The bird does not fly off.
Dirty Frankie's place ends up being on the second floor of a pipe shop, in a corner office in a fairly good looking part of the city. Despite his name, the shop is clean, just dirty enough to avoid being immaculate. There's a staircase leading up to the corner office, all metal and very clanky. Deliberately so, as the upper landing is rich and well carpeted. Inside is the man himself, flanked by two animals.. some kind of big dog-like creature and a strange feathery-serpent thing that's about the same size as the dog. Feathers, but no wings. Both of them look pretty dangerous, and are wide awake when you arrive.
"Hey boss, got this thief trying to operate in our territory. But it's a weird thing, he's some kind of bird."
"Bird?"
Dirty Frankie's got a smooth voice, although the man himself is pushing 50, graying hair over a broad chest with thick, stubby fingers. Some kind of tough guy, but the nasty red scar on his left hand means he's been hurt in the past.
"Yeah, I got his ID, some kinda smart tiny flying creature. Doesn't seem to be a spell or a minion or anything like that. It's some kind of animal with boosted intelligence."
"An animal? Not a monster?"
"Nah, it's got an ID and everything. Take a look." The coin is flipped to the boss, who picks it up and stares at the invisible menu.
"Is this the real thing? Level one? Four strength and no magic?"
"Yeah, he pulled it outta nowhere like a proper ID. Can't fake that. And he's too small to hide anything. All he had was the ID coin and a credit note from the Kuzenkos."
"Lotta money?"
"Nah, just five silver. But it'd probably be enough to feed a bird for weeks. Assuming he doesn't just eat trash or something."
"So what do you want?"
"Might be useful. And it's no threat at all. Could be a good lookout or scout or something. Could fly into somewhere secure and scope it out for us."
"Alright. Send the bird in."
At that, the thief opens the door and asks the black bird to come in. It flies a quick perimeter around the room, looking at the few, relatively ordinary decorations. Some pictures of people who are presumably relatives. A weapon. Frankie keeps some kind of gunpowder pistol close at hand. Not much else.. either Frankie isn't sentimental or this is just an unimportant place. All the while, both animals stare at the black bird, eyes and heads following it around the room. They don't move, but they're ready.
After two quick laps, the bird swoops in for a landing on the top of the chair.
Frankie speaks up. "Alright bird, what are you doing here?"
"Got a job. I'm supposed to cause some trouble."
"Trouble? What kind of trouble and who to?"
"Some adventurer called Serena. Supposed to beat her up."
Frankie cracks a smile and the thief begins chuckling.
"Beat up Serena? A tiny thing like you? That's some proper entertainment. This some kind of falling out among the Kuzenkos? She's working for them, you know."
Hmm. Could be. Sala did say she wanted Serena taken out for a while. Lots of possible reasons for that. Maybe she screwed up, or maybe something else is going on.
The bird spoke back. "It's what I'm good at. I'm good at causing problems. I'm sure there will be some way to take care of Serena, good adventurer or no."
"It's not so much that Serena's some amazing adventurer, she's good but not THAT good. It's more imagining a creature with 4 strength attacking someone with about sixty defense. If you had a magic greatsword", and at this point Frankie holds his hands about five feet apart, several times the bird's wingspan, "you couldn't hope to cause a scratch. What a joke."
"Eh, numbers just aren't that important. Didn't cause any trouble for the last job."
The thief chuckles again, but this time Frankie just sits back, looking pensive for a moment.
"Okay, tell you what, bird. If you pull it off, and can beat up Serena, my door will be open for you. Any time you want to come here, maybe ask for a job, some money, whatever, come in here and I'll listen to you. Cause if you can pull it off, you've got something going for you, and I'm sure I can find a good use for you."
"Thank you. I do have one question, though."
"Shoot."
"Could you tell me anything about her? I was trying to track her down today, and haven't turned her up yet."
"Yeah, okay. Listen up, I'm only gonna go through it once.."
