Wikia

"Our access to those bits of luck are what separates us from common bandits."

For this faction in other games, see Thieves Guild.

The Thieves Guild is one of several joinable factions that appear in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Stationed in The Ratway beneath the city of Riften, members of the Thieves Guild are renowned for causing trouble in the city. Members of the guild specialize in stealing objects of varying value or loaning septims. Most citizens view them unfavorably; Mjoll the Lioness has made it her duty to maintain order in Riften and pledges to dismantle the guild. Maven Black-Briar, the affluent owner of the popular Black-Briar Meadery, consorts with the guild in exchange for their aid. The guild has an uncanny luck due to certain members striking up a deal with the Daedric Prince, Nocturnal, to serve as her guardians.

History

Little is known about when and how the Thieves Guild was founded, but it is rumored to have been around as long as Riften has. As the Fourth Era continued, the Thieves Guild slipped further and further into obscurity and the members and regular clients began to leave (with the exception of Maven Black-Briar).

Joining

To join the Thieves Guild the Dragonborn must enter Riften during the day, and speak to Brynjolf, a red-headed Nord male, who can be found in the Riften Marketplace between 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Once the Dragonborn is within proximity, Brynjolf will automatically attempt to strike up a conversation in which the Thieves Guild prerequisite quest A Chance Arrangement can be started. Alternatively, in the evenings past 8:00 p.m., the Dragonborn can encounter Brynjolf at The Bee and Barb inn, at which time he will tell the player to speak with him during the day at his stall in the Riften Marketplace.

Brynjolf, when encountered during the daytime, will give you the instructions to steal Madesi's Silver Ring from strongbox located under his stall and then plant it inside of the pocket of Brand-Shei , the local general stall owner. He is identifyed as the only male Dunmer (or Dark Elf) in the crowd. Brynjolf will start a distraction by calling everybody within the area to listen to the story of his latest product that he's selling. During this time, carry out the plan as discussed with Brynjolf. Planting the ring will instantly end Brynjolf's tale he is telling to the crowd thus dispursing it. He will now tell you to meet him in the Ragged Flaggon down in the Ratway to discuss membership.

Quests

Main quests

Small jobs

Delvin and Vex offer an unlimited number of radiant quests known as "jobs." The target item(s) and location are generated randomly. Jobs can be accepted and quit at will and it is possible (and efficient) to run a job for Delvin and one for Vex simultaneously. The reward for each mission is between 50 and 500. After performing five small jobs in Whiterun, Markarth, Windhelm, and Solitude, a special job will be unlocked for each. Killing those crucial to the job results in a failure, and no payment is given.

Delvin Mallory's jobs

The Bedlam Job - Steal enough items to get a given value within the assigned Hold. Legally taking an item from a house may not count towards it.
- A very effective method is stealing an expensive item, going to a secluded location, then dropping it and picking it up a few times. Each time the item is picked up it counts as theft.
- Items with red names are stolen items. These can only be sold to a Thieves' Guild Fence.
- An easy yet slightly rare method of reaching the required goal is to accept a 'Sweep Job' from Vex at the same time, and then quit and retake the jobs until they are both in the same city. When the Sweep Job is completed, the Bedlam Job will be done also.
The Fishing Job - Pickpocket an item from a given character.
- Can be difficult, but the quest item has usually a higher success percentage for pickpocketing than its usual kind, hence it is great training for this skill.
- Save before pickpocketing the item to prevent getting caught and paying bounty
- These are also good jobs to take if you have yet to unlock the Thief (Achievement)
The Numbers Job - Modify the ledger book at a given business. This is the easiest of Delvin's three jobs to complete. Near the ledger book there is sometimes a business safe box containing over 250 coins.

Vex's jobs

The Burglary Job - Steal an item from a house.
- Can be done during the day or night easily, as the owner either sleeps or is at work
- The best time to do this sort of job is around 7:30 PM, as there is no one at home or on the street
The Heist Job - Steal an item from a business.
- If tried during the day the shop owner will most likely follow the player around.
The Shill Job - Plant a stolen item in an NPC's home.
- Similar to Burglary. May be easier since the only "illegal" part of it is trespassing, and getting caught by the guards any time during it doesn't cause it to be failed.
The Sweep Job - Steal three items from a house.

City Influence Quests

After completing five Small Jobs in a city, Delvin Mallory will offer a special job to restore Thieves Guild influence in that city. These quests can be taken in any order. The city influence quests are necessary in order to complete Under New Management and assume the title of Guildmaster. Becoming Guildmaster allows access to the Guild Master's Tribute Chest.

