Trust

http://keith-baker.com/the-trust/

While the gnomes love their fun and games, the endless intrigue works because of the limits imposed by the Trust. There are only two rules - the national interest comes first, and no crime. The former rule comes in when gnomes try to leverage outside alliances for profit and gain. The second not only means the Trust maintain a monopoly on violence, but also ensures the intricate system of trust and debts in gnomish society continues to function.

The gnomish connection to Thelanis may play some role here, as the particular wording of debts and obligations is of utmost importance, with the letter of the law always coming before the spirit of it. An important part of growing up Zilargo is learning that fine line between creative interpretations of obligations and outright fraud. Furthermore, gnomes still understand that tit invites tat, and joyful fulfillment of obligations engenders bonds of friendship rather than distrust. Deception may be second nature, but friendships and family are treaures.

The Trust are a secret police in the sense that individual members work in secret, rather than their existence is a secret. Uninformed visitors from other lands may be unaware, but anyone with a passing understanding of Zil society knows that ambition is checked by the Trust.

History: Formed over two centuries ago as a way to preserve the scholarly focus of Korranberg college, the Trust today is a multinational intelligence agency that answers only to the Triumvirate. While the majority of the Trust's mission involves domestic affairs, gnome spies dot the five nations. In line with their national character, the gnomes didn't use this for direct military action. However, they were able to leverage their vast pool of intelligence to secede from Breland by declaring an "Alliance". Battered from the lengthy war, the Brelish were unable to devote resources to maintain sovereignty over a province-turned-ally.

Hierarchy: Today, the Trust maintains order through a finely layered set of agents and assets. On a basic level, the Trust rewards snitches and informants, who provide information via dead drops (leaving information in a previously-agreed upon location for the Trust agent to pick up) in exchange for financial compensation. More devoted assets may be asked to perform more complicated or important actions, such as deliver messages, in exchange for greater compensation.

The Trust employs two kinds of agents. Ganos ("eyes") manage webs of assets who provide information that can be transmitted home and processed by analysts and their superiors, who are known as shalons ("minds"). The shalons use this information to deploy the valos ("hands"), the trained thieves and assassins who enforce the law.

The trust has four secret languages, and the typical agent knows two to three, communicating with a given asset using only a single one of them. The Trust heavily "siloes" its operations, which is to say any given agent knows very little about the plans of other agents. The job of the home office is to coordinate agents in a way that avoids revealing their plans any more than necessary.

While ostensibly available to all well-resourced agencies, the Trust leverages "ghost" agents more than any other group. Such "ghost" agents are not incorporeal undead - rather, they are outfitted with a ring of invisibility and ring of sustenance, ensuring that they do not have to reveal themselves until the moment of their choosing. How many of these ghost agents is a mystery - the Brelish King's Dark Lanterns estimate that at least one ghost agent is positioned in each major city of Khorvaire, but the true number is up to the DM.

Methods: A common misconception (that the Trust actively promotes) is that the group is filled with lethal assassins. The truth is they rarely resort to violence, preferring to scare off potential lawbreakers. Masters of poisons, the Trust uses sub-lethal doses to communicate a message to a particularly stubborn target. However, if someone persists despite the warnings, the Trust will act before a crime is actually committed if they believe one will be.

Compared to the Code of Galifar, the Trust's system of law enforcement affords the accused few rights. At the same time, the Trust's consistent anti-corruption efforts, consistent attempts to de-escalate, and the general higher quality of life in Zilargo mean that on a pragmatic level, crime is much less common in the first place.

While working abroad as an intelligence agency rather than domestic law enforcement, the Trust's corliganos ("roving eyes") only take action when absolutely necessary. The Trust prefers to simply accumulate knowledge for use in future conflicts, staying as a "neutral" third party in the cold war the surviving nations are engaged in.

The Trust’s power comes from numerous sources. One is the sheer number of informants at the organization’s disposal. The King’s Citadel of Breland estimates that as many as one in three Zil gnomes serve as ears of the Trust. Although most of them are simple observers, a significant number of sleeper agents can be called into active service as required. Some spies are recruited at the university, whereas others are born into the work. The informants know little about the overall structure of the organization, and one agent might unwittingly report on the suspicious activities of another. It’s up to the provosts and the current Proctor to sift through all the data to create a clear picture. If a criminal identifies and eliminates an agent of the Trust, another agent or team in the same area might be called into play.

The weapons in the Trust’s arsenal speak to the gnomish roots of the organization. The Zil are known for their love of language and their gifts for illusion, alchemy, and elemental binding. Over the centuries, the Trust has developed four unique languages, along with innumerable codes, ciphers, and other ways to deliver secret messages. A typical observer knows only one of these secret languages, which he uses when dealing with his handler; a provost might know all four. Agents use arcane marks to pass information or provide intelligence about the local area. Illusion is used in many ways, including invisibility, concealment, disguise, and distraction. Observers hone their innate talent for ghost sound, which can be used to deliver messages to a contact, coordinate an assassination, or deliver a warning to a criminal who might be dissuaded by a good scare.

