Organization/Small Nation: Peril

Peril

The Conclave have their cast-iron grip on magic. The trade barons have their hands in all mercantile trade around the civilized world. Lords and ladies rule tracts of land with military might. But Peril takes a different approach, and takes advantage of the best and worst of all three.

Leadership and Hierarchy:

Peril consists of numerous divisions working under the supervision of a board of directors. The boards of directors consists of the head of each three main divisions, and the head of a fourth group that works behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly. They are called the Aces.

The three divisions focus around three different intended targets, People, Organizations, and Magic, which are internally referred to as Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds. The fourth group is a shadowy organizational body of go-tos and assassins called The Spades. The Ace of every “suit”, as the slang became, appoints four subordinates referred to as Kings. These Kings appoint eight subordinates called Queens, who appoint sixteen subordinates called Jacks, who then assign their subordinates to jobs and tasks relating to the suit that they are a part of, and can use any identifying system they so deem necessary to keep organized.

Every member has absolute power over all of their subordinates, and each group performs their own tasks independent of one another, though a superior can, in times of need, force his subordinates to work on the same project. This kind of intervention is only used in times of crises, as it is not well looked upon by subordinates or superiors. Otherwise, everyone works on their own projects that further their “suit” and its goals. One suit is expressly forbidden from interfering with another suit, unless permission is given by and equal or higher rank in that suit, and can as mentioned previously be repealed by any sufficiently ranked superiors.

Economy:

Hearts:
Philosophy: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity.
The Hearts use many means to keep their thumbs on the people of every kingdom, very few being outside their reach and those that are are likely the purview of another suit. Rumormongering is commonplace, manipulating elections for mayors and officials is routine if the price is right. Slave and drug trades thrive at the worst of times, and boom at the best. Above all other means, Hearts believe that drugs are the way to control the populous.

Some rings are small-time, like a sudden influx of witch-weed in a newly developing town. Some are huge, like the continued dumping of large amounts of Red Powder into the Atimar trade routes. And some are experimental at best, like a push in the higher echelons for a cooperation with the Diamonds to create drugs that can make you as skilled in spellcraft as the greatest of rogue mage, but at a price.

Clubs:
Philosophy: A weapon sold to an enemy may turn against me, but sell two and they turn on one another, leaving me the richest of all.
The clubs are the most simplistic of the suits, preferring to keep it simple. They sell weapons, black market weapons, illegal weapons, weapons of questionable quality, everything. If they can weaponize something and sell it, they do. Of the three divisions that make money, Clubs are the most reliant on the other two, using Hearts to subjugate militaries for pay, acquire sellers, and influence buyers; and Diamonds for weaponizing magic and magical artifacts. They are also the division with the largest outright monetary gain.

Diamonds:
Philosophy: Freedom should be absolute, magic is no exception.
The Diamonds make next to no income. What they do make is put into sheltering mages that have gone rogue, and funding magical studies. They are very reliant on Hearts to acquire the whereabouts of those that would be interested in joining, and to acquire slaves for magical experimentation. They also receive large funding from the Clubs, as long as some of their research goes into creating magical weapons, plagues, or anything else that can be sold to the highest bidding and most power-hungry warlord.

Of the three main groups, the Diamonds are also the most potentially dangerous, keeping untold numbers of rogue mages, magical breakthroughs, and experimental test subjects locked away in their musty labs.

Location and Climate:

To be determined from discussion.

(CONSIDER THIS TO BE A WORK IN PROGRESS, AS THINGS MAY CHANGE ACCORDING TO DISCUSSION.)

So it's like...the magic medieval mafia...

Awesome, also like the playing card motif, although DC kinda already did that with the Royal Flush gang, but I wont begrudge you that sense I don't think you've ever heard of them before.

Thus far I like it, I have a few minor reservations but none worth mentioning, nice going Tuv.

A high class criminal organization hmm?

Honestly I'd like to hear more about the Suits and their...interactions.

For all that Clubs affects organizations, they strike me as well...the blunt ones. They sell you stuff. Preferably in bulk, and likely sell a nice little counter measure to someone else.
Instigaing false arms races etc. Clever, and insidious, but not the most subtle.

Diamonds strike me as not having staying power. A short burst of hyper-competence, followed up by the sort of performance you expect of people who spend all their time reading and squinting in bad light over old poorly written tomes. Maybe something to reflect this?

Hearts honestly strikes me as the most dangerous of the lot, if the least focused. From what I read they influence people, often on a large, large scale. What bothers me is to accomplish this they would seem to have to step on the Club suits' foot quite often. Bit of a blurring of boundaries there.

I'd like to hear more about the Spades suit and their leader with the initials S.S.

Mostly what I'd like to hear is a A)player-side view of these. It's all very nice to know how it's organized but a bit more important to know how the average player would, should, or could interact with them on a starting level. and B)the suits interactions (or at least most frequent thereof) and notable individual figures. Give it that human feel that makes it more than just a vaguely malevolent force, but rather the dull, gut wrenching dread of a shady loan shark with greased hair and large friends, to whom you owe a lot of money.

I really love this. A mafia empire organized by way of a deck of cards. Very interested in expanding upon this.

Fighting Styles of the Shadow Nation:

Being less of a nation, and more an amalgam of the powerful and skilled, or people who would like to think they are, There is no overarching fighting style, nor preferred or even suggested weapons.

Rather, styles are purview of the four branches, and the "Purest" forms are found at the very top. The pure form is then adapted by the learners to fit their own personal style, and passed on thusly.

By virtue the styles are most watered down at the bottom for reasons twofold. First, many of the lower members are not more than bloodthirsty punks who think too highly of themselves, and thus the watered down version of the style that they receive is a means of policing the lower ranks. Secondly, it serves as a way for those of worth to advance quickly, as their subtle modifications lead them higher up the ranks.

Philosophies of the Four Suits:
Hearts: The indirect route is best, hold fast to your assets lest your foe steal them from you when you leave them unattended. Hold them back with weak and annoying blows, not letting them believe you have had the upper hand since the first hit. Weapons of range are ideal and pestilence, not force, is your sword.

Purportedly, the Ace of Hearts has an array of multi-sized glass, ceramic, and porcelain daggers on his person at all times.

Clubs: The direct route is best, but brutish straight forward fights, and fights of honor are for the weak. Dirt, sand, the sun, the wind, darkness, and the human body itself are your allies. The gods created all the subtle limits of the body, know them, exploit them. Flexibility is your friend, figuratively and literally. Weapons with strange or unpredictable movement are ideal, quick efficient brutality your sword.

Purportedly, the Ace of Clubs wields both a Rapier and a Pick.

Diamonds: Magic is perfection, we taint it by being imperfect, purity of motion aids in purity of spell. Movement should be concise and waste-free. Intervening space weakens spells, discharge them directly whenever possible. Embody your focus in your actions, become one with your craft. Freedom of motion is your friend, armor and weapons inhibit concentration and dull your blade.

Purportedly, the Ace of Diamonds is a practiced spellcaster focusing around the element of Metal.

(W.I.P)