Once there lived a wealthy nobleman.  He used his wealth in pursuit of the rarest and most powerful of artifacts.  Such items, he believed, brought him status above that of other noblemen.  His money bought him many such rare items of prestige.

  One day, one of this noble's scouts came back to his castle, half-dead and clinging to a parchment sealed with this noble's seal.  Information for his eyes... Some new and rare treasure must have been spied by this scout, as this was the usual means for reporting such to him.  The noble grabbed the parchment from the scout's trembling hand.  He happily ran to his private chambers to review the findings, leaving the poor scout to rot where he lay.

  As he read the parchment, the noble's eyes opened wide.  This was tremendous news!  A rare and powerful shield had been seen to sit upon a dragon's horde... A very ancient and powerful dragon, who dwelt deep within a dungeon filled with very deadly creatures.  The noble cared not, however.  He must have this shield!  It was surely one of a kind!  He sent an entire brigade of his troops to fetch the shield for him.

  Several days later, a scout returned, bringing news of a  horrible slaughter... As the scout babbled on in his insane rambling of destruction and death, the noble pondered his options.  No artifact would escape his grasp!  If an army could not perform the task, then perhaps a small group of adventurers could.  These Aislings seemed to be able to move mountains, after all.  He hired a group of headstrong Aislings to fetch his prize for him, money being no object.

  The group returned the next day, naked and scarred.  They humbly requested new equipment to resume the quest.  The noble cast them out of his lands!  He had no patience for incompetents.  He would hire someone more powerful, surely someone could fetch his prize for him!

  So it was that a legendary Aisling was invited to this noble's court.  As he described the shield to the Aisling, a smile crept up on the Aisling's lips.  He suddenly became very interested as to where this powerful artifact of bygone days could be found...  A little too interested.

  The noble saw that this Aisling had more use for the shield than his money!  The noble refused to divulge the shield's location, for this person surely meant to keep it to himself!  The Aisling tried to force the location from the noble... a short struggle.  The guard subdued and locked the Aisling in the dungeon, where he was later sprung by his friends, who leveled half the dungeon in his release.

  This was getting expensive and fruitless.  The noble needed someone who valued money over all else, yet had enough power to fetch his prize from the dragon's hoard.  Where would he find someone that honest or stupid?

  As he pondered his dilemma, a grizzled old rogue emerged from the shadows.  The rogue offered to fetch this shield for the noble, for a humble fee.  The noble was leery, and asked what assurance he had that the rogue would not simply keep this artifact for himself.  The rogue told him that he too understood the value of a collection... he himself collected gold coins.  The noble laughed with the rogue, and told him where the prize could be found.

  The rogue smiled, and disappeared from sight.  The noble worried a bit that night, but sure enough, the rogue returned the next day, with the ancient shield slung over his shoulder.  The noble was overjoyed!  He asked that the rogue hand over the shield to him, that he may place it in his vault with his other treasures.  The rogue started to reach for the shield on his back.

  Suddenly, the rogue let loose a soori at a nearby drapery.  The noble turned to see what the rogue was aiming at, but saw only a flash of red and a golden tassel... A cotte... Some young rogue was trying to steal his new prize!

  The rogue told the noble that he would keep the shield safe on its trip to his vault.  The noble scoffed, and simply snapped his fingers.  A guard appeared beside him.  The noble told the rogue that any of his guard was more than a match for any rogue... even.. one.. say.. this guard seemed a bit short... Indeed, the armor was falling off this puny guard... revealing bright red underneath.

  The noble reached for the disguised young rogue, but a cloud of smoke rose up, blinding him for a moment.  When his eyes cleared, the 'guard' was gone.  The elder rogue stood smiling before the noble.  Only a rogue can stop a rogue, he told the noble.

  Seeing the light glint off the gold edging of his new prize, the noble began to sweat.  This was no good.  He summoned a page to his side, and instructed him to clear the way between himself and his vault.  The noble brandished his sword, and told the page that he would personally kill anyone he saw on his way to the vault!  The page turned white, and ran screaming down the hallways for all to make way.

  The rogue and the noble wandered down the castle halls, down several secret hallways, not seeing a single soul.  Soon they reached the vault, the repository of the nobles myriad of rare and powerful trinkets.  The noble opened the vault with high fervor.  This shield would be his crowning glory!  None could compare to him with this in his collection!

  The door swung open, and the rogue calmly asked where he should put the shield.  The noble pointed to the rear wall, a plaque on the wall was reserved for this very thing.  The rogue entered the vault, with the noble just behind.  The noble was admiring his collection, as he was wont to do when in his precious vault.

  As the noble paused to admire some fine rings he had pilfered one sunny day, he suddenly felt a click beneath his feet and smelt some strange... gas... Sleepy... ...The noble fell fast asleep on the floor, still smiling his greedy grin.

  The rogue whistled a short whistle, and a red cotte wearing rogue appeared beside him.  He told his student to take all she desired.  This vault was the richest in all the lands.  The young rogue squealed with glee and danced about the pretty baubles.

  The noble would learn a valuable lesson when he awoke,

 No collection can be more valuable than a good collection of friends.