Thieves Guild (Skyrim)

The Thieves Guild is one of several factions that appear in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Background
During the Fourth Era, the Thieves Guild has fallen on hard times. Originally a flourishing guild, it has dwindled in size so that only Riften remains under its influence, thanks to Maven Black-Briar. At the beginning of the storyline, the Thieves guild operates much like thugs, which is similar to how they operated in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. "Mention the "Nightingale" to any thief worth his salt and he'll laugh in your face. He'll tell you that the supposed avengers of the Daedric Lord Nocturnal are nothing but fictional characters who live nowhere else but within tales designed to scare young footpads into doing what they're told. But are they fictional or simply misunderstood?"

- Extract from Nightingales: Fact or Fiction? by Wilimina Roth

Members

 * Brynjolf
 * Cynric Endell
 * Delvin Mallory
 * Etienne Rarnis (If saved during "Diplomatic Immunity")
 * Gallus Desidenius - Former Guild Master (Deceased)
 * Garthar (Joins after completing three Special Jobs)
 * Karliah - Member in exile
 * Mercer Frey - Guild Master (until the quest, Speaking With Silence)
 * Molgram Twice-Killed (Incarcerated)
 * Niruin
 * Ravyn Imyan (Joins after completing four Special Jobs)
 * Rune
 * Sapphire
 * Thrynn
 * Tonilia - Fence
 * Vipir the Fleet
 * Vex

Associates

 * Dirge - Bouncer at The Ragged Flagon
 * Maul - Former member, right-hand of Maven Black-Briar
 * Vald - Bodyguard for Mercer Frey
 * Vekel the Man - Proprietor of The Ragged Flagon

Merchants
As you complete Special Jobs and restore the Thieves' Guild to its former glory a variety of merchants will set up shop in the alcoves surrounding The Ragged Flagon and sell their wares. They bring with them all of the crafting stations except for the Tanning Rack, the Smelter, and the Arcane Enchanter.
 * Vanryth Gatharian
 * Syndus Bowyer and Fletcher
 * Herlium Lothaire Alchemist and Herbalist with Alchemy Lab.
 * Arnskar Ember-Master Blacksmith. This mechant has a forge, anvil, workbench and grindstone.

Fences
Fences let you sell the goods that are marked "Stolen". When you join the Thieves' Guild you get Tonilia as your first fence. All of the other fences are unlocked through the completing Guild quests. Fences start out with 1000 for bartering and as you complete the Special Jobs they will increase their stockpile to 1500, 2250, 3000 up to a maximum of 4000. The fences also sell a small selection of goods including an ample stockpile of Lockpicks.
 * Tonilia - The Ragged Flagon, Riften (Starting fence)
 * Mallus Maccius- Honningbrew Meadery, Southeast of Whiterun (Unlocked by Guild main quest)
 * Gulum-Ei - The Winking Skeever, Solitude (Unlocked by Guild main quest)
 * Enthir - The College of Winterhold (Unlocked by Guild main quest) - Some consoles may be bugged
 * Niranye - Marketplace, Windhelm (Unlocked by Special Job Summerset Shadows)
 * Endon - Silver Blood Inn, Markarth (Unlocked by Special Job Silver Lining)
 * Any Khajiit Caravan Merchant (Unlocked by miscellaneous quest Deliver Moon Sugar to Ri'Saad)

Quests
Thieves' Guild Main Questline: Side Quests:
 * 1) A Chance Arrangement
 * 2) Taking Care of Business
 * 3) Loud and Clear
 * 4) Dampened Spirits
 * 5) Scoundrel's Folly
 * 6) Speaking With Silence
 * 7) Hard Answers
 * 8) The Pursuit
 * 9) Trinity Restored
 * 10) Blindsighted
 * 11) Darkness Returns
 * Deliver Moon Sugar to Ri'Saad (Unlocks Khajiit Caravans as Fences for Stolen Goods)
 * Reparations is unlocked when you break one of the Guild's rules, such as assaulting a member of the Guild. You will not be able to do any other quests or talk to any of the members until this quest is complete.

