[Hourglass of Zihaja] The Final Chapter: Organizations

[Zeta Kai]

The Ring of Sapphire

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Founding: 324 AF (31 years ago)

Membership: ~50

Influence: Regional (Hasini River)

Key Class: Aristocrat

Standard Member: Human Aristocrat 5

Entry Requirements

• Possess a non-Good alignment (switching to a Good alignment later carries no real penalty).
• Must be wealthy, possessing no less than 10,000gp in assets, at least 2,000gp in available currency, & a title of ownership for land issued by a local lord in the region.
• Sponsorship from a current member of the organization in good standing.

Identifying Item(s): an earring of blue stone, a silver ring

Overview
The Hasini River has been the lifeblood of the continent of Admaja since time immemorial. The great river system, which includes the three Sister Rivers, is the largest in the world, & carries untold amounts to traffic up & down its lazy, winding path from Alhurus Lake to the Qius Sea. There are many settlements that benefit from this flow of people & commerce, but none more so than Naranj & the City of God.

There exists a secret society of like-minded nobles from both cities, who have come together to unite their lands, so that a single state can be formed. This is far from a popular proposal; the Pactspell & the cataclysm that followed it made not only magic a taboo practice, but nationalism, as well. And the only nation created since the Ten Dark Years has been the oppressive, xenophobic Empire of Ostaz, which only undercuts their goal. So the nobility of the two great cities have been forced to act covertly, under their opaque banner, the Ring of Sapphire.

In order to found their little consolidated realm, the Ring of Sapphire needs to subvert the current leadership of both city-states, so that the nobles can step into the ensuing power vacuum. To this end, they have initiated many schemes in the region. They act against the interests of the Church of Qirus, they undermine the rule of Sultan Usaf aq-Simur, & they work to distract the Naranjadi with one commercial crisis after another. They also are manipulating events in Fandaq, Sa’ifah, Sijur, Zawraq, & other settlements in the area, in an effort to expand their sphere of influence & facilitate their rise to power.

As they are all by default a part of the local aristocracy, there are only a few dozen members of the Ring of Sapphire. Therefore, they often require the services of less desirable elements, so to speak. They sometimes hire mercenaries, bandits, & even assassins to do their dirty work, & those hirelings are regularly contracted via paid employees in turn. This gives the nobles a certain comfortable distance from any potential consequences resulting from their tasks, granting them a level of deniability that can be devilishly difficult to trace back to the source. A well-equipped team of bandits can waylay a merchant company’s caravan, & nobody would be able to trace the agents back to the shadowy figure who originally sponsored them.

The Ring of Sapphire was founded a little over three decades ago by Lord Ahrad, who has led the society ever since. While he is not the sole dominating voice at their clandestine meetings, his presence & influence cannot be ignored. He is a master manipulator & a brilliant strategist, able to plot several steps ahead of everyone else, & while is distrusted by most of the other members, none have ever challenged him for his seat. It is widely suspected that he plans to install himself as the sovereign of their planned state, but no one suspects just how far his ambitions will take him if he succeeds.

The ultimate goal of the Ring of Sapphire would radically change the political & social landscape of the region, & thus would affect many parties. They have targeted many groups over the years in their efforts to set up a new nation, & those attacks have made them many enemies. They have worked to sabotage not only the governmental powers of Naranj & the City of God, but also the Hand of Dusk, the Scarlet Sentinels, the White Paw, & other local organizations. Most of those groups are not fully aware of who has been trying to disrupt their ranks & impair their operations, but a few have learned of the secret society, & they are beginning to take action against its membership, both individually & collectively.

Notable Members:

• Lady Layla al-Hikma (Neutral Evil, Aristocrat 1/Cleric 6), human female
• Rimon Jaleel ibn-Adeem (Chaotic Evil, Bard 9), hawasabi male
• Alzamir Farun (Chaotic Neutral, Aristocrat 5/Sorcerer 6), human male

Leader(s): Lord Ahrad (Lawful Evil, Wizard 13), masabi male

Hierarchy:

• No real hierarchy exists for this organization. Benefit: A +2 competence bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, & Sense Motive checks.

[Zeta Kai]

The Sacred Knives

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Founding: 243 AF (112 years ago)

Membership: ~250

Influence: Regional (Burdusq, Sheqari)

Standard Member: Lizardfolk Rogue 5/Assassin 1

Entry Requirements

• Possess an Evil alignment (switching to a non-Evil alignment later carries no real penalty).
• 6 or more ranks in Hide or Move Silently.
• Must worship Sidaru (switching to another religion later is grounds for expulsion from the organization).
• Must declare oneself shurat (which means “having sold their souls to god”).
• Must have killed someone in the name of Sidaru.

Identifying Item(s): a knife with a black marble handle, a copy of the Final Edict

Overview
The white sphinx Sidaru, Chronicler of Doom, Questioner of Souls, & the Sultan of Night, is a god that advocates peace above all else. War, strife, & conflict of all kinds are anathema to the quietude of the Obelisk. In the northwest of the continent, where the Church of Sidaru is strong, there are elements within the faith that feel as though the purity of the religion & its message are being lost due to increased intermingling with other cultures & their ideas. One of the most extreme groups reacting to this perceived trend is a widespread network of assassins known as the Sacred Knives.

The Sacred Knives are organized into semi-autonomous cells of about 6-8 members working in each major town or city. Members always operate undercover within their community, & can identify themselves to their brethren with the phrase, “Peace eternal be upon you.” The network is nominally organized by the Mullah of each cell, but communication can be sporadic, & each Mullah is given a great deal of freedom to conduct their cell’s affairs as they see fit. As a result, the organization is fractured, with many cells declaring that other cells are sacrilegious, & the entire network threatening to tear itself apart.

