Disclaimer: I didn't create much of this but the plot. Eberron stuff.
Chapter 1
It was supposed to be a simple job. Paik had been in the business far to long to believe that any job could really be simple though. He just had to disguise himself as a gnome called Lord Athdar, gain access to the tower of Sivis, find the book, and get out alive. He didn't know much else about it. He didn't even know what the book looked like, just how to find it. He walked away from the shadows and towards the building. It was dark and he looked, at that current moment, exactly like Lord Athdar. Well almost exactly. He had never seen the unusual mark on Athdar's back that gave him status, along with a few magical powers, but it was dark and the guards never searched him. He was in. He stepped into a small room and stepped out looking like one of the guards on patrol, thanks to his shape changing ability. It was because of this particular ability that he was in the business in the first place. He was a changeling. They weren't a rare race, just a secretive one. He walked up three flights of stairs and went into another small room, walked over to a large, wooden, chest on the floor and quickly picked the lock. "They really should increase the security around here" he joked, picking up the heavy book. Just at that moment the only thing that could have gone wrong went wrong. The guard he was impersonating stepped into the room. "Halt thief!" he yelled as he readied his crossbow. Paik made a mental note to kill his employer for giving him incorrect information about the guards timing. He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small stone, about the size of a golf ball, covered with arcane marks which he threw at the wall behind his adversary. With a deafening roar, the rock shattered and startled the guard so badly that he shot his crossbow a full three feat above Paik's head. The last thing he saw was Paik pulling out a dagger and running full speed at him.