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00:00:01
The Thieves Guild,
00:00:04
by Jake Kerr.
00:00:08
Episode 20.
00:00:13
Not getting caught.
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Raelan knew that his biggest strategic asset was his biggest tactical
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weakness, his yellow tunic. It would make him a clear target for every knight in the
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tower. It would distract them all from his friend's escape, but it also made him stand
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out in the sea of white, making him much easier to catch.
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He didn't think much about it until he made it through the front gate of the tower.
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Getting there wasn't very difficult.
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The knights all wore their armor, whether it was the thick ornamental armor
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or the chain mail of the working knights.
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Raelan found it easy to sprint past one knight while dodging another.
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In fact, his entire life had consisted of him running through crowds and
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avoiding outstretched hands.
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One of the things Raelan had mastered was using the momentum of one pursuer
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against a different pursuer. This was made much easier by the bulk of the knights.
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He would pull a knight off his feet, only to have other knights trip over their fallen
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friend. The most difficult trial was getting past a string of knights at the front
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gate, who stood with their swords unsheathed.
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But Raelan had been through a similar gauntlet during several escapes.
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Of course, he'd been caught more than a few times facing them,
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but the difference between success and failure always came down to one
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thing, the floor.
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Raelan ran to the knights who all appeared to be salivating at the opportunity of
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striking him dead right then and there.
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There was one particularly huge knight near the middle.
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Raelan pointed at him and grinned, running straight at him.
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The knight set his legs and swung his sword in front of him.
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With a slight leap, Raelan feigned a punch.
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The knight brought up his sword only to see Raelan dive toward his feet.
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Just as the guard brought his sword down, Raelan slid between his legs, the
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smooth marble of the tower floor offering little resistance.
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It wasn't a perfect fit, which was fine for Raelan.
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He tugged on the knight's white cloak, which pulled him up and the knight backward.
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As the knight fell, he got in the way of the other knights.
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By the time they had realized what had happened, Raelan was in the grass field beyond the tower's
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large iron doors. He had escaped so quickly that there was confusion as
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shouts and alarm claxons rang. Shouts of, "Stop him!" were
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followed by knights looking around for whom they were supposed to stop.
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"This is almost too easy," Raelan thought, as a cry of,
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"Stop the craftsman!" came from the tower.
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Moments later, an arrow hit the ground at Raelan's feet.
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Yellow tunic surrounded by white, archers on the wall.
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"Not good," Raelan thought. And then he saw it, a large wagon with four
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horses pulling it. It was on the side of the road with a broken wheel.
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"Thank you, Mela," Raelan thought. He zigzagged through the field,
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arrows barely missing him. Sprinting around the wagon, he stopped as it
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shielded him from the archers on the wall.
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He quickly pulled off his yellow tunic and tossed it on the ground.
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With a quick sprint, he ran up and leapt onto the back of one of the horses at the
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front of the wagon.
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The horse was muscular and rested, and with a kick, Raelan was off.
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Another skill that few knew that Raelan had mastered was riding horses.
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When he was younger on his parents' property in the Upper Triangle, he would ride his
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favorite horse way out to the outer fields, where he would steal fruit from the
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orchards.
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Without fail, a guard would chase him on horseback.
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But Raelan on a horse was perhaps more agile and slippery than
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Raelan on his feet. He would leap hay bales and take tight turns
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around trees and gallop along treacherous creek beds.
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His adventures ended one day when Polo visited his father.
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From that point on, Raelan had not ridden a horse.
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Yet, as he took off down the road on the back of the mighty steed, it felt like he had never
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missed a day of riding in his life.
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The rhythm of the gallop felt natural as Raelan leaned forward and let the horse guide
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him.
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The trouble was that outrunning the news of the prison escape didn't matter.
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He was already the subject of a citywide manhunt.
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He'd get to the Great Bridge, and the fact that he now wasn't wearing a guild color combined
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with the expectation that he would escape to the old quarter meant that everyone on
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the bridge would target his approach before he was within a hundred yards.
