Sutii Šifjo, the Shadow Court
The Sutii Šifjo (which translates to Shadow Court) was once a criminal organization in the Orkozar Edro Šizu, the Arkadhian New Empire. It grew and became powerful by controlling legal and illegal traffics in the imperial capital city of Orkoza. When imperial police laid out the definitive plan to dismantle the organization, it failed spectacularly, and the emperor was forced to ask the Shadow Court to act as Imperial Secret Services.
Structure
The Shadow Court had a very simple hierarchical structure.
The head of the organization is called sutii ematju (shadow crown). Their identity and whereabouts are unknows to the majority: rumour has it, even the emperor himself does not know who and where they are, but only how to contact them. Some say the shadow crown is an immortal vampire from the dark lands of the north, others they are an ancient automaton from the old empire of Arkadhe. Nobody claims they are a normal person, however.
When the organization extended its influence on other cities, the shadow crown divided the imperial territory into provinces and assigned to each one a trusted member, under the title of sutii sušpi (shadow count). Their task is to control and coordinate the court's efforts in each jurisdiction. They should also know the names and skills of all their subordinates.
Lastly, counts can grant outstanding members who distinguish themselves in dangerous or important missions, the title of sutii oopja (shadow knight). These people are usually assigned more difficult tasks and are often send outside of the empire to retrieve very important information, artefacts or for delicate sabotage missions, usually at the expenses of the Moon Church.
When the need for a high-rank officer arises, for instance when a count dies or if the Court wants to expand towards a new province, the crown designate a new count, choosing among the knights. It is not clear what would happen in case of the crown's death (which led someone to propose the vampire idea).
Public Agenda
The real motivations and goals behind the founding of the organization are in the mind of its mysterious founder and present head (whether they are the same person or not). Probably the initial motivation was just organized crime. Nowadays, the Court's goal is empowering the Empire while controlling that it does not gain the upper hand against the organization: many counsellors are afraid of the power the Court has obtained and wish for it to be dismantled, no matter the advantage of having efficient secret services.
Any other non-trivial motivation is completely unknown, even to the members themselves.
History
An unknown person found the Sutii Šifjo in the year 827 of the present era, when the new Empire was still organizing itself and claiming to be the rightful heir of the old one. This date was communicated to the Emperor by the organization head, thus most historians stick with it.
The Court acted in the shadows for centuries, until its symbol, the dark sun, became too famous to be overlooked: slowly, its traffics were discovered, but too late to be stopped. It seemed nothing could enter or exit the major cities in the empire without the Court knowing it, and many things left or acquired their spot thanks to the organization, including an ancient artefact from the first era mysteriously appearing in a museum and a rare book disappearing from the imperial library.
Many attempts in dissolving the organization failed, maybe because of corrupted officers and counsellors surrendering information to other members. In time, it became clear that the Court enjoyed great impunity, even when its criminal deeds were exposed. Many historians claim emperors accepted the presence of the Šifjo because they knew that it could be useful in some occasions, when less rigorous behaviours were required, but others point out that it is so today, while at that time it was just a criminal organization.
The key event in their history was the election of an imperial counsellor in the year 1585.
The previous counsellor died of old age and the emperor was to choose between two men, Lovič Sjetič, director of the Institute of Technology, and Vekno Ovjelič, navy general. The latter seemed the favourite, for his ongoing victorious military campaign in the near Cajenian Archipelago, but the former had acquaintances in the Court and asked for a favour in exchange of a new device prototype, a magic-powered gun.
It was an opportunity not to be missed, and the Court thought to be powerful enough to not fear retaliation from the navy or the army or to be able to handle the worse. The Šifjo spread the news about how Vekno had sold an important artefact and the ship transporting it to Cajenian pirates. The ship and artefact were actually missing, but Vekno claimed he never sold them, that they mysteriously disappeared. Nevertheless, the public opinion was now against him and the Imperial Council adviced him to refuse the role.
Vekno, backed up by the police and his trusted men, persuaded that the missing ship was held by the Court itself, laid out the greatest plan of all times to expose the criminal behaviour of the organization and Lovič, accusing them of treason. Though nobody knew thoroughly the plan except for Vekno itself, the organization was prepared, evidence of treason could not be found and, in the end, the missing ship was retrieved and recaptured by Vekno's second-in-command, Keljej Selkovič, in a pirate-owned cave in the archipelago. Following this last event, Vekno committed suicide and his second-in-command took his place.
At the end of this chain of events, the emperor Džikrej Olkavič I issued a decree declaring the Shadow Court the Imperial Secret Service. It was clear that the Court would have sold a ship to the pirates to gain power, so it was better to keep it under control with an official designation, some historians say now; some others claim that the emperor acted out of fear, or even coerced, and that the situation had not been under his control for many decades at that point.
Nowadays, the Court makes the rules. Luckily, their plans seem to be sabotaging the Moon Church, fight the Cajenian pirates for control of commercial traffics with the Kingdom of the Sun and in general gain technological supremacy, which are pretty aligned with the Empire's own goals. Moreover, the Court does not tolerate anymore cheap criminal behaviours perpetrated by its members against the population. Nevertheless, many counsellors would like to overthrow the organization in favour of a more state-controlled situation.
Thrive in the Shadow of the Court
Sutii Šifjo's crest, the black sun, and its motto.
Founding Date
827 TE
Type
Government, Secret Service
Alternative Names
The Black Sun
Parent Organization
Location
Related Ranks & Titles
Notable Members
Related Plots
Comments