After the revelations were over, the group got back to the task at hand: Using the jars to rob the city blind, as all adventurers do.
“Which should we test first?” Charlie asked.
“Not the hog. I want him to be at full if we plan on reviving him.” Hagerd said.
“Why bother?” Gregory asked.
“He has a family.” Hagerd replied. “And it would make Fergus happy. His wife comes around all the time to bother us and see if we found her beloved husband.”
“Whose soul are we stealing to make that happen?” Gregory retorted.
“I have an idea.” Charlie said, eyeing Hagerd.
“What, my soul?”
“No. It’s best you don’t know.”
“There’s an eagle with a jeweler’s monocle thingy on his head.” Geoffrey pointed out. “We could maybe loot the shop.”
“The tiger. He’s a nobleman, from a low house by the look of his garb. Those lesser nobility have no class and run off all the time, shouldn’t be hard getting back into his house and looting the vault.” Gregory said.
“Do you want me to tell you who they probably are?” Hagerd said with a sigh.
“Wait, you know them?” Charlie asked eagerly.
“Yes, you evil thieving fucks.” Hagerd rolled his eyes and pointed at the figurines. “The alligator is a guard. The local garrison knows he was taken.”
“No good, then.” Charlie huffed.
“The mouse is a shopkeeper named Maisy. She owns a General Goods store. Obviously, it closed down, but the goods are still in there and she’d probably know where the keys are.” Hagerd continued, going down the line. “Don’t know the rabbit much, he was a laborer, stopped in once or twice.”
“Useless.” Gregory said.
“The eagle is a Jeweler named Ailin, he’s married so watch out for that landmine. The orca is a fellow bouncer, dunno his name, he worked for us and then moved on to another bar.” Hagerd’s eyes roamed over the figurines, “The skunk, his name is Nicolas, owns a perfume shop. I heard rumors he sells magical perfumes.”
“That’s a definite yes,” Geoffrey grinned.
“The constable, Roony.” Hagerd pointed at the hog. His eyes turned to the cow figurine. “I’m sure Palseks could fill us in more if anyone has any interest, but she’s missing…”
Hagerd looked at Palseks, “milkmaid? Ran away from a noble’s estate.”
“That sound right. Cow was very dumb. Memories very fragmented. Not know much beyond stable where she live.” Palseks replied.
“Does it matter? You didn’t look particularly mobile in that form.” Hagerd asked, receiving a slow shake of Palseks’ head in reply.
“Moving on then. The Dragonkin’s name is Sloan. He’s a professional adventurer.” Hagerd said.
“What does that mean?”
“He might have magic items, likely at a bank or shipping guild.” Hagerd said, “Adventurers are always on the move, so likely the shipping guild.”
“What do we do to get the items?”
“Blood test.”
“Will this work?”
“No idea.” Hagerd shrugged. “Better hope so, if you fail that test they’ll probably assume you’re a demon, or worse.”
“And who is this one?” Geoffrey pointed at a doe.
“Deidra. She worked at the private zoo for years as a veterinarian before she went missing.” Hagerd said.
“What does she have?” Gregory asked.
“I’m told she harvested reagents from magical animals and sold them on the side.” Hagerd shrugged. “Problem is, everyone knows the hag got her.”
“Super Risky…” Charlie mulled.
“What’s with the empty jar?” Geoffrey asked, reaching for it.
Charlie slapped his gnarled hand away. “Don’t touch it! That’s a soul jar. If you open it, it could suck your soul right out.”
“Oh!” Geoffrey snatched his paw back.
“We only have three days.” Gregory said. “Which ones do we use?”
“Assuming it takes us half a day to rob them, half a day each. Maybe more for the tiger aristocrat.” Charlie replied.
“So six…” Gregory placed his head in his paws. “Who should we hit?”
“Tiger, Eagle, Skunk, Dragonkin, Mouse and…” Charlie paused.
“The Doe,” Gregory guessed.
“Yes.”
“We don’t have any casters who use reagents in our party.” Hagerd said.
“Either way, we should be near the target before we do anything.” Gregory interjected. “From what Glitz said, we only have a few hours with a small mouthful.”
“We could take a gulp?” Geoffrey said.
“And then might not turn back for a whole day.” Hagerd replied. “And there’s a lot of lucrative targets.”
“Let’s get them first, then.” Charlie replied. “Are there any guaranteed jackpots?”
“Skunk and Tiger.” Hagerd said. “The Dragonkin is just me making assumptions. The mouse shopkeeper has money but we don’t know how much she’s saved.”
“What about the Eagle Jeweler?”
“Those shops have tons of magical safeguards when they’re dealing with so much money,” Charlie pointed out. “You’d have to make sure to really get into character. That’s dangerous, since you could end up thinking like him and end up doing his job, rather than yours.”
“Right,” Gregory said. “Thieving is surprisingly difficult.”
“So skunk or tiger?” Charlie asked the group. “Raise your hands for skunk.”
Hagerd and Geoffrey raised their hands.
“Tiger?”
Charlie, Gregory and Palseks raised their hands.
“You don’t get to vote!” Gregory hissed to Palseks.
“Tie breaker.” Palseks shrugged.
“You did free her,” Charlie pointed out.
“Yes, but not officially, the collar stays on! A prince of my stature can’t be known to be soft on his slaves.” Gregory warned the female kobold. “If you get caught, you’re an escaped slave, understand.”
“Yes… master.” Palseks replied in a somber tone, though Charlie noticed a hint of glee in her eye as the word ‘master’ emanated from her mouth.
“So,” Charlie turned to Hagerd, “Where is the noble’s manor.”
“Whoa, where are we storing our ill-gotten gains?” Hagerd asked.
“Here,” Charlie blinked.
“No, we are not bringing stolen goods back to my husband’s inn.” Hagerd replied.
“Your place, then,” Charlie said.
“What?!” Hagerd stood.
“We’re leaving. You’re never going there again. Hagerd, the husband of the owner of the Sit and Swill is a respected individual living below his means. No one will believe you stole anything.” Charlie replied.
“Who do we fence it to?” Gregory asked.
“Glitz…” Charlie pursed his lips. “Or we hide our loot in the caravan and leave with it.”
“If the thefts are reported, wouldn’t the caravan be the first place the authorities look?” Gregory asked.
“True.” Charlie’s tail swished nervously. “We have no choice but to use Glitz, then.”
“He’ll fence it?”
“For 40% of the cut.” Charlie said.
“Wow, rip-off.” Geoffrey growled.
“I agree with the bear. That’s way too much off the price.” Gregory said.
“Or we take our chances with the guards when they search the caravan.” Charles replied.
“How are we carrying out some of this stuff? We’re not the most physical except Geoffrey.”
"We could all take a small huff of that Orca,” Charlie said, “that figure looks buff enough to haul away just about anything.”
“Right.” Hagerd held up the jar. “Could be enough for us to get everything to Glitz’s shop. But then…no more orca.”
“That’s bad, right?” Geoffrey asked. “Morally.”
“I’m not comfortable huffing souls, honestly.” Gregory said. “The effects may wear off eventually, but is it because the soul is gone or did we simply absorb it? If we take two whiffs from the Orca, what would that do to us?”
“No idea.” Charlie said. “We aren’t demons, we don’t eat souls, so I guess we’d absorb it.”
“Then Geoffrey and two orcas for the estate.”
The matter settled, the party put on more nondescript clothing and headed out.