, if you're poor."

"I'll give you 5, and I keep the ruined tablecloth."

"Deal." The woman said.

Begrudgingly, Synelis pulled his hide coin purse from his belt and pulled out five coins with equally brilliant rose gold faces. Gildens were a premium currency, and despite the fact that he'd haggled her down to ten percent of her initial request, he was still paying too much for the raggedy cloth. At least he'd be able to use it as a blanket.

His evening was mostly uneventful after that. He returned to his room in the tavern and removed anything from his person that might make noise. He left his coin purse and most of his lock picking set under the frame of the bed, covering them with his newly acquired tablecloth. Then he fastened his cape around himself, pulled his black gloves taught over his hands, made sure he had his poisons and spell books in his satchel, and checked the clock.

9:47

He smiled. The inventor would be long gone from his laboratory, and Synelis would have plenty of time to take his prize. The airship blueprints were merely rumor to most people, but Synelis knew they were real. He'd seen Inventor Alantar's prototypes, watched the man's face light up with joy as his miniature boats soared through the air. Aviation was, as of most people that were not blessed with wings' concern, an impossible feat. But Inventer Alantar had figured it out, created a real, working prototype, and soon would be able to bless everyone with flight.

Synelis didn't feel too bad about stealing the blueprints. After all, Alantar had created them; who was to say he couldn't just draw up more? He'd leave the man at least one of his prototypes.

Synelis placed his hands at the sides of the window sill and planted his feet firmly on the ledge. It was a stretch to leap from the tavern window to the next building, but it was a stretch that Synelis knew he could make. He looked left, then right, to make sure there were no officers of the law to impede his progress, and then promptly leapt across the alley below and to the next building.

Synelis caught himself on a brick arch, scrambling to give his feet any sort of purchase. Once he found said purchase, he dragged himself the rest of the way above the building. He could see the palace in the distance, and for a moment he wished he'd chosen an inn that wasn't in the poorest slum so far away from his target, but then he figured he could go over his plan as he went. Besides, he needed the exercise.

It took him a long time to get there. He didn't know how long, exactly, but long enough that he regretted wearing his gloves. The sweat would make them impossible to remove. Nevertheless, he found himself on the laboratory balcony, soaked clothes and all, and he would not let discomfort get in his way.

It was smart, he supposed, for the inventor to leave his balcony locked with such delicate research inside, but he still found it odd to have to pick the lock on the balcony door. Most people left their balconies unlocked. Maybe Inventor Alantar understood how sought after his work was. That, or he was just plain paranoid.

Still, the lock was no match for Synelis' skills. It clicked open after only a few attempts and not even one broken pick. The door swung open with a louder creak than he would've liked, and Synelis slid through the opening and across the wall.

The laboratory was beautiful, if disorganized. Up close, the golden chandelier was even more beautiful, with each crystal reflecting the moon rays from the door throughout the laboratory. Synelis didn't waste much time examining the  chandelier. Instead, he began to sift through the tables of parts, bagging anything that looked of value. He'd come across the blueprints eventually, he was certain.

Synelis was beginning to lose hope for finding the blueprints. Sure, there were rolls of parchment, but most were empty or schematics for something else or just notes in surprisingly neat handwriting. He had gone all the way around the laboratory looking for them, but at that point, he thought that they might have been at the large main desk. The desk seemed a rather obvious place to hide blueprints of such caliber, and he thought that a mind such as Inventor Alantar's would not hide them there.

Synelis approached the desk carefully, glad to find the blueprints displayed plainly on the flat top but also very, very discouraged to see Inventor Alantar splayed across the desk, his face peaceful despite the smudged ink on his cheeks.

Synelis had not seen Alantar when he first entered, and the fact that the man was there complicated things, especially considering the pillow he'd employed for his sleep was the schematics. Synelis had no way of pulling them out from under the inventor without undoubtedly waking him.

"Shit," Synelis hissed, risking Alantar noticing him. He could run away then, but when the Inventor woke and found various effects gone, the security would no doubt be heightened, and Synelis' chance to get his prize would be gone, maybe forever.

Carefully, he pulled on the edge of the blueprints, freezing when the inventor snorted and shifted. Alantar still hadn't woken.

This was going to be harder than Synelis initially anticipated.