The Golden Cat
Structure
Samantha is the Boss (also referred to as Madam) of The Golden Cat, overseeing and approving all of its major actions. She also keeps and compiles important records, from income, taxes, hauls from jobs, even to information picked up by working girls while they conduct business with clients. Where this is all kept is unknown, despite many attempts at discovering it from interested parties. The City Watch conducted a search of the main Golden Cat campus, but where unable to find any form of record keeping besides required tax documents and business licenses. They were promptly taken to court and paid an undetermined amount of damages to The Golden Cat.
Below Samantha are her Underbosses, Solace, Coco, and Schokolate. Solace is in charge of operating the theft and smuggling elements of The Golden Cat, Coco is in charge of its mercenary crew and gun running/manufacturing operations. Schokolate's duties pertain specifically to assassinations and hits, something the Golden Cat has tried to rarely resort to without good reason. Schokolate's status as Underboss is more honorary than a functioning role like the others, but she commands just as much respect from those under her, particularly among the Black Cats mercenary group. Both Solace and Coco also oversee several more standard and legal aspects to operating the Golden Cat, particularly Solace as he is in line to inherit the organization from Samantha.
Below the Underbosses are the Captains, followed by Soldiers, followed by Associates. Captains, also known as Capos, are responsible for the direct operation of a crew, which is composed of 10-20 Soldiers. Soldiers are the hands and feet of the organization, responsible for carrying out the work of the organization as runners, extortioners, agents of intimidation, etc. They are still given privilege's and access to connections established by the organization at large for their work. Associates can include a wide range of people who work for the Golden Cat and are the lowest rank. An associate can have a wide range of duties from virtually carrying out the same duties as a soldier to being a simple errand boy. This is where prospective mobsters ("connected guys") start out to prove their worth. Once the family is accepting new members, the best associates are evaluated and picked to become soldiers. An associate can also be a criminal who serves as a go-between or sometimes deals in stolen goods to keep police attention off the actual members, or they can be people the family does business with (restaurant owners, etc.) In other cases, an associate might be a corrupt labor union delegate or businessman.
Culture
The Golden Cat sees itself as a family of paupers who are steadily rising in power and status in a city that likes to keep people like them down. They see themselves as true representatives of the common people of Sovegrad, unlike the police and wealthy officials who distance themselves from the common man of the city. While they are called criminals, and wouldn't dispute that accusation, they see themselves as facilitators and equalizers, the latter being in regards to their theft operations. The Golden Cat's largest, and most legal, source of income is prostitution and they see to making sure the profession is safe, for both client and workers alike. They are also vehemently against child prostitution or forced prostitution, which they have sought to eliminate both by extensive lobbying in the legislature and through illicit means like blackmail, extortion, and even assassination.
Public Agenda
The Golden Cat promotes for providing the best things in life for it's customers and in return investing into the community and making its services even better. Internally, they seek to gain control of the Sovegrad underworld and ensure Samantha's dream of a better Sovegrad for all comes to pass.
Assets
The wealth of the Golden Cat is vast, collected from their legal and illegal operations, and is only rivaled by their network of connections within the city. They also own multiple brothels, shops, restaurants, and other businesses in the city both directly and through shell operations. Coco's three year departure has also gained them access to military grade firearms and a merrcenary outfit that answers directly to the organization.
History
The organization was officially founded in 1267, but was known as The Midnight Crew in those days till 1270 when the Golden Cat brothel was fully constructed. Originally consisting of Samantha who functioned as the mastermind of jobs and operations, with the jobs being carried out by Solace, Lin, Coco, Schokolate, and Johnny "Switchblade" Doltho. Their name was coined originally by The Sovegrad Gazette and became so popular among the common people, who saw them as a gang of Robin Hoods, that a popular song was made in honor of them of the same title. The group officially expanded and became a criminal enterprise in 1270 when it absorbed the gangs that once inhabited the Gemma district. It is not official how or why the gangs dissolved and were incorporated into the Golden Cat, but rumors persist that Schokolate opened the meeting that decided it all by dumping the contents of a burlap sack on the table: the contents being the heads of captains to their respective gangs. Since then, the Gemma district has been Golden Cat territory, with the family growing and deepening its influence with every passing day. There was a scare in 1276, when Solace was picked up by police as a suspect in the slaying of Myron Black. But he was released three days later and never charged due to the key piece of evidence, the pistol used in the murder, disappearing from the City Watch's evidence storage.
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