The Shard

Farmington was founded along the banks of the Greensward River, southeast of Waynesburg. It was established as a mill town and warehouse serving the large farms spread out over the fertile grasslands on either side of the river.
Unfortunately, it had also attracted the attention of a regional Thieves' Guild that specialized in contract work. Farmington offered little opportunity for work outside of the farming and milling industries. However, it offered ready access to river travel, and easy access cross-country to the Great River running south into the Kingdom. This made it a great hideout space for assassins and contract thieves, and led to the rumored founding of their own guild, headquartered in th ecity.
At the head of this organization was a mysterious figure known only as The Shard.
This person is unknown outside of the organization, and only referred to by this code within the organization. Generally, their identity is concealed even from those within the group, though a select few in the upper echelon are aware of their identity. Becoming aware of The Shard's real name is often the trigger for a power play for control.
It is believed by some that the current identity of The Shard is Eugene, a former adventurer who had come from nowhere in Farmington and met with amazing good fortune when a magical pool boosted all of his abilities. He immediately began shifting his personality into a vain, selfish facade that barely masked the cruelty he no longer feared to show the world. He was accepted as a valued member of an adventuring group out of Waynesburg that found great success in their field.
Tiime softens many, but in the case of Eugene, the most it did was mellow him slightly. He returned to Farmington after retiring from adventuring, and kept a closely guarded home on a bluff overlooking the downtown. As a cleric, he was sought out by many people for healing and guidance, and while his natural animosity toward the human race caused tension to constantly enter every interaction he had with them, he did quickly recognize the advantages to this role. He swallowed his revulsion for their petty needs, and milked them all for information and whatever valuables he could get. 
He also began to take an interest in the Thieves' Guild, courting its young members, and using his charm and intelligence to marry the information they fed him with that of his other clients until he was able to wrest control of the Assassins' Guild away and establish himself as The Shard. Now the organization has melted into the hidden recesses of acknowledgement, and maintains an extremely low profile. The Guild leaders have established the most extensive information network in the north, and are starting to rival those of the southern kingdoms.
At the heart of it all sits Eugene as The Shard, a bloated spider at the center of its web. Few suspect the irascible cleric in the rich manor on the bluff of any connection to a guild of assassins. Fewer suspect and live.