Saramonus the Pure's Guide to Factions & Organisations

After feedback from faithful readers and my so called "critics", I've prepared the below appendix to my works setting out briefly who the big players are. This is a completely objective assessment, backed up by historical fact and in no way coloured by my personal experiences at their hands. So please stop writing me letters Sir Lord Hogart IV. I don't read them & I don't care, The Order can swivel.

Saramonus the Pure

Emerald Enclave – a collective of rangers & druids and other tree lovers who’s aim is to “maintain the balance between nature & civilisation”, whatever that means. Lone wolf types, eat quinoa, and like to talk about “the balance” a lot. Sadly, “balance” can mean anything from killing goblins to burning down towns. Non-hierarchical with no real organisation per se but have a habit of gathering when somethings kicking off. Great at parties.

The Harpers – secretive squirrelers, spies and the like. Cells are everywhere, impossible to find unless they find you if you get me. They’re incorruptible, apparently, and all about undermining the tyranny of power and protecting the weak. You would know that if you ever saw them, but you don't as they love acting from the shadows. I say acting, I mean watching, as actually doing anything is a last resort. Better to get someone else to do it, best of all making them think it was their idea.
Lord’s Alliance – Faerun’s rich and powerful banding together to uphold stability across the continent. They claim it’s out of the good of their hearts but its more about keeping the trade and coin flowing. Their MO is to find local contacts and throw money and resources at them, providing political support from afar. There's few solutions that can't be solved with a few highly paid mercenaries and the little people are generally pretty disposable when it comes to the bigger picture. No idea how they actually decide on anything.
Merchant's Alliance - A coalition of Phlan’s Guilds, merchants and richer types who’ve come to together to get richer by screwing over just about everyone else. Deep pockets and local connections mean they run the markets and now muscling in to try and run everything else. As long as the Welcomers hold the docks though, they’ve got no monopoly and so unsurprisingly got a bee in their bonnet about running em out of town. You want in and you want a say, gotta have a lot of money or a lot of goods.
Order of the Gauntlet – Self-proclaimed fighters of all things evil spread across Faerun. Generally, paladins, knights and clerics who bound together into small groups and parties then go about looking to fight bad guys. Self-righteous and utter bores with all the subtly of a stack of bricks, Obsessed with the concept of a fair fights even though clearly no one else is. Lots of sirs, lords and posh lady folk, money-ed lot who I seriously doubt have met any of the folk they claim to be protecting.
Order of the Silent Shroud – Bunch of priests and clerics in the service of the god Kereimor, who’s all about looking after the dead and dealing justice. As a result, they like to hang around graveyards. Spend there days tidying them up and putting down any undead with a total vengeance, but otherwise they tend to keeping out of local affairs. Morbid and generally the anti-fun in the room.
Order of the Black Fist – Phlan’s military, police jailors and executioners all rolled into one. Glorified thugs who only occasionally pretend they’re trying to uphold the law. Used to be a holy order until they gave up on their god Bane (or did he give up on them?) and now sell their services for coin. Anyone can tell that discipline is starting to fall apart, some still give service to Bane and others would just as quickly stab you rather then help, but I suppose who else we got right?
The Welcomers – Local thieves’ guild in Phlan that has a monopoly on anything illegal running through the town with a few other irons in the fire. Smugglers, bandits, thugs, fences, assassins – if its bad, they have them. Finding them can be tricky as officially they’re like mist. Weird sense of thieves’ honour about them though and they like to think of themselves as the good guys of Phlan and that they only rob the “bad” people and non-Phlanites. Good bit of cognitive dissonance there. Led by a boss and their enforcers that keep the town's criminal gangs and elements in line in exchange for "protection" and reach.
The Zhentarim – An international mercenary group who’s sole aim is to control everything via money, power or whatever else they can grab hold of. Got offices and recruiting stations all over the place and more than a few keeps and outposts scattered about the Moonsea. Offer their services, make you rely on them and then use the leverage to expand. Unsurprisingly, a lot of folk haven't forgotten about them riding rough shod over half the Moonsea nor that they like to dabble with the dark god Bane or that killing everyone is occasionally a good solution to a problem. Look after their own though and the lowest peasant can rise in their ranks if they suceed enough.