Money is the root of all evil they say. I've never quite understood that phrase. Money is amoral; it can be neither good nor bad. It is greed that leads to evil, but greed can be for any number of things. The most common form of greed is, of course, a lust for gold, but it is far from the only type of greed. Many people are greedy for power or knowledge, and both of those things can be acquired through other means besides passing septims around.
Besides, nobody has ever called me evil, and as a thief you would think that if money led to evil then I would be quite the dastardly man. In any case, though, I have said my piece. From here on out I will let my story speak for itself, and you can decide on your own if I am evil or not.
I sat in the Winking Skeever in Solitude, drinking an ale silently. My hunting bow - as well as my quiver of silver arrows - sat propped up against the chair I was sitting in. I watched the people come and go, listened to their gossip and rumors, saw the legionnaires glance at me with suspicion. Apparently they distrusted me, even though I was an Imperial recently immigrated from Chorrol back in Cyrodiil.
The dragons had been defeated by some mythical Dragonborn character, but the civil war still raged throughout the land. So much senseless bloodshed when the true enemy was obviously the Aldmeri Dominion and their Thalmor justicars who roamed the land like heroic conquerors. Pompous bastards, the lot of them.
That wasn't why I was here though. Rumors circulated quite widely that Skyrim's branch of the Thieves Guild was down on its luck. I had made quite a good living as an independent thief during my twenty-eight years in Chorrol, but I had never got around to joining the guild. If this branch needed help, however, I would be more than happy to oblige. Solitude was only my first stop for one simple reason: legality. There was no point in coming all the way up to Skyrim to join the Thieves Guild only to be arrested for border jumping before I even met them. I had petitioned Jarl Elisif the Fair for citizenship, and she had granted his request graciously.
As I finished my ale, I saw my opportunity. A nobleman, I think he was actually one of the city's thanes in fact, had just left his seat and started stumbling towards the doorway. I calmly stood and pulled my bow and quiver over my shoulder. As I walked out of the building, I bumped into the nobleman. My hand slipped into and out of his pocket in the space of a second, while my other hand held onto his shoulder to keep him from falling down as I profusely apologized for my clumsiness.
"Aye, well, you juss be more carful nex time." His voice was thick with the effects of his drinks, and I quickly made my exit.
I walked calmly out of the city gates and went down to the docks before opening my hand to see what I had acquired from the man. A small golden ring with a sapphire in the center sat in the palm of my hand beside a ruby. It was quite a good haul, really, for only a few minutes worth of work. With a smirk on my face, I went back up the path and to the carriage driver.
"Good evening sir." I called out to him. "How much for a ride to Riften?"
The man looked down at me from his perch before responding. "It's twenty septims for me to get you there. Though I don't know why you'd want to. That city is the armpit of Skyrim."
"We all have things to do, I suppose." I fished out the required number of gold pieces from a pouch on my belt made from the leather of a Netch. After depositing the gold into the driver's hand, I climbed up into the carriage and closed my eyes to get some rest during the ride.
After an unknown amount of time, I only knew that it was daylight now and it had been night when I boarded the carriage, I awoke to the sound of the driver calling out to me.
"You back there. We've made it to the armpit. You gettin' out?" I wiped some imagined dust out of my eyes before nodding and standing up. After nodding to the driver, I hopped down onto the ground and walked up towards the city's gates. One of the guards accosted me.
"There's a toll for entering this city, Imperial. One hundred septims to get in." I eyed him up and down. He was a young man, probably barely out of his teens, but with the Nords that meant nothing. He was still fully grown and muscular, but his inexperience showed in the simplicity of his attempt.
"Really? A shakedown? Come now gents, I'm sure the jarl would absolutely love to hear about this." I smiled innocently at the man, who immediately paled and shook his head.
"N-No that's not necessary. Just g-go on inside." He stammered nervously, realizing that I wasn't the easy mark he had made me out to be.
I smiled at him and patted his shoulder as I walked by. "There's a good lad."
Within moments of actually entering the city, though, I was accosted once more. This time it was by an immensely large Nord with shaggy black hair, exceedingly dark eyes, and steel armor that was pitted with obvious blade marks. "You lookin' to cause trouble for the Black-Briars, outsider?"
A raised eyebrow was the first response the man received before I managed to find the words to speak. Whoever these Black-Briars were, they were obviously important, and this man was a lackey of theirs. "No of course not. I wouldn't dream of it."
The man let out a short harrumph before nodding shortly and flicking his thumb over his shoulder - apparently satisfied for the time being. I needed no further urging, and I quickly passed by the man and on towards the city's bazaar.
After a half hour of watching the traders and their customers, I began to feel that I was getting a fairly good read on many of them. The armor trader had a coarse demeanor and manner of speech. It was rather obvious that she didn't much care if she made friends with her customers; she was confident in the ability of her gear to speak for itself. The Argonian jewelry craftsman was much more personable and often had conversations with his customers whether or not they actually purchased anything. The burly Nord blacksmith was kind enough, if a little bit curt. He gave off an air of being willing to talk if necessary, but he obviously preferred to just sell his goods and get back to work. The general goods broker was more or less what you would expect from a Dunmer. The final salesman was a redheaded Nord wearing an outfit of fine furs, though he seemed to be uncomfortable in them.
As he watched, the salesman was calling to passersby about some sort of Falmer blood elixir. I had never seen a Falmer myself, but from what I had heard from a few adventurers in Solitude.. they were not very pleasant. From what I knew of alchemy, however, I knew for a fact that the blood of any creature could not - alone at least - have such powers that this man claimed the elixir could do. He was but a simple charlatan, and I planned on confronting him.
After waiting for the man's customers to wander off, I strolled calmly up to the man. His gaze flicked up to mine and nearly stopped me in my tracks. Before I could confront him about the elixir, he spoke first. "Not in the best state financially, are you lad?"
I glanced down at my outfit and could easily understand why he assumed that. A man who is decked out in leather boots, sackcloth pants, and a sleeveless vest that lay open over a bare chest did not exactly scream 'nobility,' but I still didn't like hearing it out loud.
"My financial state is none of your business, charlatan." I spoke low enough so as not to alert anyone else in the bazaar about what was going on.
"Not so, lad, not so. In fact, wealth is exactly my business, and you look like you could use some." His eyes twinkled in the late afternoon sun. "Would you like a taste?"