The League of Shadows

The League of Shadows, or the Brotherhood as it is sometimes called by its members, is a secret society that deals in espionage, spying, and assassination. While not solely a group of assassins as is commonly thought by those who have heard its name, its aims and goals are shrouded in mystery. Indeed, very few of its rank & file members are even aware of their order's true goals and motivations.

Sisters in the Brotherhood

While the majority of the members in the Brotherhood are male, there is no restriction against women joining either the League or the Brotherhood. In truth, several of the League's most valuable and capable assets are women. The term Sister is used informally in referring to the females of the Brotherhood, but is never used in communiques or official documents. This is partially for security, but is also simply traditional.

The League & The Brotherhood

While commonly spoken of as being one and the same, there are certain subtle differences. The League of Shadows is an organization that deals in espionage and assassination. The Brotherhood is a blood-bonded group that virtually all members of the League belong. All of the League's leaders belong to the Brotherhood, and admission to the League without joining the Brotherhood is only granted by permission of the Order of Five, and in all known cases, with a number of strictures attached to that membership.

League Hierarchy

• The Hand The supposed leader of the Order of Five, no one (outside of the Order of Five) know whether The Hand actually exists, who it is, or if they are simply a rumor created for the amusement of the Order. No known official record of the current or past holders of this position exists.
• Order of Five This is the final authority of the League, the group that rules both the League and the Brotherhood. There is always at least one member of the Order in residence at the Sanctuary at all times. Few of the Brothers know the members of this Order, and even fewer still know them all.
• High Brotherhood The High Brotherhood (members of the High Brotherhood are called Seniors) is a council of senior members of the League, and generally the only leaders a rank-and-file Brother will know.
• Elders Elders are not strictly speaking an official part of the League hierarchy. Rather, an Elder is simply a long-time member of the Brotherhood, someone who has simply survived the rigors of life as an active member of the League over many decades. Although they have no official standing, those who are called Elders commonly serve as members of the High Brotherhood, teach more junior members, and help to advance the goals of the League.
• Evaluators These are members of the Brotherhood trusted and certified to evaluate potential contacts. All members of the High Brotherhood are experienced evaluators.

League Guildhalls

The League has several levels of guildhall. These halls vary in size and in what services they may offer. Each hall will know the number and (sometimes) location of all Brothers in the area.

• Sanctuary The League Sanctuary is located in Shadowmoor, and is the headquarters of both the League and the Brotherhood.
• Strongholds Strongholds are League-controlled places which train prospective assets and provide Brothers a safe, secure place to outfit themselves, rest, and heal. Potential contracts may be fully evaluated and sanctioned, and Brothers may find contracts for sale. A stronghold will always have (or may gather) a full cohort of the High Brotherhood.
• League Outposts Outposts are member-controlled places where Brothers may find refuge and contracts are evaluated. Contracts may occasionally be available for sale, but this is not guaranteed.
• Safehouses These are often the homes or shops of individual Brothers, and provide refuge for individual members of the Brotherhood.
• Thieves' Guilds In places where no League presence exists, assets may generally find refuge with a local Thieves' Guild. Often, the Guild can direct Brothers towards the nearest safehouse or outpost. In general, the Thieves' Guild will work with members of the the League as a "fellow craft".

Strongholds

The League maintains various Strongholds throughout Ardrigh and elsewhere. All of these strongholds have at least one private apartment kept for members of the Five, and a few have more. Each stronghold has rooms for permanent and traveling Brothers, as well as teaching & training areas, meeting halls, cooking & dining areas, and a library. Many have a lethal apothecary, and all strongholds maintain a store of poisons of various types for use and sale.

Joining the Brotherhood

Gaining admission to the Brotherhood or the League of Shadows is not a trivial matter, and is only undertaken by those who are ready to uphold the goals of the League (even if they know not what those goals are). Many who join are initially sponsored by a current Brother of League asset. Others seek out the League themselves, but since neither the League or the Brotherhood hang out a sign, simply finding a League Outpost or Stronghold can be a minor quest in and of itself. Merely finding a League-affiliated holding is not enough, it is also necessary to discreetly convince a Brother (or other asset) that you have a genuine desire to join their secret society. Only after that can one request admission.

Once a candidate has been accepted, they are evaluated and (only if found worthy) they will be paired with an experienced instructor. While fellow craft (generally those who are already a member of a thieves' guild) may be given some classroom instruction with a group, most others will be given individual instruction. This can last from four months to a year, and occasionally longer, and a candidate may have anywhere from two to six separate instructors. During this time, basic and advanced training will be given in the fields of stealth, poisons, disguise, and even thieves' cant. The candidate will learn the basics of evaluating a potential mark, surveillance, espionage, and writing up a full and complete dossier. During training, the student will participate in actual assassinations, and will be provided a graduation contract (assassination or (rarely) espionage), in which they will complete all phases of the contract, including: infiltration, elimination of the mark, planting evidence as necessary, and exfiltration (generally back to the stronghold where they began their training). Once they arrive at the stronghold, they must bypass security in order to reach an inner portion of hall, doing so without being discovered in the process.

