The Trust

Tragedy struck at the Korranberg Grand Opera tonight as beloved tenor Ilan d’Thuranni fell prey to a sudden stroke. This news is only the beginning of what promises to be a fascinating story; evidence suggests that Lord Ilan had been leading a double life as a highly paid assassin. If there is any truth to these rumors, we can count ourselves lucky that Ilan succumbed to this malady before his private performance for the Korranberg Nine! Reached for comment in Regalport, Baron Elar d’Thuranni expressed shock and sorrow that his cousin could be involved in any sort of criminal undertaking. Let us mourn with the House of Shadows and trust that this incident will be the end of their recent string of misfortunes.
—From the Korranberg Chronicle, 14 Barrakas 988 YK

The homeland of the gnomes is a joyful place. The streets are decked with flowers, and the air is filled with laughter and song. Ghost weavers craft entrancing patterns of light and shadow, and bards compete in duels of wit and words. It’s rare to see gnomes carrying weapons, even among the wardens who are supposed to uphold the law but primarily serve as mediators in domestic disputes and tour guides for foreigners. To the casual thief, a Zil city seems like a ripe fruit waiting to be plucked. Yet the Korranberg Chronicle includes many stories like the one above. Crime is largely unknown in Zilargo because criminals have an unnerving tendency to die before they put their plans into action. Guarding the Zil people is the role of the Trust, an invisible fraternity that watches from the shadows. Ask any Zil gnome, and she will tell you that the Trust is always watching, that no whisper escapes its ears and no malefactor escapes justice at its hands. What is the truth behind the Trust?

The Honor Guard

The gnomes of Zilargo trace their roots to the tricksters of Thelanis, and the power of illusion lingers in their blood. Deception is second nature to gnomes, and the history of their city-states is rife with intrigue and vendettas. Zilargo was formed to unite the gnomes in the face of the growing influence of the Dragonmarked Houses and the rising threat of Galifar. But how could the great city-states trust one another? Given their history, what assurances could Trolanport offer to suspicious Zolanberg?

The Trust was the brainchild of an old gnome whose name has been stolen from history; today she is known only as the Proctor. The Library of Korranberg had long served as a home to gnomes from all cities and families, and they had already faced the problem of establishing trust among city-states. The Proctor countered the threat with a secret corps pledged to enforce the honor code of the library and keep personal feuds from spilling over into the public realm. She proposed to use this corps as the foundation of a wider organization that would span the newborn nation.

At least a dozen accounts describe the meeting at which she made her fateful announcement. In some the Proctor discusses the methods she used to recruit her corps—how she found those who could see the library as a family greater than their own flesh and blood. In other accounts, the Proctor blackmails the Triumvirs and forces them to give her the resources that she needs. Whatever the truth of the matter, two years after Zilargo was founded, a pamphlet distributed across the nation announced the existence of the Trust and the role it would play in the days to come. This tract lauded the shared virtues of the Zil: ingenuity, curiosity, love of family, and the ability to overcome adversity through wit and wisdom. The pamphlet acknowledged that friendly competition between neighbors is the whetstone that keeps wits sharp. Competition would be accepted, but crime would not. However, the precise definition of crime was vague. The tract ended with these words:

“To those who follow the proper path, we shall be as invisible as any ghost. Trust that we have your best interests at heart. Trust that we will act only when we must. Trust that we will always look after the needs of our great family, and that we need your aid as much as you need ours.”

Records of the period that followed are murky. Most gnomes would have you believe that the Zil embraced the Trust with open arms, but a sage who delves deeply will find a remarkable number of curious deaths in the following decade. No records exist of any family openly challenging the Trust or seceding from the Zil union. Most likely, the Proctor waited to make the announcement until she was sure that she had a sufficient number of agents in the major families—people who would steer public opinion in the proper direction.

