Karthwasten Quests: Thieves Guild (Sky_qRe_KwTG01-06) [Texafornian]
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2016 9:30 pm
Here's my attempt at a complete Karthwasten Thieves Guild, incorporating my ideas and ones posted in the earlier threads. I think six quests is as ambitious as we can get for a major settlement's faction questline, and that with the Karthwasten Thieves Guild, it makes sense to limit the action to the city itself. I would recommend saving the Elven Locks quest for Markarth's guild. Feel free to voice any suggestions for improvement or alterations. As always, I don't want to sound like I''m monopolizing NPC and quest planning.
Next up, I hope to convert my ideas for the Fighters Guild into a post. Expect something around four quests, since the Guild of Fighters isn't as big in Karthwasten as the Thieves Guild.
Background
Where there are merchants and markets, there are always thieves, and it should come as no surprise that the city of Karthwasten has attracted a host of pickpockets, drug-pushers, smugglers, and thugs. And yet, all is not going well for the local Thieves Guild. The guards have forced them into hiding for aiding the Redguard rebels of the Sogat Dur-Gada, and before the group can go back to expanding underground networks across The Reach, it must first survive in the kingdom’s largest city. But the allure of plump merchant purses is too much for any thief to resist, and for a guild of thieves in a time of political turmoil, its business as usual.
Little secret: "The guards have tried for years to stamp out the Thieves Guild in Karthwasten. They’ve forced them into hiding for aiding the Sogat Dur-Gada."
Major Characters
Boss Kanah – Female Redguard Rogue — Ambitious and cautious rolled into one, Boss Kanah is the boss of Karthwasten’s Thieves Guild, the largest branch of the organization in The Reach. Quick wits helped her survive being orphaned in the War of Bend’r-Mahk, and pragmatic opportunism allowed her to thrive as a criminal. She saw a chance to profit by smuggling supplies for the Sogat Dur-Gada, but is willing to play both sides of The Reach’s conflict if the terms are favorable.
J’Diir – Male Khajiit Agent — A wry drug dealer and front man for the Thieves Guild, J’Diir sees himself as just another merchant working Karthwasten’s markets. As the city’s most visible criminal, he spends his days lying low in seedy drinking dens like the Dancing Saber.
Lorvacah– Female Breton (Reachmen) Publican — As the publican of The Droopy Mane, Lorvacah acts as a non-thieving member of the guild who acts as an intermediary between the guild’s actual boss and footpads like you, the player. Her tavern in Karthwasten’s poorest area also acts as a temporary safe house when there isn’t enough time to reach the underground hideout. You’ll need to prove yourself trustworthy to Lorvacah before taking jobs from Boss Kanah.
Hadnar White-Wind – Male Nord guard — Hadnar is Karthwasten’s strict guard captain and has no patience for the Thieves Guild’s mischief. Still, he’s more concerned with rooting out the Sogat Dur-Gada and might be willing to cut a deal with the guild for the right information.
Rakan — Male Redguard Nightblade — Local ringleader of the Sogat Dur-Gada in Karthwasten. For years, he’s been plotting in the shadows, trying to build the foundations for an uprising in the city. The Thieves Guild cooperates with his plans under mutually agreeable terms, but only because he hasn’t involved them in anything too risky yet.
Joining the Guild
Finding the Thieves Guild isn’t as easy in Karthwasten as it might be in other settlements. Generic dialogue hints that the Dancing Saber is the best place to socialize with the city’s seedier element. Visiting the tavern, you will meet J’Diir. Looking you over, the cat will have different words of advice, depending on whether or not you are already a member of the Skyrim Thieves Guild:
J’Diir: “Lorvacah at the Droopy Mare may know more. That is all J’Dirr will say.”
J’Diir: “You are a member of the guild, yes? Lorvacah at the Droopy Mare will have work for you, %PCRank. That is what J’Diir thinks.”
Lorvacah: You ask about the guild? I know nothing of it… unless. Did the sugar lips of J’Diir send you here? Ah, I see. You must truly want to join the guild then. I am right, yes?
