Rofal Syndicate

The Rofal Syndicate is an unofficial name for a Brighton-based crime ring run by a branch of Rofal Family.

## Members

At the start of the story the syndicate had about four hundred enforcers and an unknown number of workers.

## Influence

Brighton police department is extremely corrupt, with several members of it outright serving Joseph and even some unaffiliated ones willing to let the syndicate members commit murders with no resistance. Honest officers trying to make arrests are foiled by information leaks, coerced or outright murdered (such as Officer Mallory), sometimes even with family members (such as Melissa Mallory) being killed as well. Some of the syndicate members who did end up arrested were released extremely quickly, due to lawyers being corrupt or scared, and even some judges&members of jury being in Joseph’s pocket.

The drug dealing operations alone were profitable enough to produce 70,000 Troas in just several weeks, and the other operations (gun running, car theft, prostitution) are implied to be similarly profitable.

## History

The syndicate was initially created by Damian and Feromas. It was inherited by Joseph ten years before the start of the story. It’s unknown how Damian and Feromas ran the syndicate, but Joseph, while not trusting anyone he had the opportunity not to, used both rewards and threats to assert control over his subordinates. The rewards included not only money, but also protection from the police that came with being a part of the syndicate. Joseph also understood that, while he could go as far as take his subordinates’ children hostage, there was no point in such actions as killing subordinates simply for failure.

Around the beginning of the story, Officer Mallory witnessed the murder of a ten year old boy by Geoffrey and was called on to be a key witness in the court case. To stop him from testifying, Joseph Rofal sent five men to his house to kill him. Hector, alerted by Garovel, arrived at the same time as them and incapacitated four (with the fifth killed by Mallory), but not before Mallory was shot in the side. His daughter, Melissa was present during the attack on her father by Joseph Rofal’s men, and was also targeted by Joseph. She was taken into protective custody, and was sitting in waiting room of the hospital while her father underwent surgery and subsequently died on the operating table before he could receive a blood transfusion. The four officers assigned to her were intending to let Rofal’s goons to pass unobstructed, but Hector, once again alerted by Garovel, incapacitated the goons. That forced Colt to gun down three other officers, knife Hector in the brain and shoot Melissa in the head.

Following that, Hector hit a syndicate’s cash house, incapacitating most of the present 44 enforcers and taking the money. By following Timothy Swank leaving the cash house, Garovel had learned the location of Rofal underground mansion and that Joseph forced Colt to serve him by keeping his children hostage. This allowed Hector to convince Colt to betray Joseph and stage a rescue mission for the children. During the mission Joseph was killed by Colt.

Following Joseph's death, Geoffrey took over and maintained some degree of control by killing any subordinate who failed him or tried to escape. This worked to some degree for a while, but after Geoffrey left for Sescoria, the syndicate seemingly dissolved almost completely, with all surviving subordinates fleeing. However, a few days after Geoffrey’s return to Brighton, Damian and Feromas had showed up. With the agreement of Geoffrey, they took over and started rebuilding the syndicate. Reacting to this resurgence of activity, Hector continued attacking various cash houses and business fronts of the syndicate. Fearing that as a response to this Damian will kill Hector before him, Geoffrey orchestrated Calman High Massacre. After Geoffrey was killed by Hector, Damian and Feromas had left Atreya. It’s currently unknown what happened to the rest of the syndicate after that.

## References

1. ↑ ‘*Officer Mallory is in his house. You should keep your distance until--*’ Garovel stopped when they both saw a black van pull up in front of the house. Five men stepped out. Two started for the front door, three circled around back. ‘*You’d better put your mask back on.*’ - Excerpt from page 34
2. ↑ Hector didn’t have to wait much longer after that. He noticed the men as soon as they entered the intersecting hallway. He counted four, walking together, all wearing sunglasses at night and dark hats indoors. He donned his own mask and stood. - Excerpt from page 42
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 ‘*How many guys are there?*’

‘*I counted forty-three. No, wait. I see another one.*’ - Excerpt from page 61
4. ↑ Swank shook his head and looked at their boss. “He said he was coming for you. And no disrespect to Colt, but I’m not sure he’d stand much of a chance, anyhow. The guy took down, what, an eighth of all our muscle? In the span of a few days?” - Excerpt from page 70
5. ↑ “Tell me who else... um... who else Rofal has on the police force... or anywhere else I should know about.”