Regardless of any doubts that might have existed when the organization was founded, modern gnomes wholeheartedly embrace the Trust. Most Brelish are shocked by the group’s ruthless summary justice, questioning how anyone could accept a system that is willing to kill a person before he or she commits a crime. The typical Zil responds that such doubts are understandable in a system where the forces of law and order are corrupt and inefficient. Agents of the Trust care only for the good of the nation, and a corrupt hand would be eliminated by the fraternity itself. The people of the Five Nations simply can’t understand how much information the Trust has in its hands. The group doesn’t make mistakes. And if somehow it did—or for that matter, if an innocent had to die for the good of the multitude—that is a price the Zil are willing to pay. The gnomes firmly believe that those who do nothing wrong have nothing to fear from the Trust. Most foreigners envision Zilargo as a place where people live in fear, but the opposite is true. The Zil know exactly how much they can get away with, what intrigues are allowed, and what behavior crosses the line. At the end of the day, most Zil truly have faith in the Trust.

The other side of the coin that the Brelish can’t see is the degree to which the Zil love intrigue. For the people of the Five Nations, the thought that anyone around you—even your friend or lover—could be an assassin is a quick path to paranoia and madness. For the gnomes, it’s a glorious game. Trying to identify Trust agents and coming up with schemes that can slip by the group’s omniscient eyes are favorite pastimes of Zil children. The gnomes take pride in their peaceful society, but they also love to dream of ways to outwit their guardians.

Tools of the Trust

The Trust’s power comes from numerous sources. One is the sheer number of informants at the organization’s disposal. The King’s Citadel of Breland estimates that as many as one in three Zil gnomes serve as ears of the Trust. Although most of them are simple observers, a significant number of sleeper agents can be called into active service as required. Some spies are recruited at the university, whereas others are born into the work. The informants know little about the overall structure of the organization, and one agent might unwittingly report on the suspicious activities of another. It’s up to the provosts and the current Proctor to sift through all the data to create a clear picture. If a criminal identifies and eliminates an agent of the Trust, another agent or team in the same area might be called into play.

The weapons in the Trust’s arsenal speak to the gnomish roots of the organization. The Zil are known for their love of language and their gifts for illusion, alchemy, and elemental binding. Over the centuries, the Trust has developed four unique languages, along with innumerable codes, ciphers, and other ways to deliver secret messages. A typical observer knows only one of these secret languages, which he uses when dealing with his handler; a provost might know all four. Agents use arcane marks to pass information or provide intelligence about the local area. Illusion is used in many ways, including invisibility, concealment, disguise, and distraction. Observers hone their innate talent for ghost sound, which can be used to deliver messages to a contact, coordinate an assassination, or deliver a warning to a criminal who might be dissuaded by a good scare.

The most remarkable tool employed by the Trust is the whisper bond. This technique binds a minor air elemental, known as a whisp, to the agent. A gnome who masters the bond can extend his sensesinto his spiritual partner. Whisps serve as spies and swift flying couriers, and they can deliver messages across long distances; one can also capture sound and reproduce it for its master. Whisps are weak spirits and easily dispersed if exposed, but they are small, stealthy and invisible—little more than a faint gust of wind—and eventually re-form if destroyed.

Poison is the Trust’s favorite weapon, and the group has a dedicated corps of alchemists that has spent centuries devising new toxins. Contact, ingested, and inhaled poisons are common, along with more complex toxins—venoms that take effect only when two components are mixed or when an otherwise harmless substance serves as a catalyst. The poisons employed by the assassin class are good models for the tools of the Trust, but other toxins can be employed as necessary. Although the Zil abhor physical violence, the Trust has a force of silent killers trained to slay with darts and daggers. A rumor claims that the Trust maintains ghost agents in all the major cities of Khorvaire. These assassins live shrouded in invisibility and communicate solely through whisps and sending, waiting for orders to strike.

Despite these impressive forces, the Trust’s most formidable weapon might be its reputation. The myth of the fraternity’s omnipotence is greater than the reality, but few people take the chance. Imagine a group of adventurers plotting a theft when they hear a ghostly warning: “Abandon this course of action before it is too late.” It could be a spectral assassin waiting to strike; the innkeeper, ready to poison their next round of drinks; or simply an observer, stirring up doubts and fears. Who’s willing to take the risk? Contrary to popular belief, the Trust isn’t obsessed with killing all wrongdoers. If a crime can be averted by frightening away the would-be culprits, so much the better.

Type

Government, Secret Service