Fogbank - The Five Syndicates

 When the world fell to flame and fire and war, many fled to the perceived safety of the subterranean world, especially the gargantuan caverns which hold the Blackwaters, a massive underground sea with its own ecology. The greatest of the subterranean cities was Fogbank - so named for the rolling fogs that surround the island most of the time. The island on which the city is built rests in utter blackness, so the dark and the fog are pierced by the bright lights of the city, a city which never sleeps. This is the city of Fogbank, the bright jewel of the Blackwaters, the greatest city under the earth.

Fogbank is a developed urban center in an alien, underground landscape. It's got elements of London (especially Whitechapel and similar areas during the era of Jack the Ripper), New York (especially during the Roaring 20s), and other such urban centers. It is a city of great wealth disparity, of jazz and plays, of prohibition and smuggled vices, of spirits and of killers, of dark magic and of progress. In many ways, Fogbank is a city of opposites.

Though Fogbank has a government, in many ways it is a city run by crime. Many of its people, especially the poor and disenfranchised, feel that the government is its own criminal syndicate, but even outside of these claims, it is undeniable that five major syndicates wield immense power over the city, often openly displaying their power and control. 

The syndicates each have a public front, their own special enforcers, and a near-monopoly on one of the many vices that the citizen of Fogbank partake in. They also have their own currencies, used mostly internally, as all five also deal in Ducats, the currency of Fogbank as a whole.

Art by Martin Sobr, Jean Baptiste Cambier, and Adam Torm

The Blackwater Fishmongers (more commonly referred to as just "Fishmongers") are, publically, a guild encompass almost all of Fogbank's fishing, aquaculture, and sailing industries. They are responsible for managing the shipping of goods in and out of Fogbank, across the Blackwaters, for the whaling crews which hunt Deep Whales and render their bodies into valuable oil and whalebone, and for the fisheries which provide a large percentage of the meat consumed in Fogbank.

Of course, control over almost all shipping means that the Fishmongers have total control over smuggling operations moving in and out of the city, most commonly running rum, opiates, and contraband goods for other syndicates, or even for smaller operators and fences. The Fishmongers also run a second, even more secretive vice - a strange faith worshipping a sunken God, submerged somewhere in the depths of the Blackwaters. In the holds of ships and in sunken grottos, they make blasphemous cathedrals to the sunken God, drinking the cerebrospinal fluid of Deep Whales to take on strange mutations.

Those who have partaken of the Drink (as it is called) serve as the enforcers of the syndicate's business. Those who show mutations such as toxic mucus, inhuman resilience or strength, or tentacle-like appendages are often given roles as more direct enforcement, while those with mutations such as gills, low-light vision, or chromataphoric skin are given roles in smuggling, spying, or other less direct jobs.

The special currency used by the Fishmongers are called dubloons, gold coins accepted across the Blackwater's many ports.

The Fishmongers are essentially pirates, smugglers, and rum runners, mixed with 1800s whaling subculture and Innsmouth-esque Deep Ones.

Art by Greg Rutkowski, Tarmo Juhola, and Alec Tucker

The Brasshammer Worker's Union is a collective, encompassing many of the poorer workers who spend their days toiling in Fogbank's industrial slums. The BWU has the most "straight" members of any of the five syndicates (that is to say "members not involved with the criminal aspects of the syndicate"), as many worker's seek protection by the Union. Distinction is typically drawn with the terms "member" for those uninvolved with syndicate work, and "Union Man" for those involved in the less-than-legal activities of the BWU.

The BWU caters to the violent impulses of Fogbank. Those who feel especially disenfranchised, upset with the system, or otherwise want to work out their personal problems through violence can enjoy semi-sanctioned fights or violent sporting matches in disused factories, or join one of the many mobs the BWU incites, rampaging and destroying to the heart's content. Of course, the BWU doesn't want to shake the current system too much - they have quite a powerful place in it, after all - and tend to direct the mob violence towards the City Government, rather than their fellow syndicates. But if a few firebombs happen to land in the wrong place, well, they won't be too put out by it.

The BWU enforces its claims with the most overt violence - sending armed thugs or mobs after those who don't pay their Union dues, often armed with more advanced equipment than other syndicates - explosives, trick weapons, and concealed firearms. Additionally, the BWU has a handful of advanced Automata - ten foot tall metal men who can shrug off bullets and most other conventional attacks. These tend to be kept as personal guards by Union leadership.

The special currency used by the BWU are scrips, an old type of token usable only at company stores, adopted semi-ironically as a jab against former management.

The BWU is essentially a weaponized union mixed with a mafia. It's the industrial uprisings mixed with fight clubs, molotovs and hammers breaking windows, and causing rowdy fights in the streets.

Art by Mafe Balmaceda, Margaret Rodriguez, and Tim van't Hof

Hell's Belles run the hugely popular entertainment districts in Libertine: singers, plays, musicals, radio dramas, and even a few newfangled moving picture shows. Their members include some of the most recognized faces and voices in Fogbank, and even beyond. Famous actresses, renowned broadcast hosts, refined actors and legendary singers are all counted as members of the Belles. 

