The History And Function Of The Black Dragon Clan

# A brief account of the notorious Black Dragon Clan crime syndicate as compiled by the Archduke Jerron of Thromsey in the year 859 of the Treatise lasting peace.

True knowledge of this group is rather hard to come by, and its ruthless practices have done much towards making many believe that there is something inhuman or mystical at the head of the Clan instead of run of the mill, if smart and efficient, rogues. In the interests of historical honesty and accuracy to the mythos of this band of thieves, I will relay the myths and rumours about them as well as the true hard facts that your humble historian has worked tirelessly to retrieve and verify. One would hope that these tireless efforts could do much in quelling the continued mythification and romanticization of this criminal element in our fair Kingdom.

Now, the most popular and truly outlandish of the myths surrounding this “Clan” is that it is somehow run by a true black dragon. As those who have read my previous writings discussing the idea of an actual race of dragons are aware, this is completely impossible and it is much more likely that the original founder of this criminal element was a member of the faction of the Dragons that were almost entirely wiped out at the founding of Verissamore. This bit of mythos once viewed through the proper lens can explain much of how the syndicate was able to so easily gain control over the various motley bands of scum and villainy- proper funding. Those groups that could be bought were bought and those with what I suppose some might describe as a functional moral compass were efficiently and brutally slain as examples.

Through such methods, the Clan was able to rapidly seize control of every element of criminal activity in the pre-Kingdom within a matter of roughly a decade of a constant gang war. This Clan accepted almost all with no care for race, creed, background, or gender and as such were able to compel bonds of oath and companionship greater than any other prior claims could hold. To this day, any members of the Clan caught refuse to tell the secrets of their leaders, stating that they could never betray their ‘family’ regardless of the methods of persuasion.

In the research for this history, I was given access to many interrogations of this Clan- all easily known by their barbaric method of tattooing the mark of a Black Dragon upon their person- and no matter the incentive none cracked. No offers of money, no amount of torture, no threats upon known associates could gain the group's secrets from their lips. Only the use of trickery upon the more stupid members gains any information, but the Clan offers very little in the way of secrets to those elements, perhaps knowing their stupidity.

From years of these interrogations, the Kingdoms police forces have learned that the Clan’s hierarchy is situated in the rough shape of a pyramid. The base of this pyramid is the common rabble- cutpurses, thugs, and the like- who only know that above them are lieutenants who assign their tasks and generally recruit them. Above this lowest and most dreadfully common element, you have the aforementioned lieutenants. In many ways these members are the most active of the group- they recruit promising talent in the form of the street urchins and tavern toughs who cannot resist dipping their grubby little hands into the criminal world, they train this rabble, and then they disseminate the tasks and jobs to the lowest element. This lieutenant level holds the hearts of the common people by being the most well known of the Black Dragon Clan with historic figures such as Rayburn of the Green Hood, who famously ‘stole from the rich to give to the poor’, or Selene the Cat Lady who punished all that dared to harm children or animals. After looking through the history of both the Kingdom and the Black Dragon Clan, it is my humble if informed opinion that the only thieves, rogues, and criminals that have ever gained notoriety in Verissamore have been at the Lieutenant level of this crime syndicate as part of the groups malicious and cunning goals in keeping the common people more on their side than the sides of their rightful Lords and Ladies.

What lies above the Lieutenant level is shrouded in mystery and half-truths, but years of sorting through rumours have led me to believe that there is a smaller group of General’s who report directly to the chosen leader of the Clan. How this leader is chosen is unknown, but it is possible that it could be hereditary in some form, or perhaps the generals vote a member of their own group to that status. All that I could truly verify about this leader is that they are referred to only as The Black Dragon, a title that has clearly been passed down since the first member of the Dragon leadership went unsurprisingly criminal before the founding of the Kingdom.

I beseech all who read or hear these words to take them to heart- the Black Dragon Clan, organized as they may be, are nothing more than a group of thugs and thieves who can only hold power over the criminal elements of our Kingdom as long as the common people refuse to hold to their birthright of oaths to the nobility of this land. Give over protecting them with words and allow their too long reign of villainy to end. This group has no desire for true and lawful governance and hides in the shadows as cowards would. Cast off their chains of false promises of protection and pretend sharing of wealth and choose loyalty to those who govern you in law.

Thus has been a true and factual report without the biases of those influenced by a belief in mythical creatures or the bias of those who lay in the control of the criminal elements of our kingdom. Long may Verissamore stand and the Lions of the Sun reign.