Marquee Brotherhood

Specialists who work a grim trade. If you ever need their help, this is the guild you talk to. If you can afford their price.

Author’s note: Hoist the Colors is a setting for both fiction and a role-playing game with what I hope is an interesting take and look at an “Alternate History” of Earth. It isn’t really “steampunk”, though I can see how someone would get that impression. For me, it’s more a “flintlock fantasy” set on Earth of 1722 in all it’s historical mess… that I’ve stirred up even more!

So, with that said, this one takes us into one of the more famous, or infamous, organizations found across the known world. A group that lives at the fringe of societies and works at their underbelly. This delightfully dire group is absolutely in the roleplaying game for Hoist the Colors, and may show up in Legends of the Privateers, a Hoist the Colors serial fiction!

Marquee Brotherhood

Specialists who work a grim trade. If you ever need their help, this is the guild you talk to. If you can afford their price.

- Doctor Pedro Sangre, Alchemist and Privateer

There are always those who work at the edge, or even outside, the bounds of society. Professionals that, in many ways, serve the common good of a city, town, or any other settlement they call home. Their methods can be unorthodox, but their lethal results are reliable.

Rumors and tales say these assassins and hunters work alone. Sometimes, on rare occasions, in pairs, to practice their bloody trade. In many places, those stories are true. But in others, especially in the years following Crossings Fall, there has been the Marquee Brotherhood. A secluded and secretive guild of assassins and bounty hunters.

Neutral Arbiters For a Price

Legends say that there has always been a Marquee Brotherhood lurking in the shadows of society. In fact, the Brotherhood’s roots may run as deep as an ancient order of alchemists in the Akkadian Empire in 2334 BC. A few scattered records found in Rome suggest the rumors might be true. But the Marquee Brotherhood of today has little to say on the matter. They certainly don’t confirm or deny any of the stories.

What little is known is that the Brotherhood is a guild of bounty hunters, assassins, and alchemists. Specialists that banded together to share their particular skills and knowledge. Some of which are ancient and dates back to the Akkadian Empire. This body of knowledge spans tracking and wilderness craft, to poisons, locksmithing, and healing techniques.

The Brotherhood of today was first mentioned in 1709. During the War of Spanish Succession, two members of the Marquee Brotherhood were hired to capture a Prussian scout and spy. Since then, and especially after the global disaster of 1712, the Marquee Brotherhood has stepped out of the shadows and partially into society. Protectors, or executioners, for hire as merchants peddling swift and unpleasant death.

Masters of the Hunt

Hunters of the Brotherhood are infamous for their skills at tracking any type of prey, from pirate to blood-hungry beast. They are persistent predators that study who or what they hunt for hours, days, or even weeks before they make a move. Methodically learning about the habits, nature, and movements of what they hunt. Including where their prey might run to when chased.

They enhance their skills through dedicated training, but also with a wide assortment of tools and gadgets. Some are clockwork, arcane engineering, or in rare cases, Otherworld relics. They’re used for even the smallest advantage for a member of the Brotherhood to ensure the success of their mission.

Loose But Lethal Structure

The Marquee Brotherhood is not like other guilds with structure and titles. Instead, they are closer to an alliance of smaller groups and organizations. Some would call them ‘clans’ but they are more akin to noble houses who adopt members based on their specialties and skills. Some Marquee Houses specialize in poisons, lotions, and other elixirs that are often lethal. Others hone their skills as trackers to locate and capture, or eliminate, a particular prey their employers want dealt with.

No one knows how many Marquee Houses exist. Some reports say there are only a dozen, others say there are hundreds. What anyone can say for certain is that there are always at least five houses represented at any time in a local Brotherhood Hall. Also, those five houses will change each season, moving to different Brotherhood Halls in Europe, North America, Asia, and elsewhere.

The reason behind this is straightforward. Members of the Marquee Brotherhood owe allegiance to their House, but above all, the Brotherhood. Anyone accepted into the Brotherhood swears an oath to uphold the Marquee Code, which includes balance and to never seek power for its own end.

