The Rogue Profession

The rogue’s skills make him a fearsome shadow in the city. He’s able to change shape, appearance and demeanor to approach his unsuspecting victims. Whether he’s hired for a job, or acting on his own motivations, he’ll prey on his targets until he strikes.

From attack to torture, kidnapping and killing, he’s your man. Fortunately, you can learn some counter skills to prepare yourself against such actions. A word of advice: always stay on the main roads, where there’s more guards and light!

Read Sven Møller’ story below, to learn a little bit more about this exciting character’s profession and to think ahead of what you will do when you will play The Guild 3!

Part 1

Sven Møller (1411-1452) was a simple farmer from Visby, in Gotland, who is mostly known for his achievements at the end of his life. He was one of the first few individuals we would call today “Rogue”.

Little is known about his early life, but we do know a bit from various personal journals of his contemporaries. He was born in a poor family and had four brothers and sisters. He had to run away at a young age, most likely between 8-10 years old, when his father Robert was accused of blasphemy and threatened to execution. Sven escaped, believing he would be next, something that would instill a deep distrust in authority and would follow him for the rest of his life. Some writings state that he had difficulty with commands and dominion, in every life experience he had. Everything from this point forward can point out the truth of these beliefs.

After he ran away, Sven never heard from any member of his family again. He found a temporary home in a tavern. He also took employment as a caretaker after opening hours for a while, too young to see anything that was going on in the rooms, at the back of the inn. As a teenager he began working all day and mostly all nights. After a couple years, he had saved enough money (from work and, some believe, extortion of the clients he encountered at that time), to buy himself a small plot of land to build a farm.

Although he owned a piece of land, Sven remained a poor man. Quickly he married a common girl, Ellen Henkson, an employee of her father’s market. Sven showed his interest in her with a gift and after a couple of months of courtship, asked her to marry him. But judging from some of his writings, his interest in Ellen was mainly practical, needing someone who would do the housekeeping and would bear children to help on the farm. Together, the couple had three children: Isabella, Liam and Erik. All worked on the farm when they were of age, mostly when they were able to stand up and hold a rake or a pitchfork. Boys would follow Sven in the fields and Isabella would stay with Ellen in the household and the yard.

One day, three guardsmen showed up to inform Sven about a new law that was implemented by the new mayor in the city: Lars Swanstrom. The area had recently switched fealty, from the temporary conservatorship of Baron Eugen Fett to the new Lord of Gotland, Count Aaron Kelson. Lars Swanstrom was a cousin of Count Aaron Kelson, and would end up being poisoned a few years later. Mayor administered that every farmer had to pay an extra 12% of tax for a profitable economy during these hard times, under severe sanctions, from punishment to execution.

“It is therefore decreed and enacted that thou shall, from the first Sunday of spring until the high-noon, gather forth a smitten of grains for every men women and child in the hūs, for as long as the Lord Mayor decide.”

Throughout the realm, Sven wasn’t a well-known man. But everyone who knew him (and his mistrust of lords and laws) expected some form of resistance. In his defence, he didn’t have that enough grains to spare for the Mayor’s new tax. History won’t tell exactly how that happened but sometimes in the year 1443, a great number of guardsmen arrived at the Møller farm to take possession of the entire property, since Sven wouldn’t pay the tax. It had been months of pressure and threats by city guards and lansquenets. One time, after being blackmailed for a week or so, harvest on the Møller land was sabotaged. It was easy to guess who was responsible but Sven didn’t bite. That night, according to the few surviving records, guardsmen asked Sven and members of his family sharply to step out of the house but nobody ever moved. Orders were shouted to burn the house and the farm down. Quickly thereafter, screams and broken glass were heard from yards away. Everyone in the surroundings knew what was happening but nothing could be done to stop it.

Part 2

In some kind of miracle, Sven escaped the massacre, left behind all he ever possessed and promised himself to rise back up from this downfall. He was alone once again. From that day forward, there are more records of Sven Møller’s story. It is believed that he then traveled to the city of Hamburg, and laid low, resuming handiwork in various slums of the city. No one from his earlier life knew of his whereabouts, and was presumed dead by all (something most believed was planned all along). During that time, numerous aliases have been used, and circumstantial evidences allowed historians to piece together the various events in his life. In early 1444, for instance, Sven became known for his services in the dark alleys. It was the period where he would do anything, from pickpocket and brainwash, to kidnap, torture, escort and murder (Hamburg was still recovering from the fire of 1442, where most of the nobility had fled to neighboring Lubeck). Sven could bring specific skills and, for seven years, ended up doing even more than what his clients asked of him. Anybody that was somewhat linked to violence knew his name, he was admired and feared. Although his crimes were always covered, we know from facts gathered through the years, that he may be responsible for most pillage in plenty of markets, city halls and noble houses, as well as many murders. Nobody ever knew who was responsible for those crimes and that was his most valuable strength. But most of all; his actions seemed to point in a very specific direction: revenge.

At the end of 1450, Sven was slowly pulling away from all this and he went back to Visby. He was trying to gain the trust of a new woman in his life, which he met “by chance” during a kidnapping he had to do: Alena Kelson, daughter of Count Aaron Kelson, which he probably approached under a false identity. Having succeeded in courting Alena, Sven married her that same year. That marriage meant, for Alena, the loss of her nobility, since her new husband was a forger (his day job). At the time, Sven was rich, but still not worthy of a title of nobility. For a while, they lived happily together in a city house. Sven emerged from his dark period – also called ”Dark Sven” – and entered his brighter period, the last he would have before his cruel death in 1452.

Eventually, opportunity to get back to the Mayor who had burned down his farm and family manifested itself. Long-time friends of his wife – who turned out to be from Lord Lars Swanstrom’s family – came to their house and while talking about something else, Sven heard just enough information to connect the dots. At that time, even if he was a happy man, Sven couldn’t forget what this man had done to his family and became obsessed with revenge once again. Before long, the man responsible for the murder of Ellen Møller and her children was found dead in a stream by some thief, most probably poisoned. Records won’t tell but it’s likely that Sven was followed the night of that murder. During the execution of a plan, he was usually always prudent, looking ahead and planning every detail. But that time, he was in a hurry to end it once and for all. Sadly, a citizen brought evidence to the court that Sven Møller was the murderer. And it wasn’t very long before more and more evidence from his previous crimes were brought to the ears of the court. Once it started, it was difficult to stop the amount of versions from every single crime that Sven had committed. Some were true, some were false but the main thing was that it was all Sven’s fault. In the summer of 1452, after a summary trial that was expedited in less than two hours, he was hung in the public square for everyone to watch, including his new bride.