The Pawns
By Xelan Morgath

TYPE: Mafia/Cartel

MEMBERS: Ming Yheng, Shivering Moonshadow

BACKGROUND: Type: a guild-like criminal organization History: the group is evolving from the Pawn Shop. After being successful in both fencing and stealing goods, the Pawn Shop owner wants to expand with her two most loyal coworkers and form an actual network for criminal activities. Philosophy: "Life is like a game of chess. We are all pawns. But that does not mean we are insignificant. A pawn can decide the outcome of the game. A pawn can make promotion and become a more powerful piece. And pawns come in numbers." Property of others is regarded as a temporary loan, nothing more. In the view of the Pawns everything belongs to them and people just don't know that yet. Activities: larceny, burglary, pick pocketing, extortion, fraud, basically all sorts of property crimes. Description: The members of the organization believe in the principle of covert acquirement of whatever they require. Stealing is an art-form and should be done precisely, with careful planning and thorough organization. The end goal is promotion, which means both moving forward and upgrading (chess term). The organization is very meticulous in their preparations, leaving nothing to coincidence (well, they try). Organization: The Pawns are organized by ranks. Each rank is represented by a chess piece. A Pawn - these are ranked into seven levels, from new recruits to full members. Each level is acquired by certain levels of expertise in the art of stealing, combined with criminal status and presence in the city. The Knight - a low ranking officer (max two) The Bishop - a medium ranking officer (max two) The Rook - a high ranking officer (max two) The Queen/King - lead of the organization (max one) The advancement in levels is achieved by three means: 1. presence and performance in the rp sim of Dead End 2. following ic classes in pick pocketing, burglary and other arts needed to be a successful thief 3. each level has a task or challenge that has to be met to be able to level up. Two officers are needed to propose a promotion. The queen/king has final say in this. Only an officer or a lead can assign roles or allow one to become a member.

UNIQUE: Facilities already in use are the Pawn Shop and the Storage Warehouse in Dead Drop. These will remain the core of the faction and their activities. Roleplay hooks: 1. The Pawn Shop will remain a big supplier of goods for all sorts of players like it is now. We either have it or we can get it, that's the attitude we show and so far that works very well. Faction members will also work as shop clerk or as shop repossession coworker. Yet not all shop coworkers have to be part of the guild. 2. We want the faction to be set up like a guild. Why a guild? Because central to the faction is the notion of promotion and development. It will be a kind of crime school with several levels and layers to allow players to grow with their character onto the path of being a criminal. We will cause all sorts of activities for members like classes, challenges and special tasks. Officers are supposed to be experts and teacher. Non-members will also be involved, both as trading partners, targets or allies.

FLAW: The members of the group are all goofy and often make mistakes. They are ambitious yet often fail in their attemtps to solve their problems. Poverty is always a problem and we will keep it that way as being poor as a criminal is way more fun than being rich already.

POTENTIAL ENEMY: The Pawn Shop currently has business deals with almost all the other factions and groups in the rp sim. They deal mostly with the Hellcats as they are a big supplier of goods to fence. But they also have contacts with Black Mamba, Commedia and Circus Flaminus. With the Syndicate it's more dificult and we expect those will be the toughest adversaries in the future as they are somewhat less forgiving than the DEPD. With the DEPD we are already dancing around each other with the PAwn Shop and that will be even more so as a faction. Getting criminal status is part of the requirements to advance in the organization so prison time is a good thing. Other contacts: The Pawn Shop has been making connections with other Pawn Shops - in Hathian City (Crack Den) and in Detroit (fictional). That's being used to exchange goods and trade wares that are too hot to handle.

EXPERIENCE:I have been roleplaying in SL for many years, most of it in Dead End. My former character Syn Rosa has been the lead in the Shelter for abused Women (first true business in DE) and has afterwards been roleplaying as a psychiatrist in the hospital, while running a brainwashing facility in Dead Drop named the Syn Rosa Initiative (SRI). After that I introduced a new character named Suki, who became an adopted daughter of Ming Yheng. After Ming left Suki ran the teahouse for awhile (second true business in DE) but rl interfered and I had to step down. When I came back to SL I opened my own roleplay Sim named Gentopia for about half a year, aiming mostly for European roleplayers. But after struggling with the dwindling visitors numbers I had to close that down again. When I came back to DE I did so with another old character of mine, Xelan Morgath, who actually is my dearest possession of all the characters in my collection. She started out as a pick pocket and a thief living on the streets but has quickly evolved until she could purchase the Pawn Shop (my third true business in DE) and become a business woman. IRL I have many years of experience with being a storyteller and dungeon master. As a profession I am a teacher and quite used to working with other people, being patient and friendly yet also firm when it has to be. I don't like bullshit but I listen before I answer and that usually makes me a good leader.

IDEAS:The secret of success is walk up to somebody and start playing. I have no trouble playing for hours about how to make tea. Signing up for the faction is not possible at first but when open for recruitment I will try to enlist those people with low skilled characters and offer them a means to have their characters grow and evolve into true-sized criminals.

OTHER:The Pawn Shop currently has business deals with almost all the other factions and groups in the rp sim. They deal mostly with the Hellcats as they are a big supplier of goods to fence. But they also have contacts with Black Mamba, Commedia and Circus Flaminus. With the Syndicate it's more dificult and we expect those will be the toughest adversaries in the future as they are somewhat less forgiving than the DEPD. With the DEPD we are already dancing around each other with the PAwn Shop and that will be even more so as a faction. Getting criminal status is part of the requirements to advance in the organization so prison time is a good thing. Other contacts: The Pawn Shop has been making connections with other Pawn Shops - in Hathian City (Crack Den) and in Detroit (fictional). That's being used to exchange goods and trade wares that are too hot to handle.