Assassins.Creed.Syndicate.Crack.Only-CODEX Hack Tool
Theodora Glime
Present in both real life and fiction, organized crime groups can provide a powerful and compelling force for characters to act in tandem with with or to fight against. They can be powerful tools for intrigue, strong allies, or deadly enemies, but regardless of the way PCs forge relationships with these groups, they can be used to help create a better story and adventure.
Publicly, the Basilisk is a cloistered group of philosophers and monks dedicated to an anti-theistic tradition. Members of the cult work as social workers, caring for the poor and sick; or as laborers, tending public gardens, vineyards, and maintaining village infrastructure. Privately, the Basilisk fosters corruption, smuggles drugs, oversees street crime, and subverts other religious organizations dedicated to Ascended gods. Female monks most often train to become thieves, bookkeepers and overseers, while male monks are often gelded and trained in the arts of assassination.
The primary symbols adopted by the Basilisk are loose fitting, pale green robes. All members of the cult study from a text titled In the Valley of Power, a series of essays and tales about the cult's founder's encounters with mortals that falsely represented themselves as gods.
All members of the Basilisk, upon completeling a Rite of Passage, are ritualistically branded and tattooed with the symbol of a closed eye, both on the bottom of their tongues, and on the base of a heel. These marks are magically imbued to only appear under certain conditions, to prevent their discovery during mundane searches. Thieves are branded on the left heel, assassins are branded on the right.
This group only has a few tiers of authority; cloistered groups will follow the instructions and teachings of a head monk known as a Wide-Eyed One. A single Wide-Eyed One manages both thieves and assassins in their region, and will coordinate goals for both sects to achieve based on the needs of the monastery.
Secrecy is the biggest concern. Members who volunteer information to a non-member against their Wide Eyed One's wishes trigger the magical brands on their tongue, turning their tongue to stone. Members who attempt to steal from the cult trigger the brand on their heel, causing them to feel intense burning and constant pain which prevent the traitor from receiving the benefits of a long rest. These effects can only be removed at the behest of a Wide-Eyed One.
Nobility longs for distinction. Socialites crave the unknown, the esoteric, the exotic. In the upper strata of society, galas and soires attract lords like light attracts moths. And the greater the food, the greater the company.
The Bistro caters for the powerful, no matter their tastes. And when they cater an event, nothing is off-limits. Dragon steak, dark elf short-ribs, and Kraken calamari are only the start; name the ingredient, and the Bistro will bring out it's full mouth-watering potential. World-renown chefs "procure" the Bistro's ingredients themselves and transform it into something divine.
A Bistro Chef is the best of the best with a blade. Bards sing of aproned Chefs killing and carving dragons in a single stroke. Smiths whisper of their adamantium knives, coated in a dulled silver alloy to conceal their true strength. Outsiders may use this blade to identify a Chef, but it is an unreliable means; imitation blades are all too common.
A true Bistro Chef identifies themselves with their Signature Dish. It is the very same dish they cooked to earn their entry into the organization. To prove their identity out-of-town, they must prepare this Signature Dish for the local Bistro Chefs.
Bistro Chefs have no culinary limits. They will ensure the quality of their dishes by any means necessary, oftentimes by hunting and killing the creature from which it's carved. The law is irrelevant to a Bistro Chef, and if they must break the law to acquire their ingredients, they do so without a second thought. It is all too common for ruthless warlords to demand drinking wine from the skull their rivals; Bistro Chefs take this quite literally.
The Bistro is more a philosophy for the culinary elite than an organization. As such, the it is inherently decentralized, with no central authority figure. Instead, the position of a Chef is judged by the prestige of their restaurant. When multiple Chefs cater an event, they determine the Head Chef by vote.
The gang only uses explicit symbols for its street-level members, such as enforcers, dealers, and other common criminals. Still, the Bitterbrew Gang is far from a secret organization, and it has a vice grip on entire neighborhoods in many port cities maintained through addiction and threats.
Locals unfortunate enough to live in these neighborhoods know Bitterbrew Gang members by their black bandanas, used as makeshift gas masks against the chemical reagents common to their work. Any higher-ranked members avoid symbols, preferring to not be recognized and targeted by other gangs or authorities. These members work in the background, hiding in plain sight as legitimate alchemists.
