《Blood and Honor: Honor among Thieves》Chapter 3- Old Rival and New Boss
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Underdark- Black Web Region
Kingdom of Zeren'gor Territory- City of Nythi Thalas
Broken Quarter
Aaron studied the Peach Pit, it was an Inn and one of the fronts for the Thieves Guild. He had spotted already half a dozen sentries around the place, so it was still active by the guild. The question was, who was in charge and how frigid would his reception be?
Aaron wouldn't know until he went inside and talked to those in charge, but once he did...His probationary status could be removed and he could be reinstated or he could be kicked out of the Guild itself. If he was kicked out, he honestly had no idea what he would do with his life at that point.
Aaron thought 'FUCK IT!!!' as he emerged from the shadows and dropped out of Stealth as he crossed the street. Several of the sentries looked at him and his flowing gate but disregarded him after a moment as he approached the door. The Enforcer there looked at him and noted his ring immediately before stepping aside and allowing him entry. The feel of the Peach Pit was dour, the last time he had been here it had been full of life, singing, gambling. Now it was as if they were waiting for the ax to fall.
Aaron frowned, what was going on he wondered as he headed over to the bar. It took him a moment but Willy eventually recognized him and surprise-filled his face. "Where the hell have you been?" Willy asked as Aaron walked up and tossed a couple of copper onto the bar. He had lifted more money on the way here, to replenish his dwindling funds.
"Prison on Earth. What has been going on? Is Jerimiah still in charge?" Aaron asked back as Willy placed a small stein in front of him and Aaron took a sip. It looked like piss, but it tasted pretty damned good.
Willy shook his head slightly, "Jerimiah died about two years after you stopped coming to Ithea. Jonas is in charge now, and well he wasn't always the sharpest knife in the sheath as you well know. All the old guard had mostly moved on, died, or were demoted to menial positions. Jonas knows he can't get rid of all of them otherwise his superiors would remove him. As it is...everything hangs upon a thread. Thievery is no longer the priority, they mostly promote cutthroats and bullies. Truly the art has been lost since you disappeared and Jerimiah died." Willy informed him and Aaron placed a Silver piece on the bar, which promptly disappeared.
"Where does your loyalty lay?" Aaron prodded as he let his eyes scan the room as he sipped his beer again.
"With the guild, as always. However, if it gets any worse, I am fairly certain the Thieves Guild will revoke our charter, and you know what that means." Willy emphasized the point as much as he could. If the Thieves Guild revoked their charter, they would send a force to clean house and kill most if not all the local members within the city. They would bring in fresh blood and new leadership, so either Jonas had to turn it around quickly or risk death. The better question was why he was doing this though. Jonas wasn't the smartest, but even he knew the Thieves Guild would take him out if his bottom line dropped too much for too long.
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So what or who was giving him the confidence to thumb his nose at the Thieves Guild, Aaron wondered as two men joined him on either side of him. "So fish, are you paid up, on your guild dues?" the man on his right asked as he bumped into him. The man on his left chuckled as he hemmed him in. Aaron rolled his eyes at their pitiful antics to try and intimidate him. Willy paled a little bit and stepped back and away from the group as Aaron's hand flashed out and slammed into his new talkative friend's throat causing him to reel back as he choked. Aaron kept moving the same hand and promptly drove two of his fingers into the eyes of the man on his left causing him to scream in pain as he stumbled back.
Aaron then turned back to the man on his right who was glaring at him as he reached for his club, but Aaran moved quicker and grabbed the man's head by his hair and used his whole body to slam the Enforcers head into the bar repeatedly until he collapsed at his feet. Aaron turned back to his small stein and calmly picked it up and started drinking again. "I wanted it noted Willy, they are both alive. Back in the day, I would have been well within my right to blind them or even kill them." Aaron pointed out to the bartender who snorted and shook his head before pointing to another Enforcer that was at the end of the bar glowering at him.
"Do you know who I am?" the Drow asked as he stood from his seat.
"I am guessing...ass-face?" Aaron quipped causing the Drow to frown.
"No...its" the Drow started but Aaron interrupted him.
"I don't give a shit. I need a face-to-face meeting with Jonas, now. Not after you are done threatening me. If you continue with your idiocy, I will really start killing people until I get a meeting with your boss.' Aaron told him as he looked around and started speaking louder so that everyone within earshot could hear. 'Targeting and working a fellow guild member was a huge no at one time, I see this Chapter has fallen harder than I originally thought. Thievery is an art form. Anyone can use a club or fist to steal something, taking it from your mark without them realizing you have it, takes skill you apparently lack. Now be a good little boy and runoff and tell Jona that Aaron Sumner is here and wishes to speak to him, now." Aaron stated loudly as he looked around. More than one head nodded in agreement and more then one inquisitive look was thrown his way from both Locals and Immortals.