Today, the Knives target anyone who they see as insufficiently pious, or acting against the interests of Sidaru’s faith. This includes Sidarites & non-believers alike, although they tend to focus on heretics & apostates within the church more than practitioners of other religions. While they recognize that certain churches do little or no harm, many other faiths are deemed to be intolerable, & their followers should thus be killed with the same ritual & efficiency as those who corrupt the religion from within.

Abstractly, most members of the Sacred Knives recognize that they have strayed from Sidaru’s ideal, & their reaction to this realization varies greatly from cell to cell. Some pray & fast before every Sacred Cleansing, begging Sidaru to forgive the sin they commit in his name. Others act coldly & without mercy, knowing that they do exactly what they must. Still others take their victims alive & attempt to convince them to repent, killing only those who stubbornly refuse to see the truth. They police their own as fiercely as they judge others, & it is not uncommon for two cells to declare each other heretics.

The ritual of the Sacred Cleansing itself is elaborate & exacting, & must be performed before each sanctioned killing. A cell must pray for one full day before their actual strike, when they infiltrate their target’s home in the dead of night. A ritual dagger, forged specifically for the victim & with their name engraved in the blade, is used for the death-blow, which is always delivered to the heart. The Knives grant their victim their last rites & leave behind offerings for their family & dependents before disappearing into the night. Some cells choose to fast for a day & a night afterwards as penance for their deed; most do not, assured that their cause, being righteous, will absolve them of sin.

The Sacred Knives were originally founded by an assassin known only as the Forgotten, who had repented his once-wicked ways & turned to Sidaru. Despite his repentance, the Forgotten could never truly make peace with himself. He saw indulgent clergy corrupting the church, witches hiding in the congregations, & all manner of foulness bleeding out of the cracks & shadows. Seeing only a few clerics who were true to Sidaru’s teachings or untrained acolytes who did not know any better, the Forgotten despaired. It was then, they say, that he was told what to do by an angelic figure in the service of Sidaru. Gathering other disillusioned Sidarites to his side, the Forgotten cleansed the temples in a single night of blood & prayer.

Notable Members:

• Imam Kharz (Chaotic Neutral, Druid 6), half-ghul male
• Uduni wawa Sikin, the Long Shadow (Lawful Good, Paladin 9), gnoll female
• Mullah Urza el-Shuq, the Silent One (Lawful Neutral, Cleric 11), lizardfolk male

Leader(s): No formal leadership exists

Hierarchy:

• Muezzin: Legends say that the Forgotten’s original cell had seven members: himself, his two lieutenants, & four faithful acolytes. It is therefore tradition that each cell should have a similar structure, with a Mullah & their two Muhaddith leading four disciples, known as Muezzin. These assassins-in-training are taught the abnormal dogma of their cell, as well as the ways of the silent kill & how to perform the ritual of the Sacred Cleansing. They must work together to keep up the cell’s masquerade as normal citizens of whatever settlement that they operate from, but they are also encouraged to fiercely compete with one another for supremacy. Those that excel in their duties will be chosen to advance to the position of Muhaddith when one opens up, & such rivalry has been known to turn violent, or even deadly, on occasion. Benefit: A +2 competence bonus on all Hide & Move Silently checks, which increases by +2 for every rank beyond Muezzin (for example, a Mullah has a +6 bonus).
• Muhaddith: A cell almost always has two long-serving members who assist the Mullah with their operations, called the Muhaddith. The training of new recruits is often delegated to members of this rank, as is the maintenance of the cell’s meeting places, & any reconnaissance work that needs to be done to learn more about their current target. Like the Muezzin, their name is derived from a position within the Sidarite Church, although they have almost no connection with the clerics that bear such titles. Also like the lower-ranked Muezzin, there is a strong incentive among them to exceed their peers, which can lead to conflict within the cell. The most outstanding Muhaddith is likely to become the Mullah, but since the absence of the cell’s leader can quickly precipitate chaos, this is not always the case. Benefit: A +2d6 bonus to Sneak Attack damage; if a member does not already have the ability to use Sneak Attacks, he or she gains the ability to do so at this time.
• Mullah: No one knows for sure how many cells there are, but it is believed that there is less than three dozen altogether. Each cell of the network is led by a Mullah, who directs the flow of their righteous hatred, choosing who shall next become a target. They are also in charge of recruiting new members, establishing approved doctrine, & communicating with other cells when the need arises. A Mullah’s orders are supposed to be the final word on any disputes within a cell, but this can be a problematic solution when they are seen as having bias one way or the other. There have been cases where this sort of internal conflict has torn the cell apart, resulting in acrimony & death. Therefore, a common saying among the Sacred Knives is that a quiet cell is the sign of a successful Mullah, or a dead one. Benefit: A +2 inherent bonus to any one of one’s ability scores (choose one).

[Zeta Kai]

The Sandshapers

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Founding: ~769 IR (~415 years ago)

Membership: ~600

Influence: Regional (Alhurus Lake, Red Sands, Sahra Basit)

Key Class: Assassin

Standard Member: Sabi Rogue 5/Assassin 1

Entry Requirements

• Possess an Evil alignment (switching to a non-Evil alignment later is grounds for expulsion from the organization).
• 6 or more ranks in Bluff, Spellcraft, or Use Magic Device.
• Intelligence or Charisma 18+.
• The ability to cast 1st level arcane spells.

