Sylvia nodded to him, and she quickly called back to the man as she started to hurry after Jackson, with a wave in his direction, "You got it! Thanks again!" She knew that if she didn't hurry, she could lose sight of Jackson, and thus lose the trail. She also wanted to make sure that Jackson didn't get hurt either.

As you ran up to Jackson, you can tell he seemed to be hit in the trail, as he runs straight towards the source of the scent... Mariam, who was ordering around some servants of hers. Jackson arrived and started sniffing around her feet much to her annoyance. “Ugh! What are you doing you mutt!? I do t have time for you, shoo!”

Sylvia soon reached where Jackson and Mariam were, and when he started sniffing around her feet annoyed, Sylvia held back a laugh. When Mariam tried to shoo Jackson away, she spoke up, "Ma'am, please leave Jackson be. He's following your scent and searching for your items now,"
She watched Jackson, ready to follow him if he headed out of the abode...

She sighed and waited for Jackson to finish smelling her, which he eventually did as he headed out from the area towards the gates of the camp. As they were closed he started barking at the guards, who came over to investigate. “Oi, whose dog is this? Someone get this pup, he’s making a racket!”

Sylvia followed Jackson towards the gates and when she got there, she spoke to the guards who came to investigate, "Hello, Sir! Jackson's with me. We're following a lead regarding the stolen items. Can you please open the gate for us?"

The guard nodded. “Alright. Just stay outta trouble. Open the gates!” The gates would open, allowing Jackson to leave the camp and go and follow the trail outside of the camp. You follow him with some difficulty; he’s fast thanks to being a dog, and only stops to occasionally sniff the air and follow the trail. You go quite a fair bits away from the trail before you end up at a strange looking cave structure. There’s a wooden door here, old but usable. There’s a makeshift lock keeping the door closed, in the form of rope in a tight knot. Jackson barks at the door.

Sylvia nodded to the guard, and she answered him, "Thank you! We'll be back soon!"

Once the gates were open, she continues to follow Jackson as best as she could. She was a little out of breath by the time they reached the cave like structure with makeshift door and lock. Jackson's barking has probably alerted the thief, if they were still here, but she decided to continue towards the door.

Considering that the makeshift lock was a rope, she decided to take out the hunting knife and try to use that to cut the knot in order to open the door. Knocking on the door asking the thief probably wasn't going to work in this case.

Cutting the rope was easy enough. The door creaked open, allowing you entry. Jackson went in first, still sniffing the ground and being much more quiet. It was absolutely dark here however. You had your things with you at least, perhaps if you could light a torch or lantern to provide illumination.

After cutting the rope, Sylvia stowed the knife back into her backpack, and she decided to light a torch. Once the torch was lit, she followed Jackson, trying to be quiet as well. She didn't know if the thief was still here or not, but she wanted to be on her toes and make sure that neither her nor Jackson got surprised and hurt in the cave.

The cave didn’t appear to be natural as your torch illuminated the darkness. There was old, rotting timber supporting the ceiling, like someone had dug through here a long time ago. As you walked through the cave you notice two doors. One was a metal gate with no door handle, and another was a more simple wooden door, also without a door handle but with a faint light coming from inside. Jackson seemed to be sniffing at the wooden door.

As Sylvia made her way through, following Jackson's lead, she found herself not liking the cave she was in. The fact that rotting timber was the only thing supporting the ceiling made Sylvia nervous. This place seems like it could collapse on her any moment.

She tried to distract herself from the cave by focusing on Jackson, who was sniffing at the door. As tempted as she was to just open the door and bust on through, she realized that just barging in may not be the wisest idea.

She wanted to try and peek through the under the door, but she found that she could only see a table, and that was it.

So, it was time to try and head in. So, she attempts to push the door open and enter the room, and let Jackson into the room as well.

The door took a bit of force, but soon it'd open. And inside... Was a mess. There was one large table with two wooden benches on it. On the table was a lit lantern and some food. Cold salted fish and a slice of bread. There were a few flies in the room, but the fish wasn't rotten. There was a mug that smelled of wine. In one corner of the room were various sacks, barrels, and boxes stacked up. Another part of the room had a bedroll and a short sword nearby. As Jackson entered he started sniffing around and went over towards the stacks of supplies. In particular he was pawing at a box that had a proper lock on it. It looked like a simple keyhole lock, but there wasn't anything that looked like a key in this room. The box itself was small but heavy, at least fifty pounds.

Sylvia was a little disgusted at the flies at the room. But she was able to appraise the room and see what was in here. Someone was here already. Seeing the shortsword, she decided to take that, just in case the thief came in here while she was searching. It'll be one less thing the thief can use to kill her while it'd be one more thing she can use to defend herself...even if she never touched a sword in her entire life.

Soon enough Jackson was pawing at a box. That had to be where the stolen items were kept! But there wasn't a key...

She thought of just breaking the box open to get the items, but it might cause a loud noise. So she decided to try something else instead: Lock picking...

She took out one of the throwing knives and tried using that. If it doesn't work, then she'd try her hair pin as an improvised lock pick.