Each city influence quest that is completed will add a merchant stall to The Ragged Flagon. In addition, the gold available to fences throughout Skyrim gradually increases as these quests are completed, up to a maximum of 4000. The third and fourth city influence quests will each add a new recruit to the Guild as well: first Garthar, and then Ravyn Imyan.

Quest	Prerequisite	City	Reward
Imitation Amnesty	5 small jobs in that city	Whiterun	One new merchant's stall.
Summerset Shadows	5 small jobs in that city	Windhelm	Unlocks Niranye as a fence (if she didn't act aggressive and was killed when talked to during the quest). One new merchant's stall.
Silver Lining	5 small jobs in that city	Markarth	Unlocks Endon as a fence. One new merchant's stall.
The Dainty Sload	5 small jobs in that city	Solitude	One new merchant's stall.
Deliver Moon Sugar to Ri'saad	Complete 3 city influence quests.	N/A	Khajiit Caravans will offer a fence.

Merchants

Name	Service	Available
Syndus	Arrows and weapons merchant	Complete 1 city influence quest
Herlium Lothaire	Alchemy merchant	Complete 2 city influence quests
Arnskar Ember-Master	Blacksmith	Complete 3 city influence quests
Vanryth Gatharian	Weapons and Armor merchant	Complete 4 city influence quests

Advantages To Joining

Access to the Thieves Guild headquarters.
A suit of Thieves Guild Armor.
Nightingale Armor, The Nightingale Blade, and The Nightingale Bow after you proceed up the ranks.
Three interchangeable unique powers once the Nightingale story arc is complete.
Access to Chillrend, potentially the deadliest unique sword in the game and strongest in the original game.
Fences who will buy stolen as well as regular goods and can carry larger amounts of gold (4,000 after completing all four improvement quests; they have 1,000 gold initially).
Tonilia, the fence for the Guild, is one of the earliest vendors to regularly sell Daedric weaponry.
Chests ranging from novice to master for building your Lockpicking skill.
Free gold and lockpicks lying around the headquarters.
Unlimited thievery radiant quests which reward gold.
Master-level training in Lockpicking (Vex), Archery (Niruin), Pickpocket (Vipir the Fleet), and Sneak (Delvin Mallory).
Guild Master's Armor (a decent light armor) and the Amulet of Articulation can be obtained once the main quest line and the guild improvement quests are completed.
Dialogue option to avoid conflict with thieves encountered on the roads, later upgraded to such thieves paying you tributes. (this appears in the Theives Guild Master's tribute chest directly in front of the desk located in the Cistern).
Guards can be bribed even if the character has low Speech skill and no bribe perk.
With a low bounty, if caught pickpocketing, take out the equipted weapon (if not already out) and then put it away to initiate a speech option to get away with every thing for around 12 gold (along with all other guards leaving you alone).
The Skeleton Key, an unbreakable lockpick (temporary).
The only way to learn one of the words of the Disarm shout is to complete the first six primary quests.
An isolated target range with human targets as well as regular circular ones
Dumbies in the target range to admire the way the Dragonborn performs attacks

Trophy cases

Main article: Thieves Guild Trophies

File:TESV 2012-02-17 20-37-06-34.png

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Various unique items can be stolen during the Thieves Guild quests and sold to Delvin. As each is collected and sold to Delvin, they will be displayed on the shelves behind Mercer's Desk where the can freely be taken or left as decoration. By following the questline, the items appear in the following order:

Trophies also appear for completing a certain number of jobs assigned by Vex and Delvin:

Jeweled Candlestick appears after 5 jobs are completed.
Ornate Drinking Horn appears after 15 jobs are completed.
Golden Ship Model appears after 25 jobs are completed.
Golden Urn appears after 35 jobs are completed.
Jeweled Goblet appears after 45 jobs are completed.
Jeweled Flagon appears after 55 jobs are completed.
Jeweled Pitcher appears after 75 jobs are completed.
A safe appears after 125 jobs are completed. It contains random loot and sometimes special thief potions that improve the Dragonborn's stealth skills.

Finally, the Crown of Barenziah is placed on the bust in the center of the shelves upon completion of the mission No Stone Unturned.

