The Black Veil

The Black Veil, often simply called the Veil, is known as one of the oldest assassin guilds in the Empire. It is overseen by a formidable adult black dragon, Zherkses the Cruel, who governs it with an iron fist and holds absolute control over its members.¹

The dragon’s guild

Membership in the Black Veil is a lifelong commitment, and it is often the only course left to a skilled assassin or thief in Vansreik. Refusing the dragon’s invitation, above all when facing Zherkses in its lair, is a swift way to meet Rakash; only in death does a member find release from the dragon’s grasp.²

Recruits rarely have a real choice. When the Veil learned that the bandit-turned-killer Rampart was in the city, Alana approached him, and he understood that the offer was not truly an offer. Ulvar the Hunter joined reluctantly, faced with an offer he could not refuse, and longed for a way out once he saw the guild’s true nature. The mage Garamain Hull was offered sanctuary in the guild through the Wing and became the Veil’s head arcanist.³

Fear is what binds the guild together, in a strict hierarchy with Zherkses at its peak. Its ranks include non-humanoid monstrosities and people of many uncommon races, and every member is brutal, treacherous or vicious.⁴

Orphans of the Veil

One of the guild’s common practices is to “rescue” orphans from the streets. Alana is one of the orphans raised by the Black Veil, and so are the markswoman Zherafinn and Zherdain, who bears the dragon’s name as many of his siblings in the guild do. Zherdain is one of the more remorseful members, and it is widely held in the guild that, had he not been born into this life, he might have become a priest of Amarath.⁵

The Wing and the Fang

In the Black Veil’s hierarchy a name loses its meaning once its bearer becomes the right hand of the dragon, and cutting ties with one’s life outside the Veil is common practice, since nothing comes before the guild. The true identity of the current Wing survives only in the dusty tomes of Zherkses’ lair. He has held the post for at least two decades, serving as the guild’s head assassin and its representative.⁶

The Wing is the guild’s main point of contact with the mercenary guilds: when they want a target removed, it is the Wing they approach. Twice a year he takes the honorary fourth seat at the Table.⁶

The Fang, a cleric of Malakar, the patron of thieves, entered the guild together with the current Wing. He is the guild’s head of intelligence and keeps its books, recording every assassination it carries out. He reports to Zherkses every week and is one of the few allowed into the dragon’s inner sanctum.⁷

Trade and rules

The Black Veil is the second most powerful trader in magical items in Vansreik, for Zherkses knows that a growing fortune needs investment in its tools. Foremost among the guild’s rules is a ban on accepting contracts within the city: killing targets inside Vansreik is strictly forbidden.¹

The guild has no pressing short-term aims. A decade ago Zherkses mated and laid seven eggs, and guarding them is the Veil’s foremost priority. To keep the dragon content, the guild takes on difficult and dangerous assassinations and gathers great wealth for Zherkses’ hoard. The city’s present mood troubles it, since the war between the Eagle Brigade and the Warmongers harms its business.⁸

Members

The guild’s roster names the Zherksites, Riktor Raveen, Zherafinn, Garamain Hull, Rampart, Ulvar the Hunter, Zherdain, Gazelle the Lamenter, Stabzz, Alana Vardain, the Fang and the Wing.⁹

• Alana’s loyalty to the guild is unwavering, and her many dangerous assignments have brought thousands of gold coins into its coffers.¹⁰
• Rampart struggled at first to match the skill of those around him, but he is now a capable member of the Veil, slowly climbing its ranks.¹¹
• Riktor Raveen is one of the guild’s newest recruits and, by its standards, still a trainee.¹²
• Unlike many of the reclusive members of the Veil, Ulvar is sociable and often visits Vansreik; that he can work with other groups shows how much the Wing values him.¹³
• Stabzz boasts that he is the greatest goblin assassin in the Veil, being the only one; the others, he says, he stabbed in their sleep.¹⁴

Spoiler: Plots within the VeilGösterAçık ettiği: Mercenary Compendium · Ne okuduğunuzu söyleyin

The Fang despises Zherkses. He is secretly plotting with Jogard Di of the Warmongers to assassinate the dragon, and he sees his friend the Wing as a worthy successor.⁷

The Wing, for his part, has uncovered Turnip Bellwater’s scheme behind the guild war, and keeps silent for as long as a substantial bribe lines his pockets.⁶