The Thieves Guild
by Jake Kerr.
Season 4.
The Order of the Dragon.
Episode 3:
Captain Rogers.
Rodgers realized he had a short window to operate in the Lower Quarter before
he was discovered. Unbelievably, he was the captain of the Lower Quarter for
three guilds, the Harvest, Merchant, and Thieves Guilds.
It wouldn't be long before a Harvest Guild member would wonder why their captain was wearing
blue, or a Merchant Guild member wondered why he was wearing green.
His immediate goal was to report to Allard.
"No, I need to report to Raylan," Rodgers thought.
He didn't have a good handle on the youngster that was the new guild master, and he
had to remind himself to at least maintain a semblance of respect for the boy,
even if he knew that Allard was truly in charge.
Either way, he had to make his way back to the Old Quarter.
But before doing that, he intended on using his new role as the merchant captain
to take stock of the Lower Quarter. He already knew from his retreat from the
confrontation with the Outlanders that the Lower Quarter was in dire
shape.
The fires had been devastating, but he wanted to get a sense of the
thief safe house situation and how the thieves could pick up the pieces.
Rodgers walked down the throughway.
His goal was to turn into the Flats via one of the side roads and take a long
detour and see what was happening there.
He had little hope that it was even livable.
Like the homes in the Pit, so many houses and cottages in the Flats
were built right up next to each other, and were built from the wood carted in from the
small forest land managed by the remote Harvest Guild lumber farmers
far to the north.
He had already walked for five minutes, and could see more burned down houses and
taverns and shops than those that survived.
And the ones that survived were the rare stone houses that predated the growth in the
Flats. Even many of them had damaged roofs or other charred
remains.
Traitor!
Rodgers turned toward the voice just as a stone glanced off his shoulder.
A group of Harvest Guild members that were rebuilding a house had turned to him and were
holding stones that were part of some collapsed wall.
You aren't welcome here.
No more stones were thrown, but the group of three men held stones and bricks
in their hands, their intent clear.
Turn around and leave if you know what's good for you.
He's a captain.
A young man raised his hand to toss a stone, but an older Harvest Guild member
held his arm. "Indeed." The older man walked to Rodgers.
"Hurting you will bring nothing but trouble.
But you should know, Captain Traitor, we do want to hurt you." The man
pointed back up the street. "You should leave, if you know what's good for you."
Rodgers was not surprised. He had seen the devastation.
He had seen in the Pit the evil that Larsen had unleashed on the Harvest Guild.
Still, he had a mission to get to the Thieves Guild, and he also didn't want to pass
up surveying more of the Flats.
Even this interaction was informative and helpful.
The Harvest Guild was not in a forgiving mood.
"You have every right to be full of anger, indeed.
I don't want to deny you of that.
But I am here as the new captain under Guildmaster Karch, whose only goal is to make things right."
"Karch is the guild master?"
The old man glanced back at the others, who shrugged.
Rodgers wasn't sure what happened while he was gone, but they didn't either, so he
decided to make up a story. "Karch was behind Larsen's death, and he saw the
continued damage that Orion's irresponsible nephew was doing, so he deposed him.
Karch's only goal is to make things right. As you're aware, he was not in charge.
Larsen was."
There was some muttering. "All I ask is that I am allowed to survey the damage so that
Guildmaster Karch can see how much he needs to do to make things right."
He can never make right the destruction of our homes.
"Of course. I did not mean to imply he could, only that his intent is to undo
as much of the harm that Larsen did as he can."
There were more mutters, and Rodgers once again filled the uncertainty with his
voice. "Tell me of your suffering. I promise to listen to every word and relay it back to
Guildmaster Karch.
Then I will walk down this street to hear more stories.
Again, my friends, my goal is to listen and observe and return to Karch with a better
understanding of this disaster."
Rodgers waved his arm back toward the Flats.
To his amazement, the men dropped their rocks and walked forward, and for the next
20 minutes outlined every horrible thing they had seen, nearly all of which was
from the Merchant Guild. Rodgers listened intently, and when they finished,
they let him walk onward.
Rodgers noted that all they wanted was for someone to listen and take their pain
seriously. It was one of many things he would relay to Allard when he
returned.
In the meantime, he walked past his first destination.
It was a safe house that had a long history of protecting thieves.
It was a pile of ash.
Rodgers' second confrontation came at the Great Bridge.
This one went much better. The mood was still grim.
Small groups of Harvest Guild members were still removing bodies from the Great Road,
and the smell of death hung over everything.
Blood clotted and stained the road while bodies were piled onto
wagons.... as far as Rogers could tell, the Nest citizens had all been
removed and the cleanup was now the bodies of Outlanders.
He watched as a cart with three Outland bodies was lifted up and
carted away. Rogers was surprised as it made its way toward the great
river, but then he realized what was happening.
