"You've got to be kidding me." the raven haired thief as she looked wide eyed at the Imperial census recorder that sat next to her in the inn's common room. " The Empire want's to know the background about the people living here?" she added, still sounding amazed.
The thief snorted at the answer of the official looking little man and took a swig of her ale, making a face of disgust at the taste. " Well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm from the desert lands pretty far away from here." she replied glancing down at her natural tanned skin of her exposed arm. " Yeah, little ol me came from the lands of sand, sun, colorful silks along with many other thing's that these folks up here like to trade in. Course, being the product of a harem girl, I didn't have much reason to stay."
Another mouthful was taken as Jodice shifted in her seat. The little man asked his next question with a half bored voice. " Damn man, I just told you I didn't have much reason to stay." she replied, thinking the inattenitive man was really a mark for the taking. " I grew up in silks and sun and learning to dance and such to attract some welthy caravan driver or some such. I wanted more than to be a showpiece. so I up and left." the empty mug was placed on the counter as the official asked yet another bored sounding question, as if he'd done this a hundred times.
"Where did I go?" Jodice asked, repeating the question. " Well, after stowing away on a ship bound north, I landed in gullsport. There I was taken in by a group of...well, thieves if you must know and picked up little bit's of skills from them." At his asked question, her eyebrows went up into her black bangs. " What.... no!" she replied. " No, I never killed anyone. A successful thief will always get away from their target before they even know they've been had." she explained. " But no, my job of the group was more of an information gatherer. Even worked the part of a lookout and distraction if the heist needed to be done that way."
"But eventually, the IG got the notion we were more of a menace than we actually were. So what if the locals had to pay protection fees to make sure no thieves broke into their stalls and shops. We weren't a threat to anyone. But the IG came anyway and it was a bloodbath. the whole town was nearly razed to the ground with the fighting." Jodice sighed at the memory and ordered another drink from Fugly. " I made it out of course." she added softly, dark eyes looking down in feined sadness.
She took the drink Fugly brought and looked to the official. " But that's how I came to be here in Nanthion. After the night of terror in Gull town, I made my way here and found out that living in the larger towns was easier. Avoid being noticed, keep low and take whatever you can find and soon, your fortunes will change." she said with a bit of wisdom in her voice as she pushed away from the official at the counter. " Just as they have with mine since I've gotten to know a few people." she added.
"Now, that's how I came to be here, so now I'm going to sip my froth in peace." Jodice said as she took a sip and made that disgusting look at the taste. her head tilted at the Officials last question. " Why do I enjoy a drink that tastes like water's down centaur piss?' she asked as a repeated question, her moth crossing into a crooked smile. " That's a story for another time." she replied as she walked off.
The official finished writing down the notations given by jodice and absently reached to the purse that used to hang by his belt to pay for his own food and drink....Only to find it missing. 200 mhl was no where to be found as he glanced about and then remembered Jodice's words....
"A successful thief will always get away from their target before they even know they've been had."
Of course the raven haired woman was gone from the inn by now, leaving the official with a tab he couldn't pay, an orgress that was demanding payment and as the official explained that he had no money....Fugly leaned in closer, a wicked smile on her face as she eyed the officials cat like ears anf his fuzzy tail.