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Still, he had no choice. The horse raced away from the great gate up River Road, the
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river to his right and the flats to his left.
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The sun was setting and the road was thick with traffic as crowds of
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people were making their way to the flats from their work in the harvest fields or the
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mines.
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He passed coaches, wagons, horsemen, and crowds of people walking along the
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road. He raced past a knight on horseback, and his speed betrayed him
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as the knight called out-
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Hey you, what is the hurry?
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The knight immediately started to pursue Raelan.
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There were too many people to put distance between Raelan and his pursuer, so he took a hard
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left into the flats. The knight was not too far behind, and Raelan galloped
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as fast as the horse would go, and then he would take hard turns into paths that led
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behind houses.
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Glancing over his shoulder, Raelan could not believe that the knight was still
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pursuing him.
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In fact, the knight was catching up."He's a good rider,"
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Raylan thought. "Let's see if he's fearless though."
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Raylan patted the neck of the horse. "Be strong and trust me."
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Raylan turned to the back of one house and a large hedge that separated
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its rear yard from the rear yard of a backing house.
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The hedge must have been about five feet tall.
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Raylan kicked the horse and leaned down as the horse leapt the hedge.
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The horse stumbled as it landed, but Raylan held on.
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Glancing over his shoulder, Raylan smiled. The knight did not attempt the jump.
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He still wasn't far, so Raylan gave the horse a kick and led it across another lawn
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and another jump.
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This one was lower but more dangerous as it was a fence with sharp edges extending
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up.
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After clearing the jump, Raylan yanked the horse to the west and they galloped
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back toward the Great Bridge. "You did me a favor, knight," Raylan
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thought. "Even those pursuing me won't know where I'm at now."
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As he reentered River Road, Raylan had to slow his horse to a walk.
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He was closer to the bridge and a steady stream of people flowed into the road, clogging
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it and making a fast pace impossible.
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Something he had never considered before suddenly dawned on him.
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"There are hundreds of guild members that live in the Wretched Quarter.
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All of these people in Harvest Guild colors, and even some Craftsman
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colors, are heading to the Old Quarter.
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They must live there and work on this side of the river."
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The concept that so many guild members lived in the Wretched Quarter shocked
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Raylan.
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It went against everything his Upper Triangle family had taught him.
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Shaking his head at the continued uncovering of his own ignorance, Raylan looked at
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the bridge in the distance. It was a massive structure that crossed the nearly
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mile-wide Great River.
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Rocks and steel were combined in one of the greatest of architectural
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feats,
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a bridge that expanded the original city of Ness over the river into the lush
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fields that would soon become the new center of the city.
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Raylan knew little about the Wretched Quarter, no, not Wretched Quarter, Old
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Quarter, I must call it the Old Quarter, across the bridge.
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He had been taught that it was full of murderers and thieves and the squalid poor who
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did no work and lived off of cheating the hardworking citizens on his
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family's side of the river.
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Yet now he felt a new interest in it and its citizens.
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The Thieves' Tower was there, but what other artifacts of the old city
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remained? Were there other guild towers now abandoned?
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What about the ash fields? He did know that the entire move across the river was
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due to over-farming and the need to abandon the fields that no longer could grow
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crops. Were those fields truly covered in ash?
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These thoughts went through Raylan's mind as he slowly made his way to what he hoped would be
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nothing more than a shout from one of the knights, and then him rushing past on the
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back of the horse.
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He wanted to be within just a few yards or even feet of those looking for
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him before they noticed him.
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Then they wouldn't have time to organize any kind of true barrier.
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He was over a hundred yards away, however, when an alarm sounded.
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Raylan looked up and a group of men in armor and blue capes was pointing at him.
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To his horror, there were dozens of them.
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"I'm not going to be able to dodge all of them," Raylan thought.
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(dramatic music)