The Barbed Quills

The Barbed Quills is a political activist group created in 1053 by Zara Moon. By the closure of The Pirate War, she came to realize just how little the nobility actually cared for the commonfolk. The group aids the commoners of Aradia via covert operations: heists, prison breaks, nobility shakedowns, and occasional banditry. They have even been known to take part in petty theft. 
== Values and Mission ==
Although The Barbed Quills might be viewed as nothing better than a band of outlaws, Zara holds her people to high standards. She keeps them mission-orientated and demands excellence of them. There is a general understanding among the group that the Quills are good people who do some bad things, but for the right reasons. 
The main focus of such a group is to establish the path towards democracy for the commonfolk. The group itself has no interest in filling leadership roles over the commoners, but they do believe in their freedom from feudalistic lords and kings. To this end, they will often fund or otherwise assist other organizations who have the same goal. They have also been known to harbor fugitives at times, though the reasoning behind doing so sometimes doesn't add up.
One such fugitive ended up getting the group in the papers in 1079, much to Zara's chagrin. 
== Quests & Projects ==
=== Bastion City: Breaking the Ring (Completed) ===
1067
The Barbed Quills caught wind of a sex trafficking ring working out of Bastion City, preying on the poorest of the city's civilians and those whose presence might go unmissed. The group made a significant bust and were able to take down a large number of the organization's henchmen but never found the boss and suspect he set up shop elsewhere. (Among those rescued in their raids was 15-year-old Chandri who would later go on to marry Mancel Holdenhome in 1077.)
Members Involved: 
=== Kiradene: Fugitive (Completed) ===
1079
Members involved: 
=== Bastion City: Bank Transport Heist (Completed) ===
=== Bastion City: Scoping the Piers Mansion (Completed) ===
21st of Lady's Moon, 1086 - 22nd of Lady's Moon, 1086
The first time since Darcy Piers' death where members of the Barbed Quills were able to access the mansion to collect intel on Lord Armand Piers and his connections. 
Members involved: Magnolia Holdenhome, Yvenna Holdenhome, Beatrice Knox, and Zephora Knox.
Magnolia maintained her disguise as a carriage driver and was able to extract all involved members successfully. Beatrice exposed her and Zephora's identities to their cousin Sebastien Rodin II. Both Beatrice and Zephora may have been recognized by Baroness Valoria Blackthorne, but she was preoccupied with obsessing over her granddaughter Daria Bay. Yvenna was able to gain access to Armand's study and made notes and photographs of correspondence and other important documents. She was successful in infiltrating the mansion's darkroom and developed some of the photos with expected losses.
* Trade routes and logistics concerning Piers exports
* Photograph of a bank key with the number '411' on it
* Correspondence between Armand Piers and Griff Holdenhome
* Correspondence from Claire Rodin
* Correspondence between Darcy Piers and Metheryl Arcaena 
* Photograph of a lavish locked and bound tome embroidered with the initials "D.P."
=== Heist of an Airship (Planning) ===
Date TBD
The nobles don't need such fucking extravagance. Get this airship, rob everyone blind, allow passengers and crew to leave, sabotage, and watch it all go down in flames.
Members Involved: TBD
== Members ==
* Zara Moon (leader & founder) - Planning, logistics, operations
* Cynthia Silvers (a founding member) - Operations, Finance, Undercover Work
* Drakken Mugflayer (a founding member) - Crafting, material sourcing, trading
* Magnolia Holdenhome - Quartermaster, operations, undercover work
* Beatrice Knox (aka Triss East) - Operations, undercover work
* Zephora Knox (aka Saffire East) - Operations, undercover work, handling
* Yvenna Holdenhome - Operations, undercover work, disguise, photography
* Reef - Cook, drug connections
* Lark - Informant, pickpocket, chores
* Renato - Bookkeeper, treasurer
* Dominic the Viper - Operations, hunter, alchemist, poison connections
* Sofia Rookwood - Financial Aid & "Fencing" of Goods
* Deadbolt - Informant, mage
* Sebastien Rodin II - Operations, noble connections
* Gwenavere Blackthorne - Operations, Mage
* Iris Storm - Informant, chores
* Agnes Klossner (honorary member)
* Jakov Klossner (honorary member)
* Jennifer Klossner (honorary member)
== Hideout ==
Along the seaside road between Bastion City and Homefast, there is an inn called The Honeysuckle. Agnes Klossner, her only son (Jakov Klossner), and youngest daughter (Jennifer Klossner) run the inn and adjoining farm. A barrel in the basement is the hidden entrance to the caves below the inn. The caves also have an exit tunnel which winds out to the ocean. These caves are where The Barbed Quills' hideout is located.
WIP
* So the water is quite a bit down, the cave is like this carved-out (by nature) cliff basin thing And tides occasionally bring the level up
* Yvenna sleeps in a tent (north of "Unsafe for Swimming") near the pier which is mostly steps going down.
* Dominic the Viper's tent is the closest to the tunnel entrance
* There is a the tunnel entrance, and the cave exit
* There is one long-drop that angles down towards the "Unsafe for Swimming". If you don't want to trek over there, you have a chamberpot.
* Renata, the flamboyant bookkeeper, has a finely-furnished and oversized tent near the firepit.
* Drakken's Workshop has space for others to work in or tinker, but its clear its mostly his with his inventions and crafted things
* Armory doesn't store personal weapons. Stores some loaded muskets in the event of hostile breach, but mostly stores bolts and weapon maintenance gear. Some heavy riot-type shields are also kept there.
* Wood storage is all kiln-dried firewood which burns cleaner and doesn't give away so much smoke.
* Kitchen is more of a food prep area, occasionally butchery. Firepit is used for cooking and usually has a "forever stew" on it.
* Stables has 4 stalls but can house more horses. Barbed Quills only own three horses and one mule (descended from Agnes' donkey on above farm). The animals are rotated out so they get time on the farm to enjoy real grass and the sun.
* Kennels house Zara's dogs. Most wander freely about, but there's a couple that only come out supervised due to their viciousness
* Cynthia sleeps in a large hammock, with Deadbolt, her son, resting on her stomach for the night, Cynthia has few trophies in the room, choosing to instead put them around the hideout, there is a mannequin torso that holds Garin Dul-Sansiska's pirate hat and his famous longcoat, a gift from the Commander after the Pirate War that Cynthia likes to don sometimes. There is a simple wardrobe for Cynthia's noblewoman disguises and her normal attire, and a simple small workspace for Deadbolt to work in peace with his magic. Int he center of the small space is a rug for meditation and some types of training.
* An underground stream flows into the bath/cosmetics area and trickles out near the dock. There is a little foot bridge across it but most people just walk through the water to clean their boots if they've been at the stables or kennels
* There is a hidden crawlspace in the ceiling of Zara's room where she could escape through to just above the underground stream and enter the water to come out in the bath/cosmetics area No one knows about that other than her and Drakken
* This place's location on the coast would have been too hot for Pirate War pirates, but there is some speculation it may have been used as a hideaway for refugees during the first Demon War (Evidenced by some cave paintings and carvings)