Unbound

The Unbound have existed for hundreds of years in the lands of Taldara. It's often said that they are the sole remaining crime syndicate that has not joined the political struggles in the Taldaran Senate. With the coming of the legions to Vintermor, the Unbound were not far behind.

They see themselves as the sole voice of freedom and unrestrained experience in the Empire. They resent it's power structures, and false value systems, and strive to put all people on an equal footing. To this end, they go about their activities with a zeal bordering on fanaticism. They don't steal for money, they steal to show or to teach a lesson.

Oftentimes, this guild's activities resemble less a guild, and more an insurgent guerrilla operation. They plan their activities around the politics of the area, and where they can create the most impact and chaos.

History
The Unbound came about as more of an intellectual rebellion than an actual thieves' guild. A group of political dissidents, fearing the Imperial climate in Taldara fled the empire, seeking refuge in Mastana. This worked for a time, and they managed to stir up quite the vocal crowd against the Empire, but eventually Taldara conquered Mastana and made them a powerful protectorate of the Empire. At this point, the founders and their followers went underground.

Over the years, it became increasingly more difficult to have a voice against the Taldaran government as their spies and inquisitors were adept at hunting out the members of the Unbound. Finally, with the addition of Dalriada to the Empire, the Unbound officially declared themselves independent of the Taldaran Empire and occupied land under their noses. They declared themselves a shadow army and set about a campaign of public defamation, assassination, and outright thievery in an attempt to incite revolution, unrest, and political chaos in the Empire. That attitude exists to this day, despite the Empire's attempts to find and destroy the organization.

Organization
The Unbound are impossible to catch because they operate in tight cells of 3 - 10 members, with the head of each cell having contact with only one person above him. In this way, the largest sting ever against the Unbound only netted sixty operatives. It is how they remain as secret as they are.

Each cell will be assigned a particular task from something as vague as "Spy on the Taldarans' to something as specific as 'Rob Cutter's at midnight'. In such a way, they can constantly vary their mission and call up a surprising amount of manpower relatively quickly.

In a given city, there will be numerous minor cells, with one control cell. The control cell is responsible for disseminating information to the minor cells about their tasks. All communications between the Unbound headquarters (location and members unknown) and the control cells of the various cities is done via powerful magics.

Role of PCs
PC's fill the role of organizers, leaders, and workers in the guild. Most likely a cell will be formed of primarily PC's with a few NPC's to fill in the holes with an initial NPC leader.