Thieves' Guild Smuggler

The Thieves Guild Smugglers are some of the best there is. They are experts in languages, deceitfulness, bribery, and forgery. And never short of a good story to tell.

Career

Qualifications

Nearly all of the smugglers employed by the Thieves Guild of Frankia are highly adaptable thieves to begin with. They are especially good at deception & forgery, being able to spin a good yarn or talk their way out of any situation. They are able to forge almost any document given the resources & time. On top of that, they usually speak two or more languages, and can hide almost anything anywhere. Most are able to think of inventive ways to disguise themselves, others or items.

Career Progression

Nearly all of the smugglers start in the guild shipping people or objects around the local area they operate in, without either being detected or caught out. After a while the best are chosen and taught the particulars of how to forge papers, how to hide objects or people in certain environments, and disguises. Each of these have to be learned and the best of each progress. The one that masters all these are set up as the smugglers. Each are given a specific route or region in which to operate along, and the rest make up a crew who specialise in one of these other topic. Most don't make it past one or two of these but their skills are still well sought after and can act as a backups or appear as employees.

Payment & Reimbursement

The smugglers will come to a price for the object or person to be smuggled. If it involves crossing more than one border or hostile territory then the price will easily double or even triple. Haggling is done before the final cost is settled on. It will usually take in any costs that the smuggler will have to pay. If there is unforeseen costs, then this can be paid off by the Guild's treasury or paid by the client after the job is done. Sometimes this can involve favours or further business at a future date if there is no monetary payment.

Other Benefits

The smugglers will have a number of contacts spread throughout foreign lands & nations. This allows them to gather localised information, have safehouses & caches, and escape routes embedded in a region. They regularly have access to items that aren't found locally. Having access to caravans & ships also allows them to travel incognito.

Perception

Purpose

Smugglers allow for those fleeing the law or trying to avoid it, regularly use their services to get them out of a national area. Also, those with coin or specialist interests, use this service to get items, objects, and even species both ways through national borders. The lines here are blurred depending on those that employ the smugglers.

Social Status

Smugglers are treated by many as dodgy individuals lower on the scale compared to pirates. Many view it that way as pirates are up front with what they are.

Demographics

A miniscule amount of the Frankish population is involved with smuggling. Besides the Thieves Guild of Frankia, a small number of militia, hunters, local officials, merchants, and sailors are involved.

History

Ever since the creation of the Thieves Guild there has been a branch specialising in smuggling. Most of the guild is involved in this in general, though it takes a rare few to carry it out almost to the exclusion of everything else. Nearly every smuggler has been those who can play the long game, with an element of planning better than most. A few also get involved with blackmail to an extent as well due to the nature of smuggling dangerous individuals & items.

Operations

Tools

Ink, quills, and parchment are the common tools, as well as a few coins for bribes. The equipment have to be the best they can get, and a good mixture from over the known world. Wax, and carving tools are needed to fake the seals needed on official documents.

Materials

Inks of different qualities and from different nations are constantly needed. They also try to get a number of quills of different types too. Waxes from different nationalities are preferred, and a mix of metal & wood is needed to carve the fake seals.

Workplace

No set workplace is needed as they are found throughout Europe, whether in courts, settlements, the road, caravans, and ships.

Provided Services

The smuggling of goods and individuals are the purpose here. In every case it's to avoid the authorities for one reason or another. Individuals such as criminals or those on the run for one reason or the other are regular jobs for the smuggler. Also, the importation or exportation of dangerous, exotic, or proscribed objects / compounds, along with body parts & organisms that the authorities have banned or regulated. Sometimes they smuggle more mundane items etc that are highly taxed or exceptionally expensive.
They regularly smuggle purely illegal objects, usually in the form of stolen goods or fakes based on regular goods. Obviously, trying to avoid getting caught with hot items is a standard for the Thieves Guild it creates a steady income for the Guild.

Dangers & Hazards

The act of smuggling is highly dangerous for the Guild and if caught can come with heavy fines, imprisonment and even execution or outlawry are common punishments. The fact that they smuggle dangerous individuals and objects at times also adds a risk, of these causing problems in and of itself.

"Aye, excellent money in it, and your on the road much of the time with smuggling. Never know who or what your shifting half the time, and that's probably a good thing. Just don't get caught, the punishments are severe, at least on the pocket. 
Sometimes you can pick up a good deal too. You end up in somewhere like the Levant, and grab some of the spices there while your at it. A bit of a side job, but gives you an excuse as to why your there. Bringing back sample, haha. Just don't ask about the other goods though, unless you need to."
Floki the Tramp, speaking to a couple of local smugglers in The Slinky Seine.

Type

Illicit

Legality

Highly illegal in near every nation, smuggling can lead to any number of punishments of caught. They run the risk of this every time they take a job on. Exactly what punishment is enacted when caught, depends on the region and nation involved.

Related Locations

• Europe