//------------------------------//
// Clan: Practice and Unusual Items 
// Story: Skyrim: Band of Thieves 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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As night fell on Treva's Watch, and the new clan members settled into the various rooms and positions assigned to them, because some were joining the night watch to keep the fort safe, Capper returned to the tower he had used previously, as it was private and he would remain undisturbed for some time. Once he was sure that he was alone Capper withdrew the Key and channeled it's power once more, allowing him to open the portal to the vault he had created and stepped through it, entering the area that was just a crystalline floor in the vastness of space. With the Key in hand he closed the portal and just looked around for a few moments, as he knew this wasn't much of a 'vault' since it was just the floor, and a pillar with an odd crystal floating above it, as there were walls and a ceiling that were needed to make the area complete. In addition to that he guessed he would need to move the portal itself, because warping directly into this place seemed a little awkward, so he was thinking of warding off the entire vault from anyone who might think to do such a thing.

His reasoning was due to the existence of the 'Daedric Princes', godly beings who saw mortals as toys and tools for their various schemes, and who ruled from the various Realms of Oblivion, of which he was building his vault in, so while there was a chance they might not be interested in this place he wasn't taking any chances. Fortunately the Key was the best item for him to do what he wanted, since it unlocked the knowledge that was in his mind and allowed him to understand the topic he was interested in, hence why he raised his other hand and made a rising motion at the edge of the vault. Such a thing caused a stone wall to start to rise before his very eyes, leading to him to nervously chuckle, as he never imagined that he would be able to do such a thing, simply creating from nothing or creating from the space that was around this area. The stony nature of the vault's walls really didn't seem very impressive, so he took inspiration from the floor and made both the walls and the new ceiling that he added out of the same material that was below his paws.

As Capper worked he pulled out the gem pouch he had filled back in their home world and had a strange idea as he tossed all of the gems into the air, catching them in certain positions around the vault and utilized the power of the Key to turn all of them into thick pillars that connected the floor and ceiling.

"I've got to admit, this place is coming together well." Capper commented, though he also noticed that he added a number of golden runes onto the crystalline walls, no doubt to keep the area safe from those who might try to warp into this area, a fact that caused him to chuckle again as he looked around his private vault, "I can't believe I'm even going this... Twilight and the other Princesses would have a fit if they saw me doing this."

With the current vault to his liking, since he might make alterations later on, Capper turned around and faced the wall that was behind where he started, finding an ebony ring around the center that he could step through, like it was transparent or turned into a liquid that he could easily pass through before turning solid once he was outside the vault. Once he was done with that he thought about what he wanted to do and the power he was relying on moved the portal to the exterior of the vault, though he also found that there was ground outside the structure, smooth stone for him to stand on. Such a thing meant he could stare out at the vastness of Oblivion, where he was sure there were actual spheres that represented one of the major realms, the domains of the Princes, and yet it looked like no one had noticed what he was doing, which was good news for him. He didn't want to bother them with his presence and it looked like they really couldn't be bothered to see what was going on in the vastness of Oblivion, where he turned the Key over again before opening a portal back to where he had been before heading into the vault.

As he did that Capper found that no time had passed since his departure, or at least it didn't seem that way to him, causing him to close the portal and head back down to their portion of the large fort, finding that the others were getting ready for bed, causing him to do the same.

When early morning arrived, however, Capper found that Rarity was the first one awake and noticed that something was off about her, her eyes were now blood red and there was a small pair of fangs in her mouth, though other than that it didn't seem like there was anything different about her. In fact she was glancing at herself like she was expecting more changes than what she had seen so far, but seemed confused as to what to do with what had happened to her body, something they would have to deal with, in addition to everything else they had discovered so far. Of course this did mean that the figure that had attacked her had infected her in some manner, meaning her neck must have been bitten or there was a secondary power they had all missed when Rarity fought her foe, something they might have to ask La'nari about later. There was also the fact that none of the others were awake, meaning Rarity would have to tell them what had happened as well, but for the time being she seemed fine and in control of herself, though Capper had to rethink his assessment as he spotted La'nari standing against a wall.

"It would seem that you turned. You're a vampire now, but... you're taking it a lot better than most people." La'nari said, as that fact surprised her, the figure that had been infected, without telling anyone about the illness that lead to this sudden transformation, was far too calm for her liking, but at least it meant they didn't have a raging monster to kill.

