The thieves and beggar's guild stuff in it is historical. Well, except for the magic bit.

I wonder if it's a way of having rules to break. So there's a guild and there are rules and it gives you a real dilemma if you have to go over those lines -- I was thinking about this in the context of Vlad, but it's more widely true. If you're a criminal character, then what limits have you, and how can you be sympathetic? Maybe.