A heavenly aroma filled the market place this fine day. The preparing of strong hers, the boiling of special teas, and the burning of calming incense was enough to wake even the most dull of noses. If one would follow the delight mixture of smells they would soon come across a stall that had been set up by a rather young gypsy.

Anika stood behind her stall, wailing her siren song. She was trying to catch the interest of bored housewives, adventurers, and those concerned with their health. She claimed to have incense that would come wild boars, tea that would cure even the most seemingly lost bodies, and potions that could sweeten the most bitter mans love life. She would try any means of attracting customers and achieving a sale.

The stall was nothing to fancy. In all actuality it was a lean-to covered by a cloth tarp with a table out front to display some of her more eye catching wares. Her prized potions she kept in back though. Bottles of every shape and size decorated the lean-to. Many herbs and fluids were scattered everywhere as she was in the process of making tea, cooking up some blinding powder, and working on a few experiments. She was never good at making up her mind, so she usually had many things going on at once. It could get very chaotic, but it never created a dull moment.

Currently Anika stood on the other side of her stall, away from the potions and experiments inside. She trusted the market guards would keep out any thieves that might be about. Her call had managed to trap a woman who was interested in all the pretty colors and smells. The bizarre fragrances from the tent along with the exotic appearance of the traveling gypsy was more than enough to peak the interests of shoppers who have never even ventured outside the overbearing walls of Lomedor.

She put on her best act and was ready to sell her cheapest wares and weakest potions for as much gold as possible. Her cunning mind, silver tongue, and knack for mischief tended to get her in trouble. She rarely got in trouble for her seedy business skills because she was up and gone, traveling towards the next city, before any of her buyers had a chance to use their merchandise. This was not to say that Anika was a bad Alchemist. Actually Anika was getting better and better at her craft every day. It was a skill passed down in her family, who had accumulated many recipes throughout the generations, keeping each one in the large Moore family book.

It had been a long time since Annihilate had last visited Lomedor, and it had changed significantly since then. There were new buildings, increased security, and as he passed through the streets and back alleys there were far fewer wastrels and drunkards sitting in the god-forsaken muck. That, however, was exactly what he was looking for; the sort of scoundrels who would do anything for a bit of gold, and keep him from having to worry about getting caught, was just what he needed. Now, it seemed, that it would be very hard to do any business. Annihilate had come back to Lomedor in hope that he might find some new acquaintances to help him fight his invisible enemy, but since he had been back there was not one person who could or wanted to help him. Not even for the sums of gold he was offering. It seems thanks to the guilds, as well as the former threat on the moon, that Order was returning to Ea, and particularly this bustling town. It made him sick just thinking about it.

The shade felt comfortable, however, when he came upon the town square. With all of the people coming and going he felt more at ease, and found just what he was looking for – a scapegoat.

Annihilate had dawned his usual reversible red cloak, though he had the black side out, and he had trimmed his hair to just past shoulder length and had shaped his goatee to a perfect shape. He did not wear his hood up and his swords and purse were visible at his hips. His dark clothing beneath was not fancy, but nor was it drab. If anything one might mistake him as an off-duty soldier or guard, but as long was he wasn’t noticed he was happy.

Then, suddenly, there was a soft caress of his shoulder as a man passed him by. Anni saw the blade before it was pulled from its sheathe, and reacted in time. He tucked his shoulder and rotated in time, and with a free hand grasped the man’s weapon hand. He twisted with his all of his might, and the poor pickpocket was helpless as Anni turned his arm behind his back, and pointed the thief’s own knife into his kidney’s in one swift movement. Helpless, Anni pushed the thief down a back alley. The exchange had happened so fast and so subtly no one even noticed, but as he confronted the man in the alley two other men approached in behind him, and the shade could only guess that they were his backup.

This was too perfect.

Annihilate tossed the thief his dagger back, and began to explain, “I need someone like you to help me, and if you’re lucky you might earn a few coins if you do exactly what I say.”

The thief looked at his two friends and shook his head. Then, in a voice somewhat weak, he said, “Alright. What is it?”

“Are these yours?” he asked, nodding over his shoulder at the two men. He hadn’t seen them but he knew they were there. Their shadows were cast along the wall.

“Yes,” the thief answered.

“Good, there is a stall outside selling potions. Find out if she has truth serum, and if she does find out a price. You get twenty pieces of silver. If you can’t get it for that price, steal it. I’m sure you three are creative, so try not to get caught,” he explained in a voice all too calm for the situation. The thieves nodded, and Annihilate untied his purse and tossed it to the man. He gave the three ample time to leave the alley before he followed suit, and took a stand at the corner adjacent to the potion stand. He could smell the fragrance of flowers and oils in the air, and he shuttered. Then, from afar he saw what his new friends had planned.

------

The first thief who had been dumb enough to try to pickpocket Annihilate approached the stand first. His other two companions stood off to the side at another stall. From afar the shade could see it was a smash-and-grab set up. The wiry little man approached the stand and pushed his way to the front, and smiled a toothy smile at Anika. He was a fair looking man, not overly handsome, and he was rather small. He was the type that would have been kicked and teased as a child, and perhaps have grown up in the care of many families. But, when he spoke, he was almost gentile. His voice was like silk, and his salt and pepper hair was streaked from his stressful work, though truthfully it was premature graying.

