The Guilder's Arms (SS20)
The Network is the equivalent of a "Guild of Spies" in Marienburg, and officially doesn't even exist. Few will admit to have heard of it, none to having anything to do with it. But the people at the top know that for the greatest quantities of the most worthwhile, reliable information in Marienburg, the Network can't be beaten. The Network owes no allegiance to any house or order, unlike the Effenmunten, Marienburg's 'official' secret police. Being freelance gives them both greatest flexibility, and the hardest (therefore highest paying) jobs. Getting in contact with the network is very simple if it's services are genuinely required. If one of it's informants (of which there are many) overhears a conversation, the potential customers are then screened before contact is made.
The Main Guild House is based in a drab Tavern on Stoessel, the unimaginatively named "Guilder's Arms". It is a spacious, comfortable, middle class establishment. The tavern is kept as dull and nondescript as possible, and is a location which people mainly ignore, even those who may work right next to it. No fights, average food and drink, and just a mite too expensive for the regular Stoessel dock worker keep the place anonymous. Few, if any, outside the guild have knowledge that the tavern is merely a front for the spies operations, and those that do will keep there mouths firmly shut. The Network would hear of any breach of security almost immediately, and the assassins are on good terms with The Network.
On the first floor above the tavern are the Networks vast libraries of information, all neatly indexed and checked. Above that are the living quarters of Jonas Van Helden, and extensive training and working areas of scribes, scholars, and cryptographers. On the top floor mages and alchemists develop magic items or use their powers for the Network. Security on all these levels is at it's tightest, with ogre and human guards. These are personal sentries rather than hired from the Mercenary's Guild. Alchemists have provided various potions which ignite on exposure to the air, enabling any delicate information to be destroyed very quickly by anyone. These will only be used in dire emergencies.
The organisation of the Network is quite complex. At the top is Jonas Van Helden, who ultimately accepts or declines any jobs. Below him are the professional spies numbering about 20 to 30. Each spy is usually independent of the others, but they sometimes work in teams of two or three. These spies perform any dangerous jobs or jobs that would be too difficult for junior spies. The spies take one apprentice from the junior spies each year, and train them up to their standard. At the end is a test, which about two or three may pass. Below them are the junior spies, of whom there are about a hundred. At the very bottom are informants those that know nothing of the network, but have their income supplemented by passing on information to one of the junior spies. Attached to the Network are various scribes, mages, and other "support" sections"
The Network will keep tabs on any freelance spies but do nothing to prevent their activity. If they show promise then eventually the Network will offer them a position of spy with all it's associated benefits. Anyone who refuses is obviously determined to do it the hard way!
Jonas Van Helden Scholar, Ex Spy, Ex Bawd, Ex Beggar, Ex Mercenary Captain, Ex Sergeant, Ex Soldier (SS20a)
"How incredibly boring you are. Put the sword away please. You're tiring me."
"You never fail to amaze me you humans. Scurrying like ants, and yet it all works! Most amusing the petty intrigues that house after house has dreamed up. Most amusing."
On first glance Jonas Van Helden looks like a wiry, rather weedy young man. He has a bookish face, a foppish haircut, and ridiculous spectacles perched on his scrunched up nose. He wears drab clothes with a worn look, often in muted tones of purple and natural leather. He has an odd, "aged" look about him and you would place his age at maybe thirty four, although he could be anything between 18 and 70. In fact, Jonas Van Helden is 400 years old.
During the reign of the Tzarina Katarina "The Ice Queen of Kislev", Jonas Van Helden was a promising soldier in the Queen's army. Quickly rising through the ranks, he became one of her most trusted generals and one of her most obsessed lovers. Just before the collapse of her empire she gave him the gift of immortality and a warning to flee Kislev. Adopting anonymity he travelled to Marienburg, and became a beggar on the streets. After several months of cold, weariness and coming to terms with his new life, he became a guide for the seedier areas of town, finding it a convenient way to gain access to blood. He rarely let people in on his secret, and, although he had a large web of contacts, he found it increasingly difficult to pass off his apparently unchanging age. Step by step he withdrew from society, purchasing the "Guilder's Arms" with stolen money.
Having already established a maze of informants in the squalid underworld, people began to sound him out when they needed information, and he began to establish his contact base in other areas of the city. Jonas knew this could only be a temporary solution, and recruited several likely people to help him. The Network evolved from there. Jonas has long since turned from active information collecting, instead turning his attentions to the acquisition of esoteric knowledge , and piecing together the volumes of information that the network owns. He has forever to study, and good many centuries knowledge, and probably knows more about Marienburg than anyone else. The overview Jonas holds enables him to predict actions before they're taken, based on centuries of experience.
