1. Organizations

Aurum

Crime Syndicate

Great treasures wait for an enterprising adventurer to brave traps, hazards, and monsters to pluck the prize from history. Many institutions fund such expeditions, but few outdo the Aurum: Its members are willing to pay nearly any price to regain lost relics.

One doesn’t have to strain to hear whispers of a shadow council, secret agendas, and arcane practices within the Aurum. People who look too closely have a tendency to vanish.

ECS

The Aurum, a shadowy alliance of some of the wealthiest citizens of Khorvaire, uses the power of gold and platinum to increase its influence across the continent. From its headquarters in Krona Peak in the Mror Holds, this organization espouses the lawful evil point of view and keeps its true intentions highly secret.

The Aurum was born in the Mror Holds. Even before the Last War and the dwarves’ declaration of independence, various members of the powerful clans had joined together in a secret fraternity designed to increase the wealth and power of its members. With the collapse of Galifar and the rise of the dwarf nation, the members of the Aurum began to look beyond the Ironroot Mountains. Guildmasters, crime lords, merchant princes, nobles, and members of dragonmarked houses, among others, joined the secret society, and slowly it became more than a simple fraternity. Between the influx of new blood and the devastation of the Last War came a rush of new ideas, which resulted in a new sense of purpose for the cabal.

The Aurum hides its true activities from the world. It claims to be an innocent society for wealthy students of history; many of its members have impressive personal collections of rare historical tomes and relics of ancient civilizations. Many members of the Aurum truly are interested in the past, because they intend to shape the future.

The organization is divided into four levels, called concords—copper, silver, gold, and platinum. Higher rank provides a member with greater access to the resources of the Aurum and a greater voice in society meetings. Rank is based both on personal influence and services provided to the group. A powerful heir of a dragonmarked house joins the Gold Concord, while a minor guildmaster starts in the Copper Concord. In time, any member has the chance to advance to the Platinum Concord.

Most members believe that the Platinum Concord manages the affairs of the Aurum, but the true masterminds of the conspiracy form an inner circle known as the Shadow Cabinet. The Shadow Cabinet exists outside the structure of the concords and works to manipulate the nations of Khorvaire. Antus ir’Soldorak (LE male dwarf, aristocrat 4/rogue 6) chairs the Shadow Cabinet and also serves as the chancellor of the Platinum Concord.

The Aurum acts as a resource as opposed to an active force. Its members share knowledge to improve their personal fortunes or to defeat common rivals. The hidden ministers of the Shadow Cabinet, however, believe that the aristocracy has no place running society. Kings and queens make excellent figureheads, but no individual noble has the wisdom required to rule efficiently. The Last War proves this assertion, and the leaders of the Aurum intend to see to it that any future wars serve their own interests. To this end, they have been recruiting agents throughout the nations and the dragonmarked houses, targeting ambitious people with some amount of power and influence.

Aurum Concordians wear a plain ring on each finger—eight in all. Members of the Copper Concord wear copper rings, members of the Silver Concord wear silver rings, and so on. More a symbol of status than a precious bauble, each ring has the same value as 10 coins fashioned from the same kind of metal.

Rising from the Last War

On the surface, the Aurum appears to be an exclusive society for the richest and most influential people of Khorvaire. Merchants, priests, military officers, and other luminaries gather for grand galas and salons. Beneath this gilded veneer, the members of the Aurum use their shared wealth and power to pursue their selfish goals, and a secret cabal at the heart of this fraternity dreams of global domination.

The Aurum is divided into four suborders called Concords — copper, silver, gold, and platinum, in order of ascendance. Higher rank provides a member with improved access to the resources of the Aurum and a greater voice in society meetings. The Aurum isn’t a secret society, and its meeting halls can be found in most major cities. Many powerful people openly wear the eight rings — one on each finger, with the metal indicating the rank of the wearer — that label them as Aurum members. The Aurum frequently engages in acts of philanthropy, and thus some members might be celebrated by their local communities.

When members gather, they discuss shared interests, especially in history and archaeology. Aurum members often take an interest in a particular civilization or era of history; one Concordian collects relics of the Cul’sir giants of Xen’drik, while another pursues artifacts of the dragons of Argonnessen. One of the most common ways in which adventurers cross paths with the Aurum is through these collectors. Members of the Aurum often fund expeditions to exotic lands or newly discovered ruins, interested in expanding their private hoards. Occasionally a Concordian tries to acquire prized relics through less honorable means; adventurers could be employed to acquire an exotic prize from a rival through any means necessary, legal or otherwise.

All of these activities are entirely legitimate. The Aurum is a society for wealthy scholars and philanthropists. But there is a secret order that ranks higher than the Platinum Concord — an inner circle known as the Shadow Cabinet. The members of this cabal are nobles but not kings; they are powerful industrialists, but not dragonmarked barons. They are determined to become the true rulers of Khorvaire, whether by binding the current barons and monarchs to their will or by tearing down the current systems and creating something new.

