The Demon's Orphans
"This city belongs to my true Mother, this I swear. Every Orphan is my sibling. I will treat them as though they were the same blood as me. I will die before I reveal any secret of the Orphans. I will never betray another Orphan. I shall help any Orphan, their spouse or children if they need it. I never steal or committ a wrong against another Orphan. This I swear and promise. Should I break this Oath, I swear that I will be killed by a thousand cuts."
-Oath of the Demon's Orphans
Part demon-cult, part secret society and part criminal gang, the Demon's Orphans is one of the oldest criminal organizations in Crux. They have very few rivals in the realm of criminal activities. The Demon's Orphans practices racketeering, smuggling, drug trafficking, extortion, counterfeiting, arms trafficking, money laundering and a large variety of different forms of fraud.
Its complicated hierarchy and its series of oaths keep the Demon's Orphans mysterious to outsiders. Each different tier of membership has its own oaths and secrets members learn. They organize into byzantine layers of cells throughout the city. They have only two structural consistencies. First is their leadership- a council of elder Orphans referred to as the Red Circle, led by someone known only as The Key. The other is the sheer number of Tieflings are members.
The Demon's Orphans claim that Crux is their city, by right of inheritance. Their history tells of how they were founded by Tieflings descended from Shraxes herself. They strive to free her. Or at least, that is how they justify their crimes. The Orphans are predisposed to Tieflings of all kinds, seeing them as siblings of a sort. Although their membership is open to all races, this racial preference is seen amongst all Orphans, a sort of gang-wide fetish for the demonborn.
Goals: The Demon's Orphans long term goal is freeing Shraxes and maintaining their criminal activities. But that isn't precisely what they work to do. Their main goal, through action, deceit and talk, is opposition to the Prince. The Prince and his group are the Orphans main, vehement rival. In centuries past the two factions clashed violently in riots against one another.
Inventions and the changes in the last few decades have introduced a sort of stalemate between the Orphans and the Prince. The Demon's Orphans continue to find out ways to strike back at the Prince, who has managed to take political control over Crux's governing bodies. The peace cannot last much longer, as the Prince will seek out ways to get rid of their threat to his rule. The Demon's Orphans, on the other hand, will not go quietly.
Not by a long shot. No, the Demon's Orphans will do anything they can to spite the Prince. Anything.
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