The Seekers

Symbol: Eight triangular plates arrayed in a star pattern around a central circle.

Background, Goals, and Dreams: This loose-knit society of explorers, adventuring scholars, and fortune hunters scours the world for ancient secrets and lost magic. Though some members claim high-minded goals, the primary ambition of most Seekers is personal enrichment, and the order is notorious for cutting corners and damning the consequences of their insatiable curiosity and greed. For this reason they remain a secret society, working in the shadows and pooling information to benefit themselves, regardless of the moral and financial cost.

Seeker interaction is based upon the lodge, in which members meet to discuss past and upcoming adventures, share maps, or show off the spoils of the latest expeditions. Seeker lodges are often hidden behind a mundane front such as a cartography business or social club, and are renowned for their peerless libraries of Seeker journals and forgotten lore.

Enemies and Allies: Seekers benefit from anonymity, attracting the ire of only those able to follow the subtext of history or trace the wall scraping of a plundered tomb. Exploration of the southern seas and the jungles of the Amedio coast has also attracted the enmity of the Scarlet Brotherhood, who shares the Seekers' interest in ruined temples and forsaken tombs.

Members: Seekers can come from any race or character class. They must have a driving ambition to discover the lost secrets of the past, and they must be willing to share - to a point - information that could help other Seekers on the path to discovery, illumination, and enrichment. Most members consider themselves scholars of the ancient world, and fluency with languages (including those that fell out of use centuries ago) is considered a mark of pride.

Type: College

Scale: 14 (continental)

Titles, Benefits, and Duties: Members of the Seekers are supposed to support the lodges they visit with a tithe equating roughly 10% of their income. This is an informal system, so a Seeker who routinely donates rare books to a lodge library might be held in higher esteem than one who simply drops a few gold coins into the lockbox. All members are expected to keep an explorer's journal, and to turn over the journal for transcription at least once a month. Upon graduating from apprenticeship, all Seekers receive a silver ring bearing the eight-pointed star symbol of the order. The ring is worth 200 gp, and identifies the wearer as a Seeker. Members are expected not to harm others they know to be Seekers, but mistakes often happen in the field and no one spends a lot of time worrying about those who violate this stricture.

Executive Powers: Gift, Research, Trade