The gang is notorious for their alchemical "alternatives" to common potions. Often sold to the poor or desperate, the gang mass produces "Cheer," a watered-down potion of healing that also happens to be highly addictive. Those who can't afford anything else, reach for Cheer, and they always come back. All it takes is one taste.
While Cheer is their main racket, the Bitterbrew Gang is also the source of many other knockoff potions. A strength potion called "Rockbreaker" also causes uncontrollable rage in its users, and sometimes fatal heart attacks. All this together has led to "Bitterbrew" becoming a pejorative slang among legit alchemists, used to describe shoddy potions.
The man who gave the gang its infamous name, Felldir Bitterbrew, is a hard case. Stocky and strong, even for a dwarf, Felldir often stands with his arms crossed to show off the muscle. His black beard is tightly knotted into a single, solid braid, a common sight among imprisoned dwarves to prevent their beards from being ripped out or torn in a fight. He sports a shaved head, and small spectacles sit precariously on a lumped nose.
In spite of assumptions based on his appearance, Felldir is a brilliant scientist, and his creations, while volatile and dangerous, are stunning works of alchemy. He knows his business, and revels in the act of creating ever more explosive and mixtures without the restrictions of oversight or law.
Also a true career criminal, bad to the bone, Felldir oversaw the growth of the gang from its infancy, and he's buried more than his share of bodies in the process. The warped, half-melted skull of a particularly irritating former rival still hangs in Felldir's lab.
Side hustles are expected with gang members, but selling the gang's product for individual profit is a great way to get dissolved down into protoplasm by a lieutenant. Trade secrets are secrets, after all. But beyond this, the only true code of conduct forbids selling any product to children of any race or to any dwarven women.
Karbek Grimhold is one of Felldir Bitterbrew's most trusted lieutenants, a Dwarf with less of a mind for science and more of an eye for perfection. Karbek inpsects and assesses the product purveyed by the Bitterbrew Gang's many alchemists, ensuring quality and that no members are pocketing profits for themselves.
While Cheer is by far the most popular (and addicting) of the products that the Bitterbrew Gang offers, there are a few other knockoffs available to those who are willing to fork out the gold for them.
A large-scale criminal organization whose activities are as varied as they are widespread, the Black Sun rose to prominence relatively recently after absorbing multiple smaller criminal enterprises. Their network spans the continent, and their power and influence has crept into nearly every political faction in every region in which they operate.
The symbol for the Black Sun is a black-inked, geometric sun. Members are required to get this symbol tattod on their bodies in easily revealed areas, but only designated (and well-paid) tattoo artists are accepted, so that the final product is only detectable by truesight. The tattooing process is painful, and is a rite of initiation for new recruits.
Having made its way in the criminal underground by absorbing multiple smaller networks, the Black Sun holds stake in nearly every criminal endeavour available. As a front, the Solari Corporation maintains a massive shipping and mining enterprise that primarily functions as a financial crutch of the Empire - being the majority shareholder in the mining of Redsalt (potassium nitrate) and the production of gunpowder. Because of this wealth, they are ever expanding into new territories, including drug manufacture and smuggling, human trafficking, item smuggling, money laundering, business extortion/protection, espionage, political blackmail, and murder for hire.
The Black Sun is divided into multiple independent criminal organizations called coronas. These rings operate with autonomy for the most part - often interacting with members of other coronas without knowledge. The head of each corona and a small group of trusted lieutenants are the only members who know any details about the wider organization and other coronas that operate in the region.
The head of the Black Sun is a man known as Prince Sarul Xorlarrin - a drow who made his way to the surface world after being exiled by the matriarchy of his home city. Using his personal wealth, he established a legitimate business known as the Solari Corporation, and secretly operates his criminal enterprise using money he earns from his close relationship with the empire, where he serves as the chief financial advisor to the Emperor.
Each corona operates discreetly and independently. The leadership of the corona may interact with Sarul but no ground-level members are permitted to know anything about the organization. If a corona is exposed by the government or significantly damaged by a rival organization, they will be extinguished by the elite forces of Prince Sarul, save for the leadership, who can be repurposed and moved to other coronas or within Saruls personal entourage as he sees fit.
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