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00:00:01
The Thieves Guild
00:00:04
by Jake Kerr
00:00:10
(dramatic music plays) . Episode 84:
00:00:16
Pietro's Books.
00:00:23
They hadn't even crossed the Great Bridge before they had to pay their first bribe.
00:00:28
It was also the moment Rafe learned of a new phrase, handing it.
00:00:33
When knights stopped at a merchant or other guild wagon, they would inspect the goods
00:00:38
and take a handful. Whatever it was, the amount that could be grabbed with one
00:00:43
hand was the property of the knight.
00:00:46
Of course, a handful of coppers was one thing, a handful of gilders was something
00:00:51
else entirely. And when the knight that stopped them saw the money in the chest, he
00:00:56
practically tripped trying to get his hand into it so fast.
00:01:00
After that first hand, Tilson gave Rafe an overview of bribery, it
00:01:05
happened all the time.
00:01:07
There were certain unspoken rules, one of the most important being that you
00:01:12
only took one handful.
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Greedy knights were labeled two-handers and they somehow found
00:01:20
themselves reassigned or demoted. The unspoken rules presumably
00:01:24
had real consequences. The situation was so ingrained that
00:01:29
knights with large hands were teased about being perfect for guarding the
00:01:34
thoroughfares where expensive goods were transported.
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At that, Rafe laughed.
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"So the worst thing a merchant can face is a two-hander with large hands?"
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Tilson nodded.
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"Yet it is the guild master thief who trails the Founder's Day parade."
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The reminder of the filth and abuse his friend, Raylan, was subjected to made
00:01:55
Rafe somber. They were thieves, yes, but they weren't
00:02:00
two-handers. Practically every knight on their route to the Merchant Tower
00:02:05
must divide them as a mark, as they were stopped and inspected by everyone
00:02:10
with each knight dipping his hand into the chest.
00:02:14
After yet another stop, Rafe muttered-
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"This is ridiculous. We will have nothing left by the time we get to Merchant Tower."
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Tilson replied in a whisper.
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"It is how we had hoped it would go. They are leaving us alone and focusing on the
00:02:29
chest. The gilders are the price of our mission.
00:02:32
It is money well spent."
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Rafe felt embarrassed. He was no good at anything other than doing
00:02:39
what Raylan told him to do and looking through dusty books.
00:02:44
Of course, Tilson was right. The money didn't matter as much as him getting
00:02:49
the books, and they were closing in on doing just that.
00:02:53
At the next stop, Rafe ignored the chest and focused on the knight.
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He was large and ominous with a thin mouth and cruel eyes.
00:03:02
He was exactly the kind of knight that would ruin their mission by asking difficult
00:03:07
questions or demanding they justify their trip with the names of
00:03:11
superiors. Yet the knight reached out his hand like
00:03:16
all the others. "Is this what we've come to?" Rafe thought.
00:03:20
"Our defenders ignore threats in the name of taking their handful."
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In some ways, Rafe had hoped that the knights would confront him and Tilson,
00:03:31
but as they rolled up to Merchant Tower, none had.
00:03:35
This was the part that Rafe feared the most.
00:03:38
With the assassination threats on Larson, he expected that getting into Merchant
00:03:42
Tower would be nigh impossible. He also wasn't sure if the Merchant Guild
00:03:47
guards were open to bribery.
00:03:50
Rafe whispered to Tilson-
00:03:53
"Will they take a handful?"
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Shaking his head, Tilson replied.
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"Best to assume not, but I don't know.
00:04:02
I don't get to the tower."
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Tilson lifted the chest off the wagon and placed it on a small hand-pulled
00:04:09
cart that had been stored in the front of the horse-driven wagon.
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The two of them walked right to the gate.
00:04:16
A guard immediately came out to meet them.
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Who are you and what's this?
00:04:22
The man addressed Rafe and nodded toward the cart.
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"This was collected from the Harvest Guild members in the Wretched Quarter and we are to return it to the
00:04:30
guild stores."
00:04:32
Rafe smiled as he nodded at the chest.
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"They won't need it anymore."
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The guard walked over to Tilson.
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"Open it up."
00:04:40
'Here comes the handful,' Rafe thought as
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Tilson opened the chest. Yet the guard surprised him and turned back to
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Rafe.
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"I have heard nothing of this. Who do you report to?"
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Rafe had a story ready.
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"I don't know. It was one of the guards on the bridge.
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He noticed a Harvest Guild member passing money to a friend and he told me to go in and collect it from
00:05:05
them to return it to the guild.
00:05:07
I was just dragging people to the bridge to help.
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I handle a shop in the flats and was told to shut down and prepare for this a few days ago."
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The guard nodded, but added-
00:05:16
"And they just gave it to you?"
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He sounded suspicious. Rafe shrugged.
00:05:22
"They appeared to be in shock. They had just left their homes, so I guess being asked to hand back their money
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made sense."
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"I'll take this in. You two can return to whatever it is you're
00:05:31
doing."
00:05:32
The guard reached for the cart handle.
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Tilson glanced at Rafe, unclear what to do.
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Rafe held up his hand.
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"We will need the cart. Can we walk with you while you take the chest in and then perhaps get a bit to eat before
00:05:45
returning?"
00:05:46
The guard seemed hesitant, but as he glanced at the pile of
00:05:51
money in the chest, he finally nodded.
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"You did a good job. Bring the money into our storeroom to the right of the entrance.
