The Updates

Mob Relations

Certain views are more or less constant among underworld organisations. No-one likes the Imperialists (or if they do, they certainly aren't going to say so publicly); no-one wants martial law to be imposed as a result of excessive civil disorder; no-one wants another invasion by the Four Nations. Most senior underworld figures regard the HPLF as somewhere between stupid and evil and naive and laughable; certainly few mob bosses accept them as part of their world. Beyond these consensus opinions, though, mob lines begin to be firmly drawn.

The Three Families: The first pieces of mob politics you need to know here are the internal politics of the Families themselves. Under the surface, there is serious class resentment between the Columna and the Daynann; the latter consider the former to be effete amateurs and dilettantes who are moreover born with the proverbial silver spoon. In return, the Columna consider the Daynann to be hopelessly undereducated oafs who only got where they did because the Emperor was cracking up, and are now useful as little more than hired muscle. Both consider the Kellor to be filthy immigrants who are more interested in scrounging than doing an honest day's work and are liable to corrupt the moral standards of the city's youth with their loose behaviour. The Kellor see the other two as fat and complacent. All this is before we get on to practical matters like territory and influence.

However, in a crisis you can trust that the Families will pull together against the outsiders. With emphasis on "outsiders". One of the things the Three Families are very much down on is the expansion of the drug trade in Horizon; it should be small (or nonexistent, depending on who you speak to) and under their control. The Cartel are openly ignoring the Families' wishes in this matter, and the cleverness and efficiency of Haythim Marid means they're largely getting away with it. It is known that friction between the two groups is steadily increasing. The Daynann are the most opposed to the Cartel, the Columna the most likely to talk.

Apart from this, the Families have a long running "friendly" rivalry with the Dockyard Rats. Relations vary from jovially cordial to near-open warfare, somtimes within a few days. Sour relations are most common with the Shoreleave House, since their business directly competes with that of the Families. The Families view the Rumblers as barely part of the Underworld, and mostly to ignore them. Inmack's Boys are seen as tools for when the Families require specialist skills; a valuable resource, except when it's the Families themselves from whom the Boys are "borrowing". The Families have a kind of long-running understanding with the Beggars; information in return for aid to members. Finally, the Families have an epic love-hate relationship with the Watchdogs, of which more below.

The Dockyard Rats: the three factions of this mob are rather more cohesive than those of the Three Families. These two groups enjoy volatile but nominally courteous relations; historical rivalries mean that the Rats are a little more wary of the Daynann, and the Columna's upper class roots prevent completely comfortable relations. The Kellor are therefore the Rats' contacts of choice.

Common roots and a lack of competition make for genuinely good relations between the Rats and the Rumblers. Recent collaborations with the Cartel have proven profitable, but the Cartel's obvious ambitions to dominate the drugs trade are leading both groups to expect trouble in the future. They view both the Beggars and Inmack's Boys as resources to be used (and paid as little as possible) and, in this, may be underestimating both. As an old Horizon mob, the Rats have complex and frequently violent relations with the Watchdogs.

The Rumblers:: As has been pointed out, the Rumblers see themselves beset on many sides by enemies:

The Steam Union ("Lazy wimps who just want to get out of doing a decent day's graft.")
The Columna ("Rich snobs, born wi' a silver spoon in their mouth.")
The Kellor ("Bloody immigrants, coming into t' city and taking all our jobs.")
The Grey Order ("Bunch of weirdoes if you ask me.")
Clockworkers ("Pansy-faced prats fiddling about in their workshops all day.")
Anyone richer than they are.
The University.

and so on. On the other hand, they have no problem with the Rats, and get on well with the Daynann (all these mobs have ancestries in the working-class culture of Horizon and no particular reason to fight). Also, the Rumblers see themselves and the Watchdogs as tackling different aspects of the same problems, and a certain amount of respect exists between the two groups. The Rumblers distrust Inmack's Boys ("Bunch of sneaky bastards. Steal anything what isn't nailed down.") and tend to ignore the Beggars ("Poor sods. Let them pretend they've got some "mob" if it makes them feel better. Mayhap I've got a spare copper here..."). The Rumblers detest the Cartel ("bloody foreigners, coming here and filling kids with this crap. Old Zero should throw the lot of them out of the city.")

