The Black Hood

Members of this society know the dealings of the criminal underworld. The Black Hood are information brokers; they themselves do not undertake to commit crimes, but they provide a network of contacts and a store of information about local people and events. The Black Hood operate primarily in large cities, but they have agents in some smaller communities as well. A few members of the Black Hood are acting as counterspies, keeping tabs on the underworld while surreptitiously feeding useful information to the legitimate authorities. When discovered, such traitors to the organization are swiftly assassinated.

As a member of the Black Hood, you gain a bonus to all Lore tests to know about local events and personalities; the bonus is +5 for information about your own locality, +3 for information about localities in the same region, and +1 for information about localities in other regions. You also gain the benefits of the Friends edge in any locality where you can make contact with another member of the Black Hood; there is a 10% chance of this for every 100 people in the locality (1% per 100 people if an Elvish community). Finally, if you join the Rogue or Spy order, you pay only four picks to do so instead of five.

In exchange, you must make routine reports on the happenings in your own area, written in code and delivered to messengers who arrive every week in large cities, every fortnight in medium size cities, and every month in small cities. Failure to make your report invites suspicion and may cause you to lose the benefits of the Friends edge.

none