“The night is our kingdom.”
Headquarters: Altenheim
It is said that beneath every
unexplained success lies an
undiscovered crime. If so, the
crimes of the Ebon Syndicate’s
number beyond reckoning.
In many respects, the Ebon
Syndicate is the dark mirror of the
Augustine Trading Company —an organization with a finger in every
major criminal trade. Assassination, slave trading,
drug trafficking, theft, and the black market all
fall within their ambit.
The syndicate employs and controls thugs,
beggars, thieves, professional killers,
extortionists, and spies. Its
Shadow Academy
ensures these agents operate with the highest
skill and efficiency.
The Ebon Syndicate began with an Altenheim based
bandit named
Hiram Greyman. One night,
after a battle with the city watch left his men
dead and Hiram badly wounded, the bandit fled
into a hedge maze. There, delirious from blood
loss, he followed a hawk moth that led him
through to safety. Since then, Greyman thought
himself favored by the gods and used the hawk
moth as his personal symbol. He rebuilt his gang
and went on to establish the Syndicate, which
over the centuries grew into the powerful shadow
organization it is today.
After Greyman died, his name became a title that
was passed on from one syndicate leader to the
next. The current Greyman is
Natalia Koscheii
who is infamous for her ability to escape the most
meticulous assassination attempts.
The syndicate’s presence is most felt in the
largest and most prosperous cities of Etharis.
All the smaller crime organisations bow to the
syndicate. Freelancers receive one warning before
their lives are shortened, and any group that tries
to muscle into the syndicate’s territory is treated
without mercy.
The syndicate maintains a tenuous peace with the
other factions. Groups like
The Watchers Of The Faithful and the
Augustine Trading Company are technically at
war with them, but will often hire their services,
as the syndicate’s spy network outmatches
any other.
The syndicate’s insignia, the hawk moth, is a
nocturnal creature known for its swift flight
and short lifespan. Similarly, the agents of the
syndicate move quickly through darkness, taking
what they want, with the full knowledge that life
is short among fellow rogues.
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