Edmond Heyer

***“**Which is better? To be labeled a criminal your whole life and die with a good conscience, or to be labeled an upstanding citizen and die knowing you could've made a difference?**”***
— Edmond Heyer

**Edmond Heyer** is a Crestian criminal who founded and leads both the Dirtcloaks and the Crestian Syndicate. He currently acts as the leader of the entire City-State of Whitecrest, sometimes being referred to as **the Kingpin**.

## History

### Early Life

Born to an unknown father and a prostitute for a mother in late 1170 AW, Edmond was abandoned at childbirth and left to die in the Eastern Districts of Whitecrest. He was ultimately taken in by Johann Heyer, a local Fühlgartian-born merchant trapped in Eastern Whitecrest. It was Johann who gave Edmond his name and adopted the young boy as his own son.

Johann Heyer tried his best to tutor the young Edmond despite the chaos in Whitecrest. He taught him how to read and write, a rare skill in the area, and Edmond became an apprentice at his father's shop. However, Johann Heyer would die in 1182 AW during a robbery gone wrong, leaving the twelve-year-old Edmond orphaned once more. With his father's shop being looted and occupied by squatters, Edmond was forced out onto the streets.

As a survival tactic, he ended up in a small gang along with some of the other local youth. This small gang tried to rob the Dogs of Whitecrest: a suicidal idea at the time. The gang was destroyed and the majority of its members killed, with Edmond going into hiding. Here, he disappears from history for a while, and it is unknown where he was hiding out.

Heyer resurfaces after the Purge of Whitecrest in 1193 AW, where he founded a group called the Dirtcloaks. The Dirtcloaks set out to do good, becoming something akin to town guards in the Common District. The Dirtcloaks came under immediate attack from all sides, and their story would have ended there. However, Heyer would prove to be an expert at alliance building.

### Rise and Arrest

Edmond Heyer managed to secure an alliance between the Dirtcloaks and the Red Serfs in 1194 AW. The Red Serfs were one of the oldest, most powerful, and most well-respected gangs in Eastern Whitecrest. The Dirtcloaks' alliance put an end to most attacks against them. Heyer became the face of a new movement that would make gangs benevolent towards the people they ruled instead of extorting him.

While most gangs disagreed with the idealistic vision of Heyer's new alliance, the promise of protection and cooperation with the Red Serfs made joining this alliance an attractive opportunity. Once the Sons of Innyria joined, the alliance became truly prosperous, becoming an overwhelming power in the Eastern Districts.

By 1198 AW, Heyer formally announced the creation of the Crestian Syndicate, a unified body seeking to overthrow the League of Whitecrest. This campaign of attacks against the League would eventually become the War for Whitecrest, a 30-year-long conflict.

Yet, one member of the Syndicate, the Great Orchestra under Floris Gill, was after nothing more than revenge. After a series of extremely controversial terrorist attacks in the Western Districts, the League under Fabian Gill launched the Second Purge of Whitecrest in 1203 AW. While the Second Purge was largely ineffective, Edmond Heyer would end up captured and imprisoned in Greihill Keep.

From Greihill Keep he would try to keep in touch with the Syndicate through smuggled letters with written orders, yet these rarely arrived, and the flow of information was slow and often incorrect. Forced to watch on as the Syndicate turned against one another, Edmond Heyer asked to be killed outright. However, not wanting to turn him into a martyr, the League refused his request, leaving him imprisoned.

### After Escaping Prison

Heyer would spend the next twelve years in prison. However, while news spread slowly, it did reach Heyer. He learned that the Red Serfs had retaken control over a semi-unified Syndicate in 1208 AW. Over the coming years, attacks would increase across the Western Districts. By 1215 AW, Greihill Keep was stormed by the Red Serfs, which allowed the Sons of Innyria to smuggle Heyer out of prison.

Freed once more, Heyer retook his position as leader of the Dirtcloaks and the Syndicate. He led the final push against the League, which were on the brink of collapse. However, Armin Oligel, who led the League at the time, contacted the Republic of Fühlgart in a desperate last-ditch attempt to survive the storm. Albert Schmied and his Second Army would arrive and push the Syndicate back underground.

