The Thieves Guild on Wroona is one of the oldest criminal organizations in the known galaxy. It is also one of the most secretive and exclusive. The Guild has a presence on almost every planet where there is commerce. Its members are both light of foot and of hand, taking from the galaxy’s bounty and then melting into the shadows.
Not all Wroonian thieves are members of the Thieves Guild, but a great many are. The benefits of membership are substantial. The Guild provides training in all the skills necessary for stealth and larceny – everything from picking simple locks to overcoming the most sophisticated security systems. The Guild takes in many orphans from the streets and provides them with a home and a family. These members tend to be the most loyal of all. The Guild’s wealth and resources are invaluable tools for its members. Thieves receive help hiding after a heist or finding a place to fence stolen goods. The Guild of course takes a percentage of the profit for its dues (usually 10%, but this can vary from system to system). All members are obligated to come to the aid of the Guild or any fellow members if called upon.
Members have the symbol of the Guild tattooed somewhere on their bodies – usually where it can be easily hidden. The symbol is a stylized representation of the Vorca, a nocturnal scavenger of the Wroonian seas that survives by stealing food from larger, more powerful predators.
Members work their way up the ranks within the Guild from child lookout up to Shadow Master. Children start out as lookouts. Lookouts are posted around the area of a job or the guild house to give warning if the authorities or rival gang members are approaching. Lookouts begin their training in large groups, learning pick pocketing and other skills from one of the Shadow Masters. The next rank within the Thieves Guild is the apprentice. Apprentices are tested to see if they have an aptitude in any particular skill such as forgery or computer skills, then they are chosen for apprenticeship by Shadow Masters. This training is more one on one. It is at this level that members really begin honing their craft. Once the apprentices have passed certain tests of skill and are deemed ready to serve the Guild, they are promoted to the rank of thief. Thieves are the backbone of the Guild. They are the operators, swindlers, rogues, forgers, computer hackers, burglars, con artists…etc. Beginning thieves mostly stay close to their guild house doing jobs in the local area. As they gain experience, they are sent on bigger and bigger jobs. In time, the thieves can gain a measure of independence and travel the galaxy to find their fortune. The most successful and experienced thieves are allowed to take the final tests to attain the rank of Shadow Master. Shadow Masters can take on an apprentice or become a guild master or guild master’s Hand (or lieutenant).
A thief’s rank within the Guild can be easily determined if you know what to look for. Wroonians love to adorn themselves with ornamentation of all sorts including earrings, necklaces, rings, and bracelets. The Thieves Guild uses earrings to denote rank. The significance is in the sequence and color of the stones worn. Lookouts start out with a lone yellow stud worn in the right ear. As the lookouts pass certain tests, small hoops are added. When a lookout gets taken on by a Shadow Master as an apprentice, he receives a green stud, also followed later by hoops. When the rank of thief is attained, members are given a blue stud to wear in their left ear. A Shadow Master can be noted by a black stud, also in the left ear. By the time guild members reach this rank, their ears are heavily adorned with studs and hoops. A guild master and his Hands wear a ring with the Guild’s sigil on the little finger of the right hand. The guild master will also sport a nose ring – usually a Garnib crystal stud.
The Thieves Guild’s internal organization is loosely based on the franchise business system. The Grand Guild Master on Wroona is not only the head of his house, but of all the guild houses throughout the galaxy. The guild masters of these chapter houses are free to run their operations as they see fit, molding them to the economic climate of their particular territory. The Grand Guild Master will not usually interfere unless asked to settle a dispute between houses or to deal with an errant guild master. All guild masters, even the Grand Guild Master, are chosen from among the Shadow Masters. Once elected, a guild master serves indefinitely, as long as he does an adequate job. Guild masters found lacking in their duties can be easily voted out of their positions and replaced with a more suitable candidate. When a guild master is elected, he chooses his Hands (lieutenants) who act as his council and help with the day to day running of the guild house.
The Wroonian Thieves Guild prizes secrecy above all else. It even has its own secret language called Thieves Cant. Thieves Cant is a mish mash of ancient Wroonian (a dialect no longer spoken by modern Wroonians), street slang, code words, and hand signals, making it impossible even for protocol droids to derive any comprehensible meaning. This allows members to communicate rather freely, even over comm. channels, without fear of eavesdroppers. Thieves Cant is also a written language. What appears to be random graffiti to everyone else, provides useful information for a thief such as territorial boundaries, the location of the local guild house (which moves often), or warnings about local law enforcement. It is forbidden to teach the Cant to anyone who is not a member of the guild. The penalty is death, both for the traitorous thief as well as whomever he may have taught.
Beings from other races are often hired to perform various functions. These functions may include running shops that serve as the false front of a guild house, spying on rival organizations, or providing necessary muscle as enforcers. These employees of the Guild are paid handsomely for their services and may even earn the respect of the Guild, but only Wroonians can be actual members. The Wroonian Thieves Guild has a long-standing business relationship with the Black Bah’lir, a smuggling organization based on Socorro. The relationship is mutually beneficial. The smugglers of the Black Bah’lir get work that is extremely profitable. The Guild gets discreet and reliable transportation of its members and stolen goods wherever they need to go – no questions asked.
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The Wroonian Thieves Guild may be less well known than organizations such as Black Sun and the Crimson Mask, but with its level of secrecy, is it any wonder? The Guild’s extremely low profile allows it to operate almost anywhere, even in territories controlled by its rivals. Members lurk in the shadows or blend in the crowd. Their motto: “Don’t get caught!”
Long before and during the time of the Old Republic, the Thieves Guild grew
steadily with the addition of new worlds into the Republic and newly
mapped
hyperspace routes that increased trade and prosperity for everyone.
With
the rise of the Empire, however, the Guild fell on hard times. The
Emperor
brought new strict laws and even stricter law enforcers to the galaxy.
An
Imperial Governor was assigned to Wroona and ordered to clean up the
criminal activity centered there. Guild members were not safe
anywhere, not
even on their own home world.
Many thieves died on Wroonian streets or
in
Imperial labor camps. The Guild¹s activities never completely shut
down
during this time, but they were a mere trickle of what they once were.
In
the past finding pilots to transport contraband was never a problem,
but
with Imperial Customs prowling the space ways, the Guild had an
increasingly
difficult time finding pilots daring enough to do the job and
trustworthy
enough not to turn on the Guild at the first sign of trouble. It was
during
this difficult time that the partnership was forged between the
Wroonian
Thieves Guild and the Black Bah'lir, a smuggling organization based on
Socorro.
During the years of the Rebellion, Khaalid Naveen became the Grand
Guild
Master. At first it was thought that she would bring the Guild back to
its
old glory, but Khaalid was only interested in increasing her own power,
not
in the Guild's well being.
So many Shadow Masters had been captured or
killed during the Empire's rise; few were left to mount effective
resistance
to her overbearing rule. Some who spoke out against her were found
assassinated and rumors circulated among members that Khaalid had
connections with an assassins guild, The Brotherhood of the Azure Night.
With the death of the Emperor came a new era of hope. A young thief named Laric Tol, who had become wealthy stealing supplies from imperial depots and selling them to the Rebellion, returned home to Wroona. He was promoted to the rank of Shadow Master and secretly plotted with the other Masters to usurp Khaalid's position. With support from the Shadow Masters and a sizable force of brutes paid for by Tol himself, Khaalid was voted down from the position of Grand Guild Master and exiled from the planet. Laric Tol has brought a new prosperity to the struggling Guild and hopes one day to restore it to the wealth and power it once had in the time before the Empire.
Original Write Up by Tracy Hart
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