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The Thieves Guild

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by Jake Kerr.

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Episode 35:

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Infiltration.

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(instrumental music plays) Tim continued to be a
thorn in Mailer's side.

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She had little trouble avoiding him to address
Esmer, but in actually

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getting into Harvest House, he was a major
problem.

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As she staked out ways to get in, Tim was
everywhere and nearly impossible to

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avoid. It was also pretty clear why Tim was able
to easily get her up to the

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Guild Hall without much difficulty.

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He had some kind of senior position among the
Harvest House guards.

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That didn't bode well for her walking around as an
innocent guild member as she reconnoitered

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the defenses. To make things even more difficult,
the very nature of

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Harvest House made it difficult for Mailer to plan
a way in, let alone a way

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out afterward. She was used to the stone guild
towers across the

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North Fork. They all shared similar plumbing,
access halls, and dark

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tunnels, but Harvest House had none of those
things.

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It was a literal living thing. Not that those
thoughts mattered

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much.

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Mailer was exceptional at hiding, sneaking,
climbing, and being quiet, but

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she wasn't the only one who was a master of those
things, and it was clear to her that if some

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blade from the other guilds hadn't assassinated
Polo yet, it meant that

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getting to him by climbing up the outside or
entering via some

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overlooked sewer tunnel simply wasn't possible,

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which brought her back to the tree.

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The way to get to Polo was to find the secret
entrance to his quarters in the

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Guild Hall. That's what Mailer was calling it, the
secret entrance.

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That very few people knew of its existence was
clear by how Tim reacted when she

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brought the subject up, a kind of nervous
realization that someone had

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stumbled on this vital truth,

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quickly followed by a firm denial.

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Of course, knowing of the entrance did little good
if she didn't know where it was.

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Mailer's goal was to monitor the guard change
routine and use that as an

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opportunity to sneak up to the second floor.

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She would then monitor that guard change to plan
her entrance to the Guild Hall.

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Once she was in the Guild Hall, she was planning
on using a dart with a sleeping poison

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to take out the guards watching the tree.

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Then she would search for the secret entrance and
meet Polo.

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It was an impossible plan that required a guard
change in two different locations

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to be synchronized enough for her to sneak into
the Guild Hall without being seen.

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Then she had to hope that the hall wasn't being
used, and assuming it wasn't,

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she had to surreptitiously shoot two guards with
darts in a way that they

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felt like a bee stung them so that they didn't
raise the alarm as they succumbed

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to the sleeping poison.

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It wasn't until after Tim glanced at her from far
across the courtyard entry that she

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realized how absurd a plan it was.

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He furrowed his brow, and Mailer used her skill to
slip behind someone and then

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exit without being seen again. She was certain
that Tim would just assume

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he saw someone who looked like her, but another
accident like that could have led to

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disaster.

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She had no choice and had to move her mission to
night when Tim would not be around to see her.

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The good news was that there was another benefit
in a night mission.

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It increased the likelihood that the Guild Hall
would be empty.

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Unfortunately, it had the huge problem of her
having to sneak into Harvest House

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rather than just walking in during the day like a
regular guild member.

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Sighing as she once again had to start over,
Mailer staked out the rhythm of the Harvest

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House defenses. Guards came in, guards went out.

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The pattern of the guards' routines thankfully
didn't change much, and it was

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while she was watching a rare disruption of one of
those patterns that an

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opportunity flashed in front of her.

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A huge guard in full armor stopped, turned, and
bore down on a smaller

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guild guard who had been having trouble keeping
up.

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"Teal, I swear to the gods that if you don't stop
falling behind, I will have you removed from

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duty. I don't care how much Tim defends you."

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He grabbed Teal by the arm and pulled him forward.

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"How many times do I have to say that women should
not be on the night watch?

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You are too weak, and we wear armor for a reason."
"Ah, a female

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guard," Mailer thought.

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Mailer sat bolt upright. "She's about my size,"
Mailer smiled.

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"Why didn't I think of this before?"

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Teal was about to get a visit before her next
shift.

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To Mailer's delight, Teal lived in the flats.