“The only other cops I know about are Toller, Robstoy, and Vance.” - Excerpt from page 83
6. ↑ Mallory’s daughter was supposed to be in protective custody for the remainder of the night, and Garovel had initially wanted Hector to get some rest. But then the reaper heard some of the officers talking privately. Each of the four guards assigned to her expected Rofal’s men to come for her by night’s end, and only Officer Colt seemed to harbor any notion of standing in their way. And it hadn’t taken the other three long to talk him down. - Excerpt from page 40
7. ↑ ‘*Ah*,’ Garovel said, ‘*looks like Ponytail is here to move the money. Smart. This is probably why the police can’t seem to find any of these cash houses. As soon as they start getting close, I bet someone in the department warns Rofal’s people. Must be why there are so many of them here right now. They seem to be in a hurry. You should probably come introduce yourself now.*’ - Excerpt from page 61
8. ↑ Rofal did not look amused. “You are obviously not the person to discuss this with. Tell me how your assignment went.”

“I contacted some of my old colleagues in the department. Told them I was innocent, like you said. I’m pretty sure none of them believed me.”

“I didn’t expect them to. But now they will be conflicted. And perhaps more malleable.”

Colt furrowed his brow. “You mean to coerce them.”

“Empires are not built on alliances. They are built on conquests.” - Excerpt from page 71
9. ↑ ‘*You remember. You knocked his teeth out. I’m surprised he’s out of jail already. It’s barely been two days since he was arrested.*’

‘*Perks of being on Rofal’s payroll, I guess...*’

‘*Even so, two days is a bit ridiculous. The police force must be more corrupt than we thought. Maybe lawyers, as well.*’ - Excerpt from page 61
10. ↑ It had to be said, however, that the odds of them solving it within the next few days, statistically speaking, were actually pretty good. In Colt's experience, "solving" cases wasn't usually the problem. The problem was gathering up enough evidence to prove the killer had done it in a court of law--or, in some instances, gathering up enough evidence to convince a chicken shit prosecutor to take the case to trial.

Colt had known a few of those. It was hard tell if a lawyer was scared or just corrupt. Colt suspected that the corrupt ones had a tendency to *act* scared in order to help conceal their corruption, but either way, the end result was basically the same. Lowlifes going free.

That was the entire reason why he had started taking the law into his own hands back in Brighton. Pure frustration, built up over years of watching justice not done. - Excerpt from side story 1 page 13
11. ↑ “She was about to get full custody. I was about to go to prison. And that’s when Rofal showed up, telling me he could make sure I won the case.” Colt’s eyes fell to the table, and he scratched his forehead. “I’m still not sure how much of it he’d planned. He had her lawyer and the judge in his pocket. I suspected members of the jury, too.” - Excerpt from page 300
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 ‘*Looks like Rofal consolidated several weeks worth of cash here from all over the city. I wonder if he was planning a big purchase.*’

‘*Seventy thousand troas... what do I even do with this kind of money...?*’

‘*That’s our funding for critical purposes. No spending it on booze and hookers.*’

Hector snorted. ‘*What about drugs? Meth and heroin are okay, right?*’

‘*Oh yeah. Let’s just give it all back to Rofal while we’re at it.*’

‘*Are you, um... er... are you sure we can even spend this money? Isn’t it, like... being tracked by the government or something?*’

‘*No. We didn’t rob a bank. We just won’t be able to make large purchases at licensed vendors without drawing attention.*’

‘*R-right...*’

