History of The Promenade's Gangs
Origins
The gangs of The Promenade began in its early days, after the city had started to adopt whaling as a practice. Ancient whaling fleets would hunt Coastal Whales upon a sighting from watchtowers, and each neighborhood had its own group of boats. This gave rise to intense competition between the groups, as one whale could feed whole neighborhoods for weeks. Occasionally, this competition could spill over into violence, with boat-to-boat combat taking place while pursuing the creatures. However, its main contribution to gangs was the group-narcissism mentality developing within neighborhoods.
As the whaling system formalized into a genuine business, with areas of the city dedicated to particular whaling industries, the Westdock was hit hard. As the processing of whales took place entirely in the Eastdock, as well as the distillation of Firewater, there was little but scraps left over for the west. Bordering the Spine, the main commercial hub of the Seaside, groups from the Westdock began robbing and picking pockets, practicing extortion on those who did have incomes, particularly sailors, and trafficking in the most vulnerable members of society, all while nursing a grudge against the east.
Growth
Gangs were not exclusive to the Westdock, despite their more violent nature, as the Eastdock had a number of smaller gangs focused around attempting to extort workers. These were combatted by the
Longshoremen's Guild, which was, at the time, focused on establishing uniform standards of living for industrial workers, and preventing the growth of gangs.
However, the city's criminal explosion began to occur around 250AM, as the Coastal Whale population collapsed, leading to chaos in the industry. Preying upon the unemployed masses, gangs controlling as little as blocks of a street to whole neighborhoods cropped up, trying to snatch as much as they could during the collapse.
The Long Blight
After the end of the Coastal Whale, gangs in The Promenade were at their peak, with over one hundred of varying sizes, demographics, and criminal specialties existing at once. In the Westdock, these eventually coalesced under the Redmarks, one of the oldest gangs in the city. They had the advantage of a solidified infrastructure and centuries of tradition, making them the most unifying force in the western portion of the Seaside. This unity allowed them to, in 371AM, begin a gang war meant to take over the industrial centers remaining in the Eastdock.
Sitting between those two districts, however, was the Spine, ran by the Badgers. The Badgers were an old gang who had capitalized on the decline to grow far beyond their traditional bounds, extending their protection racket throughout the entire commercial district. Through a tacit alliance with the Litoric Islander immigrants of Calettina, and long-time business dealings with the Cutout Boys of the Underdeck, the Badgers had no real enemies. This gave them great leverage in the Long Blight, as the war came to be known, and allowed them and the Spine to remain neutral through playing both east and west off of each other. While great for their health, this was also great for business, and the Spine was able to sell to both sides of the war.
"The Blight was very much a symptom rather than a cause of issues. The 'enlightened minds' of the Landside saw gangs as hypnotism to a leader promising a panacea, rather it really began as men trying to survive." - Isobard Quickquill, The Criminal's Chronicle
After four years of intense fighting, the Eastdock had largely unified behind the Cutlass Crew and the
Longshoremen's Guild, forming a tenuous agreement which had pushed the Redmarks back to their original district of the city. While a
status quo antebellum now existed, violence continued, with brutal attacks, conducted by small groups of criminals, taking place in each others' territory. This violence continued until 549AM, when a massacre of merchants rumored to be supplying the Cutlass Crew with supplies took place. Attacking the well-to-do neighborhood of the Exchange, the Redmarks finally brought the ire of
House Prominere down upon themselves, and the threat of the Lord's forces was sufficient to bring about peace negotiations.
Yardarm Pact
Lord
Arneld III's intervention in The Long Blight took place at a fortuitous time, as it coincided with the visit of
Isobard Quickquill to The Promenade. Isobard, a Crimson Quill, was 21 years old at the time, and on his first assignment. He had been living and working in The Prominade for two years at that point, and had concluded his work on the whaling industry, and near finished his second work on the city's gangs. The connections he had established during that process, along with his jovial personality and lower-class upbringing, made him the ideal go-between for the peace talks.
