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The Thieves Guild

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by Jake Kerr.

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Episode 110:

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Rage.

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As Vesper walked through the door, he purposefully
stumbled, knocking

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into a chair. The noise caught everyone's
attention, including

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Thomas, who was wiping the top of the bar with a
towel.

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"My gods, Vesper,

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what has happened to you?"

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Vesper pulled himself up and looked around.

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The inn was about half full, and the entirety of
the patrons were members of the Merchant

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Guild and the Harvest Guild. "Good," Vesper
thought.

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"This is the audience I want." "I have come from
my family's home in the lower

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quarter."

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Vesper paused, pretending to gather his emotions.

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"It has been burned to the ground by your guild."

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Vesper pointed at a Merchant Guild member, his
face and voice full of

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bitterness and anger. "Wait a moment.

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This was all Larsson's doing. We-"

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The Merchant Guild member Larsson had pointed to
replied, "Are victims

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too. We don't even enter the lower quarter."

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The other Merchant Guild members nodded their
heads.

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Another spoke up. "Yes, that's right.

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Orion and his nephew will make things good."
Vesper stood up straight and looked from

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Merchant Guild member to Merchant Guild member.

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"So, you are telling me that this is all Larsson's
fault, that the regular guild members

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didn't take part?" There were nods, but no one
replied.

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Everyone knew that the Merchant Guild members had
moved the Harvest Guild members from the

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lower quarter, so there was at least some
understanding of guilt from those

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present.

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A Harvest Guild member spoke up. He was dressed in
fine clothes,

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and his face was familiar. "Must be a captain or
higher level guild

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member," Vesper thought. "Hear, hear.

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I'm sorry for what you have gone through, guild
mate, but things are returning

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to normal, and the good people are in charge now."

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He paused to nods from the entire room.

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"It is important that we focus on the future

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and healing these rifts that were created by
Larsson."

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All eyes returned to Vesper, who untucked his
shirt and fumbled with his

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clothing as he spoke. "So, there is focus on
healing, is there?"

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Vesper finally grabbed the painting he had found
in the burnt house and pulled it out.

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"Let me tell you about healing. I marched across
Trader's Bridge and the

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merchant guards accosted me. They did not want to
let a Harvest Guild member cross the bridge.

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Do you want to know why?"

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There were a few nods from around the room.

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"Because they said Harvest Guild members were not
to be trusted."

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As Vesper let his words sink in, he continued.

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"I'm sure you're thinking that those were guards.
They are supposed to question everyone.

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Well, for a guild claiming to welcome me and my
guild members home, it sure doesn't

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sound very welcoming."

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Vesper paused to a completely silent room,

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all eyes on him. "But that was not the worst part.

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No,

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not even close."

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Vesper slapped his chest with the hand not holding
the rolled up painting.

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Soot flew into the air. "My family home was burnt
to the ground.

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My entire family is missing

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or dead. But..."

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Vesper held up his hands. "Those may be sins of
Larsson's, but tell me

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this."

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Vesper took the time to look at every Harvest
Guild member in the room as he

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unrolled the charred painting, the remains of a
family burnt beyond

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recognition. "Why did the Merchant Guild members
laugh at me when I walked in,

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risking my life among teetering stone and charred
timber to retrieve this?"

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Vesper held up the painting. "They mocked my tears
and told me to get a grip on

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my feelings. When I expressed my dismay, do you
know what they did?"

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Vesper looked around the room. Utter silence
before him.

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"They took this painting of my family, which was
all I had left." Vesper held

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the canvas up again. "And they threw it in the
flames of a still smoldering section of the

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house as they held me to watch it burn."

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Vesper's voice strained. "This was all I had left
of my family, and

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earlier today, the Merchant Guild burned it into
charcoal and dust.

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I pulled from their grip and retrieved this."

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Turning from one side of the room to the other,
Vesper showed everyone the

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blackened faces of the painting one more time.

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"Even today, the Merchant Guild mocks us, my guild
mates." A

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chorus of "Unacceptable," "Outrageous," and other
more

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profane phrases were shouted by the Harvest Guild
members.

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One of the Harvest Guild members stood up and
pointed at a Merchant Guild

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member. "This will not stand."

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As chairs were pushed back and a fight appeared to
form, Vesper shouted,

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"Hold!" Everyone looked at him. "There is more,
and it

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involves our colleagues of the Craft Guild."

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Curiosity replaced anger, and everyone sat down
and stared once again

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at Vesper. "I have discovered something that both
terrifies me and amuses me."

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It was at that moment that Vesper realized that
being a spy and assassin

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was not that much different than being a
storyteller.

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Every face in the room was rapt at his words.

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"I met a senior Craft Guild member as I made my
way back up the throughway.

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He at first appeared sympathetic to my plight, and
I was heartened when he said,

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'Don't worry, citizen. The Merchant Guild will be
servants of the Craft Guild

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before too long.'"

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He laughed, and it was that laugh that gave me
pause, for it was cold and

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heartless. "I asked him what he meant, and he
replied, 'Look around you.

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Look at your own ruined clothes, the houses, the
inns.

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Who do you think will be rebuilding all that?'"
"'The Craft Guild,' I answered."

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He nodded and added, "'And who do you think will
pay for it?'

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I had never considered the question, so I
answered, 'The city.' The Craft Guild

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member patted my shoulder and replied, 'No, my
poor friend, it will be the

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Merchant Guild, and the only way they can afford
it is to pledge allegiance to Orion.'"

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He looked at me. "'You know Orion?'

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I nodded.

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And that's when he said, "'He is a good man and
will rule Ness with

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decency. The Merchant Guild will become irrelevant
under his leadership.'"

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Vesper looked at the wealthy Merchant Guild
clientele of the Golden

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Wand and smiled.

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"So it amuses me that you will all soon be living
in the flats or the wretched

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quarter as Orion bleeds you dry rebuilding the
lower quarter."

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This was met with curses and spontaneous
conversations among the Merchant Guild

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members.

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Vesper turned to the Harvest Guild members.

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"But this terrifies me as well, as the man who
voted with Larson to eliminate

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our guild will be the one who controls all of our
city.

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I fear what this means for our guild."

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The room exploded with conversation.

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As Vesper walked through, he suppressed a smile.

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He had done his job well. He approached Thomas.

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"I fear I need rest, my friend. It has been a
difficult day, and I foresee

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more difficulties ahead."

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As Thomas escorted Vesper to his room, Vesper was
already

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plotting the stories he would tell at the Golden
Apple.

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It wasn't the same as expertly slipping a knife
through a rib cage or poisoning

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someone without detection,

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but in some odd way it felt better.

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(dramatic music)