‘*We could have stolen from Rofal’s gun running business*,’ said Garovel, ‘*or his car theft ring, but money doesn’t change hands nearly as often in those. And stealing from the prostitution business would have probably done more harm to the prostitutes than to Rofal.*’ - Excerpt from pages 66 and 67
13. ↑ “Ah.” Rofal took a swig of his alcohol. “My father and mother retired successfully some ten years ago now. Great man, my father. These days, some people question his lucidity--namely, my mother--but sometimes, I can still see that brilliance of his. That *ambition*. One moment, he’ll be talking about his great grandfather or his dead sister like they’re in the room; and then the next, he’ll be whispering to me about some secret store room he had built thirty years ago.”

“I met him once,” said Swank. “He offered to cut my hair for me. And replace it with possum fur. I’m still not sure if he was joking.”

Rofal laughed. “Apart from that, I have a few siblings. I inherited the business because my older sister, bless her, hates everything about it.” - Excerpt from page 90
14. ↑ “Is it really so ridiculous? With you, I finally have someone reliable who can never betray me. With me, you finally have an employer who appreciates your finer talents. An employer who will not hesitate to show his generosity.”

“You have a strange idea of generosity.”

“I like guarantees, Colt. A man in my position shouldn’t trust anyone when he has the opportunity not to. I’m sure you can understand that. But when I have my guarantee--” He placed a briefcase on the desk. It was full of cash. “--I am free to show my gratitude.”

Colt eyed the money. By the size of the bills, there must have been at least five thousand troas. - Excerpt from page 72
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 “Money isn’t enough,” he said.

“Of course. I believe you have earned another two hours.”

Colt took the briefcase. “Where are they?”

“Today, they’re here.” Rofal motioned toward the broad double doors behind him, ornately wooden with brass lamps on either side. “Tomorrow, they’ll be somewhere else.”

Colt proceeded through into what could only be Rofal’s bedchamber. Four guards looked up as he entered, and then put away their cards, book, and newspaper in order to watch him in silence. He approached the crib in the middle of the room.

Two babies lay sleeping, twins boy and girl. Colt took a relieved breath. He could not smile at them. Not here. He touched his son’s forehead and then his daughter’s.

Two hours, he had. It wasn’t enough. He wanted to spend it as efficiently as possible, but he didn’t know how to do that. So before it drove him mad, he decided to just sit down and watch them sleep.

Garovel merely continued observing. - Excerpt from page 72
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Geoffrey was decidedly *not* his uncle. Joseph Rofal understood that killing his employees for failure served no purpose. Geoffrey did not. Or perhaps he did and just didn’t care, because simply fleeing was also out of the question. Two men tried to leave the city the other day. Geoffrey had their heads in his office now.

The search for Colt had not been much better. Of the three men that Swank sent to retrieve Colt’s personnel file from the police station, only one returned, delivering a message to stop looking for the man. Geoffrey killed the poor bastard anyway.

He had no idea what to do at this point. The Rofal empire was a sinking ship, and its new captain didn’t give a shit, because he was a fucking shark. - Excerpt from page 129
17. ↑ “Wh-who sent these men to kill you?”

Mallory squinted. “How old are you? You sound like a kid.” At Hector’s silence, he said, “Rofal. Joseph Rofal.”

“Because you’re testifying in court a-against him?”

“Not against him. His little shit stain of a nephew. I was there. I saw him murder that boy. No more than ten years old. Dropped a cinderblock on top of the kid’s head. And then *laughed*. Fuckin’ little bastard--” He broke off for a pained cringe and began coughing. His skin had grown pale. Sweat covered his face. “And now I’m dying ‘cuz of that little fuck? I should’ve just... sh-should’ve just shot that piece of... stupid piece of shit...” The dreary look in his eyes seemed to suggest he had forgotten what he was saying. Or that he no longer cared. - Excerpt from page 36
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 ‘*Officer Mallory is in his house. You should keep your distance until--*’ Garovel stopped when they both saw a black van pull up in front of the house. Five men stepped out. Two started for the front door, three circled around back. ‘*You’d better put your mask back on.*’

‘*Right.*’

Dashing up to the house, he saw them knocking on the door.

