Feeling please with myself for avoiding the second trap, I let myself indulge in a small fantasy. Tomorrow, I imagined, the Jackalman guard would be called in front of his very angry superior to explain why his crossbows hadn’t stopped a burglar.  I grinned in the darkness as I imagined a vindictive guard boss ordering my least favourite guard to clean the latrines.

My spirits much improved I set about opening the door in front of me.

Once inside the guard barrack proper, I had to fight my instincts.  Given the second trap, I was glad that I hadn’t tried to take the first crossbow and now I had to resist a pile of loot.  All manner of weapons were stored here along with standard guard gear.

A window provided just enough ambient light for me to make out an array of lockers.  Each seemed to have a name prominently displayed, but it was too dark for me to make out details.  I didn’t know the Jackalman’s name anyway so I started opening lockers at random.  None of them were locked, they clearly trusted to their crossbows to keep out miscreants and, to be fair, it had almost worked.

A few minutes rummaging gave me what I needed.  First of all, a sturdy belt that I could wrap around my torso to keep my makeshift bandage in place.  With my second hand free, I could rummage much faster.  My shirt was busy keeping me from bleeding, so I helped myself to a guard’s uniform.  Hidden under my cloak it wouldn’t draw attention.

I never really felt at ease without several options for weaponry, so I grabbed a few daggers and a nice-looking short sword.  There was a small amount of money, which of course I took, but then I had to remind myself that I had a big climb ahead and a time limit.

Nevertheless, I took the time to find what was presumably the guard captain’s desk and had a good look inside.  Two drawers opened easily and contained nothing useful to me.  It was all writing equipment.  I didn’t need it.  The third drawer was locked and took a bit of persuasion and some choice language to get it open.  I pulled the drawer free of the desk and tipped its contents onto the desktop.  I had left too much mayhem in my rushed ransacking of the barracks, there was no covering this up.  I didn’t really feel the need to try.  The only reason to hide a theft is to buy some time before its discovered.  Anything that’s worth taking will be noticed if it’s gone, sooner or later.

Tonight, I intended to be long gone by the time anyone showed up at the barracks for work next morning.  They’d probably launch an investigation and throw their weight around DownTown, but I’d be safe for two reasons:  I would hopefully be over the wall into Faircrest by then and I wasn’t going to try to sell any of my loot.  Crimes got more complicated the more people that are involved.