Hey all!

So - got a criminal, Auror or innocent owner of shops or homes in the Diagon/Knockturn area? (Or just London in general, of course) Looking for a way to get them involved in crimes without them getting killed or arrested on the spot? Want to get some Criminals vs. Criminals going?

So do I!

Vedir here is, most famously, a Runespoor criminal; however, he technically heads a criminal group that's a parallel to the Mafia/mob style, with his fingers in a lot of people's pies. With the Aurors closing in on his Runespoor trade, he's shifting his focus and widening his influence.

There's two major themes/plots running in this: the expansion of Vedir's group and the spread and sale of a new drug.

Gang Takeover
With the Runespoor smugglers and the WBA both suffering at the Auror's hands, what's a crime boss to do? Other than force his way in and take over their territory, that is!

With his Runespoor trade suffering, Vedir's locked his eyes more firmly on the buisnesses and residents of Knockturn and Diagon alley, recruiting amoung the down-and-out and spreading his protection rackets. His goal is to get teh whole place under his control; and why not? After all, he offers a higher pay check, a more organised system and a brand new shiny drug...and only at the cost of centuries of ideoendance, free reign and possibly your old life and dignity!

Needless to say, there are some for...and some against.

Drugs!
As part of his spread away from the Runespoors, Vedir's people have a nice new toy; a new drug. Tentatively called 'Muse' (if you have a better name: HELP! I suck at naming things!) this drug comes from the Middle East and is a hallucinogen; inhaling it - usually via a hookah -  causes vivid and intense visions.  It's becoming popular fast, and is extremely addictive...

Some basic ideas:

• The secret ingredient could be memories; either stolen or provided, they provide the basis for the visions granted by the dose of Muse. This could allow for the dealer to provide as 'type' of experience; for example, a vision of battle, love, music, etc. This may cause people to have memories stolen.
• Might be very popular among artistic types.
• Overdoses could be easy and have bizarre (and possibly deadly) side effects.

So I'll break the involvement idea stuff roughly by character type...


Criminals

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ENFORCERS. Vedir needs both grunts and officers; ambitious people who're talented with both their wands and minds have a lot of chance for advancement here. Shopkeepers who won't pay up, criminals who try to rob shops under their protection, indpendants who refuse to pick a side - they all need the boot put in and Vedir could use people to do it.

OFFICERS. He needs trusted cronies! People who can smack the little criminals around, kill who's got it coming and otherwise get things done for him without him having to do it himself. He needs a few trusted people who can be his eyes and ears, as well. They may also function as recruiters.

CREATORS. They need people who run supplies; new wands, potions, information, drugs, just about anything. Coerced shopkeepers who go with it might fall under these, and can also branch into the other two types. These could also fall under 'dealers'


INDEPENDENTS. These criminals refuse to pick a side or try to pander to anyone who has the most money; they need a lesson taught to 'em about who's in charge, boys. The Aurors might find them useful...for a price.

ENEMIES. Either in a group or individuals; these criminals are actively trying to stop the takeover in their own way, or simply resisting. Either way: they need to get made an example of...


Diagon & Knockturn Residents

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Your neighborhoods are under attack! Yor shops and families are getting threatened - and offered protection, all in exchange for a little money, supplies and keeping your trap shut.

VICTIMS. Most everyone can get attacked or pressured into offering up money! Just ask, or assume you were before you agreed to help out...

ALLIES. Of course, some can see the bonuses of helping out...allies offer shelter to the criminals, create new doses of drugs, make and repair wands, and just about anything else that's necessarily.


Ministry & Aurors

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AURORS. The Aurors are out to stop all this, of course! Wandfights and drugs flying willynilly seems to attract them, after all. While a lot of it will by nessessity involve people knowing to keep their mouths shut, the Aurors are hopefully going to make some kind of headway - even if it just involves a line in the sand.

TRAITORS. Vedir does have people on the inside, both among the Aurors and the Ministry in general - many of whom aren't really aware who they're helping out.

VICTIMS. See above! Don't go walking into Knockturn at night, folks...

Notes ---
All these can and will overlap. You can be almost any combination - they're just to help me think this over (and for your help too!). Undercover Aurors, shopkeepers who turn to either side - and so on - they're all welcome.

None of this is set in stone. Any and all ideas you have or want - shoot! I'd just love to give everyone in this area, and the Crims in particular, a big plot they can throw down in without getting arrested/killed/etc.

I'm really sorry if this doesn't make much sense! Trying to hash it all out, haha.

Wherever there's criminal activity... You know Taras will be there

He can't keep his hands to himself.

