Epic Level Handbook

CHAPTER 6:AN EPICSETTINGorganization leaders; utilize them, and give the playerseverything they can handle.THE GARROTEThere are killers, and then there are perfectionists inthe fine art of extermination. When you want somebodydead, you hire an assassin. When you want thetarget to stay dead and out of your life forever, you callin the Garrote.OVERVIEW AND BRIEF HISTORYAssassins have been around since the first huntergatherercoveted the leadership of the tribe and bribeda couple of his fellow warriors to help him make surethe clan leader had a little “accident” while no one waslooking. It wasn’t long until the art of mysterious deathbecame someone’s full-time job, and with that careercame the need for unionized labor. Of course, the assassins’guilds of most civilized locales seem like amateursnext to the Garrote. Transcending any single cultureand established on many planes, the Garrote offersextraordinary services—for a steep price. This kind ofwork requires exceptional skill, and potential customerspay for it gladly. This isn’t about knocking off arival shopkeeper. One contacts the Garrote when headsof state need to be removed, when powerful extraplanarcreatures need excising, or even when lesser godsrequire banishment.The Garrote’s reputation is built on two principles:getting the job done (and keeping it done), andabsolute loyalty among its members. Ordinary assassinsply their trade with varying results; often their targetsreturn to life. The Garrote makes absolutely certainthat the job gets done right the first time, and thejob stays done. No raise dead or resurrection here; the Garrotehas ways of making certain no one comes backafter they have done their work. Of course, that kind ofservice makes such an organization unpopular in manyquarters, but the Garrote’s members look out for themselves.No one in the organization will ever take out acontract on another member. In fact, the members’prowess is so legendary that few of them bother to keepa low profile. Even the most stalwart pursuers of justicehesitate to bring a member to justice, for the simpleknowledge that retribution from the Garrote comesswiftly, silently, and successfully.Of course, such an untouchable status would neverpersist if the Garrote took contracts from anyone withsufficient gold. If they were to bring about widespreadchaos and disruption from a wave of assassinations,opponents of the organization would eventuallymuster enough courage—and powerful allies—to goafter the members and eliminate them. Therefore, theorganization displays particular discretion about thecontracts it accepts. The guild heads scrutinize everyangle of a potential job in order to determine fallout. Inaddition, some sort of moral code seems to guide thescreening process, although few outside the innercircle are able to figure out its parameters. All details ofboth accepted and rejected negotiations are keptstrictly confidential.THE ORGANIZATIONThe Garrote operates from a whole host of differentfield offices, and each of those offices functions fairlyautonomously. The heads of the individual offices formthe masters of the guild as a whole, and they cometogether to settle contracts and fees. The guildmastersidentities aren’t terribly secret. Anyone with enoughgold to invest may ask the right questions and eventuallyfind out the answers. Of course, the use to whichthe investigator puts that information determines howmuch longer he or she lives. As long as no troubleresults from such inquiries, the guildmasters care littleabout secrecy.Getting in touch with the Garrote is as simple asmaking an inquiry or two in the right part of town.Word gets passed, and eventually someone comes tosee a potential contractor, possibly even in his or herown home. Time spent in negotiating a contract canvary from a few minutes to weeks, depending on theintended target.Headquarters: The Garrote maintains field houses inmany large cities on several different planes. A fieldhouse takes many hidden forms: possibly a secret spacebehind the walls of a wealthy estate, the subcellar of abusy warehouse, or even a spice shop in the middle of apublic bazaar. Field houses are not very large and are notoften used as meeting places. The skill level of the membershipis such that it’s a simple enough matter to getinformation and equipment into the hands of those whorequire it without the need for regular meetings, butgoods, wealth, and accounting books must still be storedin the field houses. The business of dealing with contractorsand taking (or rejecting) contracts is always doneoutside the field house, usually in a public market or acozy tavern.Like many organizations, the Garrote also has a singleprimary headquarters where the Guild Mother and hermost devoted Garrote members reside. The Guild Motherhouseis a fortified mansion of stunning size, thoughits size is not obvious from the exterior; each room ofthe mansion exists on a different plane. Those with theproper key walk from room to room and plane to plane,but to all others, the rooms are like a string of pearlsscattered and never to be found. At times, a single roomof the Guild Motherhouse exists as one room of a Garrotefield house, though most members may not evenrealize it.Members: 5,500+.Hierarchy: Segmented. The field houses functionindependently from one another. Sometimes fieldhouses serve redundant purposes, but one doesn’tknow about the other. Other times, the field housesmay complement one another and work together232