Bacon street boys
In the merchant quarter of Virkenhall, Bacon street is the alley where most butcher's shops are. A long winding alley forming a cul-de-sac on a little drainage canal, where the butchers can dispose of blood, offals and gore. Overhanging timber framed building make the alley very shady, for this reason associated with the significant commercial importance has been, at length, the operative field of a gang of young criminals, called The Bacon Street Boys.
Composition
The Bacon Street Boys accept any kid of age between seven and sixteen years old that is happy to gain a living with petty and, occasionally, more serious crimes. The gang has been composed between ten and sixteen kids for his fifty, and counting, years of activity with older members getting replaced by younger recruit as they get gradually less suitable for the activities of the gang.
Appeal, recruitment method and legal loopholes
The gang is pretty famous in the low-income quarter of Virkenhall and they are considered a successfull organization, therefore they don't need to advertise and are, in general, able to recruit new recruits between orphans, street urchins and runaways as the need arises. When a gap in the members need to be filled, one of the oldest members of the band contacts the 'promising' children and offers them a breakfast of bacon and eggs. Usually the promise of regular meals and a life free from the control of adults is a sufficient appeal for these empty-bellied children, who often accept with enthusiasm. Beside the radical knowledge of their territory, of which they know every single hiding spot and small passage, the loophole that has kept the gang active for long fifty years is the fact that, until they are under sixteen years old, children that commit a non-violent crime get sentenced with a period in a work-house. Most work-houses don't have a security system efficient enough to prevent escapes, furthermore they receive some money to take a new in-mate in charge, this is a matter that has to be revised by the major Solomon Sulot. The activity of the gang is not a priority for the city guard that prefers to concentrate on adult, more callous, criminals.
The sun doesn't go down every day without some rich merchant complaining that we should arrest all this little bloody thieves! Them are only a bunch of empty-bellied kids and, in a city with no problems, they would be with a family!
Modus Operandi
The characteristic crime carried over by the members of the gang is a pack hunt that leads to pickpocket a ripe target. The members of the band scattered in various corner of the alley observe the daily activities in the market area, keeping a keen eye for rich clumsy merchants. A lot of non verbal communication goes on through a coded system of signals and when the target is selected the pickpocket goes with a system called"bash & grab". Often the pickpockets are equipped with special gloves with retractable blades that allow them to cut the bonds of purses, the lookout instead are equipped with special ocarinas that allow them to rise the alarm in case of danger.
Roles and organization chart
The members that accept the offer of the gang abandon their family names and become a Bacon, the organization becoming their new family. Most members are at the same level, besides the boss, the second, the windsmith and the supplies-keeper. The boss is more expert member of the gang, which is usually the eldest as well and the second is the one in charge when the boss is not available, a person completely trusted by the boss. The windsmith is the member of the band in charge of the kiln and dedicated to produce the special ocarinas, that the lookouts play in case of danger; to grant the passover of the secret technique they have one or two apprentices, position usually in high demand between the members. The supplies-keeper keeps the equipment of lookouts and pickpocketers in good order, sharpens the blades, repairs minor damages and distributes and recollect the equipment from each members before every heist.
Operative base
The gang has created a secret operative base in an abandoned warehouse, that used to be a storage area of sewer cleaning workers. The base comprises a few rooms, but not all of them are open to every members of the Bacon Street Boys.
The hall is the main meeting area for the members, it is an open space enviroment with three large old sofas to grant sitting spaces if a general meeting is required.
The dorm, as the name says, it is the place where member of the gang sleep in beds, bunkbeds and rope hammocks, distributed according to rank and age.
The larder is a small rooms with a few makeshift shelves used to store all the food that the gang possesses, this is distributed to the members by the boss or the second who are the only ones who have the keys to the room; this way members of the gang can enjoy regular, even if frugal, meals that is a lot better to what most of them used to be able to afford before joining the gang.
The boss office is a private meeting room, it is open to everyone but members are expected to enter only if invited to do so.
The warehouse/kiln room is a large enviroment where the equipment of the band is stored and where the windsmith produces new ocarinas for the lookouts. The room access is strictly authorized to the four top ranks of the gang only, if not accompaigned.
The access to the operative base is served by two entrances: the original one, presently protected by a large number of booby-traps; and the escape route, provided by a labyrinth of "child size" tunnels through which an adult would struggle to squeeze in, without taking into account the possibility of losing your sense of direction.
And breakfast for all!
The current boss
The current boss of the band is a lanky teenager going by the name of A. J. "Slim" Bacon. Born in the wealthy Richardson family from Marquay, a town on the feet of the Kaln Agalzeni, was always rebel to the strict education received from his parents and by the age of ten, he escaped home. After reaching Virkenhall, hidden in the back of a wagon, he spent a few weeks living of alms, until he was eventually noticed by a recruiter of the gang. For his charisma and determination two years later he was the second in charge and, after a further year, he raised as new boss despite the presence in the gang of older boys.
I know, my life is harsh and full of adventures, but I want it that way!
Very interesting article! I like a lot that you defined a lot of things like their rank organization and how's their operative base. Also, is not too common seeing articles about gangs with underage members, at least the ones i've read as entries for the "Illicit organization" prompt were all made up of adults. It is also an interesting way of seeing the impact of poverty in childrens in Phaldorya and i wouldn't be surprised if this kind of gangs existed in our world too.
Thank you, I believe they exist. For example, in deprived areas of Italy, where the organized crime has an importance that I would define parastatal and some kids just don't attend school and they live in a sort of feudal protection tutelage from the local boss, but they have to work as thugs for them. If you want I can probably get something more, but I'm not sure if I can find anything not in Italian language...