Shadow Broker

A Syndicate Agent trades in shadows, not salaries. They earn a cut, not a paycheck—paid in secrets, influence, and untraceable wealth. Their compensation reflects not their position but their value, ruthlessness, and discretion. Every reward is a signal of trust, another thread tying them to the web of criminal obligation.

For operatives on the ground, payment comes through raw bullion, uncut gems, and crystalline Overlord Plates—currency that leaves no trail. A single night smuggling dragocite or stealing arcane designs might out-earn a Vanguard officer’s year of service.

For those who ascend to the inner circle, the currency becomes power. These agents manipulate officials, control territories, and eliminate rivals. In return, they gain dominion over rackets, access to forbidden knowledge, and favors worth more than coin. A high-ranking agent may be gifted a captured Dreamscape Initiate, a cursed artifact, or the secret to a deadly technique. In the syndicate, true wealth lies not in what you own, but in what you control.

A Shadow Broker exists outside formal society, thriving in its blind spots. They grease the wheels of commerce in a tightly regulated nation like Kendron, bypassing bureaucracy to keep the black market alive. When official trade chokes under tariffs and restrictions, the Broker supplies rare components, discreet shipments, and swift transactions without guild interference.

They cater to the forbidden—fueling secret vices and illicit desires with contraband dragocite, narcotics, and stolen relics. In a society that feigns purity, they profit from what others deny.

But their most potent role is as an information merchant. In Platinus, secrets are currency, and Brokers deal in everything from political blackmail to military schematics. Their trade sustains the hidden games that power the visible world.

Though unacknowledged, they are indispensable. When rulers need something erased, or when the Drakarchate wants an off-the-books solution, it’s the Shadow Broker who gets the job done—unseen, unofficial, and essential.

In Novendragos, a Shadow Broker occupies a paradoxical space: casteless, reviled, yet indispensable. They exist outside the social order entirely, seen by most as predators who exploit the desperate and corrupt the ideals of a lawful society. To the average citizen of Platinus, they are filth-dwellers—“Gutter-wyrms” who feed off chaos and thrive where order breaks down.

Yet in private, the powerful rely on them. Nobles, merchants, and officials discreetly turn to Shadow Brokers to move contraband, ruin rivals, or erase inconvenient problems. Though publicly shunned, they are essential to the smooth operation of a society that pretends to be spotless.

No matter how useful they are, Brokers are never granted legitimacy. They remain tools—valued in secret, discarded in public. The same hands that feed them may sign their death warrant the moment convenience demands it. They are both vilified and vital, feared and exploited, necessary but never welcome.

A Shadow Broker’s kit is a collection of tools chosen for subtlety, utility, and survival in a world where one mistake can mean death. Every item serves a purpose, whether to deceive, infiltrate, defend, or vanish without a trace.

A standard broker carries refined tools for urban work: a disguise kit with forged documents and noble signets, a pouch of lead slugs disguised as currency, and a voice-modulating clasp. Masterwork thieves' tools, collapsible grapnels with silk rope, and vials of “Silent Stone” ensure quiet, nimble movement. A lead-lined, warded pouch conceals magical items, and a ciphered ledger masks networks and debts. For defense, a concealed dagger—often poisoned—and a compact hand crossbow provide last-resort protection.

The elite carry rarer gear. An aetheric monocle reveals magical wards, while a glyph of anonymity blurs memory of their face. Forged Drakarchate credentials allow access to the most secure spaces. Their kit may include a Ghost Key that unlocks a studied lock once, a portable warding chest for smuggling volatile dragocite, and a weapon enchanted to vanish or shock. Most prized is the escape ring—a one-use teleportation spell that turns failure into disappearance. For a Shadow Broker, survival is measured in secrets kept, exits memorized, and tools ready.

The life of a Shadow Broker is a constant gamble, where survival depends on outmaneuvering enemies on all sides. Death isn't a risk—it’s the default retirement plan.

The law sees them as a threat to Kendron’s carefully maintained order. Low-level brokers risk capture by the Brotherhood of Protectors, facing swift trials and harsh punishment. High-level players draw the attention of the Drakemetal Vanguard, whose arrests mean lifelong imprisonment or forced labor in Eldoria’s dragocite mines. Those who handle forbidden knowledge risk the Drakarchate’s wrath, disappearing without a trace—erased from memory and record alike.

The underworld is no safer. Betrayal is routine, as allies turn informant to save themselves or settle debts. Rivals sabotage, assassinate, and steal to climb higher. Even the syndicate punishes failure without mercy; one costly mistake and a broker becomes a cautionary corpse.

Worse still, the contraband itself is deadly. Unrefined dragocite can detonate without warning. Forbidden artifacts carry curses and madness, their presence warping body and mind. But the greatest danger is knowledge. Secrets are the most volatile currency of all, and a broker who learns too much becomes a target for everyone who needs that truth buried.