Brotherhood of Thieves
With the death of Luvren Lightfingers, the Eldorian Thieves Guild was left in a leaderless void for the first time since Rhyack One-Eyed and his enforcer, Tashin Tazefellow took power sixty years before. With no heir apparent, various factions within the Brotherhood spintered, forming smaller guilds in cities across the Inner Seas. Over the next decade, guilds continued to fracture as thieves broke with assassins and then with con artists and smugglers. Everyone enjoyed their new found freedom and crime rose, lining the purses of every ne'er-do-well in the crumbling Empire of Eldoria.
What the more successful thieves in this new splintered Eldoria failed to notice is that the unsuccessful were growing in number. Thievery and skullduggery has never been a profession for the faint of heart. Broken bones and even the occasional dead body have always been hazards for its practitioners. But now bodies found in dark alleys and floating in the Selkirn had become a nightly event. Honest folk were appalled. Their belongings were being taken and their very lives were in danger. Finally, after a decade of crime and violence, with the murder of Countess Michelle La Sonne, Emperor Kern d'Uthar XI declared war. The following year significantly thinned the ranks of criminals and curtailed profits everywhere.
Members of the various guilds responded in kind. They targeted law enforcement leaders across the Inner Seas. When arrested, criminals began to turn on different factions in exchange for leniency. Those ratted out their brethren were impressed into the Imperial Navy instead of sent to the gallows. Safely shipped of to foreign lands, impacted factions had no choice but to seek retribution against the offender's guild and everything descended into civil war. When one of their number was captured, they quietly had him or her killed before further details about a rival guild could be revealed. Murders of fellow thieves occured in broad daylight. Seeing that crime had turned upon itself, Emperor Kern Xi declared victory.
Leaders of various faction saw the writing on the wall. Between their infighting and the efforts of the authorities, profits plummeted and thievery had become as dangerous dragon hunting. Two years after the Emperor's war on crime had begin, leaders of the twelve most powerful factions met in Drythe to discuss their options. After several nights they agreed on a loose alliance, once that would respect each others territories, offer mutual aid and safe harbor to visiting members, and establish a central fund for emergency use. They put their plan in action, handsomely rewarded a number of Imperial officials, and within a year a sort of detente was achieved. Profits rose while the citizens of the Empire felt safer. The Brotherhood was born.
In order to maintain stability, the leaders agreed to maintain a leadership council, with one member from each of the nine factions represented. For security reasons, the identities of the nine would remain secret. Over the centuries, three additional factions have joined the Brotherhood, bringing its number to a dozen. This group, which soon earned the nickname the Puppeteers, met regularly, either in person or through arcane means, to ensure that their various businesses operated smoothly.
These meetings took a brief hiatus during the Mage Wars, when being associated with magic of any sort became hazardous to ones health. The Brotherhood, however, remained ever practical and assisted many magi as they fled authorities in exchange for useful but innocuous looking magical tools. As a result, the anti-magic strictures common around the Inner Seas may have limited the magical capabilities of the Brotherhood, they have not been stripped completely. Many thieves, and all of the Puppeteers, still use magic to further their ends. In fact, the Brotherhood has often become a refuge for young sorcerers as a place where their talents are welcomed instead of feared.
Brother Justice Dispensed
The Dozen Brotherhoods
When the most powerful guilds on Tarien banded together in Drythe to form the Brotherhood of Thieves, they divided agreed that keeping power in the hands of a single leader was too risky. Instead, they agreed that nine men and women, each representing a particular region of the guilds' historical influence would serve as a body of governance to facilitate cooperation and profits. The guilds from these regions are:
Azermathian Alliance
Not originally a member of the conclave that founded the Brotherhood, this guild's territory covers the cities of the new frontier such as Drakkar, Rathgar, and Warwick.
Canalmen
This region is centered around Ithsaman and the Geltamar Canal, though their territory also extend to Mon Finn.
Eldorian Thieves' Guild
This guild controls many of the original territories held by the original guild. Its territory stretches across eastern Eldoria from Eldarin to Theyla and extends off of the island to Carboth.
Freelancers
With a wide territory from Katzpütch to Dalencroft and extending into Sarya's Republic, this guild operates under some of the least governed areas in the Inner Seas.
