Viridistan is known to have a wide network of spies who are
present in every major city in the Wilderlands. They have a reputation for the subtlety with
which
they operate and prefer to manipulate events discretely. In the City of Spices itself, however,
the Green Emperor prefers to act more directly and the
Black Adders, as his spies are called, are greatly feared. Citizens who threaten the peace
of the city may be abrubtly kidnapped in broad daylight and never seen again. It is said
that only 1 in 4 of those taken into custody by the Adders are ever released and those
that are shudder at the memory of their experience, some clearly becoming unhinged by the event.
The Black Adders are known for their ruthless efficiency and rarely do any escape their
operations. They are known to use a variety of weapons, skills and magic as befits the task
before them. In public they dress in black with their faces masked and needless to say
their identities are unknown, as is the identity of their leader. All that is known of him
(or her) is that he has the ear of the Emperor. Once a person has been abducted by the Adders
their only hope is that a Zhir or Zhirquis will put in a good word for them but even this
has a limited chance of success.
Of course the importance of Viridistan means that spies from many other cities are present
in the City. The Black Adders are believed to be concerned only with the network of spies
from Quitak as the Emperor considers other cities a relatively
minor threat.