Identifying Item(s): a vial of ash viper poison, a packet full of dust of disappearance or dust of tracelessness

Overview
The southeast quadrant of the Central Continent is mostly covered in scorching desert & scoured badlands, an inhospitable wasteland largely devoid of life. The red sands of the Ral Zadi spread into the arid plains of the Sahra Basit, making a massive no-man’s-land that is literally millions of square miles in area. The dangers of these places are as numerous as they are deadly: punishing heat in the day, frigid winds in the night, an almost complete lack of food, & even less water.

But the most lethal hazard of these regions may be one of magic & flesh. As malevolent as the foulest ghul, as organized as the imperial armies of Ostaz, & as bloodthirsty as any dragon or harpy, the Sandshapers are a murderous cult of sorcerers that have spread fear & discord to every life that they touch. They have their members hiding in every settlement in the area, & they gather in the remote unpopulated places between cities & villages, far from prying eyes. They are said to stalk the land like a hateful shadow, waiting for the unwary or unwitting to wander off alone, so that they can carry off another victim to sacrifice.

In many cities throughout the area, they serve less scrupulous clients as bandits, burglars, thieves, & assassins-for-hire. They also offer their services to those in the black market as information brokers & traders of magical lore. Some accounts say that they are based around Meraya, while other sources place their headquarters near the Strait of Jima, which is said to be cursed by dark spirits. The truth may never be widely known, as the sect guards their secrets with blade & fire, & it is possible that they have no center of operations at all.

Their ultimate aim is said to be the accumulation of enough magical power to fuel a ritual of the darkest magic, which is believed to be capable of ending all life on Siraaj. This evil ceremony supposedly requires the painful sacrifice of thousands of sentient souls, which would explain the many disappearances in the area over the years. It is unknown how far from completion this procedure may be, if it even exists, but it is certain that they are working towards some dark & terrible goal.

What truly distinguishes the Sandshapers from other wicked cults is their unique ability to form objects & structures out of nothing but the dust beneath their feet. This power to shape the sand (which gives them their name) has apparently been used to craft underground tunnels, temporary shelters, & even to make weapons & armor. The bizarre sandstone formations seen in the Abyad Wastes seem to have been created by the cult using this skill. How they are able to do this so quickly & easily remains a subject for debate, but it is believed to derive from the same dark magic & sacrificial rituals that they use to further their ultimate objective.

Little is known about Sadira, the leader of the Sandshapers, but she is said to be a horrific & terrible figure, the living embodiment of malice & madness. Those few that have escaped the cult describe her as hideous & disgusting, a demon in a gnoll’s body, & quite possibly hatred incarnate. They claim that she often slaughters her subordinates, even when they have done nothing to displease her, & that she encourages them to betray their underlings in kind. The entire sect appears to promote the indulgence of one’s base desires, reveling in one’s power, & using said power to spread suffering, ruin, & death.

The agenda of the Sandshapers, as well as their destructive practices, ensures that they have few if any allies. The Last Lamp has organized multiple campaigns to destroy them, without much success. The communities of the Ral Zadi & the Sahra Basit have all attempted to drive them from their lands, with mixed results. Only the followers of Maqur seem to have any affinity for them, which has resulted in both groups becoming more dangerous, to the detriment everyone else in the area.

Notable Members:

• Rajul Hakim the Wise (Lawful Evil, Wizard 6/Alchemist 2), human male
• Zordo Tarib (Neutral Evil, Sorcerer 11), half-dao male

Leader(s): Sadira (Chaotic Evil, Bard 6/Assassin 9), gnoll female

Hierarchy:

• No real hierarchy exists for this organization. Benefit: A +2 bonus to one’s caster level, or a +2d6 bonus to Sneak Attack damage.

[Zeta Kai]

The Scarlet Sentinels

Alignment: Lawful Good

Founding: 343 AF (12 years ago)

Membership: ~50

Influence: Local (City of God)

Standard Member: Kobold Commoner 2

Entry Requirements

• There are no requirements, but a member must pay the entry dues of 10gp (later, another 10gp in dues will be collected annually).

Identifying Item(s): an armband depicting an upraised fist in red

Overview
Life in the City of God can be dangerous, especially if one lives in one of its less-wealthy districts. While most of the city is relatively safe & well-protected by the city guard, certain parts such as Ghultown & Warehouse Row are notorious for the rampant crime that plagues them. The local thieves’ guild, known as the Hand of Dusk, operates with virtual impunity, & the authorities are seemingly powerless to halt their predations.

But there is one part of Muarzibet that is almost completely crime-free, a place where such activities are simply not tolerated. The Dock Street West district, sometimes referred to as Scaleytown (due to the high density of lizardfolk & kobolds living there), is just such a place, running along the western shoreline of the town. The neighborhood is always buzzing with maritime activity, but it remains rather calm & safe compared to more lawless areas like Dock Street East.

While Key-Master Absuliqar & other city officials would like to take credit, it is not the city guard that is responsible for this remarkable accomplishment. The entire district is patrolled by a militant neighborhood watch group calling itself the Scarlet Sentinels. The organization’s volunteers keep a vigilant eye out for any signs of criminal behavior, reporting any incidents to their brethren immediately. Together, they converge on a site of suspected crime, so that they can collectively deal with any threat to their homes & families.

