Fabulian Triads

The Fabulian Triads are crime syndicates largely based in Fabul in the Crystal Dimension. The Triads operate under a code of honor and conduct, similar in conept to the code of the Yakuza, but which is guided by (and referential to) ancient beliefs and customs that date back to the heyday of the Xsian Empire.

History of the Fabulian Triad

There is some dispute over when, exactly, the Triads had their true beginning. While the date of 489 WB is regarded by many historians to be the birth of the "modern" Triads, others believe that the existence of Triads has its truest roots in the worship of the Xsian God of Thieves, Sung Chiang.

Sung Chiang Cults

Sung Chiang, in the old Xsian Empire, had no temples. Shrines to him were usually only located in local constabularies, where he received due deference as the Patron of Police Officers.

However, his cults -- small organizations of men and women who were truly devoted to him -- were grouped together in what can only be described as thieves' guilds. The cults engaged in petty, street-level crime, rarely being more ambitious than collectively hoarding a week's worth of cut purses from a bustling market row. Members of these cults identified with one another through hidden tattoos, often placed where they would normally be obscured by clothing, yet easily revealed by lifting a sleeve or the hem of a tunic. The tattoos almost always incorporated the image of a triangle, as an homage to Sung Chiang (who had three faces and three pairs of arms).

489 WB: The Society of Three Rings

The modern triads are supposedly descended from a group which called itself The Society of Three Rings. This group formed in 489 WB to instigate a rebellion against the Leiden Dynasty, which had ruled since the time of Fabul's most famous King, Yang Fang Leiden.

Though the tales of King Yang's heroism are the stuff of legends in modern times, throughout Fabul's history the rule of Yang and his descendents is controversial due to Yang's questionable ethnicity. Yang and his descendents were fair-haired, and clearly not of pure Hai-Xsian descent. It was believed that, at some point in his family tree, Yang's ancestors mixed with Damcyanese journeyman merchants to produce his bloodline.

The issue of the Leiden Dynasty's legitimacy became exacerbated through the 490s WB, when the young King Aang Kai Leiden took as his wife the young niece of the Baronian King, as a tribute to the alliance between the Six Kingdoms of Crystal. In 489, outrage that King Aang had not married a pure Hai-Xsian woman culminated in the founding of the Society. The Three Rings had their roots in the thuggish Sung Chiang cults that had always existed, first in the Xsian Empire and then later in independent Fabul. But the Society was different because it had developed a more organized, ambitious aspect. The Society had a clear hierarchy, a plan, and had also taken on an additional patron figure: the classical period warrior No Cha (often believed to be the first Dark Knight of the Crystal Dimension), whose image and association as a demigod of war was used to inspire and rally the military cause against the Leiden King.

While the Society of Three Rings' rebellion against the Leiden Dynasty was ultimately a losing battle, the experience of it had helped to entrench the Triads in Fabulian society. The Triads had supported their largely urban guerilla struggle through engaging in illicit practices -- as was natural, being that they were devotees of Sung Chiang, and descended from Xsian theives guilds. When it became clear to the Triads that their goal of unseating the Leiden King could not be realized, they deemed it an acceptable outcome to merely continue existing as the rulers of all Fabul's shadiest criminal endeavors.

Hierarchy, Structure and Symbolism

The Triads rely heavily on belief in the traditional mysticism and superstitions that Fabulian society has inherited from the days of the Xsian Empire. This pervades everything about Triad culture, from the hierarchy to the various rituals of membership that Triad members must undergo. Each rank in the Triad hierarchy is assigned a number, inspired by the numerology of traditional Xsian astrology and geomancy practices.

Typical Triad Rank Structure

• Top Tier Triad Rank
  • 489: This number is associated with the leader of a Triad family; associated in Xsian numerology with the Mountain, or Dragon. Triad leaders, therefore, sometimes take on epithets like "Mountain Master," or "Dragon Head," or similar titles which reflect the numerological association of the number 489. It must also be said that the Esperian Calendar year in which the Three Rings Society was founded (489 WB) is not regarded as a coincidence by the Triads.
• Second (Deputy) Tier Triad Rank
  • 438: This number is given to a deputy of a Triad boss. Deputies are tasked with various responsibilities for the families, including presiding over ceremonies and overseeing important Triad operations. Very large families will sometimes leave entire regions in the hands of a 438 deputy.
• Third (Middle) Tier Triad Rank
  • 426: This number is given to enforcers in the Triad families -- sometimes referred to as "Red Poles." The name "Red Pole" dates back to the initial Three Rings Rebellion, where the leaders of rebel fighting squads were given bright red signalling sticks in order to better control their soldiers during hit-and-fade operations. Red Poles hold a range of responsibilities in a Triad family, sometimes serving as bodyguards for high ranking deputies or family bosses, or heading up security operations at sensitive family sites.
  • 415: This number is usually reserved for family members who are charged with financial and business operations within the family. Sometimes called "White Paper Fans," their role is usually limited to keeping account of the family's finances, or supervising front operations. The name "White Paper Fan" metaphorically likens the 415's role to that of a classical military strategist, who would often sit well behind the front lines of a Xsian Imperial army and hold a white fan.
  • 432: This number is reserved for liaison officers, the diplomats of the Triad families who are charged with interfacing between different family deputies, and sometimes even between different Triad organizations. Originally a messenger caste, they are sometimes referred to as "Straw Sandals."
• Bottom Tier Triad Rank
  • 49: The rank-and-file of the Triad families are assigned this number -- and are sometimes referred to as 49ers.
  • Blue Lanterns: The Uninitiated Triad family members are called Blue Lanterns. Though they technically hold a parallel rank with 49ers, they are accorded much less respect because they have not yet taken their oath.
  • 25: Not truly a Triad rank, but worth noting here anyway. 25 is the number that Triads use to refer to undercover law enforcement agents or spies from other criminal outfits. The number "25" has thus become colloquial slang in Fabul for traitor.

Triad Symbolism

The number three is incredibly important to Triad symbolic allegory. Like other organized crime outfits, Fabulian Triad societies mark their initiated orders with tattoos to denote membership, and Triad tattoos almost always include either a triangle or the Xsian numeral three (三) somewhere in the design. Numerology in general also being important to the Triads, an individual's tattoo will also occasionally reflect a rank number, though this will not always be the case. Similarly, the Triads always avoid four, as it sounds like "Death" in Xsian and is considered unlucky.

Like the Yakuza, the Triads regard themselves as a large extended family. They practice rituals often associated with traditional Xsian ancestor worship, but rather than paying deference to ancestors from their own families, Triads usually pay worship to just three figures: Sung Chiang (who is not so much worshipped as a deity, as rather the "Grandfather" of all Triad societies), No Cha (the patron of the Triads' warriors), and the founder or most prominent past leader of an individual Triad family. This third post in a Triad's "pantheon" of ancetors is highly coveted; internal wars are sometimes fought when it is proposed that one Triad leader be named as ancestor in place of another.

Interests and Operations

The Triads have managed to survive in modern Fabul alongside the Fascist government. Several Triad families have even been appropriated to help enforce internal order, especially post-Leviathan War, while others with operations outside of Fabul have been used to weaken Fabul's enemies from within. The Triads have a deep footprint in occupied Damcyan, for instance, spreading the trade of opiates and other illicit goods by way of weakening native resistance to Fabulian rule.

At least one Triad organization, that of Ming Tsang, has taken root in Eblan, though it is unclear whether Ming's family has any ties to the Fabulian government (or any other Triad families, for that matter).