Fantasy Organization Name Generator: A Name, a Cause and a Rumor: 20 organization names
Heralds of theRoofless Tower, a brotherhood of mountain hermits. It wants the capital moved back to where it used to be. Its sign is scratched on milestones along the roads it uses. Outsiders say it meets only when it rains.
OpeningHeralds of the
SymbolRoofless Tower
Kindbrotherhood of mountain hermits
It wantsthe capital moved back to where it used to be
Its signscratched on milestones along the roads it uses
Every organization name you make is kept here, newest first, up to the last 20. The list stays in this browser.
Organization Name of the day
Protectors of theSnuffed Wick, a silent order of gardeners. It wants the name of whoever betrayed it a century ago. Its sign is painted in one corner of the great map in the palace. Outsiders say the entrance test is one question, and the answer changes.
Heralds of theEarly Frost, a harvest cult. It wants a holiday named for its founder. Its sign is laid out in white stones on a hillside above the pass. Outsiders say it always leaves a room tidier than it found it.
Watchers of theDaylight Star, a mounted order sworn to patrol the roads. It wants proof that a famous victory was really a draw. Its sign is laid out in white stones on a hillside above the pass. Outsiders say every ruling family has one cousin in it.
Unseen Order of theShed Antler, a knightly order with a single castle. It wants the harvest roads kept clear of bandits and tolls alike. Its sign is hidden in the border of a well-known tapestry. Outsiders say it has a friend on every ship in the harbor.
Solemn Order of theTurning Tide, a loose fellowship of knights errant. It wants its one great mistake to stay buried. Its sign is formed by lanterns on a hill, one night a year. Outsiders say it meets in silence and argues by passing notes.
Watch of theWrong Key, a band of tax rebels. It wants the next royal marriage to go the way it has planned. Its sign is burned into the lid of every box that leaves its hall. Outsiders say it began as a supper club and got out of hand.
Free Order of theDug-In Heel, a band of landless knights. It wants the truth about its founding kept out of the histories. Its sign is pricked with a pin into the corner of every page it writes. Outsiders say it sends a gift to every coronation, and it is a warning.
Moot of theUnworn Laurel, a monastic brotherhood. It wants an old apology finally delivered to the right family. Its sign is traced on the table in spilled water and wiped away. Outsiders say it has never once voted; it waits until everyone agrees.
Defenders of theFollowing Wind, an adventurers' guild. It wants a very old debt repaid in full, with the interest. Its sign is burned into the lid of every box that leaves its hall. Outsiders say its founder is still alive and rather embarrassed by it.
Compact of theLow Horizon, a silent order of gardeners. It wants a feud ended that both sides have forgotten the cause of. Its sign is printed nowhere; members are expected to draw it from memory. Outsiders say it is far less powerful than it lets people believe.
Society of theBowed Head, a moon cult. It wants a vanished village that still pays its taxes. Its sign is sung, somehow; members insist the tune has the same shape. Outsiders say the entrance test is one question, and the answer changes.
Seekers of theStruck Spark, a rebel band led by committee. It wants the forbidden shelf of the great library kept forbidden. Its sign is stitched inside the left cuff. Outsiders say it began as a supper club and got out of hand.
Orphans of theStray Spark, a secret society of minor nobles. It wants the exiles allowed home and their houses given back. Its sign is traced on the table in spilled water and wiped away. Outsiders say the miller, the judge and the ferryman all belong.
Household of theUnfinished Tower, a town council with grand ideas. It wants a ransom paid for someone the kingdom gave up on. Its sign is drawn in the margin of a letter, where a blot might go. Outsiders say it still obeys its first orders, which make no sense now.
Orphans of theMislaid Scepter, a council of nine seats. It wants every unjust sentence of the last reign struck out. Its sign is scratched in the dirt with a heel whenever two members meet. Outsiders say it writes the prophecies that other people find.
Choir of theHilltop Cairn, a ruling council. It wants the old songs sung again in the old places. Its sign is carved under the table it meets at. Outsiders say its hall is rented, and the landlord has no idea.
