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My vision for a modern Thief game

Posted on July 26, 2024 | by Wispmage

Imagine for a moment that the Thief reboot released in 2014 was an entirely different stealth IP, and that we haven’t seen a new Thief title since Deadly Shadows in 2004. And in this alternate timeline, several former Thief developers all reunite under the banner of a new company: Spyglass Studios.

Thief IV Mockup

They announce that the Thief franchise is emerging from the shadows once more with the fourth entry in the series, Dagger of Ways.
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Be without sin in life, for after death, the sinful doth walk without rest, ne’r welcomed into the House of the Builder.

The Builder's Way

If thou hast eyes to see the glory of the Builder, but do not, then pluck them out.

Opening Prayer, Ironwright Temple

Makers a sipping poison of fangrot and meadowscull for them cityhead fools to drinkers and weeps.

Recovered Pagan Text

Beware the minions of the Trickster, for they revel in chaos. Seek they to undo thy works and subvert thy thoughts.

From the Sermon of St. Edgar

All of the days in the full span of thy life, are but an hour of the Builder’s time.

Collected Sermons of Master Forger Keystone

Saids drinks of me, you wills not thirsts, Dids honeys sweet froms out Him burst.

Pagan Drinking Song, Origin Unknown

Manfools fleshes breaks and bleeds, and them Leafy Lord risers again…

Unattributable, Etching in Tree Bark

Once sin hath entered thy heart, thy life’s work is at an end.

Precepts of the Smith-in-Exile

The One will venture where none have tread… and the First shall follow the Last.

Excerpt from the Keeper Books of Prophecy

Set thy bricks with the bones of heathens, and mix thy mortar with their blood.

Hammerite Book of Structure

From each of us, the Glyphs will desire a different aspect. This is the balance we have struck.

The Interpreter's Codex, Vol 8

Lay stone upon stone, pile foe upon foe, ‘til thy Builder’s work is done.

From the Builder's Prayer

A scribe must learn to control the Glyphs… lest they seek to control the scribe.

From the Keeper Handbook for Scribes

The struggles of the city mirror the ebb and flow of the great waters. No tide must ever be allowed to advance unchecked…

From The Eight Principles

Seek thou not blood from the stone, but only from thine enemies. And if they bleedeth sap, then seek it doubly so.

The Book of the Stone

The earliest writings on the glyphs are indeed cautionary… yet remarkably, regrettably inadequate…

Final Journal Entry, Keeper Thackery

Blessed be the forge, which gives shape unto metal, and steam unto the boiler. Blessed be the fire of the Builder and the forge of Karras.

Mechanist Prayer

The bellows are burnt, the lead is consumed of the fire, the founder melteth in vain, for the wicked are not plucked away.

Mechanist Book of Tenets

Make thou a fortress of thy heart, for thy most valuable treasures art those words given to thee by the Builder.

Words of the Sixth Forger

Only the virtuous can withstand The Builder’s Trial by Fire…the sinful are consumed.

From a Hammerite Sermon

On the Last Day, there will be no words… and we will know the face of our betrayer…

Excerpt from the Keeper Book of Days

We bes eatsy of the goodfruit, Bes we drinker of the bloodroot, Bes we singer at them moons.

Overheard Ritual Chanting

If there be a tree, fell it. If there be a wolf, slaughter it. If there be a heretic, suffer him to live no longer.

Mechanist Chant

You shalt know thy enemies well, for they wield not the hammer, and forest dwellers be they.

From The Book of the Master Builder

The choice is not only between one action or another. To refrain from action is always the third potential.

First Keeper Orland, Assembly Speech

As Keepers, it is our duty to remain apart, secret, invisible. To become part of the City would exert influences.

From The Eight Principles

Beware, for even the simple act of desiring to become…can corrupt that which will be.

Excerpt from The Interpreter's Codex, Vol 8

The Age of Darkness will be the child of two fathers… and their names are Ignorance and Fear.

From the Journal of Keeper Artemus

The undead are most abhorrent to us. Their flesh is putrid, and the mark of the Trickster is upon them.

From the Mass of Saint Aaron

Drinks them meads and bes merried, Before them Harvester comers for you.

Pagan Song, Author Unknown

There are glyphs that can cause suffering and those that can end it… and precious few who know the difference.

Excerpt from the Forbidden Transcripts

The Hammer is the most blessed of all the Builder’s works: ‘Tis both a tool for building, and a weapon against thy foes.

Book of Lessons

To act out of anger risks needless destruction, but to act out of affection risks needless charity.

Guide of Balance

Each moment of thy life hath a choice – accept the trial the Builder hath set for thee, or lay down thy burden and die.

Words of the Sixth Forger

And behold, my fingers interlock like cogs on a gear. I am part of his unknowable machine, and therein lies my salvation.

Excerpt from a sermon of Karras

The Artifacts are sometimes called Sentients, as they possess a will of their own, and the ability to act upon their desires.

Keeper Annals

Bes him many-named, Him that’s called the Woodsie One… The Leafy Lord… the Harvester…

Fragmentary Text on Parchment

Two giants, roused from slumber, two blades clashing. Each blames the other… for what the Thief has done.

From Caduca's Notes on the Prophecies

Beware the Trickster’s Flame or the Fairy Spark; for they are ill wrought. Only the Builder’s Fire burns with righteousness.

The Book of Lessons

I bes them honeysweet, I bes them breadmeat, Feeders you of me, til them times that I feeders of you.

Cave Etching

Fed too much, the flame of knowledge will spread unchecked, to consume and destroy.

Fourth Warning of the Scribarium

Remember, the gear asketh not why it turns, but keeps its faith, never failing. Be thou the Gear in the Builder’s Plan.

Mechanist Saying

Be ever diligent, For thine enemies are a multitude, And sin never sleeps…

Excerpt from a Hammerite Hymn

A rod of iron, in the flame, is transfigured and is no more. Thou canst never return unchanged from the forge.

Rite of ordination to Master Forger

There is nothing as promising as the opening of a book. There is nothing as final as its shutting.

Keeper Scribe Lessons

May each Enforcer be remembered and scribed in the Book of the Names, that we may never speak their names again.

Excerpt from an Induction Speech

That references to the thief occur so frequently in the prophecies should be enough to warn us all.

Keeper Council Meeting

Ambition will usurp balance… The treacheries of the ignorant… The follies of the blind…

From Caduca's Notes on the Prophecies

We are none of us immune to the temptations of the Glyphs. To think so would be the worst of follies.

From the Forbidden Transcripts

The City increased quickly. The lack of planning evidences itself in the closeness of the structures… the strange twist of a street…

Keeper Archives

Holding a key, you may infer the existence of a lock. But do not make the mistake of assuming that yours is the only key.

Handbook for Scribes

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My vision for a modern Thief game

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