A mercenary organization of clandestine operatives, the Shadow Dancers are perfect for the general, crime boss, or shady businessman wanting to get things done discreetly. They have back-alley offices scattered worldwide, and offer their services for a hefty, but well-spent, fee.

The membership consists primarily of low-level, low-clearance grunts, referred to in-house as “Wetboys”, dispatched in two-man teams. Up to ten such teams are managed by a somewhat-higher-ranking, much-higher-clearance officer called a Handler, but this person mostly remains at the local Operations Center (usually called “Op-Cen” for short). On the rare occasions a Handler does appear in the field, it's only because the job is particularly sensitive or high-paying.

The organization's highest-ranking officers are its Dance-Masters, elite fighter-tacticians hand-picked and trained by the founder, Farkas “the Butcher” himself. The Dance-Masters' ranks are distinguished by Degree, of which there are seven, First Degree being the highest. There are only ever two Dance-Masters of the First Degree at any given time: the Overt, whose identity is known and whose command is higher (currently, this is, of course, Farkas); and the Covert, whose identity is secret to all but the Overt, and whose command is lower. Farkas implemented this system so that the Covert wouldn't be able to take over by assassinating him (as anyone claming to be the Covert would be welcomed with skepticism), and still be able to have a second-in-command. Farkas has now selected a Covert on the Island. Sex is REDACTED, height is REDACTED, weight is REDACTED, hair color is REDACTED, eye color is REDACTED, and name is…take a guess…of course you're right, it's REDACTED.

The basic contract types offered by the Shadow Dancers are color coded:

Military or corporate espionage, private investigation, and blackmail.

Bodyguarding, building security, and identity forging

Acquisition of money, personal property, or merchandise

Sabotage, attrition, and evidence planting

Assassination and beat-ups

The people on this list are not to be harmed by any member of the Shadow Dancers:

• Asha (protect)
• Isabelle (protect)
• Shi
• Hamlon
• Wish
• Rowley
• Rider (tentative)
• Katt (tentative)
• Solebarr (discretionary)