Sentinels of theHalf-Open Eye, a secret society older than the city. It wants the old border stones left exactly where they stand. Its sign is carved into a chess piece carried in place of a letter. Outsiders say it knew about the flood a week before the river did.
Inheritors of theBuried Root, a ruling council. It wants every unjust sentence of the last reign struck out. Its sign is embroidered on a handkerchief and shown by dropping it. Outsiders say its founding oath is one line, and nobody agrees on it.
Keepers of theHorned Beetle, a rebel band led by committee. It wants the old name of the city never spoken aloud again. Its sign is carved under the table it meets at. Outsiders say it meets only when it rains.
Gathering of theCold Cinder, a cult of a sleeping giant. It wants the statue in the square turned back to face the right way. Its sign is pressed into a disc of sealing wax carried in the purse. Outsiders say it recruits only people who have turned it down once.
Fantasy Organization Name Generator: A Name, a Cause and a Rumor: how it works
This fantasy organization name generator builds a name such as Order of the Buried Hatchet and says which of nine kinds of body carries it, from a knightly order to a thieves' guild. Then it adds what the group wants, where it shows its sign and what outsiders say. Every name is invented, though one may still match a real group.
Find the council, then name it
Reroll Kind until your kind comes up, say a council of nine seats, lock it and press New organization name until the name fits: Conclave of the Vacant Chair, Keepers of the Tipped Scale. Lock Opening instead and every body in a realm shares a style. Print puts 20 on one sheet, enough rivals for one court.
Three names from one draw
The name is one pattern: an opening, of the, a symbol. Real orders of chivalry were named this way: the Order of the Star dates from 1351 in France, the Order of the Knot from 1352 in Naples. For a second pattern, keep the last word and add Pact: The Hatchet Pact. For a third, make it plural: Circle of Hatchets. Search a hand-made name first: The Storm Pact is taken.
Tips
The sign is the symbol in the name; Its sign says where it turns up. A buried hatchet stitched inside the left cuff is a planted clue.
A rumor may be wrong. Decide whether it really is three people and a great deal of stationery, and who wants that believed.
A realm needs rivals. Lock It wants, reroll the rest, and two bodies are after a crown that went missing three reigns ago.
Questions and answers
How many organization names can it make?
64 openings times 172 symbols gives 11,008 names. Times 54 kinds, 80 goals, 60 sign lines and 80 rumors, that is 228,261,888,000 results. Nothing in a row comes up twice until the row runs out, and everyone gets the same organization name of the day.
Are the names taken from a real group or a published story?
Not on purpose. All 11,008 names were screened against 48 Wikipedia pages on real orders, secret societies and lodges, then against about 1.2 million fan wiki page titles. One matched and was changed. That is a screen, not a promise: Keepers of the Sealed Gate may still be in use, so search before you publish.
Can I choose the kind of organization first?
There is no kind switch yet. The Kind row holds six lines for each of nine kinds: knightly order, monastic house, guild, secret society, spy network, academy, ruling council, cult and rebel band. A shop with a sign over its door is on the fantasy shop name generator.