The Beggars: Since very few people think of them as a functional mob, the Beggars tend to have neutral relations with other mobs, who are more inclined to view individual beggars as useful or less useful. Relations are best with the Three Families, with whom there is an "understanding", and worst with the Cartel. The Cartel are suspicious of the Beggars and the Beggars don't particularly like this. However, even these relations are much calmer than most between mobs.

The Cartel: Relations with the Three Families started poor and are going downhill. It hasn't escaped the Cartel that the Families are opposed to the drugs trade, and are working against them. In fact, the Cartel feel that the Families are potentially profitable partners, but no partnership is likely in the immediate future, and hostility continues to build. There are similar issues with the Rumblers, but without them being potential partners. Immediate hostilities are less likely, though, since the Rumblers are less ready to make their displeasure felt than the Families. The Cartel are wary of the Watchdogs for obvious reasons, but assume that in the long run they will be able to corrupt or neutralise anyone harmful; in the meantime, some conflict is regretably inevitable.

Relations with the Rats are good for the moment but with a current of unease over their common interest in drug smuggling. The Cartel make frequent use of the skill's of Inmack's Boys, and indeed these mobs get on well. Although they do business with the Beggars, the Cartel (from Marid down) mistrust them. They recognise that there is an element of superstition in their feelings on this matter, so nothing much has come of it, as yet.

Inmack's Boys: as a group of professionals, the Boys tend to be on good terms with anyone who's hired them lately, and bad terms with those who have recently been on the shitty end of their service. Nevertheless, they have some long running alliances and emnities. They exist in a state of continual (if covert) war against the Watchdogs; the Boys can hardly hope to win this, but on the other hand they outskill the majority of Watchdogs, and realistically expect to survive for some time. On the other hand they are on good terms with the Cartel, who hire them frequently for assorted covert operations.

The Watchdogs: For obvious reasons, relations can be rather prickly. The very deepest love-hate relationships are with Horizon's oldest mobs; while it would be a major coup for any Watchdog commander to bring down the Daynann family or the Dockyard Rats, many of the middle ranks have long-running professional relationships with those mobs, and the lower ranks often have family who work with them. Nevertheless, there is always going to be at least some tension between the Watchdogs and these old rivals. For the Columna family, the situation is almost reversed. The higher ranks feel that here, at least, are reasonable folk that one can deal with; the idea of toffs who are also openly flouting the law makes the Columna universally hated among the lower ranks. In general, Watchdogs of all ranks mistrust the Kellor, but the Kellor have most of their influence in the Slums so this doesn't bother them as much as it might. Similar relations exist with the Jurican Cartel. The Watchdogs are strongly "native" Horizon. Since Inmack's Boys are a group of skilled professionals with less in the way of muscles and influence with other mobs, the Watchdogs tend to use them as examples to demonstrate how tough they are on organised crime. The Boys are none too pleased with this persecution.

Relations with the Rumblers are cordial - far too cordial, in the opinion of the Steam Union and some of the Loyal Order. The Watchdogs won't let the Rumblers get away with just anything, but many Watchdogs think that the Rumblers are saving them effort, and doing a good job of it - so why interfere?

Relations with the Beggars are even more distant than for most criminal mobs; the Watchdogs don't even officially recognise that such an organisation exists, so they don't do anything about it (except for moving its members on, from time to time).

The Diagram: Arrows represent relations; if there is no arrow between two mobs they are neutral or even apathetic towrds each other. Double headed arrows mean that the feelings are mutual; single headed arrows indicate feelings that are stronger one way than the other. A red line indicates suspiscion or tensions; a green line represents a working relationship or other agreements. A heavy green line represents good relations; a heavy red line means ongoing, possibly escalating tensions. Finally, a blue line represents relations which are on average neutral, but in fact vary wildly from week to week or even day to day.