Saphracine Watch

The Saphracine Watch, known today simply as the Watch, is Nadera’s infamous intelligence and internal enforcement organization, equal parts spy network, secret police, moral judiciary, and guild of informants. Its origins trace back to the mid-75th century A.T., when the Lagorkan Vazdid family, after conquering Nadera, left behind mercenary captains and enforcers to police the native population and protect their economic holdings. The first commander of these colonial enforcers was Saphrax Vazdid, whose name the Watch would carry long after the Vazdid family was driven from the realm.

Under the Vazdid Occupation of Nadera (7457 A.T.–7642 A.T.), the Saphracines were reviled as brutal oppressors tasked with suppressing resistance movements, seizing property, and silencing dissent. However, many of its members were displaced foreign veterans with no allegiance to Lagorka, and some began to assimilate into Naderan society. After the bloody reconstitution of Nadera by Queen Aishah "the Bloody" of House Izuel, the Watch was astonishingly reinstated by the new Aueen, not as agents of oppression, but as enforcers of the Moral Code, a rigid doctrine governing behavior in both public and private life.

Over the next century, the Watch transformed from brute muscle into a bureaucratic and secretive order, with agents embedded in every town, port, and noble household. During the civil wars following the assassination of Queen Innana, the Watch fractured into factions, some loyal to the Chamber of Princes, others acting as warlords in shadows. This internal war culminated in the Treaty of Talergo, which restored national unity and elevated the Watch into a formal arm of the Crown.

During the late 77th and early 78th centuries, the Watch abandoned overt moral policing in favor of surveillance, information control, and foreign intelligence. It became Nadera’s greatest economic asset, feeding secrets to neighbors in exchange for favorable trade terms. However, this expansion came at a cost: the Watch became so vast and fragmented that no single figure could claim full command. It is now rumored to be split into at least five competing sub-factions, some loyal to the throne, others aligned with merchant houses or even foreign interests.

Today, the Saphracine Watch remains the quiet heart of Nadera’s power: feared abroad, tolerated at home, and essential to the kingdom’s prosperity. While the Moral Code still exists, it is now more a framework for social control than an oppressive tool of an authoritarian monarch. Whispers say a new shadow war may be brewing within its ranks—one that could determine not only the future of the Watch, but of Nadera itself.

Organization

Administrative Heirarchy

Maisua Jenerala

Master General The identity of the Master General of the Watch is officially only known to the monarch, who appoints this individual to the position, and the Chamber of Princes, who vote to confirm or deny the monarch's choice. They are responsible for acting as the ultimate arbiter of the Watch, though they do not have direct command over its various internal factions. The current Maisua Jenerala is unknown, but is believed to be a scion of the powerful Zabalviera banking family.

Jaun/Dama Faktorea

Lord or Lady Factor The Juan (or Dama) Faktorea organize and coordinate all Watch activity within a region, foreign nation, principality or strategic port. They are often appointed from noble houses, powerful merchant families or high-ranking shadow operatives and tend to exemplify the internal meritocracy of the Watch. They have diplomatic and judicial immunity under the Royal Code of Nadera, but are still subject to religious law, where applicable. Informally, they are referred to as Bere Gristasuna ("His/Her Grayness"). Typically, they are selected by the sitting Maisua Jenerala from high-ranking members of the existing watch in that Faction, but there have been times that someone from another Faction has been made Faktorea of a different Faction. Rarely does such an appointment go well for the "foreign" appointee.

Zaindaria Zifratu

Cipherwarden These are leaders of Watch divisions, such as Naval Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, Code Law, Internal Discipline, Moral Surveillance, etc. They report directly to the Maisua Jenerala, but carry no real authority outside of the Eskribau Beltzak that serve them. The "ZZ" are responsible for keeping vaults of secret codes, cover identities, communication networks and debriefing protocols. Perhaps the most important of the Zaindariak Zifratu is the Zaindaria of the Levy. They are responsible for evaluating, recruiting and training members of the Watch and, as such, tend to have influence well beyond their fellows and, often, even over the Jaun Faktoreak of the various Factions. The Bederatzigarren Gelaren Zaindaria (Warden of the Ninth Room), a semi-legendary position believed to be not only the "head librarian" of the Watch, but the keeper of secrets too dangerous for even the monarch or Maisua Jenerala to know.

Eskribau Beltza

Black Scribe The Eskribau Beltzak are the bureaucrats who serve as the senior intelligence archivists and provide functional support to the offices of the various other administrative leaders of the Watch. They are usually responsible for compiling, falsifying or preserving written intelligence and maintain a Black Codex for the official, Faction or division they serve.

Operational Heirarchy

Esku Zurbila

Palehand The Esku Zurbilak are the master field operatives of the Watch, either operating solo or as leaders of a "knot" of 3-7 operatives. Legend holds they are identified by wearing a single grey-dyed glove or handwrap with seven notches.

Goibel

Gloam This is the term for a new recruit into the Watch, often someone who has been coerced or conscripted into service. Their loyalty has yet to be tested and they are not permitted to act independently. Gloam knots are often used for deniable operations or false fronts and, needless to say, their survival rate is fairly low. Those who do survive, however, may be recruited formally into the Watch and advance through the ranks from there.

There are various other informal ranks and positions in each knot, including the Harrowjack/Harrowjill, responsible for interrogation and conducting internal inquisitions, and the Cordman/Cordwoman, responsible for encoding information, message delivery and providing safe passage to Naderan interests. They are the "invisible cord" that ties the Watch together.