"Lord Arneld, who I had briefly met during my arrival at the city, summoned me out of the blue, and informed me I was held in high esteem in the criminal underworld. Evidently, as I told him, it was because of our shared dislike for dispassionate rulers, and thus a friendship blossomed." - Isobard Quickquill, The Criminal's Chronicle
These talks took place at The Moorings in the Eastdock, an area protected by Lord Arneld's personal guard for the duration of the week-long conference. Thanks both to the rare compassion of a young Lord Prominere combined with the enthusiasm and likability of Isobard Quickquill, the Yardarm Pact established a peace which has been maintained since. The Moorings were declared neutral territory, for the use of the gangs' leaderships equally, violence between separate gangs were to be punished by the leadership, and Calettina was to be left alone. This did not, however, solve the criminal issues at play in The Promenade, and the Pact in no way required an end to violence overall, simply the large-scale territorial fights of the Blight. Perhaps more would have been accomplished, had Arneld not been killed in the Second Climbing War in 555, five years after the signing of the Pact.
Gangs
The Seaside - See layers in the top right for gang and neighborhood views
While there have been hundreds of gangs of varying sizes throughout the history of The Promenade, those listed below are the major groups and their most prominent constituent gangs.
Badgers
The Badgers are an ancient gang, and have come to be seen more as a fact of life in the Spine, their dominant territory. For as long as business has been done there, the Badgers have extorted protection money, and paying up has simply become part of the cost of doing business. Until the economic collapse of 250AM, however, the Badgers were content to amass their resources gained from extorting, or owning, taverns in the Portion. Afterwards, they capitalized on the economic uncertainty and growing chaos amongst the gangs to spread their control to the entirety of the Spine.
"The Blagger is the criminal variant most prominent amongst Badgers, a quick yet effective snatch-and-grabber. These men, generally younger members of the gang, quickly smash through the windows of a shop, while one keeps watch and the rest quickly fill a sack with stolen goods." - Isobard Quickquill. The Criminal's Chronicle
The merchants of Headwater, the southern portion of the Spine, acquiesced easily and saw it as a safeguard against increasing violence between east and west. The Badgers were able to use this relative peace within their own territories to solidify an informal alliance with Calettina, protecting their northern flank, and putting them in a valuable position for the start of the Long Blight. Threatening to enter against whichever side violated their territory or protected businesses, the Badgers sold goods to both sides, and began reinvesting some of their income back into the shops. This further solidified their hold over the Spine, earning them popularity among their protected merchants, and helping stem the economic despair.
"The Badgers were not named for the animal, but rather for their exquisitely honed method of badgering a shopkeeper to death. Think it unnecessary to pay protection money? Think again, or you'll be reminded of the necessity every night." - Isobard Quickquill, The Criminal's Chronicle
The Badgers were not some investing company from the Exchange, and their brutal side was occasionally on display, especially to disobedient shopkeepers or pickpockets. They often tussled with press-gangs, mercenaries, or uppity sailors in Dogshead, as well as facilitating black-market trade with the Cutout Boys of the Underdeck. This relationship with the seediest, and most mysterious, gang in the city serves to disguise their violence as that of the Cutouts, allowing the Badgers to preserve their altruistic image.
Cutlass Crew
The Cutlass Crew began as a militia of whalers during the early days of The Promenade. These men were armed with cutlasses found in one of the early pirate shipwrecks of the Saltmarshes, and assigned to defend the Eastdocks' neighborhood whaling teams from the other districts. As the Eastdock's neighborhoods began to specialize into specific whaling-related industries, the Cutlass Crew moved from defending whalers to controlling their home territory, the Tryworks and some of Firewater.
"Surprisingly enlightened for what appeared to be a gaggle of pirates, the Crew was more than eager to show off the public works they had constructed with their, as they emphasized, legal profits." - Isobard Quickquill, The Criminal's Chronicle
After the Long Blight began, the Cutlass Crew faced increased pressure from neighboring gangs, particularly the Brewery St. Boys and the Hogs, who controlled the distillery district of Firewater. These erstwhile rivals banded together to take the small portion of Firewater under the control of the Cutlasses, and were promptly repulsed and absorbed as constituent gangs under the Crew. This theme was repeated across the Eastdock, particularly as violence against the Redmarks escalated, and eastern gangs began to coalesce under the Cutlass Crew to fight back. They cleared Butchers' Row of most gangs, save the Cleavers, who joined under the Crew, helping them to wipe out or absorb all remaining eastern gangs, giving them their present territory.
