Gao, The Avaricious Purloiner

A world-building exercise I started to write to fill out a fantasy world I've started to imagine, but postponed indefinitely when I ran into a case writer's block.

    Gao ducked into the cramped and murky room, paused to let his eyes adjust from the bright sunlight in the street outside, and stepped up to the small desk behind which a wizened little man hunched. The man looked up, his face shadowed by the single shaft of late afternoon sun that shone on his workspace from a small window high in the wall behind him.

    "Ah, it's Gao. What has he brought for me today?" He creaked in his whiny old voice. He did not address Gao, but rather a hulking figure lurking silently in the corner. 

   Gao, well accustomed to the man's habit of speaking only to his protector, emptied a small pouch into the patch of lighted desktop. Out tumbled a small variety of rings, bracelets, and chains of copper, silver, and even one ring of gold. The old man riffled through the pile with quick fingers, sorting the loot into piles by material. 

    "I heard that the Minister of Commerce is trying to convince the Emperor to eliminate the Assassin's Guild." The fence said absently, still addressing the figure in the corner. He held up a silver ring set with a small emerald to the light, marked a figure on a piece of paper, and placed it along with the other silver items on a scale. "Foolishness, I say. One who is wise does not offend the Guild. But he has support from some of the other ministers, I hear." He balanced the scales with a selection of small weights taken from a drawer, made another mark on the paper, and began the process again with the copper. "It should be a mild winter this year." He swapped topics without hesitation.

    "If you talked less, old man, and payed more, the world would be a happier place by my figuring." Gao grumbled. The man ignored him, marking the paper once more, and sweeping the copper off the scale to make room for the gold ring.

    "Lord Hisho and Lord Yung are still feuding, I hear. Hisho says Yung stole his prize catch from his last fishing day." He chortled, while Gao ground his teeth. The old man peered at his paper, then began counting out coins from a purse withdrawn from another drawer. "I once saw a man die from a Ringtail snake's venom. It was quite horrible." He finished counting and pushed the coins across the desk.

   Without a word, Gao scooped them up and headed for the door, eager to find a drink. He slipped out into the street, the closed door finally muting the old man's ramblings, and melded into the passersby.

    This was one of the shabbiest sections of Eshinan, composed of dingy hovels and shacks squeezed together along narrow streets, some of which were not even paved. Here lived the poor, the outcasts, and many of Eshinan's criminal elements. The former two trying to scrape out a living, while the latter used and preyed upon the former. The people on the street largely matched their surroundings; figures with hunched shoulders and wary eyes. The few exceptions might include a rare patrol of city guards, or someone with wealth encircled by personal guards on some errand of questionable legality.

    Gao ambled southward. The nicer sections of the city, places with ornate, or at least clean, multi-story homes and shops, lay further north up the long slope on which Eshinan spread; good places to acquire items, but with money in his pocket Gao headed down toward the sea. He made his way along a street facing the harbor, the cobblestone lined here and there with fish stalls, and vendors of various marine-related items. A badly weathered sign declared a certain run-down establishment as Eight's Plate.

   On his way in, Gao caught a glimpse of himself in a dirty window. Dark hair framed a face that scowled more often than not, in which was set calculating grey eyes. His clothing was drab, carefully chosen so that he would not stand out in a place like this, nor would he draw immediate suspicion in  a more well-to-do area. Important attributes for a man such as himself.

    The interior of the Plate was full of smoke and the smell of stale alcohol, as well as the particular odor of its patrons. Gao stepped deftly around a pile of vomit on the thresh-covered floor, and took a seat at the bar. He slid a pair of copper coins across the pitted and scarred surface as the barkeep brought him a bowl of cheap wine. Halfway through, a cloaked man slipped into the seat next to him.

    "I want you to steal something for me." He said without preamble. Gao stiffened and eyed his barmate intently; beneath the hood was a thin, lined face that suggested that the man was well into his late years, though his dark eyes showed no lack of acuity.

    "Why would you ask me to do such a thing? I'm an honest citizen." He said carefully.

    "Because I need something stolen, and I'm told that you're a capable thief." The man's voice indicated no signs of feebleness either. Something in his gut told Gao to tread lightly, that this was no ordinary old man. Maybe a noble, or wealthy merchant. If that were the case, however, there might be good money to be made.

    "And what would that be? Theoretically."

    "A document from the Minister of Development's private quarters." Gao blinked incredulously.

     "Are you addled? Just who are you?" The man smiled slightly.

     "You need not concern yourself with me. Only know that I am the man who is giving you an opportunity to earn a great deal of gold at very little risk to yourself."

      "Little risk? The ministers' personal quarters are some of the best guarded marks in the whole city. I know. You are addled. Find yourself another fool."

     "Very well." The man seemed unfazed. He slipped a fat gold coin onto the bar."For your time." He stood and turned toward the door. Gao stared at the coin for the instant it took his brain to take in the sight, then quickly tucked it into an inner pocket.

     "A document, you say?" He tried to keep his voice even.

     The man calmly settled back on his perch. "Indeed. I can guarantee you fifteen minutes to get in and back out with the document, without any guards to bother you at all. In addition to whatever you take for yourself, I will pay you two hundred gold coins for the document. As I said, a great deal of money with very little risk for one such as you... Assuming that you have the skill I'm told you do." He added with a razor thin smile.

      Gao narrowed his eyes at the old man's tone, but the gold coin weighed comfortably in his pocket. "Fine. You've got a deal. When does all this happen?"

     "Tonight..."

     Just before midnight Gao found himself skulking beside a stone wall in the richest portion of Eshinan, the palace district. He could practically smell wealth on the warm night breezes. He went over his employer's instructions in his head for the tenth time. "At five to midnight the Minister's guard changes. Tonight the second shift will be delayed by a minor disturbance in another area of the grounds. The minister will not be home. When you get into his chambers you will find a sealed package addressed to the Minister of Agriculture. Bring that to me at the Emperor's Rest Inn and I will give you your reward."

    Gao lept up, catching the top of the wall, and pulled himself up just enough to see into the grounds. Two figures walked along different paths through the immaculate garden of flowers, shrubs, and bushes, both angling toward the front of the property where the guards were housed. Gao dropped back to the ground and reviewed his plan one more time. After a few more moments to allow the guards to make their way out of sight, he rubbed his palms together and pulled himself up and over the wall.

    He crouched beside the cool stone for a moment, listening, before slipping silently through the garden and up to the main building. He stopped below the third window from the left on the second floor. No light came from the open portal, and Gao took this as reassurance that the Minister was indeed not home. He took a thin, knotted rope from his belt. Fastened to the end was a metal hook wrapped carefully with a muffling cloth. Gao flipped it up through the window with a practiced motion, pulling it tight when it hooked on the sill. With both stealth and speed he walked himself up the wall, peered into the room, and pulled himself in when he found it was empty. 

    The room appeared to be a study or office in the faint light. So far the old man's information was correct, which meant that the document, and Gao's payday, should be through the door across the room. He strode warily toward it, pausing at a large desk to tuck an ornamental gold statue into one of many voluminous pockets. He permitted himself a quick grin before moving on to the sliding door. He paused to listen again, but no sound came from beyond it. He took hold of the handle and slid it open enough to slip through. The handle was sticky, but he ignored it, he had to find the document quickly. This room...

Author's Note

Any ideas you may have on what comes next, to spur it's continuance would be appreciated.