Information

The thieves' guild will make it its business to know about many things which are of interest to its members, and that can mean just about anything, so a few examples are given here:

Security: The blueprints for sewer networks (allowing ingress and egress through manhole covers), times of changing guards at major guarded buildings (the Treasury, the Mint, etc.), times of watch patrols (in rich residential areas), the nature and positions of guards (warriors, dogs, etc.) and traps in key buildings, and the like.

Commercial: Who is richer than he looks (and why and how), arrivals and departures of valuable cargoes and items, where certain valuables are cached, hidden, disguised; and more in this vein.

Friends and Enemies: This will depend in a big way on the relationship of the guild with other associations, dealt with later. Sometimes such information will be given to a novice thief for obvious reasons; "do not rob merchants X, Y, Z or else. Understand?" (reasons—X and Y pay protection money and Z is actually Deputy Guildmaster; the novice might be told some of this). But other possibilities include which corrupt officers of the law are in the pockets of the guild (and therefore should not be dealt with too harshly during a robbery), which servants of the rich are very happy to talk for what magnitude of bribe, which barmen in the rough taverns in the docks will help thieves (e.g., by putting a little something in someone's drink so they can be "helped home" by the thief later), and so on.

General Information: This is a catch-all category. To take but one possible illustrative example: a guild might keep records of legal punishments for various thiefly crimes in neighboring (maybe even distant) locations ("Over there? Not if you value your hands, brother!"). These may not always be accurate and up-to-date, of course.

What the guild knows, who within the guild knows it, and whether they will tell what they know obviously depends on how "hot" the information is, the seniority of the person inquiring, and other factors. These complications don't need our attention now; the important thing is the basic idea here, that the guild is a vital information source. And, to anticipate the responsibilities guild members have to the guild, this is a two-way process. The thief will be expected to report certain information to the guild seniors! This is dealt with later.

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