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At face value, the Rotan offices of the RMA are disconcertingly modest. Only a small plaque above the entrance gives any indication that the Alliance is housed in the building. A fairly plain wooden entrance door leads into a communal lounge frequented by traders and merchants in search of a place to rest and to meet like-minded individuals. Perhaps a quarter of the two and a half story building is dedicated to these “club” facilities – there are baths, a few general purpose offices and a small kitchen where a cook is on duty for most of the day. The main activities of the RMA take place in offices tucked away behind this section and spilling up onto the second floor. Access to the offices is tightly controlled, and more than one curious wanderer has had to seek healing in one of the cities’ temples after trying to gain unauthorised access to this part of the building. All four official divisions of the RMA (and, according to rumour, at least one unofficial division) are controlled from these offices. The four official divisions are:
There are persistent rumours that
Tekuna and/or Annaline has set-up a second set of RMA offices somewhere
in the city. These secret offices are said to house copies of most of the
RMA’s key records and documents, just in case the main Headquarters should
somehow fall. So far, however, there is no evidence of a second office,
so its existence remains speculative.
Neither Annaline nor Tekuna is actively involved in managing the RMA’s investments. Both of them prefer to leave this activity to Teroon Molithnay, the RMA’s pedantic head accountant. Teroon ensures that the RMA’s investments – including the Misgari Race Track, Artak’s Apothecary and the Nedgari Gem Emporium – continue to be profitable. Other noteworthy figures in the administration
division include Lurin Fenotes, Tekuna’s trustworthy and fastidious
secretary, and Marinia Grens, the RMA’s quartermaster. Although
totally blind and now quite old, Marinia looks after the organisation’s
equipment stores. She is well known for her encyclopaedic knowledge of
magical items.
A three-person council usually runs this division, but following an unfortunate horse-riding accident, there are currently only two councillors: Kol Monter, a weathered and hardy ex-mercenary from the north-west and Juwel Hel-torm, a half-elven scholar known for her eidetic memory. The RMA’s head accountant, Teroon Molithnay, works closely with the council and provides invaluable investment and planning advice. In Rotan City, the Trade Planning
division is also responsible for the Trade Exchange – a bustling
centre where business deals are negotiated and trade agreements are signed
and sealed – and the RMA Business Centre, a neighbouring building
with ready access to the Exchange. In contrast to the modest offices of
the RMA, the Business Centre and the Trade Exchange have fairly splashy
public faces. Most of the occupants of the Business Centre are small traders,
often more in touch with the markets than the larger trading groups. (Something
the RMA, in turn, finds very useful.)
The Trade Planning division also publishes the RMA Times, a newsletter giving information on trade routes, markets, key merchants and other merchant activities. The enterprising gnome Bolyani Thombarl publishes the Times. The first edition was published on 2705:7:23 and the Times has appeared roughly monthly since then. It is likely that the next edition will be delayed following the destruction of the Gnomish Laboratories in Rotan. (The Laboratories housed the printing equipment.) The Trade Planning division played
a key role in establishing the Rotan
Merchant Guard in mid-2705. The Rotan Merchant Guard provides protection
to caravans belonging to members of the RMA. Similar projects to promote
organised guard services are underway in other parts of the region. The
division is also examining the wainwright business and it is likely that
the RMA will play a key role in the establishment of a wagoneers’ organisation
in the near future. With the assistance of the RMA, the Rotan Merchant
Guard is currently negotiating with King Anwell to assist with customs
control at Rotan’s borders.
Communications division The Communications division of the RMA is Annaline’s pride and joy. Although little is known about Annaline’s origins, one common rumour is that she has travelled extensively. It is said that her her skill in running the Communications division is driven by a passion to keep in touch with places she has visited. Curiously, she now seldom (if ever?) sets foot outside Rotan City. Communications (often abbreviated to “Comms”) makes sure that all of the parts of the RMA talk to each other. The purpose of the division is to collect and distribute relevant information to the rest of the RMA. Key sources of information used by Comms include:
The Field Agents used by the Intelligence division are trained by Communications. Their training is extensive and heavily influenced by Tekuna’s devious mind. It includes the following skills, amongst others:
The table below gives the prices for messages sent by rider and by pigeon. Travelling times for riders are listed in the previous table. Pigeons usually take 3d8 hours + 2 hours per 50 miles. Messages sent by pigeon have a 50% of success; customers sending critical messages often pay many times the listed price to increase these odds (they send multiple birds and request a confirmation from the destination).
