Thieves' Den
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Rarely does a thieves’ guild advertise its presence. Rather, the thieves work secretly in the shadows and use legitimate businesses as fronts to hide their nefarious doings.
The Thieves’ Den
The Ostler’s Rest: This small tavern caters to innkeepers and their staff who want a quiet drink somewhere they will not be recognised. The thieves here are attentive and are always listening for news of wealthy guests and other opportunities in the local inns and taverns.
The Adventurer’s Backpack: This general store caters—unsurprisingly—to adventurers. The staff here are friendly and open. All are thieves, however, and happy to prey on adventurers laden with booty and gold.
Four Rings: This moneychanger uses weighted weights and is also a pawnbroker. The place is solidly built and has a well-protected subterranean vault.
The Retreat: This private club caters to the wealthy and the well-connected. This is fertile hunting ground for the thieves; however, no thievery or nefarious doings can be conducted on-site. The Retreat is open all day and offers several private chambers for its members’ use.
Major Features
The den has a deep cellar with secret passages linking it to several nearby buildings. The thieves use these passages to come and go without being seen.
Cunning traps wait to kill or incapacitate intruders beyond the public areas of the thieves’ den.
The thieves’ den is seemingly of stout construction with thick stone walls. However, most are hollow and contain narrow secret passages accessing spy holes and the like. Watchers lurk within during business hours.
A secret door at the rear of the property gives out into a dark and shadowy alley. The beggars lurking therein are all thieves—and heavily armed.
Minor Features
The den has stout shutters and an iron-bound hardwood door—breaking in without magic is difficult.
The thieves’ den is well-run and makes a tidy profit from its legal business.
Three deep and dank oubliettes allow the thieves to hold prisoners, kidnapping victims and so on.
When it rains heavily, and the wind is from the west, the den’s roof leaks badly. Wooden scaffolding covers the den’s western wall.
What’s Going On?
A wagon is being loaded—the business is about to make a sizeable delivery to a customer. The delivery could include contraband or could be entirely legitimate.
A perceptive observer notices that at least one person is always lounging by an upstairs window. This sentry appears to be dozing—and sometimes is—but is normally awake and alert.
Several thieves have just entered the building and are waiting for legitimate customers to leave. A perceptive character notices the individuals seem to be loitering.
Several figures lounge across the street from the den enjoying a jack of wine. They appear to be beggars or street-folk but are actually guards watching the place.
Other Folk
Morild Ovlag (female dwarf) visits the den on legitimate business; however, she is perceptive and has noticed something “off” about the place. She gives the characters a hard stare but discounts them as complicit in whatever is going on. Morild is not an idiot, but her interest has not gone unnoticed. The next day, the characters hear she was the victim of a fatal mugging.
Auni Joutsimies (old female human) totters past the thieves’ den, oblivious to the hungry gaze of two toughs lounging by the front door. After a few moments, they set off after her; any perceptive character can tell they mean the old woman harm.
Urpu Lempo (middle-aged male human) works in the legitimate business serving as a front for the thieves. He is terrified at the characters’ appearance—he thinks they are going to attack the place, and he fears for his life. He panics—and flees as soon as they arrive. This “might” raise the characters’ suspicions.
Jamir Deephurrow (male halfling) curiously browses the business, and several things have fallen into his pouch. Unfortunately, he is not particularly subtle, and the staff have spotted what he is up to. When he leaves, several workers—brandishing cudgels—confront him. Jamir is a non-guild thief and, thus, must be taught a lesson. He is dragged around the back for a good beating unless the characters intervene.
Credit
This is a short extract from system-neutral extract from Urban Locale #24: Thieves’ Den by Robert Manson.
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