Azaran on 30/1/2023 at 16:45

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I found a must read book for taffers. (https://www.amazon.com/At-Days-Close-Night-Times/dp/0393329011/ref=sr_1_1?crid=T8NRT1QPNLW9&keywords=at+day%27s+close+night+in+times+past&qid=1675095113&sprefix=at+day%27s+close%2Caps%2C481&sr=8-1) At Day's Close, a study of the lore and culture revolving around night time between the middle ages and the 19th century.

Apparently the murder rate in Europe back then was 5-10x higher than in modern England, other forms of crime were also epidemic, and night time is when things got especially bad, with thievery being rampant, including violent robbery and extortion. Overall, the vibe was like modern third world countries (think central America, or South Africa today), and the official public watch or guard could do very little, so private security was a must for those who could afford it

Criminals took added steps to conceal their identities. Besides blacking their faces, some wore hats and heavy cloaks, even on warm summer nights. His bedchamber invaded in August 1738 by two burglars, the Penrith yeoman John Nelson described one as “pretty tall in a dark coulered coat with his hat pulled over his face & the other of lesser size with a white horseman's coat with the cape buttoned under his chin & his hat pulled also over his face.” Thieves masked their voices and, at most, carried “dark lanterns,” which emitted light from just one side. When clashes erupted, in burglaries or robberies, they immediately extinguished their victims' lights. “Linkboys,” lighting pedestrians through city streets, were the first knocked off their feet. Lamps and lanterns were smashed, candles blown out, and torches snatched. “D(am)n your Eyes, ... put out the light, or we will blow your brains out,” was an oft-repeated command,”
....

Whatever the season, thieves prized nights with little-or no natural light. In the cant pidgin of habitual criminals, “a good darky” meant “a fit night for stealing.” Least desirable were nights when the “tattler” (moon) was up. Invited to rob a night coach near Nottingham, Charles Dorrington refused because “it was too light.”

...

Charles Mascall, a former carter in London who had “met with losses,” described a typical day: “We met that morning as usual about nine o'clock, at the King's Arms, and there we staid 'till between 6 and 7 at night; and that's the time we commonly go out to pick pockets, and what handkerchiefs we meet with we bring to the woman at the King's Arms; then we get our suppers, and afterwards turn-out, upon street-robberies.”

Feel free to add your own thiefy books in this thread

https://i.postimg.cc/Hs4zPG1Z/IMG-20230130-110615.jpg

Azaran on 30/1/2023 at 18:31

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Typical lawless society where anything goes.
Fascinating too how a lot of stuff in the game aligns well with what the book states. LGS did their homework

Aemanyl on 30/1/2023 at 21:10

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I've got this book and I already recommended it on TTLG about two years ago. It's a fascinating study of night life in the past centuries. When I was reading At Day's Close for the first time, my favourite fragment was the description of how burglars used to hide beneath servant beds during daytime and then re-emerge at night.

Hit Deity on 30/1/2023 at 21:56

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Certainly could start a mission like that.. Have the "cutscene" show Garrett hiding under a bed, time passes and it gets dark, "Time to go to work.." and the bed slides away.. Or something similar, to give the impression that Garrett had been "lying in wait" for however long.

Starker on 1/2/2023 at 06:01

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It might not seem anything like Thief at the first glance, but I enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora quite a bit. It takes place in a world that's a mix of magic and renaissance era technology, complete with rich nobles living in opulent mansions, secretive and powerful mages, and a crime-infested underbelly. The main character, an orphan, ends up as a thief in a manner not entirely dissimilar to Garrett and starts to separate the wealthy from some of their wealth, all the while evading both the attention of the authorities as well as powerful crime bosses ruling the underworld.