hobbygamers ~ View topic - Organization Proposal (we need an official thread for this)

Very Old Dragon Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 693

Since we need more organizations...

The Raven

Concept: Guild of Rogues. Secret Society. (Think Dimir in MtG Ravnica)

Faction: Neutral. They seek opportunity not ideals.

Bread and butter: Smuggling, fencing, mercenary work, operating black markets, spying--if it's illegal they probably have a hand in it. Oh and they have good bards too.

Fluff and Story Hooks

The Raven is perhaps one of the best hidden organizations in the world of Bonethrall. They are said to operate everywhere and at the same time nowhere and only people with the right connections have access to their services.

They deal in a number of illegal operations but they are well known for their skill in gathering intelligence. If you have the money and know the right people, they'll sell you what they know for a price. They are more often than not accurate in their intelligence if not altogether trusted--people know that the organization has its own agenda after all. For the people who know that this organization exists, The Raven is viewed as a useful nuisance as long as you're cautious in your dealing with them.

They operate using sites called "Nests," which range in size from huge mansions to farmhouses in the middle of nowhere. Only members, called "birds" and identifiable by an iron ravenhead talisman are allowed in Nests. For outsiders seeking the organization's services, middlemen are used. The most successful Nest is their headquarters, a tower called Ravenloft located in the middle of a bustling metropolis. It's the only "Nest," which proclaims itself to be a safehouse of the organization, which means that people either don't believe them or think the place unimportant, a ruse to misdirect the common people.

Their members come from all walks of life ranging from beggars to merchants and kings. Their casters are known to have a penchant for illusions. Majority of the bards of BT have had contact with the organization in some form or another.

The organization is lead by twin brothers. Huginn, lord of secrets, the master whisperer who commands the spies and Muninn, lord of lies, the master chronicler who sings to the bards. They are as mysterious as the organization they command.

The organization controls a Master Godstone called the Ravenhead, a statue of raven's head with the words "Nevermore" inscribed at the base said to be the remains of the goddess of secrets and lies, a major goddess of art. It ensures that the winds flow in BT by means of a sacrifice although secrets are whispered to its ear as offering rather than blood libations as in the Daystar's cult. The organization feeds it secrets and it return it gives them the song of the world that only they can understand and the secret magic buried underneath the lies and the power to turn both into gold and influence.

This reminds me of Blind Tower organization from Complete Scoundrel, though they don't have that "mastergodstone" thing, and they're more tricksters than spies.

Oh bloody hell... Laughing

Quothe the Raven: "Nevermore!"

Nice how you used Huginn and Munin.

I'd originally planned to write up something like this for House Darkhope of the Baalim, but now that you've written this up, I like it. Proposed additions:

-Potential ideological split between the Pragmatists (concerned with the temporal power provided by information) and the Mystics (concerned with the magic of the worldsong and the secrets it whispers).
-House Darkhope (the Baalim clan most known for its skill in lies, deceit, espionage, and information) is an important part of the Ravens, and may have played a part in their founding. Darkhope is far less concerned with the religious aspects of the Raven godstone than for the information and power that such secrets bring them. Baalim of House Darkhope belong to the more pragmatic wing of the Ravens, while other factions hold a more sacred reverence to the Raven stone and the worldsong that it whispers.