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page: 64 openings for the first part of a name. The tool builds one organization from six rows (opening, symbol, kind, what it wants, its sign, what outsiders say) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other five. Rules for this row: every line ends in of the, so any symbol can follow it, and the name words are capitalized. A line says what the group calls itself and never what it is, because the Kind row does that: no Knights, Council, Guild, Academy, Cult or Temple. No line names a trade, so no Company and no Guild (guilds are six lines of the Kind row, where a guild can sit under any opening; a Guild opening would land on a moon cult or a regency council just as often), and none names a gender, so no Brotherhood, Sisterhood, Sons or Daughters. Left out because they belong to famous published works or real bodies: Fellowship, League, Legion, Priory, Oath, Way, College and House. No word here is used by the shop name page, and no adjective here is used in the Symbol row. Every one of the 172 symbols and all 11,008 names the two name rows can spell were checked by script on 2026-09-19 against the text of 48 English Wikipedia pages. Thirty cover real and invented bodies, among them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_chivalry, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynastic_order, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-styled_order, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_order_(religious_society), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_society, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collegiate_secret_societies_in_North_America, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_fraternal_orders, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_institutes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_new_religious_movements, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_guerrilla_movements and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_espionage_organizations, plus pages on the organizations of well-known novels, comics and games. The other 18 are the character, place and pub-name pages the shop name page was checked against. No symbol and no name matched. A second screen on 2026-09-19 ran all 11,008 names, and the two hand patterns from the guide (The Hatchet Pact, Circle of Hatchets) over all 172 symbols, against the fiction lists built for the language name page: 232 English Wikipedia pages on fictional worlds, 5,177 page titles from 29 Wikipedia categories and about 1.2 million page titles from 39 fan wikis. One name matched a fan wiki page title, Order of the Winter Sun, so the symbol Winter Sun became Midwinter Sun, which was screened the same way with no hit. Seven hand-pattern results matched and are named on the page or in its notes: The Storm Pact, The Shadow Pact, Circle of Stars, Circle of Cinders, Circle of Stones, Circle of Mirrors and Circle of Thorns. A name this natural may still be in use somewhere, so search before you publish. Four groups: orders 16, circles and lodges 22, keepers and wardens 12, seekers and heirs 14. Licence: own work
,
Symbol: all 172 symbols
Arms and regalia 24
Blank Shield
Buried Hatchet
Empty Helm
Furled Banner
Grounded Lance
Lowered Visor
Mailed Fist
Mislaid Scepter
Notched Axe
Paper Crown
Planted Spear
Plumed Helm
Sheathed Sword
Single Spur
Spent Arrow
Splintered Shield
Tattered Banner
Thrown Gauntlet
Unclaimed Crown
Unloosed Arrow
Unsounded Horn
Unstrung Bow
Wooden Sword
Wrapped Dagger
Sky, sea and season 20
Clouded Sun
Contrary Wind
Daylight Star
Early Dusk
Early Frost
Ebbing Tide
Far Shore
Following Wind
Late Dawn
Late Thaw
Long Eclipse
Low Horizon
Mackerel Sky
Midwinter Sun
Neap Tide
Sinking Star
Spent Storm
Standing Wave
Turning Tide
Unnamed Star
Fire and shadow 20
Banked Ember
Carried Ember
Cast Shadow
Cold Cinder
Distant Beacon
Doused Beacon
Falling Ash
Long Shadow
Noon Shadow
Passed Torch
Shared Hearth
Shielded Flame
Snuffed Wick
Steady Flame
Stray Spark
Struck Spark
Swept Hearth
Trimmed Wick
Unlit Torch
Warm Ash
Walls and ways 24
Back Stair
Boundary Stone
Bricked Window
Burnt Bridge
Deep Ford
Fallen Pillar
Forked Road
Hilltop Cairn
Hollow Road
Lit Window
Loose Keystone
Low Door
Narrow Bridge
Postern Gate
Raised Drawbridge
Roofless Tower
Sealed Gate
Standing Arch
Sunken Spire
Unfinished Tower
Unmarked Door
Walled Garden
Winding Stair
Worn Threshold
Keys, books and seals 17
Blank Page
Chained Book
Muffled Bell
Sealed Letter
Swallowed Key
Tipped Scale
Torn Page
Two-Faced Coin
Unbroken Seal
Unrung Bell
Unsent Letter
Unsigned Charter
Unspent Coin
Unturned Key
Unwritten Book
Vacant Chair
Wrong Key
Threads, masks and mirrors 15
Braided Cord
Clouded Mirror
Drawn Veil
Empty Hood
Idle Loom
Loose Thread
Open Link
Parted Veil
Plain Mask
Smiling Mask
Triple Knot
