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(suspenseful music plays) The Thieves Guild

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by Jake Kerr.

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Episode 37:

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Orion's Study.

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Larson was on one of his tiresome trips to meet
with Orion, the guild master

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craft. Larson never could understand how Orion got
named guild master.

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The man was as dumb as the wood his guild carved.

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Of course, Orion's stupidity, while annoying, also
provided Larson with

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opportunities to enrich his guild at the expense
of the craftsman.

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To make matters even better, as the two most
important guilds in Ness,

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one that handled the goods and the other that
handled commerce, Larson did a lot of

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business with Orion, providing Larson with plenty
of opportunities to cheat his

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fellow guild master. He expected this visit to be
no different.

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The current visit was to discuss how thieves had
stolen a large shipment of

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expensive armor from a shop in the upper triangle.

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The agreement between the guilds was that the cost
of theft came from the merchant

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guild once the goods were physically inside a
merchant's shop.

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If the goods were en route, the cost would be
borne by the craft guild.

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Larson was going to convince Orion that the craft
guild should assume the cost of the

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loss, even though it occurred within a merchant
shop.

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Orion was all smiles as he met Larson in his study
at the top of Craft

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Tower. It stood not far from Merchant Tower, with
brick-lined Merchant

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Avenue stretching between the two. Larson found
the short trip intolerable,

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reminding him as it did of the Founder's Day
Parade that ran the same route, the

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parade that ushered in his brother as the guild
master thief.

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"Larson, what a pleasant surprise," Orion said,
walking over

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and shaking Larson's hand.

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"I apologize for the suddenness, Orion, but I
wanted to address an important

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issue with you before it became a bigger problem."

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Orion's brow furrowed. "Problem? You know how much
I hate problems, Larson."

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Orion slapped Larson on the shoulder.

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"I count on you to take care of problems."

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"Ah, then you will be glad of my visit."

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Larson smiled.

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"We had a burglary."

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Orion frowned and spat out. "Thieves?" Through
gritted teeth.

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"There must be a way to destroy them, Larson.

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Why have you and Sacks not taken up my
recommendation to burn the Wretched Quarter to

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the ground?"

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Larson sighed.

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"We both have guild members who live in the
Wretched Quarter, Orion.

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Who do you think scrapes the manure from the
stables or cleans our toilets and washhouses?

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Yes, the thieves live there, but they are a small
number.

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We will eventually root them out."

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"And how many times have you sent men into the
Wretched

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Quarter?"

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Larson stared at Orion. He was normally not this
aggressive over anything,

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although Larson did know of his hatred of thieves.

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"It is dangerous, Orion, you know that.

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There are thousands that live there, and without
heavy forces, we need to take care.

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It will be easy for any force to be overrun or to
hurt innocents."

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"Innocents? They eat from the ash fields, Larson.

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Death would be a mercy."

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Larson was about to reply, but Orion held up his
hand. "Don't bother.

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I know what you'll say. They are guild members,
citizens of Ness.

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Fine, so I ask you, do we just let the thieves
win?" The disgust in

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Orion's voice was clear.

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Larson looked around.

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"May we sit down?"

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"Ooh, of course," Orion replied, walking Larson
over to a small

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table on the side of the room. It was framed by
two chairs.

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Orion sat in one and poured water into two
glasses.

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Larson sat down, and Orion added. "Don't use this
as an opportunity

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to change the subject. I still want to know what
you're going to do to address the thief problem."

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"We won't let them win, Orion. It just takes
organization and time.

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We are making progress."

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Orion nodded, but looked unconvinced.

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Larson decided to move the conversation to the
reason for his visit.

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"In fact, my guards are close to arresting the
thieves who burglarized a shop in the upper

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triangle."

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"Uh, the upper triangle, you say?" Orion put his
glass down.

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"What are we to do when even the upper triangle
isn't safe from thieves, Larson?"

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"Well, as I said, we are close to arresting them."

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Larson quickly added.

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"This was an aberration."

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Orion's hatred for thieves had disrupted Larson's
plan.

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He once again tried to get it back on track.

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"With that in mind, I am here to ask if your guild
would compensate the shop

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owner."

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Orion was mid-drink, but stopped and stared at
Larson.

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Slowly lowering the glass, Orion replied.

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"I'm afraid that the responsibility is yours,
Larson.

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I would love to help, but my guild's interest
ended the moment the goods passed through the
front

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door." Larson cursed under his breath.

