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MalariaMoon
Learned Scribe
324 Posts |
 Posted - 01 Apr 2013 : 08:57:57
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A thieves' guild created for a 3.5 game. Someone might be able to make use of it!
The Ghostfingers Thieves’ Guild of Saerloon
The Ghostfingers are one of several thieves’ guilds competing for influence in the Sembian city of Saerloon. Not as influential (or as sinister) as either the Night Knives or the Eyeless Mask, the Ghostfingers probably rank as one of the larger of the middle ranking guilds. A growing feud with the Night Knives has forced the Ghostfingers’ leaders to flee Sembia, and thrown the rest of the group into chaos.
Important Figures: Tatharyl ‘Greyhood’ (CG half-elf male Rogue 8/Guild Thief 5) has fled Saerloon along with his friend and second Kurj of the Bitter Spells (CG hagspawn male Sorcerer 4/Cleric of Mystra 3/Mystic Theurge 2). A daring and courageous leader, but not one well endowed with wisdom or caution, Tatharyl perhaps pushed Tymora’s patience a little too far. An audacious burglary on the house of merchant lord Thoem Tyolyarr went badly wrong and Tatharyl was briefly captured by Saerloonian helms. He was quick to escape, and whilst the pursuing guards were easily bought off, Thoem was less easily dissuaded. Although the robbery had been thwarted, the merchant wished vengeance on the thief that had dared invade the sanctity of his private villa. Thoem paid a diviner handsomely for some tracing spells, then called in favours from allies within the Zhentarim and Saerloon’s own Night Knives, demanding Tatharyl boyish head on an electrum platter, but only after very specific tortures of Thoem’s own devising had been carried out. The Night Knives in particular set themselves to this task with abandon, welcoming the opportunity to destroy a rival within Saerloon’s underworld.
The result of this vendetta; well the last word on Tatharyl and Kurj was that they were seen in Shadowdale, heading west on swift horses. In the meantime, the Ghostfingers are struggling to survive under the guidance of Tatharyl’s four ‘wives’, as are playfully named the quartet of female captains that lead the four separate gangs that comprise the Ghostfingers. Of course, Greyhood’s Wives are not truly such, but so named to reflect his trust in them and their loyalty to him. This loyalty remains strong despite Tatharyl’s abandonment.
Greyhood’s Wives are:
• Cereliel Tremalin (N human female Rogue 4)
• Narinta Taelmark (NG human female Rogue 3)
• Lissen Lightwine (CG halfling female Rogue 3)
• Sylveenar Martyln (N human female Rogue 2)
Leadership: Greyhood’s command of the Ghostfingers was loose, based on his charisma and his eye for people who shared his contempt of authority and wealth wedded with daring and an underlying sense of good will. With no more than forty men and women in the whole guild, it was small enough to flourish based on no more than Tatharyl’s quick wits and enterprise. Decisions were led by Tatharyl, but a populist philosophy existed within the Ghostfingers that allowed any member, no matter how lowly, to voice an opinion, suggest a mark, or make an argument against the decision of his or her captain (or even Tatharyl himself).
Following Tatharyl’s flight, this convention has begun to disintegrate. Although the Ghostfingers continue to operate with impunity, they are increasingly targeted by thieves of the Night Knives who, having failed to get their hands on the leader, must content themselves with hunting down his followers. This persecution is threatening to tear the remaining Ghostfingers apart as the Wives disagree and increasingly go their own way on major decisions. Cereliel has demonstrated an unforeseen ruthlessness, having murdered one of her gang suspected of courting a Zhentarim informer. Meanwhile, Sylveenar’s position looks increasingly precarious as her gang lose faith in her and begin to look to her former lover Derlian Brownasp (NG human male Rogue 3) for their orders.
Operations: The Ghostfingers have operated for six years in Saerloon, ever since Tatharyl started the guild by taking his four ‘wives’ under his wing. Whilst the half-elf himself has always focused upon high-profile, high-risk targets, his guild is altogether more modest in its operations. Most of their income stems from street pickpocketing and the occasional snatch from a passing wagon. A favoured tactic is to forge invitations to the exclusive banquets of leading merchant families in the city and steal whatever they can whilst disguised as lords and ladies. Violence has never been a method that the Ghostfingers employ, and they prefer their crimes to go altogether unnoticed until they’ve made a safe getaway.
As a strict rule, they only target the richest merchants in Saerloon (‘those who can handle the loss’, as they put it), and even then try to steal only coin, gems and trade goods. On a couple of occasions they’ve been known to anonymously return valuables on discovering they had some sentimental value). They also thieve from those they know to be cruel or wicked, a practice that has brought them an increasingly long list of enemies. In recent years, some Ghostfingers have begun to mimic Tatharyl's more ambitious escapades, a habit that has only worsened the enmity of rival thieves’ guilds within Saerloon, as well as other dangerous organisations such as the Zhentarim and the Cult of the Dragon.
Although the Ghostfingers don’t consistently ‘rob from the rich to give to the poor’, they are well thought of amongst the lower class citizens of Saerloon, and there are probably more than three dozen families in the city that’ll happily make their home a temporary safehouse for a Ghostfinger if needs must.
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vorpalanvil
Seeker
USA
90 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2013 : 07:44:38
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| Sounds solid. What era or time frame do you have this set in? |
"I'm a busy man! I got places to go, monsters to kill!" attributed to 1st level bard |
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Arivia
Great Reader
Canada
2965 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2013 : 19:12:56
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| I actually really like this writeup. One thing I would suggest is that one of the 3.5 web enhancements - PGtF's, maybe? - turned Dweomerkeeper into a dual-progression class for Mystrans; you might want to use that instead of mystic theurge. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11859 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2013 : 20:07:08
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| interesting storyline, but why would the remaining lower echelon remain loyal to a guild whose two most prominent leaders that would protect them from other guilds just fled? Why would the lower level rogues not jump ship per se and move to join the Night Knives or the Eyeless Mask (which I'm not familiar with the modus operandi of these other two guilds, so there may be a reason... like maybe the Night Knives are exclusively assassins and don't want to associate themselves with simple pickpockets)? |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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MalariaMoon
Learned Scribe
324 Posts |
Posted - 11 Apr 2013 : 09:39:42
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Pleased people like it. The guild was created simply because we had a rogue in a high level campaign that has yet to really get going who was a Guild Thief with the Leadership feat. We wanted to him to have a thieves' guild, but didn't want said thieves guild to be overly influential in the campaign, hence his abandonment. Time periodwise, we probably looking at early 1370s, although with Sembia being lightly touched development wise there's probably a lot of leeway.
Sleyvas raises a good point. This write-up portrays the guild not long after their abandonment. As time passes, in all likelihood some members would start to switch sides. However most of the Ghostfingers are good-aligned scoundrels, so few would consider a career with the more villainous Night Knives or the Eyeless Mask. Some might join smaller thieving bands, or start their own groups, others might flee the city, some might attempt to retire back into a honest profession. Unless strong leadership returns to the Guild before too long, the Ghostfingers will likely disintegrate. |
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The Ghostfingers Thieves Guild of Saerloon
