The Circles

In opium dens, casinos, smuggler's lairs, pirate coves, and blackmarket bazaars across Ekraht, one group is feared above all the rest: the Zeruan Circles. These criminal syndicates are not the oldest criminal network, but they are one of the largest in the world- with rumors of them even arriving in Maradia. All organized crime within Zerua belongs to them, as they have consumed all smaller syndicates in their path. Once, they were a worker's movement in the heartlands of Zerua- but after an intense suppression program eradicated their revolution, they have since become a very effective crime syndicate instead.
Three major Circle Families dominate the network, each claiming to be the Circle of Circles- the legitimate leader of all. Each is also aggressively adoptive, with members ritually initiated and assigned roles in their new 'family'.
The Kalavir family, whose symbol is the thunderstorm or raincloud, is most dominant in the Zeruan heartlands and is based out of Ibaisha. The oldest and most entrenched of the Circle dynasties, the Kalavir claim to be the true successors to the original worker's movement. They do have extreme respect and care for their treatment of local Ibaishan community organizations (known as 'Darzi' or Little Circles), though this respect can dry up quickly if the Darzi refuse to cooperate. The Kalavir family is known for their involvement in gambling, smuggling, and chariot racing (which is a major-league sport in Zerua). They have a very deeply-ingrained culture and hierarchy, and they care deeply about their reputation as being trustworthy (and brutal).
The Varavir family, whose symbol is the sea serpent, is the most dominant in Eastern Ekraht. Its roots lie in those early worker's rebels who fled Ibaisha and ended up working as smugglers for Ibaishan corporations (as most trade was regulated and nigh-illegal at the time). As Zerua imperialized the East, the Varavir traveled with them and has since spread over Zeruan borders across the East coast. While a very piratical group, don't let the Varavir fool you- they are footsoldiers of Zeruan imperialism. The most corporate and business-professional of the three families, the Varavir are even spreading into Maradia.
The Eketari family, whose symbol is the falcon, is the most dominant in Western Ekraht. It was the first of the circles to flee across the border into the tributary states of the West, where it took root in the unregulated hinterlands between Esedeta and Zerua. There, it began raising money through poppy planting and opium production- which ultimately became their primary goal. During the wars between the two great powers, the Eketari also acted as smugglers and spies for the Zeruan empire (and perhaps Esedeta as well), and they are masters of gaming the political system to their own ends. They have expanded the most in recent decades with their absorption of the Southwestern Tandia crime cliques (which had ruled the underworld around the rivers of Southwestern Ekraht for centuries). The Eketari are the most dangerous of the three, as a mercenary drug cartel largely removed from its roots.
The lines between which region belongs to which family are fluid and fuzzy- all three are opportunists, who take what territory and business they can. They often squabble between each other, which can escalate into shadow wars that can be devastating for those living in the fought-over territory.

Structure

Each circle claims to be an adopted family, with the greater network acting as the extended family. Members of a circle can also be assigned specific role (such as treasurer) which can be assigned to numerical values for shorthand reference.

Rank	Role
All-Father/All-Mother	Leader of a network, one of the great family heads
Revered Elder	A member of one of the great families
Godmother/Godfather	A leader of a regional cluster, often in communication with a revered elder
Elder	A godparent lieutenant
Matriarch/Patriarch	A leader of an individual circle
Aunt/Uncle	A lieutenant for a matriarch/patriarch, often manage finances
Big Sibling	A veteran circle member
Little Sibling	A newer circle member

Beneath this hierarchy are the associates- non-initiated allies- and "orphans", who are associates who are training/working to become initiated little siblings.