The big Drow frowned and looked at someone behind him who moved off deeper into the inn. "Know this, if Jonas doesn't wish to see you, I will enjoy killing you immensely." the Drow threatened and Aaron just smiled and winked at him as he continued to sip his drink
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Aaron looked around the office, he had so many memories of this place. The man here had taught him much about Thievery and the balance the Thieves Guild maintained within itself and with the other underworld Guilds. Jonas apparently had not been paying attention to the same lessons. "What the hell are you thinking Aaron? You come in here and challenge the authority of one of my Lieutenants? I can have you killed for that." Jona threatened and Aaron turned and just stared at him.
"We were always rivals Jonas, but I always respected you. Hell, I even liked the fact that once you set your mind to something, there was almost nothing in this world that could stop you from doing it. So what the hell happened? What happened with Jerimiah? What happened to the Guild I remember?" Aaron asked the Drow who frowned and looked away.
Jonas looked tired and worried, but he also had a manic energy about him. He was hiding something, Aaron could figure that much out, but what was he hiding. "When you first disappeared, your brother still came back to our world. All he did was get drunk and cause problems. It came to the point that even as your brother, he was becoming too big of a problem so Jerimiah kicked him out of the Guild. After that, your brother stopped coming as far as we were aware. Jerimiah died about two years after you disappeared. I tried holding the Guild together, but its a hell of a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. Since you disappeared, Jerimiah made me Heir. So I automatically was placed in charge. Now...now I regret ever taking the position." Jonas informed him.
"What happened to him? How did he die? Where are all his old Lieutenants?" Aaron asked and Jonas shrugged.
"Some died, others fled to other cities and joined other parts of the Guild. The few that stayed were placed in other positions, less stressful after I became Viscount of the city.' Jonas replied as he stood and looked around the room. 'It still feels like he is here, you know. They never did find out what happened to him. The authorities and the other Guild Leaders respected him, some even feared him, but none of them could tell us what happened too him." Jonas lamented,
A notification popped up but Aaron dismissed it for now. "Yes, well we all know the risks, eventually he was going to be killed on one job or another. I just didn't expect that man to die. I was fairly certain he was going to outlive us all." Aaron replied and Jonas nodded his head.
"Moving on. Your reinstatement, I can do it, but you have to prove yourself. I cannot wave that, not even for you Aaron. Prove to everyone here that Thievery is still alive. Outside the city is an old temple, it's still in use and occupied. The High-Priestess there has a scroll in her quarters, get it and return to us here. That will disabuse any doubts about you or the art form of Thievery." Jonas stated as a Quest Notification popped up.
Guild Quest Issued: The Artwork of Thievery
Description: Anyone can beat someone up or kills someone and take money from their corpse. Thievery is an artform to take from them without them knowing it. Outside the city of Nythi Thalas, is an old temple that has fallen to disuse. To prove yourself to the local Thieves Guild and earn your way back in, you must go to the old temple and infiltrate the High-Priestess's room and recover an old scroll. Once you have the scroll return to the Peach Pit and give the scroll to Jonas Ele'tharamas.
Odd Scroll: 0/1
Success: Aquire the Scroll from the nearby Temple and return to the Thieves Guild afterwords
Failure: Do not acquire the scroll, get caught, kill anyone, or fail to turn it over
Restriction: Cannot be spotted, caught, or kill anyone
Rewards: 2,000 Experience, 25 Gold, Full Reinstatement within the Thieves Guild
Do you accept the Quest? YES/NO
Note* If you fail this quest, you will be cast out of the Thieves Guild.
Aaron smiled at Jonah and only let him see the cockyness. Inside he was worried, he hated temple and stealing from them. It was an easy way to end up with a Divine level curse on your ass and it took a lot of groveling, money, and useless quests to get them removed. "Well brother, I will be back soon enough brother." Aaron turned and left without saying anything else. He quickly pulled up the other notification that had popped up and started reading.
Secret Quest Issued: Justice for the Dead
Description: Your old mentor and former leader, Jerimiah Long, was killed some time ago. The only thing you were told was that he was murdered. Why, how, and who are completely unknown at this time. Find out what happened to your old mentor and perhaps you can find out what is going wrong with the local Thieves Guild. Perhaps you should go to his old estate and start your investigation into his death there.
Difficulty: Hard
Why was Jerimiah Long killed: ---
How was Jerimiah Long killed: ---
Who killed Jerimiah Long: ---
Success: Find out Why, How, and Who murdered the former Viscount Jerimiah Long of the Thieves Guild Chapter of Nythi Thalas
Failure: Do not find out Why, How, and Who murdered the former Viscount Jerimiah Long of the Thieves Guild Chapter of Nythi Thalas
Rewards: 2,000 Experience, Unknown
Aaron frowned, he seemed to be stepping from one shit pile to another, so much for his life going up, he thought as he left the Peach Pit.
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