The Broken Latch

The Broken Latch is the Zhentarim cell given to Shade by Rian Nightshade. They move what should not be moved, acquire what is not for sale, and lean on people who need leaning on.

They took their name from the burglar's mark — the scratch left on a door to tell the next one through that the place has already been opened.

The letter below was not delivered. Shade found it already inside her coat.

The letter

Shade —

I have been reading about you. That is not a figure of speech; there is a file, and it is a good deal thicker than it was when I last put a rank on you.

You have made me money. You have embarrassed several people I dislike. You cured a city, which I am told was a consequence of your method rather than an attack of conscience — I have chosen to believe that, and I would be disappointed to have misjudged you twice.

So here is a cell, and here is the part you should pay attention to: you have not earned it yet. By our own reckoning this comes to you two ranks early. I am giving it to you anyway, because I would rather you had it now than have it exactly when you deserve it. Consider what that means about how I expect to be repaid, and then stop considering it, because there is work to do.

What they are for

Ollam Pryce keeps your freight at that fort of yours — what arrives, and rather more importantly what quietly leaves. He does not travel. Four others do, and they go where you send them. A fifth hand when your name carries further, and a sixth after that.

Three things you may ask of them.

Move. Anything, or anyone, from anywhere to anywhere, without it being seen and without it being written down. Cargo, a person who should not be where they are going, a body that should not be where it is.

Acquire. Buy what is not for sale. Set them a price and give them time; the harder the thing, the more of both. They will not conjure you a relic out of a good mood, so do not ask.

Lean. Put pressure on a person or a business until it reconsiders. A debt recalled at an inconvenient hour, a rumour set down where it will do the most work, a door that turns out not to lock any more. This produces results. It also produces enemies, and the enemies keep.

Moving them

Hours to cross a city. Three to five days to cross a region. Ten days or more to cross the coast. On the road they are doing nothing for you and are at their least useful.

The part nobody else will tell you

Your friends in the other companies have people who are sworn to them. Paladins and rangers and whatever the Harpers are calling themselves this decade. Theirs will stand somewhere until they die of it.

Yours are paid.

I say this without embarrassment, because paid is more reliable than sworn right up until it isn't. Paid people remember what they are owed. They remember it precisely. And what they are owed can always, always be matched by somebody with deeper pockets and a reason.

So: know what your people are owed, and settle it before someone helpfully offers to settle it for them. A bought hand does not run away. It keeps working, and keeps reporting, and everything it sends you will be perfectly true and slightly the wrong shape, and you will not notice for months.

One more thing

When Varram is finished — and he will be finished, one way or another — come and see me.

There is a piece of work I have been holding. I have not been holding it for just anybody.

Do try to survive the errand.

— Rian Nightshade

The cell

Ollam Pryce — freight clerk, resident at Nuts Deep, and not counted among the four. Handles everything that comes through the fort's gates and a fair amount that does not. Mild, forgettable, and has never in his life been caught holding anything.

Hand	Trade	Currently posted
Maskell Vane	Caravan master. Has never lost a load and will tell you the number of loads if you let him.	The Trade Way
Ysolde Crow	Fence. Knows what a thing is worth, what it can be sold as, and who must never learn it surfaced.	Baldur's Gate
Petrin Quill	Forger. Writs, seals, letters of passage, and the occasional convincing will.	Waterdeep
Sable	Unstated. Ollam schedules her and does not discuss it.	Wherever she is

See also

• Zhentarim — the faction; standings are tracked on the Renown Tracker
• Rian Nightshade — leader of the Zhentarim
• The Nightingales · The Anvil · Talonfall — the other companies' cells
• Shade