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Of course, the walk to the flats from Harvest
House took almost two hours as Teal was

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in heavy armor the whole time and walked
excruciatingly slow.

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She carried her helm, but otherwise was as armored
as any knight on the wall.

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"Don't tell me women can't hold their own," Mailer
thought as

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Teal arrived home after her long walk.

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The fact that Teal made that walk twice a day and
handled a full shift of guard duty

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in between those long walks astounded her.

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It also reminded Mailer of the inequity in Ness
that she and the other thieves fought

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against. Workers from the old quarter walked miles
to do the dirtiest jobs,

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while those in the flats walked a bit less for
slightly less vile jobs.

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About the only ones in Ness who lived well were
those who lived in the upper and lower

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triangle, and they were mostly merchants and
senior guild

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members.Leaning against a lamppost, Maela watched
as

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Teal entered her house. It was a tiny house on one
of the nicer streets of the

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flats, only a block from the lower triangle.

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While she waited for Teal to go to bed, she
thought over her plan.

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She would sneak in, easy. Then she would inject
Teal with a sleeping

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poison, also easy, and then she would take the
armor and walk to Harvest House,

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not so easy. At that point, she would sneak as far
into the building as she

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could, and if she hit a dead end, she would
utilize the sleeping poison in some kind of

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creative way.

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The last part was the most tenuous piece of her
plan, but she figured she could handle it by

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thinking on her feet.

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First, however, she had to grab the armor and hope
that her perception of Teal was

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correct. She was Maela's size.

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Maela waited a full hour after the curtains were
drawn on the windows.

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As a night guard, Teal slept during the day, and
that made for at least somewhat of a

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challenge getting in without being seen,
especially so close to a busy thoroughfare.

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Luckily, the lock on the front was of simple
design, and Maela's stealth was all she needed.

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The rest was simple. She slipped into what turned
out to be more of a two-room shed

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than a house, and then held her hand over Teal's
mouth as she jabbed her with

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the poison.

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It was strong but not deadly.

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Teal would sleep for the next 10 hours, waking up
with a nasty hangover.

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The armor was hanging on a storage mannequin.

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Maela quickly pulled it on and could not have been
happier.

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While not exactly her size, it was close enough
that it was comfortable and not much trouble to

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move in.

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Of course, it was cumbersome, but Maela didn't
have to move fast.

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She just needed to look like a Harvest Guild
guard, and she certainly looked

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like that.

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She left a full three hours before Teal's shift.

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Maela hadn't even gotten to Trader's Bridge before
she had to rest.

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She simply wasn't nearly as strong as Teal, and to
make matters worse, the

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boots were just big enough to cause blisters to
form on her heel and the balls of her

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feet. "I'm going to be in serious pain by the time
I get to Harvest

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House," Maela thought.

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It took Maela the full three hours to get to
Harvest House.

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With each step, her respect for Teal grew.

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"Her dedication to the Guild and her job is
inspiring,"

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she thought. It was almost inconceivable that the
Harvest Guild didn't have barracks for their

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guards. Every other guild did.

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Of course, every other guild had a full tower and
seemed much more political than the

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Harvest Guild.

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As she finished her long march,

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Maela had to admire the simple approach to the
Guild's defense forces, which was to

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have the guards act just as normal guild members,
including living among them.

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As she took her place for the guard change, all of
her preparation paid off.

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She walked up to the other guard on duty, who
simply nodded at her, and with a quick

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nod in return, Maela was in place.

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She knew the routine. Maela and the other guard on
her shift would make one pass

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around the grounds while the guards they were
replacing stayed in place.

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Then Maela would cover the rear while the other
guard covered the front, and the other

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guards would leave.

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Every hour, she and the other guard would meet
along the north side of the house.

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They would make another pass around the grounds
together, and then they would swap

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assignments with Maela guarding the front the next
hour.

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Once she was guarding the front, it left Maela
exactly one hour to get to Polo

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before the other guard raised the alarm. She
considered this more than enough time.

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Of course, if she didn't deliver her message
within an hour, she would end up dead or in

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prison.

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(dramatic music)