Turned Mirror
Unbroken Chain
Uncut Thread
Unpicked Knot
Root, leaf and claw 32
Ashen Thorn
Bare Bough
Bending Reed
Buried Root
Climbing Vine
Coiled Serpent
Deep Root
Falling Leaf
Flowering Briar
Grafted Branch
Horned Beetle
Laden Bough
Lone Sapling
Molted Feather
Pale Moth
Paper Wasp
Plaited Wreath
Pressed Lily
Riderless Horse
Shed Antler
Single Thorn
Sleeping Lion
Spiral Shell
Spun Cocoon
Toothless Lion
Turned Leaf
Unsown Seed
Unworn Laurel
Waiting Spider
Winter Seed
Wintering Bee
Withered Laurel
Hands and faces 20
Bitten Tongue
Bowed Head
Closed Eye
Cold Shoulder
Dug-In Heel
Forked Tongue
Furrowed Brow
Half-Open Eye
Held Breath
Helping Hand
Inked Thumb
Knowing Smile
Listening Ear
Lone Footprint
Offered Hand
Pointing Finger
Raised Eyebrow
Steady Hand
Straight Face
Unbent Knee
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page: 172 symbols for the second part of a name. The tool builds one organization from six rows (opening, symbol, kind, what it wants, its sign, what outsiders say) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other five. Rules for this row: two words, a describing word and then one singular thing that can be drawn, because the symbol is also the sign the group shows. Both words are capitalized because they are part of a name. No plain colors or metals, which spell real orders of chivalry such as the Golden Fleece and the White Eagle. No cross, crescent, lotus, wheel, chalice, grail or halo, so no name borrows the sign of a living faith. No rose, thistle, garter, dragon, phoenix, ring, throne, raven or flame by itself, which belong to real orders or famous published ones. Nothing frightening: no skulls, bones or blood. No word here is used by the shop name page, whose signs are tavern beasts, kitchen things and trade tools; this row holds arms, weather, fire, stonework, papers, threads, plants and gestures. Each item carries x.noun and x.plural for the two wished-for name patterns, The Hatchet Pact and Circle of Hatchets. Every one of the 172 symbols and all 11,008 names the two name rows can spell were checked by script on 2026-09-19 against the text of 48 English Wikipedia pages. Thirty cover real and invented bodies, among them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_chivalry, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynastic_order, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-styled_order, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_order_(religious_society), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_society, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collegiate_secret_societies_in_North_America, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_fraternal_orders, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_institutes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_new_religious_movements, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_guerrilla_movements and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_espionage_organizations, plus pages on the organizations of well-known novels, comics and games. The other 18 are the character, place and pub-name pages the shop name page was checked against. No symbol and no name matched. A second screen on 2026-09-19 ran all 11,008 names, and the two hand patterns from the guide (The Hatchet Pact, Circle of Hatchets) over all 172 symbols, against the fiction lists built for the language name page: 232 English Wikipedia pages on fictional worlds, 5,177 page titles from 29 Wikipedia categories and about 1.2 million page titles from 39 fan wikis. One name matched a fan wiki page title, Order of the Winter Sun, so the symbol Winter Sun became Midwinter Sun, which was screened the same way with no hit. Seven hand-pattern results matched and are named on the page or in its notes: The Storm Pact, The Shadow Pact, Circle of Stars, Circle of Cinders, Circle of Stones, Circle of Mirrors and Circle of Thorns. A name this natural may still be in use somewhere, so search before you publish. Eight groups: arms and regalia 24; sky, sea and season 20; fire and shadow 20; walls and ways 24; keys, books and seals 17; threads, masks and mirrors 15; root, leaf and claw 32; hands and faces 20. Licence: own work
,
Kind: all 54 kinds
Sworn to a rule 18
adventurers' guildA hall with a notice board, a ledger of jobs and a bar tab nobody has settled.
band of landless knightsKnights with no castle who serve whoever feeds them fairly.
brotherhood of mountain hermitsEach lives alone in a cell on the slope, and they meet for one meal a week.
cloistered sisterhood of copyistsThey copy books behind a wall and know more than the people who wrote them.
craft guildMasters, journeymen and apprentices of one trade, with a hall, a seal and a strongbox.
guild of hedge wizardsVillage spell-workers who banded together so the big schools would stop laughing.
