Editing Illumian (section)

==Cabal Types==
While all illumian cabals have the same overall structure (Black Table rulers instructing multiple directorates, all secreted away in an isolated enclave), they have varied goals. A cabal that communes with the spirits of its members’ ancestors has different goals, and thus a different set of directorates, than a cabal devoted to protecting the Gamrakian Forest from further harm.

===Ascension===
Among the more mysterious types of cabals, ascension cabals exist to help one or more of their members achieve godhood. After Tarmuid created the Ritual of Words Made Flesh, he spent the rest of his mortal life trying to find a way for the Illumian language to express a divine state. He succeeded on his deathbed, and Tarmuid’s final utterance has inspired other illumians to attempt the same feat. So far only a handful of illumians have successfully made final utterances. Despite the low success rate, dozens of cabals across the multiverse feverishly conduct magical research in hopes of making a chosen illumian ready to attempt a final utterance and take the mantle of godhood. Some ascension cabals are little more than cults of personality led by the most powerful illumian in residence. Others have made significant progress in unlocking the secrets of immortality and divine power. Ascension cabals are often named after the illumian who seeks godhood with the cabal’s help. Notable ascension cabals include Chelshae, Sons of Galadan, Zhukasti, Finalsteps, and Valak Ascendant.

'''Typical Directorates:''' Ascension cabals maintain the usual array of directorates, named in honor of the illumian deity-to-be. For example, the Sons of Galadan cabal refers to its intelligence directorate as The Eyes of Galadan, the defense directorate as the Fists of Galadan, and the resource directorate as the Bounty of Galadan. The personal retinue and servants of the would-be deity form a directorate unto themselves, and research-related directorates are as large as the cabal can manage.

'''Plots:''' Ascension cabals keep an eye on their neighbors — the better to protect the ascending illumian — but the majority of their plots involve tracking down lore about the final utterance and the ascension process. This means garnering lore from rival illumian cabals, whether ascension cabals or otherwise. A rival ascension cabal might possess previously unknown aspects of the final utterance, and cabals of different types might have clues to ascension in their histories and arcane tomes. Because cabals closely guard their knowledge, ascension cabals don’t hesitate to resort to trickery, theft, or violence to acquire the information they seek. Intracabal plotting is likewise fierce among ascension cabals. Mid- to high-level members of a cabal constantly jockey for position, try to curry favor with the deity-to-be, or even supplant the ascendant one’s place on the path to divinity.

'''Enemies and Allies:''' More ascension cabals collapse from within than are destroyed from without. Either the infighting over the illumian chosen for ascendancy tears the cabal apart, or the cabal disperses after a candidate for godhood fails to make a proper final utterance. More rarely, an ascension cabal falls to an outside force such as another ascension cabal, a stronger cabal angered by too-aggressive lore seeking, or some magical or monstrous force the cabal unwittingly unleashed. Ascension cabals have few external enemies, and likewise few allies. Ascension can bring little to an alliance other than a promise of a god’s favor when ascension occurs, and that’s a promise that few nonillumians take seriously. Particularly charismatic illumians in charge of an ascension cabal can sometimes found their own mystery cults and attract nonillumian worshipers.

'''Enclaves:''' The enclaves of ascension cabals look like temples or churches. They include sanctuaries, altars, and areas set aside for various ceremonies to honor the deity-in-waiting. The living quarters of the ascendant one are generally lavish, if for no other reason than the various directorates’ competition to please the future deity. Compared to other kinds of cabals, ascension cabals defend their enclaves lightly. They tend to possess less magic, lore, and riches than other cabals because they’re so focused on achieving ascension. An ascension cabal enclave is relatively easy to find, but the outside world regards it as just another cult out in the wilderness.

===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.

===Eclipse===
Nobody knows how many eclipse cabals exist, and that’s the point. When Tarmuid, the creator of the illumian race, assembled the first cabals, he gave each a fragment of the Ritual of the Word Made Flesh and commanded the illumians to keep it safe. The eclipse cabals haven’t expanded beyond Tarmuid’s original mandate. They keep themselves as secret as possible, devoted utterly to protecting the part of the ritual in their possession. The perfect eclipse cabal disappears shortly after its founding, reappearing only when the illumian people need to reassemble the Ritual of Words Made Flesh. They aren’t well known, but Duskwatcher, Blacktower, Driftcloud, Rubytalon, and Evershade are all names of eclipse cabals.

