TEXT: What is This?
  Cults of the Known
  World is a short
  series of free
  supplements that
  can be used to
  spice up your own
  0e fantasy games. 
  Each ‘issue’ of
  Cults of the Known
  World examines a
  new cult cast in
  the mold of
  Swords & Sorcery
  genre fiction.
  Cults of the Known World
  A Supplement for use with 0e Fantasy Roleplaying Games
  Brotherhood, The
  Alignments Allowed: Neutral
  Classes Allowed: Fighting Man
  Races Allowed: All
  Gender/s Allowed: Male
  XP/Level Reqs: Level 4
  The Brotherhood is a secretive political cult composed of battle-
  hardened soldiers who serve as assassins, spies, personal guards, and
  military advisors for some of the world’s most powerful leaders. In this
  capacity The Brotherhood has offered their martial expertise for over five
  centuries while using their vast influence to ensure that a relatively stable
  balance is maintained between the forces of Law and Chaos.
  The Brotherhood’s internal hierarchy of power begins at the top
  with a mysterious group of seven shadowy individuals known as the Inner
  Circle. Each member of the Inner Circle is responsible for governing
  Brotherhood operations in a geographic area that can be considered the
  equivalent of a medieval kingdom or small country. The identities of
  these individuals are very closely guarded, though conspiracy theories abound. 
  The Outer Circle is the next tier in The Brotherhood’s hierarchy of power, answerable only
  to the Inner Circle. There are 13 members of the Outer Circle, each of whom is responsible for
  overseeing Brotherhood operations in a geographic area roughly the equivalent of a medieval
  shire. As Outer Circle members must work with local lords and other officials in order to perform
  their duties as assigned by the Inner Circle, their identities are not secret. 
  At the local level, The Brotherhood attempts to maintain a lodge (i.e., a large, dedicated,
  meeting space) in each geographic area the size of a medieval hundred, over which presides a
  Lodge Master. As a rule such lodges are located in urban areas such as cities or towns though,
  when such a venue is unavailable, great halls at the manors of local lords affiliated with The
  Brotherhood have been reserved for such use (with the local lord who owns the manor serving as
  both host and Lodge Master).
  Individual members gain power within the ranks of The Brotherhood by exhibiting skill in
  combat, prowess in politics, and personal sacrifice on behalf of The Brotherhood. Perhaps this
  last thing is valued most, as The Brotherhood relies upon an unbreakable bond of trust between
  its members and the ability to keep secrets from non-members in order to survive. 
  
  How to Join
  In addition to meeting all of the aforementioned mechanical (i.e., game rule) requirements
  for membership, a candidate for indoctrination into The Brotherhood must be nominated by a
  current member of the cult and best an opponent of the local Lodge Master’s choosing in armed
  (or unarmed) man to man combat in an arena (or, lacking an arena, in a chalk circle). 
  If the candidate for membership manages to beat their assigned opponent in combat, they
  will be asked to swear an oath of loyalty to The Brotherhood and Brotherhood members before
  all others. To ensure that members take this oath seriously, there is one last thing that a candidate
  must do to prove their commitment – they must sever the ring finger of their left hand (this causes
  1d4 permanent Hit Point loss). This ritual mutilation symbolizes that nobody, not even a wife or
  lover, will supplant sworn loyalty to The Brotherhood in the life of their newest member. 
  Benefits of Membership
  The most obvious benefit of membership in The Brotherhood is that the organization has
  a great deal of political clout, no small measure of which may be wielded by the individual
  member. For example, if a member of the Brotherhood is arrested for a relatively minor infraction
  and the sheriff of the shire in which he is arrested is a fellow lodge member, the sheriff may
  overlook this infraction as a favor to his brother. Similarly, a member of the Brotherhood who
  serves as an advisor to a local lord may convince that lord to employ local lodge members as
  part of his personal guard retinue or as roaming peacekeepers in the shire. 
  A member of The Brotherhood can also make good use of the organization’s extensive
  information network to convey important messages, uncover secrets, or divine the current political
  climate of a given duchy, province, shire, etc. Indeed, the information network cultivated by The
  Brotherhood is matched by few others. The Brotherhood uses a combination of written codes,
  lantern signals, and arcane hand gestures to communicate with one another, while  utilizing a
  sprawling network of horseback riders, trained falcons, and hidden drops to quickly convey
  messages over great distances and through hostile territory. 
  Cults of the Known World is Copyright © 2009 by James D. Hargrove.
  Artwork by ClipsAhoy. Used with permission.
  
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Swords & Wizardry/SW Supplemental/Cults of the Known World, The Brotherhood (SW).pdf