The Powder Lords

Powder - a highly addictive substance. It's almost harmless in small doses, but can be lethal in large ones. Think...drugs - ground dweller drugs. Perhaps the most dangerous part was that anyone was willing to get their hands on it, even dragons. What may be a small dose of powder to a dragon can send a human into a week-long fever dream. That's where the problems started to rise.
The Powder Lords were an organization that gained powder illegally and 'distributed' it among the population, just to make a profit. That's all one needs to know to get a sense for what the Lords were like - ruthless, greedy, power-hungry men, who cared nothing for their fellow people and ruined a lot of lives.

Structure

Pawn: Lowest rank, and the most common. Were in charge of powder deliveries.
Forerunner: Second lowest rank. They made some deliveries, but were mostly responsible to managing requests and messages.
Head: Leaders of small cohorts; took orders from Conductors and were in charge of all their cohort's actions.
Conductor: Organized the cohort's districts, was in charge of rationing their powder evenly.
Supplier: Main supplier of powder; smuggled it, stole it, and kept it secret in undercloud warehouses.
Lord: The highest and most prestigious rank. In charge of overseeing everyone else. There were only about five of them, and they worked in rival gangs. Some lords insisted on doing the interviews for new pawns themselves, while others simply basked in their profits.

Public Agenda

The single motivator for the powder lords was money. Well, technically power - but to them, money was power. Even just the basic pawns made solid profits, thanks to powder's expensive price and the large range of clients that they had managed to addict. And as they gained more and more money, the lords gained more and more power, which they very much enjoyed.

History

The Powder Lords rose into power and maintained it for roughly a quarter of a century. Though knowledge of their existence became widespread, it was difficult to pin them down. Minor arrests were made throughout the year, and efforts to cut off their supply line were attempted, but really - how can you stop someone from flying? They maintained a steady profit for those twenty-five years, causing general bad things to happen until the Powder Raids, when the Lords were arrested and all dealings were stopped.

Culture

"Secrecy, men - absolute secrecy. From this moment on, you are to tell no one that we exist. You are to do your job quickly, quietly, and without question. Then, and only then, will you be rewarded with you free powder. Am I understood?"

- a powder conductor

Disbandment

Not too long from the present day, a series of attacks known as the Powder Raids began. Lasting about a year, these attacks mainly focused on disrupting meetings, destroying supplies and stocks, and getting the leaders arrested. All this was managed by the police, with the help of a few key (and anonymous) informants. The final blow was the cutting off of the powder supply line. At this point, the organization was in shambles, and they were forced to disband. Strict supply reforms and rehabilitation and education programs were made to ensure that powder would never become so influential again.

DISBANDED/DISSOLVED

Type

Illicit, Gang

Subsidiary Organizations

• The Deckmasters

"Powder, I think, was the most glorious thing I had ever put in my mouth. The hierarchy of the organization gave me a way to satisfy my ambition, the danger a way to test my tenacity, and the money an outlet for my greed. At the time, I thought that the powder lords provided all the answers."
His face twisted into a pained grimace. "I was wrong. Powder made me a slave. My ambition nearly drove me to madness. I risked everything for the lords, and all they ever gave me was pain and danger. And did I need money? More importantly, did I need to commit terrible atrocities to get that money?" He shook his head. "No, but all those things became swallowed up in the worst thing of all."
I couldn't help myself. "What?" I asked. "What? What happened?" I barely remembered that I needed to be writing.
His eyes were hollow, his face gaunt. "I lost my Bond," he whispered. "Lost him to an empty cloud and a silent grave."