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The Thieves Guild starts in 90 seconds, but first,
we wanted to provide you

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with a quick showcase from our Artifacts of the
Arcane podcast.

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Master Simmon created multiple illusions of us
leaving the station.

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Someone looking for us would have had a hard time
choosing which group was the real one,

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or even knowing there was an illusion at all.

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That alone is extraordinary,

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but he also excluded us from the illusion, which
is something very few

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magicians can do.

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"Parlor tricks," Naomi scoffed.

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Naomi

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pulled her legs in and pointed at Master Simmon.

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"He didn't help at all while I was saving us.

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Uh, at least his friends did something."

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"Naomi."

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Master Simmon raised his hand at Mr. Ali.

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"It's okay, Ali."

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He stared at Naomi for a moment, and then made a
few movements with his hand.

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Naomi screamed and grabbed her throat.

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An enormous snake was curled around her neck.

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"Get it off me!"

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Her hands grasped at her neck, her fingernails
scratching and clawing at the snake.

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"Enough, Simmon."

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I looked at the master, and he smiled and
shrugged.

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"Just a parlor trick."

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Artifacts of the Arcane. To find out more, check
out the link in the

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description, or visit

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arcane.thepodcast.show.

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The Thieves Guild

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by Jake Care.

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Episode 112:

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The Three Diaries.

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Rafe threw the book across the room and
immediately felt guilty.

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He pushed his chair back, its hard wood scraping
across the stone,

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and retrieved the book, gently closing it and
brushing dust off its cover.

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It was a diary, and Rafe had hoped that he could
find some information

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about the magic guild somewhere in its pages.

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But rather than any discussion of spells or magic
guild matters,

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it was simply a journal of memories.

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There were a number of the diaries in the
collection that Rafe had hauled back from

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Pietro's quarters. They were all similar in that
they contained handwritten

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stories told in great detail about the lives of
the authors.

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It was the third and final diary that Rafe had
thrown across the room.

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Stories of weddings, of births, of important
moments in

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relationships.

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There were even sad moments of great loss,
including the death of a child.

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Standing up, Rafe thought over the books as he
went over to a side table

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to pour himself a glass of water. They were in
Pietro's personal

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quarters, so they were important. But why were
they important?

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"What do they all have in common?" Rafe thought as
he drank an entire glass of water

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and poured another one.

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As he sat back down, he pulled out a piece of
parchment and a quill.

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He started to list the common threads that held
the three books together.

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"They have the same binding," Rafe said aloud as
he wrote.

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"They all seem to have been written around the
same time period, with a few of the events
overlapping."

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He tapped the end of the quill against his chin.

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"Ah, yes, they're also written by different people
with different handwriting."

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Rafe picked up one of the books and looked at it,
examining the binding in more

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detail.

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A small indent that he had overlooked before
caught his eye.

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It was on the lower left side of the cover, and
was round.

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He grabbed one of the other diaries. It had the
same indent.

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So did the third.

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Looking from one to the other, it finally hit him.

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"That's the same shape as the magic guild seal."

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He pulled the book over that showed the guild seal
to confirm his finding, and

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was disappointed to see that it actually was not
the same size as the

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seal. He ran his finger over each indent.

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They were subtly different, and they didn't seem
to be built into the book.

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"This feels like someone had pressed something
against the book again and again..."

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Rafe once again spoke aloud to himself.

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"Creating this impression, and each book had
something different pressing into it."

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He noted it on his parchment and continued his
list.

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"Each diary ends with some memory from early
adulthood, and each has a few dozen empty pages at
the

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end."

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Rafe looked at the empty pages more closely. There
was something there.

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But as he touched, peered, sniffed, and examined
the pages,

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all he could really say is that it felt like there
was writing on them.

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He didn't actually have any evidence of it.

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He closed the books and set them in a pile in
front of him.

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"Someone felt it important to record their most
personal memories.

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Not all of them, and not in any kind of organized
fashion.

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Just important memories, written down in great
detail."

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But why? A knock on the library door distracted
Rafe from his

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musing. "Enter." Philos entered, his arms behind

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his back. He looked grim.

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"Raylan has not returned,"

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he said, not bothering with a greeting.

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"How long has it been? It's Raylan, after all.

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He may have taken a liking to an outlander girl."

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Rafe smiled, but Philos ignored his comment.

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"It has been too long. The journey is long, but
his horse is

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swift."Filos started to pace. "He should not have
gone alone.

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Too many things could have gone wrong.

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The Rangers could have captured him, Outlander
brigands may have killed him, or the Outlander

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king may not have been as friendly as Raylan had
thought."

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"Crown, not king?

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He is the Crown of the Outlanders."

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Filos gave Rafe a withering look, as if such a
detail was

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insulting to mention with Raylan missing.

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"Has Allard returned? What does he say?"

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"That's the other concern. Allard is missing.

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He was last seen in the flats. One of our guild
members observed him walking along the throughway

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back toward the guild, but that was the last time
he was seen.

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He was dressed as a Ranger. But you know Allard.

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He is a difficult man not to notice."

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"Do you think he was captured?"

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"I do. But whether it was Knight, Merchant, or
Harvest, I cannot say."

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Rafe stood up.

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"We need to do something. We have members in each
of those guilds.

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They need to find out what has happened."

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"It has already been done, Rafe. Messengers are
going out to our key members in each of those

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guilds. If Allard has been captured, we will know
soon."

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Rafe sat back down. Things had suddenly turned
very bad.

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"Will we be able to free him like before?"

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"If the Knights captured him, he is dead already.

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They will not risk another escape.

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If the Merchants captured him, I'm unsure what the
young guild master will do, but I fear

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it will be to kill Allard as a show of strength."

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"And the Harvest Guild?"

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"If the Harvest Guild captures Allard, Polo will
kill him himself."

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"It all sounds so hopeless. And Raylan is nowhere
to be found."

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He turned to Filos.

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"What can we do?"

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"We will know of Allard's fate soon enough, and if
he is alive, we will free him.

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There is no longer a concern of our guild being
exposed."

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"That's true," Rafe replied, feeling at least a
little hopeful.

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"But what of Raylan?"

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"We can send a force out into the plains to look
for him.

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They can follow the trail from the south gate to
the Great Road and beyond."

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"Yes, let's do that. The Captain of the Plains,
who is that again?"

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"Mio."

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"Can we send Mio out with our best fighters?"

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"I will take care of it."

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"Is there anything else we can do?"

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"I'm afraid not. We continue to maintain order and
build goodwill in the Old Quarter.

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That is all we can do for now."

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"That's good."

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"I'll report back if I hear something,"

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Filos replied, turning toward the door.

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"Filos, one more thing."

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The guard turned and walked over to Rafe.

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Rafe pointed to the indent on the cover of the top
book of the pile of diaries.

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"What type of thing could make this indent?

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Anything official?"

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Filos reached out and ran his finger over the
round depression.

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"I know not," he eventually replied.

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"A metal rod or stick perhaps? Something with a
small, hard, round end."

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"Not a knife then?"

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"No.

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Something blunt and round, like a rod."

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Filos pulled his arm back and peered at Rafe.

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"Why do you ask?"

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"I have scoured these books," Rafe waved around to
the piles of books within

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the library, "and I am more convinced than ever
that the key to our guild's history is in these

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books, and that the only way to unlock them is to
find that metal or wooden rod."

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Filos nodded. "If I find a wooden rod, I'll be
sure to

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let you know." And with a nod, he turned and left
Rafe alone,

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surrounded by his books and swirling doubts.

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(dramatic music)