The Unsullied Branch

This sect believe themselves to be the only true worshippers of Father-On-The-Mountain (they reject all other titles of the god). They interpret the god's teachings in a more severe way than all others, to such an extent that they themselves do not claim to be able to follow them. They say that, if a worshipper of the god was able to keep the entirety of his law for a single day, then the god would return to the world and reign in glory forever.

Hassan-i-Sabah and the Assassins

The original Assassins, also known by many variants such as Hashishin or Hashashiyyin, were an Islamic sect or cult at the time of the Crusades. Their practice of stealthy murder has given us the modern meaning of 'assassin'.

It is widely believed that their leader, Hassan-i-Sabah, known also as The Grand Master or The Old Man of the Mountain, controlled his followers by means of hashish or another drug, thereby tricking them into believing he could show them Paradise. There is, however, reason to suppose that this is is false. Firstly it arises from the unreliable tales of Marco Polo. Secondly, scholars say their name is most likely to derive from Asasiyun, meaning 'those who are faithful to the foundations [of the faith]'. And finally, while hashishim does indeed literally mean 'hashish-smokers', it was more usually used as a general-purpose shorthand for wickedness than as a specific accusation.

It seems more likely that the Assassin's headquarters in what is now Iran, Alamut or 'Eagles Nest', contained yet another entry-way into the world in which Teleleli lies, or instructions on creating one. This would explain both the story of 'showing Paradise', and the Assassin's otherwise inexplicable ability to appear as if from thin air. The fact that the library of Alamut was burned after its capture by the invading mongols suggests that it may have held books on travelling between worlds.

The Swingers' Party

In the past Teleleli had a single government, in which the Swingers were the ruling party. The government collapsed due to a celibacy scandal.

Party for the Equality of Talking Animals

PETA fights for the rights of talking animals in Teleleli.

They began as a group dedicated to defending the right to arm bears. Although there have been violent incidents between talking bears and humans, the group claims that all would be well if humans would refrain from spying on their picnics, or Bear Mitzvahs.

There are a number of smaller splinter groups, usually representing a particular species, such as the loud and obnoxious Hen's Party.

The Guild of Wrestlers

In Teleleli, male wrestlers are forbidden to cover their chests during bouts. Legend says that this is because, in the distant past, a women disguised herself as a man and became a wrestler, defeating and humiliating all men who opposed her.

The Garbage-Eaters

It is hotly debated whether these secretive people are a religion, sufferers of a sickness or hysteria, or even the victims of a malevolent alien parasite which takes over their will.

In any case, it sometimes happens that a person will abruptly leave their life behind, move to a new district of the city, and live a life of voluntary destitution, sleeping on the streets and living off garbage. They maintain a total silence (at least when outsiders are around), disdaining even to beg. Such people are usually young, and tend to be better-educated and more intelligent than the average.

They appear to be able to distinguish themselves from both the involuntarily destitute, and those who mimic their lifestyle in an attempt to study them, rendering information about them difficult to come by. However some scholars claim that their search for food scraps is a sham, and that in reality they eat metal. Some speculate that they may have the maniacal belief that they can become robots by this method.

Concerned About Rockets and Rationalism

As the name would imply, this group campaigns against the game Rockets and Rationalism. They allege that it is a plot by the Seventh-Day Inventists to brainwash youth into a belief in science.

The group was started after a young troll, who played the game, disappeared from his home in the storm water drain system and was found wandering in a disoriented state above the ground.

The acronym of the group, CARR, is a reference to one of the 'machines' said to be worshipped by the Seventh-Day Inventists.

Free Passages

The Brotherhood of the Coasts, the guild of longshoremen and dockside labourers, gives out tokens entitling the bearer to a free journey to those who render great aid to them. They are in the form of the bones of whales or other large sea creatures, inscribed with the bearer's name and the nature of their deed. These bones are also given to the high priests of Numen Mari and other gods of the sea.

The bones may not be sold or given away, even in a will. If the bearer dies it is expected that the bones will be destroyed. If they are used, they may be affixed to the prow of the ship in question.

