Crime Syndicates

Ardents

Based in Roshallan, the Ardents are a covert order of zealots who believe that Roshallan’s aggression and annexation of other nations is unforgivable. The Ardents view themselves as the tools of the divine, as just punishment for Roshallan’s actions. Ardents believe that they are morally superior to crime syndicates - the Ardents act out of a strong desire for justice, while criminal entities act out of a drive for profit. Even so, Ardents will begrudgingly make alliances with any network, criminal or otherwise, that might help weaken Roshallan in some way. The Ardents also implement assassination and skullduggery to weaken Roshallan’s imperial grip on its provinces.

Harlan's Guild

Harlan’s Guild has many interests and is known best as a magic items smuggling operation. By thieving from caravans and robbing stores known to keep magic items in stock, Harlan’s Guild then resells these items on the black market. When other syndicates in their territory try to get in on magic item fencing, Harlan’s Guild takes very unkindly to this and harasses the up and coming syndicate until they back off of the market.

The Guild is well known for crafting unique poisons with which they coat their weapons. They use these poisons to gain an edge when they must fight, and they are not afraid of trading blows when needed. Robbing stores or caravans that traffic magic items is usually a dangerous and bloody ordeal, so these poisons are integral to giving them an upper hand in their heists.

Harlan’s Guild is a widespread network sprawling across most of Gathandia. Its headquarters is in Falth, where Harlan himself governs Breachvale, a large city on Nalathesh’s border.

Guild Poisons

Members of Harlan’s Guild readily have access to these three poisons. Harlan’s Guild can also access many more poisons; these are simply their specialties and are always available to guild members.

Drake’s Breath: Your attacks have a 50% chance to deal an extra 1d6 fire damage for 1 minute. The extra damage occurs on odd-numbered attack rolls.

Ice Blood: The first target struck with a weapon coated in this poison must make an END check with a DC of 10 at the start of their turns for the next 1 minute. On any turn where they fail, they gain the Frozen condition. A creature with a ML instead loses one of the actions on their actions list.

Harlan’s Breach: Your attacks ignore all Resist properties, as well as Immune Blunt, Immune Sharp, and Immune Physical, for 1 minute.

Icegrave

Icegrave is a relatively small but effective crime syndicate that operates in the far north. Its headquarters is in a small, fortified town tucked away in a treacherous mountain pass in northern Noord. Icegrave also has major operating cells throughout Yodvan and even has a small presence as far south as Nalathesh, where Icegrave’s operatives sell their smuggled goods to Falthic crime guilds, the Scorpions, and other black market buyers.

Icegrave primarily concerns itself with the theft and black market selling of the strange materials taken from the Glowing Forest. Chiefly a syndicate of smugglers, Icegrave will nonetheless take on other jobs when the opportunity and potential rewards are great enough.

Mul'ator

Originally based in Betaal, the Mul’Ator have since been exiled for their bloodthirsty reputation. They were a faction of the Shinus that still dwell in Betaal, but have since become their own organization. Nobody knows where they are headquartered now - nobody except for Felson Weskh, who has bought their loyalty and who pays for them to maintain a headquarters in Gavare even as they report to him directly. The Mul’Ator have a reputation for being unparalleled assassins who seem to revel in dismembering their victims and leaving their corpses as gruesome monuments to death. They operate all across Gathandia, and when a wealthy and influential person wants to hire a brutal assassin, they need turn no farther than the Mul’Ator.

Scorpions

Masquerading as a simple merchant caravan, the Scorpions are a dangerous and unpredictable crime guild. They operate primarily in Nalathesh, Kandif, and Lesmishan, but are known to travel as far east as Kendaria and as far south as the Thunderhead Vale.

The Scorpions could almost be considered a mercenary group, as they will take jobs for high-paying patrons but will also rob and bully other merchant caravans. They primarily facilitate international black market trade by transporting illicit goods across their vast territory. This is usually a lucrative business, but they will turn to their more violent acts - robbing other caravans and even raiding towns - when the black market is in a dry season.

Underminers

Based in Bridgemoor but operating along the entire east coast of Gathandia - and even as far west as Nalathesh - the Underminers are a crime syndicate with strong cult elements. Many members of the Hierophants are also involved with the Underminers due to the Underminers’ quasi-religious fascination with the Avadri. The Underminers believe that gaining a better understanding of the Avadri will allow them to reshape the world, much as the Avadri shaped the world ages ago. The Underminers primarily consist of thieves and smugglers that amass Avadrium and other magical objects, and of scientists who experiment with these materials to discover new uses of them. When possible, the Underminers also destabilize local governments or place their own members in seats of power so that they can prepare the way for their idea of a greater future.

The Web

An expansive crime syndicate that prominently stretches across the western half of Gathandia and even has a few operatives east of the Cloudpiercers, this secretive syndicate is known simply as the Web. Its members are some of the most unobtrusive, trustworthy-looking folk in any given settlement. Grandmotherly herbalists, kindly general store owners, and bumbling town guards all might be members of the Web. Members can identify one another by their decorative doilies, which they keep hidden in plain sight in their stores, homes, or with their belongings. The Web’s mission is to destroy the Illuminati by exposing and discrediting its members, and they are willing to employ any means necessary according to the skill set of their local members. The Web believes that the Illuminati suppresses the freedoms and privacy of the people throughout Gathandia, and seek to dispel what they view as a corrupt and tyrannical shadow over the land.