In the city of Ascendria, the capital of Infinitas, a man leaned against a wall. He wasn’t an ordinary citizen, rather he was a professional thief. He had spent the last few years completing scores for clients: anything from precious family heirlooms to chests of gold. Morality didn’t determine his mark; the promise of gold did.

He looked behind him and saw a large sign on the wall. There was a crude sketch of what looked like a werewolf. Below the picture, the sign read:

REPORT ALL MORPHUS ACTIVITY TO CITY WATCH

FAILURE TO REPORT MAY RESULT IN IMPRISONMENT

He laughed at the crude sketch and turned back down the road. There sat the Church of the Ascendant Crown. He knew this building well. He had spent a few minutes inside it tonight. It was his mark. The small glyph in his hands was the item of interest, and it promised a large sum of gold for what felt like simple work.

He was happy to complete the job, regardless of how easy it had been. The payment would fund his retirement. He had it all planned: collect his payment, rent a carriage to the Meadowlands, and start a new life in Misty Bay.

So there he waited, with time to kill before meeting his contact, The Rat. Other thieves found him arrogant. He liked to linger around the scene of the crime and watch the response. He had full confidence in his technomancy ability of alteration. He would simply turn invisible and watch the guards spin their wheels. It was entertainment.

The stomping of marching feet turned his stomach. This wasn’t the random steps of the city guard. The marching was perfectly in rhythm. He looked over and saw a problem arising. Instead of the city guard, three Ascendant Knights were marching away from the church and toward him. They were clad in obsidian black armor. Behind the masks of their helmets, a faint green glow shone.

The first wrinkle of the plan…

He had a simple philosophy for his work. The first wrinkle is a problem. The second is a challenge. And the third? The third spelled his doom. Seeing Ascendant Knights instead of the city guard? Not good.

Immediately, he focused on himself. He felt the system bend light around him, turning him invisible. He was taking no chances. He began to walk toward his meeting point with The Rat, the path taking him toward the marching knights.

He moved carefully, making no sound. This motion was deeply rooted in his muscle memory. To him, no one could see through his invisibility. He hadn’t become the greatest thief in Ascendria without a special trick.

What he didn’t expect was the three Ascendant Knights turning their attention directly toward him. Their green glow painted his soul with dread. Without a word, he knew he was made. They could see through his alteration, something he thought impossible.

The second wrinkle…

The thief didn’t give them a chance to capture him. He turned and ran down an alleyway.

“Alteration user,” the robotic, monotone voice of the lead Ascendant Knight called out, “Stop right there!”

The thief could hear marching behind him. That was terrifying. He was used to the sound of running when making a quick escape. Hearing marching was different. It was heavy, deliberate, unstoppable.

He looked around, seeking a way out. Suddenly, he saw a low awning. His plan: jump to the roofs and run like hell.

As nimble as a cat, he leapt from the ground, to the awning, to the rooftop. He watched as the knights rounded the corner. They didn’t chase him, didn’t fire arrows. They just locked their eyes on him as he jumped across the rooftops.

The green light of their vision shook him to his core. He had heard of the sheer terror known as the Ascendant Knights. But hearing and witnessing were two different things. Their gaze stuck in his head as he ran toward the meeting place.

His heartbeat echoed in his ears. He reminded himself to breathe. He had not been this frightened in quite some time. But he also knew that once he had his money, he would be far away from the knights and this terrible city.

Eventually, he made his way back to the streets and down a dark alleyway. The encounter with the knights had made him late. The alley was silent except for a single rat sniffing along the ground. The thief waited a moment to ensure he wasn’t being followed, then whistled softly.

The rat looked up and stood on its hind legs. Slowly, its fur melted away to reveal pale flesh. Its limbs grew larger. In place of the rat stood a man. His rat-like tail swayed once, then went motionless. His face was narrow, with prominent front teeth and a crooked smile.

“You’re late,” The Rat said simply.

“Sorry,” the thief said, tossing the glyph toward the Rat. “Ran into some… trouble on the way here.”

The Rat looked at the glyph. “Ah, as beautiful as I expected. You did well, thief.”

The thief shrugged. “Where can I find my payment?”

The Rat’s crooked smile widened. “In due time.”

Soon enough, the sound of marching filled the alleyway. The thief felt his stomach drop. He recognized it immediately: it could only mean one thing. He looked back at The Rat. There was no fear in his eyes, and that crooked smile remained. The painful truth hit him.

The Rat, a Morphus, had worked with the Ascendant Crown. The same order that sought to rid the world of his kind.

The third and final wrinkle… The Rat had double-crossed him.

As the Ascendant Knights approached, the thief felt a strange pang of pity. The Rat, a Morphus, had done the impossible: he had worked with the Ascendant Crown. He must have been promised something large for his cooperation. The thief was sure the Ascendant Crown wouldn’t keep their end of the bargain.

One knight quickly grabbed the thief’s arms and secured them in a pair of light cuffs. These cuffs used pure energy to restrain the wearer. No breaking them. No picking the lock.

The thief knew he was caught. There would be no retirement to Misty Bay.

“Told you I could get him for you,” The Rat said, tossing the glyph to one of the knights, who caught it with perfect precision. “Now about the deal…”

The knights said nothing. They slapped a pair of light cuffs on him as well. The Rat was surprised. Obviously, this wasn’t part of the deal. Before he could protest, the lead Ascendant Knight spoke in a commanding voice.

He turned to the thief. “Prisoner 014130599, you are hereby arrested for illegal seizure of Ascendant Crown relics. You will be sent to the Ascendant Prison for rehabilitation.”

The thief’s eyes went wide. The Ascendant Prison was a death sentence. You never came out the same. It was as if they stripped your soul and individuality.

The Rat protested, “Hey! This wasn’t part of the deal! I’m not supposed to go to the prison!”

The knight turned to the Rat. “And you,” he said in the same monotone commanding voice, “beasts are forbidden from being in the city. You will be humanely euthanized immediately.”

The Rat’s eyes went wide with realization. Instead of completing a successful heist, he had played directly into the Crown’s hands. He would pay the ultimate price for violating the one truth of Morphuses: do not trust the Crown.

The thief was taken away before The Rat was euthanized. The sound of a blade being drawn was all he needed to hear to know the Rat’s fate.

After a few minutes, the knights walked the thief to a large black metal door. The thief knew what it was: the end of the line. Ahead lay the terrible prison that would now be his home.

As the doors opened, he looked around the city one last time. Everything moved on as normal. No ceremony, no passerby glanced in his direction. The city itself remained: methodical and cold.

The thief watched as the prison doors closed. To him, they were not only closing on the outside world but on his life. He wondered how many people watched the same doors close on their lives.

As the doors slammed shut, the world continued. Ascendria had swallowed another unfortunate life, one who sought to rid himself of his troubles. This transgression was quickly reconciled with a simple prison sentence; such was the way of the Ascendant Crown.