A small town of Ascot at the border of Mapleton and Remore kingdom, was an ideal place for the Thief's Guild to operate unrestrained and without supervision. The town had no guards, citizen militia or any lawful form of security. Still, the order was enforced entirely by the Guild that had the utmost authority within the confines of the town's borders. Bones entered the town under the guise he had ever since Melville - the now worn out winter clothing, both reeking and smeared with traces of dried blood. Even in the town governed by cutthroats and thieves, Bones stood out like a thumb.

His first order of business after entering was to change clothes and the town of Ascot wasn't short of shops selling dark themed coats, cloaks, hooded scarfs and other garments of different designs. Bones' choice of new clothing was largely inspired by simply wanting to fit in, and he walked out of one of the shops entirely dressed and covered in black.

He didn't wear as much black ever since he infiltrated the wealthy estates during the heist in Hagos. Bones now looked like any other mysterious looking hooded cutthroat on the streets. In short, he fitted in.

Unlike the Thief Guild's headquarters in The Underground City below Hagos, the Guild here didn't have a single structure to represent it, but a whole district, and finding directions wasn't hard. Bones asked for directions a few times, just for the confirmation, and every time he was pointed in the same direction. He found it a bit… odd and a couple of questions crossed his mind.

Do I just head straight there? Do I need to show someone my plaque? Who to show it to? What if the plaque was binded somehow to Iam? Can a person be tracked through the plaque, like with an adventurer's badge?

[...]

Troubled, Bones found himself standing in front of a two story building, a bit hesitant to go in. The building was in private ownership of a mage and an enchanter by profession. The ground floor was used for conducting enchanting services and more importantly, Identifying items for a service fee. Bones used Identify once more on the plaque he held in his hand.

Wooden tablet, ??

The result was the same no matter how many times he tried to Identified it, and that was what troubled him. Was it really just a plain, wooden tablet? What do question marks mean and why can't he translate them?

Questions, questions, questions. *exhales*

Bones stepped forward and opened the double door to a reception desk where a woman in her twenties, with a skirt too short and a chirpy voice, welcomed him in. He asked for Identify service and was made to wait in the reception room. While waiting, he summoned a small booklet, a sort of guide to his future adventures, and immersed himself in reading.

*ahem*

"Hm? Oh is it my turn already?" Bones looked up from the book at the young miss with a stunned expression and raised eyebrows.

"A-ah? Yes sir. What a relief - I was afraid you might have died on me while waiting! I've been calling for you but you didn't respond!"

"What? I was reading. How long have I been waiting?"

"It's been forty minutes and I've been calling you for the past five minutes sir. Please, come this way."

The worried receptionist exhaled in relief and led Bones next to the reception desk and into the office in the back. Bones entered and saw a slightly older man, in his early fifties perhaps, stretching his arms, then washing his hands and rubbing his eyes.

"Mmnn welcome. Have a seat. Identify service right?" The enchanter spoke while still rubbing his eyes. Bones answered affirmatively and the man glanced his way, gave him a brief once over, head-to-toe, then walked over and sat behind his desk.

"The minimal fee for my services is twenty gold, non-negotiable. Do you agree to pay the service fee of twenty gold?" The man asked. Bones contemplated for a moment before starting taking out the money but the enchanter raised his hand to stop him.

"You pay the fee at the reception desk after the service. I should mention that items, artifacts, gems and whatnot of second tier cost more, and I can partially Identify third tier items at the exclusive price but… I don't think we need to worry about that. Now show me the item in question."

Bones was briefly stunned by the enchanter's looking-down-on-me attitude before taking out the tablet and handing it to the enchanter for inspection. The man took the plaque in his hand and took the glasses out of his suit vest pocket, then put them on. He gave the plaque a thorough inspection, from different angles and distance, and roughly half a minute later, he took the glasses off while murmuring.

"Yes yes, mhm. Alright, alright." He then handed the plaque back to Bones and said that this is just a wooden tablet, without any enchantments on it. Bones waited for the man to continue but…

"What? That's it?" Bones blurted out.

"Yes, that is right." The enchanter confirmed and coughed once.

Bones stared at the plaque in his hands then abruptly stood up.

"You're kidding me? That much I Identified myself!" He retorted.

"Then why have you come looking for my services?" The enchanter raised a good question.

"Because of the question marks I couldn't Identify!"

"Oh, it just says that it was quality made, of a quality wood material. You probably couldn't identify it entirely because you have basic Identify, yes?"

"Well yes, but you expect me to pay a fee for pretty much nothing? Are you sure it isn't enchanted?" Bones questioned with doubt. The man raised an eyebrow and exhaled in annoyance before answering that it is a thieves' plaque he had seen dozens of times.

Then, he already knew it wasn't enchanted? Bones concluded, felt cheated and raised the issue.

"So what if I already knew? You paid me to Identify an item, which I did, and tell you if it's enchanted or not - which I did too. It's not my fault you decided to use my service on a wooden plaque! Are you sure you want to make an issue out of it?" The man scoffed. Before saying anything else, Bones established Soul Link as noninvasively as he could, and Identifed the enchanter.