guild of rat-catchersThe least loved trade in the city, and the only one that knows every cellar.
knightly orderSworn knights under one master, with a rule, a hall and a cause.
knightly order fallen on hard timesThe vows and the banners remain. The horses were sold two winters ago.
knightly order with a single castleOne keep, one drawbridge and a rota for who guards it.
loose fellowship of knights errantWandering knights who share one vow and meet once a year to compare roads.
merchant guildTraders who fix the market days, split the cost of road guards and argue over weights.
monastic brotherhoodMen under a shared rule who share their work, their meals and their silences.
monastic sisterhoodWomen under a shared rule who share their work, their meals and their silences.
mounted order sworn to patrol the roadsRiders who keep the highways safe and take no pay from travelers.
silent order of gardenersA vow of silence, a walled garden and a great deal of pointing.
thieves' guildPickpockets and burglars with dues, territories and a firm rule against robbing each other.
wandering order of mendicantsThey own nothing, walk everywhere and live on what is offered.
Working unseen 12
dining club with a hidden purposeTwelve courses, one toast and a second agenda once the plates are cleared.
network of rooftop lookoutsThey see who visits whom, from which direction and how late.
ring of informersPeople who are paid to notice things, and one person who pays them.
secret societyMembers know each other by a sign and deny everything else.
secret society of minor noblesYounger children and spare cousins with time, money and a cellar.
secret society older than the cityIt was meeting on this spot before there were streets to hide in.
secret society that meets maskedNobody inside is sure who anybody else is, which suits them all.
secret society with a public frontOn paper it is a charity for retired sailors. The paper is very good.
spy networkWatchers and listeners who pass what they learn up a chain with no visible top.
spy network that reports to nobody knownThe reports go somewhere. Even the spies would like to know where.
web of paid listenersServants, porters and boatmen who hear everything and sell it on.
whispering ring of palace servantsNothing said over dinner stays at the table.
Schools and seats 12
academy of heraldsIt trains the people who know every coat of arms and every family quarrel.
academy with more rules than studentsThe rule book runs to nine volumes and the roll to about forty names.
council of eldersThe oldest heads in the land, who decide slowly and do not change their minds.
council of nine seatsNine chairs, nine votes and a long tradition of somebody being away.
council of river lordsWhoever holds a crossing holds a seat, and the river decides the rest.
fencing academyA school of the sword where the final lesson is when not to draw.
hilltop academy of star-readersStudents chart the sky by night and sleep through the morning lectures.
regency councilIt rules in the name of a monarch who is too young, too ill or too far away.
ruling councilA small body that governs a city or a realm and answers mostly to itself.
town council with grand ideasIt governs four streets and a bridge and plans as if it held a kingdom.
walled academyA school behind a wall, with its own rules, its own bell and its own feuds.
wandering academy with no fixed hallMasters and students travel together and hold lessons wherever they stop.
Out on the edge 12
band of forest outlawsThey live under the trees, know every path and share what they take.
band of hill rebels loyal to the old lineThey hold the high ground for a royal house that lost the low ground.
band of tax rebelsIt began with one unpaid tax and now holds three valleys.
comet cultIt expects a particular comet and has been wrong about the date four times.
cult of a sleeping giantIt believes a giant sleeps under the hills and works hard to keep the noise down.
cult of a talking wellThe well gives advice. The cult writes it down and argues about the echo.
harvest cultIts rites concern rain, seed and the last sheaf of the year.
moon cultIt gathers by moonlight on a hill and goes home before the dew.
mystery cultIts teachings are revealed in stages, and nobody will say how many stages.
rebel bandOutlaws with a cause, a camp and a price on their heads.
rebel band led by committeeEvery raid is put to a vote, which is why there have been so few.
rebel band of dispossessed farmersThey lost their fields to a lord and mean to have them back.