Imperial Craftsmen
Centered around Rhyack's original home, this guild maintains an official charter with the Empire of Eldoria, influences politics, and has its fingers in almost every activity in Karradone.
Mountain Highwaymen
Named for their chief enterprise - ambushing caravans in dangerous mountain stretches of the Trans-Rheuthengage Highway, this guild has influence in Geyla and Geran but operates primarily in the wilderness.
Northwest Syndicate
Taking the idea of loose unions seriously, the Syndicate operates as separate, smaller guilds in Gartcha, Wargun, West Harbor, Yaty, and Zennon.
Prydithen Gentlemen's Association
Much like the Imperial Craftsmen, the guild in the Kingdoms of Prydith operates under the facade of a legitimate business. Focused mainly on activities in Drythe and Mathe they count a number of minor nobles among their members.
Rheuthen Basin Smugglers
Many are surprised that a guild in in both the crossroads of Tarien and its most vice-laden city is so weak, but the Grennig Shore Patrol and Lords of Light in Mennith are both zealous in their persecution of crime.
In addition to guilds that focus on specific regions of Tarien, three members of the Brotherhood count all of Tarien - a least the Human settled areas, as their territory. Highly selective, these groups focus on particular specialties.
Arcane Axis
With the persecution of their kind coming during the Mage Wars, and prohibitions lasting well after they ended, many magi were driven underground and found both refuge in and livelihood with criminal elements.
League of Assassins
The only specialty group present at the founding of the Brotherhood, the League is small, efficient, and feared throughout the Inner Seas.
Silent Auctioneers
The art of the fence has always been a critical part of any guild, but as trade has blossomed across the Inner Seas, so too has the opportunity to sell goods outside of one's own region has grown into its own unique specialty.
Captain, I don't care if every den of malcontents, tavern of ill repute, and dark alley in the city must be razed. You will bring me the sad sots murdered the good Countess.
Founding Date
519
Type
Guild, Thieves
Alternative Names
Thieves' Guild
Subsidiary Organizations
Membership Privileges and Duties
The Brotherhood has a tight reign on illegal activities throughout the Inner Seas. Anyone looking to practice crafts related to burglary, pick-pocketing, gambling, prostitution, smuggling, protection rackets, distribution of stolen goods, thuggery, and even murder for hire is required to be a member in good standing. One way that the Brotherhood ensures its profits is maintaining its monopoly and those who encroach upon their territory are tracked down and either handed over to the authorities or dealt with summarily.
Each faction has its own membership costs but most typically range from twenty-five to seventy-five percent of a thief's income, charged every moon or denary or, more commonly, for each job. Typically, the longer a thief has been a member, the greater share of the profits he or she retains.
In addition to dues, each member of the guild is required to have permission from a guild superior for any activities he or she undertakes. This allows the faction's leadership to maintain the balance of crime that maximizes profits without overstepping the line that would force greater than normal scrutiny from authorities. Different guilds manage this differently and often, they manage it differently with different individuals. Some individuals must receive permission for each job while others receive a general license to operate certain activities in certain areas under the faction's control.
Finally, members may be directed by superiors to undertake specific tasks or jobs to further the interest of the guild. These jobs further strategic goals of the guild, though th e rationale behind them may be unexplained, deliberately obtuse, or even misleading. These may require members to undertake a mundane task or practice their specialty in an area outside the usual haunts to help problem solve with a fresh face.
Beyond the right to practice their craft, membership does have other privileges. Members have access to their guild's resources and may be able to borrow equipment or gain assistance assembling a team. All factions have relationships with the Silent Auctioneers to help move stolen goods. Most importantly, membership provides practitioners with a vast information network to help determine the most profitable jobs, discover guard schedules, identify who might take a bribe, or any other of the countless details that make the difference between success and failure. Occasionally, a faction will even help a captured thief with their own defense or otherwise obtain their freedom. These case are rare, however, as the first mantra of any guild is don't get caught.
Travelling thieves gains privileges in other factions that belong to the brotherhood. They are required to register with the local guild and clear all activities with that guild's leadership as well as pay a hefty fee for operating in another faction's region. While penalties for failing to register are severe - both for the offender and the offender's own guild - they offender and his guild must, of course, be caught before any action can be taken. As one might imagine, the politics between various factions, especially along their borders, can rival the statecraft conducted by princes and kings.