Brewery St. Boys
One of two remaining gangs in the distillery district of Firewater, the Brewery St. Boys control the western half of the neighborhood. Through their proxy,
Armada Brewing , they are a major exporter of firewater and other beverages to, in particular, whaling fleets and naval mercenaries. Having formerly competed with the Hogs of eastern Firewater, they eventually banded together to be ultimately defeated by the Cutlass Crew. They now operate in relative safety under the Cutlasses. However, like their fellow constituent gang, the Hogs, they often face upon against bootleggers from the Underdeck, as well as wine merchants shipping their goods to The Promenade from
House Semillon .
Cleavers
Controlling Butchers' Row, the Cleavers are one of the three constituent gangs of the Cutlass Crew. Unlike the Brewery St. Boys or the Hogs, however, they were not conquered. Rather, they voluntarily joined the Crew in exchange for assistance in ridding the Row of the Boodlers, Three Points, and other butcher cart thieves. A particularly violent gang, perhaps unsurprising given their home turf is Butchers' Row, the Cleavers acted as the vanguard for the Eastdock during the Long Blight. Armed with their eponymous meat cleavers, they led brutal massacres throughout the Workhouse during their brief occupation of that Westdock neighborhood.
Hogs
Owners of
Dark Oak Distilling, the Hogs are the former competitors of the Brewery St. Boys, but now a fellow constituent gang of the Cutlass Crew. They primarily export to domestic businesses, such as the taverns of the Portion or Saltwash in the Landside, after the Crew gave the Brewery St. Boys the naval market to end gang competition in the Firewater. Like their fellow distillery gang, however, they compete against bootleggers from the Underdeck, as well as wine merchants shipping their goods to The Promenade from House Semillon.
Cutout Boys
The most mysterious of the major gangs of The Promenade, at first glance the Cutout Boys seem to also be the poorest. Ruling over the Underdeck, the dingy Seaside's dingy bottom, they have little to work with. However, as Quickquill's groundbreaking work on The Promenade's gangs reveal, the rumors about the Cutout Boys have more fact to them then one might assume. Given the nonexistent oversight from the city guard, nor competition from any other gangs, the Underdeck evolved into both a refuge from violence and home to the seediest, and most profitable, establishments in the city.
"I stepped into what I was told was the best tavern in the Underdeck, and was fascinated to see it suspended from the bottom of the docks. In reality I was standing on what should have been, I suppose a ceiling, but instead was the floor, a strange experience, but not the strangest. I am told they managed to construct similar structures underwater, and in the sewer system, as well." - Isobard Quickquill, The Criminal's Chronicle
Their origins are with the rumored Smugglers Guild, as their name stems from 'cutting-out,' or stealing boats by slicing their moorings and sailing them away. This naval thievery took place across Anhara's northern coast, as well as in the Litoric Islands, and allegedly had some connection with the
Nemura's Cay Pirates. Regardless, all stolen craft eventually made it to The Promenade, where they would be broken down, sold, and their merchandise removed. The access to ships and the secretive nature of the Underdeck makes it prime territory for other sorts of smuggling as well, and is often used to get around Anhara's system of mandatory entrepots and tariffs.
Redmarks
The driving force behind much of the modern history of The Promenade's gangs, the Redmarks are portrayed as a brutal organization, and they are. They are not, however, the first nor most violent gang from the Westdocks, but rather a product of the extreme poverty and hopelessness from which the district suffers. The Redmarks grew out of the survivors of the Lancers, a violent whaling gang which ran afoul of Calettina and was wiped out by naval mercenaries. By the end of the Coastal Whales, the Westdock was almost entirely devoid of any economic hope, and the Redmarks had largely solidified their control.
"Ostensibly in order to stave off poverty, the city council had mandated whaling companies send fifty percent of a sailor's pay to his family, if he had one. In reality, this was most likely orchestrated through the influence of the Redmarks." - Isobard Quickquill, Whale Whale Whale, What Have We Here?
The Westdock was ruled through fear and division, common across all gangs, however those in the Spine and the Eastdock had the ability to invest in their neighborhoods through kickbacks from their industries, an impossibility in the impoverished west. The Redmarks divided their potential competition through a number of brutal but efficient methods. Firstly, as the men of their district were often out to sea as whalers, and hired for the most dangerous and dirty jobs in the fleets, they were able to herd their families into the Workhouse. This neighborhood was ostensibly built to house the families of those at sea, as a company benefit, but in reality was used to keep them in one easily-exploitable location. There, Redmarks collect a large portion of the pay sailors send home, and ensure that there are not enough men in the district at once to threaten them, by keeping them out to sea.
