Thieves' Guild
History
Location
Structure
Power Hierarchy
Identification
Jobs: the Lists
Freelancers, Traitors, Etc
Rewards
Members
The Guild, as it is simply called by those who know of it, has existed for centuries in some form or another. Originally founded by a being from another world known only as the Dispassionate Man the Guild was known for being extremely brutal. The Dispassionate Man vanished several years after creating the Guild and was never heard from again. Throughout the years as the Guild passed from leader to leader it became less violent and more secretive. By the time of the last Guild Master, Kyle Rimbrand, few people knew the Guild even existed. It was then that Kyle began to use the Guild as a means of protecting the royalty of Shadow Star. The Guild was much more humane then and wasn't quite as concerned with punishment. Kyle gave up his position as Guild Master when the Dispassionate Man, the founder of the Guild, returned from his plane of existence to lead the Guild once more. Under the new cold, calculating direction of the Dispassionate Man the Guild underwent major changes from what it had been. The Dispassionate Man once again took up the brutal inhumane tactics he had used when he led the Guild in the past. Many Guilders defected out of the Guild, becoming freelancers if they were strong enough to keep out of the new Guild's way. Talons defected out and were replaced by Talons more suited to the new Guild's tactics. The Dispassionate Man led the Guild for two years before he disappeared once again.
On the heels of the Dispassionate Man's mysterious disappearance, the Water King issued an order to the Water knights to round up Guild members for interrogation with the assistance of a freelance gang known as the Wolfpack. In the ensuing chaos that followed, it became apparent in the underground that the Dispassionate Man had abandoned the Guild, and even as the Water knights and the Wolfpack picked off Guild members the remaining members warred between each other for control of the Guild. Soon the Guild as it was known under Dispassionate Man's rule was no more, and freelancers ruled the streets. Gang wars broke out between groups of freelancers, and it was then that the members of the Guild that had defected out of the Guild when the Dispassionate Man had come to power began to band together and create the Thieves Guild once again. Out of these efforts a new Guildmaster has arisen, and he calls himself the Patient Man.
The Guild is located in a section of unused sewers below the city Cascadia Falls. This fairly large area has been developed over the years into a sort of underground city responsible for everything ranging from the housing of members to the storage of stolen goods. The rest of the sewer system outside of the Guild itself is a means of traveling about the city quickly without being seen. Most of the citizens of Cascadia are smart enough to stay out of the sewers but for those who don't there is little risk that they will ever find their way through the maze of tunnels. Only members know the exact location of the Guild and how to avoid the wide and creative arrangement of traps scattered throughout the sewers to discourage explorers.
The Guild used to be divided into three sections: thieves, spies, and assassins and these groups were often in competition for the favor of the Guild Master. In the new form of the Guild there are only two groups: the regular members and the Talons. Regular members can do whatever they desire whether it be assassination, spying, robbing, picking pockets, begging, etc. As of now these regular members report and give the Guild's cut of the fruits of their labor to the Talon Master, the Patient Man's right hand. The Talons of the Guild are the elite of the elite. While in the past their numbers had been fixed at 20 their numbers can now range up to several hundred if the need arises. This came about as a result of the Guild's war against the gangs of Cascadia. The Talons are the enforcers of the Guild, they answer to none but the Talon Master and the Patient Man. In the new Guild the Talons are used for whatever the Patient Man wishes from serving as backup for him to taking on the Knights. Talons are more feared than respected, many have been known to kill a member that does something to offend them, and with good reason. They are trained to be able to kill anything that moves whether it is of magical nature or not.
The only position of true power within the Guild itself, other than the Patient Man's, is the Talon Master who serves as his right hand. Anyone else is ranked according to how well they serve the Guild followed by how long they have been with the Guild. It goes to follow that members of the Guild answer first to the Patient Man followed by the Talon Master then to the Talons.
