August 20, 2008

The organized crime of Kieselburg, known as 'Tom Thorn's business' or l'affaire, is a peculiar mix of mob structure and pyramid scheme.

At the top is Tom Thorn himself; below him are his hand-picked lieutenants, his cadres, who are allowed to claim territory and run their affairs as they please provided they pay their percentage or 'beef' to Thorn in a timely and respectful fashion; below the cadres are the têtês d'rue, who are appointed by no one but themselves but must pay their cadre a 'beef' or be violently un-appointed; and below the têtês is anyone small enough to be leaned on without consequences.

L'affaires effectively rules Lowtown, holds considerable power in Porttown, and is making inroads on the more respectable areas of the city, to the considerable alarm of the more respectable citizens. However, so long as Tom Thorn obeys the unwritten rules of Kieselburg and keeps his thugs out of Uptown, it is unlikely that anything significant will be done to stop him.