Quests
Quest One — A Dancing Distraction
Lorvacah is interested in recruiting you, but in the current environment of distrust, you must perform a simple job before being welcomed in. Thankfully, she has the perfect target in mind. When staking out the Ruby Drake Inn, a footpad noticed a fancy ring on a Colovian merchant, Caponicus Valian. Lorvacah, of course, wants you to steal the ring, and if you can’t manage it on your own, she will suggest asking the Redguard dancer Inah for help.
You can either pickpocket Caponicus directly while he’s relaxing in the Ruby Drake’s lounge (it will be challenging with the two other NPCs in the room), or pay Inah to slip the ring off the Imperial’s finger using her feminine wiles. In exchange, Inah will ask you to break into the snooty bookseller Aladoer’s room. She’s angry at him for insulting her and wants you to snatch one of his precious books. No matter how you obtain the ring, Lorvacah will be happy and ready to entrust you with a more important task.
Caponicus Valian: “Uh, pardon me, but have you seen my ring? I must’ve left it around here somewhere…”
Quest Two — Doing a Cat’s Job
J’Diir, the guild’s chief drug dealer, is being watched by the guards and can’t risk getting caught with his merchandise. Lorvacah will send you to help the cat deliver Moon Sugar to his usual customers and collect payments. At higher dispositions, you can ask for more gold and keep whatever extra profit you happen to make. J’Diir’s clients are:
Geod Entoriane – Male Breton Knight — a degenerate knight and steward of Karthwasten’s unruly Fighters Guild.
Ties-The-Bark – Male Argonian Rogue — Prince Alrod’s boastful drinking companion.
Driziiri – Female Khajiit Assassin — secret Dark Brotherhood assassin.
Geod Entoriane: “What’s that? Moon sugar? My good sir, I’ll have you know I am a knight and gentleman. I have nothing to do with that sort of… oh, I see. J’Diir sent you. Well, it’s about time. My stash has been running low. So hand over the good stuff already.
[ask for 75 gold]
[ask for 100 gold]
Quest Three — Bumbling Competition
Two thieves in Karthwasten, a Reachmen pickpocket in the Poor Quarter and a Bosmer robber who lives in a house along Merchant Row, are refusing to join the guild, and their amateur bungling of day-to-day purse lifting is drawing undue attention to the Karthwasten Thieves' Guild. They're pretty bad, but good enough to escape the authorities, which means there are too many guards around the marketplace now for the guild’s liking.
Lorvacah informs you that the guild’s boss, Boss Kanah, has little interest in recruiting these petty purse-lifters, and wants them chased out of town or thrown in jail, taking pressure away from the Guild of Thieves. You could even kill them, but that is the worst ending to the quest. At a high disposition and overall level (a higher level means the player is more intimidating), the player can simply intimidate the pickpockets into giving up their thieving ways.
At a lower disposition, the player can convince them to join the guild, promising special perks and providing them with a “gift” to honor their membership. You’ll ask if there’s anything they want you to steal, and when you provide the stolen goods, you’ll actually be planting them on the thieves to get them in trouble with the law. The player can then tip off guard captain Hadnar White-Wind to make an arrest.
EDIT (12/8/2016) - Slim this down a little to feature just Corelyn, a Bosmer burglar. She'll want the player to steal something from one of the rich manors. Once you turn it over, you can tip off the guards and turn her in.
Quest Four — Dilemma for Disarray
Lorvacah finally trusts you enough to send you to the guild’s hideout, deep in Karthwasten’s underground tunnels. There, Boss Kanah is waiting with an important job.
Redguard agents have learned of an old map the guards have found of Karthwasten’s underground. The last thing the Sogat Dur-Gada and the Theives Guild needs is groups of guards patrolling the tunnels, and Boss Kanah wants you to steal the map before they figure out what it is how to read it properly. The map is located in the upper parts of the barrack’s interior.
Quest Five — Looting the Lost Heirloom
After your success on the previous mission, Boss Kanah is ready to trust you with a lucrative job. A client in Hammerfell has contacted the guild (through the Sogat Dur-Gada’s information network) about retrieving a heirloom left behind when his family fled Karthwasten before it fell to the conquering Nords and went into exile. Turns out it was left in a manor now occupied by the Boar Snout Clan, a brotherhood of rowdy Nords and Orcs.