‘*Deal with the ones in the back first.*’

‘*Okay.*’

He snuck along the neighbor’s fence and leapt over into the backyard. The three of them noticed him immediately and stiffened their postures, hands in their coats.

“Who the fuck are you?” said the nearest one, square-jawed and younger than the others. “What’s with the fucking mask?”

“Uh... I-I heard you had some leaky pipes?”

“Get outta here before we--”

‘*You don’t have time to chat.*’ Garovel touched his shoulder, and that familiar pain flashed through his body. ‘*Go.*’

He rushed the youngest guy, who pulled a gun, but Hector flattened him before he could fire. The man stayed down. The other two pulled, and Hector took two in the chest before reaching the next man, slugging him in the face, and kicking his gun away from him. The last one fired five more times, three of which missed Hector completely, and went down with a kick to the testicles and an elbow to the forehead.

Gunfire erupted from inside the house.

He stomped the door down and found Mallory crouched behind the kitchen’s island, clutching his side with one arm, trying to reload his service weapon with the other, and staring right back at Hector. A ponytailed gunman was in the hall, and Hector walked straight toward him. A bullet ripped through the mask and pierced his neck. Hector yanked the man’s gun away and smashed him in the face with it. A few teeth flew from his mouth and hit the hardwood floor as he did.

A gunshot made him run back into the kitchen. The last thug was slumped in the other doorway, his head blown open and bleeding all over the tile. Officer Mallory took a ragged breath and looked at Hector, doubtless wanting to ask the obvious question, but he pulled out a cellphone instead and dialed. He tried to stand but slid back down against the counter, bleeding nearly as much as the dead man.

“I’m going to assume--guh--that you didn’t come here to kill me,” said the officer. He put the phone to his ear. “Yeah, I need an ambulance.” Giving his address and eyeing Hector, he added, “And there’s someone else here in even worse shape than me... I think.” - Excerpt from pages 34 and 35
19. ↑ ‘*I’m at the scene.*’

‘*What have you learned?*’

‘*Apparently, the daughter was upstairs the whole time.*’

‘*Holy shit...*’ Hector’s brow lowered, and he scratched his head. ‘*Sh-she... she heard the gunshots and everything...?*’

‘*I’m looking for her now. Word is, she saw a black male in a red shirt and a strange mask fleeing the crime scene.*’

‘*Of course...*’

There was a long pause. ‘*Shit.*’

‘*What’s the matter?*’

‘*I see her. She has the aura. Rofal put the hit on her, too.*’ - Excerpt from page 39
20. ↑ Hector didn’t have to wait much longer after that. He noticed the men as soon as they entered the intersecting hallway. He counted four, walking together, all wearing sunglasses at night and dark hats indoors. He donned his own mask and stood.

‘*They’re here*,’ he said.

‘*As am I.*’ Garovel emerged from the wall and grabbed Hector's shoulder. Hector was starting to get used to the pain. ‘*Wait until we’re a hundred percent sure it’s them*,’ Garovel said. ‘*It’d be awkward if you attacked a dance troupe or something.*’

Hector gave him a look.

‘*Hey, it’s possible. Maybe one of their members broke his leg during a routine, and they came to visit him in the hospital. You don’t know.*’

He waited until they approached the group of officers. When the uniforms started to make way for them, that was good enough confirmation for Hector. He bounded down the hallway. They turned at the sound of his footsteps, but it was far too late for the leftmost thug. Hector barreled into him. The man’s body punched through the thin wall, raining plaster into Melissa’s room. She shrieked.

