Breaking into the Thief's Den

20th of Last Seed, 4E 205.

Rashall finally laid eyes on Riften. He hated travelling in Last Seed especially when it rained. The only thing keeping his mood up was the fact that Rikke was dragging a bunch of spoiled young men and women through this too. He did not envy her.

Months ago Lizzel had asked for his help in regards to Mercer, but then the year had gotten in the way. Now he was finally heading to Riften to find out why she had wanted his help. He had known she might need him when he dropped Gallus diary off all those months ago. He entered the city late in the evening and headed down to the docks taking the long way in. he did that every once in a while to check on the cast-outs from the guild. Mostly he just cleared them out. If they weren't good enough to become thieves he didn't want them down there.

"You took your sweet time," Lizzel said when he finally walked into the Cistern.

"There's a war brewin'," Rashall said. "I happen to be involved."

"Fighting the Thalmor huh," Lizzel said.

Rashall shrugged. "I don't like 'em much," he said.

"We found out Merser betrayed us long ago," Lizzel said. "Gallus was on his tail, but it didn't work out that well for him. Seems Merser has been stealing from the guild sinse you left."

Rashall nodded slowly. "What did ya want my help with?" he asked.

"While Karliah and I have been able to convinse the others of Merser's betrayal. I think they need to hear your thoughts on the matter too," Lizzel said. "Then there is the matter of finding out where Merser has gone. I think searching through his house here in Riften might be a good start. I could use a second set of eyes that I trust."

Rashall nodded. He walked back out to the Flagon and called for everyone's attention. "Ya know I don't care much for the leader position. I'm one of Nocturnal's Nightingales, but I don't run this place. I can say with certainty that Mercer Frey is a crook. Ya don' wanna do business with him," he said.

"Took you long enough," Vex said.

"Sorry I'm runnin' a war too, little lady," Rashall said. "Happen to be kind of important in makin' sure the Thalmor don' lock us all up like cattle."

"How is that our problem?" someone asked.

"Ya think they'll just leave ya to thievin' and stealin'?" Rashall asked. "They'll kill ya at best and torture ya into submission at worst. Sorry, but I ain't gonna be someone's house pet. So I fight." He didn't say anything else. He turned around and walked back to the Cistern with Lizzel closely behind him.

"We go to Riftweald Manor before the break of dawn tomorrow," Rashall said.

"Right," Lizzel agreed. Out of all the people in the Thieves' Guild she trusted Rashall more than anyone else. Strangely enough, that was because of the thing she hated the most about him. The people outside the Guild that he was completely loyal to. She knew that if he liked her she was safe.

21st of Last Seed, 4E 205.

Lizzel followed Rashall as he walked confidently through Riften.

Rule one: act like you belong.

They walked down the road that held Mercer's house and looked around carefully. Rashall moved up to the back gate and opened it. Then he climbed up to an upstairs window and opened it up. He found Mercer's personal guard dog Vlad in one of the bedrooms and poisoned the man before taking the key to the house then he jumped back out the window and down to Lizzel. "Let's take a look around shall we," he said.

Several bandits seemed to have taken up residence there. Most certainly because Mercer had wanted them too. Rashall and Lizzel moved around quietly and took the bandits out one by one. Someday soon this house would stink and the guards would have to look into it, but they wouldn't be anywhere to be found then so it wouldn't matter much to them. At first, they didn't find much of anything. Evidence of some dubious looking transactions maybe but nothing that helped them find Mercer. Then Lizzel found a cabinet with a fake back. She opened it up and they headed down beneath the house.

Neither thief said much as they moved along the tunnel. Not until Rashall suddenly grabbed Lizzel by the shoulder. "Tripwire," he whispered.

"Thanks," Lizzel said. She stepped over the wire and Rashall followed her. "Left or right?" she asked as they reached a door.

"Right," Rashall said.

Any adventurer worth their salt knew that standing right in front of a door when it opened could be deadly. Now they were dealing with a thief so the risks were even higher. Lizzel pushed the door open and a volley of poisoned darts flew passed them. They walked onwards slowly now. They were getting close to Mercer's hoard they could tell by the number of traps they had to avoid.

"Most of this belongs to the Guild doesn't it?" Lizzel asked once they found Mercer's stash.

"Most," Rashall said. He grabbed a glass sword from a pile of gold. "This one, however, is mine now," he said. "I don't mind compacting the guild with some coin for it."

"Here," Lizzel said as she picked up an old piece of parchment. She read through the text and looked at the diagrams and drawings. "These are plans to steal the Eyes of the Falmer," she said.

"Eyes of the Falmer?" Rashall said somewhat confused. Lizzel handed him the plans and he looked them over. "I guess Karliah might know what this is. They never spoke to me of this."

Lizzel nodded. It looked like maybe it was time to head back. She didn't like it. Why couldn't they have found more evidence? The Eyes of the Falmer wasn't much to go on.

They returned to Brynjolf and Karliah with what little information they had found. Neither seemed impressed, but Karliah started discussing the inclusion of Lizzel and Brynjolf as Nightingales. Rashall left her to it. His contract with Nocturnal had nothing to do with the Trinity. He was a solo gale. He walked his own path and was not burdened by the tasks laid before the others. He thought they were good choices though. Lizzel would make an excellent leader for the Thieves' Guild, and Brynjolf was a good second in command.

Rashall walked out of the Thieves' Den. He would take a look around and speak some with Maven. Then he was heading to the Brotherhood. Maybe there was an assassination he could do. He felt like doing something else for a while. In that spirit, he had picked up a few jobs from Vex on his way out.

This whole Mercer business was bugging him. They should have killed the man when they had the chance. But they hadn't and that was entirely on him.