00:05:57
The kitchens are back there. You can leave the cart outside the storeroom and then pick it up on your way
00:06:02
out."
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... practically dancing as they walked the cart into the tower.
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Rafe could not believe how well things were going.
00:06:11
All he and Tilson had to do was grab the books in Pietro's room and
00:06:16
then get out. Rafe had expected that the guard was stealing the money,
00:06:21
but he actually did store it in a locked room away from the entrance.
00:06:25
They left the cart out front and said goodbye, heading to the kitchens.
00:06:30
The stairway to Pietro's room was on the way to the kitchens, so everything was
00:06:35
even better than he had hoped. With the guard gone, they quickly found the
00:06:40
door Relin had described and made their way down the steps.
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It led to an abandoned hall that was dusty yet tidy.
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There were bloodstains near the bottom of the staircase.
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At the end of the hallway was an open door with an upended stool and
00:06:58
more bloodstains next to it. Rafe walked into the room with more
00:07:02
excitement than he had ever experienced in his life.
00:07:06
Finally, the history of the Thieves Guild.
00:07:09
The room had been ransacked with books tossed onto the floor and everything in
00:07:14
disarray,
00:07:16
but it appeared that none of the books were stolen.
00:07:19
They were just tossed aside as worthless, more of interest for what they may have
00:07:24
hidden behind on the bookshelf. Rafe opened one at random.
00:07:28
It was a ledger of supplies from years earlier.
00:07:32
Line after line of entries outlining clothes, supplies, and
00:07:36
food. Rafe wasn't sure what it meant, but he knew it was important.
00:07:42
A thick book covered in dust was titled Magic
00:07:46
Guild Iconography. "Magic Guild," Rafe thought.
00:07:51
These should be about the Thieves Guild.
00:07:53
Sir, we need to hurry. These are a lot of books, and it will require
00:07:58
many trips to the wagon to gather them all.
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Nodding, Rafe grabbed a handful of books and marched them up
00:08:05
to the cart.
00:08:06
After six trips, the cart was full enough that they needed to empty it into the
00:08:11
wagon and then return for more books.
00:08:14
Trouble hit the moment they exited the guild.
00:08:18
A different guard came over and asked them what they were up to.
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Rafe replied immediately.
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These were gathering dust, and Deputy Guildmaster Karch told us to take them to the library in
00:08:28
the upper triangle. I believe he has other uses for the storage space.
00:08:33
At the mention of both Karch and the word "books," the guard lost all interest and
00:08:38
replied...
00:08:39
Well, hurry up. This entrance is secure, and we can't have you leaving and entering all
00:08:44
afternoon.
00:08:44
"Only two more trips," Rafe replied.
00:08:48
But the guard had already turned his back on them.
00:08:51
The process had gone surprisingly well until they passed through the gate for the last
00:08:56
time. The last pile of books was on the cart and Pietro's quarters were
00:09:01
empty.
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All they had to do was get to the wagon and depart.
00:09:06
Rafe wasn't even worried about the one-handers on the return trip.
00:09:10
No one in Ness other than him cared about books.
00:09:14
They had just passed through the gate when a hand gripped Rafe roughly on the arm.
00:09:18
What do you think you're doing?
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Rafe spun around. It was the guard that they had first met when they arrived at the
00:09:27
tower. Not missing a beat, Rafe smoothly replied...
00:09:31
"We were eating in the kitchen when Deputy Karch came down and asked who had the cart.
00:09:36
When I replied, he assigned me to clear out these books from the basement.
00:09:40
I guess he needs to use the storage for something else."
00:09:43
Who are you? You can't be thieves with the money you left. What is your interest in these books?
00:09:48
The guard reached down and picked one up.
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"I told you, it is a job from Deputy Karch."
00:09:54
Deputy Karch left the tower earlier today.
00:09:57
The guard's voice was ominous.
00:10:00
I will ask you one last time, what are you doing with these, uh-
00:10:04
The guard's voice was muffled as Tilson covered his mouth with his
00:10:09
hand. Rafe was expecting the guard to violently fight back, until he
00:10:14
fell in a heap at his feet. Tilson wiped a dagger on his blue cloak and sheathed
00:10:19
it. "Hurry," was the only word he spoke.
00:10:23
They were lucky in that the guard was between the cart and the wagon and was mostly
00:10:28
hidden from view. Rafe quickly loaded the last of the books on the wagon
00:10:33
while Tilson took the tarp that had covered the chest and draped it over the body
00:10:38
of the guard.
00:10:39
He leapt into the wagon seat, and Rafe followed behind him.
00:10:44
Rafe looked into the back. The cart looked like nothing more than if someone
00:10:49
was in the midst of loading or unloading it and casually tossed the tarp
00:10:54
aside.
00:10:55
As Tilson cracked the whip and the horses moved forward, Rafe asked him...
00:11:00
"How much time do we have?"
00:11:01
"Not enough."
00:11:04
Rafe looked back at the tower. The activity around it was brisk, but
00:11:09
everyone seemed occupied. The clearing of the lower quarter had everyone on
00:11:14
edge, and it was possible no one would notice the abandoned cart and the body
00:11:19
next to it for a long time. The books rattled in the back of the wagon as they
00:11:24
went over the cobblestones, and Rafe looked back at his precious cargo.
00:11:29
They were secure, and he breathed easier.
00:11:32
It would take him a long time to examine them all, but when he finished, he was certain of
00:11:37
one thing. The history of Ness would have no more secrets.
00:11:42
(instrumental music plays)