The Xanathar Guild
  1. Organizations

The Xanathar Guild

"Other guilds play chess. The Xanathar Guild plays disintegration. It sees everything, forgets nothing, and always finds another eye to replace the last."
 —The Librarian

The Xanathar Guild is one of the most dangerous and enduring criminal syndicates in Waterdeep, operating both above and below the law—though mostly below. Its center of gravity is the mad beholder overlord known only as Xanathar, whose obsessions, paranoia, and cruelty shape the Guild’s culture.

Though volatile and monstrous, the Xanathar is no fool. Its Guild persists because of its perfect balance between terror and profit: extortion, assassination, slavery, magical trafficking, alchemy rings, and the city’s most efficient assassination ledger.

At any given time, the Guild commands hundreds of agents, including:

  • Thieves and fences in the Dock and Trades Wards
  • Arcane smugglers operating out of Skullport
  • Mutated horrors bred in secret labs under Waterdeep
  • Loyalist mind flayers, dopplegangers, and gazers acting as spies and watchers

And of course, the Guild is never without "Sylgar", Xanathar's beloved goldfish. Should the fish die, the replacements (and the body count) swiftly follow.

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Structure

Despite its chaotic head, the Guild maintains a surprisingly hierarchical structure:

  • Xanathar – The eye, the law, the paranoia
  • Eyestalks – Inner circle of elite lieutenants, often monsters or mages
  • Watchers – Spymasters, dopplegangers, and informants scattered throughout the city
  • Fangs – Enforcers, mercenaries, and assassins who carry out orders
  • Scales – Fences, alchemists, smugglers, and middlemen
  • Gutters – New recruits, many of whom never live long enough to be promoted

Most members are forbidden from speaking Xanathar's name aloud. They refer to their leader as “the Eye,” “the Master,” or, simply, “It.”

June 30th, 2025

Recent History and The Grand Game

In the events of The Grand Game, the Xanathar Guild was among the first to realize that Dagult Neverember's missing gold could tip the balance of power in Waterdeep. Their goals were simple:

  • Acquire the Stone of Golorr
  • Unlock the Vault
  • Kill anyone else who tried to do the same

Their chief rivals were the Zhentarim, Bregan D'aerthe, The Cassalanters, The Unseen, and eventually the Hype Squad—who came into possession of the Stone and the Eyes before Xanathar could.

After a daring raid on Xanathar’s lair beneath Waterdeep Castle, orchestrated by the Hype Squad with aid from Harper agents and Nar'l Xibrindas, the Guild suffered massive losses. Xanathar itself was not slain, however—it survived the raid, fleeing into deeper caverns beneath Undermountain, taking its core operations underground.

It has since reemerged, tentatively aligned with the Manshoon, Jarlaxle Baerne, Seffia Cassalanter, and the Hype Squad in a fragile alliance of necessity against The Unseen, Therlin Heskan, and the Cassalanters proper. Its motivations remain self-serving, but its eyes are now turned toward vengeance and control of the chaos that followed the Vault’s exposure.

June 30th, 2025 June 30th, 2025

Relationships with Other Factions

Zhentarim: Traditional rivals. Skirmishes between the two are as old as the Castle Ward. Enna Baenre considers the Xanathar a threat that cannot be tolerated forever.
The Harpers: Natural enemies. The Guild has assassinated several Harpshadows over the past decade.
Order of the Gauntlet: Actively attempting to root out the Guild’s presence, especially after the Vault Incident.
The Unseen: Briefly manipulated by Therlin Haskin’s mind-controlling network, some Guild cells have since purged internal threats
The Hype Squad: Former enemies. Now, uncomfortable allies. Xanathar tolerates them—for now.
Jarlaxle Baerne and Bregan D'aerthe: Business partners at best, duplicitous adversaries at worst. Jarlaxle calls the Guild “an axe without a handle.”
June 30th, 2025

Closing Remarks

Do not pity the Xanathar. Do not mock it. It has survived for centuries not through cunning, but through chaos. And in a city of masks and lies, nothing terrifies more than a creature that wants only what it sees… and sees everything.
July 2nd, 2025

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