“The fuck?!” The thugs drew their weapons, which made the cops draw theirs, but Hector had already grabbed his second thug by the arm. He flung him into the third like a rag doll, and they both stayed down. Hector turned to the fourth, took a bullet in the chest, and punched the man so hard that he felt the guy’s jaw break.

“Holy shit. Who the--” A gunshot cut the words short. - Excerpt from pages 42 and 43
21. ↑ He spun around in time to see Colt gun two other officers down, the third already on the ground. All in the back of the head, before they even knew what happened.

Colt looked at him. “Hey, you’re that kid, aren’t you? What’s with the mask?”

Hector was on him in a blink. He slapped the gun away and shoved him against the wall. “What are you doing?! Why did you kill them?!”

“What can I say? My boss is a family man.” Colt squirmed under Hector’s grip. “You know, you really should’ve *listened*--”

Hector felt the blade enter below his chin. Everything flashed and went dark.

This was a familiar feeling. Emptiness. A vague notion of being in a vacuum. No life, no breath, no light, nothing to sense or be conscious of.

And then he was back. He sat up, discovering he had been on the floor. He shook his head, blinking. “What happened...?”

‘*I’m sorry, Hector... I couldn’t revive you fast enough...*’

“Wh-what? I don’t--”

‘*Colt stabbed you. The knife pierced your brain. You still need your brain. I had to resurrect you.*’

He climbed to his feet. His mask had come off, but that wasn't his first concern. “Where’d he go?”

*‘I don’t know. I couldn’t follow him and revive you at the same time.*’ “Dammit...” Then it dawned on him, a sudden horror. What Garovel had just said. About being sorry. “Oh no...!” He barged into Melissa's room.

She was on the floor, shot in the head. - Excerpt from pages 43 and 44
22. ↑ ‘*I’m going to follow Ponytail back to Rofal. Once we know where his headquarters is, we’ll be able to launch an assault at our leisure. You know your way home, right?*’ - Excerpt from page 65
23. ↑ Beneath the city, below the pipes and sewers and miles of cable, lay the mansion. Old wood and cold stone sat stark against the lamplight along the path to the entrance. Its turreted roof bore a pillar at the center which led up into Brighton, but the elevator therein was reserved for the Rofal family. Jeremiah Colt had to use an entrance hidden beneath a liquor store, a staircase into a lift the size of a broom closet. - Excerpt from page 67
24. ↑ “Also... if you can tell me about his plans... I’ll have a better idea of what to do after your children are safe...”

“Fine. I’ll find out what I can. If that’s all, then I have an appointment to keep.”

Hector stiffened. “Appointment? If you’re going to kill someone...”

“I won’t kill him if he cooperates,” said Colt.

“Officer Colt...”

“Kid, it’s not like I have a choice here.”

“I know, but...”

‘*Tell him to kill you again*,’ said Garovel.

‘*Why?*’

‘*We need to know where the children are, and the only way to do that is to have Colt give Rofal what he wants. And Rofal wants you dead.*’

“Okay, Officer Colt. Here’s what we’ll do...” - Excerpt from page 83
25. ↑ Rofal scrambled through his desk, no doubt for a weapon, but when he saw that Colt already had the gun on him, he stopped and backed away. For the first time that Colt had seen, the man looked genuinely fearful. “Be reasonable, Colt... If you kill me--”

Colt shot him in the chest.

Rofal dropped, hands vainly touching the wound as he watched Colt walking closer. “No...!”

“Yes.” The bullet splattered Rofal’s brain all over the floor. - Excerpt from page 99
26. ↑ Geoffrey’s return to the Rofal mansion had been a decidedly quiet one. Desmond had wanted him to stay in Sescoria, but Geoffrey thought he should be in Brighton in order to continue the family business. To his great disappointment, however, no one was here to meet him. For the past few days, he’d had the entire house to himself. - Excerpt from page 210
27. ↑ ‘*I am Feromas, and this is Damian Rofal. He is your grandfather.*’

Geoffrey blinked again. Then a few more times.