Therefore, the Council of Five, the body that oversees the Brotherhood, maintains that no Marquee House may occupy a Hall longer than one season. This is to prevent any House from being tempted to rule a city or region from the shadows.

Council of Five

Sitting over all the Marquee Houses is a group called the Council of Five. This is a council that monitors and manages the Brotherhood and its Code. It’s a group of the five most senior hunters from across the Marquee Houses. This council doesn’t reside in a particular location, but convenes once a year at a Brotherhood Hall in a major city to debate and discuss policy. Any other time they meet would be in times of trouble, catastrophe, or to handle a problem that faces the entire Brotherhood. It was said that the Council of Five was meeting the very night the catastrophe struck the world at midnight on October 31, 1712.

House of a Different Kind

Marquee Houses lie at the core of the Marquee Brotherhood. They are small groups of hunters that banded together because of shared values, skills, or common goals. Often, these also result in family bloodlines like a noble family, but that isn’t a common occurrence. A Marquee House has its own identity and even long-standing traditions. But, no matter what, all Houses honor the Marquee Code that unifies them all under the Brotherhood.

House Structure

Every Marquee House is led by one or two senior hunters, called Huntmasters. These individuals are experienced hunters that embody that House’s philosophy and expertise. They maintain the traditions, oversee any training, and act as final arbiter of internal House disputes. When necessary, they likewise pass judgment against rule-breakers who violate the House or the Brotherhood itself. Often, this judgment is execution or exile.

Each House has a sigil or mark that is unique. A heraldry symbol that shows their allegiance to the house, any by extension, the Brotherhood. The master list of these sigils are maintained by the Council of Five. New Marquee Houses are only allowed to form under the permission of the Council of Five during their once a year meeting.

Notable Marquee Houses

House Mortis: The Enforcers of the Code

Specialty: Enforcers of the Marquee Code and the Council of Five. Tracking, Espionage, Matters of Law.

Symbol: A skeletal hand gripping scales.

Philosophy: “Balance for One and All”. In a society of feared boogymen, House Morits frighten even the Brotherhood members. They take their job seriously to root out traitors and enforcing the Council’s will as directed. They’re known for being relentless, impartial, and uncompromisingly deadly.

Rite of Passage: Initiates must successfully track and execute a fake ‘rogue’ member of the Brotherhood, that does their best to avoid being caught.

House Jadescale: Masters of Alchemy and Poisons

Specialty: Members of House Jadescale are renowned for their poisons, alchemical weapons, and antidotes. This house is allied with medical colleges, so that all surgeons must apprentice with a member of House Jadescale for one year. In this way, they learn all the ways to kill, so they know how to preserve life.

Symbol: A coiled jade serpent with a single drop of venom from its fangs, overlaid with a flask.

Philosophy: "Mercurial Cunning". Members of House Jadescale are meticulous planners. They favor cunning and subtly over brute force.

Rite of Passage: Initiates are expected to create either an original poison along with a delivery system. Then they are to demonstrate its effectiveness, and the antidote.

House Frostsin: Stealth and Subterfuge

Specialty: Members of House Frostsin are espionage, sabotage, and silent assassination experts. They prefer to work quick and unseen if possible.

Symbol: A dagger, its blade frosted with icy patterns, partially concealed behind a flowing cloak.

Philosophy: “Seen once but with Death". Members of House Frostsin are practically ghosts of the Brotherhood. They excel at infiltration and vanishing without a trace.

Rite of Passage: Initiates must successfully infiltrate a building or guild house maintained by House Mortis and retrieve an item left by House Frostsin.

House Hawkguard: Wildland Hunters

Specialty: Members of House Hawkguard are professional trackers that specialize in capturing live targets.

Symbol: A stylized hawk in mid-dive with shattered feathers radiating outward like a starburst.

Philosophy: "To the Chase". Members of House Hawkguard are the most patient of all the houses. Methodical to a fault, they are known to track a quarry for days, sitting still as stone if necessary. No terrain is too difficult for them.

Rite of Passage: Initiates must track and capture either a dangerous beast, or one of the top hunters of House Hawkguard over wild terrain.