In stories driven by action, the Aurum can fund expeditions to exotic lands and use magical doomsday devices to hold cities for ransom. In adventures driven by intrigue, the Aurum provides an opportunity to explore the lure of gold, and how far the characters might go in the service of an amoral patron.

The Aurum and the War

The Last War gave birth to the Shadow Cabinet. The war ignited the passions of Concordians who blamed the monarchs of the Five Nations for the vast devastation and loss. It also created opportunities that never existed under the united Galifar. Many of the members of the Aurum gained influence by bankrolling one or more war efforts, or by stepping in to maintain the infrastructure while the government directed its attention to military matters. The Aurum also includes a number of powerful military officers and warlords. Some despise the nobles that drove them to war; others are furious that the war ended without a decisive victory. Either way, these can provide the Shadow Cabinet with unexpected military power.

Now, amid the war’s cooling ashes, the Aurum’s power is fragmented. On several occasions, investments and gambles that paid dividends in money and power to one Concordian sapped the fortune of another, because each was unknowingly working against the other’s interests. Huge collections of art, historical artifacts, and precious tomes were destroyed or lost during the war, and the Aurum’s leaders salivate at the thought of recovering some of those riches.

Aurum NPCs

Aurum Concordians are defined by their wealth and power. When you create an Aurum NPC, consider the source of that person’s wealth and how it is expressed. The dwarf Antus ir’Soldorak is chancellor of the Platinum Concord and founder of the Shadow Cabinet. He owns vast gold and silver mines in the Mror Holds and mints his own currency, and he travels in a gilded airship. Loyal Daison is a Karrnathi slumlord who has made a fortune providing low-rent (and low-quality) housing for refugees. He lost his hand in an industrial accident and had it replaced with a golden prosthetic.

Members of the Aurum become villains if their quest for greater influence, personal power, and wealth victimizes the innocent. Whether villains or allies, all Concordians wield significant political influence. They have access to minions and resources in the higher levels of society. They prefer to pursue schemes of coercion and conspiracy, putting their money and influence to work, than resort to blatant violence in any form.

Aurum NPCs

d4 NPC
1 An aging dwarf — a retired general and an Aurum Concordian — collects unusual constructs, hoping to find a way to transfer his mind into a superior body.
2 An Aurum Concordian is renowned for having the finest arcane library in Khorvaire. Adventurers might help them collect more tome, but when a number of prominent wizards are murdered and their research goes missing, is the Concordian to blame?
3 A member of the Gold Concord is on the run from the Aurum after learning a terrible secret.
4 An imprisoned Concordian mobilizes a network of contacts and well-placed Aurum members in order to secure their own release.

Aurum Campaign Themes

It’s easy to introduce the Aurum to the characters early in a campaign. Its members are public figures, sometimes eccentric but not necessarily evil. A Concordian could hire the adventurers to solve a mystery or to acquire a harmless curio. A Concordian could be tied to the party’s group patron — the owner of the newspaper, a major donor to the university, or the power behind a criminal syndicate.

Alternatively, an Aurum Concordian can be a behind-the-scenes villain: low-level adventurers could clash with the Concordian’s hired goons as they pursue the same treasure, or the adventurers could be trying to solve a mystery the thugs are covering up. As the campaign progresses, the characters might face higher-ranking members of the Aurum, or recurring mercenaries who are increasing in power and status at the same rate they are.

Whether they interact with the Aurum as ally or enemy, at some point the adventurers might well realize that the Concordians aren’t just greedy plutocrats, but participants in an international conspiracy. The Aurum’s arc in the campaign might climax with the characters learning of the Shadow Cabinet and thwarting one of its grand schemes.

Aurum Missions

The Aurum Missions table suggests a variety of assignments that adventurers might be asked to undertake on behalf of the Aurum or one of its members, whether or not they’re aware of their patron’s affiliation.

Aurum Missions

d6 Mission
1 Retrieve a journal from a ship that sailed to Xen’drik and never returned.
2 Locate the grave of a certain dragonmarked scion, and retrieve the signet buried with them.
3 Make friends with a scholar at the local university and learn their vices.
4 Recover a trove of art, artifacts, or recorded knowledge that was thought lost in a battle during the Last War.
5 Capture an officer from a rival nation’s army, or convince the officer to defect, to gain access to their specialized knowledge.
6 Sabotage the negotiations between a dragonmarked house and the local government on a plan that will undermine the Aurum’s status.

The Aurum's Greed

Although Aurum Concordians purport to be reclaiming the relics of history for posterity, they rarely donate these treasures to museums. The relics vanish into Aurum vaults, never to be seen again.

The Aurum’s preoccupation with historical artifacts is a front for a large and powerful criminal operation whose members are committed to toppling the governments of the Five Nations and capturing the reins of power. Their interest in archeology comes not from idealism but from unabashed greed and ambition, traits that Aurum Concordians have in spades.

History

The Aurum started as a mercantile coalition interested in the Mror Holds. The Aurum blossomed in the Ironroot Mountains, but did not experience its ascent to power until Galifar collapsed into bloody civil war. In the instability that followed, the Aurum seized the opportunity to recruit likeminded individuals to join its ranks and expand the network across the continent.