Meanwhile, in the cellar--<br/><br/>Joli folds her legs beneath her and kneels in a position that she has been taught to find comfortable, with her knees slightly apart and her toes touching the floor, hands before her and ready for action.  For the moment, though, she only smiles, tilting her face at the halfling.  "You speak as though this is what people usually want from you.  I imagine that you're mixed up in this city pretty well, and that you have contacts and associates-- is that correct?  Because, yes, I am looking for someone."<br/><br/>Her long fingers barely show the calloused surfaces of her knuckles, making them look feminine and dexterous.  "I think that getting beaten and left to die in an alleyway is probably not the way you want your future to conclude, is it?  So how about you look at this moment as the beginning of your new life."  Reaching into the pouch at her belt, the monk draws out a gold coin and gives it a sharp twist onto the ground-- it spins on one edge, whirring a soft sound on the plank floor.<br/><br/>As the twirling metal disk pirouettes its way toward him, rocking back and forth until it rattles and jangles its way to silence, she speaks again.  "You had lockpicks with you.  Are you a thief?"  Smirking.  "If you are, then you must see the opportunity here... work for yourself, and you'll make some coin.  But mark my words... if you work for me, I will make sure you make even more."<i>Money and prestige... not true power, but certainly two of its tools.</i><br/><br/>"You can start by telling me about a stolen crate-- healing supplies, and a sword, from the shop up the street.  Know anything about that?"  She arches one coppery-brown eyebrow, smiling coyly at the halfling.<br/><br/>((I didn't realize that those things were laying in the alley still... could she have picked them up?  I think if Shiloh had seen them, she definitely would have brought them along-- they are, after all, the halfling's property.))