It Begins

[00:00:01] The Thieves Guild, By Jake Kerr, Episode 123, It Begins

[00:00:24] Orion was not one to worry, but something odd was happening and in the chaotic environment of Ness at the moment. That worried him a great deal. Earlier in the day a messenger had let him know that the Great Bridge was closed.

[00:00:40] Closed? What does that mean?

[00:00:42] The Harvest Guild members that had been returning to their homes have stopped. In fact, all day yesterday not a single person returned from across the bridge. The Knights refused to do anything, as they said the wretched quarter was haunted. So Captain Kilgore sent a group of guards across the bridge to investigate. They never returned and that's when he told me to inform you that the Great Bridge appears closed.

[00:01:04] The Thieves, Orion thought. Something is going on with the Thieves. Were they holding the Harvest Guild members hostage in return for something from Polo, or was it something else?

[00:01:17] Orion considered it unlikely that Polo would have his Guild members stay any longer in the wretched quarter than necessary, no matter what Vesper had said about it not being wretched at all.

[00:01:29] Vesper, his absence also worried Orion. He was to assassinate Allard, but he had disappeared. Despite Vesper's formidable skill, Orion worried that Allard had killed him.

[00:01:42] The loss of Vesper would be a serious blow to his ability to navigate times ahead. And then there was Saks. The drunken fool assumed that all of the city's problems were over and he could just wait for Polo to come to his senses. At least Orion was able to manipulate him.

[00:02:02] Orion wasn't a fool. He knew that Karch's mission to Polo was doomed for failure, but it would at least give Orion some sense of Polo's intent.

[00:02:13] If Karch returned with angry words, Orion was confident that the major crisis would be averted. But if Karch was imprisoned or killed, Polo would then clearly have vengeance in mind.

[00:02:26] The thing was, Karch hadn't returned. Loud yelling outside his door interrupted Orion's reverie. And to his shock there was Saks and Karch. One glance at Karch and Orion had his answer.

[00:02:41] It's civil war then. Karch walked with a limp and his face was badly swollen and bruised. He winced as Saks gave him a slight shove forward.

[00:02:53] Orion was at his desk and he couldn't help but stare at the sight in front of him. Karch beaten to near death and Saks looking more serious than he ever had seen him.

[00:03:05] Orion stood. By the gods, Karch! What has happened to you?

[00:03:10] Saks shoved Karch aside, who almost fell as he stumbled. Polo had him beaten to near death to send us a message.

[00:03:19] Orion sat down, as did Saks and Karch, who once again winced as he maneuvered his body into the chair.

[00:03:26] And what message is that? Saks nudged Karch's shoulder, who nearly cried out in pain.

[00:03:33] I have a message from Polo. Clearly.

[00:03:36] He plans on marching on the lower quarter. His exact words were, tell Saks and Orion that they will feel our rage.

[00:03:43] Orion closed his eyes and lowered his head. This was all Larson's fault. It never should have gotten to this point.

[00:03:51] Their only hope was that Saks could rally a defense. The Harvest Guild outnumbered all the other guilds combined, but the Knight Guild held the wall, had a formidable cavalry and heavily armored knights.

[00:04:06] Defeating them would be challenging. But could he count on Saks? Orion opened his eyes and peered at Saks.

[00:04:14] What do you think?

[00:04:16] I am unconcerned. We will smash them. I'm more concerned about the Fall Harvest having enough living guild members to manage it than their baseless threats.

[00:04:25] Orion wanted to reach across his desk and throttle Saks. Arrogance at a moment like this was dangerous.

[00:04:33] What is your plan, Guildmaster?

[00:04:35] The question immediately perked up Saks.

[00:04:38] We will take Traders Bridge and assault the upper quarter from both the bridge and Nightwatch via the wall.

[00:04:44] As the Harvest Guild members panic over defending those two points, we will follow up with an assault via boats using the piers at the warehouse district.

[00:04:54] Orion was shocked. It was a surprisingly good plan. It was obvious, but sometimes the best plans are…

[00:05:02] That's an excellent plan, Saks.

[00:05:05] There's more.

[00:05:06] Saks smiled, and that was when Orion could see it in his eyes. This is what Saks lived for. More than drink. More than power. He lived for violence and confrontation. No wonder Larsen could manipulate him so easily.

[00:05:22] I've sent word to Quinto to march on the outer fields. There is no way the Harvest Guild can defend four points.

[00:05:29] At that moment, hurried footsteps could be heard from beyond Orion's office. Another messenger was escorted in. He was out of breath and stumbled to the three of them.

[00:05:40] Sir…

[00:05:41] He gasped for breath.

[00:05:43] Traders Bridge has fallen. The Harvest Guild attacked with force and slaughtered the merchant guards. They are fortifying along the Greenbelt.

[00:05:49] Orion turned to Saks.

[00:05:52] How bad is that?

[00:05:54] Saks stood up.

[00:05:55] It is a desperate ploy. We will punish them from the wall.

[00:05:59] Before marching out, he turned again to Orion.

[00:06:03] Polo seems to have forgotten that we can rain arrows upon him from the Night Watch.

[00:06:07] He ignored Karch's existence as he spoke to Orion, and then spun around and left.

[00:06:14] I must go.

[00:06:16] As Saks walked out, Orion realized that he had to leave the defense of the lower quarter in Saks' hands.

[00:06:24] What Orion would need to do was rally his own guild and the merchants to support him, especially with what happened to the merchant guards on Traders Bridge.

