Eagle's Shadows

This article is enchanted. Members of the Shadows, or those granted permission to read it by them, will see it differently to most.

The Eagle's Shadows are a long-enduring clandestine organisation shrouded in mystery. Their core focus is allegedly the acquisition and protection of knowledge, but their actions over the years have suggested that the clandestine group keeps many greater goals in mind. Little is publicly known of their true motives or even which actions are considered theirs, despite supposedly existing over a span of millennia.
In shadier circles, their name is whispered with fear and respect - for it is not just rumours that speak of the deaths of many significant underworld figures, and any who would seek to shake the balance of nations must first consider the shadowed blades hanging over their necks. They are assassins, yes, but never only that.
In truth, the Shadows are an expansive information-gathering network that work with many other organisations worldwide, from the Kartovian Exploration Society to the Circle of Harmony. The Shadows cannot afford for their efforts in maintaining continent-wide stability and protection of dangerous information to be disrupted by exposing light and interfering outsiders, and thus remain hidden. Those seeking to expose them are often silenced with haste.

Public Knowledge

Despite all their secrecy, there have been inevitable slip-ups that have served to reveal some facet of their existence. Most famously, the acquisition of a significant Vosteni artefact was halted by famed Vosteni adventurer Settimo Damiani, member of the Kartovian Exploration Society.
After a dramatic battle culminating in Settimo crashing through a building's ceiling whilst wrestling an evil cultist, he bore witness to veiled figures retreating with the artefact in question. His attempts to stop them were ultimately not successful, but he escaped with his life - and a shard of a pendant bearing the sigil of a shadowed eagle. Less than a week after this encounter, Settimo's claims about the pendant changed to instead accuse the figures of worshipping a little-known god, and the tale of the Shadows slipped back into mystery.

Structure

No organisation can exist without structure - but do its followers need to know it?

Public Agenda

We seek knowledge, and guard understanding. Perhaps even that is saying too much.

Type

Information Network

Alternative Names

the Shadows, the Eagles

Demonym

Shadows

Location

Impossibility

Related Traditions

• The Hero's Welcome

Related Professions

• Wizard

Controlled Territories

• Impossibility

Manufactured Items

• Books of Communication

Notable Members

• Amara

Royal Ties

There has long been suspicion that the Shadows have members among the world's most elite. Despite this, their actions are usually politically-neutral and serve the global purpose.
Specific regional units may potentially exist under the command of high-ranking members of specific nations.