I plop down into a wooden chair, getting comfortable. They figure continues to stare, while I simply shrug and smile up at him.

“Where did you get this?” He demands.

“I don’t know. It just,” I pause, giving dramatic effect, “,appeared at my door one day.”

“It can’t just appear! I have been pooking everywhere for this, and you know that!” The figure screams at me.

“What?” I gasp, putting a hand ove...

His eyes are transfixed, buoys in an ocean of possibilities, floating in the murky depths of his cowl. You can’t help feeling a bit smug as you say, “Where I found it should be none of your concern, friend. But not to worry, you can have it for the right price”. This last word awakens your interlocutor from his trance. Suddenly, a meaningful link forms between eyes and hands. Yes, ownership! He se...

Alice stepped back, “isn’t this what you asked for?” The hooded figure let out a hacking cough. “Nevermind that, WHERE did you find this?” Alice paused for a second before replying “I followed the map to a T, it was the 10th brick under the atten, I didn’t look inside I swear!” The hooded figure shoved it back into her arms “return this at ONCE, tell no one where you went or what you found. Do not...

“Look, you don’t want to know.” I pulled my own hood up off my head. The light, flickering as it was above us, was dim enough to hide our faces anyways.

The truth was, I was itching to tell them. But if I did, all our progress would be lost.

As well as our friendship.

“And anyways, I know damn well that ‘where I found this’ is the least of your worries, knowing the situation.” I added, glancing...

The hooded figure slid the bag across the table. You peer inside. “Where the hell did you find this??”

“I have my secrets,” the black-clad thief and spy says. “Do you want it or not?”

“I do, but—“ you bluster, “I can’t very well— the thing was in the temple and there’s been no reports of it being stolen! Is it even genuine?”

“You’d be surprised about how many fakes have been made,” they snicker, “...

_There I sat in my empty house full of nothing but furniture. Luxurious bags, designer clothes, and fancy furniture, with a husband earning six figures. Extravagant gifts and parties, and thousands of dollars spent on the simplest things. Maids, chauffeurs, and my husband's assistants swarmed his house. I looked around me and found only a house full of useless things. I called my husband to see wh...

“My moms attic; she said she didn’t need the box I found it in, figured I’d sell it”, you say.

You can’t see it’s eyes, but by the unmoving silhouette you sense frustration in it’s shock.

“Do you even know what this is?”, the figure asks.

You shrug, “can’t say I do”.

“This is pristine, vintage, cardboard. When this was first produced it went for pennies, but after trees went extinct they no...

I tapped my fingers against the table, my nails digging into the wood despite its tough strength.

“I told you I could do it. Have a little faith, will you?” I scooted onto the cracked, red booth and reclined back.

The figure pulled the strings and sealed the bag tightly, settling it close next to them. My eyes bore into the shadows beneath the hood. What was under there? A face so ugly they didn’t...

His name is unknown. His face? Also unknown. All anyone knows is that he rules the criminal underworld from thr lower-ranks. He goes by the alias Ruby.

Ruby rests his cheek against his palm, his smirk obvious despite being obscured by a black face mask. He chuckles in response to the exclaimed question, scarlet eyes glinting. “Well, it took a lot of pulling strings and deals under the table, but ...

(This story is about a character I play in a Spire Campaign. If you want to know more about the setting, please google the TTRPG Spire. When creating him, I also took more freedoms than were intended by the rules, with the approval of my fellow players and GM of cause.)

The bar was fuller than usual. People bustling around, drinking, playing games, having fun. Unusual for a bar in Red Row, but no...