Marquee Code

Above all, the houses and mystery, the Marquee Brotherhood lives by “the Code”. These are a set of guidelines that protect the Brotherhood and bind them together. The Code spans all Houses, no matter their affiliations or personal ambition.

Writ of the Code

Loyalty to One is All: All contracts are a sacred oath. No member of the Brotherhood may take, steal, or poach a contract that belongs to another member of the Brotherhood.

No Collateral Harm: Members of the Brotherhood must take pains to avoid harm to innocents or anyone that isn’t a target of a contract or Warrant. If it can’t be avoided, the Brotherhood member must make anonymous restitution.

The Warrant is All: Once accepted, the contract must be completed. Failure brings dishonor to the particular the Marquee House of that member. The hunter has full rights to determine how to complete a given contract or Warrant.

Respect Among Members: Personal ambition through violence between members of the Brotherhood is forbidden. Disputes are settled by the Huntmasters of a given Marquee House, or the Council of Five.

To Break the Code

Breaking the code is a serious offense, perhaps the most serious any Brotherhood member could commit. Code breakers are brought before the Council of Five for a trial by House Mortis. There, they present their case around the reasons the Code was broken. If the Council is not convinced there is a good reason, the Code breaker could be exiled or executed on the spot.

Bonds of Blood

Unlike other guilds, there is no single way to join the Brotherhood. This is because a person doesn’t join the Marquee Brotherhood, but instead they join a Marquee House. New members, called initiates, to a Marquee House have to be sponsored by at least two existing members in good standing. These sponsors are responsible for the initiates’ conduct and training for a year until the initiate has been either rejected or completes their rite of passage for the House.

Rites of Passage for a House are distinct for each house and based in their specialty. For some, that would be poison crafting. While others require an initiate to survive being hunted by the entire house in a city for a day. No matter what the Rite of Passage is, if the initiate succeeds, they are formally adopted into the Marquee House in good standing, then presented to the other houses in a yearly ceremony of the House Gathering.

Those that fail are either sent on their way, if they aren’t killed by the Rite of Passage itself.

Shadows and Balance

Methods and motives of the Brotherhood are as varied and mysterious as their members. For some, it’s personal, while for others it is business. Complex, yet straightforward in how they approach the world.

There are many that see the Marquee Brotherhood as a threat. An organization of lethal shadows that could, if they chose, eliminate any rival, including a government. Merciless villains that kill without morals. But then there are others that see the Brotherhood in a different light. Reluctant heroes who have an uncompromising view of justice behind the Code they hold dear.

I’ve seen them in action, and sometimes wish I hadn’t.

- Doctor Pedro Sangre, Alchemist and Privateer

Game Notes

Threat: 4

Faction Contacts:

• Veyra Foxthorn: Human. A shadowy diplomat and a skilled negotiator for the Marquee Brotherhood. Veyra is known for her ability to diffuse tense situations or stoke conflict when it suits the Brotherhood’s goals.

• Kaelen Mournshade: Morasu. A hunter from House Hawkguard with a reputation for never losing a trail. Kaelen often takes contracts to eliminate elusive targets, and almost never fails to track any target.

• Selina Vexrune: Grimling. A master alchemist of House Jadescale, Selina crafts poisons and antidotes sought after by kings and mercenaries alike. She’s also known to offer experimental creations to those desperate enough to test them.

Notable Assets and Resources:

• An unparalleled network of informants and spies within governments, guilds, and criminal syndicates.

• Access to rare poisons, antidotes, and alchemical inventions through House Jadescale.

• Temporary access to Brotherhood Hall facilities in key cities worldwide, offering a safe haven and resources.

Allies:

• Trade Guild Syndicate: Mutual benefit through access to smuggled goods and black-market channels.

• Bonewright Order: Occasional collaboration in securing or neutralizing Otherworld relics.

Enemies:

• Kelstani, the Covenant of the Coast: The Brotherhood's moral ambiguity often clashes with the Kelstani's cultural beliefs.

• Liberty Alliance: The Alliance views the Brotherhood as a shadowy threat to their ideals of freedom and justice.

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- Kummer Wolfe