F A C T I O N S
The Aces pride themselves on being New Pike's "original" crime syndicate. While the authenticity of this claim is impossible to prove, long-time Ace members will often bully members of other groups by telling them to get out of what has and always been Ace territory. However, the newer the Ace member, the less they tend to care for the organization's originality. Rather, the mark of the Aces is their efficiency and lethality. Jobs passed out to Ace members range from murder to theft and everything in between, and due to the high caliber of this work, finding a rank within the Aces is not an easy task to achieve. Only the best of the best are accepted, and higher Ace powers won't hesitate to cut a failing recruit out of the picture. Depending on how high up you are on the Aces' hierarchy, leaving the mafia's grasp could result in either death or a life spent in hiding.
But the overall goal of the Aces will always remain the same as all other factions within the town: control over New Pike. The Aces will not rest until the entire city is right underneath their fingertips. With groups like the Ordinance standing between them and total citywide dominance, the Aces have gained a good number of enemies... not that they didn't have them before, but these days, it seems that tensions between the Aces and other groups are at an all time high, with news of shootouts and hit-and-run jobs involving Ace members popping up on the radio seemingly daily.
But the overall goal of the Aces will always remain the same as all other factions within the town: control over New Pike. The Aces will not rest until the entire city is right underneath their fingertips. With groups like the Ordinance standing between them and total citywide dominance, the Aces have gained a good number of enemies... not that they didn't have them before, but these days, it seems that tensions between the Aces and other groups are at an all time high, with news of shootouts and hit-and-run jobs involving Ace members popping up on the radio seemingly daily.
Aces work is primarily run out of a number of high-rolling casinos spread across town. For a newcomer, a casino in New Pike may look like a nice place to kick back and have some fun; to anyone who knows the town, these same casinos are a huge red flag. It's often incredibly hard to tell, even with a trained eye, which casinos are and are not controlled by the Aces month to month. While the Aces do in fact pull the strings of almost every casino in the city, they typically only will choose one or two to actually operate out of.
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Most gambling in Aces-run casinos is completely rigged, but that doesn't prevent Aces from getting somewhat addicted to gambling. Betting, in essence, is a critical part of all Aces work; Aces members will bet against each other on jobs and in daily mob life, keeping the standard of their work incredibly high with new stakes added onto already high-priority tasks. On particularly messy work that Aces cannot clean up, it isn't uncommon to see calling cards. The highest ranking Aces members all have unique calling cards that they will leave on bodies, in crime scenes, or with smuggled contraband. Only the truly street smart can read these calling cards; law enforcement typically cannot use these cards as proof of a crime on the rare occasion they can decipher them.
In a city like New Pike, there's bound to be government corruption. What no one can truly predict, though, is the extent of it in town. The Ordinance, run by officials who refer to themselves as "Members of the Order", would completely crumble without the support of the city's government. Through the strategic placing of Order Members within the ranks of government, all public city politicians have slowly come to be controlled by this group to the point that the government is nothing more than the Ordinance's scaffolding to control parts of the city.
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Politicians, under the will of the Ordinance, are essentially used as puppets. This was especially true in the case of the city's last mayor. Father of a single son, the mayor was completely under the control of the order and heeded to all of their bidding. He was the big ticket item, and through him, the Ordinance temporarily drove the Aces and Coyote Company into submission, allowing them to partake in their own corruption. However, in a drastic turn of events, the mayor was assasinated by a gunshot to the head at a public speech, leaving the Ordinance scrambling for power. They now operate in the lower levels of government, but are desperately trying to once more gain control of the city's new mayor.
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Since then, the city's other major gangs have returned as major forces to be reckoned with. The Ordinance still remains as the town's main boogeyman; the image of suited men puppeteering politicians remains in the mind of every gang member out on the streets at night. Ask any gang member, and they'll all agree that no other group in New Pike is as universally hated as the Ordinance. If it was easy to get rid of them, they would have been scratched out of city government long ago. At this point, they're a wasp nest: dormant, but you know that if you kick it enough, they're bound to attack back.
The main source of New Pike's various street thugs and goons, the Coyote Company (members are called either Coyotes or Company members) is a hierachy-based gang that lets ANYONE in. Really, anyone. There's no official initation besides one of hundreds of animalistic-seeming rituals, all developed regionally by Company members. Rumor has it that initiation began with one single ritual, and over time, Company members would continually put their own spins on the practice so that no two members were ever initated the same. Entrance is admitted by other goons; approach any group of Coyotes, and if they're in a good mood, they'll administer their choice of initation for you.