Tips

Players seeking to complete these city quests as fast as possible should quick save before getting a new job and then ask for Numbers Jobs from Delvin and Heist or Burglary Jobs from Vex. If it is in a city whose influence quest has already been completed, quick load and try again. Another way is to quit the job Delvin and/or Vex assigned, then ask for the job again. There are no negative repercussions for quitting jobs, excluding the multiple failed missions in the quest log and the short disapproving dialogue after each quit job.

Members

Thieves

Mercer Frey - Guild Master
Brynjolf - Second-in-Command
Delvin Mallory - Senior Member, Gives the player Small Jobs and Special Jobs, Master Sneak Trainer, Sells upgrades to Dawnstar Sanctuary
Vex - Senior Member, Gives the player Small Jobs, Master Lockpicking Trainer
Tonilia - Fence
Sapphire - Appears around the Bee and Barb before Speaking With Silence, wanders the Cistern after.
Cynric Endell - Former Jailbreaker
Niruin - Master Archery Trainer
Rune - Member
Thrynn - Former Bandit
Vipir the Fleet - Master Pickpocket Trainer
Garthar - joins after completing three Special Jobs for Delvin Malory
Ravyn Imyan - joins after completing four Special Jobs for Delvin Malory; Morag Tong member
Etienne Rarnis - Only if completed the Diplomatic Immunity quest if you free him from the Thalmor
Molgrom Twice-Killed- Located in the Riften Jail.

Associates

Vekel the Man - Runs The Ragged Flagon
Dirge - The Ragged Flaggon's bouncer, the brother of Maul.
Syndus - Arrows and weapons merchant
Herlium Lothaire - Alchemy merchant
Arnskar Ember-Master - Blacksmith
Vanryth Gatharian - Armor and weapons merchant

Trainers

Main article: Trainer (Skyrim)

Delvin Mallory: Master Sneak trainer
Niruin: Master Archery trainer
Vex: Master Lockpicking trainer
Vipir the Fleet: Master Pickpocket trainer

Fences

Fences buy stolen goods. There are a total of nine different fences throughout Skyrim, including each Khajiit caravan:

Fence	Location	Unlocked
Tonilia (Default)	Ragged Flagon, Riften.	Upon completion of Taking Care of Business
Mallus Maccius	Honningbrew Meadery.	Upon completion of Dampened Spirits
Gulum-Ei	Winking Skeever, Solitude.	Upon completion of Scoundrel's Folly
Enthir	Hall of Attainment, College of Winterhold.	Upon completion of Hard Answers
Niranye	Windhelm Marketplace,Windhelm.	Upon completion of Summerset Shadows
Endon	Silver Blood Inn, Markarth	Upon completion of Silver Lining
Khajiit Caravans	Outside of cities, near their stables.	Upon completion of Deliver Moon Sugar to Ri'Saad

Armor sets

When completing quests in the Thieves guild questline, the player can obtain four different armor sets.

Thieves Guild Armor (Obtained after Taking Care of Business)
Nightingale Armor (Obtained during Trinity Restored)
Guild Master's Armor Set (Obtained after Under New Management)
Linwe's Armor Set (Obtained during Summerset Shadows)

A full set of Thieves Guild Armor can be found in the training room in the Cistern. It respawns over a period of time.

Expulsion from the guild

Thieves caught attacking other guild members or one of their associates are removed from the guild and none of the members speak to them. To rejoin the guild, speak to Vex, for a fee of 1,000 , the guild can be rejoined. Being caught pickpocketing other guild members will not result in being removed from the guild.

Trivia

Unlike the Dark Brotherhood, there is no quest to destroy the Thieves Guild.
Occasionally a random event occurs where an unnamed Thief will attempt lockpick a door in any city. Guards will attack the thief until he's either dead or he escapes. The thief will never attack the player, but he can be killed without any repercussions.
- Normally this random thief has:
  - Gold (random amount)
  - Random houseware (candlesticks, platters, plates, etc.)
  - Gems (random assortment)
In the small training room in the Cistern, there are chests for each level of difficulty. These chests contain leveled loot, and will respawn after a few in-game days, providing the player with a good source of money and training.
A book written by Delvin Mallory can be found in the Flagon, called Shadowmarks. Shadowmarks are carvings into buildings near their main doorways, and are very handy in pointing out locations around cities that have good loot.
If married to a merchant, such as Ysolda, the Dragonborn may get a job to place stolen goods in their house which may be the player's house if they chose to stay in their spouse's house instead of one of their own.
Unlike the other factions, namely The Companions and the College of Winterhold, none of the Thieves Guild members can be married. This is also true with the Dark Brotherhood.
Unlike in Oblivion, the Thieves Guild of Skyrim seems to be indifferent to the poor, who no longer serve as their eyes in the world.
Most people refer to the Thieves Guild simply as "The Guild".
When doing the Small Jobs, a good way to pick a certain place for the job is saving before asking Delvin/Vex and then if not getting that town, load and try again. The jobs have a certain order, 2 at a time. Example, Riften Job, Riften Job, Markarth Job, Markarth job.

