The Unone well understood the power of information. Information was the key to foiling plots and to outplaying political enemies, winning allies and securing coin.

It was in search of information that the Unone developed a robust system of caravansaries across Radet-Ashru, with state-employed jauntee permitted to requisition heqosu from such an establishment to ride it with all haste to the next stop, only to acquire yet another horse and continue the journey upon a new hoof.

By all appearances these jauntee were simple enough individuals, mere couriers that would obtain information from allies and sympathetic individuals and transfer it to where it needed to be. And in truth that is all a majority of these jauntee were.

But a select few were Eyisnad - Eyes of the Ancestors^1. Answering directly to the Unone Artiya, the Eyisnad were a class all of their own, and would change their piercings freely to appear as whomever would be the most privy to pertinent information. What Naotik artkash would suspect a lowly perekuu (apprentice scribe) of passing the information to their enemies, rather than to their villages? Who would suspect a wealthy eccandu of being present not to secure a trade deal, but instead to steal state secrets?

Their capacity to blend in was their greatest asset, and with members hailing from each of the peoples of Radet-Ashru, finding the appropriate agent for the job was always just a few inquests away.

The Unone were diligent in their processing of gathered information, and high handed in its use. Inviting political enemies to express their grievances openly with pre-prepared outmaneuvers planned was a favourite of the city's administration, as was interrupting the plans of others in non-lethal, plausibly coincidental circumstances was another. After all, why raid a slaver's caravan when simply disabling it and having officials 'stumble upon' it was such an elegant solution?

Through establishing themselves as apparently omniscient but benevolent with their bounty of information, the Unone continued to make friends and take out the support base of their enemies. Soon their plans would ferment, and soon Radet-Ashru would be whole.

If you're going to steal ideas of how to run a state from someone, stealing from Darius The Great is probably a good start.

1. Eyisnad has also been used to refer to Dawn's equivalent of Polaris, the North Star. And to make things worse I've got a third Eyisnad coming.