[Guild Concept] Stormwind Intelligence

I've been thinking about this for a while now and i've decided to actually give what i'm doing with Jayse a bit of a broader perspective and grounding. After speaking OOCl'y and RPing with the few guys left in SWO, i've drafted up a guild concept to hopefully give the Agency one guild for full representaiton and hopefully should be alot of fun.. So.. here goes!

(PS: sorry if the formatting might be a bit crap, it looked better in word trust!)

Stormwind Intelligence (aka SI:7 and The Stormwind Assassins)

A guild concept to represent Stormwind’s ‘Secret’ Agency encompassing both sides that exist in Warcraft Lore. I will outline initially each side of the organisation in turn and explain their purpose, methods, ranking which will in turn reflect as true to lore as we can possibly achieve within the realm of the RP community:
Basic Lore behind both concepts:

SI:7 (aka or part of Stormwind Intelligence) is an Alliance organization.APG 177 It includes rogues specializing in special operations, assassination, and stealth tactics. It is one of the most active organizations in the Alliance.APG 177
The guild is currently led by Master Mathias Shaw, grandson of Pathonia Shaw — the founder of a similar organization, the Stormwind Assassins, and a former master thief. SI:7 is located in the Old Town quarter of Stormwind. They have operatives all throughout the Eastern Kingdoms who carry out secret missions for Stormwind, such as Renzik "The Shiv" and Flint Shadowmore. They also have some operatives in the Kalimdor region, such as Andello Porter.
SI:7's operations are similar to those of MI6 in that they deal with cloak-and-dagger external affairs.

Being an SI:7 Agent

SI:7 being the ‘James Bond’ half of the organisation. They are the ‘agents’ and will be the people you see most of when interacting with the guild. They are the agents that deal with the alliance’s goals and work as much as they are dedicated to Stormwind’s own interests. With (NPC) representatives all over the current known territories, both continents and outlying worlds. Intelligence gatherers, negotiators, operatives on secret missions overseas, against the horde and possibly any known simmering unease between alliance factions and external threats.
Investigators and reconnaissance. As an Agent you will be assigned a multitude of tasks that revolve around intelligence gathering of known dangerous groups, individuals, horde movements in conflicts providing alliance forces with a tactical advantage when and wherever possible. There will always be enough role-play assigned to you that you can handle however I must stress your own intuition and pro-activity is a must as the guild will offer guidance but in most cases cannot hold your hand all the way through. You will be constantly looking for your role-play given the context of an active mission. A lot of your work will possibly come to a head in that you are setting up targets and intelligence for the Stormwind Assassins to take out a person needed, or for military organisations to counter a looming threat/gain the tactical advantage in a conflict. You will however no doubt get your own share of wet-work, more so then the Assassins during the course of your missions.

As an SI:7 operative there is only one rank. You will be an SI:7 Agent/Operative and all other agents will hold the same ranking. You answer only to the guild master and unless otherwise stated report directly to him/her. The assassins are to be respected and learned from however chances are you will not often see much of them unless needed.

(Stormwind Assassins)

Rumor has it that Wrynn employs a secret society, the Stormwind Assassins, who are spies and saboteurs wielding royal carte blanche. A neutral group of elite assassins dedicated wholly to the Alliance’s goals, but willing to do the dirtier jobs. The Stormwind Assassins are one of the oldest surviving organizations on Azeroth. The Assassins work best one-on-one. The leader of Stormwind is the only one with a full list of the Stormwind Assassins, and when one was assigned to be part of a larger operation, as happened in the three wars, his/her true purpose was not revealed to the other troops. They passed as fighters or scouts, even wizards from time to time, but still did their primary jobs of stealing and killing when needed. Their commanders would know of their secret when needed, but often only the assassin knew of her true reason for being in the field.
The population of Stormwind knows the Assassins exist, and the public relations machine has taken their reputation to the extreme: these are glamorous fighters, too talented to serve with the mere warriors in the army; they are stealthy people who work by the night, shrouded in mystery and barroom tales. Some children — even wealthy types — become thieves in the hope that someday they can be Stormwind Assassins too. No one knows who they are, but almost everyone claims to have seen them at work, although this is highly unlikely.
The Cathedral of Light understands that the Stormwind Assassins must exist for the good of Stormwind and the Alliance, but the priests do not condone assassination. They choose simply to look the other way. A guild of assassins works behind the scenes with the blessings of the king and the Stormwind ruling council. When solving an "inconvenient" problem that would go against the tenets of the Holy Light, the Stormwind Assassins are called. They deal with matters quickly and efficiently, and few questions are asked.
The Stormwind Assassins are based in Stormwind, but often travel to other Alliance-held lands in Azeroth. They have influence in Elwynn, Redridge, and Westfall. They have done jobs in other areas, such as Duskwood and Deadwind Pass, but they almost never go further south.

