> [!infobox|wikipedia] > # Veiled Cubs > [![[Veiled_Cubs_small.webp|cover hsmall]]](Veiled_Cubs.webp) > ###### Faction Information > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Type | Faction | > Category | Criminal Network | > Allegiance | Independent | > Leader | [[Ellesar]] | > Base | [[Veiled Den]] | > ###### Status > Attribute | Details | > ---|---| > Status | Active | The Veiled Cubs are a clandestine network of street orphans in [[Camaar]] who survive by disciplined, coordinated theft under the protection of an old man named [[Ellesar]]. Fifty-strong and utterly unseen, they are less a criminal gang than a refuge wearing one's clothes — a roof, a full belly, and a code, given to the children the city forgot, paid for one small theft at a time. ## Purpose & Goals The Cubs exist to keep [[Camaar]]'s orphans alive. Theft is the means, not the point. Where another street operation might measure itself in turf or take, the Cubs measure themselves in children fed and children grown — kept off the streets they were born on long enough to make something of themselves. Everything about the way they work serves that end: take little, stay invisible, protect each other, and never let the operation grow large enough to be worth crushing. That modesty is itself the goal. The Cubs have no ambition to become a guild, no designs on Camaar's underworld, no power they are reaching for. Ellesar has built something quiet and self-sustaining and wants only for it to keep running — and, eventually, to outlive him. ## Structure & Leadership At the centre is [[Ellesar]], the Cubs' founder and elder — ninety years old, bound to a wheelchair, and the entire authority of the network. He sets the code, holds the reserves, and decides who is let through the Den's door. The children he has raised adore him without reservation, and his word inside the Den is final and unquestioned. Beneath him the structure is informal and built on trust rather than rank. A handful of older, proven Cubs form an inner circle that Ellesar works through — chief among them Rolan, the eldest, who serves as his right hand and the younger children's protector. On the street the Cubs work in small, practised teams with clear roles: a bait to draw attention, a lookout to watch for trouble, and a lifter to take the purse. Signals are whistled; if a job goes wrong the team scatters in separate directions and regroups, never together, at the Den. ### The Code The Cubs survive on discipline, drilled in hard by Ellesar and treated as law. The rules are few and absolute: - Don't steal too much — take small, take often, never enough to be worth chasing. - Don't be conspicuous, and don't draw attention. - Don't all work the same streets. - Never lead anyone back to the Den. - If you are caught, give back what you took and play the part — just a poor, frightened orphan, nothing more. It is a thief's charter written with the ethics of a ward-father, and it is the reason fifty children can work a city's streets and leave no trace of an organisation behind. A cursed pickpocket here and there is all Camaar ever notices; no one connects the thefts to a network, let alone to a kindly old man in a wheelchair. ## Notable Members | Member | Role | Notes | | ----------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [[Ellesar]] | Founder & elder | The heart and final authority of the Cubs; wheelchair-bound, ~90. | | Rolan | Eldest, Ellesar's right hand | 17, scarred; fiercely loyal, protective of his "siblings." | | [[Lia]] | Locks & infiltration | 11; the standout, since placed with the [[Order of Ravens]]. | | Brom | Lookout | 14; alert and sharp-eyed, whistles the warning and trips pursuers. | | Mila | Strategist | 10; plans the jobs and coordinates the teams. | | Jareth | Muscle | 13; strong and protective, with a soft spot for animals. | | Tessa | Charmer | 9; distracts marks with an innocent face and a sweet voice. | ## The Veiled Den The Cubs operate out of the [[Veiled Den]], a deliberately decrepit three-storey building in Camaar's rundown northern district. Outside it is boarded and nondescript; inside it is warm, well-furnished, and well-stocked, with room across its upper floors for living quarters, play areas, and escape routes. Ellesar keeps to the ground floor, where he can manage without stairs. The Den is reached through roof hatches on the second or third floor, or through a disguised back door that looks broken but works perfectly well. A stranger at the front is answered by a child who vanishes inside; whether they are let any further is Ellesar's decision alone. ## Economy & Aging Out Day to day the Cubs run on steady, low-profile theft, but the Den is supported by more than pickpocket coin — Ellesar has built a reasonable store of wealth over decades, enough to keep fifty children fed and the Den comfortable without ever overreaching. Cubs are not lifers. Most grow up and move on to honest work — sailors, merchants, tradesfolk, the occasional recruit to the [[Order of Ravens]] — and Ellesar helps set each of them up, giving them enough of a stake to take the opportunity. That, in the end, is the whole point of the operation: not a thieves' ring accumulating power, but a man raising orphans well enough that they can leave and live. ## Relations ### Order of Ravens The Cubs' only real tie to a larger power runs through the [[Order of Ravens]], and even that is informal — a matter of trust and the occasional placement rather than alliance. When a Cub's talents or temperament suit the Ravens' work, Ellesar has the contacts to arrange it; the assassins' guild has taken at least one of his children into its ranks. It is a relationship of convenience and mutual respect, not membership. ### Shadow Serpents The Cubs have no quarrel and no dealings with the [[Shadow Serpents]], the gang that has repeatedly crossed the party in Camaar. They move in entirely different circles. The Cubs keep to themselves and to their own narrow trade, and stay well clear of gang turf — which is precisely why the two have never come to blows. ### Valtorran Empire The [[Valtorran Empire]]'s grip on [[Camaar]] has tightened to the edge of lockdown, but it has never touched the Cubs. The Empire does not care about a handful of orphans and has no idea the Cubs are organised at all. Their invisibility is their shield: there is nothing for the Empire to see, and so nothing to crush. ## [[The Bloody Nails|Campaign: The Bloody Nails]] #### [[Session 09 - The Veiled Den]] After a botched pickpocketing attempt on the party, [[The Bloody Nails]] ran down and captured one of the Cubs and forced him to lead them to the [[Veiled Den]]. There they expected a hovel and found a well-kept sanctuary — and [[Ellesar]], who welcomed them with a knowing smile, having orchestrated the boy's capture as a test of their skill. #### [[Session 10 - The Coastal Cave]] Impressed by the party, Ellesar returned their stolen gold with interest and offered them a contract: escort his most gifted protégé, [[Lia]], north to [[Val Miriel]]. The party accepted in principle but delayed their departure to attend to other business in the city. #### [[Session 17 - A New Journey Begins]] With Imperial pressure mounting and [[Camaar]] on the verge of lockdown, Ellesar confirmed the situation had grown too dangerous to delay and formally entrusted [[Lia]] to the party's care, directing them to deliver her to the [[Order of Ravens]] in [[Val Miriel]].