Reckoner Mobs

*'...finally, I'm delighted to report that the Continental reckoner war has resolved itself. Duffoure, who you'll recall from the Ortucchio incident, seems to have fallen out with his protégé, and the business ended as you'd expect, given it's Duffoure we're talking about...'*
 *'A Reckoning'*

The **Reckoner mobs** are a criminal organization operating within the invisible world of the Secret Histories. Their primary trade is the acquisition and use of **Stolen Years** from the **Cindered Tally** of the Madrugad, which can be used to prolong lives, heal wounds, and serve as a currency for various illicit occult activity.

Despite taking advantage of occult powers and secrets, Reckoners are not adepts and largely try to avoid involvement with the activities of the Hours and true immortals. A number of superstitions persist among the mobs regarding a variety of subjects, such as disliking cats due to their leader’s connection to the Colonel and avoiding sacred grounds. They do not enter the Mansus or pursue ascension and are instead content to limit their illegal operations to the **Wake**, where they may remain outside the notice of greater powers.

## Structure

 *'Lower-ranked reckoners are just people paid to do bad things. Higher-ranked reckoners are cunning, well-connected and armoured in stolen years.*
'  'Reckoner Rank'

Reckoner mobs seem organized in a similar to more conventional crime families, with the addendum that status within the organization also reflects their access to the occult. At all ranks save the highest, connections to the forces of the Mansus are intentionally restricted and obscured, likely to both maintain control as well as to avoid drawing attention to their operations.

In the Exile Legacy, five broad categories of Reckoners are encountered:

* **Informants** are the lowest-ranked members of the mobs, and serve as little more than scouts and spies who report their findings to higher members. They are likely common mortal criminals for the most part, with extremely limited occult knowledge, if any.

* **Assassins** (also called **Enforcers**) and **Operatives** are underlings who carry out a number of operations for the Reckoner mobs. Enforcers use a direct approach in hunting down enemies and taking part in conflicts, while Operatives perform more subtle actions, such as theft and sabotage. While underlings seem more closely tied to the secret operations of the mobs, and can be bribed with enough Stolen Years, they do not show any signs of supernatural ability themselves.

* **Underbosses** are lieutenants “winnowed from the ranks by ferocity and guile” – they are occasionally referred to as minor reckoner lords, and it is implied that the Exile themselves was once considered one. Though not immortal, they are explicitly strengthened by borrowed years, extending their lifespan and making them harder to kill.

* The highest rank of the Reckoner mobs is that of the **Reckoner Lord**. It is unclear if this is a position held by a singular individual or if there are a number of Reckoner Lords who serve as the heads of distinct mobs. The only known Reckoner Lord is the Foe, **Duffoure**.

## Duffoure

 *'Seasoned like oak and scarred like sea-cliffs. I have seen his strength, and I would be a fool not to fear it.*
'  'My Foe'

**Duffoure the Reckoner Lord** is the primary antagonist of the Exile Legacy. He is also the father of the Exile, and likely **Teresa Galmier** as well. He is considered by some to be a “half-immortal” – while he does not pursue ascension through the Mansus, he has some sort of relationship and protection under the Colonel, has been empowered by numerous Stolen Years over the span of his long life, and is also an Antaean. Still, his abilities pale in comparison to true immortals and entities such as Alukites, and he largely seems to keep independent of wider occult matters, a policy which he enforces among his subordinates as well.

Still, he is known in wider occult circles to some extent – a number of the Ligeians have encountered him or have information regarding his weaknesses and history, and the Suppression Bureau have encountered him at least once and understand his influence and power. He also had some connection or access to the **Antaeum** in Tripoli, where he sought to purchase the “Light” of the Exile’s mother before falling in love with her. She, however, came to realize that Duffoure was a brutal and monstrous individual, and debated committing suicide rather than bearing his child, before being convinced by the members of the Antaeum to go through with the arrangement and ultimately dying in childbirth.

Duffoure went on to raise the Exile, training them to be a part of the Reckoner Mobs for their entire life. What finally caused the Exile to steal from their father and flee the mobs is never explicitly stated, though Duffoure seems to express no remorse about hunting down his own offspring for this act of betrayal.

## Other Notes

* Whether or not other Reckoner mobs exist besides the one that the Exile was a part of under Duffoure, at the very least there are other organizations which sell Stolen Years and compete with the mobs in the occult underworld, such as the **Athenians** in Russia.
	+ The name "Athenians" is a reference to "ofenyas" - travelling merchants in Russian Empire.
* The Reckoners' methods for acquiring Stolen Years are never explicitly stated, though it is implied they were extorted or taken from mortals. Similarly, the mechanics of the Cindered Tally and where it comes from are never explained apart from some connection to the Madrugad.
* The visual indicators for the Reckoners in the Exile Legacy seem to draw inspiration from Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of A *Clockwork Orange*. Alex DeLarge, the central character, is an extremely violent delinquent who leads a gang in a dystopian society and is depicted in the movie with one of his eyes accented with heavy eyeliner accenting his lashes – a similar design can be seen on the stylized artwork of all the Reckoners, who themselves are a violent criminal organization with a dangerous and inhuman leader.

## Sources

1. ↑ Cultist Simulator: The Exile
2. ↑ The Deadliest of Weapons
3. ↑ My Pursuers, Stymied
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Shrine: Colonel, Shrine: Lionsmith
5. ↑ I've Finished Off the Underboss!
6. ↑ Reckoner Underboss
7. ↑ My Foe
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Arrange an Initial Meeting, #contact.retainer
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lessons
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Kinship
11. ↑ The Corrivality (4)
12. ↑ My Pursuers, Stymied #op.cats
13. ↑ Leningrad
14. ↑ Reddit AMA, Fenya
15. ↑ Break down a Stolen Decade