'''Typical Directorates:''' Eclipse cabals maintain the same directorates as other cabals: administration, defense, education, and resources. If an eclipse cabal has an espionage directorate or a research directorate, it’s usually rather small.

'''Plots:''' Eclipse cabals tend to be drawn into plots unwillingly, because all they care about is keeping their very existence a secret. A cabal might have to take action, however, against someone who learns its secret. Members of an eclipse cabal also might need to leave its enclave periodically to refresh its magical protections or acquire resources the enclave can’t provide for itself. Finally, eclipse cabals are storehouses for items and lore from the earliest days of the illumians.

'''Enemies and Allies:''' An eclipse cabal spurns an alliance on the rare occasion when someone finds the cabal in the first place. No one is to be trusted beyond the cabal—not even well-meaning noneclipse illumians. Eclipse cabals rely almost exclusively on allies whose loyalty is beyond question, such as [[construct]]s and summoned creatures.

'''Enclaves:''' Eclipse cabals have the most well-protected enclaves. They are always located in forbidding, isolated places far from curious eyes, protected by layer after layer of illusions and mundane camouflage. An intruder who pierces the veils that obscure an eclipse enclave must contend with a heavily trapped fortress guarded by magical constructs and illumians desperate to keep their existence a secret.

===Gauntlet===
While chain cabals spin a web of intrigue to preserve the status quo, gauntlet cabals use espionage as a means of control. They don’t have armies at their disposal, so they employ a combination of diplomacy, magic, and trickery to exert influence on the political and religious leaders near their enclave. Notable gauntlet cabals include Stormwind, Blackflame, Palerider, Warhorn, and Frostpeak.

'''Typical Directorates:''' Gauntlet cabals have the usual directorates focused on the cabal’s upkeep: resources, education, defense, and research. But because the outside world draws their attention, gauntlet cabals produce a number of agents who work beyond the walls of the enclave. Gauntlet cabals organize multiple directorates devoted to diplomatic efforts, espionage, and small-scale military actions, divided both by the kind of activity and the target. For example, one directorate might be responsible for diplomacy and espionage against Baron Vulreget, while another directorate spies on the baron’s army and a third handles the cabal’s relations with the rebels seeking the baron’s overthrow. Because gauntlet cabals seek as much power and control as they can manage, the directorates within a particular gauntlet cabal shift as the cabal wins victories and suffers defeats. A directorate assigned to overthrow a church’s hold on a particular province, for example, disbands or takes on new duties once it succeeds at destroying the church. As a result, the directorates within a gauntlet cabal may have vague names or names that don’t describe what they actually do. The Stormwind cabal, for example, has a special projects directorate that handles issues of internal loyalty, a third column directorate that handles magical threats, and an honor directorate that trains elite strike teams, which are then used by the other directorates.

'''Plots:''' Gauntlet cabals are ambitious and always active, constantly fomenting plots against political, religious, and magical powers. The local government near a gauntlet cabal is always riddled with spies in the pay of the illumians, and a successful gauntlet cabal has achieved direct or indirect control over the government’s actions as well. A gauntlet cabal likewise tries to control or drive off powerful individuals or monsters (such as the [[wizard]] in the mysterious tower or the [[Chromatic Dragon|blue dragon]] lairing nearby). The most effective gauntlet cabals act as puppet masters, using their pawns to control others. For example, a gauntlet cabal might use blackmail and magic to control the commander of a military garrison, then turn that garrison against the [[elf]] community in a nearby forest. Or the gauntlet cabal could have the garrison pledge its troops to a religious crusade sponsored by the local church of [[Heironeous]]—in exchange for the placement of a few illumians in the higher levels of the priesthood.