The Scarlet Sentinels were started by a local kobold baker named Jarir, who still heads the group today. Thirteen years ago, his wife & daughter were brutally attacked & killed by a vicious gang of thugs, which had been terrorizing Scaleytown with escalating acts for months. The city guard never arrested anyone for the crime, as the gang disappeared shortly afterward. Jarir, despite being stricken with maddening grief, decided to take matters into his own hands, & vowed to never let his friends & neighbors suffer as he had.

While the group does successfully keep crime down in the area, they have not been fully embraced by the city’s proper authorities. The sultan & his advisers consider them a tolerable nuisance, something that should be beneath their notice. The members of the city guard view them as an embarrassment, & have been known to harass them from time to time. Key-Master Absuliqar in particular seems to hate them, & he reminds them that they are technically violating the city’s laws whenever they detain a criminal without an official arrest permit, which is rarely if ever granted.

Part of the reason (or at least the justification) for the official dislike of the Scarlet Sentinels is the fact that the group has been showing signs of extremism in recent months. They have been known to make false accusations against innocent people, & their tactics have become increasingly violent. This development is as troubling to Jarir as it is to the city guard, but while he is attempting to put a stop to the fanaticism, other elements within the organization don’t think that they go far enough, & are pushing for more aggressive action.

Notable Members:

• Tagh ul-Qasr (Lawful Neutral, Monk 3), lizardfolk male
• Mother Naur (Neutral Good, Commoner 4), hawasabi female

Leader(s): Jarir (Lawful Good, Expert 3/Paladin 2), kobold male

Hierarchy:

• No real hierarchy exists for this organization. Benefit: A +2 resistance bonus on all saving throws.

[Zeta Kai]

The Shaarduula

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Founding: Unknown (decades, possibly even centuries, ago)

Membership: ~100

Influence: Local (Nila)

Key Class: Sorcerer

Standard Member: Half-Genie Sorcerer 6

Entry Requirements

• Possess a non-Lawful alignment (switching to a Lawful alignment later is grounds for expulsion from the organization).
• Charisma 18+.
• The ability to cast 3rd level arcane spells.
• An invitation from a current member of the organization in good standing.
• Taking a vow of silence regarding the organization & its activities (this is backed by a geas spell upon entry to the organization).

Identifying Item(s): a glass lantern, a pair of pearls, black gloves

Overview
In the sunless, mist-covered world of Najmah, magic is an everyday part of life. To those who live there, the practice of magic is not something to be feared or outlawed. Indeed, the inhabitants of the Plane of Night are infused with magic to varying degrees, making it an integral part of their very being. But even there, magic is not a wholly benign force; it can be used for ill purposes as easily as just ones, & there are some who would further dark agendas with its power.

If rumors are to be believed, a shadowy cabal of sorcerers known as the Shaarduula is a group that uses magic to such an end. While it seems that no one can say for sure, it is said that they wish to gain control of those with political power, bending them to their will & forcing them to facilitate their goals. What those goals may be is a matter of some debate among interested parties, but there can be no doubt, given what is known about the group, that they cannot be good for the people of Najmah.

There are some scholars from the city of Nila that have put forth the idea that the Shaarduula is really a cult of some sort for one of the less pleasant religions, & that they are working to spread their faith by undermining rival churches. A less popular theory is that they are a front group for the rakshasas, led by Ahuma & the Tiger’s Claw. Another charge, one supported by Nila’s ruling council, is that they are a terrorist organization with revolutionary leanings, & that they wish to supplant the council & install a magocratic regime. There are even tales of them being in league with demons, attempting to raise some ancient, slumbering evil that has been sealed deep within the earth. The truth may never be known, however, as this enigmatic cabal keeps its secrets all too well.

One of the few facts that is not in dispute is that the Shaarduula is allied with Sankara Jagdish Lobhin, the ambitious leader of House Jagdish & most outspoken member of the ruling council of Nila. Sankara wants to abolish the council, eliminate the city’s house system, & see Nila become a khanate, as it was centuries ago before the rise of the houses. It is not known whether the mysterious sect shares his objectives, or if they have an ulterior motive. But despite his claims to the contrary, Sankara has been reported to be meeting with representatives from the Shaarduula on a regular basis.

Multiple efforts have been made, by various parties, to learn more about the Shaarduula, but every single one of them have ended in failure (& madness or death, in some cases). If the cabal & its members are notorious for anything, it is their ability to utterly vanish under a watchful eye, disappearing with startling ease. According to reports, they cannot be tracked or traced, they leave no evidence of their presence, & divinations invariably fail. They have been known to display magical powers far beyond what they should be capable of, & it is suspected that the group has access to sort source of arcane power that is as potent as it is worrisome.

Notable Members:

• The Tall One (Neutral Evil, Sorcerer 7), unknown male
• The Shapely One (Chaotic Evil, Sorcerer 10), unknown female
• The Mad One (Chaotic Neutral, Sorcerer 14), unknown male

Leader(s): Unknown (believed to be a single individual of great & terrible power)

Hierarchy:

• No known hierarchy exists for this organization. Benefit: A member of this organization can cast spells without using the somatic or verbal components; other component restrictions still apply.

[Zeta Kai]

The Tiger’s Claw

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Founding: Unknown (centuries, possibly even millennia, ago)

Membership: Unknown (many members are only dimly aware of the organization’s true nature)

Influence: Global (Najmah & Siraaj)

Standard Member: Gnoll Ranger 4/Rogue 1

Entry Requirements

• There are no requirements, but only a member in good standing can issue an invitation to join.

