Zozoan Mafia

The Zozoan Mafia is the name given to the various organized crime outfits that originate in the Esper Dimension. While they're named for the Esperian city of Zozo (which has long been infamous for two things: bad weather, and crime), not all of the existing mafia families are really "Zozoan"; the term is more broadly applied to any criminal enterprise that is Esperian (although, certainly, the most famous and enduring families are Zozoan, and have their main headquarters in the city of Zozo itself).

Origins

The origins of the mafia is inextricably tied to the origin of Zozo itself. It's said that the founders of Zozo were the poor and the outcast of the city of Jidoor. Jidoor's rich had, according to the story, developed a distaste for the underclasses of society, and so cast them out. Thus Zozo was founded as a place to house everyone who was undesirable by Jidoor, kept at a suitable distance away and obscured from view by the Zozoan mountains. However, life there was harsh: there was the weather, of course, with near constant rains throughout the spring and summer, and bitter cold in the fall leading into sometimes devastating snow storms in the winter. As if that weren't enough, the lawlessness of the place meant that anyone who so much as walked down the street could be attacked at any moment. Not being entirely heartless, the lords of Jidoor intervened and attempted to establish some vestiges of law and order in Zozo. They hand-picked leaders among the folk of Zozo, and used their wealth to help these leaders build up clannish organizations around them. Law and order had to begin somewhere, after all: imposing the type of order that was suitable in Jidoor had clearly not worked with these outcasts. So ordered chaos, criminal order, would have to suffice in its place.

While the story of the founding described here is more meant for storybooks than history books, a contrast between the neighboring city states of Jidoor and Zozo is almost inevitable, given Jidoor's history of great wealth and Zozo's history of poverty and crime. There is also some small kernel of truth in the connection between Jidoor's wealthy lords and the bosses of the mafia families: while it remains to be factually proven that the mafia got its start as a result of Jidooran investment, throughout the ages the lords of Jidoor have relied upon Zozo's mafia bosses to provide them with all manner of illicit services -- to do for them, in other words, what a proper lord of Jidoor could not be caught doing himself.

Mafia Structure

The Zozoan Mafia boasts some of the most well known and powerful crime families in the Web of Worlds. Being already based in the Esper Dimension, the Mafia has had time to entrench itself in important cities like Nikeah and Albrook, giving them access to important crossroads of Web travel and commerce. The Zozoan Mafia has an expansive and powerful presence throughout the Core worlds of the Web as a result, though the center of operations almost always leads back to Zozo itself.

Mafia Generalities

At the same time, their structure is less rigid, their hierarchies less uniform. While generalities can sometimes be made about other breeds of organized crime families (like the Yakuza, the Vory v Zakone or the Fabulian Triads), it's hard to find enough in common about all Zozoan Mafia families to do the same. The Zozoans typically don't wear their affiliations on their skin: while individuals might be tattooed, their ink doesn't tell of their family associations or their rank.

Similarly, their ranks aren't always the same. Generally speaking, there are usually four tiers of Mafia ranking: Boss, Underboss, Capo and Soldier, but even this varies and is sometimes either more or less intricate depending on the family.

Finally, Zozoans aren't a very homogenous ethnic group. Like much of the Esper Dimension, there's always been a lot of movement and mixing between the different regions in the Dimension; so it's not quite as easy to tell what a Zozoan mobster looks like -- unlike, say, a Scandish Vory, or an Eblanese Yakuza.

Interests and Operations

The mafia has the same goal as any other organized crime outfit, or any other corporation for that matter: profit. As with most crime families, the mafia rightly see the greatest profit potential in the trafficking of illicit goods and services. Thus, depending on where they operate, a mafia family's catalogue includes everything from drug dealing, gun running, gambling and prostitution.

Stemming from their past as the de facto law in Zozo, the mafia are also rather notorious for their protection rackets. Small businesses within the bounds of a given family's turf will usually be compelled to kick up a percentage of their profits as a fee for "protection." Most families bring in a decent portion of their annual revenues in this way.

Notable Mafia Families

Garlandini Family

The Garlandini family dominates crime in the city of Albrook. Part of this is sheer luck, as Tonewell Garlandini was just a down-on-his luck ex-imperial soldier in Albrook in 4 WR. Fortunately, that very year Albrook would turn out to be near a crossroads of portals in the new-to-Esper Web of Worlds. Albrook became a boomtown overnight, and as the vast trading metropolis grew, people's needs far outstripped the government, and criminal opportunities far outstripped law enforcement. The Garlandinis were already well positioned to capitalize when the city got a second supercharged boost of growth in 24 WR, when the city became military headquarters of the new Grand Army Charter Alliance.

Notable Garlandinis include:

• Tonewell Garlandini, the family patriarch, has a reputation as a bit of a "Grey Eminence" even among Mafia Dons. Part of the reason for his longevity has been that he has been 'just successful enough', focusing all of his energies on building a stranglehold on Albrook and not encroaching on other families in other cities.
• Hardsdrubal Garlandini, the eldest son, is outlandish, strange, and unnerving; claiming Kefka as his "great inspiration," he often appears in clown makeup and jester's motley. He styles himself "the Impresario" for his elaborate "shows," which are rumored to include "artistic torture", gladiatorial fights to the death, and elaborate orgies. Many consider him the heir-apparent to the criminal empire -- a fact which makes more than a few people a little nervous.
• Gwyndoline Garlandini, or "GG" to her friends (but "the Countess" to common folk!) is beautiful, smart, and talented. She has already made a splash for herself as a fashion model and sometimes-mercenary. Her father hopes that this is all just a phase before she settles down and gets to work being a baby factory for the next generation of mafia dons.
• Corwenn Garlandini, the youngest, is traditional, hardworking, and puts the business and family first. His siblings have teased him as "the man with no nickname."

Bogart Family

The Bogart family also operates in Albrook; they have a "familial" relationship with the Garlandinis. Whereas the Garlandinis cultivate a refined reputation, the Bogarts are bit more thuggish; the Garlandinis are the mind and the connections, but the Bogarts are often the muscle.

Notable Bogart Family members include:

• Johnny Bogart
• Harry Bogart
• Bobby Ray Bogart, who loves chainsaws

Andretto Family

Main Mafia family in Tasnicaport, one of many factions competing for control of New Docktown. The Andrettos consider themselves a "better class of criminal," and prefer to hobnob with the elite. They have been known to offer their discrete services to various Senators from time to time.