'''Enemies and Allies:''' Gauntlet cabals rarely lack enemies—any group that has fallen on the wrong side of a gauntlet cabal plot is a potential foe. On the other hand, if the cabal’s plans come to fruition, the foe is rarely left with enough power to exact revenge on the illumians. A careful gauntlet cabal can avoid reprisals from failed plots by covering its tracks and pinning the blame on nonillumians. But no plot is foolproof, and many gauntlet cabals have been destroyed by military sieges, magical attacks, religious crusades, and assassinations by secret societies. Just as a gauntlet cabal can have nearly anyone as an enemy, so too can it ally itself with nearly anyone. Gauntlet cabals care only about power and control, and if an alliance helps one toward those ends, the cabal’s Black Table is rarely squeamish about making a deal. Even an arrangement with the [[githyanki]] isn’t out of the question, although any cabal known to have dealings with them would be ostracized by other illumians. A gauntlet cabal has only one implacable enemy: another gauntlet cabal. When two gauntlet cabals try to control the same prize, the conflict quickly escalates into war; gauntlet cabals easily recognize the “fingerprints” of rival illumians. Gauntlet cabals sometimes war with chain cabals, who see the gauntlet cabals’ efforts as meddling. But because gauntlet cabals and chain cabals seek different prizes, the possibility exists for a mutually advantageous pact (turning a chain cabal into a network of spies for a gauntlet cabal, which then focuses its attention elsewhere).

'''Enclaves:''' Gauntlet cabals know that it’s just a matter of time before they anger someone with the wherewithal to attack the cabal’s enclave. Therefore, gauntlet cabals spare no effort to ensure that any attack on the enclave is costly for the attackers. But unlike eclipse cabals, gauntlet cabals place less effort on keeping the location of their enclave secret, instead choosing to make the enclave obviously more trouble than it’s worth to attack. A gauntlet cabal might establish an enclave in the middle of a swamp, amid a steep mountain range, or buried deep beneath the earth. Each enclave features strong battlements clearly augmented by magic, as well as monstrous defenders such as [[dragon]]s and [[giant]]s. Inside an enclave, the focus shifts from a demonstration of strength to a demonstration of power and wealth. Lavish interior decoration adorns areas seen by nonillumians, the better to court visitors to the enclave as potential allies. Colorful illusion magic, magically animated statues, and richly dressed servants project the impression that the cabal is successful and so an alliance might be lucrative.

===Gibber===
Unlike other kinds of cabals, gibber cabals attract chaotic illumians. They tend to be smaller cabals, but they perform an important function: They are responsible for the creation of new words in the Illumian language. Gibber cabals experiment with nonsense syllables, words, and phrases. Usually they create only gibberish, but occasionally they produce a word or phrase with a mystical meaning previously unknown to illumian scholars. Gibber cabals otherwise function like typical illumian cabals. They plot against power structures in their vicinity, protect their enclave against attack, and accumulate magical and historic lore. Gibber cabals assume nonsensical names. Notable gibber cabals include Swordfeather, Greenmouth, Ablecadaver, Turtlewing, and Openstalker.

'''Typical Directorates:''' While other cabals take prosaic or themed names for their directorates, gibber cabals employ fanciful or nonsense names. While this custom can be confusing to outsiders, those who grow up within the walls of a gibber cabal enclave know the directorate names through daily use. The Openstalker cabal, for example, uses a rhyming slang to name its directorates. The pretense directorate handles defense, the besmirch directorate handles magical research, and the split-sticks directorate handles logistics.

'''Plots:''' Gibber cabals devote themselves to various forms of esoteric magical study, which include experiments that increase the vocabulary of the Illumian language. Sages within gibber cabals contend that when everything in the universe can be described perfectly in Illumian, those who speak the language will be able to reshape reality just by speaking their every desire. Mid- to high-level members of a gibber cabal rarely leave the enclave because they’re too busy with magical rituals and experiments. Defense and the day-to-day operations of the cabal’s enclave fall to lower-level members and those with less interest in magical affairs. Gibber cabals maintain a cadre of illumian [[barbarian]]s on guard against enemy attack; illumians from gibber cabals usually have at least a few levels in the [[barbarian]] class to reflect a young life spent guarding the enclave. Gibber cabals sometimes try to infiltrate nearby communities or exert political influence on a regional scale, but are too inward-looking to make concerted efforts against the outside world.

