Though it may have seemed disorganised to the typical housewife peering down from the safety of their windows to the streets below, the groups of cloaked shadows moved with little time to waste. These groups made use of the disarray to conduct subtle yet devastating sweeping raids on all stalls and shops that had left their produce behind for the flies. Many statues and stone walls were left vandalised by buckets of obnoxiously bright paint; the majority slapped with the overlay mark of a three-pointed Silver Crown.
The scattered wave of cloaked and masked vagrants then trailed by the masses of feathered blackness, once sat so content observing the streets below from their perches and nests, now scattered through the stalls. The remaining Guard Force was left to swatting aside the obnoxious assault of shrill caws and flapping wings as the pad-footed rogues swept the once bustling district free of even the smallest scraps and all traces of coin, working in tandem with the Ravens. Some guards were even caught unaware by onslaughts of strange Black Moths that disoriented their vision and capability entirely. The more aware of onlookers might have witnessed a larger, silver-white glowing bird of some kind leading this avian charge on the Guardsmen.
If it weren't so abhorrently vile, it might have provided some value of entertainment - the figures in black sliding over stalls, clambering onto walls and some even sliding gracefully beneath the legs of their assailants with no intention to fight, but only to steal. In mere minutes, the conducted raid had swept the Merchant's District clean, leaving behind a mocking mess of Raven's feathers and an assortment of avian droppings, with the rogues dashing into the darkened alleyways and backstreets that they knew best, some even diving into crooks and crannies leading to the Slum Tunnels.
Naturally, Regalia's Guard Force was far from entirely inept - many remained to seek out the cause of this chaos, from Vigilant to Violet to potentially even the curious Safeguard. Every scrap of food, every regal dropped from the burlap sacks, and strapped backpack's of the masked rogues led back to the slums, where the poorest of the Holy City dined like royalty! It was a sight to behold, with spilt wine flowing where there was once sewage, scraps of fresh fruit lining the once barren walking paths and every corner boasting some makeshift bonfire for freshly swiped meat, seducing all nearby with the scent of roast flesh!
Many sang shanties and hymns in this time of rejoicing, and the masked vigilantes were all but gone, like scurried back into the shadows from whence they came. Most chimed at the valiant efforts of the 'great mastermind' and his 'merry cloaked men' that had led their impoverished lives to this moment of hollow triumph amidst all the paranoia and fear, and a singular chant sang highest among the masses of the Slums that night. Many would recognise it as a dated Sewer shanty - the chime of the ironically generous.
Yer' lucky that he takes not all,
He leaves some fer you, some fer me!
Yer' all desperately trying,
To escape his op-er-tun-i-ty!
He spreads the wealth,
Makes it all even!
To our ratty stinkin' health,
To stop us from heavin'!
So bow yer' heads,
an' drink with glee!
Raise yer' mugs ta' the Silver Eyed Devil,
An' the King of Thieves!
He leaves some fer you, some fer me!
Yer' all desperately trying,
To escape his op-er-tun-i-ty!
He spreads the wealth,
Makes it all even!
To our ratty stinkin' health,
To stop us from heavin'!
So bow yer' heads,
an' drink with glee!
Raise yer' mugs ta' the Silver Eyed Devil,
An' the King of Thieves!