Of course, many singers, actors, dancers, and actors perform in other ways. The Belles also hold a monopoly on the sensual vices of the city - smoky cabarets, strip clubs, burlesque shows, and brothels are the domain of the Belles. As membership is mostly comprised of sex workers, the syndicate is extremely protective of its members, moreso than any of the other syndicates. They have been so ruthless in their persecution of improper practices in their industry that they hold an effective monopoly on prostitution and similar services in the city. Of course, not every member of the Belles is a sex worker, but even those who aren't spend lots of time with them.

One of the ways that the Belles protect their own is through the use of enchanted sigil tattoos, which are given upon gaining membership. The adoration, affection, or attention of others is absorbed as power by the tattoo, and can be released in controlled or explosive ways. The more fans or lovers a Belle has, the faster the tattoo can be recharged, allowing for even more usage. More controlled usage allows for increased strength and resilience, with explosive usage allowing for extreme bursts of speed, reflex, or strength. Skill in a Belle enforcers tends to correlate with popularity, leading to some prominent performers moonlighting as vigilantes or killers.

The special currency used by the Belles are called spintriae, silver coins printed with erotic images on their reverse side, accepted at brothels across Fogbank.

Hell's Belles are very similar to the Mox from Cyberpunk - a guild of sex workers protecting their own. They draw power from their fans, so popularity converts quite literally into power.

Art by Antoine Verney-Carron, Olivier Ruillard, and Laura Molina

The Honorable Company of Cultivators (more commonly referred to as just "Cultivators") are the only syndicate whose public face holds official liscense from the City Government (hence the "Honorable Company" in their title). They are liscensed to handle all matters of agriculture within Fogbank. Of course, growing food is not as easy on a subterranean island as on the surface world, and the Cultivator's work is as much about carefully maintining growhouses and checking soil conditions as it is about planting and harvesting. The Cultivators also have a legal role in the disposal of bodies - allowing the flesh to rot and be used for fertilization of new crops - something they share with one of their fellow syndicates.

Of course, the Cultivators do not content themselve to only grow food. They grow drugs as well, especially hallucinogens, opiates and cannabinoids, refining them in secret growhouses before peddling them on the streets of Fogbank. They have close ties with the Fishmongers, to whom they sell drugs to be resold in further shores. The Cultivators also participate in a second vice, one indulged in by fewer of its members - cannibalism. As they have legal access to bodies, skimming a few cadavers for profane feasting is a simple matter, allowing the decadent syndicate leadership to indulge in one of the city's darkest vices. 

Those who become addicted to flesh and overindulge become Ghouls, pale, hulking monstrosities with a perpetual hunger. As they eat, they grow in size, so that they can never truly feel full. This constant state of starvation drives most Ghouls mad, so the Cultivators keep Ghouls on a constant supply of opium and other drugs to keep them calm. When the Ghouls need to be unleashed, the supply is revoked, and the withdrawn, enraged, starving Ghoul will rampage and slaughter. A rare few Ghouls retain their intelligence and personality, and have enough willpower to manage the constant feelings of starvation. These Ghouls enjoy special places as elite bodyguards and killers.

The special currency used by the Cultivators are called aggri beads, small glass beads worn on necklaces or bracelets for ease of transportation and to display wealth and standing.

The Cultivators are essentially drug dealers with wendigo bodyguards. They are the most decentralized of the five syndicates, with multiple competing interests within the larger syndicate.

Art by Eugen Poe, NinthRiven, and Yulian Nakov

House Grimaldi is one of the noble Houses which fled the war to the island which would eventually become Fogbank. They have a long history in the politics of the City Government, but more recently have withdrawn from public service to a more reserved position in the city. They operate a guild of morticians, undertakers, and other who deal with death, and have long been the keepers and maintainers of the great catacombs under Fogbank where the Hallowed Dead are kept. As one of the two syndicates with a legal role in disposing of corpses, they work closely with the Cultivators, transporting cadavers for use as fertilizer, then collecting and interring the bones.

Grimaldi also traffics in murder, assassination, and necromancy. Alongside the morticians and undertakers, the House patronizes spiritualists and mediums, calling the spirits of the dead to extract blackmail for the living, and resurrecting skeletons to carry out their dirty work. It is often said that if you want someone dead, House Grimaldi will see it done, then hire the bones when they're finished.

House Grimaldi has the smallest syndicate membership of the five, as only members of a single noble house are considered full members of the syndicate. However, each member of the House is a horrifyingly skilled necromancer, never seen on syndicate business without a host of specially equipped skeletal guards, called Praetorians by the House. So long as the necromancer who resurrected the skeletons lives, the undead cannot truly be stopped. The bulk of the syndicates workers and killers are resurrected skeletons. The living members meet in hidden rooms within the great catacombs, as few others dare tread down in the crypts.

The special currency used by House Grimaldi are called obols, bronze coins minted with skulls on both sides. If one wishes to pay the House for a killing, they must pay in obols.

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And for right now, that's all on the five syndicates that essentially run Fogbank! Fogbank is an idea I've been toying with for a while, and believe it or not, the idea for these factions came essentially full formed when I woke up from a fever dream a while back. I guess that says something for divine inspiration. Until next time!

-Rabbit