Bugs

PC 360 PS3 Any guild members in the Lockpick training room will say to the Dragonborn, "You're really not supposed to be here," after a failed attempt. There is no known cause, except for being exempt from the guild. Paying to get back in fixes this.
PC 360 PS3 Sometimes, if an unmarked quest is completed to rebuild the Guild before completing the main questline, the Guild Masters chest may not spawn random gems and gold.
PS3 After the quest Trinity Restored is started and the Dragonborn does not follow Brynolf and Karliah, straight away, they will go to the Nightingale hall by themselves and then go back to Riften. Brynolf can be found walking around the Ragged Flaggen Cistern and if spoken to, says either "I think we can trust Karliah, lets see what she's on about" or "I'm just as baffled as you lad". This makes the main quest line impossible to continue and can only be fixed by loading an old save.
360 All of the quests to return the larceny targets will immediately be resolved upon obtaining the Eyes of the Falmer (if not already turned in), causing them to become normal objects, not quest objects, but Delvin will not offer to purchase any of them. (Perhaps a new glitch in v1.5)
PS3 Even after completing the entire TG Questline (unlocking all cities, caravan, and becoming GM) it is possible that the fences in the other four cities will refuse to open dialogue with your character and that the fencing booths set up inside the Ragged Flaggon will refuse to purchase stolen items. This has been brought to Bethesda's attention but as of update v1.5 there is no known resolution.
PC 360 PS3 The jeweled pitcher may not show up on the shelf after doing 75 jobs for Delvin and Vex. ( Possible fix is to do 125, which also earns the Dragonborn a safe.)
PC 360 PS3 Upon becoming Guildmaster, a number of members of the guild will still talk to the Dragonborn as if he/she is just another member or are trying to join the guild. For example, Dirge still threatens the Dragonborn and Vekel the Man still is dismissive towards the Dragonborn.
360 Getting a small job from Vex or Delvin and you quickly speak to someone else you will not activate the quest. To fix this simply accept the job again.
After patch 1.6 when the dragonborn talks to Delvin the option "i have finished special job in [big city]" will appear.
After patch 1.6 when the dragonborn talks to Delvin or Vex for job the option will be always "tell me about xx job" even if the dragonborn has completed the same job before.
PS3 This bug appears when you had accepted a burglary job and you enter the house, get caught and then decide to quit the job (you may notice that even if you get caught, you just have to get out of the house and retry to steal the object without being noticed). When you further accept a similar mission that takes place in the same house, you will be abble to steal/take the item you're interested in, and then, the object that you lefted here by quitting the last quest will be at the same place and you'll not be abble to take it.
360 Sometimes when doing The Fishing Job the target may have been killed, rendering the quest umcompletable.

Achievements

	Taking Care of Business Join the Thieves Guild
Points	10
Trophy

	Darkness Returns Complete "Darkness Returns"
Points	10
Trophy

	One with the Shadows Returned the Thieves Guild to its former glory
Points	30
Trophy

Start a Discussion Discussions about Thieves Guild (Skyrim)

No matter what i do i cant get the blackguard's armor what do i do? What quests do i do?

6 messages
- DarthOrc
  
  The armor and the letter respawn. The letter can be delivered again and again for more exquisite saphires as well. 2013-04-13T06:39:40Z
- A Wikia contributor
  
  You do need the Dragon born DLC, you need to beat the first couple Thives guld mission's. Im not 100 precent sure but try talking to delvin... 2013-05-17T19:33:02Z
reparations quest

2 messages
- A Wikia contributor
  
  I can't get any jobs in the thieves guild because i broke a rule and need to get 1000 gold, i have the gold but i can't give it and what rule ... 2013-04-28T17:51:17Z
- Kunigonde
  
  Thieves Guild (Skyrim) Expulsion from the guild Thieves caught attacking other guild members or one of their associates are removed from the gu... 2013-04-28T18:37:34Z

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