“Every secret has its price.”
The Shifting Sands are Athkatla’s youngest and most elusive faction. They deal in what others will not: contraband, espionage, and information. Though often mistaken for a criminal network, they function more accurately as brokers—facilitating hidden exchanges that sustain the city’s unspoken economy.
The Sands emerged scarcely a century ago, uniting smugglers, informants, and merchants cast out from more respectable circles. Unlike earlier syndicates, they honored Athkatla’s central creed: trade before violence, discretion before pride. By working within the city’s balance rather than against it, they became indispensable.
Leadership is opaque. Power circulates through debts, favors, and silence.
Rumors speak of a guiding council known as the Concord of the Obscured, though none can prove its existence. Each cell acts independently but with uncanny coordination, suggesting something— or someone—keeps accounts.
The Sands walk the line between legitimacy and exile.
Through them, the city’s hidden markets breathe—and its truths stay buried.