'''Enemies and Allies:''' Gibber cabals befriend communities of outcasts, who then take up residence within or near the cabal’s enclave. Given their habit of spouting gibberish, illumians from gibber cabals tend to be less judgmental than others. The Swordfeather cabal, for example, draws [[drider]]s from across the underground realms to its labyrinthine enclave. Different gibber cabals work with [[therianthrope]]s or with [[tiefling]]s, half-celestials, and similar crossbred creatures. Because gibber cabals feature confusing passages and mazes, cabals keep trained [[minotaur]]s as guards. Gibber cabals keep to themselves, so they don’t have many enemies. The Swordfeathers battle the [[drow]] because the illumians harbor driders, but there’s no other reason for enmity between the two groups.

'''Enclaves:''' Gibber cabals build underground enclaves so they’re less likely to be disturbed. Almost all feature twisting corridors, dead-end hallways, frequent illusions, and a plethora of secret doors. The labyrinthine nature of a gibber cabal enclave is its best defense. Intruders become so confused when navigating their way through an enclave that the cabal can muster an effective hit-and-run defense, then capture the intruders when they discover they can’t find the exit.

===Gravewhisper===
Like other illumians, members of gravewhisper cabals speak fluent Illumian—but they speak it to the dead. Gravewhisper cabals keep their elder members active after death by turning them into [[lich]]es, [[vampire]]s, or similar [[undead]]. Gravewhisper researchers [[Necromancer|study necromancy to the exclusion of other schools of magic]], and undead minions guard the sinister enclaves of the gravewhisper cabals. Illumians in gravewhisper cabals regard themselves as more pragmatic than the rest of their race. There’s no need to lose the accumulated wisdom of the cabal to old age or misadventure, they contend, when necromantic rituals can keep those who sit at the Black Table alive—and contributing to the cabal’s agenda—forever. Notable gravewhisper cabals include Cryptdelver, Blackshroud, Finalveil, Darkwake, and Lore-Reborn.

'''Typical Directorates:''' In addition to the usual directorates of security, intelligence, research, and education, gravewhisper cabals maintain an acquisitions directorate (which acquires unusual or noteworthy bodies from the outside world), a rites directorate (which handles burial and body-preservation activities), and a deathruler directorate (which handles day-to-day control of the cabal’s undead minions). The administration directorate, responsible for feeding and caring for the denizens of the enclave, tends to be smaller and less powerful than in other kinds of cabals because many gravewhisper cabal members don’t require sustenance or creature comforts.

'''Plots:''' Gravewhisper cabals know that much of the outside world doesn’t understand their fascination with necromancy and the undead; on occasion, crusading [[paladin]]s and various other do-gooders have put gravewhisper enclaves to the torch. Gravewhisper cabals rely on the wisdom and leadership of powerful [[undead]], so a successful attack can leave a gravewhisper cabal permanently bereft of such leadership. Gravewhisper cabals are therefore paranoid about the safety of their enclaves. They aggressively infiltrate any nearby power structures (political, religious, or magical) and maintain a network of agents to warn them of potential threats. Gravewhisper cabals lust after necromantic lore of all kinds, going to great lengths to acquire tomes that detail the finer points of lichdom rituals, ways to contact a soul after death, and similar matters. They also occasionally engage in corpse snatching, stealing the body of a recently deceased noble, hero, or notable citizen. Once the body is safely ensconced within the gravewhisper cabal’s enclave, the illumians raise it, transform the body into a loyal undead minion, or perform other experiments on it.

'''Enemies and Allies:''' Undead creatures perform the basic functions within a gravewhisper cabal. [[Zombie]]s and [[skeleton]]s make up much of the cabal’s manual labor, while [[ghoul]]s and [[wight]]s guard the enclave from attack. [[Shadow]]s and [[spectre]]s act as the cabal’s spies in the outside world. Intelligent undead, however, are actually members of the cabal, not just its servants. A gravewhisper cabal usually includes [[vampire]]s or [[lich]]es among the members of its Black Table.