Intelligence division The Intelligence division (often referred to as just “Intell”) is the eyes and ears of the RMA. While the Communications division has mastered the art of moving information between the different parts of the RMA’s remarkable human network, it is the Intelligence division which is able to hunt down the most obscure or sensitive piece of information (at a price!). The division consists of highly skilled Field Agents, surprisingly small in number. These agents are trained to build and operate an independent network of contacts in their area in order to obtain detailed intelligence. Field Agents in this division work closely with the Communications division. Agents are trained by Communications and, once they graduate to fieldwork, they often rely on Comms to maintain contact with the rest of the RMA As well as Field Agents and their networks of contacts, Intell gathers information from a wide variety of sources. Some sources are innocuous, like the street smarts brought in via the Rotan Almshouse. (The benefits of the Almshouse have been good enough to prompt Tekuna to establish a few more soup kitchens in strategic locations.) Others methods used by Intell are less benevolent. Although there is never any direct (read: provable) RMA involvement in unsavoury activities, the RMA is known to use third parties for tactics such as blackmail or debt-collecting. Intell also frequently exploits dissatisfied elements within other organisations to its own advantage. Recently, the Intelligence division
has been receiving special attention from Tekuna. She has increased the
level of intelligence gathering signification during the last few months.
It is rumoured that special areas of focus have included the University
of Craft and Thought and the Rotan Palace. Since Tekuna is on
good terms with the authorities in both of these institutions, it is likely
that the Snow-haired Lady is conducting some sort of counter-espionage
initiatives.
Internal affairs Within the RMA it is rumoured that Lady Chand has her own private, very secret network of spies and agents. It is said that she uses these agents to watch her contacts in other organisations, as well as each other. In fact, these rumours probably refer to the fifth division of the RMA – Internal Affairs. Internal Affairs is the newest of the organisation’s five divisions, and one of Tekuna’s current pet projects. Although it is still finding its feet, Internal Affairs has been established very carefully and cautiously. Other than Tekuna and Annaline, details of its operations are known only to a handful of people. Internal Affairs has limited contact with the Communications Division, but its very existence remains speculative to the rest of the RMA. Internal Affairs is indeed intended to monitor the internal status of the RMA and find weaknesses in its structure, such as information leaks or plants. Where necessary, Internal Affairs has been instructed to make use of double agents and dummy agents. In fact, both Tekuna and Annaline suspect that the other woman has agents within Internal Affairs watching her! The long-term impact of Internal Affairs on the structures of the RMA is still uncertain. Heading up Internal Affairs is Gollor Trebats, a scraggly and unkempt looking Pirisian. Gollor is as likely to be found lounging around Rotan’s taverns and inns as he is to be found anywhere near the RMA’s premises. Tekuna puts up with the inconvenience of meeting Gollor in his unsavoury haunts because she has a genuine respect for Gollor’s skills and perception. As a front, Gollor also works part-time as one of the RMA’s cooks. The popular word in the RMA is that Gollor is a fallen priest of Brador, turned to cooking to make his living. Olene Tornhalm, a retired dwarven adventurer, is the deputy head of Internal Affairs. She plays a smaller role in the division, but keeps an eye on Gollor’s activities for both Tekuna and Annaline. As well as monitoring the internal security of the RMA, Internal Affairs is also tasked with handling “special projects”. One such project is a program of contact with various bandit groups in the Ivrean region. The purpose of this contact isn’t clear, but the RMA’s trade reports indicate two surprising changes since the project began. First, the RMA has enjoyed unusually low numbers of bandit attacks compared to other trading groups. Secondly, the number of fatal attacks on all caravans in the region has diminished significantly. Another special project – this one still in an embryonic phase – is a magic-savvy unit Tekuna has dubbed “Paranormal Operations”. Paranormal Operations project brief (from Tekuna’s private files)
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