[00:06:34] The merchants.

[00:06:36] His nephew Keris was in charge, and he would need guidance. It was critical that the merchants supported the craft and night guild.

[00:06:45] Karch, stay there. I will need your assistance. I am summoning my nephew. He could use your guidance in times like this.

[00:06:53] Karch didn't move or say anything, but there may have been the hint of a smile on his battered face.

[00:07:01] Velo felt bad for those in the Night Watch.

[00:07:04] They happily opened their doors to their ranger brothers and invited them in.

[00:07:08] It was a small group, only ten rangers who said they had been visiting family in the outer fields, and wanted to experience the long walk along the wall, back to their assignment in the southern plains, rather than walk outside.

[00:07:23] The knights considered it a brilliant idea, and as they escorted the rangers up to the top of the wall through the tower, they extolled the amazing views of the walk along the formidable wall.

[00:07:35] The rangers nodded, thanked the knights, and then unsheathed their knives and killed every single one of them.

[00:07:43] Word came down that the Night Watch had fallen, and Velo's assignment had changed from assisting the attack to returning to the southern fields to keep an eye on any outlander movements, which would need to be contained during the ranger operations with the Harvest Guild.

[00:08:00] He would have preferred to be with his guildmates, freeing Ness from Orion and Sax, but he knew even his modest mission had value.

[00:08:09] He crossed the North Fork and was suddenly alone.

[00:08:13] Quinto was not taking any chances, and practically the entire ranger guild had already crossed the river into the outer fields.

[00:08:23] Velo smiled. The other guilds had no chance.

[00:08:27] He had travelled for a few days, and the absolute emptiness of the plains provided an eerie comfort.

[00:08:34] Everything was so quiet and peaceful.

[00:08:37] He was used to seeing his guildmates at regular intervals, but everyone was attacking Ness.

[00:08:43] He wondered how things were going.

[00:08:46] Had his guildmates taken the wall?

[00:08:48] Had the Harvest Guild swarmed into the lower quarter?

[00:08:52] Velo once again had his regrets for not taking part, but he knew he had a job to do.

[00:08:58] He'd already crossed the Great River and was approaching the southern fields already, having made good time.

[00:09:05] A light on the horizon caught his eye.

[00:09:08] The sun had gone down already, and he was expecting nothing but darkness as far as he could see.

[00:09:15] There it was again. A flickering light. A fire!

[00:09:19] Velo's horse was trotting along an easy trail.

[00:09:22] A small, dried-up riverbed.

[00:09:25] Velo dismounted and jogged up the side of the slight hill that contained the riverbed, where he saw more flickering lights to his left.

[00:09:33] The west plains, where the dried-up river had once led.

[00:09:37] Perhaps some outlanders were raiding for food.

[00:09:40] It was always a possibility.

[00:09:42] Velo crested the ridge and stumbled in shock.

[00:09:46] In the distance, nearly reaching to the horizon were dozens, no hundreds, of campfires.

[00:09:53] It was an outlander army.

[00:09:55] There were so many that it seemed likely that it was the entirety of the outlander forces.

[00:10:00] By the gods!

[00:10:01] The outlanders were marching on Ness via the southern plains.

[00:10:06] They would have a tough time with the wall, but it wouldn't take long for them to reach the great gate,

[00:10:12] and with the knights defending the lower quarter from the rangers and the harvest guild, the outlanders could swarm into Ness.

[00:10:20] To make matters worse, he couldn't rush to the gate to warn the knights.

[00:10:24] Once, he was now their enemy, and they wouldn't believe him.

[00:10:29] He turned and looked at the dark, almost black wall that extended south of the great river.

[00:10:35] The thieves manned the wall there.

[00:10:37] Raylan had somehow exited Ness on his missions from there.

[00:10:41] Did they have their own gate?

[00:10:43] He would gallop there in the hopes of alerting the thieves.

[00:10:47] Velo rushed back to his horse only to find him missing.

[00:10:51] Did he wander off?

[00:10:52] As he started to look upstream, a man with hair so pale it glowed in the moonlight, stepped in front of him.

[00:11:01] I'm afraid your journey has come to an end, Ranger.

[00:11:04] He pulled a long curved knife from a sheath.

[00:11:09] Rafe didn't travel up to the balcony on the top of the thieves tower very often.

[00:11:13] It seemed to be more like Raylan's place to stand and ponder what he had to do.

[00:11:18] But with Raylan gone, Rafe felt like that was his role now.

[00:11:22] To stand.

[00:11:24] To ponder.

[00:11:25] And, despite no desire to do so.

[00:11:30] To lead.

[00:11:31] He thought back to that night, not even that long ago, of he and Raylan smiling at the lights twinkling in the flats.

[00:11:39] They assumed that they were fires lit in celebration.

[00:11:44] It turned out it was the opposite.

[00:11:47] Rafe looked out now on a city bathed in darkness.

[00:11:51] The flats were a shadow.

[00:11:53] The upper triangle was muted with little but the gas streetlights indicating life.

[00:11:59] He even looked out beyond the wall and the great plains.

[00:12:03] He had no illusions as to his future.

[00:12:06] There would be no more pouring over delightful books.

[00:12:10] There would be no more research.

[00:12:12] He would be leading the most hated guild in Ness,

[00:12:16] one which Polo had politely said would soon cease to exist.

[00:12:21] Rafe turned from the balcony.

[00:12:23] Ness was no longer burning.

[00:12:25] But it was shrouded in darkness.