The Informant Guild

One of the oldest and most wide-spread guilds in the Union, Aperion's Informant's are among the most well-connected men and women in the country.

Services
Informants are information brokers and detectives who buy and trade secrets. They make it their business to know the business of everyone and everything in Aperion. Few things are kept from them, and they are usually bound only by their Guild Charter, which has a clearly stated code of honor that all members must adhere to.

Informants provide a number of sought-after services in Aperion. There are office branches in every major city in the Provinces and a few nomadic, air-bound offices here and there.

Typical Services
Typical jobs for informants include: The jobs can range from pithy information grabs to serious cases. Each branch has the right to refuse a case, and many branches specialize in different sorts of operations and information.
 * Confirmation of infidelity among spouses
 * Tips for newspapers and reporters
 * Economic predictions
 * Locations of public citizens
 * Missing persons
 * Missing items
 * Leads for independent cases
 * Counterfit identification
 * Secrets of All Shapes and Sizes

Client Protection
The Guild's clients are offered a strict Confidentiality Agreement, wherein the specifics of a client's case may not be divulged without consent of the client. Like many of the specifics of an Informant, this is the rule that is bent the most and is written in the most inscrutible way possible. Oftentimes, information specifically prepared for, gathered from, or pertaining to a client is simply placed at a higher price point. These price points can be purchased by competing Informants, who have no such confidentiality agreement with another Informant's client.

This has led to serious contention among the Guild and is responsible for its slightly shady reputation.

Professional Relationships
Many of the Guild's more serious operations cross over with the business of the Silverwings and the SDF.

Law Enforcement
Because the livelihood of the Guild is dependent on secrets being kept for a price, relations with both law enforcement organizations are strained at best. Informants can be brought on as detectives or special consultants on cases, or their services and network of sources can simply be purchased as part of an investigation's expenses. The Informant's Guild complies with the law (and in many branches, discounts for law enforcement officers are offered), but Silverwings and SDF officers tend to look down upon the Informants' code-dictated stance of general neutrality in most cases. It's viewed as a matter of pride by both sides to not engage with the other.

Blackguard Rumors
The Guild's other connection is hesitant at best. Due to a shared history, rumors frequently circulate that the Guild uses the remnants of the House of Blackguards as sources and, sometimes, employees. Rumors have neither been confirmed nor denied by the Guild, though the charter states in no uncertain terms the negative attitude with which they view the history of the Blackguard House.

History
The Informants' Guild has perhaps the least popular origin among the other Guilds of Aperion. It begins with the Blackguard House.

In the Blood Era, when the House of Blackguards was the royally-recognized Sixth House, the Blackguards performed many of the same services now provided by the Guild. When the Blackguard Lord was publicly executed by King Mordecai Flynn, the House splintered. Those that remained went on to assassinate both Mordecai and the new King, Anthony Flynn, ending the Blood Era and ushering in the Briar Era.

The Blackguards who left the House after the execution laid low for a generation, shedding their names and titles. After the death of Anthony Flynn, the remaining Blackguards at the House were imprisoned and executed by the SDF and the rest of the Second House's military in an act of vengence. Those that escaped the executions went underground (and have only been heard of in rumors and bogeyman stories since).

The Blackguards that shed their names re-emerged after the Blackguard Manor grounds were razed and salted. Together they formed a Guild of Informants, trading their services under the watchful eye of Briar King Travers Macguiness. Though the heavy policing of the Guild's operations eventually faded, their history has not quite been forgotten by the naysayers of the Guild's activities. Like it or not, though, the Guild has become an integral part of Aperonian society.

Notable Members and Freelancers

 * James Avery (Member)
 * Marigold Finch (Apprentice)
 * Demi O'Dwyer (Freelancer)
 * Jezza Dregg (Freelancer)