"That same mark from the Goldenglow Estate job was on the letter I brought back." 

He frowns, "...Then this is beyond coincidence. First Aringoth and now Sabjorn. Someone's trying to take us down by driving a wedge between Maven and the Guild."

"So what do we do about it?" 

He hums in thought, gazing off into the distance. After a moment he looks bck at Gaemir.

"You? Not this, for now. I'll take this to Mercer, and the senior members of the guild will look into this mark. You can get started on doing some more routine jobs for the guild - talk to Delvin, he'll have some for you." 

"Alright. Good luck."

He wanders back out into the cistern, taking a moment to chat up a few of his guild mates. A former bandit who had a crisis of conscience - not thay he blames him, it sounds like his band had been of the better sort before the incident; A man looking for any information on the runestone from which he gained his name; a former Valenwood winery heir, who despite his heritage doesn't recognise that Gaemir is half Bosmer. Probably has something to do with lacking a guardian spirit - most anything in Valenwood that could be called a winery would be on the outskirts, and run by those outside of the Green Pact. 

Eventually he heads back into the Flagon, looking around for a man matching the description Rune had given him: bald, Breton, and bored. 

There is such a man. He gives Gaemir a long look as he walks up. 

"That Brynjolf, huh? Lemme guess. He plucked you off the street and dropped you into the thick of things without tellin' you which way is up. Am I right?"

"That's about how it happened, yeah. Though I suppose it was more Mercer who dropped me in the deep end with the Goldenglow Estate." 

"Well, you got the job done, and another big one besides, so I'd say you've figured out how to swim. How d'you feel about something a little more... mundane, to help the guild get back on its feet?" 

He takes a seat at the table, eyebrow rising at the other's words, "Back on it's feet? I'd heard some rumours that we were going through some hard times," he mentions leadingly. 

"Hah! Look around you. The Flagon, the Guild... it's all fallin' apart. A few decades ago, this place was as busy as the Imperial City. Now, you're lucky if you don't trip over a skeever instead."

"So what happened?" 

"Look, I know the others think I'm a bit daft for sayin' stuff like this, but I'm gonna give it to you straight. Somethin' out there is piss-drunk mad at us. I don't know who or what it is, but it's beyond just you and me. We've been cursed."

"A curse," he repeats. Well, he's seen stranger than a cursed thieves guild. "So what do we do about it?" 

"I'll tell you what we do. We spit in that curse's face and turn things around down here. Put things back the way they were. That's where you come in. I've got plenty of work available that could guide us down the road to recovery. All you need to do is ask and we can both come out of this smellin' like a rose."

Ah, down to business. 

"So what have you got for me?"

"I handle the fishing, numbers, and bedlam jobs - the ones with a more... personal touch. I've got some picked out as need doing, if you wanna take a look." 

He pulls a sheaf of papers out of his pouch, unfolding them to reveal a pile of written contracts, "Have at 'em." 

He looks through them, soliciting explanations for a few terms here and there, and eventually selecting a few Windhelm contracts.

"These alright? I'll get them all done in one visit." 

"Best take care they don't pin you as the culprit, doing a bunch in one city like that. Still, can't deny it'll be quicker." 

Quicker is better, in case Mercer wants him to look into whatever they find about that mark, considering he's been involved with every other step. He nods, and stands from the table, "Thanks, I'll head out right away." 

It's early yet, he can rest at a village inn on the way to Windhelm and make it there by noon tomorrow.

Over the next few months he completes several dozen contracts, and at Delvin's direction helps spread the guild's influence in Windhelm and Whiterun. He's not sure he likes working so closely with the Battle-Borns, given their ties to the Thalmor, but a job is a job, and there's no reason he can't keep an eye on them. The Windhelm mission, meanwhile, leaves him with no conscience pains whatsoever. Damn Altmer supremicists...

He keeps missing Vex, or only having time for a quick word in passing. It's quite annoying! He's on neutral-to-good terms with all the other members, however, and even Mercer looks less like he regrets allowing him entrance. 

Finally, four months after the Honningbrew mission, Brynjolf pulls him aside with new information. 

"Mercer thinks he's found something - a reference to an old alias, used by one of our contacts. He wants you to look into it." 

"Can do," he agrees, "Who am I looking into?" 

"Gulum-Ei - our contact with the East Empire Company. Gajul-Lei, the name mentioned in the Honningbrew letter, is an alias of his. Mercer wants you to head to Solitude and shake him down for information on our mysterious enemy. We're betting he acted as a go-between in the sale of the Goldenglow Estate, too." 

"Alright. Any advice on how to deal with him?" 

"Gulum-Ei is one of the most stubborn bastards you'll ever meet. You won't be able to intimidate any information out of him - and we don't want him roughed up or dead. Your best bet is to bribe him. That lizard would sell his own mother if the price was right.

"If he thinks he'll get more out of our adversary, though, he'll hold back. I'd recommend you follow him when he leaves."