The Dark Cabinet is a new organization, formed in the aftermath of the removal of the Blood of Vol from positions of power in Karrnath. Now without an intelligence agency, Kaius and Moranna formed the Dark Cabinet, a peer-group intelligence network that coordinates the intelligence resources of the various warlords. Acting as Kaius' spymaster, Moranna has begun to develop deeper sources and contacts, but she is still woefully behind the almost century of build-up their competition has had.
Source: Politics of Karrnath
Formed after Kaius III abolished the Order of the Emerald Claw, the Dark Cabinet is a peer intelligence-sharing network amongst the various warlords.
Hierarchy
The Dark Cabinet consists of each of the spymasters per regional lord having a seat. Kaius' spymaster, Moranna ir'Wynarn, runs the cabinet, but as the leader of a chamber rather than a commander in chief. The Dark Cabinet is separate from the Twilight Brigade, existing as a covert organization with agents that are more proactively secretive about their jobs and mission.
While this more democratic approach may be surprising for such a militarized country, the cabinet itself comes from many compromises that were necessary to replace the Order of the Emerald Claw's intelligence capabilities. Kaius of course plans to increase his control and influence, but for now the Warlords have a surprising amount of autonomy.
Beneath the Dark Cabinet itself is each warlord's own intelligence network. Some spymasters have well-developed webs of spies, many have only a handful of agents. These disparities reflect not only the competency of each spymaster, but the resources their lord is willing invest - while Rekkenmark does not shun intelligence studies, it has never been seen as a particularly honorable or glorious path.
When the Cabinet has decided some particular objective needs to be accomplished, each spymaster offers up resources to contribute - either personnel or material support. Spymasters who don't pitch in their fair share are unlikely to make many friends or win much influence within the Cabinet's politics, leaving them little opportunity to draw upon the aid of the other members when they need something done. Missions do not require majority support within the Cabinet. As it stands, the Cabinet functions more as a clearinghouse for multilateral agreements, with Moranna working to settle disputes and rally support for Kaius' particular plans.
Recruiting
As is usual for an intelligence agency, each agent has multiple sources and assets. Whether it's the support of Karrnathi living abroad, payment plans to bribeable Brelish officials, blackmailing a Thranish priest, or simply feeding the ego of an Aundairian noble, agents have many ways to exert their influence far in excess of their individual capabilities.
Agents are typically recruited by individual spymasters from the towns within a Warlord's domain. Skilled young men and women who not only demonstrate love for their country but support for their local government may be contacted either by a current agent or the spymaster themself for a simple introductory mission. After proving their loyalty, the chosen individual goes through whatever formal onboarding process the spymaster has set up. For more powerful spymasters with large networks, this can involve up to a year of training. For smaller spymasters with undeveloped networks, this may just involve a quick rundown of expectations for service and methods of communication.
The Dark Cabinet acts both as a domestic and foreign intelligence agency, pulling on the strings of conflict in cities like Thaliost while eliminating sedition at home. Their most powerful and direct foe is the Order of the Emerald Claw, whose operations within Karrnath continue to vex Moranna. She knows there's plenty of Emerald Claw agents within the Cabinet, and she even suspects that not all of the spymasters or their warlords are more loyal to Kaius than the Queen of Death. While the Twilight Brigade exists as a counterintelligence and counterterrorism organization, it lacks the subtlety that is sometimes required for spy versus spy.
A great way for player characters to get involved with the Dark Cabinet beyond the usual manipulations of agents and spymasters is through Moranna herself looking to clean house. While the Cabinet is a useful organization for countering the Royal Eyes and the Dark Lanterns, the persistent loyalty issues make it ineffective at countering the Order of the Emerald Claw. As such, he may look for independent bands of powerful individuals to root out traitors. Moranna is rarely up front about who he is in such occassions, employing a variety of disguises and personas when she contacts adventuring groups about dangerous schemes and plots of the Emerald Claw. While Moranna's loyalty is to Kaius over any sense of morals or ethics, her hatred of the Order of the Emerald Claw is genuine, allowing player characters looking to oppose the Queen of Death's machinations to rely on her information.
Generally speaking, the Dark Cabinet doesn't use a lot of magic in their operations. Karrnath lacks the deep system of public education that benefits the Royal Eyes, and seekers are generally held at an arm's distance due to the distrust of the Order of the Emerald Claw. Operations tend to either come in the form of low-budget influence operations or direct assualts that bring Karrnathi martial and evocation skill to bear.
Resources
As mentioned previously, the Dark Cabinet as a whole is one of the less well-resourced intelligence agencies, due to the reliance on individual warlord's contributions. This doesn't make them broke, but Dark Cabinet operations simply won't match the scope or scale of those run by the other nations, let alone the advanced operations run by groups like the Dreaming Dark.
Further inhibiting their success is the lack of central facilities. Given less than a wing of Crownhome, the Dark Cabinet has yet to build up the lengthy intelligence files other agencies have. This does mean they value straight theft of other agency's files, as it not only bolsters their own understanding but gives insights into other's.
When operating within Karrnath, the Dark Cabinet may call upon the White Lions, and more specifically the Twilight Brigade, as additional muscle. This however carries a significant risk of blowing an agent’s cover, creating an opportunity for enterprising independent groups of adventurers who can keep things quiet and preserve the agent’s cover.
Source: Homebrew