The most remarkable tool employed by the Trust is the whisper bond. This technique binds a minor air elemental, known as a whisp, to the agent. A gnome who masters the bond can extend his senses into his spiritual partner. Whisps serve as spies and swift flying couriers, and they can deliver messages across long distances; one can also capture sound and reproduce it for its master. Whisps are weak spirits and easily dispersed if exposed, but they are small, stealthy and invisible—little more than a faint gust of wind—and eventually re-form if destroyed.

Poison is the Trust’s favorite weapon, and the group has a dedicated corps of alchemists that has spent centuries devising new toxins. Contact, ingested, and inhaled poisons are common, along with more complex toxins—venoms that take effect only when two components are mixed or when an otherwise harmless substance serves as a catalyst. The poisons employed by the assassin class are good models for the tools of the Trust, but other toxins can be employed as necessary. Although the Zil abhor physical violence, the Trust has a force of silent killers trained to slay with darts and daggers. A rumor claims that the Trust maintains ghost agents in all the major cities of Khorvaire. These assassins live shrouded in invisibility and communicate solely through whisps and sending, waiting for orders to strike. 

Despite these impressive forces, the Trust’s most formidable weapon might be its reputation. The myth of the fraternity’s omnipotence is greater than the reality, but few people take the chance. Imagine a group of adventurers plotting a theft when they hear a ghostly warning: “Abandon this course of action before it is too late.” It could be a spectral assassin waiting to strike; the innkeeper, ready to poison their next round of drinks; or simply an observer, stirring up doubts and fears. Who’s willing to take the risk? Contrary to popular belief, the Trust isn’t obsessed with killing all wrongdoers. If a crime can be averted by frightening away the would-be culprits, so much the better.

The Trust is strongest in its home base of Zilargo, but its agents—gnomes, elementals, and others—have spread across Khorvaire. They monitor possible threats to Zilargo that grow beyond the nation’s borders. However, just as agents won’t kill a potential criminal if they can scare him or her away, they rarely interfere in the affairs of the wider world. A secret becomes less valuable as more people know it, and the Trust values secrecy above gold.

If adventurers are determined to do something forbidden in the Land of the Wise, they must find a way to outwit the Trust. Here are a few ideas to consider.

Stalking Horses: Although the characters don’t know it, the Proctor is using them to expose and eliminate a branch of the Trust that has been compromised by the Aurum. The adventurers’ apparent victory over the Trust is a test that draws them deeper into the web. A gnome character might be recruited directly into the organization; other adventurers are kept at arm’s length.

Masters of Whispers: House Sivis has supported the Trust since the organization was created, and a number of foundlings with the Mark of Scribing belong to the group. The adventurers discover evidence that the current Proctor is a Sivis lord and that House Sivis has secretly controlled the Trust for centuries. What does the house want? Is it just looking out for the Zil people, or is it using the power of the Trust to pursue its own mercantile agenda? Can the adventurers break the Trust away from Sivis without shattering this pillar of Zilargo?

The Hoard of Secrets: The Trust has been gathering information from across Khorvaire for hundreds of years. The adventurers need a piece of information known only to the Proctor. But how do they find the most secretive member of this hidden empire, and what must they offer in exchange for the priceless knowledge they seek?

Shadows Versus Whispers: Over the ages, House Phiarlan and House Thuranni have lost some of their finest agents at the hands of the Trust. Now one of the Shadow Houses is out for revenge. Assassins face off on the streets of the Five Nations’ greatest cities. Which side will the adventurers take? If they refuse to become involved, how far will the conflict escalate?

Only the members of the Triumvirate know the leader of the Trust, and communication with this individual is conducted by magical means to prevent outsiders from discovering his or her identity. If the PCs become involved with the Trust (intentionally or otherwise), it is up to you to decide who this leader is, and what innocuous role he or she appears to play in everyday Zil life. 

The majority of the members of the Trust are known as ganos, or “eyes.” Their job is to gather information, which they pass on to superiors they have likely never met. These shalons (“minds”) give orders to the valos (“hands”)—the assassins and rogues who enforce the law. As a general rule, eyes and hands perform their duties in isolation.

Most Trust agents are tied to a specific community. However, the corliganos (“roving eyes”) are a special order dedicated to gathering intelligence throughout Khorvaire. PCs could become caught up in the work of the roving eyes, receiving missions and rewards from the Trust (including the use of safe houses or a cache of healing potions) in exchange for service.

Whether in Zilargo or across Eberron, any gnome the PCs encounter could be an agent of the Trust. Rumors abound that the organization has begun to recruit members of other races, but many believe the group to be too paranoid to trust outsiders.

The Trust has safe houses scattered across Zilargo and in greater Khorvaire, but its primary base of operations is a secret. Many assume it to be in Trolanport, where the Triumvirate is based, but others reject this guess as too obvious by far.