“Howdy, Grandson! How’s the business?! Not so great, by the looks of things! Aha! Did you kill all your subordinates?! That’s not a very smart thing to do, you little scamp!”

“You are truly my grandfather?”

“Of course!”

‘*I hope you’ll forgive us for not attending Joseph’s funeral. The family doesn’t usually tell Damian things anymore. They think he doesn’t know what they’re saying.*’

“They think I’m a lunatic! Aha!”

‘*Which is only half-right.*’

“Shut your hole, Feromas! I’m sharp as a tack, I am!”

The reaper eyed Geoffrey. ‘*We figured you’d need some help running things. The family doesn’t have any other willing participants who aren’t also scared shitless of you, and Damian’s been restless lately, anyway.*’

“I’m like a caterpillar!”

‘*Oh, he’s gone again. Don’t mind anything he says for the next twenty minutes or so.*’

“Would you like to see a magic trick, young man?! Bring me ten rabbits, ten hats, and one machete!”

Geoffrey smiled. “I like your style, Grandpa.”

Damian returned a quizzical expression. “I like your style, too, Grandma. Your eyebrows are pointier than I remember.”

‘*Seriously. Don’t mind him. Please.*’

Damian looked at Feromas. “So who do you want me to kill?”

‘*No one, right now, Damian. Please just relax.*’

“Okay, Boss. You’re the boss, Boss.” And he stood next to the reaper, rigid as a wooden plank.

“You want him to run the family business?” said Geoffrey. “Is he capable of such a thing?”

‘*...Please don’t ask me such difficult questions. Do you want our help or not?*’

Geoffrey scrunched his mouth together, thinking a moment, and then shrugged. “Sure, okay. Everyone else already ran away, though, so I’m not sure what you plan on doing.” - Excerpt from pages 211 and 212
28. ↑ They spent considerable time near the local police station. Garovel wanted to scour for information, and after a while, they learned of an apparent resurgence of activity in the Rofal family.

‘*I doubt they’re talking about Geoffrey*,’ said Garovel. ‘*He doesn’t seem like the very organized type.*’

‘*Who do you think could’ve stepped in, then?*’

‘*No idea. Perhaps we should follow up. I heard someone mention there being a suspected drug den a few kilometers from here.*’

‘*Tell me where to go.*’

Soon, Hector had another ten thousand troas in small bills. He considered dropping it off at a homeless shelter or some such place, but Garovel told him that stolen drug money would attract dangerous attention to whomever he gave it.

Part of him expected to see Geoffrey pop up out of nowhere again, but even after a few days of attacking various Rofal cash houses and business fronts, Hector never saw the aberration.

He did not enjoy wondering where Geoffrey was. - Excerpt from page 227
29. ↑ But at the same time, Geoffrey knew that he could not let things draw out too much. There was one insurmountable obstacle that would surely end all the fun sooner or later. His grandfather.

Damian was rebuilding the family business. Hector was an active hindrance to that effort. Their clash seemed inevitable. And obviously, stopping Damian was no kind of option. So the more he thought about it, the more Geoffrey realized that even if he didn’t exactly want Hector dead, he *certainly* didn’t want someone else to get the kill. That was, after all, why he had told Feromas and Damian nothing before coming here. If Hector had to die, then Geoffrey had to be the one responsible for it. Simple as that. - Excerpt from page 251
30. ↑ ‘*Well now*,’ said Feromas, ‘*do you intend on avenging our grandson?*’

Damian scratched his jowly cheek and shrugged. “Eh. I’d rather not. Unless you feel strongly about it.”

‘*Doesn’t matter to me. But without Geoffrey, there is not much reason to stay in Brighton--or in Atreya, for that matter.*’

“Perhaps it’s a good time to leave the country,” he said.

‘*Abolish has started moving here, too. It’d be annoying if they found us. And at that point, we’d have to leave anyway, as well as cover our tracks.*’ - Excerpt from page 297