'''Enclaves:''' Gravewhisper enclaves feature extensive catacombs. While the catacombs crawl with ambulatory undead, they are dominated by bodies lying in various states of preservation, waiting for resurrection, conversion to undead, or ritual use.

===Quill===
While vengeance cabals take the fight to the [[githyanki]], quill cabals instead attempt to reassemble the lore the illumians lost when the githyanki sacked the Library of the Sublime. Avaricious book collectors, quill cabals stop at nothing to acquire tomes they don’t already possess. Their libraries are first-rate, which makes them a target for forces that desire the knowledge ensconced on the shelves of illumian enclaves.

'''Typical Directorates:''' The two most important directorates in a quill cabal are the acquisitions directorate (which acquires new tomes and lore for the cabal’s library) and the collections directorate (which organizes, researches, and guards the library). The other directorates exist solely to support these two directorates, and the illumians at a quill cabal’s Black Table are almost all former acquisitions or collections directors. Quill cabals also include outreach directorates devoted to working with libraries in nearby communities, often at a wizards’ college or major temple. The illumians arrange to staff the library with their sages and make loans from the quill cabal’s library in exchange for access to the stacks. While the illumian librarians quickly extract any useful lore from the library they’re staffing, they remain afterward to watch for new books.

'''Plots:''' A quill cabal does its utmost to obtain new or recently discovered books, so the acquisitions directorate is at the forefront of the cabal’s plots. An acquisitions directorate might hire explorers to delve into ancient ruins, or it might sponsor a long journey to acquire a work of great worth—sometimes from a willing seller, but often without the knowledge of the book’s current owner. Quill cabals have their share of intracabal plotting. Conflict can emerge between the acquisitions directorate and the outreach directorate if an outside library has important lore. The acquisitions directorate wants to seize the material outright, but the outreach directorate wants to preserve the relationship with the outside library.

'''Enemies and Allies:''' Quill cabals maintain friendly relations with other kinds of illumian cabals—they have a reason to be cordial, and all cabals recognize the value of rebuilding the storehouse of knowledge that was once the illumians’ greatest possession. Through their outreach directorates, quill cabals develop powerful allies among wizard colleges, religious libraries, and collectors of lore. While these alliances are pervasive, they don’t always run deep. For example, the church of [[Boccob]] may appreciate the librarians from a quill cabal, but that doesn’t mean they would mount a crusade to save the cabal from a [[githyanki]] attack.

'''Enclaves:''' Quill cabals are packed to the brim with books, maps, scrolls, and lore in all its forms. Shelves line even the hallways in a quill cabal enclave. The central library is usually riddled with traps that kill or imprison intruders while leaving fragile books unharmed. Every quill cabal enclave has a shrine to [[Aulasha]], and she figures prominently in much of the artwork and architectural ornamentation. Quill cabal enclaves also maintain the usual array of magical laboratories as well as workshops for papermaking, binderies, and the like. If the cabal has an active outreach directorate, the enclave creates magic portals to remote libraries where its librarians work.

===Root===
The rarest of illumian cabals, root cabals establish enclaves in the most isolated, forbidding wilderness the world has to offer. Root cabals are fervent defenders of the forests, mountains, and swamps they call home, protecting the area around their enclaves from predation by monsters and settlement by civilized races. In the solitude that isolation affords, they study the local flora and fauna, trying to tap into the life energy of the natural world. Notable root cabals include Autumnleaf, Thorntwist, Frostrime, Tidechant, and Oakmaw.

'''Typical Directorates:''' Root cabals contain a gleaner directorate responsible for gathering food from the surrounding land, a predator directorate that patrols the area for intruders, a nurselog directorate that instructs the young, a seeder directorate that uses magic to protect and sustain the land, and a taproot directorate that performs magical research into life energy.

'''Plots:''' Root cabals expend a great deal of effort keeping their turf safe from marauding beasts and encroaching civilization. A typical root cabal might try to frighten away [[human]] pioneers, sow dissent among a clan of nearby [[giant]]s, or acquire the magic balm that arrests an epidemic of tree-blight.

