Clava

"Come on now, you know you have to pay the protection money, for protection, see? From who? Don't matter really does it? Might be them Sapphire Jackals, might not. All I know is, you don't pay those Thrones soon, and your protection will go, and who knows what'll happen then, hey? It's a nice shop you got here, would be a shame if anything happened to it."

Found almost overwhelmingly in the Imperial capital city of Belyos, Clava is the name given to the gangs that operate in the impoverished Downside district, although the term has spread to Llaris and Isold, to describe the seafront gangs that operate there.
Whilst a few of the gangs operate in a manner considered almost altruistic towards those who live and work in the areas they claim, most are opportunistic criminal organisations, involved in racketeering, smuggling, fencing and theft, engaging each other in a constant struggle for supremacy, all the while keeping their activities at a level that the authorities do not interfere.
With a population close to six hundred thousand, there are hundreds of Clava operating throughout Downside, some barely able to claim authority over one or two apartment blocks. The largest hold sway over tens of thousands of people, and are considered major players in the politics of the district. Around a dozen are large enough that every inhabitant of Belyos, whether they're a Downsider or not, has heard of their names:

• The Onyx Syndicate - widely acknowledged as the most powerful of all the clava in Downside. Controls the area around the main gate to Temple Hill and is rumoured to be associated with the Temple of Yaltur itself
• The Cardinal Forsaken - Members formally renounce their fealty to the Empire and the clava carries a dark reputation. Crucifies those it deems to have broken its rules to the side of buildings
• The Association - One of the more enlightened clava; it offers a good social program and often takes young people to apprentice in Maintown. Outside of its held area, can be ruthless and cruel however
• The Sharktooth Crew - Operates next to the city walls closest to Lanyar Castle and the Harbour. Rumours are that they can get anything and anyone in or out of the city
• The Butterflies - Another altruistic clava who maintain protection of their patch by being proactive in other areas.
• Sapphire Jackals - another clava with a dark reputation, this one is known for direct confrontation with its rivals, pushing the point at which the guards will intervene
• Crimson Ravens - Well known for its smuggling, rumours are that if it exists, they can procure it, for a price
• The United Front - a collective of smaller clava bound in a formal confederation. Always looking to take in other clava, their territory is not contiguous
• The Invincibles - Claim to be the oldest continous clava, even so much to state their origins prior to the Sakamohr invasion. Regardless, they have a lot of respect amongst the larger clava
• Copper Serpent - based in a part of Downside with many small smithies and takes pride in the number of 'proper' weapons its members carry. Watched carefully by the Guard as a result
• The Black Skeleton - on the surface, a clava that upholds security in its territory, but it's well known for fermenting disruption in other's. Dark rumours associate its leadership with Nexi worship
• The Spider Gang - small in territory, but wide reaching in influence, members are known to pop up all over Downside, infiltrated into other clava

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Structure

Each clava is as varied as the other with regards organisation. Most have some form of hierarchy, with a logical progression of ranks and responsibilities, and a well defined leader or group of leaders. Quite a few are theoretically leaderless, with no strategic level planning, and each member acting as they see fit for the betterment of the organisation. A small minority have strange hierarchies, with methods such as 'buy-ins', corporate sponsorship and even, it is whispered, democracy.
Regardless of the exact nature of a clava's internal hierarchy, one cannot simply request to join and be allowed in. Most clava will seek out individuals in their territories who they feel would work well in their organisation and request their joining, how obligatory the request is depends highly on the clava involved. To actively seek membership of a clava is considered impolite at best, and suspicious at worst, and those who push too far may fall afoul of punitive measures.

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Public Agenda

All clava publicly declare an area of Downside as their own, and claim the right to defend their territory from encroachment from other clava. What a clava does with the territory it can defend its its own prerogative, although the vast majority work on increasing their influence and the wealth of their members. Most of the formal authorities within Belyos openly decry the existence of the the clava, frequently referring to them as criminals, and a blight on the working of the Imperial city. Most of the loudest in this criticism are also those who use the clava for their own ends, working to ensure their power carries into even the lowest of places.

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History

With a few notable exceptions whose claims cannot be verified, the clava came into being almost as soon as the poor and dispossessed began to arrive in Belyos. Threatened with exploitation from the established and the wealthy, organised gangs started as a form of collective resistance, and to recoup some of the lost wealth and power, but soon became just another faction vieing for control of the Downsiders.

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Type

Illicit, Gang

Location

Belyos

Related Ethnicities

• Imperial