A network of nine "social clubs," operates outside of the purview of the 9 Houses of Melangia, running a wide assortment frowned upon and illegal activity.  Many of these Societies run afoul of both the Crown and the 9 Houses.  While others are simply seen as beneath notice.  Some Societies work cooperatively while others fight for position in certain markets, leading too violence.  You were brought up in one of these Societies and either got out to seek your fortune elsewhere or are still working as one of their agents.  The Societies are:

The Galloping Griffons- A feared roving mercenary squad of veterans, the Griffons have been known to ride into a town, take it over for a week, then ride off leaving chaos in their wake.  While the Griffons do take mercenary contracts they also keep their own council, and will not hesitate to join the other side if it suits them.  Well known for invading the Magocracy during a dead magic event, killing its leaders and stealing its treasury, then leaving before magic was restored to the powerful nation (this all happened before the Storm of Annihilation).  The Galloping Griffons are hated and despised by the Sellswords who see them as in direct defiance of the goals of that House.  Most members are either Cavaliers or Bannerettes.

The Corsairs: A loose network of ships operating through out the Southern Seas, the Corsairs engage in smuggling, blockade running, and outright piracy.  They work with a good number of other Societies transporting illegal goods.  They are hated by the Travelers' Union for the disruption they cause to their trade lanes.  Members are mostly Swashbucklers and Gunslingers.

The Golden Market- Much of that which the Corsairs smuggle makes its way to the Golden Market.  While having a thin veil as a legitimate night market in many of the towns and cities of Melangia, most know just asking the right questions to the right people will get you any number of illegal items.  Many governments turn a blind eye to the Golden Market as the citizenry utilize it so much but the Crafting Cartel sees it as a threat as the Market undercuts their authority, often with goods stolen from the Cartel.  Members are mostly Masterminds and Thieves.

The Jade Triangle- Formed by two brothers from the East, the Jade Triangle is perhaps the most feared and powerful secret society.  On the reputation of the Takeshima brothers, most with any sense know, they are a group to best be left alone.  If any agent offers a protection contract, best to take it.  Many thriving businesses are no more because they didn't pay the Jade Triangle.  Protection, Assassination, and High Risk loans are their purview, as such, the Coin Consortium struggles with them the most.  Famously, when a Jade Triangle safe house was raided, it was found empty.  Over the next week the families of all those involved in the raid disappeared.  Stories like this have led to a near mythic status on the back streets of Melangia.  Prospective members are very carefully selected by the Takeshima, who train them in the techniques of the East.  The Takeshima's word is law in the Jade Triangle, and they have their Society abide by discipline and a code of honor.  Members are mostly Samurai and Assassins.

The Sapphire Circle-  Formed from a group Legionnaires from the Magocracy after the Storm of Annihilation destroyed that nation. The Sapphire Circle started as just a traveling band of prize fighters and has grown into a multinational gladiatorial and gambling network.  Even in nations where gladiatorial games are illegal the Sapphire Circle has a presence, as the thrill of gambling is hard to suppress.  Circle activities run the gamut, from small traveling bare knuckle events to gigantic arenas with attached casinos.  The dark source of the Sapphire Circles quick growth, slavery.  Many members of the Circle where stolen from their homes and made to learn the arts of blood sport in a distant land and now have seen it as a way to achieve greatness.  The Sapphire Circle counts on a steady stream of slaves from the Dark Cloaks to keep there membership high.  The Entertainers' Guild sees the Sapphire Circle as an existential threat to their purpose.  They often manipulate courts into making the Circle illegal, this has had limited initial results. Member tend to be Battle Masters or Champions

Dark Cloaks-  Founded by Shadar-kai immigrants from the Shadowfell and mostly made up of Tainted (Underdark and Tiefling races), the Dark Cloaks trade in several things, chief of which his slavery.  While assassination and smuggling are contracts that the Dark Cloaks will fulfill, they are careful not to tread to closely to the scope of the Jade Triangle or the Corsairs.  Preferring instead to work with those groups.  They have instead carved out a niche in humanoid trafficking, as the Corsairs will help move the product but don't have the resources to procure the product, and the Jade Triangle keeps a code against such things.  The Dark Cloaks favored victims are nomads (who have no government to complain) and travelers far from home.  Their biggest customer is the Sapphire Circle, who needs a constant stream to keep their pit fights going.  However, some nations of Melangia still allow for foreign born slaves to work menial jobs and thus trade with the Dark Cloaks.  In either case, the Dark Cloaks abscond with their victims (usually children), take them to their Underdark citadels to break them, and then sell the survivors to the highest bidder.  Some of the Dark Cloaks victims are trained to be the next generation of members of the Dark Cloaks themselves.  The Franchises see themselves as the antithesis of the Dark Cloaks, and stive to shut their trade down.  While the Franchises have been known to set up safe houses and free slaves from distant lands, they find it more effective to stop the initial capture in the first place.  Still the Dark Cloaks are often one step ahead of any attempt to shut them down and their Underdark citadels to hard to access.  Members tend to be Phantom Rogues and Echo Knights.

