Ostiarium, Mid-Morning – Present Day - Nicolaus Cagliostro

Nicolaus shrugged on his coat and reached over to take a quick bite out of the spiced vegetable pasty he bought from one of Suncross' food stalls just off his front door. Laying the remaining half back on a cloth napkin, he preceded to pack his shoulder bag. He had begun prepping weeks ago when he had first been summoned, in fact somewhat over prepared. He had no room for all the supplies he had gathered. He glanced at the unfinished pasty, the savage sentinel islanders were rumoured to be cannibals. While fascinating in itself, it did suggest one couldn’t be too prepared. Nicolaus snapped his fingers and quickly ascended the stairs to the attic garret. A wardrobe and several chests lined the wall; opening the second chest he knelt and pulled out a leather vest with many ingenious little pouches and pockets with a belt from which hung more pouches. He pulled it out and inspected it. Perfect!

Arrival (Day 22, year 2)
The pounding on the door brought Nicolaus groggily to awareness. He hesitated for a moment, unsure if it had been merely a bad dream. He looked over and saw the candle had nearly burned down; he must have fallen asleep reading. But no there was the staccato pummeling of the iron bound door to the alley at the base of the stairs. Quickly he flung his legs off the bed and dragged on a robe hanging over a reading chair and rushed down the stairs candle in hand. Stopping only to pull a drawer open and select a faintly glowing green glass orb from its nest. He scooped a cloth from the countertop and folded it expertly several times holding it deftly in his left hand and leaving the candle on the counter. Moving to the door, he slid the heavy bolt free and opened the door a crack.
“Yes?”
Three heavy limbed men in the light of a hooded lantern stood in the darkness of the alley. The one in the front lifted the lantern and Nicolaus saw his face was covered in of Vastad symbol tattoos.
He gestured with his free hand behind him. “Evenin. Got’us a bleeder. Ya elp’us out boyo?” As he stepped aside, the other two stepped forward with a smaller man between them, in the lanterns feeble light it looked like his skull was stove in and his leg dragged at an odd angle.

Nicolaus fully opened the door and turned without answering to clear the counter. He slapped the surface, “Put him here.” As they did so he slipped the orb into his pocket. “Light the lanterns, I need it bright in here and slide that little cart over.” He began to rattle of instructions as he inspected the man’s injuries.
"So wat's it gunna be?”
“Difficult but not impossible, he’ll lose the eye, have a limp…might be a little slow. Help me get this vest off him, as little movement as possible.”

It took most of the night to piece the man’s head back together.

“Well we dun’er duty, morse’ the pity, e’ wus a gud man. No us’ fer a one-eyd gimp of a thif’. Do rite by ‘imu ‘ere? Then use can cut him lus. Gud morning to ya!” And then they were gone.

Nicolaus ran a forearm across his brow, “Well, my friend, it is you and I now. How much do you want to live?” He reached onto the floor and held up the vest he had removed from the man earlier, it was cunningly designed with endless strange tools and small gadgets. His eye wandered back to the still and silent man. “You will likely be prone to headaches and …. and will need medication for the rest of your life, but all in all you will be perfectly healthy. Even your limp will be slight I suspect. They say you were an excellent burglar, canny and quick. So, reasonably intelligent and deft of hand… I think I may have a offer to make when you finally awake.”