Fanning the Flames

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_01]: The Thieves Guild by Jake Kerr Episode 102 Fanning the Flames

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Callos had offered to escort Vesper via the sewer under the North Fork, but Vesper politely declined.

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_01]: There were other ways to sneak into places. He had worn other guild colors many times in his role as a blade.

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_01]: When you were spying, assassinating or doing some other deed that requires access to another guild's tower or quarter of the city without raising suspicion, you wore the appropriate colors.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_01]: It was particularly easy for Vesper to do this as he was the craft guild blade and the craft guild made all of the clothing for the other guilds.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_01]: So as Vesper made his way into the upper quarter, he felt entirely comfortable wearing a very specific outfit, thick brown trousers and a simple green shirt. Topping it all off were his thick leather boots.

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_01]: He wanted to look like a senior worker in the outer fields and a walk into one of the warehouses in the warehouse district was all it took to achieve that aim.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_01]: As he crossed Traders Bridge, it was immediately clear that Kerriss's outreach to the Harvest Guild had done little to calm things down.

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_01]: On the merchant and craft lower quarter side, the bridge was tensely guarded by merchant guards.

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_01]: On the upper quarter side where Harvest House stood, the bridge was heavily guarded by harvest guards. Night protectors were notably absent in both locations.

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Halt!

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_01]: It was a Harvest Guild guard. Fan the flames of hatred, Allard had said. I may as well start now, he thought.

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper stopped and turned toward the guard. He was a large man with a heavy sword who clearly wasn't there for show.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Where are you coming from? And what is your business?

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_01]: The guard placed his hand on the pommel of his sword as he peered at Vesper.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm from the outer fields.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper waved off toward where the outer fields lay, far in the distance beyond the wall.

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_02]: I was concerned about my cousins in the lower quarter and went to check on them.

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_01]: The guard paused and then nodded.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And how are they?

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't find them.

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper clenched his teeth and practically spat out the rest of his words.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_02]: I had heard that the new Guildmaster merchant would set things right and that they would return,

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_02]: but when I asked a merchant guild member he laughed and said that there wasn't much to return to

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_02]: and perhaps we had learned our lesson in offending the merchant guild.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_01]: The guard frowned and the hand on his pommel clenched into a fist.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_01]: He said that?

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_02]: In front of the smouldering ruin of my family's home.

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_02]: The merchants have always been an arrogant guild.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_02]: The guard growled.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_02]: It is worse.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_02]: The new Guildmaster is the nephew of the Guildmaster craft

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_02]: and I mentioned that Orion would rebuild our homes for us.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: That sounds something like Orion would do.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: The guard leaned forward.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_02]: What did the merchant say?

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_02]: He laughed at me again and said the craft guild is already charging extra for equipment to clear the debris.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Sure he'll help, but that greedy bastard will just use it as an excuse to bleed the other guilds dry

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_02]: and his nephew will help.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_02]: I find this hard to believe Orion is a simple good man.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I do as well.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The guard relaxed.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: They were the words of one money counter.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper nodded but took note of the guard using the pejorative for the merchant guild.

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_01]: That was rarely done in the open streets among strangers.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Waving Vesper on he added,

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Orion will set things right.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Fan the flames, Vesper thought.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_02]: My fear is he is too simple and jovial for the task.

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Remember how he sided with Larson during the Founders Day banquet.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And with that comment, Vesper moved on.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper had a long walk to Harvest House and he intended to use the time to formulate a plan.

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: He did not plan on talking to Polo directly.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_01]: That would be suicide.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Indeed it apparently had led to the death of the thieves guild blade.

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_01]: What he intended to do was leave a swath of ill will toward Orion and Keris

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_01]: by spreading rumours among the various inns and taverns

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_01]: where Harvest guild members met and shared stories and rumours.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_01]: There were two inns where he was known as a Harvest guild member.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_01]: The first was the Golden Wand,

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: an expensive inn located in the very wealthy and exclusive Golden Triangle neighbourhood.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_01]: The other was the Golden Apple,

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_01]: a more working class tavern near Harvest House.

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_01]: He had intended on visiting the Apple first

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_01]: as it was closer to Harvest House

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and was the most popular intersection of every part of the guild.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: The success of his sad story of a burnt house with the guard

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_01]: changed his mind and coalesced his thoughts.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_01]: The destruction was part of the story

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_01]: but the real anger would grow out of the merchant and craft guild reaction to that destruction

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and if that reaction didn't exist, Vesper would create it.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_01]: His plan required him to be covered in soot

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_01]: and his new clothes would not work for that.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper pondered his options.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_01]: The safest would be to head to the outer fields

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_01]: and find one of the waste bonfires.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_01]: They were lit at night

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_01]: and there would be ash and charcoal in the morning.

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Such a trip would take a few days however.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_01]: The much faster option was to re-cross the bridge,

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_01]: head to the green belt and prepare there.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_01]: The trouble would be crossing the guarded bridge twice more.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper considered the risk acceptable and turned around.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: As he expected, crossing back into the lower quarter went without incident.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_01]: The merchant guards were wary

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_01]: but were clearly guarding against a large collection of troops

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and not a single guild member on foot.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Once he reached the other side,

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: he walked past Merchant Tower to the throughway.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_01]: The tower was surrounded by merchant guards

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and while the words coming from Keris were full of welcome and regret,

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_01]: he clearly was taking no chances.

