Blue Frogs

The Blue Frogs--also known as the Koa Ta-- are a secret society of assassins who seek to restore the Koan Empire. Easily recognizeable for the blue tribal masks from which they draw their name, this secret faction is seldom seen but often feared by members of the Koan Republic. They originally served the Empire as secret police, dispatching the Empire's enemies in the shadows. Many of their current members date back to these early days, having waited in cryogenic chambers hidden across Koan Cities. While the Empire has lost its grip on Koan politics since it was overthrown, the Blue Frogs benefit from centuries-long conspiracies and contingency plans hatched in the Empire's heyday.
In addition to the assassins themselves, the Blue Frogs secretly control many assets and individuals throughout Koan society to help them carry out their plots. With the benefit of time and resources, they own property, businesses, and even some public offices. By some estimates, they control at least 12% of the City of Balphuran's population--either through direct collusion and coercion or indirect methods such as controlling citizens' employers.
The Blue Frogs also enjoy the assistance of supporters among the Koan Republic who ideologically align with their goal of restoring the Koan Empire. Many of these individuals are high ranking individuals or their descendants of the Koan Empire, who meet in secret to assist the Blue Frogs to bring about the day where they will reclaim their spot at the top of the social hierarchy. Strangely, many Koa who stand to gain little from imperial rule now support the Blue Frogs' cause, stirred by nationalist rhetoric they foment in the wake of oppressive restrictions on the Koan military, economic reparations, and the destruction of the Koan Moon Aspidie at the hands of the Homyn Prince Lucas.

Formation

The Blue Frogs trace their origin to a Vandal Tribe known as the Tribe of the Crow who lived deep within the Great Mangrove Barrier. Consummate hunters, they were feared even among other Vandals because they recognized no distinction between the Mangrove Barrier's beasts and their fellow Koa--hunting and eating them alike in the wilds' great food chain. As such, the Crow Tribe never normalized relations with other tribe, developing a language of their own known only to them.
After centuries of hunting unchallenged, the Tribe of the Crow finally met their match when the Unyielding Empress sent her forces into the Great Mangrove Barrier. Rather than kill them outright, she abducted their child leader--a boy born with anomalous blue skin whom she came to call Corvus Vile. The Empress taught Corvus the way of her society and trained him to serve as her personal protector and assassin. After earning his loyalty, she sent him back to his home to collect followers who would obey his commands--and that of his new master.
Corvus Vile and his assassins aided the Unyielding Empress in her bid to maintain power by having them assassinate all of her opponents in the Koan Senate in an event called, The Night It Rained Blue Frogs. With her control of the Koan people secured, the Empress turned to using her new charges toward maintaining it. She installed them as her secret police, monitoring the Koan people's activity and striking down any who posed a threat to the Empire's Longevity. With near limitless authority and resources at their disposal, they seized whatever tools they needed and hatched plans to counteract any threat they could envision to their mistress's Empire.

Organization

While autonomous from government control or oversight, the Blue Frogs' ultimately serve the Koan Empire. In a certain sense, the Koan Empresses and their descendants are the nominal head of their organization. However, the Blue Frogs' ultimate duty is to the Empire itself rather than any of its individual members--no matter how illustrious they may be--and in forming their organization the Unyielding Empress gave them the authority to even kill her descendants should it be necessary to preserve the Koan Empire as a whole. For this reason, the Blue Frogs have traditionally taken at least one female child from the royal family to raise according to imperial ideals and keep frozen in the event that a new ruler must be installed.
The Blue Frogs' actual operations are overseen by Corvus Vile himself. Though he was born hundreds of years ago, he has guided the Empire toward stability and power throughout its entire history by cryogenically freezing himself. Thanks to the organization's meticulous plans and substantial resources, Corvus Vile himself only need waken when unexpected developments occur or to execute plots crucial to the Empire's survival. Beneath Corvus Vile are other members of the Tribe of the Crow. Like their leader, they are kept frozen until they are needed to expand their lifespans. The assassins only know the language of the tribe of the crow, meaning that Corvus Vile is the only one capable of communicating orders to them--a precaution to ensure the assassins remain loyal to their original cause.
In addition to the assassins, the Blue Frogs have also frozen a number of the Empire's upper crust in secret "Chambers of Repose," waiting to be revived in the event their bloodlines are needed to repopulate the Empire. Being selected for such an assignment was considered a great privilege among the Empire, but as the Blue Frogs' first loyalty is to the Empire itself, these elite individuals still bear the risk that they may never wake up if the Blue Frogs' plans demand it.
At the bottom rung of the Blue Frogs' hierarchy are Koa from contemporary society who help them with their plans. Some of these positions are generational--businesses and landlords controlled by the Blue Frogs and passed down for decades in the event their services are needed. The Blue Frogs also enjoy the support of Koan citizens who share their goal of imperial restoration, both old elites who yearn to reclaim their power and members of the public who have fallen victim to their propaganda campaigns or are otherwise angry about the Koa's diminished position among the races of the spheres after the empire's fall.

Plans and Goals

The Blue Frogs document their plots in a book called the Blue Frog Manifesto, written in the language of the Tribe of the Crow. After laying mostly dormant for three decades after the fall of the Empire, they have been called once again to perform another Night it Rained Blue Frogs and restore the Empire. While the exact details of this plot remain a mystery, the Party has learned from the Blue Frog Manifesto that the marriage between Princess Halle and Sir Reglas factors into this plot, and is likely the night they plan to strike.
Their plans also involved kidnapping squires of prominent Koan Knights and brainwashing them at their headquarters located in the sunken Ziggurat Lofts. Since squires inherit their positions until the next election if their knights die, it is likely these schemes factor into a plot to gain control of the Koan Senate after they have carried out their assassinations. They have also hired four assassins to assist in their plans. While the identities of these assassins remain unknown, the Party has learned that they include a sniper, a bartender who is a master of the toxic arts, a demolitions expert, and a spy.
The Party scored a win against the Blue Frogs when they brought the Koan Navy to their headquarters and blew them to smithereens. However, this did not appear to be the killing blow that the Party hoped for, having underestimated just how far the Blue Frogs' influence disseminated into Koan Society. Having committed to the wedding, it seems the Party will have to beat the Blue Frogs at their own game and on their own turf if they want to have any hope of saving the Koan Republic.