Thieves' Guild Info

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Thieves’ Guild

History
The exact history of The Guild of Thieves (better known as the Thieves’ Guild or just the Guild) is clouded in mystery as few aspects of it were ever written down in order to preserve the secrets of the Guild. However, it is believed to have begun when a young boy from one of the small gangs of thieves in Ilyamen rescued a girl belonging to another gang from some of the City Guards. In honour of the debt now owed by the girl’s gang, they formed an alliance with the gang the boy was from, offering protection and aid to any member of that gang.

As time went on and the two gangs grew in size, they often found their selves inferring with or stealing work from the other gang until it became clear that either one group would need to leave the city or the gangs would need to merge so that it would be more possible to inform others of any job a member of the gang intended to take on. Since neither group wished to leave their home, a merger was agreed on. However this presented the problem of which of the two gang leaders would lead the new gang until a knife in the back of one of the two leaders put an abrupt end to the problem and life went on as usual.

Eventually word of Ilyamen’s newly named Guild of Thieves spread to the surrounding cities, bringing offers of alliances and eventual betrayals until most of the gangs of thieves were united under one leader and one name. Stores were built with the basements underneath providing a place of safety and rest to any passing thief and secret codes and signs were taught to Guild members so that one might recognise another until the society built its’ self into what it is today.

Guild Structure
For the most part, all members of the Thieves’ Guild are equal to each other. However there are a few exceptions to this rule. One such exception is the Guild’s leader, known as the Thief Lord. The Thief Lord is considered to be the greatest of all thieves and is in charge of forming alliances, deals and assigning the occasional job to any member of the Guild if they believe it necessary. They are also in charge of passing sentence on any member found to have broken a Guild rule and accepting new members into the Guild. The Thief Lord also is the Guild member who has enough copper or blackmail material on high ranking members of society to secure the release from prison of any Guild member, although for mild sentences it is usually expected that a thief wait out their punishment.

Any thief, regardless of social standing or skill, may attempt to take the title of Thief Lord by killing the current Lord either in direct combat or by a knife in the back. However the aspiring Thief Lord must kill the current Lord themselves. Hiring an assassin or revealing the Lord to the Guards of any city is an unthinkable act of treachery and would result in every member of the Guild setting out to kill the traitor. Attempting to take the title of Thief Lord is not a task to take lightly as failing in the attempt means the death of the thief trying. Success, however, brings rewards as each member of the Guild is required to donate a set amount of copper to the Guild each year, with half of the takings going to the Thief Lord.

The other exception to the rule of equality are the four “eyes and ears” elected by Thief Lord. Each of the “eyes and ears” serve as the Thief Lord’s spies among his/her people, informing the Lord of who might be likely to challenge him/her and who is or isn’t serving the interests of the Guild well. While there is no coinage awarded to those in the role of “eyes and ears”, they also do not need to pay the copper donation to the Guild. Therefore the position can be quite profitable, despite the danger that a thief scheming to take the title of Thief Lord (and many thieves do aspire to the title) may attempt to ‘blind’ the current Lord by murdering any “eyes and ears” they discover.

Rules of The Guild of Thieves
1. No member of the Guild shall, for any reason, betray another thief to any Guards of any city under pain of death. This includes all who may be in the employ of the Guards such as bounty hunters.

2. No member of the Guild shall fail to provide their yearly gift of 200 coins to the Guild’s copper else they shall forever lose the Guild’s protection.

3. No member of the Guild may ignore the plight of any of their fellows in danger, under pain of being deemed a traitor to the Guild.

4. Should a task be requested of any member of the Guild, by the Lord, then that member must carry out that task to the best of their ability and without question.

5. All Guild secrets are to be kept from outsiders by Guild members. To reveal Guild secrets is treason and carries a possible sentence of death. In times of need, however, this rule can be bent, however should any non-member reveal a secret of the Guild, the Guild member responsible shall be deemed a traitor.

Entrance Into The Guild of Thieves
New members of the Guild usually gain entrance after having been spotted by a current member who then brings the newly discovered thief, blindfolded, to whichever of the Guild’s city hideaways is closest to where the Thief Lord is said to be. Should the Thief Lord not be available, the potential member is requested to remain in the Guild hideaway or, in some cases, to stay in the city. After the Thief Lord arrives, the potential member is brought into a dark room and questioned until the Thief Lord makes their decision. Failure to gain acceptance can result in anything from being knocked out, robbed and left in a back alley to being killed if the belief is the failed applicant has seen too much of the Guild’s workings.