Lock-Picking 101

[hassaran]

WHO: Character(s)
WHAT: Mandatory training on how to pick locks
WHEN: Various times this month
WHERE: Wherever
NOTES: A catch-all for RP about this training. OOC post here. People who didn't sign up for random pairings are still welcome to use this post to RP about their characters attending.

Trainings will be held periodically at various times of day, often in the unused dining hall in the Mage Tower but occasionally in various other classroom spaces. Teachers vary, generally members of the Scouting Division but not always, and the curriculum of the initial lecture is generally aimed at beginners. For them, they begin with identifying different types of locks, and display a few deconstructed examples to show how the internal mechanisms work, before demonstrating basic picking technique. If the attendance is mostly those with more experience, this might be skipped in favor of talking through more complex locks and trickier situations like makeshift picks, locks you can't see, avoiding leaving a trace, or detecting traps and failsafes.

Much of the time is spent in one-on-one instruction, and then studying in small groups made up of people with roughly similar skill-levels. There are a variety of locks and tools to work with (for those who haven't brought their own or want a new challenge), ranging from extremely basic to examples of rare and expensive locks from around Thedas, apparently from the Scoutmaster's own collection. At the end of the class, they are finally paired off to see how much they've learned by being—surprise!—shackled together until they can get themselves free. Each pair is sent off with orders not to neglect the rest of their work day(s) and bring the cuffs back when they're done.

Effort will be made to scale the challenge to fit, so those who are more skilled will be given more complicated cuffs to work with that may include enhancements like: requiring multiple locks to be unlocked simultaneously, enchantments that deliver a mild shock to the wearers if an unlocking attempt takes more than ten seconds, designs that tighten the cuffs when an unsuccessful attempt is made, and so on. If you feel your character is simply too good to be held by any such mechanism for long enough to make this fun, then feel free to make up additional complications, like being cuffed back to back, including leg manacles, whatever (within reason).

Note that use of magic (or rifter powers or any sort of unorthodox ability) is strictly forbidden in all parts of this course. If people have magical means they're willing to demonstrate or able to teach, there will be a portion of the class where they're encouraged to do so—particularly if it involves careful use of native magic that other Riftwatch mages could learn—but the purpose of the lessons are to learn how to pick locks, not destroy them, and any evidence of magical tampering will otherwise get frowned at.

Teacher ↠ Student

Yngvi ↠ Gwen

Petrana ↠ Matthias

John ↠ Darras

Nikos ↠ Kostos

Fitcher ↠?↞ Bastien

Teren ↠ Laura

Derrica ↠ Jenny Lou

Yseult ↠ Ellis

Study Groups

Fitcher + Darras + Derrica

Kitty + Petrana + Nikos

Lauralae + Laura + Kostos

Gwen + Matthias + Sidony

Stuck Together

John ⛓ Kostos

Sidony ⛓ Ellis

Darras ⛓ Kitty

Nikos ⛓ Lauralae

Bastien ⛓ Wysteria

Matthias ⛓ Nell

Petrana ⛓ Laura

Jenny Lou ⛓ Six

Comments

wysteria!

[cozen]

Bastien has been more useless than this. For example: he once feigned poison-induced unconsciousness for several hours, forcing his poor panicked companion to carry and drag him home, to slow down their journey and buy some friends more time. Here, at least, he made a few attempts before declaring himself hopeless and leaving their shackle in Miss Poppell's semi-capable hands.

His free hand is now writing a letter. Yseult did say not to neglect their work.

"This seems like the sort of thing that should end in a marriage," he says when there's a lull, rattling the chain a bit, "if there was any good in the world. Not us, of course. I am far too old for you. And the Scoutmaster did not seem to pair anyone else up with romance in mind—what a terrible shame."

[heirring]

There is a small tug on the link between them as Wysteria turns her wrist in some new direction, her free hand consumed by the tricky task of managing both pick and wrench.

"I can't say that I know her particularly well, but I suspect the Scoutmistress has priorities within Riftwatch that take precedence over romance. But I agree that it's seems like an oversight, particularly when she might have satisfied both at once. At that point, it really is more of a question of efficiency. Matthias and Kitty might have been put together. Or Ser Six and Mr. Ellis could have been a very fine match. Not that I have any interest whatsoever, of course."

Tick, tick, tick, goes the pin in the lock. Absently, laissez-faire to the point where it's clear that she truly has not given the thought any consideration whatsoever and is stating it wholly due to her mouth being disengaged from the attention of her mind: "Anyway, you are not really so old. But the mustache ages you considerably."

[cozen]

Bastien lifts his head at that, as if startled by something hurtful—as if aging him a bit weren't half the point of the thing—and discards his pen to rub the hair beneath his nose self-consciously with his knuckles before he regains his footing (apparently) and flattens it like a screen in front of his mustache and mouth. The obscured smile is still perfectly apparent from his eyes.

"Perhaps the rest of me looks too young," he says, "and the mustache is the only thing correctly aged."

Anyway. He recovers the pen but doesn't quite resume writing.

"Matthias and Kitty, really? What about Laura?"

[heirring]

"I suppose that would be just as well. They are a similar age, I think. Though I was thinking that Matthias and Kitty might perhaps keep one another occupied."

Someone isn't up to date on her teen gossip.

--And this isn't working. She has the first pin, she's certain, but the second is eluding her entirely and a little wiggling of the pin results in just enough tension to make her suspect some delicate piece of the lock's inner workings might be threatening to pop. With careful shifting, she extracts the tools for the lock and starts in again at some new angle.

"Anyway the real trouble is that Riftwatch has quite the abundance of eligible ladies, but is awfully short handed when it comes to likely men. Present company excluded, of course."

[cozen]

Bastien inclines his head and looks terribly thoughtful and terribly unconcerned with the lock. Perhaps they'll be stuck together forever. There are less entertaining fates.

"Do you think so? We have more men than women, and not that many more are already spoken for, that I know of—or is it that they are of a poorer quality?"

[heirring]

"It is the second one, I'm afraid. Name any five eligible ladies of Riftwatch versus any five men of the same status and I guarantee that the former will be their superior in almost all respects. Go on," she says, glancing up from her work just briefly to give him an encouraging look. "Name ten and we will compare. From an objective perspective, of course."

Hot or not: Gallows Special Edition.

[cozen]

Bastien puts his work aside again so he can count on his fingers, producing names with obedient effort: "John Silver, Loxley—the charming Qunari rifter," as opposed to the very uncharming native one, "and Warden Ellis," of course, "and Messieurs Solokov and de Foncé."

He checks his fingers, to be sure that's five, before beginning again.

"And Kitty, since we have mentioned her... Ser Six," who seems to be a knight in some capacity, "Athessa, Warden Teren, and," hmm, "Baronness Durfort-Lacapalette."

[heirring]

"Kitty and Monsieur de Foncé cancel one another out, so we are down to four already.

"Now," she says, plying the lock pick methodically into the lock. "I am as much a devotee to Captain Silver's particular charms as anyone else in the Gallows, but it must be said that the man does have known criminal associations. If we are comparing him to another professional, we should refer to Warden Teren who may be rather more rigid but certainly has a level of distinguishment and gravitas that the good Captain lacks. Subjectively, I would prefer to spend the afternoon in his company rather than hers, but you cannot deny one is rather more socially eligible than the other."