Chicken Hoppers

There was never any chicken on the wall. Even if there was, why would we climb over the wall into Old Town when we could just slip through the gates before they closed for the night and hide out until the mark was asleep? The name's really just what it says: We got our name from jumping over chickens. This was all back before the coming of the Empire, when Toad's Corner was a little settlement just outside of what were then called "The New Walls." Even way back then Mihok's Bakery--the same place your dear old mum probably sent you for bread on days when the beggin' was good--was doing a brisk trade with travelers moving into and out of the city.
Just like today, Mihok's made the most delicious pies around, and Old Man Mihok couldn't bake rhubarb pies fast enough during that sweet part of the season when the rhubarbs are perfectly ripe. Our esteemed founders could never afford a delicacy like that, but Old Man Mihok couldn't sit there watching the pies the whole time they cooled, either. There was always a window of opportunity for an enterprising young man to earn his way into the gang by filching a pie from Mihok's window sill. That's where the chickens come in.
Mihok's used to sit on a fenced-in plot where the baker kept chickens for eggs and pot pie filling. Now these were probably just normal chickens, but the rumor was that Mihok had bought them off a Chimerist who'd somehow bred them with the instincts of a panther and a squawk like a howling banshee. The slightest movement inside the fence would set them screaming and Mihok would come running out with a rolling pin in his hand and murder in his eyes. But here was the peculiar thing about Mihok's guard chickens: The never took any notice of you until you touched the ground. The whole gang could walk along on the fence rails without a peep from the chickens, but so much as a toe inside the yard would set them off. One day one of the lads leapt from the fence to an overturned bucket inside the yard, and the chickens took no notice until he fell short on the jump back and landed in the dirt. Once the original chicken hoppers knew this, it was just a matter of finding a path that permitted an agile lad to make it from the fence to the window and back in a few great leaps without ever touching the ground.
Anyway, that's how we got the name Chicken Hoppers, and jumping across the yard and stealing a rhubarb pie was the gang's main initiation ritual until some later Old Man Mihok bought the hellhound that would one day sire the sire of the sire of that monstrous brute that guards the bakery today."

Structure

The Chicken Hoppers are a relatively small operation and don't so much have an organization as a pecking order. The only two official positions are the Boss, who runs the organization and is elected by a majority of the membership, and the Proxy Boss (usually shortened to "Prox") who is appointed by the Boss to serve as second in command. The membership may call for a vote to replace the Boss at any time, but this rarely happens. If the Boss dies or becomes permanently unfit for the position, a new vote is held. In most cases, such elections merely formally ratify the former Proxy Boss's ascension to power. Other roles and positions are filled on an as-needed basis, usually by appointment or a consensus of the membership.
In theory, all Chicken Hoppers besides the two leaders are equal members of the outfit, but in practice the group maintains a very clear hierarchy based on age, length of membership, reputation, special skills, and many other factors. A gang member's position within this unofficial ranking system determines the amount of influence they actually have over the gang's operations.

Public Agenda

The Chicken Hoppers are one of the few old-style neighborhood gangs that continue to operate in Khezvaros without throwing their lot in with one of the larger syndicates. Proximity sometimes causes them to get caught up in the rivalry between the Black Knives and the Tower Hill Boys, but the Hoppers are careful to keep their entanglements with both to a minimum. As a rule, they focus on protecting Toad's Corner from all outside enemies, "both imperial and domestic" and running a handful of "public service" operations like loan sharking and illegal gambling operations. They show no real interest in expanding their territory, co-opting other criminal organizations, or becoming involved in syndicate politics.

Assets

It's an open secret that the Toad's Corner Historical Society, a properly registered kahve kabula, serves primarily as the Hoppers' headquarters and clubhouse. Few are aware, however, of the sheer volume of stolen goods and other contraband that moves through the coffee house hidden inside delivery wagons seemingly conducting above-board business.
Over the years, the Chicken Hoppers have cultivated an extensive network of informants and inside men among the workers of the caravan houses in nearby Traveler's Ward. They use this network to abscond with trade goods practically at their leisure, often without the rightful owners realizing they've been robbed for weeks or months afterward. Some of these goods go directly to a pre-arranged buyer before they're even missed. Others sit in the packed cellar of Old Toad's Manor--sometimes for years--until they can be sold discretely and without arousing suspicion. 
The proceeds of the Chicken Hoppers' thieving operation is the key factor that has allowed them to maintain their independence over the years, since they can always afford enough sellswords and wizards-for-hire to make most larger gangs or syndicates rethink any plans they have of co-opting the gang or moving into Toad's Corner.

History

For most of their history, the Chicken Hoppers were nothing more sinister than a band of poor, rambunctious kids with nothing better to do than get into mischief. Stealing Mihok's pies wasn't necessarily their most sinister racket, but it was definitely the one they were best known for. When the terms of The Eternal Empire's annexation of Khezvaros left the city without a guard force, the Chicken Hoppers--like many other local gangs--stepped in to protect the people of their neighborhood from outsiders. In order to effectively carry out their new role, the gang got organized, became more selective in its membership, and started conducting proper criminal activity to fund the operation in a way that didn't require them to strong-arm the local shopkeepers for protection money. 

Despite operating quite effectively as a militia force and criminal operation, most "Toadies" think of the Chicken Hoppers as "good boys who can be a bit rowdy." Even those with some awareness of the scope of the gang's criminal activities see it as a necessary means to the selfless end of keeping Toad's Corner free of the influence of more sinister forces. Even though the gang never demands protection money from established businesses (those that have operated in Toad's Corner for more than a generation), and are far more gentle with extortion of "outsiders" than any gang in town, nearly every business owner in the neighborhood keeps a few extra coins on hand to contribute to what has become known as the "pie fund" whenever the gang pays their shop a visit. 
Most people outside of Toad's Corner--especially the city's other gangs--consider the Chicken Hoppers to be unambitious small-timers without the intelligence or sophistication necessary to be a real player in the city's criminal underworld. The Chicken Hoppers, perfectly content to be underestimated, make no attempts to counteract this reputation.

Type

Illicit, Gang

Leader

Rebus Goldtooth