Being a Stormwind Assassin

The assassins are the darker side of the organisation. They are skilled in the art of killing, getting in and out cleanly and efficiently leaving no witnesses in most cases. Working more so under the cover of night or heavy distraction with only the eyes of their target upon their work. Your a fabled killer and with good reason. Your identity is a secret, you live in plain sight and are ever watchful awaiting the call for your blade. Your work is deniable and of the utmost secrecy, cold blooded justice.. for the greater good of the kingdom. Above the law and with a blank cheque. If you are caught, or in fact exposed or killed the agency will disavow any knowledge of both your operation and your identity. Chances are rescue will not come... If you fail, you may well be on your own...
Being an Assassin is dangerous work in character. Although it sounds ‘cool’ and is obviously a popular vocation both lore wise, IC and OOC. You must be ready to face the fact not every mission is infallible and things can turn sour. Your character has a very high mortality rate however, you will not be sent on a so called ‘suicide’ mission. Every operation undertaken will be meticulously planned. You are after all one of the best, and you will be supported accordingly.
Much assassination work will be few and far between. You are the kingdom’s wildcards, a -last resort- to quell a dangerous problem. You will be welcome to take on ‘Agent’ work as you please, holding your Assassin position with an ‘on call’ basis.
Lore wise the Assassins are made up of ranks however given that each rank contains hundreds of members and the city contains thousands of people in a lore perspective... We all know that on the server and the role-play community is only a fraction of that representation. There will only be one rank, that of the Stormwind Assassin.

Guild Master

“The other leaders are in charge of the other four Fingers, leading, training, taking reports, and even running the books and making sure salaries are distributed”
The guild is an ‘as-true-to-lore-as-we-can-get’ representation of Stormwind Intelligence. The guild master is not Mathias Shaw, or in-fact one of his old and closest members. The guild master is one of the ‘other’ leaders appointed to position to manage the guild on a shop floor basis. The guild master will issue orders, mission and organisation often role playing his consul with Mathias and the Thumb’s of the organisation. Always considering and taking into account as accurate as possible the stance and inflections the agency represents. Along with doing their own share of fieldwork and support.
The guild leader will also be a ‘shadow cabinet’ member of the Stormwind council. Not present in title at the public meetings but present in private. Given the fact the council is the acting governmental body for Stormwind in the role play community; Stormwind Intelligence has always worked closely with them. However, everyone is under scrutiny... and with good reason

Roleplay

The role-play will be varied and as enjoyable as you make it. Plenty of training scenarios, tactical analysis and tests of your character’s ‘character’ will be constant. Interaction with major plotlines will be the key, providing support if asked with guild conflicts (Of all alliance factions... The assassins work in Stormwind primarily however SI:7 works on a global basis and for the alliance as a whole). Training in subtlety and stealth role-play will also be a key factor. You will learn to become patient, analyse a situation and use your gut instincts. When to act and when to watch, and to know when you have no choice but to take matters into your own hands and improvise. (And -NO- gut instincts is not a free card to Metagame.. we can all see who a member of a suspect guild is OOC.. doesn’t mean that if that person is being nonchalant and unassuming if not currently known they are automatically tagged for watch). Always asking a person when they’re clearly in disguise if you can recognise them/doing a voice or mannerism check is good form.

Race Breakup

The guild will of course, true to lore mainly take on rogues in it’s ranks. Rogues of all races will be welcome. Just as they are already represented in the lore as such.

Currently I think that’s all there is too it. SI:7 in-game has always been a simple enough concept and to take it apart and put unneeded additional weight to it will only hinder it’s potential.
As a guild we will be in as constant communication with all major Rp stakeholders where Roleplay is generated so with anyluck nothing will be missed. However it is up to the darker elements of the server to keep their business as always, low key to avoid major (but sporting) interference as I have as tried to maintain with my playing Jayse as best as possible and so far, i’ve had no complaints.
Let me know what you guys think, even if you have idea’s to put forward/constructive criticism or even just a ‘hey that sounds smooth’ or if there's something you strongly dissagree with. It’s all good. 

Cheers!

Sounds good. But also having a IC channel to the si:7 agents who are already in guilds would
spur more members IC'ly.

On my old realm I was leader of a clandestine horde guild and my RP player base doubled
through a IC channel.

Yea had that going for a while also for the people i've come across that have been in other guilds too. But good pointer, cheers V!

Once i've got a general cencus on opinion i'll put the real meat on it.

Well done Soap.

Thumbs up on the guild.

But don't we have that Stormwind Operations thingie already?

Drakenhof wrote:
But don't we have that Stormwind Operations thingie already?

It died out.

Drakenhof wrote:
But don't we have that Stormwind Operations thingie already?

It was never anything close to this, and this is how a proper intelligence department should work. Great concept, Jayse ^^

Jayse! Jayse! Jayse! Harrison would like to join!

Okay as a heads up i'm gonna be kicking this off soon then given the feedback ive had here and ingame. Thanks for the support. I'll be forming the actual guild today and i'll put a propper thread up about it so people know what to expect and what will be expected of them.

ETA on actual kicking off will be sometime during next week.

Cheers

The guild leader will also be a ‘shadow cabinet’ member of the Stormwind council. Not present in title at the public meetings but present in private. Given the fact the council is the acting governmental body for Stormwind in the role play community; Stormwind Intelligence has always worked closely with them. However, everyone is under scrutiny... and with good reason

"That which is unknown and unseen always commands the greatest fear." - Officio Assassinorum

Stamp of Approval from me aswell as all the other kinds of thumbs up. Also you need a crest, here take this:

Spoiler:

Update, were getting up and running. Just a few minor last minute things to sort out but the main post is up on the registry if you care to take a peruse.

Cheers!

This looks great! Good luck with it!

Update!!!

Where are we now?
Currently at the moment were still not fully active IC. There's quite a few people expressing a wish to join and that's great stuff.

The main focus im working on at the moment is getting one of the vital parts of the guild running. This being the Intelligence archive. Unfortunatley we can't really do much until that's setup with enough information we have from past cases and current profiles and knowledge.

So.. the word would be.. were getting close

Thankyou for everyone that's expressed interest and I hope you can be somewhat patient and get involved with helping putting the archives together from the material we have.

Cheers!

*Large stamp of approval* ^_^