The Morgue

Despite the melting pot of races and cultures present in the Central Capital there are still those who feel out of place or who are in danger for just being what they are. For the price of a prick on the finger and a single red thread a misfit can find a home. The Morgue beckons to all sorts. As a business it is lavish in offerings and unabashedly gaudy in looks. Owned by Morgan Marigold, a man more prominant in history than the vast majority of his club goers will ever know, the entirety is something like a hobby to him. Some people keep fish in glass tanks. He keeps party goers in giant underground circus tents. The Morgue itself is also a base of operations for Marigold's faction.

_{The Morgue in full swing on a regular night, by teddy09}

The Morgue is kept a relative secret from anyone it would be bad to tell by the clause of snitches getting stitches, in reference to a blood-bound agreement one must make to enter. There is also an element of camaraderie. No one wants to mess this up since a sense of belonging can be so rare. The faction is also largely unknown to the standard club client.

Structure

• At the bottom are the working bodies without souls or minds, animated dead. A great deal of the more tedious and demeaning jobs (or ones where a monstrosity may be better suited, such as intimidation and bouncers,) are given to bodies that Marigold has made rise. He doesn't harvest intentionally, but his Undertakers often produce a number of perfectly good meat piles while trying to get their critical work done.
• All of Marigold's employees are referred to as Carnies, much like the worker of a carnival. Not all of Marigold's employees is one of those things, but all of Marigold's employees are Carnies. The employees that remain at this level are performers, bar tenders, servers, and other such standard operation jobs.
• Those tasked with carrying out Marigold's will to gather information, broker trades, sow rumors, clean up after Undertakers, nab whatever catches his fancy, and other standard or common missions are known as the Obituaries.
• The Doormen sit somewhere beneath an Undertaker but above a standard Obituary. They are the fewest in number and exclusively undead, mostly revenants. They maintain a constant vigil over the liminal spaces that lead to the Morgue's few entrances. Doormen judge the worth of new visitors and are the ones to most often collect threads.
• The most trusted and skilled among the Obituaries may be trained to become the elite Undertakers. These individuals are given the hardest jobs. Typically they act as plain Obituaries, but when the need comes along they may end up acquiring dangerous artifacts, handling critical information, or even doling out assassinations.
• Marigold's Family include his familiar and his adopted daughter. While they are both considered Obituaries of the Undertaker rank formally, they are informally recognized as a step above in many respects. Both have their strengths that aren't easy to replicate.
• At the very tip-top, forever unchallenged, is Morgan Marigold himself. Without Marigold there would be no Morgue. He is not only the boss of the operation, he also provides all the extremely complicated spell work that makes The Morgue function as it does.

_{Morgan Marigold spends his time at the Morgue in his own well-guarded tent far in the back, lit within with only blacklights that catch the streaks of pollen from his namesake. Most visitors to the Morgue will never know there's a lich within.}

Public Agenda

There are a few public faces for people to encounter. Those of a criminal lifestyle know to wash their hands of anything that might put them against their interests, but will also recognize how lucrative it is to work for their interests instead. More common is the client base's impression. To the humbled or foolish rich they are a valuable resource if they don't mind bleeding a little.
Those who frequent the club as their main or only interaction with the business see it how Marigold thinks of it: a place where misfits can feel like they belong for the night. The city is full of them, and despite its great diversity expects many of them to keep their true nature hidden. They need a place to wear only as many masks as they want to, which others sorely deny them. For whatever sense of justice anyone can believe the lich has these days it is at least common knowledge that seems to rub him the wrong way.

Assets

The sheer wealth of Marigold isn't known, but is suspected to be great considering the pay his employees receive and the grandeur of his night club operation. What Marigold values more than gold he has in plenty as well.

• Talent: Everything from information gatherers, to performers, to cooks, to thieves. The Morgue has even funded some higher educations under the table for particularly promising individuals. The obituaries and the subset undertakers undergo extensive training from their seniors, and they seem to have fostered both an effective way to teach and a strong sense of loyalty.
• Magic: Ages of magical item gathering and arcane study have left The Morgue overflowing with potential hammers to smack down any nails. The entirety of his brick-and-mortar seems to make its own rules in the name of hiding it. Marigold hides a great deal of knowledge and dangerous relics somewhere within that he can possibly give the use of- for the right reason and the right price, of course.
• Information: Perhaps the only better information brokers than those at The Morgue would be devils operating in the 9, and even then they would be given a run for their money. The Morgue has ears everywhere, partly because Marigold loves dangling information over people, and partly because he wants to be as aware of the outside world as possible from his throne.
• A guy for that: Insiders and business connections mean Marigold and his obituaries can obtain or requisition pretty much anything they'd like, from illegal poison ingredients to firearms and explosives. Marigold makes it his business to only hire out to the best of the best as well and eagerly rewards business relationships that keep those types in his pockets and out of his competitor's.
• Undead: Marigold is one of the forefathers of Necromancy and almost certainly the most powerful Necromancer "alive." Whenever a death is associated with his business the corpses don't go to waste. He puts these soulless husks on to duties that he feels are particularly demeaning or the living are overqualified for. The Morgue also employs a large number of revenants, and while they are treated as fondly as any truly living employee they come with unique benefits like a tireless nature and tendency to return to work next Monday morning after being chopped to bits on Friday night.
• Threads: The enigmatic secret-sealers. Marigold doesn't let these threads go for anything and presumably even has them on his own family. Anyone who has ever entered his business to interact with any facet of it has given up one of these threads. What exactly they do is unknown, but it is understood to be something terrible.

History

Marigold was forced to start over after the burning of Dryad's Gold, like many of the immortals who had settled there to hide. With his familiar not returning after the typical rituals and a child to take care of he needed a solution that included a fair amount of relying on others. In previous ages he may have tried subjugation or a cult, but both had grown unpalatable to him. He had already been hiring out small teams for some tasks, and The Morgue grew from there.

Territories

While The Morgue's reach can easily extend in to foreign areas on a whim, it largely stays centered in the Central Capital, especially when it comes to dealing with similar powers in the city or the movements of other powerful undead. As far as the Obituaries and Marigold are concerned they might as well own the CC.

Religion

Deities in general are not welcome within The Morgue. Their worship, however, is none of Marigold's concern and not regulated in any way. Champions are also welcome to come and go, though any who meet with Marigold are likely to hear plenty of complaints about their "god stink."

Audio relevant to The Morgue:
The Morgue's first introduction The Morgue's Playlist (Youtube)

Type

Illicit, Cartel

Alternative Names

Marigold's

Training Level

Elite

Demonym

Carnies

Leader

Morgan Marigold

Location

The Central Capital

Notable Members

• Scarlet Be Thy Coat