Dragonstar: Imperial Special Police Directorate
Shortly after his coronation as the new emperor, Mezzenbone created a new division within the Imperial Police. The ISPD is a secret police organization tasked with a broad range of intelligence, counterintelligence, and security duties. Its primary mission is to identify and neutralize both internal and external threats to the Empire. The ranks of the ISPD are dominated by drow, and they have gained a formidable reputation with imperial citizens.
The ISPD has been most visible when working inside the Empire. The agency is essentially a political inquisition designed to root out and neutralize "treasonous activity." The ISPD seems to define this as any political opposition it can safely target: dissident citizens with no significant political or legal protection, lesser lords of both kingdoms, and so on. Given the broad authority Mezzenbone has granted the ISPD, its operations and methods are perfectly legal and the scope of its powers is truly terrifying to lords and commoners alike. The ISPD is also active in the Outlands. The agency is responsible for coordinating and executing the Emperor's campaign along the frontier. ISPD agents are often assigned to the Imperial Legions fighting in the Outlands, either to "encourage morale" or even to take command of specific operations.
The explanation for the 1SPD's presence within the Legions is simple: Only they know what Mezzenbone truly wants from the Outlands worlds. They are responsible for locating and retrieving the artifacts of power that the Emperor is amassing to destroy the other dragon clans and force the known galaxy into slavery and submission. This is the 1SPD's primary mission in the Outlands, and its agents often compromise the objectives of military missions to fulfill it.
The internal organization of the ISPD follows a traditional command hierarchy. The lowest-ranking field officers are called special agents, and their superiors are lieutenants and captains. There are many other titles for officers working in support positions, such as analysts and researchers. The director of the ISPD is Avix Vazenom, a female drow of exceptional ruthlessness and cunning who was a veteran agent in the Adamantine Order before being assigned to head Mezzenbone's secret police.
((TODO insert ISPD Special Agent template or example here))
ISPD and the Drow
John Caspian:
The Empire has had its own law enforcement arm, the Imperial Police, since its inception. Over the centuries, the makeup and structure of this organization has changed a lot, varying with the whims of the current emperor.
It seems that Mezzenbone has a fondness for the drow—dark elves, as some call them. Immediately after his rise to power, he instituted a new division of the Imperial Police and called it the Imperial Special Police Directorate. He staffed the ISPD almost entirely with drow.
The drow enjoy their newfound power a bit too much, if you ask me. Their job seems to be the prosecution of anyone or anything deemed a threat to the security of the Empire or Mezzenbone himself. And they appear to have a lot of flexibility in carrying out their mandate. You'll recall that Captain Malizrek was in charge of the force that invaded my homeworld. I guess Mezzenbone considers worlds like mine a threat to the Empire, because the ISPD spearheads the Emperor's campaign of conquest in the Outlands.
The ISPD's tactics have often been the target of criticism, but when the critics disappear, things tend to quiet down a lot. If you run across one of these characters in their silver-trimmed black uniforms marked with the insignia of their Spider Goddess, your best bet is to disappear yourself before they do it for you.