The Sable Loom

The Sable Loom are a roving society of craftsfolk, storytellers, enchanters, and secret-brokers. They travel in colorful caravans, riding elaborately decorated wagons and river-barges, weaving through the Mwangi Expanse — but they are no ordinary merchants.

Their goods are beautiful (handmade jewelry, rare textiles, enchanted relics, ancient manuscripts), but their true trade lies in more intangible treasures: lost histories, forbidden knowledge, cultural artifacts, even memories or secrets entrusted to them for safekeeping.

They believe preserving endangered cultures, arts, and wisdom is essential for the world's survival — even if it means stealing, lying, or manipulating events for a greater good.

Public Agenda

• Preservation Over Purity: Saving knowledge, culture, and people is more important than playing by the rules.
• Stories are Sacred: Every individual, every civilization has a story worth telling — even if the world tries to silence it.
• Secrets Are Seeds: Secrets grow when properly nurtured. Some must be protected, some must be planted at the right time.
• Beauty Is Resistance: Art and craftsmanship are acts of defiance against oppression, ignorance, and decay.

Oath of the Sable Loom

Spoken aloud by initiates upon joining the Loom, often before a Witness Weaver or under a sacred memory-cloth.

“I vow, as a thread in the Loom, to uphold the sacred work entrusted to me.
I will preserve that which teeters on the edge of silence — the stories, crafts, and cultures at risk of being lost.
I will protect truth, but not worship it blindly. I will shape stories to preserve meaning, not to serve my pride.
I will treat secrets as living things: to be hidden when needed, revealed when right, and never sold without cause.
I will honor beauty in all its forms — not as decoration, but as defiance against those who would erase or consume.
I will show reverence for all peoples, regardless of power or prominence, for every culture holds value.
I will not speak without purpose, nor forget without grief. Words are threads; once woven, they endure.
I will offer mercy when it protects the whole, not when it serves the weak will of the moment.
I will never destroy what was meant to be remembered — no cloth, no tale, no truth buried in trust.
And I will not abandon the threads I am given. Every story I carry, I carry to its rightful end.

So I swear, in whisper and weave, in truth and thread."

How They Operate

• Travel in ornate caravans decorated with story-symbols, masks, and magical tapestries
• Collect and preserve endangered cultures, art forms, and oral traditions
• Trade in secrets, relics, and stories — both real and artfully altered
• Engage in cultural diplomacy, poetic sabotage, and memory-based magic
• Weave “narrative interventions” — shaping events through influence, performance, or subterfuge
• Forge replica relics or propagate myths to defuse violence or protect real artifacts

Their Darker Side

• Will lie, rewrite history, or fabricate prophecies to preserve what they believe matters
• Steal or suppress knowledge they deem too dangerous or culturally destructive
• Use beauty and narrative manipulation to distract, mislead, or soften moral outrage
• May pass judgment on what stories are “worth” remembering
• Keep internal archives of erased truths — sometimes weaponized in desperate times
• Sometimes sabotage archaeological or political efforts that conflict with their preservation goals

Typical Members

• Bards, artisans, illusionists, diplomats, and roguish scholars
• Emotionally intelligent, morally flexible, and culturally driven
• Join to protect beauty, memory, or a people’s legacy
• Wear expressive robes embroidered with animated runes or woven tokens
• Carry enchanted masks, memory cloths, and whisper-scrolls
• Often form strong mentor-student bonds within the Loom’s ranks

Common Deities

Shelyn – Goddess of Art, Beauty, and Music (NG)

Shelyn represents the soul of what the Sable Loom seeks to preserve: art as resistance, beauty as memory, and expression as sacred. Many Loom artisans and performers whisper her name when weaving truth into song or sculpture.

Norgorber (as “The Veiled Archivist”) – God of Secrets, Subtlety, and Forbidden Knowledge (NE, N)

Not all secrets are dark — some are necessary. The Sable Loom honors Norgorber’s masked aspect as a symbol of discretion and the burden of hidden knowledge. They do not worship his murderous or exploitative domains, but revere his role as Keeper of Things Best Hidden.

Desna – Goddess of Dreams, Stars, and Travel (CG)

As nomads and dream-weavers, many Loom caravans travel under Desna’s light and see her as a patron of wandering minds and wandering feet. Her connection to dreams and fate pairs well with memory magic and cultural divination.

Irori – God of Knowledge, Self-Perfection, and Memory (LN)

Irori’s reverence for mental discipline, self-awareness, and ancestral memory makes him a quiet favorite among Loom scholars. While not all followers seek perfection, many admire his belief that truth lies in self-reflection and the past.

Grandmother Spider – Spirit of Stories, Trickery, and the Tapestry of Fate (N, NG)

In many Mwangi traditions, Grandmother Spider is the weaver of all stories — a cultural figure that embodies the magic of narrative, the wisdom of age, and the cunning needed to survive and teach. Many Loom leaders treat her tales as sacred lessons.

*"What is hidden must be preserved. What is broken must be made whole."*

Type: Nomadic Guild of Secret-Dealers, Artisans, and Cultural Curators
Alignment: Neutral Good (with a Pragmatic streak)

The Living Loom: Master Weaver Esi Kofa

The Whisperbinder: K’Vekri of the Telling Hands

Relicweaver: Na'lia

The Loomcaller: Jekuro “Twice-Sung” Amari

The Threadguard: Talheera of the Amber Palm