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As stupid as Orion was, even he knew this most
basic of guild

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rules.

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"Ah, that is true, but this was a particularly
expensive shipment of custom

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armor.

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As your guild is much wealthier than mine, I
thought you could, just this instance mind you,
assume the

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responsibility."

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Larson bowed his head. "Consider it a debt between
us that I will repay later."

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Larson hoped that appealing to Orion's vanity
would get him to agree to the

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terms. The truth was that the shipment was very
expensive,

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five suits of custom armor with matching swords,
and with all of the

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operations to unite Ness under his leadership
currently in the field, the guild's

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coffers were in tenuous shape. Bribes weren't
cheap....

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staring at his feet, it looked like Orion was
actually considering paying the money.

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Larsen couldn't believe how simple-minded Orion
was, if making him feel

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important was all it took to have him accept
Larsen's request.

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Looking up, Orion had a glint in his eye.

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"I'll absorb the cost, but I need you to do a
favor for my nephew."

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This surprised Larsen. Orion had never really
asked for anything before.

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Larsen had made nebulous promises about the
combined power of their guilds and future

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riches, but he hadn't actually heard Orion
question them or ask for anything

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practical or specific, until now. "Sure, Orion.

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Anything for a guildmaster of your eminence that
is doing me a favor."

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Smiling, Orion replied, "I would like you to make
my nephew your deputy."

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Larsen almost spat out his water. No one made such
brazen requests

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of him. Sure, everyone wanted special jobs and
favors in return for helping the

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guild, but everyone feared Larsen so much that
they knew where to draw the line.

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Orion had just leaped over it. "I'm sorry, are you
saying that you would like your nephew to

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replace Deputy Karch?"

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Larsen still couldn't quite believe it, that the
request was coming from

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Orion, who appeared to barely have any interest in
his own guild, let alone

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Larsen's, made it all the more shocking. Orion
frowned. "Yes.

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Find some other job for Karch." Larsen took a
breath.

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Orion was not just stupid, he was naive as well.

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He was so oblivious of guild politics that he felt
no qualm about making this

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absurd request. "I'm afraid that is impossible,
Orion.

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Karch's duties took him years to master and
understand.

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Also, what would it look like to the guild members
if I promoted someone without any merit or

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experience?"

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Orion stared at Larsen, and Larsen had the
unnerving thought that Orion

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actually knew exactly what he was doing, and that
he was measuring Larsen's

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resolve. But the thought was replaced by relief as
Orion smiled.

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"Well, goodness, Larsen, I didn't know all that."

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Orion scratched his chin. "How about you invent
some job for him then?

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Make him Karch's assistant."

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Orion's eyes lit up. "Yes, do that. Make him your
assistant deputy.

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He could learn from Karch. I always liked Karch."
Larsen had to forcefully stop

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himself from rolling his eyes. First of all, no
one liked Karch.

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Secondly, the whole idea of an assistant deputy
was absurd.

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Karch already had an apprentice deputy who helped
him, and Karch himself would hate the idea

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to such a degree that he would cause political
problems for Larsen by abusing

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Orion's nephew.

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Larsen had to contain this nephew of Orion's
himself.

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"I have a better idea," Larsen replied. "Oh?

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W- what might that be?" "Why don't I take your
nephew on as my apprentice?

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We could call him the apprentice guildmaster."

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As soon as he said it, Larsen regretted it.

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He had no problem giving Orion's nephew minor jobs
to do, and a salary, but

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the title? 'What was I thinking?' Larsen thought
to himself.

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"Wonderful! I love the idea. I will have him
report to your guild on

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the morrow." Orion went to refill Larsen's glass,
but Larsen held up his

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hand. "I should be going. Our guilds don't run
themselves."

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Larsen pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Indeed.

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Have your shopkeeper send me the bill of goods and
I'll take care of it."

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Orion stood up and started walking to the door of
his study, Larsen next to him.

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"And don't think I've forgotten about the thieves,
Larsen.

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This has only made me more resolute. We must do
something about them." Larsen

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muttered a vague promise and said goodbye.

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With each step down the stairs to his coach, his
mood lightened.

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He had avoided the financial loss from the armor
theft, and all it cost him was

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babysitting Orion's nephew.

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He'd give the boy the apprentice guildmaster
title, but what did it mean,

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really?

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Nothing.

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(instrumental music plays)