Skyrim: Band of Thieves

With the treasure of Dustman's Cairn claimed, as that was what Farkas called the barrow when the group exited it, Capper and the others returned to Whiterun without wasting time, which was easy to do since there weren't any hazards on the road for them to worry about. Upon returning to the city Capper and Tri Ki remained outside the area that Jorrvaskr was in, allowing Azure and Tuk Ur to head in and get their congratulations for completing their trial, since it looked like Vilkas, the older brother he had been told about, had been waiting outside the mead hall. While their companions were likely being elevated to a new rank in the Companions, however, Capper tracked down the rest of the group, finding that La'nari, Rarity, Mah Oh, and Midnight were exiting the tavern, having food to share and information to tell him about. There wasn't much going on in terms of rumors, save for a boy in Windhelm trying to contact the Dark Brotherhood, there were problems with the local tree between Jorrvaskr and the Temple of Kynareth, and apparently the Jarl's children were troubled.

Capper wasn't sure any of those rumors were worth investing their time in, expect maybe the Dark Brotherhood one since tracking down the group of assassins, for that was what they were, seemed to be a worthwhile usage of their time, and with the boy being in Windhelm it would allow Capper to add another Hold to the portal area.

"So, where are we going next?" Rarity asked, because she knew that the job that Capper had been given was important, in fact she suspected that they would be returning to Solitude once they were done with Whiterun, but at the same time she knew that her friend was giving Azure and Tuk Ur a chance to prove themselves to the Companions, so they might head to a whole new area instead.

"Depends on what job the Companions give our friends." Capper replied, which was the truth, he wanted to make sure that Azure and Tuk Ur were settled into their chosen guild before focusing on Mercer's job, mostly because it made sense for him to take some time to get to Solitude, so the Guild Master wouldn't be expecting him back for some time, before noticing the pair exiting from Jorrvaskr, "That was a short ceremony."

"Well, we've officially been welcomed into the ranks of the Companions as their newest members... I guess by 'trial' Farkas meant seeing if we were worthy to join the group." Azure answered, which to Capper seemed backwards, because Kodlak, from what he learned from the Solar Guard, had been willing to accept the pair into the Companions without testing them, like he saw something in them that caused him to make such a decision, "Anyway, Skjor gave us a new job: we're supposed to head to someplace called 'Wolfskull Cave', which is somewhere in Haafingar, the region of Skyrim that Solitude is in, and find a warlock den to recover a stolen family heirloom."

"I have no idea where that is... granted I'm more familiar with the area around Riften, but I really don't know where that cave is located." La'nari commented, where she thought about the information in question for a few seconds as they departed from the city, heading towards the stable that she, Rarity, and Midnight had brought the carriage to, something that allowed them to take their usual seats before departing from Whiterun again, "Oh well, I'm sure we can ask around Solitude once we get there. Someone is bound to know where the cave is located."

Capper nodded, it stood to reason that asking someone in the city, or on the way to Solitude, was the best course of action, as a resident of the Hold had to know where the cave was located and could point them in the right direction, though he did suspect that they would have to ask someone in Solitude. Of course he had to marvel at the fact that the Companions were sending Azure on missions that happened to be in the same area that his Thieves Guild jobs were in, as it saved time and let them take out multiple birds with a single stone, even though he knew they weren't doing that intentionally. Capper was fine with this, because while he tracked down his target, and got the information he was after, his friends could track down the location of the cave and maybe clear it out while he was gone, or just leave the pair to their own job. Other than that Capper found that there wasn't much else for them to worry about, none of the others had anything else to report, but he felt that they might be able to find more rumors when they reached Solitude.

As it turned out the road was still safe, there were Imperials patrolling now that Fort Greymoor was in their possession and the bandits seemed to be in hiding for the most part, and there were no wild animals that were interested in them, meaning this time around they could simply relax. While they traveled, however, Capper notes that there is a group of black robed figures moving towards Solitude, mages no doubt based on their attire and the staffs a few carried, though when Rarity tried to speak with them the leader, an old crone, told her that they didn't want any trouble. It appeared that they thought that the group were heroes and would stop them if they were up to no good, which was kind of stupid in their eyes, though they ignored the mages as they wished, the carriage continuing down the path that was in front of them. Capper wasn't sure what the mages were up to, even though it was clear that they were rather secretive and might be planning something bad, but without evidence the group just continues on their way, knowing that they would arrive at their destination by the time night was upon them.

Sure enough night was upon them when they reached the stables outside Solitude, roughly eight at night based on what the group had learned from living with their clan, and when everyone entered the city itself they found that there were a good amount of people wandering around.

"Okay, first things first: locate a portal area." Capper remarked, though he had a good idea as to where to put it, as there was a wall behind the housing area of the city and he was sure there was an area that was hidden from everyone, meaning he should be able to do what he did in Whiterun.