Yet, while the Republicans declared the War for Whitecrest over, Heyer and the Syndicate simply had to buy time. Sabotage and ambushes were commonplace as both the Syndicate and League waited for the death of Jan Luftschwert. For the former, it would be a blessing. For the latter, it would be a curse.

Luftschwert died in 1227 AW and was succeeded by his brother Ulfric. However, the Republic was rapidly destabilizing and descended into the Second Fühlgartian Civil War from 1228 AW onwards. Ulfric Luftschwert immediately recalled all units stationed in Whitecrest, leaving the League defenseless. Heyer and the rest of the Syndicate came out of hiding once more and resumed their attacks. After only a short month, the League had lost, with Oligel being executed alongside any League member who had been stupid enough to stay in the city.

Suddenly, Heyer had become the ruler of a proper country and was thrust into the spotlight. However, there is no denying he has done a good job when it comes to handling that new responsibility. Under Heyer, the Syndicate is slowly transitioning and reforming itself into a (partially) civilian entity. Heyer has found the compromise that keeps the gangs happy while also avoiding sparking a war with a foreign country. Only time will tell how the story of Edmond Heyer ends, yet – until now – he has done a far better job than the merchants of the League in the previous decades.

## Career

City-State of Whitecrest

* Shop Apprentice (1176-1182 AW)
* Runner (1182 AW)
* Unknown (1182-1193 AW)
* Leader of the DIrtcloaks (1193 AW-)
* Leader of the Crestian Syndicate (1198 AW-)
* Kingpin of Whitecrest (1228 AW-)

## Military Career

* War for Whitecrest
	+ Second Purge of Whitecrest - Defeat
	+ Battle of the Western Districts - Defeat
	+ Battle of Whitecrest Bridge - Defeat
	+ Battle of the Eastern Districts - Stalemate
	+ Fall of Whitecrest - Victory

## Personality

Despite being the brain behind the largest criminal enterprise Enselonde has ever seen, Heyer has a strong sense of justice and fairness towards the common people. He has spoken out against the more violent practices of some of his fellow gangs while deploying his Dirtcloaks as town guards and defenders of the people. He redistributes a good amount of the Dirtcloaks' income to food, shelter, and clothing for the ordinary people while asking for nothing in return. This has earned him the sarcastic nickname "Saint Edmond" amongst some of the more violent gangs.

## Relationships

* Alexander van Corberg - I was good friends with Herman van Corberg, who was an honorable man. His son, Alexander, proves to be more of the same. As an orphan, perhaps I do not understand his obsession with family. Yet, the man is honorable, loyal, and just. Alexander is the perfect right-hand man.
* Fiona Hijaeli - The Sons of Innyria have some more... extreme elements. Yet, Fiona has her ways to control them. She's a likable figure who seems to genuinely care for her people. That is a commendable quality.
* Hou Huiyin - A relatively late arrival to the Crestian crime scene, Hou Huiyin is much the same as Fiona. While many don't trust the Gemstone Gang, they seem to only want a home for their people. Another noble cause that should be supported.
* Stefan Heath - While I tend to disagree with Heath's more violent tendencies as a pirate, he's the last thing Whitecrest has left to a naval force. While this more or less forces me to cooperate with the man, he seems honest enough to stab the Syndicate in the front instead of the back.

* Albert Schmied - Albert Schmied has recently repositioned himself as some sort of champion of the people in Amberg. It matters not. Us Crestians haven't forgotten the brutality and oppressiveness of the Fühlgartian occupation over Whitecrest. While Schmied and his Second Army are long gone, they have not yet answered for their crimes. I will personally see to it that they will.
* Sebastiaan Kenven - Violence became part of the way of life in the Eastern Districts, but the Dogs under Kenven have taken it to another level. They are ruthless and violent fiends that would tear the Syndicate apart out of boredom, while Kenven eggs them on the whole way. I'll have to keep an eye on the man.
* Ulfric Luftschwert - The next Luftschwert in charge of Fühlgart, Ulfric is far more militaristic than his older brother. While I'm not worried about a Republican invasion, the man still causes some worries on my end, for if he drives the von Kalzbergs back into the sea, we'll be right back to where we started.