A guild lookout has spied on the manor for some time and believes it shouldn’t be too difficult to break in while the clan is busy feasting in the main hall. After all, the Boar Snout Clan is known for welcoming strangers as long as they know how to have a good time. With this Intel in mind, Boss Kanah will recommend taking a jug of Ungorth, to help the player blend in with the other merrymakers.
The job is a simple "pick the lock, find the item, escape unnoticed" kinda gig. Searching the manor, the player will find the heirloom hidden away in a neglected wing of the manor. At any time searching the nearby rooms, the player might run into a clan member, who will force-greet them and ask what they are up to. The player can either, with the right level of speachcraft, fool the Orc by offering him booze, or fight him if that doesn’t work.
Return the heirloom to Boss Kanah to cash in your reward of 100 drakes and an enchanted Ring of Lucky Leaps (minor cast on use jump and fortify luck enchantments) If the player kills (or runs away) from the raucous clan member, the reward will be only 50 drakes and no ring. More guards will also be posted to the Manor District following the break-in.
Quest Six — Playing All Sides
Finally Boss Kanah has enough confidence to trust you with a vital task. More and more, the Karthwasten Thieves Guild is coming under pressure from the city guard for supporting the Sogat Dur-Gada. Siding with them in the past seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it might be more trouble than it’s worth. Boss Kanah is no idealist. She’ll do whatever it takes to benefit the guild, and if that means cutting a deal with Hadnar White-Wind, then so be it.
Boss Kanah will send you to the Sogat Dur-Gada hideout, supposedly to deliver the map stolen in an earlier quest. Along with taking the document to the group’s local ringleader, Rakan, Boss Kanah also wants you to snoop around and uncover any intelligence they might be able to use to bargain with the city guard. Other members of the guild have already identified possible locations to find these items, which include:
— A letter of correspondence between the Sogat Dur-Gada and an unidentified spy in the Red Palace close to Prince Alrod.
— A list of assassinations targets Rakan is planning.
The player’s reward will depend on whether they bring back only one document, or both of them. The challenge will be stealing the items with anyone noticing. If they do, the player can still complete the quest, but the trust between the Thieves Guild and the Sogat Dur-Gada will be broken and Boss Kanah will be furious.
Next up, I hope to convert my ideas for the Fighters Guild into a post. Expect something around four quests, since the Guild of Fighters isn't as big in Karthwasten as the Thieves Guild.
Background
Where there are merchants and markets, there are always thieves, and it should come as no surprise that the city of Karthwasten has attracted a host of pickpockets, drug-pushers, smugglers, and thugs. And yet, all is not going well for the local Thieves Guild. The guards have forced them into hiding for aiding the Redguard rebels of the Sogat Dur-Gada, and before the group can go back to expanding underground networks across The Reach, it must first survive in the kingdom’s largest city. But the allure of plump merchant purses is too much for any thief to resist, and for a guild of thieves in a time of political turmoil, its business as usual.
Little secret: "The guards have tried for years to stamp out the Thieves Guild in Karthwasten. They’ve forced them into hiding for aiding the Sogat Dur-Gada."
Major Characters
Boss Kanah – Female Redguard Rogue — Ambitious and cautious rolled into one, Boss Kanah is the boss of Karthwasten’s Thieves Guild, the largest branch of the organization in The Reach. Quick wits helped her survive being orphaned in the War of Bend’r-Mahk, and pragmatic opportunism allowed her to thrive as a criminal. She saw a chance to profit by smuggling supplies for the Sogat Dur-Gada, but is willing to play both sides of The Reach’s conflict if the terms are favorable.
J’Diir – Male Khajiit Agent — A wry drug dealer and front man for the Thieves Guild, J’Diir sees himself as just another merchant working Karthwasten’s markets. As the city’s most visible criminal, he spends his days lying low in seedy drinking dens like the Dancing Saber.
