Qabal

In the shadows of Gothic Earth, many qabals gather, preserving forbidden lore against the curse of the Red Death and the ravages of time. A list of qabals appears on this wiki.

Whether or not individual qabals still remember their original goals, and whether they have remained true to their purpose or fallen utterly under the control of the Red Death, most organize themselves into independent cells, using secretive procedures like those of professional spies to cover their tracks.

Not all of those engaged in the secret war against the Red Death are members of qabals, but for millennia these covert orders have provided the main structure for all organized resistance. Through unity, they have won many victories no individual ever could, while also weathering an endless number of cruel defeats.

A Qabal’s Sigil
Each qabal has a sigil, a special symbol meaningful only to those who know of the qabal’s existence. Most qabal members carry some version of that symbol (an engraving on jewelry, a custom calling card, a surreptitious tattoo, or even the depicted object itself) so that comrades in the battle against the great Evil can recognize them when they meet. This includes not only members of other cells from the same qabal, but also members of other qabals with whom they share a common cause. Usually, when qabal members who don’t already know each other meet, a sigil is only part of identifying each other, alongside secret phrases and code words.

Structure and Leadership
n the traditional organizational methods handed down from the most ancient of these groups, each area where a qabal is frequently active has its own secret cell of a half-dozen or so members. That cell recognizes a single leader. The leader, in turn, is a member of a “ranking cell”, consisting of a select group of 5–10 members who each lead a separate cell of their own. The leaders do not discuss the other members of the cells they lead unless absolutely necessary.

Conversely, cell members who are not in leadership positions usually know little or nothing of cells elsewhere. This structure makes it very difficult for a single member who is captured and interrogated by agents of the Red Death to reveal information under torture that would threaten the qabal as a whole.

For these hidden orders, paranoia is the price of survival. Even the most virtuous qabals will kill to punish betrayal or to keep their secrets out of the wrong hands. Nevertheless, members of different qabals can and do work together, sharing necessary information about the Red Death’s machinations while withholding any details about how their separate factions actually work.