The Outlander bodies were being dumped in the river, where they would float under the
wall and end up on the banks out in the plains to be picked apart by
carrion.
No one paid him much mind as he continued on his journey, despite his blue cloak
and captain's band. He approached the bridge, which was a swirl of green
activity. It was then that Rogers realized that there wasn't a white or blue
robe or tunic to be seen.
The Harvest Guild had effectively taken over the entire lower quarter.
Rogers had to smile. He was the Harvest Guild captain of the lower
quarter. Soon, he would be leading all these efforts.
Hey,
you!
A heavily-armed guard in green approached.
Identify yourself.
Rogers smiled as the man approached. He recognized the guard.
It was a Thieves Guild member who patrolled the great bridge.
"Chester, have your eyes gotten that bad?" The man squinted, and then
his eyes went wide.
Rogers? Is that you?
Rogers pointed to the Merchant Guild captain's band around his bicep.
"It's Captain Rogers."
You look terrible. Have you eaten or slept at all in the past week?"
Rogers looked down at his body. He hadn't even realized it, but he had
indeed lost a ton of weight and his face probably looked drawn and skeletal.
"I've been busy." Chester shook his head.
Clearly. Look at you, captain in the Merchant Guild.
Who elevated you to that position? Karch?"
"Actually, he did."
Chester meant it as a joke, so the shock on his face delighted Rogers.
"I'm also the captain of the lower quarter of the Harvest Guild, so you should definitely call me
sir."
Don't tell me it was old Azmer that elevated you. I won't believe it.
"Actually, it was Polo himself." Chester slapped Rogers on the back.
We missed your humor, Rogers. It's good to have you back.
Are you returning to the tower?
"Indeed, I must report to Allard."
As far as I know, Allard is still out on a mission.
The guild master has returned, however.
Rogers wasn't keen on reporting to the young pretender, Raylan, but he
guessed he had no choice. "Then I shall report to Raylan.
Do you have a horse for my journey?"
There are steeds on the other side of the bridge.
Captain Cude is there, so you should connect with him.
"I shall." Rogers grasped Chester's forearm.
"We have lots of work to do, but we're at least building a knot burning."
I don't know either way.
Provide your report. There's precious little information coming from anywhere.
"I will. Thank you, Chester."
No, thank you, Captain. And Captain...
Chester pointed at Rogers and laughed, shaking his head, still not
believing Rogers.
And
Captain. (laughs)
Raylan had been able to convince Rebecca to hold off on her mission to the Golden
Wand, at least until Raylan had things a bit more organized within the
guild. He had yet to discuss things in detail with Maylor, who was still his
blade and could provide some valuable assistance in making sense of the
chaos happening on the other side of the river.
The power had presumably shifted so dramatically, Raylan badly needed
updated information.
And Prosper, and the city on the other side of the mountain.
Raylan sensed that everyone wanted to address that as soon as possible, but what
was there that they could do? The road was still blocked and Maylor's entrance
was through the mines.
Prosper claimed he'd clear the road, but that just seemed like boasting.
He also had to call a meeting of his captains.
They were the only ones who could give him a reasonable update, and they also were critical
for executing any plans.
And finally, he had to address the loss of Allard.
The thought of Allard dying still hadn't sunk in, yet he was the guild master
and had to arrange what? Some kind of memorial.
Something.
And what was he to do with Vesper? The tough blade was completely
broken up over the death of Allard. All he muttered was about killing Polo
or slaughtering Harvest Guild members.
Raylan had to order him to his quarters to calm down.
To Raylan's surprise, Vesper followed his orders.
He was nearly to his own quarters when a young guild member rushed up, so quickly
that Felos stepped in front of her.
Not so fast, Brin.
Mind your manners."
Felos turned to Raylan.
"Brin is the new stable master."
"Hail Brin!"
Guild master.
She was nearly out of breath.
I knew you would want to be informed.
Raylan didn't say anything as the young woman took another breath.
The guild historian has taken a horse and left for the Outlands.
It took a moment for the words to sink in.
Raif left for Gautland to see Pietro's library. Raylan was sure of it.
"How long ago?"
The moment he exited the gate, I came up here to tell you.
Raylan turned to Felos. "Send someone to bring him back.
If he refuses, bind him, drag him, do whatever you need to do.
Does the fool not realize there is an Outlander army between him and Gautland that
wants to kill anyone connected to this city?"
"Yes, Guild Master."
Felos rushed off and Raylan turned to Brin. "Thank you, Brin.
You did well."
Brin bowed and hurried back down the stairwell.
Raylan took a deep breath.
The one member in the whole guild that Raylan felt he didn't have to worry about
was the one that was now in the most dire danger.
(dramatic music)
A Podcast Alchemy
production.