The Thieves Guild
by Jake Kerr
(dramatic music plays) . Episode 14:
In the Sewers.
The darkness made the smell even worse.
By the time his feet touched solid ground, Raylan had to use all
his willpower not to vomit.
He felt Maela lightly land next to him.
Before he could say anything, there was a, the sound of scratching and then light
illuminated the room.
Maela breathed out.
You never know if the gas will explode when you light a torch down here.
Raylan looked around. He was on a small landing that looked like it was
part of some kind of maintenance trail.
All around him was disgusting water filled with coagulating brown fluid
and iridescent fluids that were a mixture of piss and something even more
vile. Maela looked around, found a sconce with a large candle and lit
it with the burning wad of material in her hands.
"There should be torches on the wall, not candles.
Damn merchants, always looking at appearances."
Maela looked around, running her hand over her short hair.
They were on a small stone landing that was surrounded by filthy water
and was fed by large pipes that emerged from the ceiling.
Patches of crusty brown were on the walls and at the edge of the landing.
The water flowed slowly, glowing with an iridescence in the light.
"What is this place?"
Raylan asked, doing his best to breathe as little as possible.
"The waste sewers. They connect outside the wall in a huge open underground
river of shit and piss. It flows into the great river from there."
Not having any idea that Ness was built on such an architectural wonder, he nodded his head
and muttered-
"That's amazing. Very smart."
"Not so good for the outlanders."
Maela took a few steps down the trail and then turned.
"Maybe there'll be a torch further down.
I'll just have to keep lighting sconces until we find one."
Raylan nodded.
"What did you mean about the outlanders?
They're across the plains and aren't anywhere close to Ness."
Maela turned and shook her head.
"You really are clueless, aren't you?
The outlanders get closer to the wall every year.
Why do you think the Rangers Guild keeps conscripting people from the Knights?
The Rangers are constantly facing attacks across the plains."
"I thought the outlanders weren't a real threat."
They tiptoed along the stone path, a river of filth flowing to their left.
"They don't like us, which is threat enough.
And this..."
Maela pointed to the sewage.
"... it doesn't help. Can you imagine having to drink water mixed with this?"
She stopped.
"A torch."
She lit it with another flick of her flint and burning cloth.
"Where are we going anyway?"
"The sewers also act as an overflow when the rains get too strong, so at some point,
we'll hit fresh water flowing into the sewer.
We'll follow that to the north fork or the great river.
At that point, we swim."
A torch in hand, the two made better time.
"I don't know how to swim."
Maela jerked around and stared at Raylan.
"Great,
then we'll find a skiff or something.
We just need to get you to safety."
Maela had turned and resumed walking when Raylan blurted out-
"Thank you."
Without turning, Maela muttered-
"No problem."
Raylan jogged forward and grabbed her shoulder.
She whirled around and looked at Raylan, her brows furrowed.
"No, really, thank you. I would probably be dead if you hadn't helped me."
Maela nodded and turned back.
"Well, you're kind of a jerk, but I still appreciate the help."
She didn't reply.
It wasn't much longer before a smaller tunnel with clear water flowing from it joined the flow of
sewage they were following. It was a few feet higher than the sewage water and a small
trickle of clean water dripped into the sewage.
"There's no walkway, so we'll need to walk through the water."
Raylan nodded. While the tunnel was small, they could still walk through it
crouched down. "Heck," Raylan thought, "Maela doesn't even need to
crouch." He smiled. The trouble was that they had to get across the
filthy water to their left, which was about five feet across.
A standing jump across was impossible.
To Raylan's shock, Maela dropped herself right into the sewage.
Her pants were a light brown cotton and the water came up to her thighs.
As she sloshed through it, heading to the small tunnel, the light brown of her pants darkened as it
got wet and stained with things Raylan didn't even want to think about.
Maela pulled herself up to the tunnel and looked back at Raylan.
"Hurry up."
Clenching his teeth, Raylan dropped into the sewage.
It was cold and he could feel its current sweeping the disgusting water against his
legs.
The good news was that the water barely reached his knees.
He walked toward Maela and each step made him want to vomit.
The floor of the sewer was soft and squishy.
He could feel the collected buildup of shit and worse sucking at his soft leather
shoes as he picked up his feet.
He climbed up next to Maela. "The Knight Guild maintains the sewers?"