They are honoured by all ships, even pirates, since anyone who refused would find all ports closed to them.

The Worshipful Company of the Veil

This secret society of wizards believes that all things in the material world are imperfect reflections of ideal forms, which exist in a place called the Heaven of Perfect Forms.

They possess spells which create visions, which they claim show the Heaven of Perfect Forms. Thus, they say, their illusions are more real than the reality they obscure. This may account for the rumoured ability of these illusions to do actual harm to those who believe in them.

Ginnafort

This god of servants and those whose good deeds go unrewarded was once an ordinary domestic dog. It belonged to a noble whose name has been lost. One day the noble went hunting, leaving the dog to guard his infant child. When the noble returned he found the cot overturned, the child nowhere to be found, and the dog with bloody jaws. Believing that Ginnafort had eaten the child, the noble killed the dog. The dog made no sound as the noble's club hit home; but as it expelled its last breath, the noble heard a crying child. He turned over the cot to find his son, and the body of a snake. Ginnafort had killed the snake and saved the child.

The snake is said by some to have been Dry-Corpse, the servant of the God of Unnatural Death.

Some talking dogs say that they are descended from dogs who saw the unhappy fate of the dog, and realised that they must be free of their masters.

Similarly, the Conspiracy of Equals uses the dog as a symbol (although they do not necessarily consider it divine), saying that the suffering of the dog is like that of all who rely on the gratitude of their masters.

The Lions Awakened

The Lions Awakened are a group of bandits who live in the forest and attack those who destroy nature. They are led by a druid priestess, Inconvenient Ruth.

The Dandy Highwaymen

There is a far land called the Wild Frontier, brutal and wretchedly poor.

In addition, the place is plagued by this group of bandits, in spite of the fact that the few posessions anyone has are more easily gained by hunting or farming.

One might ask what is the use of robbery, when nothing is worth taking? The answer is that the Dandy Highwaymen have not chosen to become bandits. Instead, it is a symptom of their madness.

In addition to its other misfortunes, the Wild Frontier has many outcrops of the magic metal adamantium. This substance, which flashes in the sun and grabs the attention of passers-by, drives those who touch it mad.

The victim is filled with a compulsion to become a bandit. In addition, on the few occasions when a Dandy Highwayman does get some small measure of wealth, their madness will drive them to spend it on clothes, from the few peddlers who travel through the Frontier.

There are two types of Dandy Highwayman. Whether they derive from two types of adamantium is unknown. The first, the 'Ant People', are almost all sterile in the manner of insects. The 'Sex People', by contrast, are able to reproduce normally. The two types appear identical to normal humans, but they are able to tell themselves apart, and a given group will be of one type.

The Bright Company

This group of murderers is rightly feared for their habit of preying on travellers. They present themselves as going on the same journey, and ask to travel together for protection - a common and wise practice, unlikely to be refused.

They may be compared to the tugees of Hindoostan, with the difference that they have no known religious basis, nor do they rob their victims. The Bright Company carry knives, but are happy to use any means at hand, in contrast to the tugee's invariable strangulation by means of a sacred silk cord.

It is said that they recruit new members by always leaving one victim alive, and forcing them to eat human flesh, so that they are ashamed to associate with anyone other than the Company. Yet members who have been captured seem not to resent the group. They also display a horrible lack of remorse, even to downright jollity. One that I interrogated rejected the idea that he had been forced into the Company by ceremonies of degradation. He denied even being threatened, claiming that once the members had murdered his family they simply talked to him, and made him see the benefits of such a life. He spoke as one who had been engaged in some mild foolishness, and had been brought to his senses by well-meaning friends.

Stories differ as to what happens to corpses of their victims. Some say that they extract their victims' fat, using it for cosmetics for fine ladies. Others say that the eyes, lips and tongues are sold to merchants to be placed in the foundations of new shops; the eyes to help customers see the new business, and the lips and tongues to spread word of its existence. Yet others say that the heart and lungs are 'harvested' and given to entities unknown. Some of these stories may be misapplied tales of the practices of the Court of Miracles or other criminal gangs.