As they found out there were a number of houses on one side of the city, a housing district to be exact, and while there was one house that seemed to be vacant right now Capper found an indent in one that was near it, a place that was out of sight and out of mind. With that in mind he placed the portal in that area and realized that all of the nearby barrels would be good protection against people discovering it, and once the magic had taken hold he moved between the Opulent Lands and the city, which was good in his mind since it would come in handy later. Once that was done Capper told the others that he was going to look for his contact, though when he spotted a guard walking nearby he asked about the inn, since that seemed to be the best place for them to go right now, and the man pointed them back to the main gate. Sure enough they found The Winking Skeever was right at the entrance, though Capper remained at the back of the pack as everyone else entered, as he wanted them to do their own thing without him drawing attention to what he was doing.

When he walked in Capper found that there were a fair number of patrons inside the inn, a number of different races, and there was one male argonian in fancy clothing in an area that allowed him to see everything while making sure that he was safe from thieves, which had to be his contact.

"What do we have here? Judging from the scent I'm smelling, there's a member of the Guild nearby... but that can't be right, since I cut ties with Mercer ages ago." Gulum-Ei commented, speaking as if he was a former thief and was now focused on being a law-abiding citizen, though at the same time his table had a second seat that Capper took, making it look like they were two friends catching up.

"That might be true, but I'm not here to talk about... I'm here to talk about Goldenglow Estate, Gajul-Lei." Capper replied, a fact that was followed by the argonian pausing for a moment as he realized that someone knew his identity, but he made sure to keep his voice slow so only his new friend knew what he was saying, "Tell you what, you give me the information I need to know... about the buyer that you assisted... and this will be the last time you have to worry us. I'll even track down an item for you, if that'll help you give me the information I need."

Gulum-Ei sat there for a moment before telling Capper about a case of Firebrand Wine that was in the Blue Palace, he even described the containers for him so he knew what to look for, indicating that he was willing to believe him and that he was willing to make a deal. With that information in mind Capper got up for a moment and headed back outside, where he made his way back towards the house that he set the portal outside and turned towards the structure in question, a palace that had a blue roof, which made it far too easy for him to know where to go. Interestingly enough he found that none of the guards seemed bothered by him walking towards the building, where he found that the Jarl and her court were discussing one last thing for the day, though it sounded like Elisif, since it was a female talking, was complaining about how she was being ignored by Tullius. Since everyone seemed to be distracted by what was going on right now, in fact the guards had no desire to stop him from walking inside, which he could blame on them being tired, though he was able to track down the case of wine, which had a fiery red design on the glass, an item he just picked up and walked out of the palace with.

He was amazed by how easy it was for him to get away with stealing the wine, where he quickly retraced his steps and came to a stop in The Winking Skeever, sitting at the table and placing the case on Gulum-Ei's side, who nodded and stashed it in a portion of his area, to be delivered to it's buyer later.

"Well, since you upheld your side of the bargain, so will I: I was approached by a woman who wanted me to act as a broker for something big, and she even flashed a bag full of gold in my face." Gulum-Ei stated, where Capper noticed that he quickly downed the drink that was in his hand, like he was planning on leaving once the conversation was done, almost as if the one he was talking about was nearby, and he could feel someone's eyes on them, not his companions, "The gold was for buying Goldenglow Estate, so I brought it to Aringoth and I brought the woman her copy of the deed... I didn't ask her much, since in our line of work it's best to keep our identities a secret, but I noticed that she was doing this to undermine Mercer... in fact, I'm sure she hates him."

"I see, so it's an old adversary. Good to know." Capper said, where he stood up and found that Gulum-Ei produced a pouch of soul gems, all unfilled based on what he was feeling, and realized that it was payment for acquiring the wine, though with the items in hand Capper and Tri Ki departed from the inn, making it look like they were done with the argonian.

Capper's thoughts were proven right as Gulum-Ei exited The Winking Skeever and started to make his way outside the city, where he and his kobold companion followed him from the shadows, finding that he walked down towards the stables, then down towards the docks, and then onto the docks themselves. From there he found that the argonian entered what had to be the East Empire Company's portion of the docks, the warehouse, to which Capper remained away from the area for a few seconds before he and Tri Ki approached the door the argonian had used. Sure enough the area on the other side was a large warehouse, full of goods despite Brynjolf saying that Gulum-Ei had told the Guild that the warehouse was empty, but it caused Capper to smile, just as his kobold companion did the same thing, before he called on the group of collectors from his realm. They knew what to do immediately, as soon as they knew what was in the area they had been called to, so while he and Tri Ki followed Gulum-Ei in the shadows, from afar so he didn't know that he was being followed, the collectors did what they did best, loot anything of value, stealing the various ingots, gold, and expensive items that were around the large warehouse, even unlocking and looting a few chests in the process.

The guards in this place were oblivious to what was going on right now, either because they were tired or just stupid, and Capper found that even Gulum-Ei seemed totally oblivious to the pair of thieves following after him, before he moved into a secret passage, one the guards didn't know about.