Small Jobs
In order to restore the Thieves' Guild to its former glory and assume the title of Guildmaster, you must perform 4 "special jobs" across four major Holds of Skyrim: Whiterun, Markarth, Windhelm, and Solitude. In order to get a special job, you must first complete 5 smaller jobs in that hold. To get a job, talk to Delvin Mallory or Vex. The small job targets are randomized across the major holds and a tally of the small jobs is not visible to the player. Jobs can be accepted and quit at will. After completing 5 jobs in a particular Hold, Delvin Mallory will offer a Special Job in order to increase the Thieves' Guild influence in that Hold. Once you have completed all four Special Jobs, you can talk to Brynjolf to officially assume the title of Guildmaster. Completing a Special Job also increases the Gold available to all fences up to a maximum of 4000. Quitting a special job given by Vex or Delvin carries a penalty of a random gemstone being removed from the player's inventory.

Delvin Mallory's Jobs
(Note: These jobs are Radiant, and will change each time they are undertaken)
 * The Bedlam Job - Steal enough items or gold to reach a given value within the specific Hold assigned. Can keep stolen items.
 * ​The Fishing Job - Pickpocket an item from a given character.
 * The Numbers Job - Modify the ledger book at a given business.

Vex's Jobs
(Note: These jobs are Radiant, and will change each time they are undertaken)
 * The Burglary Job - Steal an item from a house.
 * The Heist Job - Steal an item from a business.
 * The Shill Job - Plant a stolen item in someone's home.
 * The Sweep Job - Steal three items from a house.

​4 Special Jobs

 * Imitation Amnesty (Whiterun)​
 * Silver Lining (Markarth)
 * Summerset Shadows (Windhelm)
 * The Dainty Sload (Solitude)

Final Quest

 * Under New Management

Not everyone who wants to complete the Thieves Guild missions is playing a thief character. Some may be playing a heavy melee or magic class that doesn't have any sneak, pickpocket, speech or lockpicking skills raised or perks invested in those trees and just simply wish to complete these special jobs to be able to sell more treasure to a single merchant instead of lugging it around. It can be frustrating having to bounce between towns and merchants just to sell off the wide variety of valuable possessions that clutter the players inventory.

An easy way to acquire these special jobs, without using thief talents, is to do Delvin's Numbers Jobs or Vex's Shill Jobs. Numbers jobs are straight in and out quests that have the player running into a random business establishment in one of the holds and activating a business ledger that, in most cases, is sitting out of sight from anyone in the area. This makes doing the quest easy even for a non-thief. Shill Jobs involve the player receiving a stolen item from Vex and planting it in a chest in someone's home or business.

Larceny Targets

 * Larceny Targets are a series of unique items that can be sold to Delvin for an extra bit of coin.
 * Most are found in dungeons, houses, and keeps during the completion of the Thieves Guild main quest series, and during the Special Jobs.

Armor Sets
When completing quests in the Thieves guild, 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)

Bugs

 * While not game breaking, the Civil War Quests Defense of Whiterun or Liberate Whiterun can render some houses inaccessible in Whiterun for the Special Jobs. If this is the case, just quit the job and get another. (PS3, 360 Confirmed)
 * Sometimes Larceny Targets are impossible to turn in. (PS3, 360 Confirmed, PC Confirmed)
 * Selling your original Thieve's Guild armor can trigger a bug later in the Thieve's Guild quest tree, preventing Tonilia from upgrading your armor at the end of Scoundrel's Folly. This prevents you from interacting with Tonilia and therefore using her services as a fence. This prevents you from getting the quest
 * Sometimes selling your original Thieve's Guild armor can prevent you from getting the quest "Under New Managment" even after competing 20 quest from Delvin and Vex.