The King's Thief

On the Thieves’ Collective: An account by Dravis Neconder, Trade Guild/Collective Good Fortune Payment Liaison


Based in Theria, the Thieves’ Collective represents nothing more than an organised crime syndicate at first glance. Young thieves are given areas of the city to pickpocket, while middle-aged thieves operate complicated smuggling and fraud set-ups throughout the country. Children often end up in the Collective through misadventure, such as becoming orphaned or running away from home.



However, on closer inspection, the Thieves’ Collective is closely integrated with the society of Theria, even as far as the royal household. It is well known that the King demands a tithe from the thieves, tolerating them rather than seeking to eradicate them. In return, the Thieves demand a series of ‘Good Fortune Payments’, or bribes, to ensure that the Treasury and other Government buildings remain free of hindrance from thieves. In fact, were a thief, unlicensed or not, to be found working against the Crown they would quickly be identified and an example would be made of them. Past examples have included the unfortunate Ridalian thief Lepar ‘Nboyn, who was eventually found by the city guards in five different locations at once, and Ricardo desKreig, who was found attached by his ears to the bells of the Temple of Lindriss, although not until they had been thoroughly rung.


This naturally leads one to question why the Crown continuously tolerates the cavalier attitude of the Thieves. The answer is that as well as being a den of thievery, the Collective represents a kind of university establishment for people bright enough to learn, but too poor to afford a higher station. There are regular classes operated by the oldest Collective members, who bear the title ‘Grey’. The Greys teach thievery techniques, but also teach literacy, numeracy, manners, cooking and a host of other subjects. As a result, the children and young people who emerge from the sewers (what the thieves colourfully refer to as ‘The Runs’) tend to be well-educated and polite, even as they remove your purse.


The head of the Thieves’ Collective is a mysterious personage by the name of The Gaffer. He reveals himself infrequently, and reports have cited him as appearing variously as an elderly bald gentleman, a middle-aged man with dark hair and a grand moustache, and a young man of about twenty, completely hairless even to his eyebrows. Either the post is constantly being filled, most likely due to ‘dead men’s boots’, or the identity of the leader is kept intentionally vague.


What is true is that whenever something of note happens in the city, and, indeed, the country, the Thieves’ Collective knows about it. They have agents at almost every level and do not hesitate to use them for any purpose. Although they have never been known to take on assassination contracts for money, as previously mentioned they are not above performing killings in the name of clearing their own reputation.