Yakuza

Major crime syndicate, based in Eblan. The leaders of a yakuza 'family' are known as the Oyabun ('foster parent'), and beneath him are several 'kobun' ('foster child'), who serve as street-level bosses. Beneath the kobun are the petty criminals, gangs, and other foot soldiers of a vast criminal empire.

Irezumi, or tattoos, are an important part of yakuza culture. It is rumored that some tatoos are enchanted, allowing certain yakuza to perform extraordinary abilities. Tattooing's affilition with the criminal organization is one of several reasons why tattoos are banned in Eblan.

Yakuza operate with a sense of honor and loyalty that they believe set them apart from the common criminal. It is their version of the samurai's bushido, or way of the warrior. Those who break the code, or otherwise fail, cut off their finger as a way of penance or apology.

Interests and Operations

The Yakuza dominate organized crime in Eblan. Their activities range from racketeering to illicit gambling and prostitution to the arms and pyra trade. They have been known to supply weapons to communists and other dissident movements in Eblan, for the right price. They are highly active across the Crystal Dimension. Some ambitious yakuza have tried to expand outside of Crystal, but this often brings them into conflict with other crime syndicates.

The Eblanese government's attempts to combat the Yakuza have been ineffectual.

History

The Eblanese Yakuza have their origins in the Middle Period of Eblanese history. During this period, one of the longest single "periods" reckoned by a study of the history of Eblan, the military administration of the Shogun (the Bakufu, or Shogunate) was ascendant over Eblan's King. Also notable during this period was the rise of Eblan's middle class, out of which the Yakuza grew. At this early period in their history, Yakuza were often little more than wealthy merchants who had enough wealth and clout to surround themselves with underlings. Towns across Eblan were often dominated by one Yakuza Oyabun or another; as, at the time, Eblan had no real concept or apparatus for an open market, competition between Yakuza families was resolved in bloody fashion.

At the start, the Yakuza were deemed a menace, and local Shogunate officials were charged with using force to suppress their activities. But it soon became apparent that the Yakuza had become too widespread; they could not be effectively policed or controlled. For a peasant, becoming a Yakuza was really the only form of social mobility available. Rather than commit to an all-out war against the Yakuza -- a war which would have been a severe drain on the Bakufu's resources -- one of the early Middle Period Shoguns, Toyama no Eichi, decided he would appropriate them instead. Thus, by way of decree, Toyama allowed for the Oyabun and their Yakuza bodyguards to carry short wakizashi blades. At the same time, Toyama sent out word to regional Daimyo and Samurai officials that it was now permissible to deputize any Oyabun that were deemed trustworthy enough to hold public office. Such Oyabun were to be instructed to limit their recruiting among the peasant populations of important rice-yielding provinces, and that their tenure as officials was to be contingent upon their ability to keep the peace.

Of course, this did not go as planned. Corruption was rampant throughout Eblan during the Middle Period; Oyabun openly bribed members of the Samurai class, and in turn Samurai offered official posts to Oyabun in exchange for favors, profits and more. The Yakuza expanded their operations now that the Shogun himself had given them an endorsement of a kind: their thugs were now armed with swords, they ruled whole towns as de facto lords. To keep their family members appeased, they got into the business of providing illicit and luxury goods: Yakuza dens were often providers of such amenities as illegal gambling, there were brothels run by some Yakuza outfits, and Oyabun often had a strong hand in regional trades in silk and sake.

The Middle Period did eventually end, and the Bakufu government was dismantled in favor of a restoration of Eblan's King. With the fall of the Shogun's political power, came a concurrent decline in the regional influence of the Yakuza. However, the wealth and power of the Yakuza families endures today, almost entirely in the form of their being the masters of Eblan's underworld.

Notable Yakuza

• Naoko Shokansi, known as "Okusan" ("older sister"), powerful Oyabun based in Kosaka; maintains a cadre of enforcers known as the 893 Oni
• Shin Kojo, oyabun in industrial town of Mikage who made quite a splash on the scene by selling large quantities of Scandian produced weaponry
• Gendo Chosomazu, ruthless oyabun waging a battle with other syndicates for control of Tasnicaport's New Docktown, a very lucrative territory