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Part 1 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=32115
Part 2 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=32689
Part 3 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=33752
Part 4 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=35892
Part 5 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=36420
Part 6 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=39293
Part 7 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=39859
Part 8 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=41234
Part 9 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=43368

(spoilers follow)

“She was the best, period,” Etienne Rarnis told me, “and I don’t mind saying that, though others around here might. There are a lot of thieves who like to think and talk like they’re the best, but really they’re just trying to be her. She never boasted - others did that for her, in and out of the Flagon, because when it came to stealth, ghosts and shadows had nothing on her.

“Delvin pulled me aside one day and told me about the Goldenglow affair. Supposedly at the time, Vex was the best, but even she couldn’t get into the Goldenglow Estate. As an initiation they gave the job to Audva. She left the Flagon a little before midnight and was back at dawn with the bill of sale and a sack of gold. Turns out that nobody on the Estate grounds even knew she’d been there until Aringoth, the owner, pulled some strings to find out who’d robbed him. I don’t know who told, but from what I hear, he sent some hired thugs after her. Audva found out, I don’t wanna know how, but she went back to Goldenglow and took out every single guard, leaving only a note that said something like ‘please hire more guards, my mace requires more souls.’ Sends a chill up my spine just thinking about it.”

Many of Audva’s adventuring cohorts noted that she cared little for gold, but appreciated the challenge of acquiring it. However, her rise through the ranks of the Thieves’ Guild wasn’t due to the massive amounts of gold she stole. As with the College of Winterhold, there were some shadowy events which will probably never see the light of day, but what I’ve gathered is this : there were problems with the previous guild master, who attempted to murder Audva at one point. The guild discovered all of this and were in pursuit of him when Audva and a few others found him and took their revenge. Again, when the dust settled, her skills and involvement made her the obvious choice for the position of guild master.

“She risked a lot for us, and while they say there isn’t honor among thieves, we do recognize that she put a lot on the line when the chips were down,” Etienne told me. “A few people said that she just did it all to get back at Mercer, and Karliah says she did it to prove she was the better thief, but regardless of the reasons, she pulled us out of our slump and didn’t get any of us imprisoned or killed. That kind of thing is important to folks like us.”

When I asked about the incident with Karliah, Etienne told me, “Audva never was happy with that one. From what I know Karliah had enough poison for one arrow, but instead of waiting for a better shot, she used it on Audva. The difference though was this : Karliah was a thief, Audva was a killer, among other things. Don’t get me wrong, she knew when to kill and when to steal, but I think if their places were switched, she’d have waited however long it took to get the right shot. Because Karliah didn’t wait, Mercer escaped and the whole chase dragged on, and he almost got away. Rumor has it that when they finally caught up to him, she put a single arrow through Mercer’s neck, then turned and glared at Karliah.

“She liked getting her hands dirty, whether it was stolen goods or blood, she couldn’t stand to sit around and organize jobs or negotiate with buyers. Vex and Delvin handled most of that. They both knew that her talents were best-used out in the field getting jobs done rather than sitting around schmoozing with people. Sure, she’d make a grand entrance every now and then, hauling in some huge stolen vase or a priceless painting while there were negotiations going on. I’m sure everyone else thought she was trying to impress clients, but to her it was just business, and she was trying to offload the goods so she could move on to the next thing.

“I think my only complaint was that she wasn’t very friendly. She got along with Delvin, Bryn, Sapphire, and myself, but everyone else she kept at arm’s length, probably because of the whole fiasco with Mercer. I remember when she brought her wife in. She had really nice... uhh... well I remember Vipir propositioned them both, this was before she was guild master, mind you. I think everyone in the room stopped what they were doing because they couldn’t concentrate with that much tension in the air. All eyes were on Audva, because we weren’t sure if she’d say yes or just gut Vipir. She smiled a little and thanked him for the offer, but politely declined. That was the only time I ever saw her smile.”

Continued in part 11 : http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/imageshare/image.php?id=50318