Lorvacah– Female Breton (Reachmen) Publican — As the publican of The Droopy Mane, Lorvacah acts as a non-thieving member of the guild who acts as an intermediary between the guild’s actual boss and footpads like you, the player. Her tavern in Karthwasten’s poorest area also acts as a temporary safe house when there isn’t enough time to reach the underground hideout. You’ll need to prove yourself trustworthy to Lorvacah before taking jobs from Boss Kanah.
Hadnar White-Wind – Male Nord guard — Hadnar is Karthwasten’s strict guard captain and has no patience for the Thieves Guild’s mischief. Still, he’s more concerned with rooting out the Sogat Dur-Gada and might be willing to cut a deal with the guild for the right information.
Rakan — Male Redguard Nightblade — Local ringleader of the Sogat Dur-Gada in Karthwasten. For years, he’s been plotting in the shadows, trying to build the foundations for an uprising in the city. The Thieves Guild cooperates with his plans under mutually agreeable terms, but only because he hasn’t involved them in anything too risky yet.
Joining the Guild
Finding the Thieves Guild isn’t as easy in Karthwasten as it might be in other settlements. Generic dialogue hints that the Dancing Saber is the best place to socialize with the city’s seedier element. Visiting the tavern, you will meet J’Diir. Looking you over, the cat will have different words of advice, depending on whether or not you are already a member of the Skyrim Thieves Guild:
J’Diir: “Lorvacah at the Droopy Mare may know more. That is all J’Dirr will say.”
J’Diir: “You are a member of the guild, yes? Lorvacah at the Droopy Mare will have work for you, %PCRank. That is what J’Diir thinks.”
Lorvacah: You ask about the guild? I know nothing of it… unless. Did the sugar lips of J’Diir send you here? Ah, I see. You must truly want to join the guild then. I am right, yes?
Quests
Quest One — A Dancing Distraction
Lorvacah is interested in recruiting you, but in the current environment of distrust, you must perform a simple job before being welcomed in. Thankfully, she has the perfect target in mind. When staking out the Ruby Drake Inn, a footpad noticed a fancy ring on a Colovian merchant, Caponicus Valian. Lorvacah, of course, wants you to steal the ring, and if you can’t manage it on your own, she will suggest asking the Redguard dancer Inah for help.
You can either pickpocket Caponicus directly while he’s relaxing in the Ruby Drake’s lounge (it will be challenging with the two other NPCs in the room), or pay Inah to slip the ring off the Imperial’s finger using her feminine wiles. In exchange, Inah will ask you to break into the snooty bookseller Aladoer’s room. She’s angry at him for insulting her and wants you to snatch one of his precious books. No matter how you obtain the ring, Lorvacah will be happy and ready to entrust you with a more important task.
Caponicus Valian: “Uh, pardon me, but have you seen my ring? I must’ve left it around here somewhere…”
Quest Two — Doing a Cat’s Job
J’Diir, the guild’s chief drug dealer, is being watched by the guards and can’t risk getting caught with his merchandise. Lorvacah will send you to help the cat deliver Moon Sugar to his usual customers and collect payments. At higher dispositions, you can ask for more gold and keep whatever extra profit you happen to make. J’Diir’s clients are:
Geod Entoriane – Male Breton Knight — a degenerate knight and steward of Karthwasten’s unruly Fighters Guild.
Ties-The-Bark – Male Argonian Rogue — Prince Alrod’s boastful drinking companion.
Driziiri – Female Khajiit Assassin — secret Dark Brotherhood assassin.
Geod Entoriane: “What’s that? Moon sugar? My good sir, I’ll have you know I am a knight and gentleman. I have nothing to do with that sort of… oh, I see. J’Diir sent you. Well, it’s about time. My stash has been running low. So hand over the good stuff already.
[ask for 75 gold]
[ask for 100 gold]
Quest Three — Bumbling Competition
Two thieves in Karthwasten, a Reachmen pickpocket in the Poor Quarter and a Bosmer robber who lives in a house along Merchant Row, are refusing to join the guild, and their amateur bungling of day-to-day purse lifting is drawing undue attention to the Karthwasten Thieves' Guild. They're pretty bad, but good enough to escape the authorities, which means there are too many guards around the marketplace now for the guild’s liking.