The bird does not fly off.
Dirty Frankie's place ends up being on the second floor of a pipe shop, in a corner office in a fairly good looking part of the city. Despite his name, the shop is clean, just dirty enough to avoid being immaculate. There's a staircase leading up to the corner office, all metal and very clanky. Deliberately so, as the upper landing is rich and well carpeted. Inside is the man himself, flanked by two animals.. some kind of big dog-like creature and a strange feathery-serpent thing that's about the same size as the dog. Feathers, but no wings. Both of them look pretty dangerous, and are wide awake when you arrive.
"Hey boss, got this thief trying to operate in our territory. But it's a weird thing, he's some kind of bird."
"Bird?"
Dirty Frankie's got a smooth voice, although the man himself is pushing 50, graying hair over a broad chest with thick, stubby fingers. Some kind of tough guy, but the nasty red scar on his left hand means he's been hurt in the past.
"Yeah, I got his ID, some kinda smart tiny flying creature. Doesn't seem to be a spell or a minion or anything like that. It's some kind of animal with boosted intelligence."
"An animal? Not a monster?"
"Nah, it's got an ID and everything. Take a look." The coin is flipped to the boss, who picks it up and stares at the invisible menu.
"Is this the real thing? Level one? Four strength and no magic?"
"Yeah, he pulled it outta nowhere like a proper ID. Can't fake that. And he's too small to hide anything. All he had was the ID coin and a credit note from the Kuzenkos."
"Lotta money?"
"Nah, just five silver. But it'd probably be enough to feed a bird for weeks. Assuming he doesn't just eat trash or something."
"So what do you want?"
"Might be useful. And it's no threat at all. Could be a good lookout or scout or something. Could fly into somewhere secure and scope it out for us."
"Alright. Send the bird in."
At that, the thief opens the door and asks the black bird to come in. It flies a quick perimeter around the room, looking at the few, relatively ordinary decorations. Some pictures of people who are presumably relatives. A weapon. Frankie keeps some kind of gunpowder pistol close at hand. Not much else.. either Frankie isn't sentimental or this is just an unimportant place. All the while, both animals stare at the black bird, eyes and heads following it around the room. They don't move, but they're ready.
After two quick laps, the bird swoops in for a landing on the top of the chair.
Frankie speaks up. "Alright bird, what are you doing here?"
"Got a job. I'm supposed to cause some trouble."
"Trouble? What kind of trouble and who to?"
"Some adventurer called Serena. Supposed to beat her up."
Frankie cracks a smile and the thief begins chuckling.
"Beat up Serena? A tiny thing like you? That's some proper entertainment. This some kind of falling out among the Kuzenkos? She's working for them, you know."
Hmm. Could be. Sala did say she wanted Serena taken out for a while. Lots of possible reasons for that. Maybe she screwed up, or maybe something else is going on.
The bird spoke back. "It's what I'm good at. I'm good at causing problems. I'm sure there will be some way to take care of Serena, good adventurer or no."
"It's not so much that Serena's some amazing adventurer, she's good but not THAT good. It's more imagining a creature with 4 strength attacking someone with about sixty defense. If you had a magic greatsword", and at this point Frankie holds his hands about five feet apart, several times the bird's wingspan, "you couldn't hope to cause a scratch. What a joke."
"Eh, numbers just aren't that important. Didn't cause any trouble for the last job."
The thief chuckles again, but this time Frankie just sits back, looking pensive for a moment.
"Okay, tell you what, bird. If you pull it off, and can beat up Serena, my door will be open for you. Any time you want to come here, maybe ask for a job, some money, whatever, come in here and I'll listen to you. Cause if you can pull it off, you've got something going for you, and I'm sure I can find a good use for you."
"Thank you. I do have one question, though."
"Shoot."
"Could you tell me anything about her? I was trying to track her down today, and haven't turned her up yet."
"Yeah, okay. Listen up, I'm only gonna go through it once.."
