The Clasp

Overview

The Clasp was a well-established secret organization of thieves, fences, assassins, saboteurs, spies, and smugglers, built upon the ruins of the old Winksman Thieves Guild that flourished during the reign of Drassig and crumbled under Zan Tal’Dorei. Based primarily in Emon and under it — via an extensive network of subterranean tunnels — the Clasp also ran smaller outfits in Westruun, Stilben, and Kymal.

Members were branded with the guild’s symbol on their mid-back. Leaders bore the title of Spireling, each overseeing assigned elements of the organization. The Clasp operated like a business-minded family — celebrating loyalty and an ability to keep one’s word. Members paid their debts, kept their promises, and always sought opportunity for the betterment of the Clasp. The Clasp frowned upon dogmatic religion or cultish behavior, as this always conflicted with business and ended messily.

The Clasp’s self-conception was as the “clasp” that held civilization together — an organized criminal syndicate that required a functioning, civilized economy. During the Chroma Crisis (~810-812 PD), the Clasp’s underground networks and established hierarchies kept Emonian society and culture intact while the city was occupied by Thordak the Cinder King, earning them a measure of public goodwill that lasted decades.

Around 840 PD, gang warfare with The Myriad in Emon came to a head. Per Campaign Three sources, “no one really knows who won” — those who remained were called the Nameless Ones. The ultimate fate of the Clasp as an organized institution in the final years before the Exodus is not clearly established in canon.

Current status in Nuxan: Destroyed/defunct as an organization.

Goals & Methods

Key Members

Historical (pre-Exodus): Spireling Shenn (Emon, known to Vox Machina), Spireling Warren (Spireling of Blades, Emon), Spireling Zilloa (Spireling of Shadows, Emon), Spireling Gholesh (Westruun), Spireling Oalan (Westruun).