The Legerdemain League-  What started as a group of grifters, has expanded to an organization of Highwaymen that terrorize the Midland Plains and Forests.   Using hedge magic they practice larceny, in all its forms, through out the rural and wild areas.  Robbing a caravan, stealing a farmers herd, burgling an abbey's poor box, selling snake oil to a farming community that has contracted a mysterious new illness, kidnapping and ransoming a Burgomeister's daughter, all fall under the activities of the League.  The Legerdemain League has carved out their niche far from the web of their counterparts in the cities but they still might work with those groups to provide connections to get them established in the more far flung areas, as long as they get a cut.  A kidnapped child might make their way to the Dark Cloaks if a ransom isn't met, an unscrupulous farmer may have his neighbors cattle sold to the Corsairs to be sold in the Golden Market, and a down on his luck  Burgomeister might have the League connect him to the Sapphire Circle to start a prize fight in town.  The good country folk see the Legerdemain League as a poison to the the area and the Graingers have a hatred of the Legerdemain League that boarders on obsessive.  Given the League's proclivity to operating out of hidden forest redoubts, tensions between the Elves and the Grainers are heightened, as many in the Graingers a certain the Elves are allowing the League to operate in their territory, if not out right supporting them.  Members tend to be Arcane Tricksters and Arcane Archers.

 The Inquiry- A fringe group of conspiracy theorists, tomb raiders, and grave robbers, the Inquiry seeks arcane power from the secrets of dungeons around the land.  The Inquiry is often chasing folktales and rumors to obtain the next great find.  This lends itself to the general public seeing them as a bunch of crackpots.  Still, they have gained some legitimacy for helping people with unsolved dilemmas that others would not.  Most notably when agents of the Inquiry rooted out a group of vampires from the town council of Norburg.  Unfortunately, this has had the effect of emboldening the Inquiry into thinking every bit of gossip they hear is true.  Often times defrocked clergy, disgraced scholars or forgotten veterans join the Inquiry to find comradery and self worth.  While not overtly illegal in their practices, the Inquiry is not above breaking the law, and while solving mysteries gone cold is good press, it doesn't pay the bills.  Tomb raiding and grave robbing does.  Though dungeon delving isn't not illegal through the land (many adventurers do) breaking into the crypts of an active church and stealing it's treasures is.  The Inquiry's relationship with other secret societies is limited but exists.  Stolen relics are sold to the Golden Market and peasants accused of heresy are sold to the Dark Cloaks before the real authorities show.  The Scribes Syndicate opposes the Inquiry more than any other group.  They see the Inquiry's use pseudo-science and rumormongering as anathema to the Syndicate's cause.  Plus the Syndicate has suffered more than any other group at the hands of the Inquiry's theft, having a great many of their archeological sites disrupted by the Inquiry.  Members tend to be Inquisitives  and Scouts.

The Espers-  After the Storm of Annihilation many people of the Northeast developed new found mental powers.  Not all of these psions fit neatly into an arcane school or monastery to hone their skills.  Soon  less reputable organization formed.  The Espers at first formed as a group of psionically gifted bounty hunters and bondsmen.  The Hunting Lodge saw this as a threat and crushed the upstart organization through contracts and laws.  Far from being destroyed, the Espers pivoted, and began infiltrating courts throughout the continent while on the surface maintaining their bounty hunting, their true profit lies in the selling of secrets to rival organizations.  Often times this is other secret societies who want to stay one step ahead of the law.  The Hunting Lodge for its part sees the diminished bounty hunting operation and keeps a watchful eye but are yet unaware of the threat that the  Espers are building in courts around the land, biding their time when vengeance would best be produced.  Members tend to be Psi-warriors and Soulknife rogues.