Bleso, level 53 Enchanter

The man was second tier and Bones wasn't as confident to try his luck as he was against Reggie. He stored the plaque, turned his attitude hundred and eighty, and politely thanked the man for his service before leaving his office. The receptionist noticed his foul mood by the stomping of his feet and asked him if everything was alright. Somehow, the sound of her voice soothed his mood and he calmed down before explaining what went down.

"Oh yes, the wooden plaques are given to the outsiders and provide free access to the Downtown District where the Guild operates and basic services such as buying and selling of information."

[...]

"Wait, I could've just asked you about the plaque without paying the service fee?" Bones felt like slapping his forehead. The receptionist meekly smiled, not sure how to respond. Bones grudgingly took out twenty gold pieces and slammed them on the desk. "The fee!" He said, then took another twenty gold and said: "Your tip for the information. Thank you, miss."

Before she could protest, Bones turned and bolted out the building. The gold wasn't an issue, Bones had it in thousands but he still felt discontented about being swindled out of money.

What's done is done! The plaque I have seems to be safe to use and will no doubt come in handy but I'm surprised there aren't more precautions taken. Anyone could get their hands on one of them and have free access to Thief's Guild services. Perhaps that was taken into account and I'm thinking too much into it.

After leaving the enchanters office, Bones spared no time and headed directly to the Downtown District. The main entrance was simply a street leading through the passage beneath the archway between two buildings. A rough looking fella with papers in hands leaned on the wall of the archway and glanced at Bones approaching. Naturally, Bones deduced the man was the person he would need to show the plaque to, so he produced the plaque in his hand and flashed it in front of him before entering. The man was visibly confused by Bones actions, shaking his head in disapproval and Bones heard him mutter "tourists" under his breath as he walked away. Embarrassed and speechless, Bones picked up pace.

The district had an intricate web of alleys forming a labyrinth that made it difficult to find one's way around - And tall buildings on both sides casted dark shadow on the narrow pathways. The shops were small and humble, without the usual lavishness Bones was used to seeing in other cities and towns. He entered one of the shops and saw dusty furniture, cracked flooring and cobwebs in the corners. The merchandise was strange, many items he had never seen before. Bones browsed the goods with interest and when he was done, he simply left the store without anyone asking him if he actually needed anything.

While walking down the street, Bones noted figures standing in side alleys, in pairs of two, watching and observing everyone and everything, not just him.

Members of the Thief's Guild? Should I approach one of them and ask for the information? No, not right now. I'll try and find a shop with ointments on my own.

Bones' guess was right, the shady pairs observing from the alleys were members of the Guild and he didn't have to approach them because not even ten minutes later, two of them approached him first.

" 'ello friend. You look a little bit lost! Can we help you with anything?" One of them asked.

Bones turned around and immediately used Identify on the two of them. His brazen actions didn't escape their notice and they shared a glance but didn't comment further.

Both of them are low levels - in their thirties. Why did they approach me? Do I seem somehow suspicious or something?

"Perhaps. Why have you approached me? Do you need anything from me? Can I help you with anything?" Bones didn't fumble his words and was direct.

"We don't need anything from you. On the contrary, we offer our assistance. We have approached you because you seemed like you were looking for something in particular."

Bones titled his head, thinking about it, then replied he was looking for concealment ointment." I heard this is the place to find it."

"That is true. There are shops specializing in that kind of merchandise but they are restricted to people with access."

Bones flashed them the plaque and one of the two offered to show him around. Bones agreed and followed the man to a shop aptly named Trick & Treat. The man excused himself, and returned back to his companion, leaving Bones alone in front of the plain looking shop with dirty windows and worn out front doors. Bones entered the small shop and was immediately greeted by an elderly man with a gray mustache, and a few strands of unyielding gray hairs that refused to leave the post on his head.

"Greetings, I am in need of concealment ointment and was directed to your shop. Do you sell any here?"

"And who directed you? One of them younglings, was it?" The shopkeeper asked. Bones paused for a second, then replied if by younglings he meant the shady characters skulking in the alleys then yes, one of them brought him here. The shopkeeper snorted, shaking his head and asked Bones to follow him to the back. The front of the shop was small and mostly held the same type of merchandise Bones saw in previous shops. The back, however, held a different assortment of vials, potions, gadgets and devices of various sizes and intent.

"What kind of ointment did you say you were looking for?"

"A concealment one." Bones repeated.

"Sam!" The shopkeeper yelled and pointed toward the shelf with ointments. "They're all labeled so feel free to browse as much as you like. Sam will be here to help with anything else you need. The shopkeeper returned to manage the front of the shop while the kid with barely any facial hair on his sharp chin popped out and greeted Bones with a nod. The shopkeeper then took a seat on a small stool, grabbed a piece of paper with an unknown content from a nearby desk and started reading, not bothering with Bones anymore.