8 replies to this topic

[xxsuperasianxx]

According the lore or story. I know that in the game I can kill almost anyone I want but I was wondering if the lore says that Skyrim's thieves guild and nightingales kill? At first Brynjolf said they can't turn a profit by killing, but then later on he gave me the go ahead to kill whoever when breaking into Mercer's house. 

 

Do the nightingales follow some sort of rule regarding killing people? 

 

I mainly wanted to know because I'm playing a thief character and I try not to kill but sometimes when I have to retrieve items for people from places like bandit camps, its impossible to sneak by. 

[Riprock]

"the Rules" don't prevent anyone in this world from doing something they 'aren't supposed to' in the real-world equivalents of 'guilds'

 

but to answer your question,

Spoiler

yes, in the story shown in Skyrim, a member of the theives guild does kill.  

  Anything more about that is a spoiler

 

 

[The Vampire Dante]

According the lore or story. I know that in the game I can kill almost anyone I want but I was wondering if the lore says that Skyrim's thieves guild and nightingales kill? At first Brynjolf said they can't turn a profit by killing, but then later on he gave me the go ahead to kill whoever when breaking into Mercer's house. 

 

 

The job at Mercer's place is an exception - you are dealing with someone that has potentially betrayed the guild (in a rather large scale) and as mentioned in game - such problems are dealt with "in house" by the guild itself. That entire part of the guild questline is not regular guild enterprise.

For general guild work (the thieving part) like the jobs you get from Delvin and Vex - no, you aren't supposed to kill, as per Brynjolf's comment about them being thieves, not murderers.

 

As for Nightingales... I'd say that they would fall outside of the regular guild rules and restrictions, being what they are. I would think that in general though they would follow the guild's rules as an example for other members.

[Georgiegril]

I mainly wanted to know because I'm playing a thief character and I try not to kill but sometimes when I have to retrieve items for people from places like bandit camps, its impossible to sneak by. 

 I think you could get around this morally by making a distinction between murder and self-defense.

Killing regular folk in their sleep to get to their ring or necklace or whatever is not the same as being detected by a bunch of bandits who are coming at you with battleaxes, and killing them to save your own life.

While a purist might say all killing is murder, I would suggest that  a thief has already committed to a morally grey lifestyle, and is probably more likely to be willing to make fine distinctions in other areas of morality.

(Though definitely stealing undetected from a group of bandits would earn you style points!)

[Spphy]

I always follow one rule, and as far as I understand it that's how thieves work in Oblivion AND Skyrim - Thieves can kill yes, but never on the job. Nightingales being exception due to their special role in the thieves guild.

[Lachdonin]

By and large, killing is frowned upon by the Thieves Guilds of Tamriel. It's permitted if backed into a corner, but leaving a trail of bodies is bad for business because it generally gets the authorities involved. Stealing valuables draws enough attention, after all.

 

The Nightengales on the other hand are Daedric servants. They kill. Whenever the eff Nocturnal wants them to. 

[xxsuperasianxx]

Thanks everyone. So I guess there is a lot of interpretation involved, especially the role of the nightingales since they seem to be exception to the rules. I think I will stick with not killing on the job unless the situation is out of hand like it gets in the bandit camps (thanks Georgiegril)

 

I just have one more question. Do nightingales wear their armor in broad daylight or should you be secretive about being a nightingale? (only wear the armor at night or on the job)

I was thinking about this and wearing the armor outside all day seems like you re advertising your nightingale status which is supposed to be a secret. But then again, most people if they even know who the nightingales are, don't know that the armor you are wearing is nightingale armor.  

[Lachdonin]

What few references we have about the Nightengales indicates that they are covert in just about everything they do. Their armour and gifts are generally used only in the protection of the Sepulchre, so i would assume that they don't parade around in public in them.

 

Plus, anyone who DID know what the armour signified would probably call them out as a Daedra worshipper pretty quick. And that's generally frowned upon outside Morrowind. 

[notmyhome]

You're allowed to kill bandits even as a normal citizen anyway - so why should the guards get any more alarmed just because it's a thief doing it? Killing city guards or citizens, on the other hand, would indeed attract negative attention, as pointed out above.