Jonas is world weary in the extreme. He has seen everything already, and almost craves surprises. Ambivalently, he insists on complete order in everything around him, perhaps to minimise the length of time he has to interact with the rest of the world. Only the professional spies know of Jonas' true nature, many of the junior spies would be worried and possibly disloyal if they found out. Jonas is not of the truly dead, and not evil. He is, however, extremely practical and doesn't value an individual life.
Jonas is an important person in Marienburg, and is often invited to the many balls and other social functions of high society. These people know he is a vampire, which makes them slightly uneasy, but do not know his position of spy master. He keeps nearly all of his vast sums of money at Marcellus van Walsum's Private Bank. He has several friends, but many enemies in the upper class circles, and lots of important people would be pleased to see him truly dead...
M 4 WS 78 BS 66 S 5 T 6 W 31 I 82 A 4 Dex 57 Int 87 Cl 74 Wp 65 Fel 60
Age: (32) 400
Alignment: Neutral
Skills: Arcane Language Magick/Necromancy, Act, Astronomy, Begging, Bribery, Concealment Urban, Cryptography, Cartography, Cast Spells petty/battle 14/necromantic 14, Demon Lore, Disarm, Dodge Blow, Disguise, Drive Cart, Evaluate, Flee!, Gamble, Heraldry, History, Identify Magical Artifact, Undead, Plant, Linguistics, Magical Sense, Magical Awareness, Meditation, Numismatics, Pick Lock, Palm Object, Read/Write, Ride Horse, Rune Lore, Street Fighting, Strike Mighty Blow, Strike to Injure, Strike to Stun, Silent Move Urban, Seduction, Shadowing, Sixth Sense, Scale Sheer Surface, Speak Kislev, Scroll Lore, Secret Language Battle/Thieves/Guilder Secret Signs thieves, Specialist Weapon 2 handed/Flail/Parrying, Very Strong, Wit
Possessions: Almost Anything...!
Spells:
Notes: Suffers from Agoraphobia and depression. Jonas is a vampire and suffers the disadvantages laid out in the beistary.
Senior Spies: Spy, Ex - Junior Spy, Ex - Thief (SS20b etc.)
Although there are some fully detailed spies that belong to the Network, these are lain out in the locations they have affiliated themselves with. The profile below is for a generalised professional spy that belongs to the Network.
Professional Spies are the ones that do all the dangerous or hard jobs. Having Graduated from simple collection and recording of information, senior spies are often required to impersonate people, break and enter, forge or steal documents, remain under cover for months on end and finally report everything back to the client. They take many high paying jobs over several years and retire early those that don't get caught.
Senior spies are rarely the cloak and dagger types they are usually the people who you would forget easily. They are invariably masters of disguise, and can make themselves look however they want. Spies are motivated by many reasons usually the money involved.
Spies will have a great range of contacts all over the city, from courtiers to thieves. They have access to the Network's vast library of information on the public, and magical devices created by the network's own alchemists and magicians.
M 4 WS 51 BS 46 S 3 T 4 W 10 I 59 Dex 51 Ld 32 Int 44 Cl 71 Wp 39 Fel 50
Age: Varied
Alignment: Neutral
Skills: Act, Bribery, Concealment Urban, Disguise, Linguistics, Pick Lock, Palm Object, Read/Write, Seduction, Shadowing, Sixth Sense, Secret Language Thieves' Tongue/Guilder, Secret Signs Thieves, Silent Move Urban, Silent Move Rural, Wit
Possessions: Knife, Sword, Codebook, 2 Homing Pigeons, Disguise Kit, Writing Equipment, Fake Seals, 50% Magic Item
Junior Spies, Ex Thief (SS20c etc.)
Junior Spies perform all the grunt work of the Network collecting rumours and gossip and other open information, looking after the Library, manning the various safe houses around the city, and collecting jobs. Each year, thirty or so of the Juniors will become apprentices, learning to become full blown spies. Until that day, the juniors practice their skills.
The Junior spies are much more varied than the Seniors, with many who still have a romanticised idea of the information industry. Junior spies have quite a range of contacts, but they are usually in specific areas of the city.
Age: Usually twentyish
Alignment: Neutral
Skills: Bribery, Concealment Urban, Pick Lock, Read/Write, Shadowing, Secret Language Thieves, Secret Signs Thieves, Silent Move Urban, Silent Move Rural
Possessions: Knife, Sword, Codebook, 2 Homing Pigeons, Writing Equipment, Fake Seals,
Informers or Middlemen (SS20d etc.)
Although they have a lowly status, informers are vital to the possession of regular, fresh information, and middlemen are vital to the continuing secrecy of the network. They usually come from the lower, or lower middle classes, and are quite happy to be paid a little extra for reporting to someone what they overheard in a tavern. Little of what knowledge the informers pass on is compromising, and little is of any serious use to the network. However, all information, however banal, may have surprising ramifications, and so details of shipping cargoes and the price of chickens throughout the city is kept along with lists of a Merchant's lovers.
