Spirit of the White Elephant

Spirit of the White Elephant is one of the oldest gangs located in the Running Elephant district of the Gooseberry state. It is a gang that is said to have influence as far as Gooseberry's borders are, for as long as the Running Elephant district remains within the Gooseberry state. Despite being classified as a gang, it is more appropriate to label the Spirit of the White Elephant as a cult instead, particularly with reference to their core beliefs and practices.

Known legends

The Spirit of the White Elephant was said to have begun somewhere in the mid-centuries, about a hundred years or so after the founding of the Gooseberry kingdom and during the last days of the Bitter Orange Empire to the west of the Gooseberry Straits. The founder of the gang was claimed to be a shaman who carried the spirit of an old but wise and powerful Elephant spirit seeking to expand its rule. Some historians have speculated that this may just be a cover up for a noble attempting to escape the fall of the Bitter Orange Empire.
Legends and some old annals confirm that a shaman did appear to the fledgling Gooseberry Kingdom at that time; this shaman was granted asylum but told not to proselytise as the Kingdom were followers of the Crescent Moon. These same records also spoke of seeing great feats of strength performed by this shaman; during most other times he was as strong as an ordinary labourer, and indeed by his own hands, he built his own home in the outskirts of the kingdom, near a running river. However, on the nights of the new moon, a watch needed to be kept on him, for it was on those nights that the spirit within him would run amok.
One historical legend recounted that the shaman had once asked eight men to tie ropes around him and to hold on tight. At moonrise, though no one could see the moon, a change came over the man, and they immediately felt the ropes in their hand move. The men quickly began to pull the ropes, restraining the shaman, who continued to struggle. Several times a man or two would lose their grips on the ropes and be sent flying; the shaman however, had anticipated this and always had helpers on hand to take the place of the winded men.
Another saying says that the influence of the White Elephant will go as far as the borders of Gooseberry, as that was the agreement the Elephant spirit had made when they arrived in the Kingdom. Certainly there are bureaucratic records stretching as far back during the Gooseberry Empire's heyday, where people complained of the people of the Spirit of the Running Elephant were causing trouble, and in some cases, outright swindled villagers.

Recent activity

The Spirit of the White Elephant is still notorious in the Running Elephant district, but few know of its history. Some researchers have speculated that during the Spice Wars and the subsequent colonisation, the Spirit of the White Elephant had gone into temporary hibernation. Others say that the Spirit of the White Elephant wishes to return to Suvarnadvipa, but its enemies and rivals have long taken over its former holdings, and it would not survive the subsequent crossing either by boat or by air. No living soul who can carry the Spirit of the White Elephant is willing to take the risk, and neither does the White Elephant itself, for to fall into the Gooseberry Straits is said to doom its soul, as it also has many enemies in the waters as well.
Whether on the lands of Suvarnadvipa or the waters of the Gooseberry Straits, it seems that the Spirit of the White Elephant and its followers are here to stay.

Type

Secret, Occult