Identifying Item(s): a block of incense, the claw (or whole paw) of a large cat

Overview
Betrayal. Corruption. Deceit. Damnation. No discussion of the rakshasas can avoid topics or terms such as these, for they virtually define the nature of these sinister beings. Even in the ever-night world of Najmah, a place where literal demons & devils walk the land searching for lives to destroy & souls to enslave, the rakshasas are particularly feared & reviled. A rakshasa is seen as not so much an evil being as it is a nexus of malevolence, an incarnation of spite & sin.

But still, despite their famed wickedness, they still manage to find others foolish enough to work for them. They do this mostly through their usual routes of lies, blackmail, & threats of harm, ensnaring all who deal with them in ever-tightening webs of words & deeds that spiral down into oblivion. Many of the rakshasas work independently, furthering their own agendas by themselves, but the most successful do so in collective organizations. And none is more successful than the greatest & most terrible of all the rakshasas, Ahuma, the Raja of the Tiger’s Claw.

The Tiger’s Claw is a widespread network of operatives, although just how widespread is a matter of dispute. Some scholars believe that there are only a few dozen members at most, & that they are mostly on the Plane of Night. Other experts cite anecdotal evidence that there are hundreds, possibly thousands of agents, infiltrating the peoples of Siraaj as easily as those of Najmah. The debate is unlikely to be settled soon, as the group does not give up its secrets easily or without consequence, but it can be agreed that it is one of only a handful of organizations that operates effectively on both sides of the planar boundary.

Most of the network’s operatives are otherwise-ordinary mortal beings, people of all races & backgrounds. They work on farms & in taverns. They weave cloth & build houses. They pay their taxes & attend their local temple or shrine. Most of them are only faintly cognizant of what the Tiger’s Claw, what its purpose is, & why they are a part of it. Only a few know the whole truth & understand its implications, & they are so caught up in the group’s machinations that they would never dare betray it or leave it behind.

The Tiger’s Claw & its members work mostly through front organizations & various guises, subverting other groups & manipulating them from the inside. They operate more openly on Najmah, but their presence on Siraaj is not widely known, as they mostly lurk in the shadows, moving with precision & guile. The Circle of Jalud, at least one true druidic circle, the Ring of Sapphire, the Sandshapers, & the Shaarduula are all in their thrall to varying extents, & they are believed to have double agents in many other organizations, as well. Their operatives view one another (& sometimes even themselves) as completely expendable in the fulfillment on their missions, & maintaining the façade of their intrigues is of paramount importance to them.

The network gravitates toward the Paths of Darkness, & its members can often be found near one of them, if one knows who to look for. They seem to work against the followers of Akasha & Sunya more than those of other religions, for reasons that are unexplained. They are at war with the avorals, the eternal foes of the rakshasas. The Tiger’s Claw has no true allies, as their goals are inimical to all other beings, but they can usually trick others into aiding them when they need to do so.

Notable Members:

• Zui izud-Hazanim (Lawful Neutral, Expert 3), human female
• Sirus gar Nimr, the Gray Blade (Lawful Good, Monk 6), gnoll male
• Mughri the Seducer (Chaotic Evil, Rogue 5/Assassin 3), half-ghul female
• Zardula (Neutral Evil, Fighter 10), rakshasa female

Leader(s): Nominally, Ahuma (Lawful Evil, Sorcerer 10/Djinn Lord 4/Archmage 5), rakshasa male

Hierarchy:

