A History Revealed

[00:00:00] The Thieves Guild by Jake Care Episode 91, A History Revealed. Rave was petrified when the first night stopped them. What if he won handed a few books and those books contained the secret of the thieves guild? And if they were stopped a few times and

[00:00:35] each night took a few books by the time they returned to the thieves tower he would have nothing left to research. Hold! A night held up his hand as Tilson attempted to navigate down the throughway, pass the green belt and to the Great Bridge. Rave's heart fell.

[00:00:55] Stake your business. The night I'd the wagon up and down. Guild must have lost and has cleared out one of the rooms in the basement of the tower, and we are to take this junk

[00:01:04] to the old quarter and dump it. Rave was shocked at Tilson's words. Why would he state something so easily proven false? The books were out in the open and easy to see in

[00:01:17] the back of the wagon. The guard looked in the back of the wagon, grabbed some books, and then tossed them further into the back of the wagon. He moved some more books. Ralins

[00:01:28] heart fell. Was the guard looking for the most valuable books to one hand? All you have is books. The guards sounded disappointed, almost angry, Tilson nodded. Come back when you have something valuable. The guard waved them on, leaving all the books where they lay,

[00:01:49] when they were out of the ashot, rafely exclaimed, he didn't take any books. Of course not. My doubt there's a night in nest that even knows how to read. But certainly he knows

[00:01:59] that they have value. Tilson laughed. Books have no value to anyone but you rave. They are more likely to be effective kindling than a way to learn. Rave shook his head, not quite believing Tilson's appraisal of the value of the books. Certainly rave knew from his experience

[00:02:20] in the flats that no one read books and that books pretty much didn't exist outside the library, where they were nothing but a curiosity. But he still considered that the historical value would generate some attention if nothing else. Yet as they were stopped again and

[00:02:38] again, the knights who stopped the muttered in disappointment and let them pass without one handing a single book. By the time they reached the great bridge, rave was downright angry. Don't they realise how important these books are? These may contain the secret to everything.

[00:02:56] They don't. And let's be thankful for that. You are right. I will be more thankful however, once I'm in my library and looking through these pages. The crowds had thinned to barely a trickle

[00:03:08] and it was an easy ride across the bridge and through the old quarter. Rave watched as many people in green tunics and robes wandered around. Some were doing domestic duties falling into the normalcy of gathering water, going off the food and running various errands. Others were out

[00:03:27] discovering their new home, looking at every building with looks of ore or curiosity. Couples walked hand in hand, making the best of their sad situation. It wasn't until the road curved toward the thieves tower that those dressed in black started to become more numerous. Although there

[00:03:47] were harvest-gild members, even as they approached the wall, far from the great bridge. Rave squinted into the distance. It was astonishing how well hidden the thief tower was. Its black rock

[00:04:01] blended so well with the mountain behind it that even this close he had to look twice to see its outline. They pulled up to the tower and one of the stable boys came out. As he untethered

[00:04:13] the horse, Rave walked back to look at his books. He picked one up and couldn't believe the title, The Barrow's treaty. He had read bits and pieces about the treaty in other books. It was a treaty

[00:04:26] between Gautland and Ness, but he didn't know much more than that. Paging through the book, Rave found chapters on its effect on trade. It's lasting impact on the state-gild, and even at the back a complete copy of the treaty itself. Putting the book down, he grabbed another.

[00:04:46] The gild master thief, a book that had a chapter on every gild master thief, going back to the gild's origin. He turned to the front, and there was the first gild master thief, a woman named

[00:05:00] Cora, who wore a long ethereal red dress, one that looked like it was made of liquid cloth. Red? Rave was about to start reading when Tilson cleared his throat.

[00:05:12] Sir, I have help here to take the books up to the library. Do you want to rest or get some dinner while we carry them? Yes, that's a good idea. Rave placed the book back with the others.

[00:05:24] Please take great care. These are extremely valuable. There is a shelf to the rear on the left side of the library. I've left it empty for these books. Rave looked over the pile in the wagon,

[00:05:34] but there are more than I anticipated, so if there are more than fit on the shelves, place them on my work table. As you wish, Sir. Rave went off to the tower kitchen. He was suddenly

[00:05:45] very hungry, and he wanted to build up as much energy as he could. He anticipated not sleeping for a long time. As he walked into the library, it was clear that those storing the books had

[00:05:57] no understanding of organization. Large and small books were next to each other, and the topics were ignored with no order at all. A group of books that looked more like accounting records

[00:06:10] were next to thick books on Masonry. Rave decided that the first thing he had to do was organize the books so that his studies could be more efficient. In addition, he could get a better

[00:06:23] idea as to what treasures he had, as he went through them and placed them on the shelves. The first thing that struck him was the enormous variety of the books. He couldn't figure out

[00:06:35] Pietro's method for deciding which books to keep with him and which to leave back at the thieves tower. There were books on science, weather patterns, the stars in the sky, minerals, books on crafts and design, clothes, boats and weapon crafting, and even books on the flora

[00:06:54] and fauna of the hills and mountains. Most of the books, however, were nothing more than accounting ledgers, with detailed accounts of everything the thieves had stolen and where they were distributed. dozens of books going back centuries with thousands of lines with a date, what was stolen

[00:07:14] and what it was used for. Rave took a glance at the final book which had entries up until Pietro's death. It was empty from that date on wood, and Rave put the book aside to give to

[00:07:28] Railon. He knew Railon would continue the practice if for no other reason than to honor his dozens of predecessors. Thinking of Railon's predecessors brought Rave's attention back to a stack of books that he had put aside on his work table as important and worthy of immediate attention.

[00:07:48] There were about a dozen books, and they included books of maps, missing histories, detailed descriptions of foreign cities, and a book titled Guilds of Ness, which included an overview of important guilds that Rave had only seen mentions of, including the state guild.

[00:08:08] But there were three books that he was most interested in reading. One was the previously examined guild master thief, the biographical history of every guild master thief. To Rave's shock, he saw that it was written by Pietro himself. The second book was a book entitled

[00:08:28] a history of Nurania and surrounding lands. The first two pages were a spread of a map of the lands surrounding Ness. It extended further to the north and south than the other map he had seen.

[00:08:42] The final book was the one he planned to tackle first. It was the one book he had wanted more than any other, and here it was in his hand. The origins and mission of the thieves guild.

[00:08:55] Rave wanted to really show up in the book. He called down for wine and a fresh candle, while he finished filing the other books, many of which drew his attention. It was a wealth of

[00:09:07] information he doubted he could get through in a full year. Finally, he sat down in his favorite reading chair to a long drink of wine and opened the book. The first page was a short introduction,

[00:09:23] written by some guild master thief that Rave had never heard of. The first line confirmed every unconscious suspicion Rave had about his guild, and it was still so shocking he almost dropped the book. The thieves guild was born the day the magic guild died.