The Thieves Guild
by Jake Kerr.
Episode 63:
Under the Tower.
The screech of the iron door wasn't loud, yet it pierced
Vesper's skull enough to give him a sudden headache.
The silence in the thief dungeon had been absolute.
There were no drips of water, no scurrying animals, no creaking wood.
Not even the moans of other prisoners, just terrifying silence.
Standing up, Vesper prepared to meet Allard and the guild master thief.
"Could Raylan actually be the guild master of this mysterious guild?"
Vesper thought. He doubted it. He'd seen the guards, the
invisible and potent defenses near the great bridge, and the work
being done at the edge of the Ash Fields.
Who in their right mind would trust that to the miscreant boy, Raylan?
The words, "Here is the blade, guild master," preceded an approaching
glow. Vesper stood at attention, his hands clasped behind his
back as two figures appeared.
Allard waved a hand toward Vesper. Walking next to him was Raylan,
wearing typical guild master garb, with the stark exception of it being
jet black. Stopping in front of the bars, Raylan nodded at Vesper.
"What's your name?"
"Vesper."
Not knowing how this conversation could go, and well aware that Allard could
kill him in an instant at the word of his guild master, Vesper decided to take
great care in his responses.
"You are the blade of the guild master craft."
It was a statement, not a question, but Vesper answered anyway.
He had already admitted as much to Allard, and starting with an obvious and yet
difficult truth would go a long way toward eventually slipping past a subtle
lie.
"I am."
Raylan nodded.
"Why did you cross the river?"
Vesper thought long and hard. He had told Allard he wouldn't answer any
more questions without assurance of him coming to no harm.
Could he make the same demand of Raylan?
Allard seemed curious, whereas Raylan was inscrutable, standing
there staring at him. He decided to share another dangerous truth for the
simple reason that practically everything that would follow would be a lie.
"I was on a mission to assassinate you."
Raylan's only response was to nod his head slightly.
Allard stood still, his hood covering his face and hiding his
response.
"You do realize that admitting this has sealed your death warrant."
"I am more valuable alive than dead,"
Vesper replied, keeping his voice calm despite the threat he just
heard.
"Doubtful, but I'm listening."
Raylan smiled and Vesper saw worlds in that smile.
It was the smile of someone who was utterly confident in his position, who
knew his power and where he stood, and the smile of someone who would not be
easily intimidated.
"I will tell no more unless you guarantee my safety."
"Ah, now this is interesting, is it not, deputy?"
Raylan turned to Allard, ignoring Vesper's presence.
"The prisoner has information to save his life, and yet to give us this
information, we must promise to spare his life.
I dare say that's a dubious claim."
"Indeed, guild master."
Vesper, who had spent his life with an extraordinary mastery over his nerves,
and a focus that allowed him to do both amazing and unspeakable things,
stammered...
"I, I misspoke."
Raylan turned to Vesper.
"Go on."
I will embrace a new plan, Vesper decided.
I will tell you everything and will demand nothing in return but for some questions
answered, for you are correct. I am in no position to demand anything, but I
hope that you will hear the truth in my words and the sincerity in my heart as I
conclude my comments.
Raylan said nothing.
Will you at least promise to be open to what I offer?
"That, I can do.
Ask your questions, and I promise whatever offer or ideas that you present to me,
I will consider with an open mind."
Vesper then outlined everything, from his belief that the merchant blade
killed Guild Master Pietro, that Orion was working with Larsen to create
an emperor of Ness, and that Orion was playing Larsen for the fool that he
was.
"Wait, are you telling me that Orion has been pretending to be dim-witted and
oblivious this whole time, and that his goal is to assassinate Larsen at some point
and to take over as leader of Ness?"
"It is so."
"You expect me to believe that? Orion is a
lovable oaf."
"Orion is the most dangerous man in Ness."
"But if he was waiting for Larsen, why were you here trying to assassinate me?"
Raylan seemed utterly transfixed by Vesper's story.
"Orion feels Larsen is ineffective and inept.
I was to make Larsen's job easier by killing you and dumping your body on the banks of the Great
River."
Raylan laughed.
"You say that with such a straight face.
How can I not trust your words when you speak them directly to me?"
Turning to Allard, he asked...
"What do you think, deputy?"
"I never considered Orion as stupid as others have, but these words still
surprise me.
That said, I believe him."
Turning back to Vesper, Raylan said, "So there you go.
We believe you, Blade. So what are your questions? And what is this offer you have?
It must truly be miraculous after hearing you are on a mission to kill me."
"What is the Thieves Guild? What is your mission?" Vesper didn't
have to fake the sincerity in his voice.
Raylan paused, as if considering his words, and then replied,
"We are the largest guild in Ness. We stand alone, and
yet are part of every other guild.
We live behind the scenes to provide shelter and food for those that are overlooked by
their own guilds, even as we are hunted and killed for doing so."
After a short pause, Raylan stated, an almost regal confidence
in his voice, "We take so we can give." "I don't
understand."
Raylan looked at Allard, who spoke up, his deep voice seemingly
penetrating the rock itself with its resonance.
"Every guild has its lowest members.
We take care of them, because their guilds do not." Vesper did not believe this.
He had never heard of a guild turning its back on its members. "That is false.
Guilds take care of their own." "Blade, your own guild includes those that repair the sewers under
Ness,
correct?"