• Padatika: It is thought that a majority of the network is made up of low-ranking pawns, informants, potential scapegoats, decoys, & cannon fodder. Also known as the Bhatas, these lowly foot-soldiers know very little about the organization, & may not fully understand that they are a member. A typical recruitment starts with a person who has fallen on hard times, or has some other pressing need. Suddenly, a stranger appears that offers the unfortunate soul an easy way out of their crisis. All that is asked of the desperate person is a small favor, usually some illicit act or minor embarrassment. Later, the supposed savior returns, asking for more & more in return for their aid. If the troubled soul refuses, the recruiter will produce evidence of their misdeeds, & threaten to expose them unless they comply. Once the trap is sprung, few escape the clutches of the Tiger’s Claw, & none do so unscathed. Benefit: A +1 morale bonus on all Will saves, which increases by +1 for every rank beyond Padatika (for example, an Asva has a +3 bonus, while a Mantri has a bonus of +5).
• Ratha: Just above the Padatikas are those that know just enough to be dangerous. Unlike the pawns below them, members of this rank actively choose to further the network’s agenda, serving the Tiger’s Claw without needing to be blackmailed. They are generally recruited from among various criminal organizations, as people with that sort of background usually have desirable skills & a willingness to use them for the right price. They are typically assigned to infiltrate urban communities, as well as religious or secular groups, & report on their activities. Sometimes called Chariots for their tendency to travel far from home, they also act as the networks messengers, carrying information & supplies from one place to another as needed. For this reason, they can often be found working with pilgrimages or mercantile caravans. Benefit: A +4 resistance bonus on all Fortitude saves.
• Asva: The Tiger’s Claw often needs operatives who are ready & willing to get their hands dirty, to take decisive action when called upon, even if it means that someone may (& usually will) have to die in the process. Also known as the Damaras, members of this rank perform their duties without complaint, from making an example of a recalcitrant merchant to silencing a possible breach of secrecy. They are commonly chosen from among the most effective of the Rathas, those who accomplish their missions quickly & without regard for the feelings of others. Many of them, in fact, are sociopaths, & would likely be murderers even if they were not already contracted to kill. While they may be mere mortals, the fact that they are capable of such deeds while maintaining a mask of normality makes them just as monstrous as any rakshasa. Benefit: A +2d6 bonus to Sneak Attack damage; if a member does not already have the ability to use Sneak Attacks, he or she gains the ability to do so at this time.
• Gaja: Any group as large as the Tiger’s Claw tends to get attention from those that it affects. Therefore, the network needs members that can not only cover their own tracks, but also obfuscate the activities of their brethren. The Gajas fulfill that role quite well, spreading disinformation, discrediting witnesses, destroying evidence, & generally doing anything & everything that they can to ensure that the group & its goals are as furtive & anonymous as possible. A powerful incentive for doing so is the fact that those who fail & allow a leak of information to occur are themselves deleted just as ruthlessly. Also known as Elephants for their own prodigious memory & dogged intractability, the Gaja are often picked from the Asvas with the most efficiency & discretion. They generally have an air of disdain for members of other ranks, whom they view as messy children that they must clean up after. Benefit: An increase in their base land speed of +20’.
• Mantri: The Tiger’s Claw survives because of its decentralized nature, which is actually carefully maintained by a small team of coordinators. Also known as the Ministers, the Generals, or the Senapati, the Mantri form a loose network within the loose network that is the organization. They know the whereabouts of every secret operative, every hidden cache, & every plot, plan, & ploy in their sphere, an astounding achievement given the complexity of their myriad machinations. They direct their subordinates to advance the groups’s objectives, frequently issuing commands that make no sense to the underlings who must carry them out, & just as often put the lower ranks in harm’s way. They tend to be very callous, casually sending dozens of people to their deaths the same way that one would dispose of some garbage. Their lack of empathy is such that there are those within the group who suspect that some of the Mantri are actually rakshasas in mortal form, but this belief has no proof as yet to back it. Benefit: A +4 inherent bonus to one’s Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score (choose one).
• Raja: The undisputed eternal king of the Tiger’s Claw is the immortal (& immoral) White Beast of the Black Valley, Ahuma. He uses his minions within the network as a chess master would move his pieces across the board, & he is never hesitant to sacrifice one (or more) if it will help him win in the end. It is said that the entire group is nothing more than one weapon in his arsenal against the rest of the two worlds, & that his countless schemes could never be bound to a single organization. A demanding perfectionist & a master manipulator, he excels at pushing his thralls to achieve what was once thought impossible, even if it breaks them in the process. His thirst for power has driven him to set his sights on the seven Paths of Darkness, which he plans to one day control. If he can unite them under his command, he can possibly rebuild the Bridge of Shadow, allowing him to potentially rule both Siraaj & Najmah with his stripe-furred paw. Benefit: A +8 profane bonus on all Diplomacy & Intimidate checks.

[Zeta Kai]

The Trailblazers

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Founding: 353 AF (2 years ago)

Membership: ~150

Influence: Local (Fandaq)

Standard Member: Half-Genie Expert 1

Entry Requirements

• There are no requirements, but only a member in good standing can issue an invitation to join.

Identifying Item(s): a red merchant’s cord, a sarsaok’s horn (hollowed out for use as a musical instrument), a sprig of mint

Overview
Fandaq is also known as the City of Wonders, & its reputation is well-deserved. As a bustling economic hub, the city never truly sleeps, & there is always something to see or do. It is one of the wealthiest settlements on the continent, per capita, & it boasts some of the most beautiful architecture on Siraaj, making most other cities look like shanty towns by comparison. But it is also a city of crime, where common thugs & pickpockets prey upon anyone who can’t afford a bodyguard or three, & even the highest seats of government are sold to the highest bidder in back-room auctions.

One factor that exacerbates this culture of corruption is the vicious competition between rival merchant companies that has raging for decades. Long ago, there was once a single unified merchant’s guild that managed all of the commerce going through the city. But that union was broken up into countless independent corporations, which have fought with one another (& new upstarts) for dominance ever since. One such business is a relatively-small new shipping concern called the Trailblazers, owned & operated by a silver-tongued trader named Nuri izr-Elaqras.

Nuri is a mover & shaker in the mercantile politics of the City of Wonders, one whose innovative techniques & business savvy are influential to other traders. Even as a young man, this clever merchant prince made a name for himself in the politics of Fandaq, which is closely intertwined with the economics of the city-state. He formed the Trailblazers in response to a need for cheap, reliable shipping services, seeing that the existing shipping magnates were charging exorbitant fees for ferry & freighter use. This has made him very rich, but it has also made him (& his company) several enemies.

The Trailblazers may be a tiny business compared to its more-established rivals, but it more than makes up for its size with its ambition. The group is always searching for talented individuals, & is hoping to begin some aggressive expansion. Other merchant princes are worried about this dynamic new competition, & are attempting to sabotage the venture. Most troubling to other interests is the company’s ability to deliver shipments at nigh-impossible speeds without ever being seen on the road.

Most of the people that are employed by the Trailblazers are couriers, caravan drivers, & pack riders, simply trained to transport goods from one place to another. There are, however, some members that have more specialized duties. Aside from the expected appraisers, dealers, & managers, the company has hired a small team of mages that facilitate every aspect of their operations, from repairing broken goods to teleporting cargo en masse. These “dedicated care technicians” are kept away from prying eyes, but rumors of their existence have spread anyway, fueling cries from competitors of foul play.

