FRA COURNARI ("the Runners" in Mantagish)
Goals: Protect their secrets and gather more knowledge
In the days of the Steel Confederation (2481 - 2630) there were specially trained couriers, the Fra Cournari, whose job
it was to deliver messages over any distance with the utmost speed and security. Able to ride virtually any mount, and
trained to run tirelessly for days, they were loyal to the death and vital in helping to win many battles against the Haz
Imperium. After the collapse of the Steel Confederation a few of the senior officers still wished to carry out this task
(they had gotten rather used to the prestige and access to powerful knowledge that came with the responsibility), so they
took up the job as freelance, mercenary couriers. Many generations later, with contacts across the lands north of the
Samarkand Sea, they began to actually gather their own information, and use their network to disseminate it for a price.
Over time this evolved into a robust and magically oriented information gathering and sharing system, where members could
buy and trade information from one another.
They have no single headquarters, but rather use many discreet locations, and help ensure the security of their data and
information by storing such that the knowledge in any one location is incomplete. It would require the combined efforts
of several locations to piece together the full picture, as the Fra Cournari knows it. While this is inefficient the Fra
Cournari pride themselves on security and accuracy, not speed.
Their patience, long-term stability and virtually undetectable touch in influencing events to support their goals have given
rise to many rumours about them: they are run by a lich, they are allied with Hierophant Druids, etc. The truth is simpler:
while they indeed have many longer-lived members (elves primarily), this society has done a very good job of screening prospective
members and in encouraging them to take the "long view". As such, they are aware (to varying degrees) of every other
Secret Society except for Gi Hablos, and can (if it suits their goals) reveal that information
for the right price.
Their membership is strictly limited to those of Mantaten extraction (if not strictly of the Mantaten cognate).
Their symbol is a ring of interwoven eyes, signifying their ability to see everything, no matter how well hidden.
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