Lorvacah informs you that the guild’s boss, Boss Kanah, has little interest in recruiting these petty purse-lifters, and wants them chased out of town or thrown in jail, taking pressure away from the Guild of Thieves. You could even kill them, but that is the worst ending to the quest. At a high disposition and overall level (a higher level means the player is more intimidating), the player can simply intimidate the pickpockets into giving up their thieving ways.
At a lower disposition, the player can convince them to join the guild, promising special perks and providing them with a “gift” to honor their membership. You’ll ask if there’s anything they want you to steal, and when you provide the stolen goods, you’ll actually be planting them on the thieves to get them in trouble with the law. The player can then tip off guard captain Hadnar White-Wind to make an arrest.
EDIT (12/8/2016) - Slim this down a little to feature just Corelyn, a Bosmer burglar. She'll want the player to steal something from one of the rich manors. Once you turn it over, you can tip off the guards and turn her in.
Quest Four — Dilemma for Disarray
Lorvacah finally trusts you enough to send you to the guild’s hideout, deep in Karthwasten’s underground tunnels. There, Boss Kanah is waiting with an important job.
Redguard agents have learned of an old map the guards have found of Karthwasten’s underground. The last thing the Sogat Dur-Gada and the Theives Guild needs is groups of guards patrolling the tunnels, and Boss Kanah wants you to steal the map before they figure out what it is how to read it properly. The map is located in the upper parts of the barrack’s interior.
Quest Five — Looting the Lost Heirloom
After your success on the previous mission, Boss Kanah is ready to trust you with a lucrative job. A client in Hammerfell has contacted the guild (through the Sogat Dur-Gada’s information network) about retrieving a heirloom left behind when his family fled Karthwasten before it fell to the conquering Nords and went into exile. Turns out it was left in a manor now occupied by the Boar Snout Clan, a brotherhood of rowdy Nords and Orcs.
A guild lookout has spied on the manor for some time and believes it shouldn’t be too difficult to break in while the clan is busy feasting in the main hall. After all, the Boar Snout Clan is known for welcoming strangers as long as they know how to have a good time. With this Intel in mind, Boss Kanah will recommend taking a jug of Ungorth, to help the player blend in with the other merrymakers.
The job is a simple "pick the lock, find the item, escape unnoticed" kinda gig. Searching the manor, the player will find the heirloom hidden away in a neglected wing of the manor. At any time searching the nearby rooms, the player might run into a clan member, who will force-greet them and ask what they are up to. The player can either, with the right level of speachcraft, fool the Orc by offering him booze, or fight him if that doesn’t work.
Return the heirloom to Boss Kanah to cash in your reward of 100 drakes and an enchanted Ring of Lucky Leaps (minor cast on use jump and fortify luck enchantments) If the player kills (or runs away) from the raucous clan member, the reward will be only 50 drakes and no ring. More guards will also be posted to the Manor District following the break-in.
Quest Six — Playing All Sides
Finally Boss Kanah has enough confidence to trust you with a vital task. More and more, the Karthwasten Thieves Guild is coming under pressure from the city guard for supporting the Sogat Dur-Gada. Siding with them in the past seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it might be more trouble than it’s worth. Boss Kanah is no idealist. She’ll do whatever it takes to benefit the guild, and if that means cutting a deal with Hadnar White-Wind, then so be it.
Boss Kanah will send you to the Sogat Dur-Gada hideout, supposedly to deliver the map stolen in an earlier quest. Along with taking the document to the group’s local ringleader, Rakan, Boss Kanah also wants you to snoop around and uncover any intelligence they might be able to use to bargain with the city guard. Other members of the guild have already identified possible locations to find these items, which include:
— A letter of correspondence between the Sogat Dur-Gada and an unidentified spy in the Red Palace close to Prince Alrod.
— A list of assassinations targets Rakan is planning.
The player’s reward will depend on whether they bring back only one document, or both of them. The challenge will be stealing the items with anyone noticing. If they do, the player can still complete the quest, but the trust between the Thieves Guild and the Sogat Dur-Gada will be broken and Boss Kanah will be furious.