While their business may currently be booming, rival companies are not the only threat to the Trailblazers’ continued prosperity. Anti-magic groups like Al Sihr Qanissi hamper their efforts & ask many uncomfortable questions, while their operations in the Northern Wastes have been stymied by interference from the Nakhar Network. They also must contend with agents from the Ring of Sapphire, which are attempting to manipulate events in Fandaq & other nearby settlements. However, not all of their interactions with other organizations are negative; the Alchemy Guild serves as their largest supplier of magical items, & they employ many refugees from the Dar-Amal. They must be vigilant, though, if they are going to thrive (or even survive) in a city of endless intrigue.

Notable Members:

• Lady Qurai aq-Ibar (Neutral Good, Aristocrat 3), human female
• Jheth the Ghost (Lawful Evil, Wizard 5), half-ghul female
• Aden Rafi al-Nar (True Neutral, Bard 8), narsabi male

Leader(s): Nuri izr-Elaqras (Chaotic Good, Bard 6/Expert 1), half-efreet male

Hierarchy:

• No real hierarchy exists for this organization. Benefit: A +2 insight bonus on Diplomacy & Sense Motive checks made when conducting a business deal with customers.

[Zeta Kai]

The Trueseekers

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Founding: Unknown (several contradictory reports exist, placing its foundation anywhere from 10 years ago to before the Age of Kingdoms)

Membership: Unknown (unreliable reports vary from several dozen to several thousand)

Influence: Continental (Central Continent)

Standard Member: Human Cleric 3/Diviner 1

Entry Requirements

• Must have once been contacted by the Darshan or their agents & given a task by them

Identifying Item(s): the holy symbol of the Darshan, an eye patch

Overview
It is one thing to have convictions concerning one’s religion. It is quite another to have the kind of certainty that comes with meeting one’s god face-to-face. That sort of spiritual experience is so potent as to change one’s life forever, & can be overwhelming even for those who would pretend to be prepared for such a thing. Those who claim to be touched by their gods are commonly regarded as mad, & by most standards, that assessment would be correct.

For reasons unknown, the agents of the Darshan are more active on Siraaj than those of other divinities, & they often conscript mortal beings to further their agendas. Those that receive this “gift” are typically shocked to be in the presence of the divine, & the spiritual revelation has effects that linger long after the visitation has ended. Regardless of whether they succeed or fail at their assigned task, many of them can no longer live like they once did, & some of them are bit disturbed by the ordeal. It is for this last group that the Trueseekers were formed to help.

The Trueseekers are a diverse assembly of pilgrims, outcasts, & madmen, all attempting to cope in various ways with their brush with the divine. At some point in their life, each of them was brought into the service of the Darshan, & none of them can surrender the memory of that event. They either succeeded or failed in the duty that they were charged with, resulting in the termination of their contact with the triple divinity. However, by the strength of their faith, the devotion to their worship, or their obsession with the prophetic power, each of them was left with some portion of the glory granted by the Secret Ones.

Most notably, the Trueseekers often have flashes of visions from the past, present, or future, insights which unfortunately push them further towards obsessive mania or depression & withdrawal. These visions are usually related to their original task, as assigned by the representatives of the Darshan. This has led some to suggest that their service to the Hierophants has never truly ended, & that they continue to act as divine agents in perpetuity. While some of them take solace in this & view it as a singular purpose in life, others despair that they cannot escape their calling, while still more reject this theory outright, preferring alternative explanations for these flashes.

It would be easy to dismiss the Trueseekers as pitiable, harmless madmen, if it were not for the fact that their visions are disturbingly detailed & uncannily accurate. These flashes give them knowledge that they should not have: the long-kept secrets of supposed strangers, awareness of hidden objects, or prophetic predictions of future events. While they are rarely acted upon to their full potential, these perceptions offer those who experience them a unique power, one that sets members of this group apart from others.

While this organization may be nebulous, loosely-bound, & leaderless, the Trueseekers are tied together in a way that is poorly understood, even by themselves. They are occasionally drawn to a particular place at a particular time, gathering at a seemingly-random site for no apparent reason. At these ad hoc gatherings, they will meet one another & exchange information, including the visions that they have seen. In this way, the collective hopes to pool their knowledge & solve the mystery that defines their existence. Many of them believe that if they collect enough pieces of this puzzle, some great revelation will be discovered, leading to the world’s salvation… or its undoing.

Notable Members:

• Dib gar Qamar, the Mask of the Moons (Neutral Good, Druid 3), gnoll male
• Arun Esham of the Three Rings (Chaotic Neutral, Bard 8), human female
• Abia Wildscale (Lawful Good, Monk 13), kobold female
• Bassira the All-Seeing (Chaotic Good, Paladin 18), half-ghul male, AKA Bazra the Blind

Leader(s): No formal leadership exists

Hierarchy:

• No real hierarchy exists for this organization. Benefit: Periodic visions of the past, present, &/or future (the DM should treat these as random divination spells, uncontrolled by the character).

[Zeta Kai]

The Urban Planning Council

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Founding: 37 AF (318 years ago)

Membership: ~100

Influence: Local (City of God)

Standard Member: Human Expert 1

Entry Requirements

• Possess a Lawful alignment (switching to a non-Lawful alignment later is grounds for expulsion from the organization).
• Intelligence 13+.
• 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (Architecture & Engineering) or Knowledge (Local).

Identifying Item(s): a leather-bound notebook or scroll of parchment, a badge of office, a length of measuring ribbon

Overview
Muarzibet, better known as the City of God, is a beautiful place. Its streets are clean, its parks are lush, & even its markets, with all their hustle & bustle, are well-maintained. The buildings themselves are neat & tidy as well, conforming to the same basic shapes: single-story cubes made of thick local sandstone blocks. Even the roads themselves form a perfectly-predictable grid, radiating from the Market Square plaza without deviation or exception. All of this orderliness is the work of the Urban Planning Council, a branch of the local government that is responsible for keeping the city’s growth under control & in synch with its original design.

