The Thieves’ Guild

To outlanders, Skyrim is a land of harsh storms, enduring traditions, strong warriors, and honorable — if brutal — cultural inheritance. The Nords are equally hardy, sons and daughters of storm and sky, and none would imagine first among Nords the ways of stealth or subterfuge; regardless, where there is light, there must be shadow. Where there is law, there must be crime, and not all criminals of the land are brazen challengers and highwaymen. Like in all places across Tamriel, the quick-witted and sly meet with the unscrupulous and deft to create a mutually beneficial system of advantage — in short, a Thieves’ Guild.

In stark contrast to this grand Atmoran legacy, hidden in the shadows of betrayal and coin, the Thieves’ Guild thrives buried under ice. Some say that the Guild exists solely as an interloper of Imperial culture, that true Sons and Daughters of Kyne would never engage in such dishonorable criminality, but others argue that this Guild shares only its name with the provincial counterparts: clans, both storied and new, trade alliances, services, agents, and gold, all sharing the same mask of the most notorious of collectives.

In the wake of the Great War, the clans and collectives of Skyrim’s Guild have enjoyed a berth of opportunity and profit. In harmony with its nature as a dark mirror to society, the Thieves’ Guild thrives with tragedy and must prepare to face the hardships of peace — with the White-Gold Concordat growing ever further behind, the threat of stability might mean a lack of desperation. Furthermore, the machinations of individual clans are unending, and none can ever feel certain of the loyalty of thieves.