The Iris

**The Iris** is a guild of thieves, assassins, black merchants, and contract dealers founded almost 600 years ago along the Bloodtide Coast. It operates in tunnel networks beneath cities. Their influence is easily enforced, as most people know the dangerous myths surrounding them, and they maintain an extremely high success rate on contracts taken.

## Organizational Structure

### Agents

The lowest-tier member of the Iris are agents. They perform operations and are given leeway in hiring sellswords to assist them. There are usually 20-30 agents in any given location, or more depending on the size of the operation in that city.

#### Toadmire Agents

* Agent Bacsano
* Agent Leokas (deceased)
* Agent Marcos

### Membership

Only after proving oneself worthy after successfully assisting in Iris missions can one become an agent. Many sellswords are hired out as contractors but are not officially agents.

* Cedric Spearing was once one of these contractors

## Locations

### Toadmire

The Iris has a subterranean base located spanning under Toadmire, with a secret entrance on the southern outskirts of the wall surrounding the city. The party was ambushed by Iris agents in Blemin's Nook. They awoke a day later, having been drugged by poisoned blowdarts, in one of the cages in the underground tunnels. Escaping with the help of Agent Marcos, they fled through the tunnels, defeating some agents along the way, and emerged outside the city.

### Port Revon

The Iris has agents in Port Revon. Cedric used to contract with them. The party also discovered that Maura, and old friend of Cedric's, is now an agent based in the city.

## Activities

### Animal Smuggling

While in the tunnels under Toadmire, the party found a manifest detailing the Iris's smuggling activities during the month of Fasa. The manifest detailed various animals that the Iris have caged around Janthir and where they were moving them too.

### Relic Purchasing

The party learned of an idol that was stolen from the main Hylek tribe in the Maguuma Jungle by a group of adventurers. In retaliation, the Hylek neutralized the swamp waters around Toadmire causing the city's main export of toad poison to cease production. After stealing back and returning the idol, the Iris captured the party. Upon waking up, Agent Bacsano informed them that the Iris was hoping to have the idol for themselves, hence why they were upset with the party.

### Slavery

Agent Bacsano informed the party that they were to be slaves in the Morotel mines.

## The Story So Far

While trying to gather information at the Bronze Bar in Toadmire, Cedric noticed a shady individual sitting off by himself, seemingly watching some adventurers that the party was also talking to. Taking the initiative, Cedric spoke with him, learning that he was an agent in the Iris.

Upon returning to Toadmire having returned the idol stolen from the adventuring party, the group was ambushed in Cedric's room of Blemin's Nook. After a bad fight, the entire group was knocked unconscious by a blowdart poison, waking up a day later in an underground cage. Agent Bacsano, the same agent Cedric had talked to at the Bronze Bar, informed them that they'd be sent to Morotel to work as slave miners.

Managing to break free of their chains, they attacked two agents that were supposed to bind them and take them to Morotel. During this fight, one of the agents revealed himself to be Marcos, a friend of Maura. After this revelation, the party quickly took out the other agent, Leokas, and talked with Marcos. He informed Cedric that Maura had contacted him having heard about Cedric's capture. Marcos intervened on her behalf and sent the party on their way, telling Cedric to find Maura in Port Revon.

While escaping the tunnels, the party found a room where they discovered numerous animals caged. They also found a cage that was broken out of and realized this was where the imps were being stored. Along the way, they fought several Iris agents, one of them being a spellcaster. They emerged from the tunnels on the outskirts of Toadmire just beyond the wall.