Some say that members of the Company travel continuously. Others say that they live settled lives for part of the year (in some accounts, losing their memory of their murderous activities). There are tales of hidden villages with no roads where they dwell. Others say that they bribe the rulers of certain kingdoms, and are provided with positions in royal courts.

The True Mummer's Standard Advanced

It is said that in ancient times a great director came to loathe what he saw as the theatre's emphasis on artificial style over emotion. He set up a secret theatre in an unknown location. He then began kidnapping ordinary people, and forcing them to learn the lines of his plays. Just before they gave their forced performance, he informed them falsely that their entire family had been killed, in order to inspire the correct depth of feeling. Though the director is dead, this organisation is said to continue his work.

The Seventh-Day Inventists

This unpopular group fills the heads of the young and vulnerable with obscure drivel about 'experiments' and 'rational explanations'. For example they insist that the tides are caused by invisible rays of force that emanate from the moon, rather than being the sea god Numen Mari breathing. They are the enemies of all gods (other than the god of low self-confidence, who does not believe in himself).

Their members have, however, gained some respect in the adventuring field, since their fanatical beliefs allow them to use ancient technology with less danger, to resist sorcery (unfortunately this includes useful magics as well as harmful ones), and to shake the self-confidence of demons and evil spirits; they have been known to convince ghosts that they do not exist.

It is rumoured that the Inventists posess a suit of clothing with the power to destroy magic. Its parts are said to include the Suspenders of Disbelief, and the Selfish Jeans.

The Pony Express

This guild of gnomes has catapults and giant nets carefully arranged in Teleleli, and various other cities. Specially trained horses and riders are flung by the catapults, to land in the nets at their destination. They carry parcels and letters, which is how the guild makes its money.

Every so often a horse will arrive on time, but without its rider or parcels. It is said that those hired to investigate have found nothing, or have disappeared themselves. One theory is that some villainous personage is firing a magnetic ray to cause the ponies to fly off course.

These losses have led to a rise in popularity of the carrier parrot. This system is more expensive, but has the advantage that a well-trained parrot will not speak its message unless it arrives at its proper destination. Thus no third party can learn the message by intercepting the bird.

Insurance Companies

Those who are undertaking a journey outside of Teleleli may wish to begin by visiting the offices of an insurance company. In most cases this will not be to take out insurance, but to find work.

Wealthy folk often seek insurance for long journeys; for example, a monarch sending a child to another kingdom to be married. The company stands to make a great fortune on such a policy, but they may lose a greater one if they have to pay out. Since these journeys are very rare, there is little data on exactly how dangerous these journeys are. Thus it is difficult for the company to know what conditions to offer.

To remedy this, companies will often hire groups of adventurers to make a particular journey, to see how many survive. They may have to make the journey under particular conditions, in order that their chances of survival more closely match those of potential clients. For example, the company may supply a wagon which appears to be laden with silks, or a child whose finery suggests they have great value in ransom.

The adventurers should be sure to negotiate their contract carefully, especially if they venture into an area where there are jackals or wolves. Insurance companies generally do not cover acts of dog.

The League of Snide, Aristocratically-Accented Villains

This criminal organisation specialises in elaborate schemes on a grand scale. Ideally a plan should allow them to take over at least part of the world, or gain a fortune by threatening the destruction of a city or kingdom. They disdain ordinary crime, with the exception of burglary of art and precious jewels.

My investigations suggest that their base is either an abandoned funfair, or what sounds like a gigantic zeppelin, so high in the sky that it cannot be seen. My informant suggested that they travel from zeppelin to city and back at night. She also claimed that the zeppelin has a device which fires sharks at anyone who attacks the base. Presumably the sharks are equipped with hang-gliders, and modified diving-suits allowing them to breathe.

It is whispered that some of their members, convicted of their crimes, have chosen to be executed by catapult and, once launched into the heavens, have been rescued by cleverly-placed hot air balloons.

