The Obscured

Espionage, Illusionists, Spymages & Dream Infiltrators
“What you forget… is us.”

Quick Facts

Known Headquarters: Unknown (believed scattered across hidden safehouses and fractured dreams)
Power Tier: Moderate (Espionage, Disinformation, and Arcane Surveillance)
Reach: Across districts and dreamscapes—wherever secrets gather
Defense: Memory veils, mindhexes, layered illusions
Influence: Controls intelligence networks, secret-broker exchanges, and propaganda operations
Respect: Feared by politicians, envied by information dealers, whispered about in court

Overview

They go by many names: shadows, agents, wraiths, illusions. But those in the know use one name only—The Obscured.

Part spy guild, part dream cult, the Obscured specialize in the art of forgetting. Surveillance spells, implanted suggestions, and memory-slicing rituals allow them to gather information others would kill to hide. They erase witnesses, rewrite truths, and sometimes even replace people altogether—quietly, surgically, and without leaving a trace.

Many are former Myrran illusionists, defected military agents, or forgotten mages who now exist in silence. Some claim they don’t even know who they are anymore—and that’s part of their power.

Known Headquarters

Unknown

Operate from cloaked pockets scattered throughout Ironspire
Rumored safehouses in Gildhollow, Tidefall, and below the Ember Court
Some meetings take place in lucid dreamspace or echo-memories of forgotten buildings
The only known marker: an inverted key carved into glass

Identity & Philosophy

“Control the truth, and you control the world.”

The Obscured believe information is the most dangerous form of magic—and the only one that cannot be undone once cast. They value silence, subtlety, and precision over open conflict. A sword makes noise. A secret leaves a vacuum. And they are masters of filling it.

They reject loyalty to any one power. They do not swear to courts or crowns. Their only allegiance is to the Circle.

And no one knows who the Circle is. Or if it exists.

Roleplay Hooks

You woke up with a memory scar and a face that isn’t yours
You were hired to spy on someone—only to discover you’re already being watched
You saw someone disappear in public… and no one else noticed
You’re haunted by a dream voice that gives you instructions… and they always work
You found a file with your name… and details you don’t remember doing

Power Tier

Moderate (Psychic Espionage & Magical Misinformation)
Reach: Wide, but hidden—found in guilds, courts, even rebel cells
Defense: Identity shields, false signatures, neural warding
Influence: Controls secrets, leaks, and untraceable sabotage
Respect: Unknown. Unnamed. Undefinable.

Rivalries & Tensions

The Black Veil – Competing for assassination contracts and intel brokering
The Ashen Path – Called heretical for dreamwalking and self-erasure
The Ember Court – Rumored to employ (and fear) them
The Veilwrights – Disdain their spiritual rites; seen as “truth romantics”
The Cogborn Union – Conflicts over sabotage, blackmail, and industrial subversion

Leadership

The Umbra Circle

Said to speak through different mouths each time
Decisions come by dream-letter, ash script, or whispered thought
No agent knows more than two others
Rumored that at least half the Circle doesn’t physically exist anymore—if they ever did
May include ghosts, mirrors, and dreambound Myrran nobles

Known Practices & Traditions

Mirrorwalking – Arcane stealth ritual using reflections to move between places unseen
Dreammarking – Planting thoughts in the dreams of targets to influence behavior
Eclipsing – Full identity erasure, used on defectors or agents going deep
Memory Stilling – Magical “pausing” of time in a subject’s mind to remove or alter events
Veil Contracts – Binding magical agreements that vanish upon reading

Membership & Structure

Common Roles:

Eidolon Agents – Operatives trained in shadowmancy, infiltration, and intel gathering
Whisperwrights – Creators of disinformation, illusions, and fake narratives
Dreamers – Specialists in sleep-magic, lucid navigation, and mental influence
Shadescribes – Record keepers who store information in forbidden forms
Silencers – Internal enforcers and erasers of compromised agents

Symbols & Style:

Sigil: A broken key suspended over a mirrored crescent
Style: Dark, asymmetrical cloaks, mask fragments, mnemonic jewelry
Tools: Dreamchalk, inked lenses, false faces, mind-scriven scrolls

Rumors & Whispers

“You don’t join the Obscured. You find out you already did.”

“One of the Ember Court is a Silencer. No one remembers who.”

“They have a vault of erased people—and they’re active again.”

“If you forget someone, check your shadow. They may still be there.”

“The Umbra Circle doesn’t exist. Which is why they’re unstoppable.”