Granis Cartel
The crime cartels of Wounded Knee extend their influence throughout the CNCS, with the Forzi in the UMF, the Kolson in the NLC and so forth. The situation in the Western Frontier Protectorate is not so clear cut. The location of Wounded Knee just south of the WFP has resulted in the Protectorate becoming a major path for goods and information flowing into and out of the North, and thus most clans have influence somewhere in the league. Sometimes they avoid contact with each other, managing their own supply chains concentrating on the business of making money. At other times, they are locked in bitter and bloody feuds that manifest as low-level warfare in the streets and fields of the Protectorate.
Though no cartel can maintain dominance over organized crime in the WFP, the Granis Cartel have perhaps the greatest claim. Though nowhere near as large or diverse as the Forzi or the Kolson, they nonetheless make sizable profits by exploiting niche markets in the Protectorate. The Granis are a mix of traders and extortionists whose principal area of operations is the Badlands, from Port Arthur to Peace River. The latter is perhaps the largest portion of their business, taking the form of protection rackets, but the their trade links are substantial and they claim to be able to provide almost anything - if the price is right and the appropriate people can be 'leaned on.'Despite the restrictions imposed by the war they maintain contacts with the Rostov Family of the Southern Republic and, through the Yokan Cartel, the Yakuza of the Mekong Dominion. The decentralized nature of the Granis' "business interests" has allowed them to flourish in the Badlands, and similar tactics work well in the Protectorate, albeit with the added step of paying off members of the WFPA or the administration. This isn't to say that the cartel doesn't have considerable influence in the city-states. They dominate the underworld in Fort Henry and have considerable influence in other Western settlements. Furthermore, the Cartel has exploited the Kolson-Forzi war to expand into the border regions of the UMF, particularly around Ashington and Mainz. Their influence ends at roughly the 30th parallel, and so they have built a number of alliances with both local groups and other Wounder cartels. The McBride family, whose principal area of influence is the mining communities of the Crescent, is the most powerful of these partners.
Structure
The original founders of the Granis were 6migr6s from the Protectorate and thus the cartel retains much of the Western clan structure. Torsten Granis serves as clan and cartel head, demanding absolute loyalty from his subordinates, most of whom are related by blood or marriage. As with Western clans honor plays a major part in the Granis ' psyche, and they are quick to anger. Within the cartel honor duels are common, but retribution is usually extracted from outsiders in a less formal manner, one that has earned the Granis a reputation as brawlers.
Spanning the entire equatorial zone, the cartel's operations are divided into distinct theaters, each commanded by a trusted lieutenant (usually an immediate family member). The profitability of certain areas and trade routes results in widely diverging status associated with each position, ranging from the lowly factors assigned to Azov to the exalted Peace River or Port Arthur positions. The heir apparent of the cartel traditionally serves in one of the latter two locales, but Sigurd Granis' success in establishing a foothold in the southwestern UMF has thrown the established succession into confusion.
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