Dark Lanterns

The Dark Lanterns is the intelligence division of the emperor, an organization sworn to defend the Kingdom of Vale from its enemies and dispense justice in the name of the emperor. As the secret servants of the emperor, members of the organization are granted the authority to conduct intelligence operations on foreign soil, execute covert missions across the globe, and prevent national secrets from falling into the hands of rival intelligence agencies. The Dark Lanterns also have an unwritten license to eliminate any creature that threatens their nation, its sovereign, or its citizens.
Based in Holypertuis, capital of the empire, and beating heart of magical item trading. Salomon Gendi, the emperor's close friend, serves as the leader of the Dark Lanterns, His unorthodox method might not seem the most effective, but yet, propelled him to the head of the Dark Lanterns. Subordinate spread across Tana's Empire, in Windrin, Megima, and Ionguale.
Small, temporary field offices are sometimes established to coordinate missions outside the empire; these offices double as safe houses for agents in trouble, and they are designed to be wiped clean at a moment’s notice if discovered by local authorities.
Agents. The King’s Dark Lanterns includes around 500 agents operating within Tana's empire borders and roughly one-fifth that number stationed abroad. They often work in teams, sometimes they recruit local talent, often under false pretenses, to help them accomplish their missions in foreign lands.

Relationships

By their nature, espionage agencies must be cautious in choosing their allies, and the Dark Lanterns is no exception.

• The emperor. The Dark Lanterns, serve the emperor of Tana, and he is their greatest advocate and ally. The current emperor Charles III views loyalty as mutual: as long as an agent’s loyalty is irreproachable, Charles III is willing to exercise his considerable power on that agent’s behalf.
• Duch Valencia Windrin and Duch June Reiter. As Duch under the emperor's influence, they are obligated to accord full credit to the Dark Lanterns, exercising their power in their favor if necessary.
• Whipsering Qwir. As a competiting espionage agency within the empire, the relation with the bardic college are tense, the college questioning the Dark Lanterns motivation, and voicing an opinion against them. The bard college is to thank for the dark reputation of the Dark Lanterns.
• Foreign Nations. Every nation knows the Dark Lanterns serve as an espionage force and do their best to track the movements of Dark Lantern agents within their borders. Foreign governments treat Dark Lantern agents with care to avoid sparking an international incident, but they are quick to arrest Dark Lantern agents suspected of wrongdoing.

Perks

You gain the following benefits when your group’s patron is an espionage agency:

• Assignments. Your agency might assign you specific tasks at any time. You have wide latitude regarding how you carry out a task, and your assignments can sometimes be very broad and require considerable time to complete.
• Expense Account. You have access to an account maintained at the banks. You can use this account to pay your daily living expenses, as well as for purchasing anything you need for completing your missions—equipment, transportation, bribes, and so on. Your normal spending limit is 100 gp per month for each member of your group. If you exceed that, your agency asks you to account for the month’s expenses, and they might require you to pay back the excess if you can’t justify it. You can’t carry over an unused amount from one month to the next, and your access to this account can be cut off at any time if you abuse it or fall out of the agency’s good graces. The agency is aware of every time you access the account and where you are when you do so.
• Identification. Your agency provides you with identification papers establishing your true identity, and you also have ready access to false papers and matching travel documents showing different identities, when you need them for a mission. (Any time you enter a foreign nation, it is a good idea for you to do so under a false identity.)
• Powerful Friends. An espionage agency, by nature, has a long reach and a lot of power to make things happen behind the scenes. You can call in a favor for a wide range of benefits: A legal case against you might be suddenly dropped. A rival might disappear. A much-needed Magic item might be delivered to you. These favors can provide significant short-term benefit, but they can also come with equally significant long-term repercussions—which might lead to entirely new missions.

Quests

Espionage activities can be classified in three broad categories: counterintelligence, covert action, and intelligence gathering. Your party might focus on one of those areas, or perhaps you’re the team that handles situations that other teams bungle.

Additional/Modified Traits

As member of the Dark Lanterns, you may take the Dimir Operative background, the spell and feature corresponding to the organization.

Notable members

Joris of Greatback

Basic Information

Alias(es)
/
Base of operations
Holypertuis
Leader(s)
/

Membership

Alignment
/
Members
Spy

Others

Type

Information Network