Scarlet Brotherhood
Structure
Unfortunately, little is known regarding the political structure of the Scarlet Brotherhood or the lands it has recently come to dominate. What is known is that the entire organization is in theory controlled by an individual, the Father of Obedience. This man is said to be a monastic religious militarist and a brilliant strategist. There are likely a number of intermediaries, but the next known step in the Brotherhood’s hierarchy is that of the Brothers and Sisters themselves.
Like the Father of Obedience, the Brothers and Sisters of the Scarlet Brotherhood are often, though not always, trained in a bizarre form of unarmed combat. Because of this, these individuals abstain the use of weapons under any circumstance. Often found wearing scarlet, deep-hooded robes, these individuals command a near-frightening amount of respect from their subordinates. To fail in the eyes of a Brother or Sister of the Scarlet sign is to invite death. Strangely, the monks seldom have to dirty their own hands. With a single order, the disfavored are often expected to end their own lives. It is a testament to the place the monks hold in their society that such an order is seldom challenged.
Below the Brothers and Sisters are the assassins of the Scarlet Brotherhood. Called "Uncles," it was these individuals who brought the order its greatest successes during recent conflicts. Because of this, many Uncles (the term is used for both men and women) have been given important stations in the Hold of the Sea Princes, where their efforts were most successful. Many more of their number have returned to the field, and are now thought to be in place in nearly every nation.
Finally, the "Cousins" make up the day to day members of the Brotherhood’s hierarchy. These men and women are often field agents; a spy for the Brotherhood planted in a foreign land is most often a Cousin. Because of this, the Cousins are often adept at those skills necessary to avoid detection. Seldom can be found the Cousin who cannot blend easily into darkness or climb the sheerest of surfaces. Still, such individuals do exist. Because the Scarlet Brotherhood is a multi-faceted organization, the Cousins are the most diverse of the three groups that define its upper echelons. Members of this faction occasionally dabble in the arcane arts or devote much of their time to physical perfection.
Below the Brothers, Sisters, Uncles and Cousins, life in the Scarlet Brotherhood isn’t particularly enjoyable. The Vitiates, or "flawed," are the closest analog to a merchant class evident in the lands of the Scarlet Brotherhood. Their numbers are comprised of those for some reason unfit for membership in the upper levels of the Brotherhood and are not technically members of the organization. They are, however, fully subordinate to even the lowest of Cousins and are subject to the orders of any superior. The Vitiates are the landowners and merchants of the Brotherhood, and are accorded a very small amount of respect from the higher ranks.
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