The Grammater Society act as the unseen eyes, ears, and hands of the Order of Truth’s intelligence network in the Steadfast and the Beyond. Their origins lie several hundred years ago when the Order’s scribes, cryptographers, and messengers unified their efforts to establish a reliable means to transmit encrypted information safely between Aeon Priests as well as their allies.
The Society understands that truth sometimes requires a little secrecy and subterfuge from behind the scenes. The Grammaters strive to maintain a semblance of peace between the Steadfast nations, allowing the Order of Truth to best prosper, while also directly opposing the Convergence and the Jagged Dream. At times, this may require “procuring” dangerous numenera, eliminating hostile targets, infiltrating mysterious cults, or conducting espionage in the name of the Order.
“Do you have a secret to divulge?”
“Not as long as I speak the Truth.”
a traditional greeting between Secret Operatives
Its membership is relatively small, being only about several hundred actual operatives, mostly jacks, but its spy network of contacts and information brokers is vastly greater. Its field agents are often spies, assassins, thieves, relic hunters, trailblazers, and the occasional Aeon Priest. They have infiltrated themselves throughout all levels of society in every nation. Its members are called Secrets, though they usually address fellow operatives as Scribes. The Grammater Society organizes its members into small splinter cells headed by a primary regional contact, but most of its operatives work alone.
Important Members
Although it is rumored that the Society is led by Cardinal Lemeo himself, in truth, it is his attaché Secretary Calina Vertue (Level 6) who orchestrates the Grammater Society and its many operatives, as its Master of Secrets, though she prefers issuing missions discretely through other subordinates.
“Secrets kill while Truth abides.”
an Aeon Priest proverb
Member Benefits
The Grammater Society guards its roster carefully and requires that an initiate undergo a variety of tests before even being considered for membership. Candidates are often not even aware that they are being tested. In lieu of taking a new skill, a Secret can choose to gain a special +1 bonus to task rolls (other than combat or defense) when she feels as though she is serving in the line-of-duty for the Grammater Society and its mission. (The player and the GM can decide whether a particular situation warrants the bonus.) Additionally, the Secret can read and write the encrypted code used by the Secrets. The GM must alert the Secret of any such writing and its content within short range.