The Black Spider Syndicate

The Black Spider Syndicate is an intricate web of crime and retribution that stretches across Ylos. Thieves, smugglers, fences, con-men and killers, the syndicate is a secret army made up of those the daytime world would prefer to forget.

The Black Spiders are incredibly difficult to root out due to their flexible hierarchy and compartmentalized information. Each member only knows their direct superior and members of their local

## Structure

In every town in Ylos there exists the web: a basic expression of the power of the syndicate. This web is part social structure, part criminal network, and part family, depending on how deep one becomes entangled.

The basic members of the syndicate are freelance agents called **associates**. There is no responsibility at this level beyond individual jobs, which can be procured from any number of locations or members of the local web. While specifics vary from place to place, the one common rule is that if someone takes a job, they should not use their knowledge against the syndicate. That leads to immediate and equitable retribution from the entire web.

Once one has completed a number of tasks for the syndicate, they can be sponsored for membership by another member who vouches for them. They often undergo a trial period unless they have significant clout or reputation. Different webs may require different tests (usually focusing on obedience, courage, ruthlessness, and creativity), but all members must complete a final trial called **The Good Gift**. This trial is a test of the member's skill, often a heist or difficult murder, with all proceeds going to the local leadership. The nature of the Good Gift varies from web to web, but it is always a crime that could see the initiate executed if ever revealed.

There is no age, race, religion, or gender restriction on membership. However, close connections to local law enforcement, paladins, or lawful churches may be grounds for refusal.

After the Good Gift, the initiate joins the local web and is branded with the Mark of the Black Spider, a mystic tattoo whose authenticity is immediately recognizable by all members. There are alternate versions of the mark which are invisible to mundane senses, but they are exceedingly rare.

The basic member of the syndicate is called, simply enough, a **spider.** These members get priority jobs, larger cuts of profit, and can access exclusive perks and discounts from other members.

Above these are **operators** and **soldiers**. They perform duties for the local web that require more finesse. These are unofficial titles, but a productive member will soon find one of these labels attached to them.

Each town or local region has a **capodencia** (captain)**,** or **capa** that runs the local web's operation. It's their job to hire and recruit underlings, watch for trouble, seduce local politicians and law enforcement, and build their local web. It's not uncommon for a capo to employ a lieutenant to handle the day to day operations. These second-in-commands often have a unique title, like **silk merchant**, **spinner**, **worm**, or **page**. It's also often in the capo's best interest to prevent their second from meeting their peers.

In larger regions, such as major metropolises, councils of capo have been known to meet under a **don**, or boss. Dons are in constant competition with each other and often use their extraordinary wealth to purchase titles and domains from which to masquerade as nobles, merchants, or clergy. Anyone with significant power could be a don in the center of a massive web that reinforces their power.

Beyond each don exist a series of assassins and spies known as **baba.** These agents of the web act with power equal to or greater than any don, and are experts at infiltration and extermination. They are deployed when a web becomes too tangled or self-interested.

In theory, the baba serve a council of dons, but there is rumored to be a final overseer, called the **Primar**, or Cousin. Only the dons and baba could even speculate if this person exists, but perhaps the myth is more useful than the truth.

## Other organizations

The Black Spiders aren't the only organized criminals in Ylos. The following groups are known to exist:

* **The Fast Cloud**: a corrupt bridge cleaner union turned racketeers and gamblers in Dogrun Bridge
* The **Krion Conspiracy:** a league of thieves and killers working under a family of dethroned giants
* The **Kraken** **League**: pirates and marauders who are working their way inland along river ways
* The **Black Stag Company**: a group of lawful evil mercenaries who will kill anyone for a price
* The **Brand New Day**: a loose party of gnome anarchists who want to burn down the status quo and install a radical anarcho-utopia