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Just like the city and its inhabitants, the criminal underworld of Melza is vast, varied and multi-layered. Even as thieves, we are not a wholly united lot. Far from it. Though we pride ourselves in being more than the petty criminals and mobsters who often threaten us, we are not above mutual competition within our own ranks, whether it be between freelancers, fellowships or whole guilds. “What's our turf is our turf. Unless an acceptable deal is made, we guard our own turf and our own activities from others.”, goes the old maxim. We stick to it. But we're a mostly welcoming bunch to people of all shapes and sizes, species and sexes. If there's one thing that will get you far in the thieving world, it's professionalism, politeness, diplomacy and honesty. Don't disregard these things and you might get along well with thieves you are unfamiliar with (including members of the competition).

Work in progress.

This list concentrates on established thief guilds, or on long-existing fellowships of freelancers that have not adopted guild status within the thieving underworld.

Nicknamed “The Ditchers”, this guild is not particularly old itself (just some 40-45 odd years), but resides on the eponymous street. They are a moderately successful outfit and control some turfs and front businesses of their own, but they aren't exactly the biggest thieves' guild in Melza.

Temav Arpols

Species: Midfolk
Sex: Male
Job: Current leader of the “Ditchers”.
Specialisations: Guild Boss
Birthplace/Homeland: The City
Biography: Temav has been the head of the guild for well over a decade. Previously, he served as the Front Manager and later Aide to the old patriarch of the “Ditchers”. After the man's rather sudden death, the then members of the guild decided to elect a new boss. Temav received the largest number of votes. At first, he was very vocal about refusing this position, and giving it to someone else, but after his fellow thieves convinced him, he begrudgingly took over the reins. Though insisting in the first few years that he's not particularly happy about this arrangement, he's eased in to the mundane governance of the “Ditchers” and doesn't seem that interested in quitting anymore.

Rhíko Zarzara

Species: Stoatfolk
Sex: Female
Job: Rhíko is Temav's right-hand woman, an Aide, and she also works as a melee teacher.
Specialisations: Aide, Shadowblade, Melee Teacher
Birthplace/Homeland:
Biography:

Lonaj Pertenet

Species: Bigfolk
Sex: Male
Job: Lonaj is the dependable scribe, archivist and occassional errand master of the “Ditchers”.
Specialisations: Scribe, Pencil-pusher, Dogsbody
Birthplace/Homeland: Árast Atrav, Melza
Biography: A sour and usually taciturn man, few question Lonaj's long-standing loyalty to his home guild, despite his cold and detached demanour towards most of its members, even the boss. Greying and with sharp facial features, he's known to pay regular visits to his hometown in the nearby mountains, not far from Melza. Some of his co-workers like to joke behind his back that the frequency of his visits is motivated by a girlfriend he has over there.

Geleska Čelerna

Species: Hedgefolk
Sex: Female
Job: Geleska is the of counsellor, recruiter and pawnbroker of the Old Ditch Street thieves' guild.
Specialisations: Counsellor, Recruiter, Pawnbroker
Birthplace/Homeland: The Hetmanate
Biography: Matter-of-factly in work matters, but with a wry sense of humour and a cordial approach to others, Geleska's been overseeing the recruitment of new guild members for well over fifteen years at this point. Her family were originally emigrees to Melza, but after a property dispute tore apart the family ties, she eventually found herself homeless and alone. After a period of clinging to short-term employments to earn a living, she found herself in real dire straits and nearly gave up. That was when she was given an offer to enter the shady world of Melzan thieves. Torn on this decision at first, she accepted, hoping for the best. Since joining, her hopes have been far exceeded by her achievements, as Temav, Lonaj and other veteran mebers quickly realised she's a very capable, head-strong and energetic organiser.

Some “wet ears” that have recently joined the guild and are undergoing training and trails:

Jaq Salvr (Adventurer, Gunsmith, Marksmanship Teacher)

Jasutine Aira (Charmette, Lady Thief, Marksmanship Teacher)

Murtley Frodikshin (Gadgeteer, Alchemist, Bomb-maker)

Leljani Lina-a (Clacker, Conjurer, Master of Disguise)

The self-ironic name is quite apt, though it's becoming less accurate with passing time. The “Brassers” have been around for some six to seven decades. Starting out as a below average fellowship of thieves, they rose from humble beginnings to become a medium-sized guild.

Members of the organisation nowadays mostly specialise on stealing artwork-related loot. In the guild's beginnings, it focused particularly on metallic valuables, especially ones made from precious metals and having a higher demand on certain segments of the black market. (“Brass polishing” is a euphemism, of course.) Since then, the “portfolio” has grown, and loot such as precious gemstones and sculptures, prized jewellery and paintings, or even rare books, have become a major source of income for the guild. They're rather notable for having professional in-house artwork fences and a few skillful counterfeiters of their own.

TBA.

Fellowships are somewhere between lone wolf thieves and properly organised secret guilds. They're more informal and ephemeral associations of thieves, often little more than clubs or small gangs and usually not lasting for more than a few years. Fellowships lasting decades, like some of the more successful thieves' guilds do, are a rarity.

Possibly the oldest thief fellowship still in continual existence in Melza. Though its founder has gone unrecorded, this gathering of thieves has lasted for almost a century at this point (unusualy long for a fellowship). Their name derives from the idiom “caught red-handed”, which they acknowledge with their symbol, a painted red palm.

Somewhat pretentiously named but respected fellowship, founded and headed by the renowned local thief Eraf Váma.

TBA.

There are plenty of professional freelancers in the city of Melza. You can find most of them by name, if you're lucky.

TBA.

TBA.

Setting: The City

Overviews: NPCs of The City's Criminal Underworld

Overviews: NPCs of The City's Law Enforcement and Private Security

Overviews: Civilian NPCs of The City

Overviews: NPCs of the Aporuean Continent

Thick as Thieves RP Overviews

Thick as Thieves