Vory v Zakone
"Thieves that follow the code", the criminal organization operating in Bleak, in the Dragon Dimension. An ancient "thieves guild" of sorts, loosely organized but into many rackets. In modern times the police state of the Scandian League has offered both risks and rewards. Black market items and smuggling certain goods into the League (or certain people out) are potentially lucrative and profitable, but Scande's almost omnipresent police state makes evading capture for long difficult. That said, the Solidat's main priority is political dissent and not criminal activity, so its not uncommon for the Scandian police to ignore the Vory and focus on religious activists, pro-democracy groups, and other "extremists and malcontents."
Although the group has its roots in Bleak, there are Vory groups without the Web, but they mostly consist of Dragon Dimension emigres who fled Travinist communism. As such, most Vory hate the Scandian League with a passion. It's quite an insult to call one "Scandian" -- they would consider themselves Scandish, or Aradian, or Gant, or whatever.
Thief Code
The Vory is defined by its code of honor. The code's two most important elements are (1) help other thieves by moral or material support and (2) never yield to authority. The most important aspect of (2) is to never inform on your fellow criminals. The Vory have a romantic image in the Dragon Dimension which persists to this day; they are outlaws, living outside the despotic societies around them, beholden only to their own moral code. The Vory take this code quite seriously; they won't even inform on rival syndicates. Anyone who talks to the cops is branded "suka" (literally, "bitch") and subjected to vicious torture and punishment.
The Code prescribes a very lose organization. Individual gangs are known as "bratvas" (brotherhoods), lead by by one strong boss. The boss is in charge as long as he has the power to hold it. It's rare for a bratva to be led by an established family-- the Vory only respect strength. Vory power struggles are known to be quite brutal.
The Vory also have their own slang (Fenya), allowing them to communicate without the knowledge of the authorities. In a time before Common was, well, Common, this also allowed the Vory to operate across national borders.
Like other criminal syndicates, tatooing is an important part of the Vory subculture. It's possible to tell someone's whole life from their extensive tatooes; what military unit they served in, what prisons they've been in, famous exploits, the works.
Interests and Operations
The Vory v Zakone is the largest criminal organization in the Scandian League, and has branches in other countries in the Communist Protectorate. In the League, they have their fingers in almost every illegal activity, and there's quite a lot that's illegal in Scande. In addition to more run-of-the-mill activities like prostitution and drug dealing, the Vory also dominate the League's black market for foodstuffs. The government was forced to turn a blind eye during the Leviathan War, as the black market was the only means of keeping the people in bread and vodka.
The Vory's ability to get goods and people in and out of the League continues to vex Scandian border authorities. Various Priman syndicates alternatively compete and cooperate with the Vory to get goods into Scande from Tasnica or people wishing to escape Scande out. Of course, the people who use the Vory to escape Scande find themselves indebted to the Vory, and often have to turn to a life of crime to pay them back. This is one of the means fueling Vory growth across the Web.
There are Vory bratvas outside the Communist Web, too, usually wherever there are large numbers of people from the Dragon Dimension. The most notable are in Orlean, Tasnicaport, and Trianable.