If the PCs cause trouble in Zilargo, the Trust won’t fight directly or fairly. It will use poison, theft, or similar tricks to deal with adventurers, attempting to murder them in their sleep if need be. The Trust is a threat that PCs must take into consideration when planning virtually any activity in Zilargo, and the reputation of its agents is legendary. Between their training and their inherent fey powers, the gnomes of the Trust are as elusive and deadly as ghosts.

Outside Zilargo, the Trust is a powerful player in the intrigues brewing after the Last War. It has no particular loyalty to any of the Five Nations; the Trust’s only concern is for the acquisition of information and the protection of Zilargo.

The laws of Zilargo are maintained by a secret police force known as the Trust, whose members answer only to the Triumvirate. They are authorized to take any action necessary to preserve the peace, and Zilargo has almost no crime as a result. People who threaten the social order can be eliminated by the Trust without warning or trial, whether citizens or not.

The Trust began as an oversight force within the Library of Korranberg, eventually expanded to encompass the entire nation. Over the last two centuries, it has spread beyond Zilargo, becoming one of the most efficient intelligence gathering agencies in Khorvaire. The Trust intervenes only in matters that threaten the public peace or the security of the nation. As a result, private intrigues abound in Zilargo, but their perpetrators must be careful to keep their schemes and conflicts from escalating from private to public.

The gnomes of Zilargo trace their roots to the tricksters of Thelanis, and the power of illusion lingers in their blood. Deception is second nature to gnomes, and the history of their city-states is rife with intrigue and vendettas. Zilargo was formed to unite the gnomes in the face of the growing influence of the Dragonmarked Houses and the rising threat of Galifar. But how could the great city-states trust one another? Given their history, what assurances could Trolanport offer to suspicious Zolanberg?

The Trust was the brainchild of an old gnome whose name has been stolen from history; today she is known only as the Proctor. The Library of Korranberg had long served as a home to gnomes from all cities and families, and they had already faced the problem of establishing trust among city-states. The Proctor countered the threat with a secret corps pledged to enforce the honor code of the library and keep personal feuds from spilling over into the public realm. She proposed to use this corps as the foundation of a wider organization that would span the newborn nation. 

At least a dozen accounts describe the meeting at which she made her fateful announcement. In some the Proctor discusses the methods she used to recruit her corps—how she found those who could see the library as a family greater than their own flesh and blood. In other accounts, the Proctor blackmails the Triumvirs and forces them to give her the resources that she needs. Whatever the truth of the matter, two years after Zilargo was founded, a pamphlet distributed across the nation announced the existence of the Trust and the role it would play in the days to come. This tract lauded the shared virtues of the Zil: ingenuity, curiosity, love of family, and the ability to overcome adversity through wit and wisdom. The pamphlet acknowledged that friendly competition between neighbors is the whetstone that keeps wits sharp. Competition would be accepted, but crime would not. However, the precise definition of crime was vague. The tract ended with these words:

“To those who follow the proper path, we shall be as invisible as any ghost. Trust that we have your best interests at heart. Trust that we will act only when we must. Trust that we will always look after the needs of our great family, and that we need your aid as much as you need ours.”

Records of the period that followed are murky. Most gnomes would have you believe that the Zil embraced the Trust with open arms, but a sage who delves deeply will find a remarkable number of curious deaths in the following decade. No records exist of any family openly challenging the Trust or seceding from the Zil union. Most likely, the Proctor waited to make the announcement until she was sure that she had a sufficient number of agents in the major families—people who would steer public opinion in the proper direction.

Regardless of any doubts that might have existed when the organization was founded, modern gnomes wholeheartedly embrace the Trust. Most Brelish are shocked by the group’s ruthless summary justice, questioning how anyone could accept a system that is willing to kill a person before he or she commits a crime. The typical Zil responds that such doubts are understandable in a system where the forces of law and order are corrupt and inefficient. Agents of the Trust care only for the good of the nation, and a corrupt hand would be eliminated by the fraternity itself. The people of the Five Nations simply can’t understand how much information the Trust has in its hands. The group doesn’t make mistakes. And if somehow it did—or for that matter, if an innocent had to die for the good of the multitude—that is a price the Zil are willing to pay. The gnomes firmly believe that those who do nothing wrong have nothing to fear from the Trust. Most foreigners envision Zilargo as a place where people live in fear, but the opposite is true. The Zil know exactly how much they can get away with, what intrigues are allowed, and what behavior crosses the line. At the end of the day, most Zil truly have faith in the Trust.

The other side of the coin that the Brelish can’t see is the degree to which the Zil love intrigue. For the people of the Five Nations, the thought that anyone around you—even your friend or lover—could be an assassin is a quick path to paranoia and madness. For the gnomes, it’s a glorious game. Trying to identify Trust agents and coming up with schemes that can slip by the group’s omniscient eyes are favorite pastimes of Zil children. The gnomes take pride in their peaceful society, but they also love to dream of ways to outwit their guardians.