Listeners

From Mizahar Lore

Current revision as of 20:06, 30 December 2011

"“Master Yarl never was the same; used to be he had this outfit in hand, now the old man is fraying. Never shares his plans anymore, and we move house every other day. He won’t take anyone new, and the others are moving on to greener pastures. Yarl is always watching for the Speakers or the Silencers. Poor fool.” - Ray Vald, Ear of the Listeners

The Listeners are gatherers of information first and foremost among the Womiyu—they do not concern themselves with the bringing of so-called justice or the elimination of supposed dangers to the city of Alvadas; their power comes from awareness. Secrets are the trade of the Listeners; subterfuge lies and disguise are their weapons of choice.

Listeners are never seen, never. They wear plain clothes and go out every day looking as all the other Alvads look, and that is what gives them power. Their ears are everywhere, and they themselves move through the world of Alvadas without leaving so much as a ripple behind. Fear is their weapon—fear of discover, fear that no one on the streets is who they truly seem to be.

Hierarchy

A new Highest is decided by vote among the remaining Highest every time one of their own steps down or dies—they are the five most informed persons in Alvadas, the logic goes, and they know best who deserves the place next to them. The Highest of the Listeners are unique in that they have all the information that the Listeners gather at their fingertips—leaks happen, even among their own, and so they Listeners at large are left ignorant of the whole picture, to protect the organization from corruption from within.

Each of the Highest controls a single pack of Listeners of about a hundred in number, with their own Hand to distribute assignments passed down from above to the members of their group. Their duty—watch what they are told to watch, discover secrets of all kinds useful to the city. For this purpose a Listener often makes use of their ears—men and women paid with favors, mizas or oversight on the part of the Listeners in exchange for information.

Ears

Those within the Listeners who actively seek out information are the Listeners; but every Listener worth their title has allies among the people, paid for their services to Alvadas in willful ignorance and coin. The criminal element of Alvadas is never truly sanctioned, but so long as darker elements exist the Listeners are more than willing to make deals with with with shady merchants, with pawn shops; these are their Ears; caught already, they stay in the game only so long as they stay in the Listener's good graces, and they do that with information.

Individual Listeners make deals with individuals, and those individuals become their ears. Sometimes they are criminals, sometimes they are seers, mystics, or simply well-connected citizens who are deeply entrenched in Alvadas and understand its flow. The Listeners act, they seek, but the Ears remain in the background with their own trade, and report anything worth reporting to the Listeners.

Initiation

Many Listeners began as actors, performers, people who learned to control their face and expressions enough to pretend to be something that they were not. A potential Listener is to be given a task by their Hand, and should they succeed, they are made a Listener in truth, with all the responsibilities and perks that come with it.

Sigil

The Listeners have no uniforms. That is not the way they do business. But they do have a symbol—an inverted triangle, flanked by two narrow others stylized to look like ears. They are the ears of illusion.

Life as a Listener

The Listeners make their home in the deepest part of the Womiyu’s stronghold, in dark halls, living by the light of candles that never fade, and whose glow does not stretch long. Luxury is not a thing that a Listen is familiar with, but comfort is. Each member is granted a bed of their own, a room of their own large enough to sleep in and invited to the dining hall where the five wings of the Listener’s home meet for good meals by good cooks twice a day.

A Listener is granted no special privilege in the street, but in the course of their duty many things may be forgiven. Every Listener worth telling a story about worms their way into the darkest corners of Alvadas, and when the Speakers or the Silencers come, then the Listeners are forgiven, so long as they remembered to tell their Hand everything.

Many leave the Listener’s quarters behind; go into deep cover, becoming lovers and lackeys and advisers to those the city requires an extra pair of eyes to watch. The life of a Listener is varied and strange, and full of its own subtle perils. Life can rest on the honesty of a smile, on the keenness of their eyes.

Playing A Listener

To play a Listener in game, a character needs to go through or have gone through, whether in roleplay or backstory, the completion of their Hand’s task. A total of thirty skill points must be spread across social and observational skills, including magic that might help them, such as morphing or auristics, in their duties.

As a member of the Womiyu the character enjoys free common living, along with a paid for and provided room in the Womiyu taking into account that the character is dutiful and upholds what the guards stand for and the character understands that if he does not do what is meant to be done they will be kicked out and lose all privileges they had as a member of the Alvadas' guard. That means you guys can feel free to cash in that housing for extra money.

Base Seasonal Payment for being a Listener is 6 GM a day