"Darling, remind me to tell you about the town I called home... this is nothing compared to what happened there weekly." Rarity replied, which was the truth, every bit of madness and magical mishap that she and her friends had experienced in Ponyville was far more than her simply changing eye color, growing a pair of fangs, and having a strange craving that just reminded her of when they turned Fluttershy into 'Flutterbat', "Just promise me you'll tell me what you know of this strange condition, so I don't do something stupid."

La'nari nodded and said she would do so later, on their way to Riften, because there was something else they needed to do, which was actual training in the art of being thieves and she had a way for her, Midnight, and Capper to get some training in the art, so they could be of better use to the clan in the future. This interested Capper more than he wanted to admit, as he and the others would be able to see how an actual thief in this world went about her job, or her previous job since she had quit after seeing her Guild fall into disarray, and while she didn't seem to care about this he could tell that part of her was likely pleased to practice her skills once more. Azure and Midnight, waking up when they heard her talking, were able to see Rarity's changes with ease, though since she was going to be told everything on the way to Riften the pair listened to what they were going to be doing today, the former not caring while the latter was excited. The more interesting aspect was that none of their clan mates overly cared about Rarity's changes, rather they seemed overjoyed to have a vampire in their ranks, as if that meant their fighting power had suddenly gone up despite her power remaining the same.

Capper had to smile at the scene in front of him, as the people who had been here at the start were overjoyed to see such an improvement in their lives and were simply enjoying themselves to the fullest, and even the bandits that had joined the clan after the Faldar Clan had been terminated were happy to have been accepted with little questions.

Once breakfast was over Capper and the others climbed onto the wagon and headed back to Riften once more, which was when La'nari explained vampirism to Rarity, since that was the most important thing for her right now, or at least what she knew on the subject, since she didn't know everything, but she was happy to see that Rarity was just fine and that she wasn't freaking out about the sun. Capper listened while directing the horses towards the city, where he and the others found that vampires survived by drinking blood, plus there was the fact that the creatures in question had far superior magical powers to some mortals, which was one of the reasons that people wanted to become vampires, not to mention having a longer life than before. After explaining what she knew about vampires, which was a fair deal, La'nari also told them about what she wanted to do in Riften, there were times where the guards would be tasked by Maven to act as targets for thieves, practice dummies in a sense so she could see who had potential and who was trash. Naturally this meant they needed a way to identify themselves from the guards who weren't part of the training, usually a scarf or something, but it changed all the time and she had no idea what it might be this time.

Capper found that to be very interesting, as it meant that he, Rarity, and Midnight would have to keep an eye out while they were in Riften, though as he glanced out at the rest of the path that was in front of them he found that they were able to get to the city without anything delaying them for once.

When they reached the city it was easy to find that the merchants were still out and the guards were keeping an eye out for potential thieves, while at the same time Capper noticed Maven sitting on her balcony, allowing her to glance out at the rest of the city while she sipped on something. It was hard to tell if she was waiting for the show to start, to see if there were any thieves out there that were worth keeping an eye on, or if the lady had no desire to watch and it was a simple coincidence that she was out here, along with a thief that looked like Brynjolf standing nearby. As he looked around he instantly noticed something on a couple of the guards, there was a black band of sorts right below the left arm portion of chainmail, which had to be what they were looking for and he quietly pointed it out to La'nari, who tilted her head slightly and made no move to let anyone else know that he was right. Of course she was hiding her surprise that he had found out the key so quickly, from just observing the area and the people, and it made her wonder what else Capper might have to show them further down the line, as his skills seemed to be far above both Rarity and Midnight's skills.

In addition to the guards there were a few other shady individuals who seemed out of place, some male, some female, and all of them of different races, most of them wearing leather attire that made them look like bandits, while the remaining few were dressed as beggars and citizens.

"There are thieves from all over Skyrim, itching to get in on the action." Capper commented, as that was the only reason for what they were seeing right now, something that caused La'nari to nod her head as she looked at them as well, though he suspected that one or two of them might be more skilled than the others, "Rarity, Midnight, I would observe them first so you know what not to do."

