Alleycat (Mekkar) is a swarthy Human standing three or four inches under six feet and weighing around 165 pounds, give or take. His hair and neatly-trimmed beard are black, and he has a lean, hard-eyed look about him.

He is clothed in black leathers and is armed with a pair of rapiers (one on each hip), a dagger, with a light crossbow at his back. He carries a backpack and has two belt-pouches (one on each side of his belt-buckle).

---

~~He's put on some weight. Being the Guild-Master must agree with him,~~ Mekkar thought to himself as he sat patiently and waited for Basoro to finish what he was doing and speak to him.

After a moment Basoro laid aside the parchment that he had been reading and clasped his hands atop his desk. "Good to see you, Alleycat. Thanks for coming. And how's the family?" Guild members never used their real names, even when speaking to one another -- that way, if they were caught by the Watch, they could not name any true names. The one exception was the Guild-Master, who was so powerful that it was generally accepted that he could use his true name and dare anyone to take advantage of it.

Mekkar smiled thinly, but there was no humor in his expression. ~~Bastard. Like I had any choice, once you put the word out. And we both know the answer to your question, don't we?~~

"I live to serve, Guild-Master," Mekkar replied, with heavy sarcasm.

"Yes, well . . . on to business," Basoro said, after studying the man sitting in front of him for a few moments. "Have you ever heard of a town called 'Greenest'?"

"Never have. But I'm supposing that it must be some little boil on the backside of Beyond that is filled to the brim with poxy dirt-farmers and sheep-shearers."

Basoro's sharp laugh was like the bray of an ass. "Alleycat, that tongue of yours is going to get you killed sooner or later, if you don't learn to curb it. I suggest that you keep those kinds of comments to yourself when you journey to Greenest."

Mekkar arched an eyebrow inquisitively. "Well, I give up. What could possibly interest the likes of us in a place like that?"

"What interests us is the fact that Greenest will soon be having a goodly-sized Harvest festival." Basoro explained, thumping the parchment on his desk with a meaty hand. "It's even big enough that some of the traders and merchants from around here are taking the time to journey down to it. If you time your visit right, it should be filled to the brim with plenty of rubes and easy marks with fat coin-purses who are just begging to be fleeced."

Mekkar whistled softly. "I see what you mean. Sounds like it would be worth our while to pay a visit to this Greenest."

"Precisely. You have the right of it. So, then," Basoro continued, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands across the broad expanse of his belly, "I want you to journey to this Greenest, and find out what's what. There should be plenty of easy pickings, and there may very well be *something* going on there that will benefit The Shadows. If there is, ferret out the information on it and get it to me."

"And mind me well -- don't fail me in this, Alleycat. I'll even let you keep whatever coins and treasure come your way as a result of your investigations -- minus the standard guild dues, of course. Now, then -- how soon can you leave?"

~~He must suspect that something out of the ordinary is going on, if he's offering to let me keep the loot for myself,~~ Mekkar thought to himself. "I travel light, Boss," he replied. "Give me half an hour to toss some things into my pack, and I'll be on my way."

Basoro nodded at that. "Good, good. And don't forget -- being me something that I can use."

~~Either that or grab whatever I can, and strike out in a different direction than Greenest when the all dust settles~~, Mekkar thought to himself.

"You can count on me, Boss," he replied, pasting a false smile on his face as he rose from the chair and left the room . . .

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Mekkar is a young Human male, perhaps 25 summers old (he is unsure of his exact age). He was born and came of age in the Dock Ward of Waterdeep. The Dock Ward is a tough waterfront area, populated by mariners and by many of Waterdeep's rougher population. Life is cheap there -- along with quite a few other things. There's an old Waterdehavian saying: "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap? You'll want the Dock Ward."

Mekkar was the son of a whore named Farella, who plyed her trade in the suggestively-named "Mermaid's Grotto", and of some unnamed (and possibly unknown) father. Farella was close-mouthed about the identity of Mekkar's father -- which was a little unusual, given how talkative she was on most other subjects.

Unfortunately Farella fell ill and died when Mekkar was quite young -- only about five summers, he supposed, as he thought back on it in later years. As a result, Mekkar found himself orphaned and out on the mean streets of the Dock Ward, forced to live by his wits, fast hands, and faster feet.

Mekkar could have chosen an honest trade, and mayhap talked himself into some sort of an apprenticeship. Instead he found that he could survive on his own, beholding to no one -- which was fine by him. The lad used to imagine that one day his father would seek him out and whisk him away to live a life of ease -- or, at least comfort -- but of course, it never happened. Mekkar at first thought that his father must be a mariner, given the large number of sea-going men to be found in and around the Dock Ward; but later he came to realize that men from all walks of life and all quarters of Waterdeep journeyed to the Dock Ward to sow their wild oats (another Waterdehavian saying is "What happens in the Dock Ward stays in the Dock Ward").

As far as siblings went, Mekkar could recall his mother speaking of an older sister, whom she had turned out "'Cause the little bitch thinks she's too high an' mighty to earn 'er livin' the way I do." At the time Mekkar was too young to understand what Farella meant, but in later years he found that he sided with his unknown sister on the subject. He did not think to ask any questions about this sister before his mother died, and now he had no idea where she might be found -- or even if she was still alive, for that matter.

One fine evening, the young Mekkar was pulled into a dark alleyway by a shadowy figure. "'Ere now, there's a fine lad. I been watchin' ye, that I 'ave. Ye ain't bad. No, no, ye ain't. But with a little trainin', ye could be lots better, an' thass a fact. Yessir, that's a troo fact. So, whaddaye say, lad? Ye game?" The hulking man gave Mekkar's arm an extremely hard squeeze, which caused the lad to decide that it would not be a good idea to refuse the offer.

As it turned out, the training *was* a good thing for young Mekkar. He soon learned that he was now considered a member of "The Shadows" -- one of Waterdeep's thieves' and assassins' guilds -- and that all he had to do was to look, listen, and learn from men and women who were much more accomplished in their chosen trades than he was . . . well, that, and stay current on his guild-dues.

Mekkar had originally thought that the man who had accosted him -- who went by the guild-name of "The Golem" -- had done so out of the goodness of his heart, and considered him a friend . . . until he learned that guild members were paid a bounty for bringing in recruits who survived, and who developed into members in good standing.

Always nimble and agile, Mekkar also had a good head on his shoulders -- and over the years this combination, coupled with the on-the-job training that he received from other Shadows resulted in his being a confident, competent footpad -- one who was equally familiar with lock-picks, blades, and bows.

And so it was that one foggy evening when one could scarcely see their hand in front of their face, Mekkar found himself in the Guild-Master's office, being sent out on a mission to some out-of-the-way piss-ant town named Greenest, on behalf of The Shadows . . .

OOC: You will note that I have written Mekkar's unspoken thoughts in italics and gray, set off by tildes (~~) instead of quotation marks. I kind of like using a different color (in addition to the italics and tildes) to distinguish unspoken thoughts from spoken words, and gray seemed appropriate for shadowy thoughts. :)

PS. I have switched to a lavender (which looks to be more of a blue-gray color, to my eye) coloring for Mekkar's unspoken thoughts. The gray was very difficult to see against the background of this thread.