The Southern Alliance
The Iron League was forged in the fires of the Turmoil Between the Crowns and tempered in the blood of the Aerdi chivalry whose pennants carpeted the red-stained field of the Battle of a Thousand Banners in 447 CY. There, before the walls of Irongate itself, the combined forces of the free peoples of the south crushed the hosts of the South Province. As the pyres for the slain still burned, lrongate, Onnwal, Idee, and the dwur of the Iron Hills signed a pact of mutual aid and fraternity that came to be called the Iron League. Under its terms, each member was bound to protect and assist his fellows from the aggressions of the Great Kingdom and the fell ambitions of the Overking. In 448 CY, the Lords of the Isles pledged their oath to the League. Sunndi had to wait another seven years before rebels armed and aided by the League rose up and slaughtered the Imperial garrisons and nobles loyal to Rauxes.
The Jade Mask
The south was now free—but it faced a determined foe with powerful armies that far outnumbered the combined forces of the free states. Where might of arms could not prevail, stealth and guile would redress the balance. The rulers of the Iron League states created a shadowy organization they called the Jade Mask, populating the group with some of the most skillful saboteurs, burglars, and professional liars in all the southeast Flanaess. Outwardly, the Mask would appear to be no more than a diplomatic corps tasked to foster cooperation between the members of the League and to represent their interests abroad. In fact, it was one of the most extensive spy networks on the continent.
The Jade Mask consists of several chapters—one based in each Iron League state and another devoted to matters beyond the borders of the League. The Home Chapters deals with threats to their home state, overt and covert, internal and external. Each member adopts different guises to blend into the cultures and societies of their homeland; few beyond the land's sovereign and their closest ministers are aware of the existence of Jade Mask agents in their midst. The Foreign Chapter's remit is limited only by the known boundaries of the Flanaess. Where the League's diplomats and merchants go, so too go the Mask's agents and spies.
A shadowy group known as the Twelve oversees the Jade Mask. Comprised of two officials selected by the rulers of each member state of the League, the Twelve's mandate is to act at their discretion to preserve the security and liberty of the states of the League by whatever means it deems necessary. This they do with ruthless efficiency.