• Day 3


    The Ratways are evidently the sewers under Riften. Bleh! Water isn’t my thing at all and yet here I am, standing at the door to the Ratways with water behind me. Slowly I open the door and cautiously creep in. I can hear water dripping from the ceiling but not one voice. I am starting to wonder if I was misled but that isn’t really like a thief so I delve into the Ratways, not expecting much of anything except skeevers and water. Suddenly I hear two voices, both male. I don’t want to get into a fight so I just listen to what they’re saying; hoping that they won’t find me though I know there’s no way around them.

    Unfortunately I have no such luck. They spot me and a fight begins which ends with both of them dead and me bloodied. “Why did I have to fight them,” I wonder aloud. It wasn’t really something I wanted to do, I am not a killer. I loot both bodies, taking their gold for my own. They can’t really protest anyway since they’re dead. Most likely I’ll have to get use to killing if I’m going to survive in Skyrim even if I don’t want to. At last I press on, still disturbed by what are really my first two kills where I haven’t been focused on my own survival and hoping I won’t have to kill again so soon.

    Wandering around for a bit makes me realize this place is really dangerous. At one point I trigger a trap by opening a single door. I manage to avoid getting hurt but the two spikes that shot out of the wall but it scared me enough to make me pause for a bit before continuing on. Once a skeever jumps out at me from the dark surrounding me. I jump and must have made some noise to alert someone on the other side of the door I am heading towards because I hear a voice as I deal with the rat-like creature.

    A man comes rushing out of the door, throwing it open and making for my third kill that hasn’t had to do with my survival. All he came at me with were his fists but I killed him anyway. I take a closer look at the body using my nightvision and see that it is just an older man that could only be a prisoner or just trapped here. I turn away quickly from the sight an almost run right into a bear trap. Luckily I spot it before I step into it and trip it so I won’t get caught in it.

    Finally I take a moment to calm myself. I didn’t expect there to be people down here that I’d have to kill. Once I gather my nerves I carry on, wanting nothing more than to get out of this place. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have come down here,’ I think. ‘I’m not ready for stuff like this!’ Still I carry on, ignoring the next trap I trigger just eager to reach the end. I have to kill yet another person though this time I don’t regret it since it was a Redguard. Thanks to that Imperial Redguard captain I have disliked Redguard people.

    At last I reach the Ragged Flagon though I freeze when I enter it. At the center of the place is a pool of water. ‘Great,’ I think. ‘I hate water.’ Carefully I make my way over to where I hear voices coming from. Brynjolf, the man that recruited me, greets me by saying that he didn’t think he’d see me again. I give him my best glare for that before I speak.

    “I almost got killed,” I say loudly. I don’t care about his reply, I’m not happy. Then he asks me to handle a few deadbeats for him. “Deadbeats? What’s they do?”

    “They owe our organization some serious coin and they’ve decided not to pay,” Brynjolf replies. “I want you to show them the error of their ways.” I agree of course, just wanting to know if I’ll get paid for this and if I’m in yet. He says if I do it right I can have a permanent place in his organization. This brings a catty smile to my face as I agree to do it. This is just a simple job that I know I can handle. Three people to convince to pay the Guild and I’m in. ‘Can it really be this easy,’ I think as I leave the tavern and head back into the Ratways which I navigate easily and wind up back above ground, ready to do my job so I can finally become a thief in Skyrim.

    The first place I head is the Bee and Bard, the business owned by one of the three people I’m supposed to get gold from and where I spent the night. I know the owner is one of those lizard people. I don’t know the name of her race but as far as I’m concerned she’s a lizard. First I talk to her boyfriend or whatever he is and say that he might want to convince her to give us the gold. Of course he says that she’s become too bold. This isn’t really looking good for me so far. I ask him to help me convince her to pay but all he gives me is some information on her family and says that might help convince her. He also asks me not to harm anyone. Well, that part won’t be a problem at least.

    Keerava, that’s the tavern owner’s name. I never do pay attention to names and never have but I probably should start. I start off by asking her if she’s ready to pay off what she owes Brynjolf.

    “No and I never will,” she says. “Now get out of my inn.” I frown.
    “Maybe I should visit that farm in Morrowind,” I say slyly despite my frown. I don’t like using this against her but I must. She begs me not to hurt her family which I of course won’t even if she refuses to pay. I hope they’ll make someone else do that if I fail.

    “Then pay up and I’ll forget about it,” I say calmly, almost as if I don’t care. She gives me the gold and says that we’ll have no more trouble from her. With that done I leave, glad that I didn’t have to kill anyone or fight anyone. Slowly I make my way to my next target, a place called Pawned Prawn. Odd name really and I have no clue what kind of store it is but that doesn’t matter. All I have to worry about is getting the gold from the owner of the place.

    Bersi Honey-Hand, what an odd name but I don’t say so. I only say that I have a message from Brynjolf. He seems a bit mad now but I don’t care and asks what the message is.

    “Simple,” I say. “You don’t pay, bad things happen.” He says that my people are all talk and that we demand payment for protection and that we can’t even protect ourselves. Ow, that is really harsh. “We can protect ourselves. Trust me.” He says that it’s only a matter of time before we’re run out of Riften. Well I’ve had about enough of this and I tell him to shut his mouth. Really I think I’d like to kill him but I have a fist fight with him and win. He pays me and I leave his shop satisfied. I think I could get used to fighting and killing now. Just no more of those spiders!

    Next up is some place called Haelga’s Bunkhouse. ‘What is it with these Skyrim people and weird store names,’ I think as I walk into the place.

    The first thing the owner says when I speak with her is not to hurt her. She actually says please. I’m not going to hurt her but I don’t say so, why should I? I only say that I have a message from Brynjolf.

    “I know who you are,” she says. “You’ve been terrorizing the entire city.” I’ve got nothing to say to that as she just hands over the gold. Not a single fight or dirty trick is needed this time. Really though, I’m not a bad Kajiit. I just want to join the Thieves’ Guild and I didn’t mean to terrorize people. Still, I have to do things like that if I wish to be a thief I guess. All that’s left to do now is return to the Ratways and give the gold to Brynjolf. Back to those horrible sewers…just great.

    Night has fallen while I have been working so I make my way back to the Ratways’s entrance in darkness. This time navigating the sewers is easy and I reach the Ragged Flagon in no time at all. Finally I’m going to be a member of the Thieves’ Guild. YES!