Little is known of the Red Asps as they have only been formed in the last few years
when King Burgred decided he could no longer trust
the King's Rangers to be his spies (or most likely to spy
on Lord Fairchild and other Lords as the cynics point out).
It is believed that the King became more concerned with spying on people within the realm
that beyond the realm's borders which is why unlike he appreciates the
value of the Rangers so much less than his predecessors.
The Red Asps are believed to have payed informers in all the major towns and villagers
in Cambria. They are known to use the
Geogoths to arrest people on low level sedition charges
such as 'speaking disrespectfully of the King'. Most citizens who wish to criticise the King
therefore do so by means of a toast such as 'To the King, the protector of the common people'
after a raid by the Geogoth or 'To the King, the defender of justice' after the King has
turned down a petition from the village to right some wrong. Some suspect this practice
of being started by bards who were members of the
North Star.
There are rumours that the Red Asps were involved in the kidnapping and disappearance of
Lord Sigulf of Eddervale whose crime in the eyes of the King would have been supporting
Lord Fairchild at Court. This would certainly explain why Lord Fairchild has withdrawn
both himself and his family from Court for the past eighteen months citing undefined
'troubles on the border'.