Sisterhood of the veil

A town such as Minas Ithil was bound to attract a large number of users of magic. Most were associated with the University, and the cliques within the Tatharond replaced any type of formal Magicians' association. Unknown even to the sages, though, a society of magicians had formed among the women of the city. Some members were also affiliated with the University, but all were sworn to keep their membership a secret. The Sisterhood took in all users of magic, from healers to Conjurers, but they prefered women who specialized in spells of subtle deception and information-gathering. They eagerly supported the Queen, who knew of their existence through anonymous notes. The Queen would have liked to know more about the Sisterhood, but she did not want to betray a group that had given her aid on more than one occasion. The Sisterhood also worked against agents of Sauron, and they had sent many of their own members abroad for this purpose. They strongly suspected the Spider Cult of evil affiliations, but they were waiting to gauge the Cult's strength before taking any action which could have revealed the Sisterhood. Membership in the Sisterhood had three require-ments. The prospective member had to be female, had to swear to uphold the secrecy of the society and had to be voted into the group anonymously. There were usually twelve members in the Sisterhood. They made most decisions collectively, but they had elected a leader to break deadlocks.