Unlike most other settlements, & unique among major cities, the City of God was a planned community, designed to meet the vision of its founder, Shimha Qirus. The great aazlai general was later lionized after his death, & eventually declared a god in his own right: Qirus, the Stoic Watcher. While his earthly work to establish a city dedicated to his own god, Sidaru, was largely forgotten, the foundation of that dream lived on, subverted by his followers.

The city’s first sultan, Zimbala aq-Zur, wished to validate his rise to power in 37 AF, so he instituted several policies to appeal to the masses, which had largely shifted to worshiping the then-nascent Lion God. One such measure was the creation of the Urban Planning Council, which would follow the “divine plan” of the city’s “holy founder,” thereby connecting the new government with the popular Church of Qirus. Thus, the council has been regulating the appearance of the city & its buildings ever since.

Today, construction rules & guidelines in the City of God are tightly controlled by the council, greatly limiting new expansion. From its office in the Divine Assembly Hall, its agents dictate who can build what & where they can build it within the confines of the city walls, & exemptions from their directives are rarely granted. It has only been within recent years, as the town has filled up to capacity, that the council has finally approved plans to build beyond the city gates at all. They still limit construction & renovation to their approved plans & overarching designs, preventing the citizenry (& even other government branches) from deviating from their prescribed norm.

Members of the Urban Planning Council claim that they are acting in accordance with a “divine plan” that was laid out by Shimha Qirus himself when he first founded the City of God. In reality, he merely sketched a rough idea for his vision of a city, being more of a military leader than a civic engineer. The council is really just following policies put in place by past sultans, previous ministers, & council leaders that are long since dead & gone. They do not speak of this discrepancy in public, of course, & the lack of a true singular design for the city is their best-kept secret, something even most sultans (including the current one) has never known.

In days past, the Urban Planning Council enjoyed the full support of the sultan & the rest of the local government. As an adaptable, conservative, & somewhat-conformist people, the populace has always taken the strictures put in place by the council with a shrug & a sigh. But the previous administration under Zaman aq-Simur was much more lax & blithe than those of previous sultans. This eroded support for the council, both within the government & outside of it, & it has yet to recover under the current ruler, as Zaman’s son Usaf has not reversed his father’s position in regards to the council. Its members are struggling to find their role in this new era, & there appears to be a schism growing among them, as some wish to embrace the new paradigm, while others staunchly reject it.

Notable Members:

• Majida Longtooth (Lawful Evil, Expert 2), kobold female
• Buzha Scriber (Lawful Neutral, Rogue 4), lizardfolk male
• Leila al-Gasaq (Lawful Evil, Wizard 6), human female

Leader(s): Mamud Hussain aq-Adua (Lawful Good, Aristocrat 2/Bard 3/Cleric 7) human male

Hierarchy:

• No real hierarchy exists for this organization. Benefit: A +4 morale bonus to resist the effects of Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Forgery, Intimidate, & Sleight of Hand skill checks made against them.

[Lord_Gareth]

Awesome work on the organizations, Zeta. I've only got one source of confusion, and it has to do with certain (but not all) alignment-based entry requirements.

To use the Sacred Knives as an easy example, the entry requirement of being evil-aligned (but with no requirement to stay evil-aligned) confuses me. Obviously the purpose and methods the majority of the Knives uphold are, at best, morally questionable (and that's if they're actually showing target discretion - it's pretty much just straight-up evil in other events). However, as you mentioned, some cells don't uphold those same practices and instead try much less questionable actions such as trying to convince their targets to repent. Obviously, these cells also recruit amongst the faithful of the Sultan of Night and, furthermore, are rather deliberately attempting to avoid the tactics that make the rest of the Knives tend towards evil alignments.

In light of information like that (and in similar cases - feel free to use another org as an example if you like), how do organizations with such 'moral leeway' enforce or look for alignment requirements? Is it the training or initiation (vicious tortures designed to test the mettle of applicants, harsh obstacle courses filled with lethal traps, murderous tests of faith and loyalty)? A specific mindset sought that is then altered by 'deviant' members of the organization? Just a majority tendency to be waived in specific cases by the Dungeon Master ('Ah, yes, recruited by the Falling Doves, makes sense')? And in cases such as with the Knives where they deliberately seek and destroy beings of certain alignments (chaos and/or evil, in this case, representing their stand against 'corruption of the faith'), how do they check into the morals of their membership when detect evil and other alignment-verification abilities don't differentiate between a Knife-initiate and a heretical necromancer?

[Zeta Kai]

Query

Here's Afro's opinion on the whole thing, which is better than any answer that I could manage (compiled from IRC):

well, off the cuff, I'd guess initiation practices are just heavily ingrained in all members

so even if you have a particularly apathetic chapter, when it comes to recruits they crack out The Rules and run people through them

nobody ever said organizations couldn't be hypocrites

not to mention most organizations don't actively think of themselves as "evil"

so it's not like a bunch of good-aligned guys are running down a checklist and assessing for EEEEVIL

instead, they're going back to when THEY joined and the sorts of beliefs they then held

for some, honestly, it might even be pragmatic: you can only really learn about the organization by following its path

sure your group might be Lawful Good, but it specifically wants recruits to make the transition from Lawful Evil along the path the founders established.