Their most respected member is the Count Nom DePlume, a figure of great mystery. Some have suggested that this is not even his real name.

They have vast wealth, dedication and genius. However they are let down by their poor social skills, with members trying to become leader rather than co-operating. Indeed it is rumoured that one of their number, Baron von Rickman, has started a rival organisation, after a dispute with the Count over a favourite monocle.

The Nature and Structure of Guilds

Most professions in the city have an organisation, called a guild. In terms of our world they are, at least in theory, part trade union or cooperative, part secret society or lodge, part charity, and part social club.

At one extreme, some guilds ensure that all members receive the same income for their efforts, and the Masters are masters only of their craft, not of younger members. Others will simply ensure that minimum standards of work are met in the trade. At their worst, guilds are a means for Masters to exploit Apprentices, or to practice discrimination against particular folk.

If a profession has more than one guild, they are usually divided by philosophy and bitter rivals. For example there are three guilds of mahoots, or elephant-handlers. Each has their own method of training elephants, which their members also follow in their daily lives. One advocates Kindness; another Violence; and a third Trickery.

Guilds usually have three ranks: Apprentice, Journeyman (or Journeywoman), and Master (or Mistress).

These ranks are associated with the three times of a woman's life: maiden, mother, and crone. A carpenter explained to me that an apprentice does not produce work, but is instructed in what they will need to do so; a journeyman produces work; and a Master no longer brings forth work, but instructs apprentices, and supports and advises journeymen. Thus, he said, the works of a craftsman are like the children borne by a mother.

In some guilds female members will be called Maiden, Mother and Crone rather than the usual titles of rank. In others they will be called Journeyman and Master rather than Journeywoman and Mistress. In many guilds all members will temporarily take on "the titles of motherhood" in ceremonies.

The Court of Miracles

The Court of Miracles is the name both of a rumoured criminal gang, and of its headquarters. The name is said to have been bestowed because criminals often pretend to be blind, crippled, wounded in war etc. In the gang's headquarters they drop their pretence, and thus one may see 'miracles' such as the dying brought to full health and cripples walking.

The Masters of the group, collectively known as "The Four-Face Ghoul" are said to be as follows:

• The Middleman, or Half-hanged Smith.
• The Glove Woman. or the Fox-Eyed Woman (some speak of these as two people, and Sir Archy and the Grand Master as one).
• Sir Archy.
• The Grand Master, a man called Bill, or the King.

The gang's headquarters is said to be in the sewers beneath the city.

Their main income is said to come from drugging the unwary and stealing their kidneys. To whom they are sold is unknown, but some say that these 'clients' have become the true masters of the gang.

The Court is also said to sell the scalps of their victims to wig- and rope-makers, the fat for soap and candles, and various other items to sorcerers and alchemists.

I have been told that one way in which the gang finds victims is as follows:

A messenger turns up at the house of a known thief, unscrupulous merchant, or similar person. The messenger bears a letter, and says,
"I don't know who it's for, I was just told to deliver this to anyone in the house".

The house might be in Market Street, but the message is marked 'to the master of the house, Margate Street', or a similar plausible mistake.

The message might say, for example,
"all is in readiness my dear friend. You have but to turn up under pier 'D' at the docks, at exactly midnight this Friday. The man there won't know you - but simply ask him for a tinder-box as a password. This man will guide you outside the city, where the 10,000 shells are hidden. I will stay in the inn until you come to deliver my share."

The victim decides to cunningly take advantage of this mistake. They turn up at the pier at the appointed time. Naturally they tell noone, and make sure that no one sees them. The man is there and recognises the password, and guides them outside the city, where other members of the gang wait to overpower them.

The Court of Miracles is said to include a group of assassins called the Good Guests, so-called because they bring their own 'cutlery' and 'spices' (weapons and poison).

There are a number of other criminal gangs in the city, and tales told about one may truly belong to another. They include the Picaroons, the Dead Rabbits, the Roach Guards, the Second-Storey Women, and the Shirt Tails.