"Okay, okay. I once was a thief... like Renik. Not so hard to say now, is it? However, you are the first person that I've ever admitted it to. Everyone else has just known. Now how does a rogue go about becoming a lord? I'll tell you. Well, as a child I was something of a street urchin, though not quite. I had parents, but they both worked practically night and day to keep what they had, and feed their family... all that stuff. So I would just run about and do whatever. I'm sure I had chores to do and such, and I did them, but not enough to where I couldn't get into some mischief. I remember once I saw a bookstore. Much as you were, I was enchanted by the concept of writing. There were a couple of books propped open in the windows and the idea that all that scribbling meant something intrigued me to no end. So one day I picked a couple pockets and went in to buy myself one. I guess the shop owner felt sorry for me, rather than kick me out he helped me find a nice children's book. I hid it from my parents and pulled it out to study it while they were away. After I had figured out the words and learned what they meant by heart I went back to the bookstore. I explained to the shopkeeper that I didn't have any money, but that I had completely finished with that book, and it was still in good condition, that he could have it back if I might look at another. He, of course, didn't believe me. So I told him to open it up to any page and tell me which page number to recite. After a little while of this he was convinced, and amazed. So I got something of a job fetching things for him, running errands, delivering books and messages and such, and in exchange, I could borrow any book I chose. My, how I made out on that deal! After a few years time, I had gathered a wealth of information that far surpassed anything I had given him. At any rate, he started getting old and sold his business to someone else, who was far less kind to me. So I was no longer welcome there.

"Well, I started getting older, and my parents could no longer afford to take care of me, so I was then fully out on my own. I think I was in my early teens at the time. Well, I did what any resourceful, intelligent, homeless teenager would have done. I stole. Eventually I learned that people didn't carry most of their wealth on them, so I began getting into thievery, burglary. I also started keeping my ears to the streets and the taverns. Some family would talk about taking a trip next week... and I'd follow them back to see the house that would be all but vacant shortly. Things like that. Well, the streets were obviously listening to me as well, and I eventually started to get hired for jobs... and that's where the real fun began. Even as I started doing that, with what I would find, although quite a bit of money from time to time, I knew there was still more, somewhere. I wasn't in thievery for the thrill of the hunt, as many thieves were and still are. In fact, I couldn't retire soon enough. I just wanted to be able to provide for myself without having to sweat all night in some fool's mansion sneaking past guards so that I could keep a roof over my head. It was out of sheer necessity.

"So then came the next step. I decided to steal my way out of thievery. Basically I kept most of what I made on my jobs and stashed it away. A lot of thieves like to think that they are frugal. I went above and beyond frugal! Eventually I made enough money to where I could buy a business, or a part of one, whatever. I just wanted out. I had made some very close associations with the gypsies. Basically, my only friends who were in my line of work were gypsies. So with what they knew about outer regions, I went into the import business. Basically, I stocked exotic items, and sought places that had anything we needed, or needed anything that we had. There's where the money was! Sure, there were other people who were doing that, but between the streets telling me what my competitors were getting into, and the detailed information that the gypsies would provide, I out sold them all combined.

"As far as the lordship, that was something of a combined purchase and a gift. See, I was a large supplier of goods to the City after the destruction that the Trickster waged. I profited heavily from that son of a bitch. That and the development of part of the walled off section into the ghetto. So due to my assistance in that, the Baron asked that I be provided with land and lordship. So the estate was given, I had to do the rest… renovate, populate, employ, all that.

"Now all this is rather straightforward and all, but it's after this damn lordship that things start getting tricky. First of all, most of my money was made on temporary need. I cannot emphasize that enough. So sure, I had raised myself up to the level of a lord… temporarily. No one realized that at the time. I sure as hell should have. Well, since I'm not such a cold hearted bastard as to milk my peasants dry, I had to find additional ways of supplying money. I had always had strong connections to the underground. So I started getting into espionage and buying businesses. I own quite a few shops in this City. Including that tavern that Renik got caught near. That's what he was doing there, visiting my other contacts. What the Hammers were doing there, I have no idea. I don't want to know."

"You wouldn't happen to do some smuggling in there now would you?"

"Well, some, of course. Why do you ask?"

"So, essentially you're a crime boss."