Among the lower levels of the company, there's little to no structure and the thugs do as they please. Occasionally, the higher levels will send out an order, and if the lower levels so choose, they can take it upon themselves to follow through. More often than not, the average street thug is so obsessed with causing their fair share of chaos that they'll gladly walk straight into whatever battle is presented to them, granting the high ranking members of the company a mildly skilled but enormous army that will do whatever they want, whenever they want.
Among the lower levels of the company, there's little to no structure and the thugs do as they please. Occasionally, the higher levels will send out an order, and if the lower levels so choose, they can take it upon themselves to follow through. More often than not, the average street thug is so obsessed with causing their fair share of chaos that they'll gladly walk straight into whatever battle is presented to them, granting the high ranking members of the company a mildly skilled but enormous army that will do whatever they want, whenever they want.
Occasionally, a lower-level recruit that shows great promise will be promoted to a higher level of the company. While the oversized lowest level may be a mess--nothing but a bunch of thugs running around the streets, setting fires, robbing shops—the higher up the ranks you look, the more highly structured the members are. The highest levels of the hierarchy are actually incredibly militaristic and quite the force to reckon with. Taking out a set of Company goons is no problem for the average New Pike gang member, but thinking of elite Coyotes strikes fear into the hearts of even the most resilient city denizens.
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Of the upper rankings, most of their business is conducted out of warehouses and other large abandoned buildings. The empty spaces allow them large areas to gather and organize their members so they can act quickly. When no Company members are present, these bases of operation are effectively inconspicuous. No evidence is left behind for the police department or any other gangs in the case that they grow suspicious, allowing the company to return over and over. Lower ranking company members are rarely found in these spaces.
Company members additionally share the other animalistic trait of being able to communicate on a base level by various howls, clicks, whistles, and other creature-based noises. Coyotes call this primordial language Snarlscratch, or just scratch for short. It takes about 6 months for a member to become fully versed in scratch, but the general emotive expressions can be learned in as quickly as a day. Many members of New Pike also know base level scratch, but it's incredibly hard for anyone who doesn't have direct Coyote connections to completely learn the language.
Company members additionally share the other animalistic trait of being able to communicate on a base level by various howls, clicks, whistles, and other creature-based noises. Coyotes call this primordial language Snarlscratch, or just scratch for short. It takes about 6 months for a member to become fully versed in scratch, but the general emotive expressions can be learned in as quickly as a day. Many members of New Pike also know base level scratch, but it's incredibly hard for anyone who doesn't have direct Coyote connections to completely learn the language.
Founded by a highly skilled group of gun runners that migrated to the city from the West coast, the Artillery Corps have lived on in their image as the city's biggest underground marketplace of guns, ammo, explosives, and weaponry. Only the most skilled craftsmen are welcomed into their guild-like workings, but once you're in, you're in for life. Every Corps craftsman is typically skilled in a specific area of weaponry or destruction; jacks of all trades are rare, and having craftsmen that aren't specialized would lower the quality of their goods. Although their operation is highly illegal, there's little effort made for them to leave the city or be shut down. The Corps sell to every faction equally, including the covert dealing of firearms to the city's police department.
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Artillery Corps goods are either shipped out through partnership with Caravan Nine, left as dead drops for factions to pick up in bulk, or sold on a more individual basis in their underground bazaar. Whatever you imagine when you hear the words "black market", that's exactly what the Corps market is: a dark, underground bunker near the edges of town that sprawls off into the hallways with various booths and built-in shops that are sure to provide that dream knife or rifle.
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Need to get something that's not entirely legal from one place to another? Caravan Nine is your go-to group. Specializing in delivering everything from letters, to escaped convicts, to smuggled items across the city, Caravan Nine has a reputation for their flawless work... so flawless that groups such as the New Pike P.D. sometimes use them. Joining Caravan Nine as a courier is not an easy task; many are killed off in their first number of delivery runs. Once you're in, though, you're in for good.
Caravan Nine operates out of Dead Drop Alley, a fortified back alley near the center of the city that is long enough to house their bazaar of goods smuggled into the city. Couriers are constantly running in and out, day and night; the alley never sleeps. Many of the group's couriers actually work with motorcycles. They're fast, easy to ride, and can get from place to place without having to stick to main roads.
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The city's attempt at law enforcement comes in the form of the New Pike Police Department. While they aren't as corrupt as you might immediately guess, they're just a bit of a mess. It's a constant fight between trying to keep the ordinance from gaining more control over the P.D. and keeping a war going against the city's gangs. Life for officers can often be short, as it seems that mob members have it out particularly badly for them.
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