"Young women were seduced with tales of living well, being fed, and safety from gang warfare in order to move them to the baths of East Wade, where they satiated the aspiring merchants." - Isobard Quickquill, The Criminal's Chronicle
The second method used by the Redmarks is to break the spirit of the district's residents, by acting as an enforcer for third-parties such as procuresses and press-gangs. These are used to the benefit of both parties, as the Redmarks are able to threaten meddlesome residents with impressment on passing ships, or the
Anharan Baths in the Landside. Through these, the Redmarks have kept the Westdock both deprived of hope and income, the only sources of which come at their hand, and through the indoctrination system of juvenile gangs they have constructed. This makes for a secure homefront, which allowed the Redmarks to launch their war against the Eastdock, culminating in the Yardarm Pact. Now, they operate in relative peace with their fellow gangs, but remain the subject of ire for progressive crusaders in the Landside, as well as those loyal to the now-deceased Lord Arneld.
Paupers
The juvenile arm of the Redmark's machine, the Paupers dominate Almsbank where they recruit up-and-coming street urchins into the gang's ranks. The Paupers are the closest thing to public schooling in the Westdock, and children are indoctrinated from a young age. Through the Paupers they are taught to fight, steal, and survive, as well as given a group identity. Thus, the gang often comes up against resistance from the Landside's charitable organizations, as well as organized groups of mothers outside of the northern Westdock.
Molls
While the Redmarks are feared for their violence, the Molls contend for the position of most annoying gang in The Promenade. Based out of Mendicant's Mess, the Molls professionally train bands of thieves in numerous arts, particularly pickpocketing. From the Mess, they are set loose in the Spine, to sink or swim of their own accord, until their worth is proved sufficiently to move up to the Molls' more professional thieving circuits. Their most intense competition are from the Badgers and city watch, who seek to stamp down upon their disruption of the economy, as well as the Cutout Crew, who are rather possessive of their reputation as the most professional thieves in the city.
Others
While not necessarily gangs, these organizations are crucial to the criminal ecosystem of The Promenade, and are briefly summarized for comprehension.
Longshoremen's Guild
The
Longshoremen's Guild is one of the oldest organizations within the city, originally established for the benefit of dockworkers during the rise of the whaling industry. They traditionally organized things such as Yard Clubs, which were sick-benefit societies payed into by laborers, negotiated for fair housing and reasonable benefits, and lobbied the city council for regulations protecting the industry.
Their most famous, or notorious, action on behalf of labor was also their downfall. After facing off against the Redmarks and city watch in order to prevent the construction of shipboard tryworks, they flooded the Landside in order to get their way. The gangs of the city were not to let such an act exist outside of their system, and with the tacit agreement of the upper classes, the Longshoremen's Guild's democratic processes were used to split their leadership between the most dominant gangs.
Press-Gangs
Press-gangs are the most annoying adversary of the Badgers and Calettina in particular, as they primarily operate in Dogshead and The Portion. These groups receive payment for each male of working age provided to a ship in need, which is primarily achieved through tricking, or impressing, the person into enlisting. This could be done through drugging, knocking out, or intoxicating the person, among other methods, and leaving them to wake up onboard a ship which is already well out to sea.
Procuresses
Commonly called madams, a procuress is the fancier title for a woman who essentially organizes the forced labor of young women in
Anharan Baths across the Landside, and occasionally in nearby wealthy cities. This is most often done through trickery, and along similar lines as the press-gangs, with girls being drugged or kidnapped, and finding themselves awakened in a bathhouse. There are a few informal procuress firms, however most networks are operated by one charismatic or highly-skilled woman in particular, and therefor often expire upon her retirement.
Grabbers
Grabbers are a particular specialization of criminal, most often operating on behalf of the Redmarks or Paupers, although they can be found in almost every neighborhood. These criminals operate as contractors, being let out by their gang to a procuress for the purpose of impressing more vulnerable woman than the procuress may otherwise be able to do herself. The popularity of grabbers as a profession has declined, with the more clandestine methods of a procuress being preferred, particularly after grabbers overextended into wealthier neighborhoods of the Landside.
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