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page: 54 kinds, six for each of the nine kinds of body the page covers (knightly order, monastic house, guild, secret society, spy network, academy, ruling council, cult, rebel band). The tool builds one organization from six rows (opening, symbol, kind, what it wants, its sign, what outsiders say) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other five. Rules for this row: a lower-case singular noun phrase that follows a or an, chosen by its first letter. None of these bodies is a shop. The guild kind was added on 2026-09-19, after a review found that a visitor who wanted a guild name was sent to the shop name page, which has none. A guild here is the body its members belong to (a craft guild, a thieves' guild, an adventurers' guild); premises with a sign over the door, such as taverns, smithies and general stores, stay on the shop name page. The thieves' guild is storybook too: dues and territories, no real method. Cults and spies stay storybook. The cults gather around the moon, a comet, the harvest, a sleeping giant and a talking well, never around a real faith, leader or movement, and the spy networks listen at doors and watch from rooftops, with no real method described. The line under each kind is our own description in plain words, not a historical claim. Each item carries x.kind, the one of the nine kinds it belongs to. Four groups: sworn to a rule 18 (the six guild lines sit here), working unseen 12, schools and seats 12, out on the edge 12. Licence: own work
,
It wants: all 80 goals
Things kept safe 16
a certain child kept safe until she comes of age
a relic kept moving so that nobody can seize it
a sealed door kept shut until a day it will not name
a sleeping thing under the hill left asleep
an old truce held for one more generation
the beacon fires kept ready and never lit by mistake
the coast watched nightly for a sail that has not come yet
the forbidden shelf of the great library kept forbidden
the harvest roads kept clear of bandits and tolls alike
the last free ferry kept free
the last wild herd left to run where it likes
the mountain pass kept open through every winter
the old border stones left exactly where they stand
the old forest left uncut, down to the last tree
one small valley left off every map
the royal line guarded, including the branch nobody knows
Things it is looking for 16
a crown that went missing three reigns ago
a map to the place where its founder is buried
a singer who knows every verse of a half-forgotten song
a sword that was thrown in a lake, and the right lake
a vanished village that still pays its taxes
the door that fits a key it has kept for 300 years
every surviving copy of one particular book
the far end of a tunnel that starts under its own hall
the lost second half of its own founding charter
the name of whoever betrayed it a century ago
one honest witness to something that happened long ago
proof that a famous victory was really a draw
somebody who can still read its oldest records
the true heir, who may not want to be found
the twelve pieces of a broken seal, of which it has nine
whoever keeps sending it unsigned warnings
Power and law 16
a free city declared where a loyal town now stands
a holiday named for its founder
a seat on the royal council, and then a second seat
an old law repealed before anyone sees it still applies
the army kept small and the granaries kept full
the border redrawn along the river, as it once was
the capital moved back to where it used to be
the crown to keep a promise made to it long ago
every bridge toll in the kingdom abolished
its charter renewed without anyone reading the small print
judges who cannot be bought, and a list of those who can
the next royal marriage to go the way it has planned
the old calendar restored, feast days and all
one of its own on the throne, or near enough to whisper
the salt tax ended by whatever lawful means remain
the two great houses kept quarreling and out of its way
Wrongs to right 16
a broken oath mended before the last of the line is gone
a disgraced champion given one fair rematch
a feud ended that both sides have forgotten the cause of
a ransom paid for someone the kingdom gave up on
a ruined hall rebuilt stone by stone, in the same place
a stolen bell returned to the tower it was cast for
a very old debt repaid in full, with the interest
an old apology finally delivered to the right family
the common land given back to the commoners
the drowned road raised above the marsh again
every unjust sentence of the last reign struck out
the exiles allowed home and their houses given back
its founder cleared of a charge that is 200 years old
the old songs sung again in the old places
the statue in the square turned back to face the right way
the winter stores shared out evenly for once
Secrets and quiet 16
a certain prophecy kept from the person it is about
a certain tower to stay locked from the outside
a cottage by the sea for every member who knows too much
the history books of a rival quietly corrected
its membership roll kept secret, even from its members
its one great mistake to stay buried
