Grey Order

The Magisters of the Grey Order are those who have embraced Ulgu, the Grey Wind of deception and obfuscation. A more precise translation of the legal definition of the art as described in the Articles of Imperial Magic, “Cryptoclastic Thaumaturgy,” would be magic and spellcraft whose practices and affects are secret and hide what really is.

Grey Magic
The Lore of Shadows is a magic formed from the drives, purposes, and predispositions of the Grey Wind. It is the lore of illusion, confusion, and concealment. It is commonly referred to as Shadowmancy.

Shadowmancy, then, is the catchall term given to describe the arts of illusionism, which is the branch of magic dealing with the deception of the senses. The Grey Order’s Shadowmancers seem to bring nightmares alive and the sweetest dreams into reality. They are masters of appearances and sculpting lies.

Naturally, Shadowmancy offers great benefits on the battlefield, where the number of friendly troops can be made to appear far fewer, far greater, or far more fearsome. However, the secret role of the Grey Order’s Shadowmancers is far more sinister.

Duties & Contracts
Though Shadowmancers are required to serve in the state and provincial militaries of the Empire, just like Magisters of every other College, being mobile force-multipliers for the army is not their prime or even most suited role.

Looking at the dilapidated property the Order calls its College, few would realise its owners are one of the most far-reaching (and in some ways among the most powerful), organisations in the Empire. Yet the building’s shabby exterior is a front for secret and sometimes sinister purposes. Behind the dilapidated facade that surrounds the Grey Order lies an efficient and ruthless spy network. But the Order of Shadows does not work for the nobles of any particular province, and neither do they work for the Emperor himself—at least, not in a direct or political way, though they often serve as advisors.

Shadowmancers, like Hierophants, are tasked primarily with the persecution of the enemies within Imperial society and the protection of the ideals of the Empire. But where the Hierophants are predominantly exorcists, seeking out and aiding only those who are possessed by daemons or the very darkest magic, the Shadowmancers serve as diplomats, spies, and even assassins, tasked with finding and eliminating the networks of illicit organisations that work away in the shadows undermining the acceptable civil, military, political, and religious structures of the Empire. In this work their spells of persuasion, distraction, concealment, and deception are of considerable worth.

Yet this means that they often risk coming into conflict with the Witch Hunters who view all “licensed witches” as untrustworthy and too involved in the witch hunters’ own affairs. Little do the Witch Hunters or any other great authority in the Empire realise seeking out corruption within organisations that often appear (or are in fact), above the law is just one of the Order’s many self-appointed jobs.

With their mastery of shadows and illusion, and with their ability to divert attention, they can easily infiltrate organizations, get into and out of buildings without being seen, kill people and make it look like someone else did it, and generally confuse and perplex the public at large. The Shadowmancers are relatively few but they are effective.

It is almost impossible to identify a Magister of the Grey Order if he specifically does not want you to. That harmless old man with the travelling theatre company; the young woman who performs hackneyed illusions in the town square for money; the travel-stained Magister with the group of rowdy adventurers in the corner of the inn; the new initiate to some daemonic cult; the beggar, priest, merchant, noble, diplomat, or that battle-weary soldier—the Shadowmancers can appear as almost anyone.

The only non-Collegiate authority the Grey Order is theoretically answerable to is the Emperor himself, but in effect this is not as clear cut as it would seem. The Shadowmancers serve in war as is their duty as stipulated in the Articles of Imperial Magic. However, Volans, the first Patriarch, and the subsequent Lord Magisters of the Grey Order (led currently by Magister Patriarch Reiner Starke), forbade that the Grey Order should ever sell their skills to aid the various political manoeuvrings of the Elector Counts and other governing bodies. Their goal was to oppose Chaos in all its forms, not to unduly influence the internal political struggles of the Empire. An Emperor could be forced to abdicate, or worse, may fall to the seductions of Chaos and would then stop being an ally and become a potential enemy to the Empire. It was deemed unwise to let the full truth of the Order’s abilities and activities get into the hands of a potential enemy; so the Emperor, the Electors, the religious authorities, the Merchants’ Guilds, and burgomeisters of the Empire know little or nothing of the clandestine activities undertaken by the Shadowmancers right beneath their noses.

But the Shadowmancers’ work is never done. There are many powerful people within the great organisations of the Empire who are Chaos cultists themselves with considerable resources to hamper and block the Shadowmancers’ otherwise secret activities. This is partly why the Order is so diffused around the Empire—the more centralised they are, the easier it is to restrict them and follow their movements.

Shadowmancers can be found in service of important officials, merchants, and nobles, whether these groups realise it or not. The Lords of the Grey Order assure all Magisters of their Order are bound very tightly by the Articles of Magic and by the Order’s own very strict rules. Shadowmancers may only practice their spellcraft for the benefit of Imperial society and are expressly forbidden from using their magic for their own profit or solely for the political or financial profit of their patrons. All Shadowmancers must take vows of poverty and are not permitted to accumulate property or wealth not of direct and practical use to their cause. Any breaches of the many strict rules laid down by the Order are prosecuted very harshly and vigorously.

The Order of Shadows has killed or Pacified more of its own members than any other of the Orders of Magic, and this is more of a reflection of the zero-tolerance of rule breaking and corruption within the Order rather than a demonstration of their Magisters’ untrustworthiness.

Source
Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd ED -- Realms of Sorcery (pg. 103-104)