It wasn't that he didn't think the other thieves were skilled, rather he knew that observing and learning from the failures of others, or even successes, would be the key for the pair mastering their abilities, or learning new skills in Rarity's case, and it wasn't long before some of the other thieves started to move. Capper found that some of them weren't very good instantly, as the thieves in question started to sneak around the market area and the walkways that were around it, following some of the guards, though each one was stopped before they could even do anything. Such a thing just confirmed that either these people were those who didn't have talent or there actually was some sort of curse on the Guild that was affecting people who weren't even members, where he considered the latter to be odd given everything he had learned so far. One khajiit had a little more luck than the others as he was ignored by the guards, meaning they didn't even notice him lurking around the area, though when he attempted to pick one of their pockets he was found out instantly and surrendered as the guard knocked him to the ground, ending in him being taken to jail.

Capper found that this was definitely a sort of bloodbath, the rookie thieves were being wiped out before most of them had a chance to even get close to the guards, causing them to either sit back and watch or just give up entirely, and Rarity gave up instantly, because she sincerely doubted that she'd do any better with her current skill set.

Midnight, on the other hand, definitely had more skill than most of the other rookies, as most of the guards didn't detect her as she got close to them, allowing her to actually see what sort of items they had on them, something that caused the rest of the rookies to watch her closely, just like Rarity did. For the most part it didn't look like she was taking anything from the few guards that had the special marking, rather she took a coin here and there when she thought she could get away with it, a fact that caused La'nari to nod her head, showing that this was a good test of her skills. Capper, however, didn't wander out and start his practice immediately, like some of the others did, rather he wandered around the market area for a time, just getting the lay of the land and the patrols that all of the guards were using, both the test ones and those that weren't part of the test. While he did that he decided to stop at what appeared to be the blacksmith and noticed something that caught his attention, what appeared to be a pair of rocks that were, in fact, pieces of ore that seemed different from what they had seen back in their fort.

"What are those?" Capper asked, directing the nord blacksmith's attention to the pair for a moment, as one seemed to be a crystallized drop of amber and one seemed to be darker with yellow lines on it, like the item itself was mad in some manner, and while he knew he needed to focus on the guards he was still interested in the items the smith had.

"One is amber ore, and the other is madness ore... some traveler sold them to me, but I've been unable to shape them into weapons or armor." the smith replied, sounding annoyed by the fact that he was unable to do anything with the materials that had been brought to him, since that meant they were a waste of gold on his part, causing the man to sigh as an idea came to mind, "Tell you what, I'll sell them for ten gold apiece, if you're interested in them."

"Maybe later." Capper said, where he had to wonder where the materials had come from and why they were in possession of a smith that had no knowledge in turning them into something else, before he turned to the market and found that most of the rookie thieves were starting to call it quits already, "Well then, I guess it's time for me to get to work."

La'nari's eyes widened as she, Rarity, and Midnight watched Capper work his magic, as none of the guards seemed to notice him approach them, either they were preoccupied or they really had no idea he was sneaking around the area, and when he left the area that a guard was in that individual noticed that their coin pouch had gone missing. He even greeted some of the guards and struck up a conversation with them, asking about Riften itself and the surrounding area, as he pulled out a map and let his targets point things out to him, thus allowing him to walk off with more information and more gold than before, an interesting tactic in her eyes. The most amusing fact was that none of the guards seemed to realize that the person who stole from them was Capper, rather he seemed to be acting like he had nothing to do with the thefts and continued about his day like nothing was wrong, convincing the guards that he wasn't worth worrying about as they focused on the other thieves in the area, keeping a closer eye on them in the process. It was as if Lady Luck herself had blessed Capper, given how he was able to steal from every guard with a black band before they even realized what was going on, making her wonder if he held the key to saving the Guild before it completely collapsed.

Capper, however, stopped below the balcony as he stretched, making it look like he was on his way to a job or something and was preparing for a busy day, all while his ears perked as he heard Maven talking, which meant he would be able to get a few bits of information out of her before they left Riften, without having to pay for it anyway.

"Brynjolf, why haven't you recruited that thief into your ranks?" Maven inquired, because out of everyone that was present right now she was only interested in the khajiit that had realized how important she was, which had made her interested in him, though after getting a glimpse of the market area, and how the guards reacted to their gold being stolen, she realized that there was a new gem in the city, one that had to be in her possession at all costs.

"Because he's part of Brurid and Bek-Kajin's clan, and you know they'd be cross with us if we took their members." Brynjolf replied, which was the truth, the bandits at Treva's Watch were fiercely loyal to their leaders and the leaders were the sort that were better off not crossing, like how Maven was someone that no on wanted to cross, and right now he didn't want to invite disaster into Riften, since he knew the figures would invade to get their people back, "Trust me, if they were free to do whatever they wanted, I would offer Capper a position in the Guild without wasting him... skills like his are hard to come by these days."