its real purpose kept from its own junior members
no questions about where its money comes from
nobody to look closely at its account books
the old name of the city never spoken aloud again
one page removed from every copy of the chronicle
the rumor about it to stay exactly as wrong as it is
time, mostly, and it will not say what for
to be left alone, and takes odd steps to ensure it
the truth about its founding kept out of the histories
the world to forget that it ever existed
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page: 80 goals. The tool builds one organization from six rows (opening, symbol, kind, what it wants, its sign, what outsiders say) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other five. Rules for this row: a lower-case phrase that follows It wants and takes no full stop, because the tool adds it. Every goal suits all eight kinds, so none mentions a tourney, a lesson, a rite or a raid, and the group is always it. Nothing cruel: the goals are about roads, crowns, charters, debts, secrets and old wrongs, and the member who knows too much gets a cottage by the sea. No line is taken from a published game, novel or film. Five groups of 16: things kept safe, things it is looking for, power and law, wrongs to right, secrets and quiet. Licence: own work
,
Its sign: all 60 sign lines
Worn on the person 15
carved on a wooden bead at the wrist
cast in lead and carried in the left shoe
cut into the sole of the right boot, so it prints in mud
embroidered on a handkerchief and shown by dropping it
enameled on a button, always the second from the top
engraved on the back of a belt buckle
hung on a cord under the shirt, against the skin
inked small behind the right ear
pinned under the collar, never on top of it
scratched on an ordinary coin carried for luck
sewn into the lining of every member's coat
stitched inside the left cuff
worn as a ring with the face turned inward
worn as one earring, never a pair
woven into a bootlace in a pattern only members can read
Marked on places 15
carved on a beam in every barn that has sheltered it
carved over its own door, where it passes for decoration
carved under the table it meets at
chalked low on a doorpost and rubbed out by morning
cut into the bark of the oldest tree in each town it reaches
cut into the third step of every house friendly to it
drawn in the dust of a windowsill and gone by noon
hidden in the border of a well-known tapestry
laid out in white stones on a hillside above the pass
painted in one corner of the great map in the palace
painted on a roof tile, where only the birds should see it
pressed into the mortar of every wall its members built
scratched on milestones along the roads it uses
set in colored glass in a window that faces no street
worked into the ironwork of a gate that thousands pass daily
On letters and tokens 15
burned into the lid of every box that leaves its hall
carved into a chess piece carried in place of a letter
drawn in the margin of a letter, where a blot might go
folded into the way its notes are creased
inked where a signature would go, with no signature
painted on a river pebble left on the sill as a summons
pressed into a disc of sealing wax carried in the purse
pressed into the wax of every letter it sends
pricked with a pin into the corner of every page it writes
printed nowhere; members are expected to draw it from memory
stamped on a clay token, broken in two when members part
stamped on the blank back of a playing card left at the door
struck on the back of medals it awards in private
tied into the knot of the ribbon on its letters
watermarked in paper that only it buys
Shown and gone 15
chalked on the sole of a shoe and shown by crossing the legs
drawn in flour on the table before a meeting and blown away
drawn in the air with two fingers as a greeting
drawn on a slate, shown and wiped clean in one motion
formed by lanterns on a hill, one night a year
inked on the palm each morning and washed off at night
laid out in pebbles at a meeting place and scattered after
pressed into a sweet that the bearer eats after showing it
scratched in the dirt with a heel whenever two members meet
shaped by the way members stand when they gather at dusk
shown once to each new member and never displayed again
sketched in charcoal on the hearth and swept up afterward
sung, somehow; members insist the tune has the same shape
traced in the frost on a window and left to melt
traced on the table in spilled water and wiped away
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page: 60 lines on how the group shows its sign. The tool builds one organization from six rows (opening, symbol, kind, what it wants, its sign, what outsiders say) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other five. Rules for this row: a lower-case phrase that follows Its sign is and takes no full stop. The sign is the symbol in the name, so no line describes a picture of its own; each one says where the symbol is worn, cut, sent or shown. Every line suits an open body as well as a hidden one, so nothing hangs from a gatehouse and nothing is a crime to carry. No line is taken from a published game, novel or film. Four groups of 15: worn on the person, marked on places, on letters and tokens, shown and gone. Licence: own work