This time around it looked like the bandit passage, in fact there were a pair of bandits that Gulum-Ei walked by with a nod, meaning they were working together while robbing the East Empire Company without anyone knowing about the scheme, but instead of killing the bandits the pair continued to move through the area without drawing attention to themselves. As they did that Capper and Tri Ki made sure to loot the couple of chests that were along the path that the argonian was using, while discovering that the bandits were also stupid, drunk and enjoying their plunder, before Capper changed his mind as the rest of the kobolds joined them. With the full force among them Capper and the kobolds knocked out the bandits, as he didn't want to kill them this time around, because they were Gulum-Ei's allies in his attempts to rob the company blind, and one of the kobolds even handed over a map that looked expensive, which Capper added to his collection. Other than that it looked like there wasn't much in the bandit section, not until they reached what appeared to be the end of the line, an area that had a large campfire, which happened to be where Gulum-Ei stopped before he noticed that Capper's group emerged from the shadows.

Of course this meant the remaining bandits were knocked out, some of their gear stolen by the kobolds, before the group of collectors started to loot all of the chests that were around Gulum-Ei, while Capper approached the figure with a smile on his face, indicating that he knew the argonian's dirty secret.

"Well now, it appears that you've been caught in a compromising position." Capper remarked, which was the truth, because if the Guild realized Gulum-Ei was holding out on them, or lying to be exact, it was possible they might come to do him harm, or at least that was what Mercer might do, and since he knew this secret it meant the argonian had no choice but to give him the information he was after.

"Now now, let's not do anything rash!" Gulum-Ei replied, where the look on his face told Capper that he was worried about what might happen if the Guild knew about his little scheme, or maybe it was Mercer's doing based on the fear he was seeing right now, and it looked like he was thinking of a way to save himself, "Look, this isn't as bad as it looks... honestly, I was going to tell Mercer everything... eventually. Please, you can't tell him anything! Mercer will have me killed!"

"I know, he seems like the murderous type... that means he doesn't need to know about this." Capper stated, though as he said that Capper made no move to show the argonian his weapons, he wanted Gulum-Ei to know that he was willing to listen to what he had to say, instead of jumping to conclusions and cutting him down before he had a chance to say anything in his defense.

"I see you wish to be reasonable... I have misjudged you greatly. The name of the person you are looking for is 'Karliah'." Gulum-Ei said, where the two locked eyes for a moment as Capper raised an eyebrow, as he made no motion to indicate that the name meant anything to him, while at the same time none of the kobolds knew the name, meaning La'nari might know it if he asked her later, "Mercer never told you about her?"

"No one has said anything about a 'Karliah'. Who is she?" Capper inquired, because the argonian's comments let him know the name of the woman he had mentioned earlier, even though it meant nothing to him, mostly because it looked like the rest of the Guild had failed to tell him and Tri Ki about anyone that might be threatening their existence.

"You know, I can't say I'm surprised no one mentioned her, for she is the thief that is responsible for murdering the previous Guild Master." Gulum-Ei stated, though in the next instant he felt a chill run down his spine and realized how bad this had to seem to Capper, not to mention the little lizard creatures since they seemed annoyed as well, despite only one of them looking like a member of the Guild, "Look, I didn't even know it was her until I brought her her copy of the deed... honestly, had I known it was Karliah I wouldn't have assisted her in buying the estate, especially since I still have her copy, she never took it. I don't know where she went, all she said was 'where the end began'."

"Mercer is the only one who might know where that is... I'll have to ask him when I get back to the Guild. As for you, Gulum-Ei, you are more useful alive." Capper said, though at the same time the argonian pulled out the other deed to the estate, proof of what he was saying, which was followed by Gulum-Ei handing it over, showing Capper that his tale was the truth and that he was trusting him with this, causing him to think about things for a moment, "Shall I tell Brynjolf that you're willing to cut the Guild back in on the spoils from the warehouse?"

"Yes, please do so... you seem to be higher in rank than I assumed, or incredible skilled in my language." Gulum-Ei replied, as the more he looked at Capper the more he realized that there was something different about him, something that spoke to him on another level, like he knew far more about being a thief than the argonian knew, "Working with the Guild again will be a good thing for all of us, especially since things seem to be changing."

Capper knew what Gulum-Ei was talking about, as contacts and fences had left the Guild after their decline, due to the string of failures that stuck every thief, to the point where even the Guild Master was now failing to complete his own jobs, like the bad luck had finally caught up with him. Since he had joined the Guild, however, it was easy for people inside the Guild to see a light at the end of the tunnel, that the bad luck might be leaving them and that it's only a matter of time until the Guild was bad on whatever footing it had been on before things went downhill. With Gulum-Ei sensing the change in the wind he was willing to throw his lot in with the Guild again, meaning he wanted more gold and suspected that working with them was the right call, which spoke to the greed that had no doubt fueled the decision in the first place. Capper knew the Guild would like to have a contact inside the East Empire Company again, especially since there was no telling what loot might come in in the future, so this meant that everyone was going to profit from Gulum-Ei rejoining the Guild, and he made sure to tell him that Mercer would be in the dark about his involvement.

With that done Capper, Tri Ki, and the kobolds made their way back to the entrance of the bandit area, though he was eager to see what the future had in store for them, because things were getting interesting and he suspected that tracking Karliah would answer many of his questions, causing him to smile as he waited to see what the coming days had in store for him and his companions.