I can only see Taras being two places in relation to Vedir. He's either a partner or a Rival gang's leader. Taras doesnt like dirty work and whichever would lead him to the top faster, he would probably do. Vedir probably knows of Taras, as he had a woldwide blackmarket trade ring seven years back. He's beginning to reconnect some broken ends and rogue circmles. His largest influence of power was Im Russia/ the middle east, so if Vedir needed a someone to control the traffic into London, Taras would be very good at that. He's had over 20 years of experience running illegal operations.

On the other hand...

If Vedir doesn't want Taras on his side, I'm sure Taras would not be opposed to running his own organization again. He would revel it it. And he'd be a very very powerful opponent. His first goal would probably to round up as many foriegn trafficers as possible and get his hands on bigger and better things than Vedir has. Of course, the downfall to this plan, hes only been in London for 2/3 months.

Thus...

I think that he should be a powerful partner of Vedir. And later, he could cause mass panic by dissenting... If I decide to go that way.

One more thing: I still need a cover job for Taras... No clue what, though...

One more thing: I still need a cover job for Taras... No clue what, though...

Lawyer was the first thing that popped into my head >_>

... Oh my, he could be a defense lawyer that keeps criminals they need out of jail

Bam.

Lexus wants to play too!

Lex has recently opened up her potion shop, Wonderland in Knockturn itself. To keep her cover and cred amoungst the knockturnites she's given up her cozy London living and moved into a tiny apartment above her shop where she does all her work in the cellar. Having fully embraced her Lycan side Lexus is now a known werewolf living in Knockturn. She's already on Cin's radar for being suspicious (though that's mostly to do with her former employer turned Auror, Jonas Trevelyan)

Lex is easily pressured into doing things if she believes it treatens her standing here in London. She's terrified of being deported (where she faces a death sentence) and will do almost anything to stay where she is, which is why she's currently a CI for Level Two. She could really fall into any category, but since she's never really been on the right side of the law I don't mind her getting into it rather deep either using her skills as an expert potioneer to help produce his new drug or simply selling it out of her shop.

I'm not 100% sure of Nate's vector - I tend to write him thread-by-thread and I don't know how his summer arrest turned out!

But he's definitely at Enforcer status.  It's not that Nate's a dummy - he's sharp -, he's just pretty new to crime and doesn't have (or probably will ever have) a real bloodlust.  He's a good guy at heart.  But he's definitely selfish and in with the wrong crowd.

His problems continue to grow, and sometimes the perceived only way to solve them is to make them worse.   I wouldn't be surprised if his brains didn't land him a promotion to Officer-type, but let's just take it one step at a time. 

In regards to Aurors: 

Jonas and Adon have been quietly investigating Vedir's affairs since the March 15 debacle.  (Thus leading to the Runespoor ring being more or less shut down.)  Even with those connections drying up, I'm sure they'll continue the investigation, but they're flying as low under the radar as they can with it.  Rosier and Raynor are probably the only people who know that it's going on, aside from folks like the Trishnas, Ignan Storm, and the Blairs who have ended up with Ministry protection as a result.

That being said, any other Aurors are welcome to pick up related lines of investigation!  It would be really cool if we eventually got some internal Level Two conflict going on.     Jonas and Adon could try insisting that someone close to Vedir has to be let off the hook for another crime, because he/she is critical to their own clandestine investigation of the man.

In regards to the Drug Ring: 

I love the idea of getting this going!  I know I've talked to you, Thea, and Melissa about it a ton on AIM, and I don't remember which idea I pitched to whom, hahaha.  If you want Vedir to be the one behind it, you're welcome to run with it.  But I was thinking that it might be cool if another mysterious third party were the ones bringing it into the UK.  It seems like there's been a lot of interest in getting some sort of criminal gang war going, and if we had an NPC group trying to make inroads into London, it would give the UK-based criminals something to unite against.  If there's no PC in charge of the drug ring, then they could eventually get busted/lose the gang war/go up in flames/et cetera, instead of everyone getting stuck in perpetual limbo because no one wants their character to lose or get arrested.

I like the Muse idea as it stands so far.

Anadotti: You just know she's going to be following the Muse, joining sides with whoever lets her have a snuff while ENFORCING/RUNNING. She'd probably be the low level enforcer, the mad dog off th leash.

Obderedria: What, really? I have an idea for a VICTIM. If one of the ingredients for Muse is stolen memories that drive the hallucinogen, what if for a test run a bunch of muggles going to a cinema (movie theatre) get accosted and the memory of the movie extracted? Reason I ask is that at some point I thought of Drea's mother Patricia having her memory modified to highlight In Game the memory modification she got after Drea was born.