You tried to use your knife, but even though it's designed for throwing and thus thinner than most blades, it's still too big to fit into the keyhole. You would try to shimmy and wedge it further, but soon you'll notice some metal from the lock getting shaved off and stop. Wouldn't want to accidentally jam the lock. You could try and use your hairpin, not that it's much better. Combined with your inexperience and improvised tools, you're not sure if this would be much better. Jackson was still here, watching the door while occasionally looking at you, as if he's on watch.

When she saw that her attempts at lock picking weren't working, she decided to stop and try a different method. Hardened criminal, she was not. After checking on Jackson, to see that he was on watch, she mumbled a "Good boy," to him and proceeded with her next idea: Searching for the key.

While a key might not be immediately visible, it doesn't necessarily mean that it wouldn't be in the room, right? It could very well just be hidden somewhere.

And if she isn't able to find it, well then she can try prying the lid open with her staff before going on to try breaking the chest open.

Looking around the cave for a key, you don't find much that looks like it would fit. A few odd sticks and utensils but nothing that would seem like a key. Just as you were considering smashing open the chest, you look around the bedroll one more time and feel something stiff in the pillow case. Unlike ones back at home, this one was little more than a sack filled with some sort of fibrous material. Double checking to make sure, you definitely feel something solid inside of it. Cutting it open reveals the sack was filled with hay, and a metal key inside. It looked like a strange skeleton key, but perhaps this is what you were looking for.

You go try to use it to open the chest, and it slides in easily. But as you turn to unlock it, the key snaps in half just as the lock opens. Though the chest was now unlocked, the key was effectively destroyed, and the lock jammed. At least it's open now. Inside the box contained a small collection of jewelry and treasures. Various amulets made from cheap materials like wood, bones, or copper, though there was one necklace made from gold. Jackson walked over and sniffed this one very intently. It may be the holy symbol, though it looked strange. It looked like vaguely like an angel with her arms spread out over her wings. Not the Maker's symbol you saw like back at Cassari, but not the silver sword design of Defiance either. Might be to a different god.

Aside from that there were also some other items including a strange club that took up most of the space in the box. There was also an old key, a sheet of music paper with some song written onto it, and an empty silver snuffbox bearing an inscription on the surface that says "dreams". You could fit most of these things into your bag. But as you were doing so, Jackson suddenly perk's his ears up and looks towards the door, a low growling coming from his throat.

Sylvia was glad that she was able to find the key, however she muttered an "Oops..." when she accidentally broke said key to open the chest. At least it was open, but it'll be hard covering her tracks. When she looked around through the contents, she couldn't help but get the sense that maybe she was barking up the wrong tree. She held the holy symbol in her hand and studied it. Was Mariam's amulet the same as this holy symbol? Sylvia wasn't even sure anymore. Still, if anything, she was only going to take the holy symbol.

Her attention then turned to Jackson when he started growling. Uh oh...Someone was coming!

She looks around to see if there was a place to hide herself and Jackson. If not, then she'll have her staff at the ready just in case the person coming becomes hostile.

The room didn't have many good hiding places, but there was always one spot that was good in a room with a door; right behind it! You quickly move into a hidden position, and Jackson seems to understand what you were trying to do as well as he goes to hide underneath the table. Soon you'd hear heavy footsteps, followed by the rattling of chains. The steps were slow, steady, and cautious. Just as it reached the door it stopped. A few seconds would pass. A few tantalizing seconds. And then suddenly the door would be kicked open, nearly slamming into you as a man came through. He wore a dark brown cloak and had a shiny bronze shield and silver spear.

"WHO THE FUCK IS HERE!?"

Sylvia held her breath as she hid, relieved that Jackson understood what she was trying to do and hid himself as well. But she was still nervous, as the approaching presence seemed to be aware of her own presence. And it wasn't a surprise to her, anybody probably would have noticed the cut rope. She remained quiet as the seconds ticked by. She flinched when the door almost slammed into her, but she took in the details of the person who entered the room and shouted who was here.

Seeing the shield and the silver spear, Sylvia realized 'This has to be the thief!'

So, she decided to try and knock him unconscious while she had the chance. He didn't seem to notice her there.

So she raised her quarterstaff and tried to strike him on the head while he was distracted, and hopefully before he notices Jackson or herself. After the quarterstaff strike, she would try to sweep kick him off of his feet, just like with Dirk.

You attack furiously from the shadows, smashing your staff over the thief's head. However instead of him falling, you feel a solid thud as your staff smacks against an iron helmet. When you go for the sweep, you smash your foot into his ankle, but his armored greave helps him maintain his footing. Even Jackson sprang out from the table and leapt onto the man, biting into his neck as the thief screamed, but even this wasn't enough to put him down as he roared and threw Jackson off. However in doing to, Jackson was able to tear off the man's cloak. And then you'd see in the dim lantern lights, this man wore a uniform a lot like the guards of the camp, or at least his armor was the same. He lacked the symbol and tabard, as if he had simply taken the protective pieces of their armor and not the identifying regalia.

"Gaaah! You bitch! I'll kill you both!" He lunged right at you, stabbing the silver spear right towards your chest.