Middlemen perform another vital function, allowing the movement of resources without causing suspicion. For example, the scribes get through reams of paper every week, and cartloads of paper being delivered to the Guilders arms would instantly cause suspicion. So instead, middlemen are paid to buy paper, and deliver it to another location, where it is picked up by a junior spy. That way, only a few reams are purchased at a time, no one knows where it ends up, and the whole process is a lot less suspicious. Middlemen also provide places to meet with clients, such as the back rooms of inns or rented accommodation. Clients are never met at the Guilder's Arms itself. This obsession with secrecy has kept the network hidden for many years.
Because of the variation in profession and ability, statistics for middlemen and informers are not given here.
Ijsbert Quist "Q", Alchemist Level 3, Ex Alchemist Apprentice (SS20e)
"Look you can go off and fool around with turning lead into gold and philosophying if you want but I've got work to do. At least my devices have practical purposes!"
"You lot are all very good at the theory, but I'm the best when it comes down to application."
Ijsbert is a red faced, lean man in his mid thirties. He is fairly tall and athletic, and stalks around quickly, in a birdlike fashion. He is clean shaven and has neat, grainy brown hair. His eyes are incredibly small, and people find his stare uncomfortable very quickly. He is loud and angry most of the time, storming round the room on gangly legs, screaming at underlings for their incompetence.
Aside from his fiery temper, Ijsbert Quist, or "Q" as he is known to the people in the network is a highly motivated, talented individual. He is far more practical than many other alchemists, and trys to find radically different uses for many simple alchemic principles. He is a hypocrite, arrogant and flamboyant he never simply speaks, he exclaims, pronounces and sometimes simply yells! However, the network couldn't do without his masterpieces, and his creations never fail to surprise even those he has worked with for many years. He almost ignores the spellcasting side of his profession, learning magic theory, and spells if he wants them to be incorporated into artifacts
"Q" is greedy and this is the main reason he works with the network. They pay him vast amounts of money for his time, and he owns many lavish and expensive luxuries. He owns a small island, similar to those owned by the merchant lords, dominated by an opulent mansion and beautiful gardens. He lives a double life: one day crouched in a cluttered laboratory and the next mixing in high society.
The spies in the network like Q and his incredible inventions, although the less senior members are (such as the scribes) are slightly in awe of him. The Wizards' and Alchemists' Guild (C22) dislike Q as he belittles their philosophies. Q is friends with James Sponge, the Cake Guild Agent, and gives him many of his more experimental pieces.
M 4; WS 47*; BS 28; S 5*; T 5*; W 14*; I 61; A 1; Dex 60; Ld 47; Int 64; Cl 48; WP 57; Fel 32
Age: 34
Alignment: Neutral
Skills: Arcane Language Magick, Brewing, Cast Spells Petty/Battle 1 & 2, Chemistry, Etiquette, Evaluate, Herb Lore, Identify Magical Artifact, Magic Sense, Magical Awareness, Manufacture Potions, Manufacture Magic Items, Manufacture Scrolls, Meditation, Metallurgy, Prepare Poison, Read/Write, Rune Lore, Rune Mastery, Scroll Lore, Smithing
Possessions: Magical Sword (+10 WS*), Ring of Ersatz (+2 S & +2 T*), working clothes, expensive clothes, Amulet of the blood of the kin (+4 W*).
Robert Bijl: Guildsman, Ex Student (SS20f)
Robert is the main organiser for the guild apart from Jonas himself. He is the only person who discovered the network after long research and secrecy. A number of strange events piqued his curiosity, and digging deeper he found a pattern that extended throughout Marienburg. After having recorded many of the networks weaknesses in his spare time, he made a visit to the Guilders Arms, and asked to see Jonas. Assuming he was a spy in disguise, they granted him an interview.
Robert showed Jonas his work, and where the security of the network could be improved. Jonas merely laughed at his boldness, and hired him straight away. Such an event was such a surprise for him, a surprise he had begun to crave.
Standing six feet tall with unkempt ginger hair, Robert seems gawky and ill at ease. He has a series of clumsy hand movements when speaking to someone he doesn't know which can be very distracting. He is very observant, and perfectly happy to sit in a corner of a room and watch the others around him. He has a fierce curiosity, and an inventive mind, and these are valuable traits in his career.
Robert coordinates the junior spies information gathering attempts, and other administrative work. He designed a whole ream of plans using middlemen to keep the secrecy of the network intact, and the information libraries have become usable after he joined the team. In addition to administration, Robert is the one that attempts to find links between pieces of information to build up a complete picture of events. Without this, much of the information brought in by informers would be useless. New members of the network hold him in contempt, seeing him as ridiculous, but those that have remained for some time know he is very capable and highly useful for the network.
