The Black Network

**The Black Network**, also known as "The Many" or "The Zhentarim", is a 400 year old guild of thieves, assassins, black market merchants, and contract dealers originating in **Eleroth**. They are an unscrupulous network that seeks to expand its influence and power across the known world. They are ambitious, opportunistic, and meritocratic.

They are a faction that player characters can have the chance to join.

## Overview

The Black Network is an organization of well-trained mercenaries, savvy rogues, and crafty spellcasters who seek to expand their influence throughout Eleroth and beyond. Agents of the Black Network feel that playing by the rules gets nothing done. Ultimate, they want to be the ones who make the rules--and, in many cases, they already do. They walk a fine line when it comes to the letter of the law and don't shy away from shady dealings and illicit activities to get what they want.

What the Black Network seeks is to become omnipresent and inescapable, more wealthy and powerful than kinds, and most importantly, they seek to become untouchable. The Black Network works with contracts and deals, which in turn brings many wealthy merchants and petty nobles under their grasp.

Their public facade, the Zhentarim, has a more benign appearance, offering the best mercenaries that money can buy. When a merchant needs an escort for their caravan, when a noble needs bodyguards to protect their holdings, or when a city needs trained soldiers to defend its honor, the Zhentarim provides the best fighting men and women money can buy. However, the cost of doing business is high.

To the Network, wealth is power. Its agents know that nothing else inspires such confidence and dispels doubt so well. In an instant, wealth speaks louder than a thousands choirs. The organization encourages individual ambition and rewards innovators who take matters into their own hands. Results are all that matter. Those who come to the Black Network with nothing can become major players through their own moxie and hard work.

## Activities

In order to achieve their goals, the Black Network deal in illicit goods and contraband, using their extensive mercantile contracts to move products throughout the eastern coast and the Moonshae Islands. The types of commodities they deal in are slaves, poison, drugs, and even arms smuggling.

As a means of eliminating competition, the Black Network use their secret armies or recruit bands to take down rival caravans, often completing the route under their own banner to earn good faith and new business with merchant groups. They were not above resorting to sabotage, blackmail, and arson, to outright murder to undermine their mercantile or political opponents. They were even known to purposefully upset the balance of natural beasts, stir up aggressive monster populations within the wild, and even have their mages summon foul monstrosities to threaten isolated towns and villages, in effect forcing the residents to rely upon the protection of the Black Network--or the Zhentarim, their mercenary facade.

## Organization

From the early years of the organization, the Black Network has been ruled by a mysterious group known as The Inner Circle. The identities of the Inner Circle are unknown, even to other members of the Network. Their reach is vast, their spies are many, and their word absolute.

The upper ranks, below the Inner Circle, are the Dread Lords. These mysterious individuals preside over vast swaths of territory, often with dozens to even hundreds of lieutenants reporting to and working under them. An Ardragon is typically in charge of a larger region, with a number of Spirelings beneath him. The Spirelings are in charge of an entire city, or a region of several smaller towns.

A Serpentcrown, the next step down, is typically a lieutenant of a Spireling. They serve as advisors and bosses of individual gangs or operations. Beneath them is the rank of Fang; the bottom rung and rank of the majority of the Network's thugs, spies, assassins, and thieves.

For quick reference, the main six ranks of the Black Network are as follows:

* **Fang** (rank 1)
* **Serpentcrown** (rank 2)
* **Spireling** (rank 3)
* **Ardragon** (rank 4)
* **Dread Lords** (rank 5)
* **Inner Circle** (rank 6)

## Goals

* Amass wealth.
* Look for opportunities to seize power.
* Gain influence over important people and organizations.
* Dominate Eleroth.

## Beliefs

* The Black Network is your family. You watch for it, and it watches out for you.
* You are the master of your destiny. Never be less than what you deserve to be.
* Everything, and everyone, has a price.

## Member Traits

A member of the Black Network often see themselves as a member of a large family, and relies on the Network's resources and security. However, members are generally granted enough autonomy to pursue their own interests and gain some measure of personal power or influence.

The Black Network is a meritocracy. As a whole, the Black Network is more interested in spreading its own power and influence than investing in the improvement of its individual members.

## Symbols

The symbol of the Black Network is a winged viper, move downward in front of a circle of gold.