Otto the Rake travels back to Muden upon receiving the crown jewels of Cariele to claim the title of Master Thief. Otto, master of disguise, sneaks into the region and secures passage on a princely vessel. The yacht that Otto secures sails out of port waits a week, and then travels back carrying Otto the Gentleman.
Otto’s yacht sails gallantly into the noble section of the ports and is instantly seized upon by the Muden guard. Otto masterfully talks his way past the lowly patrol ship and avoids inspection under the assumption that Otto has documentation securing him diplomatic privilege under Raphael Saberstrike, the King of the Southlands. The yacht is greeted by a bit more dominating guard and Otto is lead under custody to meet the Captain of the Guard.
The documentation that Otto presents is hard to dispute because of the foreign Anuire script and seals. What the Captain of the Guard really wants to know is what a Brecht “diplomat” representing a new Anuirean kingdom thinks he is going to be able to pull off. Without missing a beat, Otto replies that as a third party negotiator he could conduct the release of the Pirate King. Oh dear reader, I wish you could have seen it, when Otto said that quip to the Captain; whomever was about burst into laughter.
The Captain asked why she would want to give up her favorite prisoner; her crown jewel? Otto responds that she knows, he knows, they all know that the Pirate King is in a most comfortable position. Because no matter how much you torture him, or supposedly keep him in isolated quarters: the pirate fleets still operate and at a very efficient element at that. Oh dear reader, I wish you could feel it: the gathering of people grows cold and silent: an eerie, truthful calm falls over the crowd.
The Captain embraces Otto and takes him, arm in arm, and thus an odd alliance was formed. Otto’s yacht was never inspected. Otto was extended privilege, access to quarters and the docks, and extended whatever guard he chose.
On the cusp of daybreak in the secret shrine of Ela, the Master of the Temple was performing the customary parting of the night ceremony when perchance the Mystery Man appeared but not in the guise of Otto the Gentleman, no dear reader that is not what the Mystery Man looked like. Did the Mystery Man come in the guise of his former mentor Kareem? No dear reader, he did not come dressed as the Shade. The Mystery Man appeared as King Raphael Saberstrike and declared that Otto the Gentleman would serve as his ambassador to conduct the release of the Pirate King. The Master of the Temple quickly got into a defensive position and cohorts where summoned.
The Mystery Man under the guise of Raphael laughed off the defensive moves and proceeded to spill the beans as it where: that he was Otto the Rake come to claim his reward. Otto took the crown off his head, the State Crown of Cariele, and tossed it over to one of the Master of the Temple’s pawns who then handed it over to the Master. Otto the Rake explained his plan: to release the Pirate King alive under the guise of Otto the Gentleman. The Master of the Temple had to be most impressed but what would the cost be she asked? The Mystery Man set his conditions very firm: 2 tuns of gold or equivalent to be determined before any other phase of the negotiations could move forward. The Master would have to speak to the Pirate King but nevertheless Otto the Rake was given the honorary promotion to Master Thief and all powers that go to that position.
Otto would spend his days in the court of Muden, wining and dining the politico algesio, while nights where spent in the thieves guilds of Ela building a powerbase. Otto would start to collect allies everywhere, start to find ones that could serve him as henchmen. Many odd plots would start to circulate about what Otto the Rake was really up to but until the 2 tuns of gold could be secured Otto was near untouchable.
Because of course dear reader the Pirate King would jump at the chance for any attempt at a release and with the upfront offer of gold from Otto, the Pirate King knew what kind of release it was going to be: the Pirate King was going to be used as bait to lure the pirate fleet out into the open where the Muden Royal Fleet would no doubt want to clash. And that dear reader was just fine with the Pirate King, payoff Otto to do the dirty work, use the Master of the Temple to communicate with his fleet, and prepare to set a trap for a trap.
But dear reader do you think that is the end of our story? That Otto the Rake gets 2 tuns of gold and heads back home? Sure, but a few more things happen before that. You might ask yourself: what of the henchman that Otto recruited. One foul bunch was the Goblin Flotilla but they did not start off their life like that, no dear reader it took a bit of scraping and skullduggery to take a band of rag-tag goblin highway men and convert them into a naval unit but that is what Otto did in part of the year long negotiations.
Oh dear reader, I wish you could have seen it: Otto convinced the Captain that the pirates would hand over treasure equal in weight to the Pirate King and that they should begin to feed him non-stop. It was cartoonist in its gluttony: plate after plate after bowl after bowl of food was brought to the Pirate King. And the Pirate King ate and oh how he ate dear reader; it was as if Otto was fatting him up to eat like Otto was a wicked witch or something.
When the 2 tuns of gold and treasure where presented to Otto, he took his time sorting through the jink and finding the real jewels, past the fool’s gold and gold plated items. The 2 tuns Otto would secure for himself would be that: 2 tuns worth. The money was shipped around a lot of interesting places to disguise its whereabouts from the thief’s guild. It was literally like Otto would sort through a new pile of loot, find what he wanted, document it’s value against the 2 tuns he was owed and then instantly take it put it back on the street or invest it in ways the thieves guild would not see directly. And that is how after one year in Muden Otto the Rake got 2 tuns richer.
But how did Otto the Rake manage to secure a battered fleet sailing through the straits of Aerele one year, and thousands of miles after setting out from Cariele? That dear reader is how the release of the Pirate King would play out; with our boy the Mystery Man one-upping all the competition: coming out with the gold, with the temple of Ela in ruins, and parts of the pirate fleet and Royal Muden Fleet combined with his princely yacht and goblin flotilla. What is that dear reader? You want to know how Otto the rake pulled such stunts? How one mortal man could spit in the eye of a god, trick not one but two warlords into a losing situation, and come out on top rich as all get-out? Well dear reader, we would not call him the Mystery Man if you knew everything about how he worked. But let us just say this dear reader: Otto the Rake’s return to Muden really did secure him the title of Master Thief.
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