Mathazar Melchezidek

He crept along the rough hewn Basalt, a shadowy figure, made virtually invisible by his tight fitting gray jump suit. Crafted & dweamered for exactly that purpose, it was older than his father and wrot of materials no longer available. Making his way along the narrow corridor he paused to assure himself that the servants sleeping in the adjacent rooms took no notice of his passing.

This Midnight withdrawl was made possible by chance as much as through the weeks of pre-planning that went into an operation like this. That fortunate evening at Reverend Jaque St Claire's home on the shores of Lake Frea, he had overhear the Priest speaking with an accolate about the Duke of Castillians' planned sabbatical to Freyas Palm. I hope he finds God, thought Mat, cause when he comes home I think he'll be tempted to break some commandments.

"So far so good" he thought as again he found the back stairway, charted in an unobserved moment while attending a state dinner here several weeks ago. Mainly used by servants & Pleasure Girls, he could easily gain access to the Dukes private entrance where the prize was kept.

Silently ascending the stairs his mind went back to the events of a few minutes ago. Caught in full veiw of a guard as he crept spider-like down from the main wall, his day would have already been done if not for his ability to go into the weaker man mind & wipe all memory of his existance. The man shook his head & proceeded past, never realizing he had missed his oppertunity for easy promotion.

Several minor magical wards along the way were easily dispelled. On occasion he would pull forth his scroll case. With nearly 10 times the space inside as displaced outside, he had enough goodies to fight off an army. If only his father, the great Melchezadek, knew the uses he made of such gifts. To the theives guild he was known simply as "The Wizard" a title of respect for his unparralelled success.

Arriving at the top of the stairs Mathazar encountered his first major obstacle. Examining the skillfully crafted network of spells, he found a contingency linked to a wall of iron & a charged bolt spell. "Very clever" thought Mathazar, most would never have seen the third spell as it was woven so tightly to the other spells as to be almost undetectable. Clearly those who commonly used these passages in daily routine must have some password.

He could handle this in many ways; dispell the whole lot ,(too crude) reweave the spell (artistic but too time consuming) or do what he was about to and call forth the powers of a summoning, to bring to his mind the knowlege he sought. In seconds he gave the correct password & continued on to the end of the passage.

There he came to a bookcase and upon the fourth shelf found the volume he sought. "Stratagies on Security", was edged in gold on its visible side. "Yeah" thought Mathazar & gently pushed the case back into the wall.

Streching from left to right from floor to ceiling were hundreds of rare volumes, works of art & magical items of various types. Several tables contained artifacts valued in the millions. The rare books here alone were probaly worth over 5 million Gold Peices. "Trash", he thought and moved to the center display which held the object of his mission. "Impossible" was what "Blacky" the Theives Guild Master had called it, when over a snifter of his best Brandy, Mat had made the obligatory application for "Rights to Aquire" and placed the appropriate deposits. But the word impossible was not used very often in these parts when refering to "The Wizard".

Redder than blood, more valuable than its weight in Diamonds, it's origins were veiled in antiquity, dating back possibly to the age of the Alfar & Nuc-Mere. The level of craft in this piece was beyond exquisite, it had no equal. Among all the treasures within this hall of wonders it stood alone, Paleing them in it's perfection. Easily the largest Ruby in existance and having no detectable flaws, the "Caravean Elephant" weighed nearly five pounds.

Mat felt an almost trance-like fascination with the way the hundreds of faceted surfaceses played with the light. His eyes ran over it's minutely detailed Mithril Barding(insert Elphnt Riding gear) and lingered over the incredebly life-like form, until finally he remembered his mission. Reaching forward like a man offered his salvation he lifted the priceless treasure, failing to take note of one final, easily noticed mechanical trigger.

The weight of the Caravean Elephant is exactly 4.87 lbs. The removal of this weight released a sping loaded lever which, moving in a 60 degree arc, came into contact with a small metal rod. This rod unlevered a stonework stop allowing the 275 lbs of sand within, to fall accross a set of cup-like gears attached to a wheel. This in turn, powered the clanging alarms just now splitting the still night air.

Returning to his senses, he scanned the room quickly. Two Statues on the north wall animating, Gargoyle statue, real Gargoyle, Steel doors already closing, poison gass beginning to seep from hidden vents in the floor. Soon the team of Magic Users would be here & moments later the guard. Mat however had no intention of being here to greet them.