"Well, essentially yes, you could call me that. I ask you to understand a few things before you go pinning that label on me though. First, I am a 90 pound weakling equivalent of a crime boss. There's no ruthless, greedy predator here, just a rich man trying to stay that way using all the means he has. Second, I never liked the underground. I have been working for some time to aquire certain transactions that would get all the revenue I need to maintain my place here up and into the light of day. Obviously, though, such things are lucrative, and I have competition for them. All of my activity as of late has centered around getting the money and information I need to become exactly what I appear to be; a respectable lord and a successful businessman."

I didn't care for this when I first heard it. I had the feeling that he was trying to fool himself, and succeeding. Why I chose to be fooled as well, I don't know. Maybe it had to be that way. At any rate, Tahnit had become my benefactor, my teacher, my master. As flawed as his plans might have been, at the time I would have done anything he told me because I didn't even know how to disobey him.

"So, that's my life story in a very small nutshell. Now you know the truth. But what will become of you... there's a good question." he said, and then got up to pace the room. He went over to his teapot and poured himself a cup. He then started to sip at it as he resumed his pacing. "I remember quite well what you told me a few nights ago. If I dare say it, it seems that you are very talented for... the kind of work that I need done. Thyle, the one who almost got caught and has since retired, and Renik were the only thieves in The City itself that knew of me completely. Well, there are others, Garrett for instance, and some fences.."

"Garrett?"

"I trust you've heard of him."

"The name sounds familiar, but I don't know anything about him."

"Well! That's a story that needs telling, but not now. At any rate, I'm fresh out of thieves that I can actually hire and trust. It appears that a nice party here will satisfy the nobility for a while, so that will give me time to start your training. Assuming of course, that you wish to be trained."

"What happens if I say no?" I said as I sipped at my tea.

"Well, I send you back to your books. But without information, intelligence, and the unfortunately still required underground work, I have no idea how long I will be able to continue providing you with that library. At best, we may have to tighten our belts for a while but we'll pull through. At worst, you'll be back out on your own. I don't think you're family will be able to take care of you, especially with your father as unemployed as you. So chances are you will wind up on the streets with a lot of knowledge, a lot of morals, and an unfortunate talent for thievery."

"So how much choice do I actually have?"

"Oh, you have all the choice in the world! I'm trying to keep your options open, but I need you! If I had the slightest bit more need, or less dignity, I would be on my knees begging you! It pains me to send a good boy like you off to creep in the shadows for me, but there's no one else I can trust. If you choose not to... life will certainly go on, for all of us. I ask you to remember though, that it was me who hired your father, who hired you, who caught you in the library and didn't punish you, but made it your own, allowed you to learn how to master it. You know first hand that I treat my workers and peasants many times better than anyone else in this city. Can't you see that I want to be a good man here? I'm on the verge of doing all this honestly, but I need your help."

I finished my tea and set down the cup. I then closed my eyes, leaned back in my chair, and thought about what he had just said. Ever since I set foot in his office, the anger at getting snagged into this underworld of his had returned. I think he was too preoccupied to notice that I was being rather cool with him, or else he noticed, but wanted to believe it was my illness. I don't know. Angry with him as I was, I was also still tied into his life. He had provided me with so much over the past few years that I didn't have any idea how to live outside of his world.

"When do I begin this training?"

He clapped his hands together and a smile of immense proportions came over his face. "We begin tonight if you like, if you feel up to it. Come back here after dinner and we shall begin. Thank you again, my dear Mishkal! I cannot thank you enough for everything that you have done for me! You may go now. Do as you please, but make sure to get some rest. Tonight will not be easy. Farewell for now."

I left his office, closing the door behind me. A feeling both of intense excitement and apprehension came over me. Although that fateful night had haunted my dreams and left me very ill, it was the most intense experience I had ever known. And I was good at it! I knew that, looking back on everything. The idea of lurking in the shadows, sneaking about past unaware guards... I'm not sure what weighed on my mind more, the challenge of it, or the fact that I was up to the challenge. My anger at Lord Tahnit had subsided in the face of these thoughts. Every fiber of my being was preoccupied with just how good of a thief I could become...

I thought also of Hadassah. His underground connections were tied in with the gypsies, if I worked for him as a thief, I was bound to meet her again. That was also a consideration. Perhaps that was another thing that he unwittingly planned. What made Tahnit so dangerous, is that he was impeccably cunning without knowing it. He was nowhere near the 90 pound weakling of a crime boss that he made himself out to be. He denied this aspect of himself, which made it all that much more powerful. But more of that later.

At first I went to the kitchen. I drank some more water, made myself some more tea, ate everything I could there and took a snack and a teapot back with me to the library. I then decided to see if there was anything within those walls that would tell me about this thief Garrett...