Listeners

The Listeners are a group of primarily mages, rogues, rangers, and theurges who deal in the arts of lore, knowledge, and espionage for the greater good. They gather information and use it for the good of everyone, making them much beloved by common folk but not so much by the nobility.

Organization
The Listeners are clustered into groups of less than 50 members in any given region with about ten to fifteen of them are simply support members who do not fight. Each groups are designed to be exclusively independent of each other, coming together only in cases of necessity.

Group Structure
At the top of the organization is the central leadership body. No one knows who exactly manages the organization at the highest levels. Only a few regional leaders have ever seen these individual(s), let alone heard of them. Even then that knowledge is not shared with anyone else. In spite of their leadership position, the independent nature of the faction allows for these leaders to only need to make decision in cases of extreme importance and never manage day-to-day operations.

Below the central leadership is the regional leaders. Regional leaders coordinate the various guilds and facilitate coordination between smaller areas when necessary, though this is rare. Most regional leaders cover international expanses. While not having control over an entire continent they do cover large areas of a continent.

Guild leaders manage the organization on a country wide level. They handled most of the day to day operations of the group. Most of these leaders are not aware of any leadership above them and operate independently or with other guild leaders as needed. Also below the regional leaders are the Assassins branch of the Listeners. This group is under no specific guild chapeter's control, reporting directly to regional leaders. The Assassins are a group of elite members that deal with issues affecting the security of the organization as a whole.

Below the guild leaders are their lieutenant and magic master. The lieutenant acts as the second in command under the guild leader. They are typically non-magic users and in cases where more than one lieutenant may be in a given nation for each group that might be in the nation. Magic masters fulfill the same role except in matters of magic. When needed they sometimes fill the role of being a loremaster in the guild, especially those without magic.

Finally that the bottom of the organizational chain are full members and support. Full members of the guild are all other general members that don't have any official authority but have many jobs such as being mages, spies, local assassins, scouts, etc. and are privy to guild secrets. Support are those that are probationary members or those that are contacts, allies, or other support systems. Generally they aren't full members or are privy to organizational secrets.

Tenets
The rules that the members of the Listeners are expected to abide by are as follows:
 * 1) Members Must Act in the Best Interests of the Common People, Even If Doing So Violates the Laws of the Land - While members try to act within the boundaries of the law whenever possible, in cases where the law is morally unjust or is overly restrictive, Listeners are permitted to work outside of it, provided they are not employing methods that will endanger the sect. If a member is arrested or otherwise caught committing unlawful acts, the Listeners will work to aid them unless doing so would otherwise jeopardize the mission or goals of the group.
 * 2) When Faced with a Choice Between the Lesser of Two Evils, Always Choose the Lesser and Attempt to Make Recompense for Any Harms Committed - Always attempt to negatively impact the fewest number of individuals. Members should attempt to reimburse or repair property damage whenever possible. Physical violence against the general populace should be limited as much as possible.
 * 3) Slavery is Not To Be Tolerated, and Those Who Would Enslave Others are Worthy of Death - This prohibition includes those in involuntary servitude, force labor, and all other types of human and humanoid trafficking as well as those who would enslave the dead.
 * 4) Secrets are Acceptable, But Knowledge is Not To Be Horded - It is understood that members will need to keep certain information such as the names of their contacts and methods of gathering information confidential; however, information that could be of use to the guild must be made known to the guild leader as soon as possible.
 * 5) Members Must Not Reveal Their Association with the Listeners Unless Approved of by Leadership.
 * 6) Only Group Leaders and Their Lieutenants are To Have Knowledge of the Group Outside of the Local Area.
 * 7) Members Must Learn the Listener's Cant And Are Not Allowed To Teach This Language To Outsiders.

Faction Requirements
Members must be of a good but anti-authoritarian nature. Most of the members are made up of rogues and rangers though that doesn't preclude others from joining. Most nobles are rejected outright out of distrust.

History
The Listeners have always been known as a secretive organization and as such much of their history is unknown or at best murky and full of rumors. While their leadership remains a mystery to most, the deeds of the Listeners are a bit more well known. At least in that case there is rumor and some credible information to go on. The Listeners have had their fingers, allegedly, in everything from blackmailing local lords to vast secret networks to ferry slaves to freedom.

On the 15th of Eleint in 1385 DR, it is rumored the faction set up in the encampment in the Darrath Forest called Selhaven. The enclave is nestled into the woods attracting plenty of shamanistic individuals and other types that are of the forest. The encampment also contains one of the only resurrection points in the area. Wood and herbals also flow out of the enclave with great frequency.

Notable Members

 * Kalani, an Air Genasi from Fanedown.
 * Gust Kontos, a travailing healer from Gontal now residing in the Sword Lands.