“Good morning, mi’lady,” he said happily, holding the coin purse at his side. He addressed Anika as a lady, which was very proper for one so low on the food chain. His clothes were not terribly dirty, but it was easy to see that they were worn, but he spoke with such finesse that it was hard to pay attention to anything other than his big brown eyes. “Perchance, do you have any truth serum made with lotus extract?”

The other two men stood away, seeming to chat, but on the signal of the tiny little man they would begin to walk towards the potion stand where they would begin a tussle right in the middle of the mob of people. It was a genius move. The little man would have disappeared before the fighting started, and just as all attention was focused on the two fighting men the thief would hop over the stand, and find what he needed just to be gone as the fight was broken up. The two men would not be thrown in prison because fighting was a common occurrence in the area. It was nothing special to see two grown men fighting over who got the last piece of cake.

Still, the man would get off scot free, and the potion would not be thought of for several hours. However, this would not happen until the thief could see which potion it was, and find out where it was stashed exactly.

Anika had just finished up a sale with the woman. She had managed to swindle her out of more gold than she was ready to hand out. Not only did she sell the herbs the woman needed, but also some incense that Anika swore would calm her wild children down. She knew that would be enough to sell any mother. The promise of relaxation and the escape from the horrid life mothers led was worth anything. They had to raise rambunctious children almost all on their own, cook for her family, clean up after everyone, do the shopping, and tel her husband how much she appreciates all the work he does, even though it is nothing compared to the tremendous duty of motherhood. All this, and without so much as a thank you, as if that was all she was on this earth to do.

Anika did not want that life. She wanted a family, but never that role within it. She would never let herself become a slave again, not to wealthy nobles or the ones she loved. She was to independent to bend on hand and knee to any man.

After the woman scurried off, another man came into view, greeting Anika as a lady. This was something of a rarity, for a bastard gypsy girl was far from the ranks of lady, and most knew it. The compliment did make her smile though, as hallow as it may be. She returned the kind greeting to her potential buyer and listened to the request.

She found it odd that this scruffy looking man would be spending money on truth serum, rather then food or ale. It was quite curious in deed, but Anika payed little attention to it after first thought. Her mind quickly turned to the sale she could make. Oh she had no truth serum, but this man did not know that. She could probably sell him a vial of sugar water and he would not know it any different from a sleeping potion.

Anika thought for a second, choosing her words carefully before letting them slip past her thin lips " Truth serum is a rather hard potion to make. It does not help that lotus is in a high demand these days. I am making a batch..." She gestured inside her stall towards a small table covered with alchemical tools. In reality that was just an experiment she was working on, but the man did not know that. To him that could be a batch of truth serum, and that is what Anika wanted him to believe ".... It would take you quite a large amount of gold for me to sell it too you instead, what is your price range?"

Anika thought him nothing more than a customer. She had no idea he was part of a little gang, ready to make a distraction and grab potions before she knew what hit her.

Pacing about the square, Annihilate tried not to appear too suspicious to the guards. Many passed him by and said nothing, and to them he gave a pleasant smile and a nod of his head. To them he suspected that he appeared like a gentleman in most respects, and so he strolled along lazily like a man with quite a lot of money as well as plenty of time to spend. He even went so far as to stop at a few of the vendors and survey their wares, though he had no intention of buying anything. Anni was so uninterested in their merchandise that he yawned occasionally, and had to continually tell himself to keep looking. The only thing other than the potion woman that even partially interested him was a vendor selling swords, though the steel blades hidden in a back alley that he owned were more valuable than the copper pieces of junk they were peddling.

The thief unhooked the pouch Anni had given him, and jingled it before her. However, by the sheer sound of her voice and the weight of the bag he knew that he did not have enough. Still, until the moment was right he played the interested buyer pretending his bag of silver was full of gold. As he stood there waiting for his partners to get in position he rubbed the back of his head – it was the sign for them to start the grab.

The two other thieves, the diversions, slowly made their way across the square. They moved at a fair pace, and slowed as they came in front of Anika’s stall. Very subtly, they threw one another gentle nods, and then began a very violent course of conversation. The pair began to argue. It started out as a simple dispute over where the best fishing spot on the coast was, and then evolved into a confrontation over a serving winch some time ago, then finally escalated to name calling and violent pushing. Eventually the two apparent friends were rolling around on the ground, and throwing punches.

The third, the thief that approached Anika, turned to observe as did many people at this point. No guards had been called yet, but when a splatter of fake blood sprayed across the cobblestone, the thief looked at Anika, belted his pouch, and said, “I’m going to get a guard.” His voice was grave – he was a good actor, and he turned and ran off very quick. However, he didn’t get far. He cut down behind the row of stalls next to her own, and hid in the shadows for a few moments. Later, a guard came from his general direction, but the thief did not return, and the fighting came closer and closer to her stall.

The thief took a deep breath as he stalked back around the backside of the stalls. The area was cramped, but he moved purposefully, and crouched down between her’s and a fruit vendor. Before he struck, however, he glanced up at the fruit. There were rows of bananas next to him, and he grinned and looked around very casually, before he reached up and snagged one to slip under his belt. Then, he waited. He kept his eyes glued to Anika from the shadows, waiting and watching for the right moment, and when it happened he would move and hop into the back of her stall to acquire the potion.