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The Thieves Guild

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by Jake Kerr.

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Episode 137:

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An Odd Team.

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Vesper couldn't get the last comment Allard
whispered to him from under the sheet

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out of his head.

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We make an odd team, do we not, blade?

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Were they actually a team? Was Vesper even a blade
anymore?

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If not, what was he?

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Looking out for himself was always his guiding
principle, but that didn't

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explain everything he had done lately.

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Risking his life to save Allard certainly didn't
fit that bill.

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But the first question actually bothered Vesper
the most.

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If he wasn't a blade, what was he? What role was
he filling, and

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more importantly, what role did he want to fill?

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His thoughts were interrupted by a shout from
behind.

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He had carted Allard's faux dead body nearly to
the entrance of the mines, the

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bloody axe on the top of the cart and the gruesome
neck protruding from under the

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sheet deterring anyone from lengthy questions or
close

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inspection.

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But shouts were never good.

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He picked up his pace.

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He was so close to the open road, he could
practically feel the breeze.

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Stop that cart.

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So this is it, Vesper thought. Dying to a bunch of
pickax-wielding

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guards afraid of the sun. He put the cart down and
shoved Allard in the

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leg.

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Time to fight our way out, Headless.

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Do we at least have weapons?

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Allard lithely swung his body out from under the
cart and got to his feet.

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He was still badly bruised and most likely had
something or other broken.

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I at least had the foresight to grab a sword.

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Vesper handed it to Allard as a bunch of miner
guild members looked on the

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strange scene with mouths agape.

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But all I have is a knife.

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Are we near the exit?

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Vesper pointed to the huge tunnel entrance.

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It was hundreds of yards away.

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I suggest we run.

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Allard took off, and Vesper immediately noted that
Allard wasn't running so

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much as limping fast.

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He also noted the eyes watching them.

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A giant of a man in black rushing out of the mines
wasn't something that

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someone overlooked. Vesper easily caught up to
him.

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Stop them.

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The voice was from the distance behind them, but
was clear enough.

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Still, no one stopped the Harvest Guild member
running with the dagger and the large

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thief deputy running next to him. They were about
a hundred yards from the

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massive mine entrance, and freedom, with two
groups of Harvest Guild guards heading

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their way. One was a fast approaching group of
well-armed guards from the

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mine entrance.

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They didn't even need to hear the shouts from
behind Vesper and Allard.

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They were guards and would have intercepted them
anyway.

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The second group was presumably the guards that
discovered the bodies in the execution

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room. They were still well behind the two of them.

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We fight forward.

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Vesper nodded. Standing their ground made little
sense, and

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fighting their way through and out was their only
hope.

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It would require them to fight their way through
the guards from the entrance fast enough that the

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guards coming from behind didn't catch up. Was it
possible?

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Vesper had no idea, but they had no other options.

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When you break free, make your way to the guild
tower. We need you.

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Vesper twirled his knife in his hand.

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No one in his entire life had said that they truly
needed him.

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They used him. They relied on him. But no one had
ever said they

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actually needed him.

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In an odd way Vesper could not explain, he
realized that the comment didn't

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inspire him, it filled him with hope.

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And then, the guards were upon them.

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There were six of them. Having seen Allard battle,
Vesper would have placed

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hard-earned crowns on Allard to alone beat them,
but Allard was clearly

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still badly injured. Vesper dodged to the left,
and it was as he

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had expected. The guards were well-trained in the
fundamentals, but lacked

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any kind of practical experience. He kicked the
back of one of the guard's

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legs, and as he lurched, Vesper stabbed him in the
side of the chest under

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his arm.

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Dodging a slash from another guard, he glanced at
Allard.

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The broadsword looked like a dagger in his hands,
and he wielded it with a mighty

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force. He watched as Allard knocked two sword
swings away like they were

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toothpicks, nearly cutting a guard in half with a
downward swing.

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Another kick, this time between two legs, and
Vesper had dispatched

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another guard with a well-placed stab.

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He backed from a guard and stood next to Allard.

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Two guards faced Allard, and one faced Vesper.

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Should we spare them?

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Allard's question clearly terrified the guards,
who stood at a distance and

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didn't seem inclined to know the answer to the
question.

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Then, one of them smiled.

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Pounding footsteps.

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Vesper turned to the sound, and as he did, he
heard Allard

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grunt.

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Get to the tower.

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The words were followed by blood dripping out the
sides of Allard's mouth,

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and then him raising the borrowed sword and
lunging forward.

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It took only a moment for Vesper to take in what
was happening.Alard

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attacked the three guards facing him and Vesper
with a sword plunged nearly

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to the hilt, sticking out of Alard's back.

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Behind Alard was a single guard staring at the
violent apparition that was the

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giant thief deputy, presumably unstopped by a
sword in his

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back.

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More guards were rushing up in the distance.

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All eyes were on Alard.

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Vesper knew what he had to do, and it was what he
would have done in every other

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instance in his life:

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run to save his own life.

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Yet he paused.

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Could he save Alard?

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Alard himself provided the answer. "Run."

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So Vesper did.

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Rogers couldn't swim, so he was more surprised
than thankful when the

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disruption of the huge rocks falling into the
river created such chaos that the

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river carried him to the bank.

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He had held his breath and was about to take a
lung full of water when his

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hands felt mud and sandy dirt.

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Desperately clawing forward, Rogers took in huge
gulps of air as his

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head emerged from the water.

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As he caught his breath, he looked around.

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He was not far from the bridge, or what was left
of it.

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He couldn't see anyone else.

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The boats on the river were retreating from the
violence,

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so there was no hope for anyone that fell that
couldn't swim, and most of Ness

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couldn't swim.

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The guards from the Knight Guild were dragged down
in their armor.

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Even the horses were nowhere to be seen, their own
armor making survival

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impossible.

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While destroying the bridge saved the Upper
Quarter, it had been a mutual massacre.

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He looked around for any sign of Jhi. She was
resourceful and

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strong, but could she swim?

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He scanned upstream and downstream, across the
river and

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nearby, but he didn't see a single survivor from
the destruction of the bridge.

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Rogers had washed up on the Lower Quarter side.

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That presented its own danger, so he ripped off
his green shirt and

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wiped every other bit of exposed green on his
clothes with mud.

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Standing up, he looked around.

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He knew the Lower Quarter as well as anyone, but
with all the fires, the chaos,

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and the guilds in a civil war, all his standard
safe houses and allies were

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uncertain.

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A safe house, Rogers thought. He could see if he
could get to one across the

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throughway and near the bridge and find merchant
colors.

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Even if the house was burned and empty, perhaps
there was a cache of thief

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resources.

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He stumbled up and made his way to the throughway.

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All he had to do was not run into any knights or
merchants.

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Unfortunately, the moment he rushed across the
throughway, a group of merchant

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guild members ran toward him.

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They were coming from the end of the throughway
near the Great River and heading toward

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Trader's Bridge. "That's at least hopeful," Rogers
thought.

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"They won't know what's happening."

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Seeing Rogers, the group, which was about a dozen
people, didn't

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stop.

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They ran right past him.

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The person coming up the rear turned to Rogers.
"Find shelter. Flee.

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The outlanders have invaded."

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Rogers changed plans.

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He stopped heading for a Thieves' Guild safe
house.

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He headed down the throughway and toward this
invading force.

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Ness needed defenders.

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(dramatic music)

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A Podcast Alchemy

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production.