At the university, Robert studied Lustrian history, including the devolvement of the Slann and their theology. He is recognised as an expert in his field, and any inquiries at the university (C22) will be directed to Robert. He is also interested in buying Lustrian history books, and finding a teacher in Ancient Slann.
M 4; WS 27; BS 24; S 3; T 3; W 7; I 54; A 1; Dex 40; Ld 40; Int 58; Cl 42; WP 41; Fel 31
Age: 26
Alignment: Neutral
Skills: Arcane Language Magick, Blather, Cartography, History, Numismatics, Read/Write, Secret Language Classical
Possessions: Countless small cards for filing in the library, knife, book on ancient Lustrian History.
Wilhelm Grausbert: Interpreter (SS20g)
o Short, longish, smooth grey hair, smiling eyes, very small lips, wears quality clothes, tanned, Imperial.
o Friendly, intelligent, mildly inquisitive.
o Work hard for the network, perfect his studies.
o "Qui Ticordia? O, si!", "Charl Furzukda!"
o Doesn't really know many people in the Network. Regular at the Helmsman (SB1) where he picks up stories posing as a foreign traveller.
Skills: Arcane Language Magick/Dwarfish, Linguistics, Lip Reading, Speak Breton/Tilean/Estelian/Norscan, Secret Language Classical/Guilder
Other Characters
Also involved in the network are bodyguards, scribes, junior
wizards and alchemists and scholars, all of whom have there own
particular function. All have been sworn to secrecy, and, as
the money is double what they could get anywhere else, they are
usually happy to keep their mouths shut. Use the generic NPC
tables at the back of the book for statistics. Most of the customers
downstairs in the inn are people employed by the network and
this makes upstairs doubly secure. If anyone trys to get upstairs
without authorisation they will be set upon by half the bar!
Q's Inventions
Q's inventions are useful and bizarre, and also time consuming, expensive and risky to produce. As a result a spy can only expect to be given a few, and when only necessary. They are created, not to make the spies job easier, but because they are the only way to accomplish a task. A few samples of Q's work are given below:
Flasks of Breeding Fire/Sand
These are situated in small alcoves throughout the upper levels
of The Guilders arms. The flask is full of either a red liquid
or brown dust, respectively. The glass is fragile, and easy to
break. On exposure to air, the substance "breeds" rapidly,
covering an area much larger than that contained in the flask
after a few minutes. The flasks perform opposite functions: the
flasks of breeding fire are to destroy all valuable information
if the Guilders arms should fall to attack. The flasks of sand
are there to put out any fires that may be caused by accident.
A copy of any highly valuable information is kept in sealed envelopes
in a vault at Marcellus van Wallsum's private bank.
Paper of Replication
This is high quality vellum that has been treated with an infusion
of crushed ostrich egg shells and other magical substances. The
paper is then polished, giving it a slightly waxy appearance.
When placed over another piece of paper, the waxy layer can be
rubbed of as if it was dust, and a perfect copy will have been
created. This is very useful for obtaining compromising documents.
However, due to some unknown quantity, the magical effects fail
if the paper is folded. Spies have to be careful and carry the
paper rolled in scroll cases to preserve its abilities.
Earrings of Astute Hearing
Q has done much work into what he called sound fields, and this
item is the result of his work. It allows the wearer to focus
in on sound areas of interest. Unfortunately, this means that
the spy has to focus out of the sound area he is actually
in, and so conversation at social functions becomes difficult.
The spy needs to lip read, and keep track of both conversations
at once to keep an semblance of normality. The nature of the
item, dazzling silver earrings with small jade stones at the
centre makes their use limited by male spies. No one impersonating
a tough dockland worker could wear them for example!
Using the Network in Adventures
The network has to be used with care when it comes to PCs. Because it knows almost everything, it would be very easy for the PCs to just buy the information and skip most of the adventure. Here are some hints on how to avoid this.
The characters will never get in contact with the Network, it will contact them. This means that if you don't want the characters to use the network, then you don't have to.
Even if the network is used, the characters should never realise there actually is such an organisation. As far as they're concerned, an independent spy just happened to hear them in a bar and offer his services.
Cost. This should be tailored to each individual group. It shouldn't be unpayable, if the spy has got in contact then you probably want to give the PCs a chance to get the information (see 1). Remember, costs don't have to monetary, a service in kind could be offered, pushing the characters into a new subplot.
The PCs don't necessarily have to be buyers of information. An adventure trying to unearth the network would be fun (but difficult). One of the PCs might be asked to perform as informers or middlemen.
The Network may have plenty of information, but it isn't going to sell anything that will damage its security or future information acquisition. This includes supplying information to investigators and minions of the law. Information on high profile figures is expensive, quite simply because the informer will be unearthed and another one will somehow have to planted within the entourage.
