The Cabal of Cyrauk
About the Cabal
The Cabal of the Cyrauk is an organization that thrives on the secrets, fears, dreams, and desires of all who hold power or influence in Idalos. The Cabal specializes in gathering information by means of espionage, blackmail, and threats. This information is meticulously coded using ciphers and transferred to various cells across Idalos. The Cabal is known for storing their secrets in multiple locations both above and below ground. More recently, the Cabal has adopted the use of steganography to hide their secrets within plain sight. The full name of the Cabal is hidden to all but the Hand, Fist, and Palms that work within the organization. The members of the Cabal dedicate a significant portion of their time to cultivating rumors to ensure that the image of the Cabal stays in line with their current goals and objectives.
The Cabal is not a group of thieves or assassins. As such, they prefer to gain their information by infiltrating powerful positions within cities or other organizations. The Cabal also favors members who can find information by intercepting and forging important documents, cracking ciphers of other organizations or networking. Above all else, the Cabal wishes to remain hidden and does not seek to anger those who uphold the law. They do not condone assault, ransacking, the use of easily detectable poison, or murder. Any members that are caught using ‘forceful’ methods to gather information are judged and punished by the Fist.
Structure and Rankings
The Hand and the Fist: The Hand and the Fist are two separate ranks within the Cabal that rule the organization together. The Hand is the ‘brains’ of the Cabal and dictates the targets, overarching strategy, and goals of the organization. The Fist is the ‘brawn’ of the Cabal. The Fist ensures compliance within the cells of the Cabal and also acts as the largest physical threat to those who would undermine the Cabal.
The names of the Hand and Fist are never static and change based on the favored technique, skills, and weapons used by the leaders of the Cabal. Prefixes and suffixes can be amended onto the ranks. This system is used to sow discord as the directives of one Hand might be entirely different from the next.
Current Ranks:
The Hand of Subversion
The Blood-Soaked Fist
The Palm:
Every cell within the Cabal is led by a single Palm. This member of the Cabal has risen within the ranks and caught the attention of the Hand or the Fist. As such, the Palm is afforded a large amount of freedom in how they train newcomers and collect information. The Palm is often given an overarching goal such as: ‘collect information on dissidents within your region’, but they are given complete autonomy over who they target and the methods used to gather secrets.
The Palm is expected to know the languages of their region (both written and spoken) and must always be aware of the current ciphers and codes that the Hand and neighboring cells favor. Disciplining and rewarding individual Vessels is the domain of the Palm, though Vessels can appeal to the Fist if they feel they are being treated unfairly. The punishment for abusing the chain of command to attract the attention and presence of the Fist is extremely steep.
The Vessels
The term ‘vessel’ is used for all other members of the Cabal. This term is not meant to be shameful, but is used to remind the Vessel of their purpose – to gather and hold secrets for the good of the Cabal. While all Vessels share the same rank, the Hand, Fist, and Palms all monitor the Vessels and look for those that show a high level of potential. Favored Vessels are often rewarded with their own cells, lucrative contracts, and valuable treasures.
Requirements to Join the Cabal:
- Knowledge of the Cabal
- Competent in one or more of the following: Research, Forgery, Persuasion, Politics, Deception, Linguistics, Investigation, or Seduction
- A combined total of at least 25 points in the skills listed above (not including the points used for the above ‘competent’ requirement).
- Fluency in Common or the language most commonly used in the area of the closest cell