"How much d'I owe ya?" asked the old rogue, upon finishing ale and tale.
"Four coppers," said the bartender.
The rogue fished in his pockets. "Hmm," he said. "All I have is this gold piece. Have ya got change?"
"Believe I do," said the bartender, taking the gold coin and putting out an electrum coin, four silvers, and six coppers in change.
"Say, why don't you get me a slab of cheese for the road?" asked the rogue, sliding over two coppers for it.
While the bartender retrieved the cheese from beneath the counter, the rogue opened his pouch to put the remaining coppers inside. "Well look here! Guess I had a silver after all!" he declared. He moved his hand toward the others, palming his new-found silver and hiding the electrum beneath the other coins, while appearing just to set the new silver coin with the rest. "Say," he tells the bartender. "I'd be hatin' to take all yer change like that. Why dontcha gimme an electrum for these five silvers?"
"Sure," said the bartender, handing him an electrum. The old rogue turned toward the door. "Wait!" said the bartender. "Ye left an electrum coin here with the silver!"
"So I did! Thank you. Honesty's a difficult quality to find these days! Well, to keep you with enough change, why don't I just give you this silver"—he then produced the coin he had palmed—"and you give me back the gold piece?"
"All right," said the bartender. "Have a nice day, then!"
As he walked down the street from the tavern, five silvers richer, the old rogue permitted himself a grin and a little skip of delight. All these years, and Cool Willie hadn't lost his touch.
Robbing the Robbers[]
Thieves as a class are people who enjoy toeing the line, when it comes to risk-taking. Some renegade thieves take it a step further, often a step too far, and dare to steal from other thieves, or even thieves' guilds.
It's dangerous activity, but it does have certain advantages. Foremost, the guilds and thieves can't very well report thefts to the authorities (assuming they don't control those authorities through bribes or blackmail).
And, of course, authorities permit the theft of stolen items when its purpose is recovery, to return the goods to the original owner, as bounty hunters do.
Sanction and some degree of protection might also be gained from a rival guild. Mob wars provide many opportunities for the daring thief, willing to run around in the crossfire, scoring loot. The trick is not to be identified as stealing from the wrong people (i.e., the guild that wins in the end).
Perhaps the biggest advantage of all, and the reason that thieves will brave the risks, is the enormous wealth that can be concentrated in the hands of a single criminal, especially an important officer of the guild.
But there's no shortage of risks. First off, intelligent thieves understand themselves and, by extension, other thieves. Each thief needs to be a troubleshooter, in a way, designing protection for himself and his possessions, and making sure that it's proof at least against any thief of his skill or less. This means that in stealing from another thief, you can expect a fairly difficult job.
Sometimes, however, a thief may be surprisingly flippant about not protecting his wealth. The people who can get away with this are incredibly powerful crime lords, with vast wealth and myriad connections. They have the resources to find anyone who dares to steal from them and deliver a fitting punishment. Among such punishments, a simple assassination is very mild and humane.
Understand that the underworld is often harsher on thieves than the established authorities. The underworld does not presume innocence; and sweet revenge is more important to a wronged crime lord (and his ego and ruthless reputation) than the recovery of any but the most precious property.