History

From 1480 to 570, brutal earthquakes and eruptions devastated the empire of Zerua, particularly the region of Ibaisha. Barakar, a common human laborer that had moved from city to city working for the crown, rallied the common people of Ibaisha. Beginning in Etekamo , he organized neighborhoods to rebuild and protect themselves from bandits. The already-strong neighborhood communities of Etekamo became a network known as The Circle of Circles (as each group was called a Circle or "Darzir") or the Big Family (or "Davamegi"). Barakar's Circles not only rebuilt the city, quarantined districts, and fought fires, but it also served as a way to incorporate gamblers, peddlers, criminals, and migrant laborers into the community (making the streets safer and providing those people with food and lodging). The Empire was uncertain what to do about the Circles, but the guild-corporations recognized their potential and provided their backing and protection. With guild money and influence, Barakar was able to spread the circles throughout the cities of Ibaisha. This network survived after his death in 1565, though loosely disorganized in structure. Neither Baraker nor the Circles were ever able to effectively spread into the countryside (nor did they ever seem to care to). While the Circles helped urban Ibaisha rebuild and revitalize quickly, they also seeded the next wave of internal conflict. The closing of Zerua in 1530 had deeply hurt the merchant corporations, and Ibaisha fell on harder times as the trade closure dragged on. Poor residents turned more and more to the circles, which served as mediating organizations. Dangerously, the circles also began coordinating labor- shutting down parts of the city entirely in response to wage decreases. As Zerua's great corporations had always funded imperial expansion and spending projects, the sudden dual hits to corporate profits from closed borders and mass organized labor sent shudders through the empire. There was fear of this behavior spreading to other provinces, and the circles were blamed on Maradian interference. The full force of the empire came down on Ibaisha's Circle of Circles from 1590 to 1620, forcibly reducing them only into "Darzi" or little circles that served only their local communities.
The Circle of Circles fought valiantly to resist imperial suppression, but they were unable to sustain the community support they needed for their guerrilla campaign. Many circles fled Ibaisha entirely - the Varavir and Eketari both became leaders of their own groups that fled to the corners of the empire to rebuild. Those that remained in Ibaisha slowly transitioned from building community support to fundraising, and from fundraising to crime. As criminal groups, the circles were no longer a direct threat to state or corporate profit- and could easily be weaponized by those institutions. And so the persecution ended and the syndicate age began.
From 1620 to 1690, the circles profited immensely off of the closed border policies as they adapted into smuggling. Their connections and tendency to embed themselves in ordinary communities meant that their smuggling went beyond just upper-class interests and even included "egalitarian" smuggling (such as the smuggling of Kilusha and medicine to lower-class communities), though the pricing was typically high enough to leave communities in debt. By 1690, the circles had spread wildly across the empire.
When the borders opened in 1690, the circles had to adapt: their major income source had vanished, but new horizons lay open to them now that they could easily move resources and personnel abroad. It took more time to infiltrate some of these new countries, but wherever Zeruan merchants made inroads, so did the circles. 
The circles have since faced two major challenges: legal reform and anti-corruption, and rival criminal groups. In the West, a group known as the Tandia ruled the criminal underworld. The Tandia which had once been small time merchant-cliques that had responded to centuries of war and division by creating underground merchant guilds with their own private militias. These had become their own criminal syndicate in the 1200s, and had slowly spread across the Southwest. The Tandia had been waging their own private war with Esedetan corporations and the arrival of the Circles through the region's criminal world into chaos. Ultimately, the Eketari circle family was able to forge an alliance with the largest of the Tandia dynasties. The Tandia hierarchies and customs still are used in the Southwest, but there is now one criminal order that rules them all. 
Far less cooperative have been the Maradian criminal groups. While these groups never established a proper foothold in Ekraht, they have fought hard to keep hold of the Maradia-Ekraht trade line in the east. Maradian criminal syndicates are older and more powerful even than Ekratan ones, with shadow states of their own back in their home continent. These wars have been brutal, and they continue even now as the Circle fights to muscle into Maradian markets.

"Respect, Love, Protect"

Founding Date

1620

Type

Illicit, Syndicate

Alternative Names

The Circle of Circles, the Big Family, Davamegi

Location

Ekraht