The Five Needles Guild

The Five Needles guild is a thieves guild which began, and is still centered, in the city of Alesund in Cantrev Aalswythe. The guild began when some adventurers (the Five Needles Company) "retired" and decided to set up their own thieves guild. Their talent, and their magical power, quickly allowed them to defeat all the other guilds in the city and set up as the de facto bosses of crime in the city. They bought a few legitimate brothels, taverns and casinos and began to create a quasi-legal business empire, while maintaining a firm grip on organized crime in the city. They used a novel system of adjunct members, who did not get guild protection or access to guild resources, but who only had to pay about half as much in fees to the guild, in order to prevent any serious rivals from developing.

After about 20 years, and after the death of one of the founding partners, they decided to expand to other nearby cities in the Eastern Kingdoms of Sohlm. They have had significant success in this regard in Bodo and Iron Gate. And some less consistent success in Lynge and Narvik. These satellite guilds pay franchise fees to the main guild, and their leadership is overseen by the main council of the Five Needles.

The Five Needles currently derive most of their profits from operating brothels, casinos and gladiatorial combat. They are constantly looking for new business ventures, and to stamp out or control competition in these business ventures. For example, most of the casinos and brothels in Alesund, Bodo and Iron Gate pay a significant protection fee to the guild. They have had some troubles with inconsistent leadership in some of the satellite guilds, something that the current leaders are working to redress.