Sissel: The idea of using stolen memories in potions sounds like an idea Thea had with Declan and potions. So at some point Sissel would be tasked with finding out how a Dept. of Mysteries secret made it onto the streets as a new drug.

Gerard: Similarly, if Gerard came across someone TWT related whose memories were taken to fuel Muse he would look into himself.

Casey: The O'Dohertys have bottomless pits to their wallets, a resoucre Vedir or whoever would probably want to collect the full set on. Casey's father Martin could also be mentioned working with Taras as a Defense Attorney keeping the bad guys out of jail. Well, funding from the O'Doherty's will be interesting when Casey goes INDEPENDENT in regards to the goblin plotting. When the goblins restrict access to Gringotts, Casey takes the funds the family keeps out of the vault to open his own loan agency on Diagon. I'm sure the criminals won't think much of the kid except as a way to garner extra finance. Casey will find setting out with his own business intriguing for a while although eventually his morals will harden, potentially sending information to the MLE.

Dietrich would almost certainly be an "Independent" as far as the whole criminal aspect of his business goes (which isn't much, mostly illegal marks and harbouring criminals in exchange for favours). He wouldn't say no to anyone looking for some healing at his parlour but I think he would refuse to pay protection rent or take orders.

So you can try"teaching him a lesson" so to speak or the The Inkwell can just go about their daily business without being bothered, seeing as how it's not directly in anybody's way. I'm okay either way, just thought I'd let you know.

Wouldn't mind either Viv or Raine being a victim of criminal behaviour but I can't think of anything specific for them.

What happens to those who had their memories extracted? Might they become amnesiac...at least where that memory is concerned?

Colonel Kabir has had quite an exciting life. He is also prone to misfortune and it might be interesting/funny if he was zapped and then left wandering around in a daze to be found and treated...

Just gonna reply in non-personal chunks for now! Lemme know if I miss something.

Drug:
I'm cool with his group not being the ones who have it, but I'd love to have them involved somehow - maybe stealing it/attacking addicts to steal theirs, etc.

As for the memory reactions - I'd imagine they forget whichever memory it is. Just like the pensieve spell, they'd be removing the memory (rather than using the spell that just makes a copy). I think people would be able to tell they're missing a memory if pressed, and if they're actually attacking people, they'd likely be fairly, well, beaten up. (Just what Mungos' needs; more patients!)

Gang/Enforcing:
I think I'll probably be picking up a criminal secondary, so shopkeeps/residents can let me know if ya wanna get attacked. I'd definitely love to see more people on that level, though; so maybe we can have converts?

Lawyers would be awesome, I should add.

I see Ventus working into this as a Resistor. Probably, he would just support the ministry in his own way, and the could clash with the gangsters in the streets. Which, considering he's making a skeleton army, could prove quite interesting.

Apollo would easily fall under the Auror category, and I could see him being sent out on arrests. Again, fighting in the streets.

Darius is so in. I need him to do something to get out and about. He's been stuck in his apartment with Faigel since May, and I think all he's done is a couple of fluff pieces for the Azeri Times. He needs to get back into his real element, and if Vedir's willing to pay, he's willing to work.

Darius would definitely be in the creators/dealers side. Smuggling's his preferred method of earning some extra cash, he's got plenty of contacts in the Middle East (and an Azerbaijani passport), got plenty of experiences screwing around with other people's memories, and really doesn't give a rat's hindquarters what people do to themselves once the stuff gets in their hands.

Sissel: The idea of using stolen memories in potions sounds like an idea Thea had with Declan and potions. So at some point Sissel would be tasked with finding out how a Dept. of Mysteries secret made it onto the streets as a new drug.

I don't think this would be a big deal. Declan won't be telling people his secrets as he's working on perfecting his luck potion. The only person who would know is Dante Ward- since he is head of the department.

Furthermore ~

If you need "business" to extort/lean on I can offer up Candy's cupcakery and- ironically- Liadan's farm. It might be a neat way for Vedir to cover his tracks. Kind of like "Well he wouldn't be threatening Liadan!" And a way to test the effectiveness of his further-downs to see whether or not Liadan rats them out.

Landis: I like what we already discussed about him as enforcer/peon/officer material.

Darian: Also love the other idea - of some of Vedir's thugs trying to fleece him for protection money.

Michael: We talked about him and Vedir a long time ago, but nothing ever came of it. Michael has literally nothing to do right now, and violent mayhem requires little effort on his part. He would unpredictable and liable to jump ship once he lost interest, but until then he'd be pretty valuable both as a metamorph and as someone with very few limits.