House of Thieves

[nubz]

The Story of Man, As it relates to the Dwarves of Zwingberg.

The world of men, so desperately dependant on its trade with the kingdom of dwarves, suffered from its suffering. Over the course of the last three Kings, many generations of men had come and gone. And, as was their way, they found business elsewhere. The Bay quickly became a central nexus for all sorts of commerce on the western seas, from the exotic furs of the enormous beasts in the northlands, to the tropical fruits of the lands lying in the southern seas, to the deadly inhabitants of the great desert. As the generations passed, so did their morals. Now, we have entered into a time where corruption is overwhelming.

It started out naturally enough. Now, this is where I need to fill in a little background story. You know the guy i was talking about earlier, Chance? The Exile of Celeste? Anyways, he was the head of one of the five Thieves guilds. Oh, i haven't told you about the thieves guilds? I better do that first.

There were five of them, each ruled by a cruel hearted villain. Which is the worst is debatable, but I'll let you decide once you've gotten all the facts. First to start is the first you can't ignore. The Blackjacks. Now, these guys are nothing but thugs. Similar to highway robbers, but they do it openly. Made a name for themselves as 'independent security'. Started out just like that, they were the big guys hired to escort the important people where they needed to go, kept doors closed that weren't meant to be opened. Heck, they shut a few mouths and turned a few eyes too, if they felt the need. Anyways, they went past being bandits and started into a protection racket. People would pay them big bucks NOT to get hurt, and for fights to not break out in their taverns, that sort of thing. After a while, they got enough of a name as being 'security' that even the town guards can't do anything about it. Or don't dare, whichever works. So, everyone recognizes the uniform black jackets, and trademark 'beatin sticks' (exotic weapon, deals 1d6+str physical damage, plus 1d6+dex subdual damage per hit, crit applies). For the record, the jackets look like suit jackets, but are made of the same fabric as sailors use for pretty much everything, from clothes to bedsheets to sails. those of you that know your history know i'm talking about jeans.

Now, the second is a simple one. Run by a beautiful woman hailed as 'The Mistress', she is in charge of the rated R material. I don't plan on pointing the game down this path anytime soon, last time there was a mistress in a role playing game i dated her for months without getting any action. Damn you, Black Society. DAMN YOU! They were the most influential of the five until prostitution became legal 100 years earlier.

The third house are known as the Sneakers, or the Shadows, or, "Hey you little bastard that's my coinpurse!" They are the ones that do the traditional sort of thievery, but are no longer the most influential, since they hoard their earnings like pack rats. Noone can guess at the treasures they conceal, and they're smart enough not to ask the wrong questions. If these walls could talk, the Sneakers are there to listen.

Number four is my favourite, I'll warn you of that right now. They are in charge of what comes in, and what goes out. Smugglers by any other name, its hard to find a merchant who doesn't owe fealty to the Traders Guild. Being the most deeply rooted House, They are the framework that keeps the emipre intact. It started with the usual black-sailed ships on moonless nights, then progressed cautiously until, one by one, their contraban was decriminalized, and suddenly they were trading by day with their illicit contacts. The whole thing snowballed one day when slavery was legalized - something brought about in the council when the jails were emptied by turning the criminals into shackled servants of the state, then the statesmen, then just men of power. And from there it got worse. How worse? thats to come.

House Five is, arguably, in control of the whole city itself. It is the house of Gambling, and their leader is Chance. Yeah, The guy i said had been a chairman of the city council since his arrival over 15 centuries prior from the immortal city of Celeste, the heavenly kingdom rumoured to be seen atop the clouds in the western sky at sunset. Anyways, i didn't tell you earlier, but he got kicked out for stealing bread for his hungry child. Twisted, i know. I had to throw that one in. Anyways, he kept his underworld ties a secret for the first millenia, with underground gambling, pit fighting, that sort of thing. Once slavery was legalized, that changed the pit fighting scene drastically, for killing the contestants was cost-efficient. But things didn't get really bad until Chance convinced enough people to pass the law legalizing gambling. So, he opened his own Casino (funded by centuries of running his illegal ones). This freed up a whole world of possibilities, once the Blackjacks had a legitimate day-job, and the underground locales could be freed up for the really bad stuff.

Which brings us to the present. The Casino's Wheel of Chance (must resist urge to say Fortune) is now the center of the city, and has been since it was built just over two years ago. And that makes Chance front runner for the Richest Man Alive.