'''Enemies and Allies:''' Root cabals work with intelligent creatures that can be trusted to live in concert with the land, such as [[centaur]]s, [[goliath]]s, and [[lizardfolk]]. Others ally themselves with [[fey]] inclined to help guard their lands, such as [[dryad]]s and [[nymph]]s. The most strident root cabals trust only plants and animals, relying on druid-enhanced flora and fauna as guardians. Root cabals stay out of illumian politics, so their only enemies are those who threaten the ecosystem that surrounds a cabal’s enclave. Root cabals often have to drive intruders away, whether those intruders are well-meaning [[human]] settlers, marauding [[orc]] armies, or aggressive [[giant]] clans. Root cabals that use their lands for magical experimentation sometimes draw the ire of self-styled defenders of the natural world, such as [[treant]]s, nonillumian [[druids]], and organized groups of [[therianthrope]]s.

'''Enclaves:''' Root cabals use the natural terrain at their disposal to build their enclaves. Sometimes their enclaves are camouflaged by terrain, such as a dungeonlike enclave under a mossy hillock. More often their enclaves appear as weird structures that stand out from the surrounding land while obviously being a part of it; root cabals want the architecture of their enclaves to imply that “These lands are under our protection.” In a forest, a root enclave might be a spherical tangle of branches supported by dozens of massive oak trunks—with animated branches set to grasp intruders. A mountain enclave might be a graceful series of towers attached to a sheer cliff at the end of a box canyon. A subterranean enclave might be a warren entirely within a hollowed-out stalagmite in a massive underground cavern

===Vengeance===
Vengeance cabals are the most recent cabal type to emerge in illumian society, and the least common cabal type. They are somewhat more common outside the Material Plane, because an extraplanar location provides them readier access to their greatest enemies. Vengeance cabals exist to hunt down and slay as many [[githyanki]] as they can find, in revenge for the destruction of the illumians’ Library of the Sublime. Notable vengeance cabals include Astralhunter, Githslayer, Tornpage, Bitterblood, and Oathkeeper.

'''Typical Directorates:''' Like other cabals, vengeance cabals are divided into directorates, but they have a military organization within each directorate. The directorates themselves have names inspired by the military, such as infantry, headquarters, and intelligence. A captain is in charge of each directorate, supported by a network of lieutenants as well as rank-and-file illumians.

'''Plots:''' Almost everything a vengeance cabal does is devoted to revenge against the githyanki for sacking the Library of the Sublime. Vengeance cabals combine direct action (illumian strike teams that roam the [[Astral Plane]] looking for githyanki to slay) with subtler interventions (giving githyanki city maps to mind flayers and aiding githzerai assault teams). Vengeance cabals take reasonable care to avoid reprisals from the githyanki, but if a vengeance cabal can lure angry githyanki into attacking its enclave, that’s just another chance to kill more of the hated enemy.

'''Enemies and Allies:''' The [[githyanki]] are obviously at the top of a vengeance cabal’s enemies list. Most cabals disregard other enemies unless they directly threaten the well-being of the cabal. Githyanki from communities or military units that actually took part in the sacking of the Library of the Sublime are particularly hated. Illumians can usually identify such githyanki if enough of their history is known, and they are shown no mercy. Vengeance cabals have common cause with the githyanki’s two traditional foes: [[githzerai]] and [[Illithid|mind flayers]]. Because githzerai and illumians share a lawful outlook and a love of learning, cooperation between them is commonplace. Alliances with mind flayers happen less often, simply because mind flayers make such disturbing allies. Mind flayers also seem overly curious about the lore contained within the Library of the Sublime, so vengeance cabals wonder whether they have ulterior motives in hunting down the githyanki who looted it.

'''Enclaves:''' Even more than other cabals, the enclaves of vengeance cabals are armed camps. Most are walled fortresses in isolated wastelands of the Material Plane or the Plane of Shadow, although a few vengeance cabals create floating fortress-ships that drift on the haze of the Astral Plane. Almost all enclaves of vengeance cabals have one or more planar portals within them, leading to the Astral Plane or to the shadow city of Elirhondas.