Vesper did not know this, but repairs of buildings and equipment were the Craft
Guild's responsibility. "I assume so." "Do you know where
those that clean the sewers live?" He was going to answer, "The flats," but he knew the answer
was the Wretched Quarter. While most of those who crossed the great bridge to
work were dirty Harvest Guild members, he knew that some of his guild members
lived in the Wretched Quarter as well.
"Across the bridge?" Allard nodded.
"And how much are they paid for the unpleasant services they provide?" "Enough to eat
and..." Vesper was going to say, "pay rent," but how much was rent in the
Wretched Quarter? Were there even inns or places to rent?
Did they possibly live in hovels? Vesper didn't know.
"Live," was his eventual reply. "They are paid less than a
crown for a week of work." "Ridiculous," Vesper replied.
The amount was barely enough to pay for a day's worth of food.
"Indeed, it is ridiculous," Raylan
replied. "So we provide them the food and shelter they need.
We do it by stealing food, clothing, and money from those that don't need it."
"You steal from the rich and provide it to the poor?"
Vesper replied, not quite believing that the thieves, the people that
Orion had always taught him were evil and selfish, were actually
generous and providing for those without.
"Yes," was Raylan's simple reply. "So you rule all of the
land on this side of the river?" "Yes. We man the walls and patrol the streets.
It helps that the only way here is a single bridge."
Raylan scratched his head. "Is that all?" "No, one more
question. What do you plan to do with Larson and Orion?"
Raylan peered at Vesper for a long time and then replied,
"Nothing.
Things seem stable.
We have plans to further improve Ness, but they are subtle, and I will not share them
with you."
Raylan sighed. "We have answered your questions, so before you
die, you said you had an offer.
Now is the time to make it." "May I beg one last
question?"
Raylan nodded. "Do you have a blade?"
Raylan looked disconcerted by the question, and Vesper wondered what it could
mean. It appeared that the thieves did have a blade, but something had
happened to him.
He had started the conversation with two possible plans.
The first was to offer himself as the blade of the guild master thief, but
after Raylan's response, Vesper went with his second plan.
"Let me spy for you. I will return to Orion and tell him that I couldn't find you.
He will not be surprised. He knew the mission had a low chance of success.
I will be included in all of his planning, which I will share with you." Raylan
shook his head, which worried Vesper, but his reply was encouraging.
"So you would betray your guild master to save your life?" "It
seems like a reasonable trade, don't you think?" Raylan laughed at that.
"For such as you, but I fear if you were to betray Orion, you would just as
easily betray me. So why should I trust you?"
Vesper took a deep breath.
His life depended on this answer. "Because as I climbed over the wall to the ash
fields, I was moved by those who were trying to reclaim the land.
The tower above me is both majestic and hidden.
That is how I see myself, hidden and yet powerful and majestic in my own way,
if you may beg my arrogance. When I experienced the invisible defenses you
have beyond the bridge, and the guards on the walls, I realized that something amazing
was happening here."
Vesper took a step forward. "What I saw was amazing.
What you said was amazing. I am not blind.
There is something both honorable and mysterious in what you are doing. I am not a fool.
I know I have been working for an evil man.
I yearn to work for a good one."
Vesper lowered his head. "So my offer is this: forgive my devotion
to an evil guild master so I may serve a good one."
Raylan was quiet for a mere moment before replying, "Let me
think on this."
And without saying another word, he and Allard walked down the hall, the
eventual grinding scream of the iron door a metaphor for what Vesper
felt inside.He had a reprieve, but the uncertainty was as
painful as a stab. When Allard returned alone three hours later,
Vesper was sure his life was at an end.
The ominous former knight paused in front of the door to Vesper's cell.
"I have a question." "I will answer truthfully,"
Vesper replied, letting hope creep into his heart.
"Other than the obvious answer of saving your own life, what is the one thing
about the Thieves Guild that makes you want to serve us?"
Vesper knew that the best answer was to say helping the poor of other guilds
or to provide aid to those in need, or any number of things that illustrated
his dedication to the guild's mission.
Yet the more he thought of the question, the more he couldn't shake the image of the
huge dark tower at the base of the mountain.
It drew him across the ash fields. He had to see it.
It was as if the tower itself was reaching out to him.
He felt a need to understand its mysteries and to climb its stairs and
experience its view.
It was as basic as that, and yet so much more.
It was irrational, it made no sense, and it was the worst answer he could
give, but that was how he replied. "The tower.
The moment I saw it, I was filled with an unshakable desire to know more about it.
It is Nessus' greatest monument, and yet it is hidden in plain sight."
Stabbing himself in the chest with a finger, Vesper added.
"Nothing about the thieves touches my heart as much as the tower itself."
The next day, Vesper was at the west side of the Great Bridge.
"We will contact you," his thief escort told him before
disappearing into the crowd like a drop of rain into a river.
Turning back to the southwest, Vesper looked at the great Tower of the Thieves,
barely discernible even from there.
He had fooled the thieves with a stupid story of some passing fancy.
An impressive tower.
Vesper couldn't even understand why he told the story, yet it was
presumably one of the reasons he was released.
As he crossed the Great Bridge, Vesper organized his thoughts for his report to
Orion about the dangerous and previously hidden Thieves Guild.
It was difficult to focus, however, for every few steps, Vesper would
pause and look over his shoulder, glancing at the mysterious, impressive and
nearly invisible tower in the distance.
(instrumental music plays)