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper took note and continued onward.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_01]: As he turned onto the throughway,

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_01]: the devastation appeared even worse than his previous journey.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Entire neighbourhoods had been burned to the ground.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_01]: How can Keris welcome people back when they have nothing to return to?

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper thought.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_01]: His comment to the guard about the craft guild

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_01]: growing rich over Larson's insanity

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_01]: seemed all too real.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_01]: It was difficult to shock Vesper

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_01]: but what he found on the green belt was difficult to believe.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_01]: The stately mansions of the old Harvest House families were unguarded

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and what hadn't been burned down had been looted.

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_01]: He had expected guards and a difficult time getting near the houses

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_01]: but he simply walked right up.

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Entering a three-storey house that was collapsed granite,

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper assumed the rock collapsed as the wooden higher structures came down.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Could the merchants have torn it down?

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper wondered.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_01]: He was reasonably sure that the house belonged to one of the families from the mines.

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_01]: They could use their connections to get the rock here.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Otherwise getting large stone this far from the mines was absurdly expensive.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_01]: He navigated through scorched rock and fallen and charred timber.

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_01]: A painting lay exposed against a half-fallen wall to his right.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_01]: The figures on the portrait were scorched beyond recognition.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_01]: An idea formed and Vesper pulled out his knife,

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_01]: cut the canvas around the edge,

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_01]: rolled and folded it and slid it down the back of his shirt.

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_01]: It was uncomfortable but hidden.

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Hidden from the throughway by the remains of the house,

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper leaned down and grabbed a piece of charred wood.

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_01]: He rubbed the charcoal over his face and arms.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_01]: He picked up ash and tossed it above his head, letting it fall into his hair.

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Finally he found a floor covered in ash.

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_01]: He lay down and rolled in it.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_01]: As he stood up he grabbed a handful and rubbed even more into his knees and shirt.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Looking like someone that had survived or fought the fires in the lower quarter,

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper started back to the upper quarter.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_01]: The merchant guards practically turned up their nose at his sad appearance

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_01]: and let him through without issue.

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_01]: On the other side the guards looked alarmed and asked his business.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_01]: He replied that he was from the outer fields

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and visiting his family in the flats when the fires started.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_01]: He fought the fires and resisted the merchants rounding up his family,

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_01]: but in the end he escaped into the flames.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_02]: I survived but I fear my family has not.

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_02]: They are still gone and they have nothing to return to.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper then added with bitterness in his voice,

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Nothing!

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_01]: The guards looked aghast, offering their condolences they allowed him to pass.

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_01]: He made the long walk to the Golden Wand where he was friends with the proprietor

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_01]: and where he had a room under a long-term rental as one of his base of operations.

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_01]: The upper triangle seemed unchanged from his previous visits.

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Huge houses, smooth cobblestones and meticulous landscaping.

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Being remote from the flats and the lower quarter

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_01]: certainly lessened the possibility of unrest over the blatant display of wealth.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_01]: The public good centrepiece of the upper quarter was the library,

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_01]: but no one ever visited it, certainly no one from the lower quarter.

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_01]: His last visit was to assassinate the son of the captain of the shipwrights.

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_01]: He was skimming money from the accounts and Orion was considered too simple-minded to notice.

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_01]: A vicious assassination would raise the spectre that he had gotten on the wrong side of those he was dealing with,

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: which would remove Orion's problem without anything indicating he was involved.

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_01]: As he approached the Golden Wand, Vesper had to admit he liked the creature comforts of wealth

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_01]: and the easy humour of those that had attained it.

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_01]: The golden apple was full of bravado and gutter humour and slaps on the back.

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_01]: The Golden Wand had plush chairs and fine wine, while the humour was of gentle mockery and wordplay.

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Even the inn itself was built on humour.

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_01]: The owner, a friendly chap named Thomas, regaled Vesper about the odd name of the inn and the stories behind it.

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Mounted above the bar was a thin piece of wood, which Thomas had placed in a glass case.

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_01]: The wood was set upon a bed of silk. Everyone knew the story.

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_01]: That is the magical wand of the very last guildmaster of the Magic Guild,

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Thomas exclaimed. One of the patrons replied in a droll voice,

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_00]: If it's magic, why don't you use it to make yourself less ugly?

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Such conversations happened whenever a new patron entered the bar at the front of the inn,

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_01]: always countered by some dry mockery by the regulars.

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper liked the tale. Of course magic wasn't real and the idea of a Magic Guild was ridiculous.

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_01]: But it was a fun story and it gave the inn not just character, but a sense of fun too,

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_01]: which made it all the more popular in the upper quarter.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper stood at the front door. He had a mission from Allard. He had a mission from Orion.

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_01]: It was not too late for him to turn around. This would be the last chance for him to change his path.

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_01]: If he entered and told his story, he had no doubt that the word would spread among the powerful rich patrons of the wand,

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_01]: and with it would be a major setback for Orion and a clear commitment of Vesper to the Thieves Guild.

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Vesper looked to his left across the Golden Triangle, the Ash Fields, and the mountain in the distance.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Standing resolutely and towering over all should be the Thieves Tower, but he could not see it.

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe magic does exist and it is hiding the tower, Vesper thought.

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Putting that absurd thought out of his head, Vesper walked through the front door.

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_01]: As the door closed a loud voice from inside called out,

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_01]: My gods, Vesper! What has happened to you?