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Outsiders say: all 80 rumors
Who is in it 16
the entrance test is one question, and the answer changes
every ruling family has one cousin in it
half its members do not know who the other half are
half the town belongs and the other half is waiting to
it has more ranks than members
it has not admitted anyone new in forty years
it is three people and a great deal of stationery
it lost its membership roll and has been guessing ever since
it recruits only people who have turned it down once
its leader has been the same person for suspiciously long
its members greet each other by pretending not to
its youngest member is past seventy
membership passes down like a family nose
the miller, the judge and the ferryman all belong
nobody has ever been allowed to resign
you are already a member if you have eaten at its table
What it owns 16
every bridge it built has a room that is not on the plans
it buys old letters by the sackful and burns none of them
it has been nearly bankrupt for 200 years and doing fine
it has never paid a toll and never been asked to
it holds the deed to the land under the palace
it is rich in everything except coin
it keeps its gold in plain sight, painted to look like lead
it lends to kings and collects in favors
it owns one field in every county and farms none of them
it owns the ferry, the ferryman and the far bank
it pays its debts early, which worries people
it quietly owns the building its rivals meet in
its dues are paid in secrets, one a year
its hall is rented, and the landlord has no idea
its only real asset is a very long memory
its treasury is one chest that nobody has dared to open
Where it came from 16
it began as a supper club and got out of hand
it claims a founder who, by the dates, was nine at the time
it has celebrated its hundredth year at least three times
it is older than the kingdom and has the paperwork
it split from a rival over the wording of one sentence
it started as a joke, and the joke is four centuries old
it still obeys its first orders, which make no sense now
it was disbanded by royal order twice and did not notice
it was founded by accident and nobody felt able to stop
it was founded to solve a problem that solved itself
it was only meant to last one winter
its founder is still alive and rather embarrassed by it
its founders never met and wrote to each other for 30 years
its founding oath is one line, and nobody agrees on it
its real founder was the sister of the one in the portrait
the whole thing began as a bet
How it behaves 16
it always leaves a room tidier than it found it
it answers every letter, including ones it was not sent
it bows to nobody, but nods politely
it debates for a year, then acts overnight
it has a rule for everything and a rule for breaking rules
it has never once voted; it waits until everyone agrees
it holds its trials in rhyme
it meets in silence and argues by passing notes
it meets only when it rains
it moves its meeting place every new moon
it never forgets a favor and never mentions one
it sends a gift to every coronation, and it is a warning
it settles disputes with a footrace around the walls
its meetings open with an apology and close with a song
its members may not lie to each other, so meetings are short
its minutes are in a cipher it has forgotten how to read
How far it reaches 16
a word from it can empty a marketplace by noon
doors open for its members that stay locked for dukes
every road out of the city passes a house it owns
it arranged the royal wedding, weather included
it could settle the succession tomorrow and prefers not to
it has a friend on every ship in the harbor
it has chosen the last three kings and regrets two
it has never lost an argument with the crown
it has someone in every kitchen in the capital
it is far less powerful than it lets people believe
it is far more powerful than it lets people believe
it is the reason the old bridge has never fallen
it knew about the flood a week before the river did
it writes the prophecies that other people find
nothing is built in the city without its quiet approval
three rival groups are secretly one group, and this is it
How this list was compiled: An original list written for this page: 80 rumors. The tool builds one organization from six rows (opening, symbol, kind, what it wants, its sign, what outsiders say) and cannot block a combination, so every line in this row was written to read well beside every line in the other five. Rules for this row: a lower-case clause that follows Outsiders say and takes no full stop. The group is always it, and no line names a master, an abbot, a captain or a king of its own, so all 80 read the same after a knightly order, a comet cult or a council of nine seats. A rumor may be wrong, and the page says so. Nothing frightening and no real group, leader or event. No line is taken from a published game, novel or film. Five groups of 16: who is in it, what it owns, where it came from, how it behaves, how far it reaches. Licence: own work