She nodded. "They deserve a healthy salary."
"Right, keep thinking that. There's a reason the guild members live in the old
quarter, and it's not the smell.
But don't worry, we take care of them."
They started walking and Raylan took a deep breath.
The smell got better with each step.
"We? What do you mean by we?"
"The Thieves Guild. Seriously, do you know nothing?"
Raylan said nothing but continued walking.
There was so much he didn't know that he was afraid to reveal it to Maela.
The Thieves Guild was somehow real and had some kind of influence in the Old
Quarter. The Old Quarter itself, which he had always known as the Wretched
Quarter, seemed to be like a mini city within Ness that no one really knew
about.
There was danger from the outlanders.
The guilds themselves were fighting political games over influence.
There was probably a ton more he didn't know about.
"I have so much to learn," Raylan thought.
He wanted to ask Maela, but he was sure she'd shake her head, consider him not worth the time
to save, and probably turn him in to Larsen.
Allard would be a better guild master than the idiot Raylan.
Ah, here we go.
A round light appeared ahead.
Wait here. I'm going to find out where we are and get an update on where things stand.
Hopefully, things are still kind of chaotic and I can find a skiff nearby.
Raylan grabbed Maela's arm before she could jog away.
"Hey, be safe."
Maela looked at Raylan.
"Oh, I'll be fine. You're the one that half of Ness wants dead."
She grinned and then took off up the tunnel.
A flicker of shadow a few hours later made Raylan jump.
After 30 minutes, he had considered running out to follow her, and pretty much
every 15 minutes since that point he would take a few steps to do just that,
but he would always stop.
He was a wanted man.
No one had attached Maela to him, so he would just cause more problems than
help, so he sat tight.
It was with a great sense of relief that he saw the shadow approaching
down the tunnel. He closed the distance, walking toward her.
"You're back," Raylan said as he saw Maela slow and stop a few feet
away. She was dressed in clean clothes, this time wearing the green of the
Harvest Guild.
"You know, you could have cleaned up a bit.
The water isn't that low."
Raylan looked down at the bottom of his pants, which were now dry but encrusted with brown
flecks of waste. "I didn't know how much time I'd have," he replied
defensively, not sure if she was teasing him or if he had done something wrong.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter. I got us a skiff.
This tunnel ends at the north fork not too near the docks.
I have a tarp for you to hide under, so we should be able to get you to safety soon."
"That's the best news I've heard in days."
Raylan took a few steps but then paused. "Did you find out anything?
Is Allard okay?"
"Allard is in the Night Protectors' prison."
"What?" Raylan stopped and stared at Maela.
"I can't leave with him in prison. We have to do something.
They may kill him."
To his shock, Maela put her hand on Raylan's shoulder and spoke with an
atypical kindness in her voice.
"I appreciate your concern, but Allard wants you safe.
That's the biggest priority. Plus, the Thieves have way more power than anyone in Ness
expects. Hell, Guild Master Pietro has the populace believing that the guild doesn't even
exist, so it will be fairly easy for us to break Allard out."
Raylan paused, thinking over what Maela had said.
Something wasn't right about the plan.
"Won't breaking Allard out reveal the power of the guild?" he replied.
Maela nodded.
"It had to happen eventually. The timing is not good, but Allard is too important.
We can't afford to lose him."
"Listen, let's, let's break him out.
Even if others help him, I'll make sure they see me and people will think that I broke him out, not
anyone else.
Me and some friends. Also, I'm sure Rafe is in the prison too.
He's my friend, uh, and no one knows he's a Thief Guild member.
Everyone will think that I just went to help my friend and we freed Allard while
doing it." Maela didn't say anything, but rather just stared at Raylan.
"Look, I know I can't do this myself, but I can distract everyone from the help you and the other
thieves give me." At that, Maela nodded.
"It's a good plan, but very risky. There are reasons for having the Guild Master Thief not be a vacant
position."
"And by that, you mean there are reasons to not having me die?"
"If you prefer to think of it that way."
Raylan had to suppress a smile. Maela drove him crazy, but she
was consistent about it. He could almost predict when she would drop an insult or
satirical comment on him. "Look, I'm not asking, I'm telling you.
I'm the Guild Master Thief. We are going to rescue Allard."
"Yes, Guild Master."
There was only a trace of sarcasm in her voice as she said the
words.
(dramatic music)