"He is a polished gem, hidden in a pile of garbage... maybe I'll hire him for a job in the future." Maven remarked, which was news to Capper, that she was that interested in his skills, though since it seemed like this was all they were going to say for the time being he removed himself and headed back out into the city.

While he did that, however, he and the others noticed that there was a well dressed figure walking out into the market with a group of guards and someone who seemed to be a bodyguard, no doubt the Jarl as he considered things, which meant that the keep that was her domain was likely absent of guards. Such a thing caused him to mentally add another mark that would set him apart from the rest of the rookies, he entered the keep and found that while it did have a large fire pit in the center of the main chamber, with three long tables around it, there seemed to be no one around. With that in mind he walked over to the back of the room and found that the hallway was vacant as well, allowing him to head to the right and found a room that seemed to be the Steward's, before he found a few items of value to pocket, as in a few gems and a silver amulet with two expensive jeweled necklaces. Of course the jewelry were behind a locked container, but it was nothing before the might of the Key and his experience, allowing him to unlock it without delay and swipe the loot before closing the lid, making it look like no one had been in here for some time.

After that he headed up the stairs and found that it brought him to another door, leading to the second floor that had three new bedrooms, two that were smaller than the third that held his attention, since it had some of the more expensive items, even an elven greatsword on a plague, before he noticed a glowing red gem in a gold container off to the side.

"Another strange item... must be expensive, if it's in the Jarl's residence." Capper quietly remarked, where he swiped the gem and it's container without delay, along with a few nearby books that seemed to speak on the skills of a thief, more material for him to share with the rest of the group, where he grabbed the handle of the greatsword and slipped it into his bag, as it seemed like a good upgrade for Azure.

Once he was done checking out the Jarl's residence, and had collected a few coin pouches in addition to the rest of the items he had collected, Capper departed from the keep, walking like a gentleman that was out for a stroll, and once he was back on the outside he found that the guards were talking to some of the rookies, meaning they must have failed.

"Maven's going to be annoyed by all of these failures... but I wouldn't be surprised if she approaches you with some work in the near future, Capper." La'nari commented, which was the truth, he had stood out a little too much, to those that could see him while he was out in the market area to be exact, and it was likely that the most powerful person in Riften might seek him out for a job after this day was over, he was just that skilled, plus that wasn't even counting his visit to the keep, "Though don't be surprised if Brynjolf tries to invite you into the Guild again... after that display, he'd be foolish to let someone like you go, meaning he'll have to talk to our leaders to convince them that you're worth letting go so he can recruit you."

"Darling, considering how our leaders are, I don't think that'll be possible." Rarity remarked, as Brurid and Bek-Kajin seemed to like having Capper around, especially since it made things easier for them and their forces when it came to opening all of the chests and locked doors they were finding recently, another skill she would have to learn at some point.

La'nari nodded her agreement, she really doubted that their leaders would willingly allow Capper to be taken from them, especially after having proved himself to them since she brought the group to their fort, meaning the only ways Maven could get to him were to either hire him for a job or wait until someone destroyed their clan. It was known to happen, that either the Imperials or the Stormcloaks would wipe out a fort and secure it so they could have more control over an area that their forces were allied with, so there was a chance that the latter might come for them in the future. With their clan she doubted that such a thing would come to pass, they were well put together and well prepared for whatever forces might come to do them harm, but it didn't stop her from thinking of such a thing when she thought about the other clans that had fallen in the past. After thinking about that La'nari made sure to quickly purchase a few more things for the clan before they departed from the city once more, so they could regroup with the clan and see what their leaders wanted to do next, especially with all of the new recruits that had joined them recently.

As they departed from the city, however, Capper noticed the same phantom figure that no one else seemed to notice, but this time around he discovered that there was a crystalline greatsword, or the image of one, floating near her, like she was trying to tell him something.

You must... recover the Sword. the figure stated, where he was able to confirm that none of the others had noticed what he was seeing right now, since no one was reacting to the vision, meaning this was for his eyes only, and, just like the last time this happened, the images started to fade away like it was made of mist, Go to Solitude... claim the Sword before...

Capper really had no idea what was going on, and he hesitated to claim that it was a side effect of using the Key, but he had a feeling that finding the crystalline sword was a good step to figuring things out and seeing what the future held for him, his companions, and the clan, causing him to look forward to whatever the next few days held in store for them.