In the old Guild members were issued pins showing which section of the Guild they were a part of. Now members are identified by a signet ring worn on the fourth finger of the left hand. The ring is forged for the new thief when they first join the guild and choose a night name, a name they wish to go by in the guild or when working. The emblem of the ring, which is unique for each thief, is usually in someway connected to what their night name is (e.g. The Patient Man's is an hourglass) Rings are made from copper for the normal members, silver for the Talons, and of gold for those in positions of power.
Members of the Guild are free to choose what jobs they want to take on as long as they pay out their dues to the Guild. These dues are used to finance the massive spy network of the Guild as well as provide members with the most up to date equipment and magics that are available. A list is posted each day of all the homes, businesses, and buildings that do not share alliance with the Guild or pay for protection (I'm not actually going to post lists. If you wish to rob some place go ahead and do it and just assume or claim your character signed up for it). If a thief desires to do a job in one of these targets he or she simply presses their ring next to building on the list and a copy of their signet is seared into the paper. They then have a week to carry out their job before the building is added to the list again as being open for work. Thieves can choose as many targets as they would like but they must be able to provide compensation for each building they do not manage to strike before the week is out. A thief may also choose to simply walk the streets and pickpockets for the week instead of risking breaking into building.
In addition to the list of target buildings are also a list of target caravans and shipments coming in and going out of Cascadia Falls and a list of people with bounties on their heads from the Guild and any other source. These list work slightly differently from the buildings list and so they must be noted. When a person places their name on the caravan list they are also give the option of asking for men and women to help with the raid. If they desire, they will be assigned other members to help them succeed in their task. These members receive nothing of the taken loot but instead are compensated monetarily by the Guild itself to cut down on insubordination. If the thief does not wish for Guild members to aid them then they are responsible for raiding the caravan on their own or they must hire sellswords with their own money.
The bounty list is unlike the other two lists in the sense that no one signs up to capture the bounties. It is strictly a first come, first to get the reward. However, there are rules in place to keep members from fighting over the same person or stealing another member's bounty. If a bounty is already captured by a member, it is theirs and if another thief should take the captured bounty and turn them in they will not receive compensation for the capture. This rule does not apply if someone outside of the Guild has caught a bounty. Then members should feel free to steal the bounty away from the nonmember.
Freelancers, Traitors, Deserters, and Punishment
The Guild's view is simple when it comes to non-Guild thieves and other such jobs of ill repute: join or suffer the consequences. Anyone caught by the Guild to be working within Guild territory is offered a warning and a chance to join the Guild. They have a day to respond to the message before having a bounty placed on their head and hunted down in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Once captured they are given over to the Patient Man for judgement. They are usually then tortured and then either executed, forced to leave the city, or forced to join the Guild. Traitors and deserters of the Guild are treated more harshly than freelancers. They are hunted down by the Talonmaster and the Talons and put through the most creative and painful tortures they can think up.
It is important to remember that fighting within the Guild is strictly not tolerated and will be punished. This is usually done by some form of physical punishment or perhaps being cutoff from working. The important thing to note is that should members be caught fighting amongst themselves all parties involved are punished not just the aggressor. There's no such thing as a trial among thieves. Everyone is the same in the eyes of the Guild. The exception to this, of course, is the Patient Man who can execute anyone with an order.
Members of the Guild are rewarded in different ways for different jobs or assignments. Obviously the harder the job the better the reward for the member. The Guild has a massive storage of money and enchanted items stolen throughout the centuries. Any and all of these are methods of payment. However, typical jobs are simply paid with money, gem stones, or some other precious items that are able to be sold or used in trade. In order to gain a magical item or a treasure of surpassing rareness a member must perform a task that is exceedingly dangerous, difficult, or very beneficial for the Guild (usually all three must occur and the person must be an active and decent poster as well). If the Guild member has performed a task which they feel merits such a reward then are permitted to request such a reward which will then be considered.
Guildmaster
Talonmaster
Talons
Guilders