The Thieves Guild, by Jake Kerr. Episode 34. Orion. It was tough trying to act defeated and impotent when one was on the verge of becoming the Emperor of Ness. Orion had to put up with the abuse from Sax and Larson, and he had to lower his head and pretend to go along with their plans out of fear. But for him, it was all part of an elaborate plan that ended with him as the emperor of the city. To the populous, he was the nice guild master.
Some called him the heir to Pietro, which Orion outwardly took as a compliment, even as the comparison to a thief made his blood boil. As guild masters went, he didn't retreat into his tower to focus on political maneuverings, he was a regular guy. No one wanted to assassinate him. Those rumors were reserved for Guild Master Polo. Orion was the guild master who wasn't a threat to anyone.
As part of this role he played, Orion would often walk through Founders Park, waving and smiling at members of every guild as he admired the various statues that had stood there for ages. For some reason he couldn't explain, his favorite statue was the one of the class he loathed and that no one visited, the statue that represented the Thieves Guild. It was comprised of two men with wide smiles
conversing. The one thief was reaching into the pocket of the other thief as they talked, while the second thief was doing the exact same thing to the first thief. Orion loved the absurdity of the statue. Both thieves were stealing, but they gained nothing for their efforts. The statue reminded Orion of Larson's brother, the wretched boy, Raylan. Orion enthusiastically voted for him to be named the Guild
Master Thief. He loathed Raylan nearly as much as he loathed Larson, and watching the boy in a cage getting pummeled with rotten fruit on Founders Day was exactly the kind of punishment he considered appropriate for the irresponsible and offensive boy. Yet Raylan had the last laugh as he ruined Orion's grand plan. The thought made him clench his fists and frown.
Everything had gone so perfectly. Larson believed that Orion was dumb, and going along with Larson's plan to unite their guilds out of fear. After Orion agreed to vote yes on the guild unification, Larson pretty much ignored him. During that time, Orion had put in place all the pieces for him to be named the deputy of the new unified guild. And once he was deputy, all he had to do was assassinate Larson.
And if there was one guild master in Ness that no one would much care about being assassinated, it would be Larson. Orion was slightly worried about Karch. He was a slippery and devious one, but he wasn't a guild master, and Orion had many more resources than Larson's deputy, not the least of which was his blade. No guild had a better blade than the Craft Guild.
Orion's blade had already discovered that Karch had assassinated Pietro, that Polo was holed up in Harvest House, and that Raylan was lost in the wastelands of the Wretched Quarter. The last point was a key one. With Raylan out of the picture, the entire focus of Orion's plan was now dependent on Polo, the annoying old guild master of the Harvest Guild. Orion's blade had told him that Larson had some kind of sophisticated plan to assassinate the old man. "Good," thought Orion.
"Do all the dirty work. When you have finally achieved everything in unifying Ness under one guild, then it will be my day." Orion did have one thought. With Larson focused on Polo, maybe Orion could take care of Raylan. He'd be practically impossible to find amongst the wretched, poor across the river, but the search would be completely out of the view of any of the other guild masters.
Orion could surreptitiously help Larson make his move by killing Raylan, not revealing his true intentions in the process. All he'd have to do is find Raylan, kill him, and have his body dumped somewhere that could be found. "Sure, the odds of that are slim, but it is a good plan," thought Orion. "Let Larson play his risky games. While no one is looking, I'll solve this problem myself." He turned and hurried back to Craft Tower. He had a new mission for the blade of the guild master.
(instrumental music plays)