@part(shadcab, root = "/mit/abstract/Characters/sheet.format")

@subsubsection(The Shadow Cabinet)

Not since the War of the Crown has the state of the Realm's
underground structure been as chaotic, as precarious, as it is now.
It seems likely that if those of you who call yourselves the Shadow
Cabinet, and who claim to represent the Realm's criminal population,
wish to see the organization that has been your livelihoods continue
to survive, you will have to move quickly, accurately, and ruthlessly.

Over the last five years, while the Realm as a whole has been engaged
in a war with the East, the Thieves' Guild has been fighting a war of
its own, against what at first appeared to be a small group of thieves
who were striking off as independents.  This happens all the time, of
course, and is fairly easy to quash, but in this case more was going
on than met the eye.  These thieves were organized, and had access to
considerable funds -- you quickly had a fight on your hands.

As this war continued, it began to show parallels to the more
established war between the two nations; in other words, the enemy
turned out to be a lot tougher than anyone had thought, particularly
since you @i(still) haven't managed to identify them exactly.  In the
last month, they've taken to violence in the streets, attacks on the
shops your thieves were supposed to be protecting, and tipping off the
Guard of the Realm to your activities.  Messengers and couriers have
raised their prices, casinos and fronts started closing down, and the
House of Guilds stopped paying protection money.

Of course, those kinds of problems tend to put a drain on budgets, and
sure enough, after nearly a month of these guerilla street tactics,
your operating expenses became hard to meet.  That was bad enough --
but Barak chose that particular moment to betray the Cabinet, and the
Guild.

Barak had been in charge of the Guild's gambling operations, which has
been its major source of revenue.  As of about a week ago, though, he
vanished off the face of the earth, leaving behind him a vault full of
black rock which had once been a treasure trove.  The last person to
see him was Leannot Hiram, and Barak was running from the vault then.
You don't know where he is now, but there is the sneaking suspicion
that he is planning to do the unspeakable, and turn Realm's evidence.
If he manages to do this, he will do considerable amount of damage to
the Guild directly, but will have far more lasting and damaging
effects to its morale.

Of course, that is why the Shadowlord, decades ago, created what is
known as his "insurance file" of data on each of his employees, in
order to keep them from betraying him.  The Shadowlord is on the
Castle, or at the very least intended to be before the teleport
platforms stopped working; Barak's fate will surely be enough to
dissuade others from following his course.  Still, his testimony will
be damaging enough, if he's given a chance to talk.  If the Shadowlord
@i(hasn't) reached the Castle, you're on your own.  And as far as you
can tell, only two of you have made it up: Gilead Joel, new head of
the gambling ring (Barak's replacement), and Leannot Hiram, head of
the black market.

In either case, Barak has left you with the major problem of not
enough funds to continue operating.  If you want to win this war,
you're going to have to outwit your enemies as well as amass enough
capital to beat them at their own game.  Even then, it may be a moot
point if the traitor Barak is allowed to go free.  Each of you has a
number of agents on the Castle, representing a considerable amount of
manpower.  Properly organized, they should be able to do the job.

There are many questions you need to answer, and some that you have.
The black rock that took the place of the mythril in your vaults
turned out to be spent mythril, say the mages in your employ, which is
left behind when mythril is used to power magical spells.  You knew
that mages had use for mythril -- that was the mechanism whereby you
converted the glowing rock to usable currency, through contacts in the
Wizard's Conclave (Maskilla Ishmael is one, and on the Castle -- not
that you have any mythril  to supply him with).  But as far as any of
you knew, Barak wasn't a mage.

Odd clues have indicated that Barak's identity was discovered by an
undercover Guardian, which resulted in his disappearance -- finding
the Guard "moles" in your organization would be a good first step
toward finding Barak.  Though your agents know your identities for the
most part, it's likely that the Guardians are waiting to find the
Shadowlord before making a move, assuming -- correctly -- that the
arrest of Shadowlord the Undying would probably destroy the Guild.
And if they get Barak to testify against the Guild, you'll be in even
worse shape.  You have to find and stop him.

On your side, you do know a little something about Barak's history.
He used to be a soldier in the Knights of the Crown during the border
wars thirty-five years ago, and was associated with Lord Soeth during
the betrayal that traitor has become infamous for (it appears he has
reverted to type).  He is said to have had some connections to the
Horsemen for a while, but they kicked him out.  Finally, he became
connected with the Guild and stated working his way up the ranks
(possibly with help, since Soeth was at the time a guilded thief as
well; in fact, he disappeared shortly after the altercation with the
Assassin, Storm Bluemist...but this is all digression).

It's too much coincidence to assume Barak's betrayal and the territory
war are unrelated; although how he, your unknown enemies, and the
Guard of the Realm tie together is still a mystery.  Whoever your
enemies are, they clearly have some intimate knowledge of your general
workings, although their information doesn't appear to be current.
One of their most recent assaults was on Ireani Terhanna's
alchemist shop a few days ago, by the same team of renegade thieves
responsible for the others -- perhaps it was just another assault, but
that seems unlikely.  Terhanna's shop is a crucial node in your
financial arrangements, for it is there that you transfer your
ill-gotten funds into mythril, which can be stored untracably.  You've
been using that system for roughly twenty years, though Terhanna
became involved only a few years ago, and remains unaware of the
precise nature of your activities.

In any event, the attack on her shop was stopped rather bloodily.
Found at the scene was an old man in plate mail, very dead, and the
girl who owned the shop: Ireani Terhanna, granddaughter of Zephaniah
Reuben the Horseman, the man who stopped the attack.  According to the
grapevine, one man escaped the massacre after killing Reuben.  It's
also said that Reuben was heard saying something about Lord Soeth as
he died--though what a traitor from a war that happened 35 years ago
can have to do with the attack on his granddaughter's shop is
manifestly unclear.

Another mass murder might shed some light on who your enemies are.  A
day or so before you arrived at the Castle, a dozen bodies were found,
killed by a single swordstroke through the heart and left soulless --
the mark of the Circle of Bloodletters.  The Circle and the Thieve's
Guild have been at each other's throats for years, ever since Storm
Bluemist the Assassin vowed to kill Shadowlord the Undying, ten years
ago.  The Assassin failed, and was never heard from again (presumably
he took off for safer pastures), but his disciples spent several years
trying to redeem their mentor's honor by fulfilling his vow.  Whether
this particular mass murder has anything to do with your situation
remains to be seen -- but you can be pretty sure that the other
problems you've been having aren't due to the Circle.  That sort of
manuevering just isn't their style.  On the other hand, neither is
mass murder, usually.

Still, the 12 bodies have been brought up to the Castle, so it seems
reasonable that the Circle is here, as well.  You should make sure
your people know to keep an eye out for them, as well as for the Guard
spies in your organization, so they can be properly "dealt with".  In
the meantime, of course, you and your agents will be busy enough
trying to amass the funds you'll need to survive this underground war
and find the identity of your unknown enemies.  Nobody can say this
week won't be interesting.  

Good luck.