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Nine of Amethysts

"Requisitioned by the Duke, by virtue of the leaguers' duty of protection of the city..."

A free league led by the woman called Ambush, currently under ducal requisition to patrol the rural Trophy fief and intercept the smugglers who slip goods into Cadwallon through the open farmland of The Fields. A working, mid-tier league — not the ducal-favorite prestige of the Ruby-Heart, but a competent outfit doing exactly the unglamorous defensive duty the leagues were chartered for.

The Job

The Fields in eastern Trophy is the city's agricultural belt — and, at night when the farmers are gone, a smuggling corridor. Convoys move illegal goods across the open fields toward the city, avoiding the harbor customs and the Tractor gates. The Nine of Amethysts are the league requisitioned by the Duke to fight this traffic: patrolling, intercepting, and arresting smugglers, calling in other leagues when a convoy is too large to handle alone.

This is duty work, not treasure-hunting — the leaguers' protective obligation made concrete. It pays steadily and earns ducal goodwill, but it's dangerous, thankless, and puts the league crosswise with whoever is funding the smuggling.

Ambush

The league's leader. A capable field commander with a strong grounding in Trophy (Fief knowledge 4), Barhan and Cadwë languages, and the leagues themselves. Her distinctive features — Bravery, Infiltration, Cat's Paw — mark her as a leader who fights from the front and moves unseen. The nickname is presumably earned.

The Name

The "amethyst" suit is one of the six colors of the tarot minor cards (amethyst, diamond, and so on), numbered one to ten. "Nine of Amethysts" is a card — the kind of name a league takes to tie itself, however loosely, to the legend of Vanius's deck. Whether the league holds or seeks the actual card is unestablished — a usable hook.

Relations

  • Duke Den Azhir — current employer via ducal requisition
  • Trophy / Gwan Standing-wind — operate in his fief; the Standing-Wind decline (three-quarters of the Fields' parcels sold off) is part of why the smuggling flourishes
  • Other leagues — called in as backup on large convoys; professional peers
  • The smugglers — the standing enemy; their backers are unknown and worth investigating
  • The Fields cooperative (under Podgy, a Bards of Destiny figure) — uneasy neighbors; the co-op's anti-merchant stance and the league's anti-smuggler stance sometimes align, sometimes don't

Who funds the convoys

Ambush has noticed the smuggling convoys are too well-organized to be independent — someone with capital and routes is behind them. She'll bring in another league (the PCs) to trace the convoys back to their backer. The trail may lead somewhere politically radioactive: a Peer, a guild, or the Usurers.

The card

A rumor reaches the league that the actual Nine of Amethysts — a minor card of Vanius's deck — has surfaced in a smuggler's cargo. Ambush wants it, for the league's pride and for whatever power it holds. So, quietly, does the Duke's card-collection effort.

Status

Canon league named in the PHB (Trophy fief + Interaction contact entry for Ambush). Lightly detailed in source — expand freely at the table.