Once their training and the graduation contract is complete, the prospective brother will be questioned, taught certain signs & countersigns of the League, and be instructed in the final ceremony in which they bind themselves to the Brotherhood and their fellows.

After the candidate has been inducted into the Brotherhood, they will generally be given some final instruction dependent upon where they intend to go. Many Brothers will join a stronghold or outpost, while others choose to return home to establish their our safehouse. And others elect to become wanderers, picking up contracts wherever they can.

Brotherhood Binding

The final phase of joining the Brotherhood is a blood-binding ceremony that links all Brothers into the "family of shadow". The oath requires the following commitments:

It is possible to be excommunicated from the Brotherhood, but this requires a ceremony to be conducted by the entire Order of Five. Excommunication causes the immediate loss of all Brotherhood benefits, and causes 5d10 poison damage (no save possible). You take this damage immediately if you are on the same plane of existence where the ceremony was conducted, or immediately upon returning to it.

League Services

Assassination

Where the League of Shadows is known at all, they are renowned as first rate assassins (public and private). The true extent of killings done by the Brotherhood is often underestimated, as many Brothers prefer private assassinations whenever possible.

Espionage

Even though the League is best known for expert hired killers, it's greatest impact often comes from the works of it's information society. Those who discover the secrets of kings, trade guilds, or even the well-placed aristocratic are in a position to potentially topple empires (or extort a kingdom's ransom not to).

Troubadours

While many people know the League performs assassinations, and some might realize that espionage is also possible, few realize the extent or scope of the Brotherhood's troubadours. Most troubadours work in the area of public espionage (the gathering of information from crowds and the common folk), few understand the effect of a well-crafted rumor (true or otherwise), and even the open dissemination of a well-kept secret. While the troubadours may not be a large or glamorous branch of the League, the work they do can make a larger impact than a well-placed dagger.

Extortion

While the League does not generally accept extortion contracts, they are not above the practice when it suits their purposes. In general, blackmail is used as a means to another end, and it is exceptionally rare for brothers who partake in these sorts of contracts to know anything whatsoever in relation to the reasons such a contract was accepted.

Contracts

Before a potential contract is accepted, it must be evaluated by a member of the League who has been certified to judge whether the contract will further the aims and goals of the League. If a contract is accepted (provisionally), it is then assessed as to difficulty, and a price is determined for what the League will charge to fulfill said contract. Accepted contracts may be fulfilled directly (by assets connected to the stronghold or outpost that evaluated the contract) or placed for sale (listed for fulfillment by local Brothers and rarely passed onto other trusted assets.

In general, unless otherwise specified in a contract, 90% of the listed price will be the amount paid to the asset(s) who fulfill said contract, the remainder going to the League stronghold or outpost who sold the contract.

Contracts fulfilled while under training require the remittance of at least half the net proceeds go to the training instructor. The sole exception is "graduation contracts", in which all net profits go the League.

Freelance Work

Members of the Brotherhood are encouraged to seek out League guidance before undertaking freelance work. Particularly in cases where a contract would warrant a price in excess of 750 gp, all League members are advised to bring the Mark to the attention of an experienced Evaluator before proceeding. Assassination of anyone listed on the League's whitelist (see below) by a Brother risks sanction, and possibly excommunication.

The Lists

The League maintains several lists of prominent individuals, positions, and trades that are of special interest. These lists, and those upon them, are detailed below:

The Whitelist

Those on the whitelist are those who are deemed under the protection of the League, and must not be targeted unless explicitly marked by the Order of Five. Assassination of these individuals would likely cause major political or economic upheaval. In addition, any request for a contract against persons on the whitelist necessitates dossiers to be created (or updated) on each person requesting such a contract.

The Greenlist

The greenlist comprises those who are not specifically protected by the League, but are sufficiently important that their elimination must be given serious consideration. Those who would be on the greenlist cannot be placed upon a contract without the approval of the local High Brotherhood. If anyone requests a contract against those on this list, they must have a dossier written upon them, which will be submitted to the Seniors along with all other contract research.

The Redlist

The redlist is composed of individuals of general importance, and will have a dossier that has been considered by the High Brotherhood or Order of Five. Their dossier must be checked and followed before a contract is approved.

The Blacklist

The blacklist is a list of individuals with open contracts, escaped criminals, and those excommunicated from the Brotherhood. In general, those on the blacklist have already been approved for elimination.

Dossiers

The League keeps tabs on many individuals they consider important, believe may become important, and those who have simply become of interest to the Brotherhood. Oftentimes, members of Town Watch or City Guard will have at least a basic file, as will sheriffs and deputies. Anyone might have a dossier, and in fact some ordinary people may have one written upon them as a matter of course during training. In the city of Shadowmoor, it's even odds that some candidate will have written an old dossier, stored away in the Sanctuary archives.