Editing Illumian (section)

===Chain===
Chain cabals are one of the two most common kinds of illumian cabal (gauntlet cabals are the other). Chain cabals pride themselves on their top-notch spy networks, which infiltrate nearby power centers such as governments, churches, and even monster lairs. Preservation of the status quo—with the cabal kept safe to observe everything—is the highest goal of a chain cabal. Notable chain cabals include Bloodwing, Rustdreamer, Blackpennant, Thirdhorizon, and Kilnfire.

'''Typical Directorates:''' A chain cabal has a spy directorate for each power in its immediate region, usually named with an “Eyes on” construction. For example, the Bloodwing cabal is concerned with the machinations of the Sumberton nobility, the barghest-led Hellmaw tribe of goblinoids in the nearby forest, and a mysterious group of Tiamat-worshiping dragon cultists. The Bloodwings have an Eyes on Sumberton directorate, an Eyes on Hellmaw directorate, and an Eyes on Tiamat directorate. Nearly all cabals include a directorate with a mandate to observe the outside world, but the “Eyes on” chain directorates are more aggressive than others. When the subject of its spying threatens the regional status quo, a directorate takes covert action—diplomatic maneuvering, sabotage, or even assassination—to keep the illumians safe and the existing power structure intact. Chain cabals also maintain home directorates responsible for administering the enclave and education directorates that raise young illumians. Directorates devoted to the enclave’s defense and research are present in nearly every chain cabal.

'''Plots:''' Chain cabals, acting through their “Eyes on” directorates, spend their efforts upholding the status quo. Usually, nonillumians don’t even know of the cabal’s existence—and if they did, they wouldn’t necessarily be happy about it. For every chain cabal that keeps a placid province free of marauding monsters and political skullduggery, another chain cabal keeps a tyrant in power and her people impoverished. Chain cabals tend to be amoral, interested only in preserving existing conditions and keeping themselves unobtrusive and safe. Intracabal plotting is particularly rife among chain cabals. Directorates responsible for spying on the outside world plot against each other as they compete for the cabal’s resources and the Black Table’s attention. Some go so far as to plant agents in a rival directorate’s ranks or sabotage crucial missions so the rival directorate will be embarrassed and politically weakened. The Black Table stamps out overheated rivalries when it finds out about them, unless the rivalry has escalated to the point where the members of the Black Table themselves take part.

'''Enemies and Allies:''' The “Eyes on” directorates prize agents who blend in with their targets, so chain cabals employ nonillumian allies—humanoids who live nearby or wield significant political power. Shapechangers such as [[doppelganger]]s are enticed with riches to join a chain cabal, or threatened with exposure if they spurn the cabal’s advances. A chain cabal tends to have few enemies because it’s adept at remaining secret, or at least deflecting attention away from itself in a crisis. But by definition, the “Eyes on” directorates target the powerful forces near the cabal’s enclave. If a government or other regional power discovers evidence of illumian spying—and survives the destabilizing missions the illumians are sure to launch—the chain cabal has created a motivated and powerful enemy.

'''Enclaves:''' Because they expend their effort in covert actions, chain cabals have relatively modest enclaves, such as a well-guarded keep in the middle of nowhere. Some chain cabals build portals or teleportation circles that help their agents travel back and forth between their targets and the cabal’s enclave. Chain cabals also develop a network of safe houses and secret lairs where members can meet without returning to the main enclave. Such places are well hidden and heavily trapped against intruders. An abandoned siege tunnel, forgotten catacombs, and an unassuming flat above a merchant’s shop are havens where the spies of a chain cabal might meet in secret.