Gundiagh Cloan

The Gundiagh Cloan (meaning "clan" or "family") is a collective of organized crime syndicates composed of ethnic Gundiagh members originating in Lathadu in the 18th century which today operate primarily in Salia, Ordrey, Gladomyr, Edury, Ecoralia, and Koranel. Originating in migrant Gundiagh street gangs, the Gundiagh Cloan operates most extensively in East Alutra, particularly in Salia.

The Gundiagh Cloan functions as a loose association of criminal groups that share a common heritage, organizational structure, and code of conduct, allowing them to present themselves to the public under a common brand. The basic group is known as a family, or cloan. Each cloan claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town, village, or neighborhood of a larger city. The Cloan's core activities are racketeering, smuggling, and the arbitration, organizing, and oversight of illegal agreements and transactions.

Origins
The first traces of the Gundiagh Cloan can be found with the mass migrations that occurred from Lathadu following the Great Famine of 1795-97. The largely decentralized Lathadun Federation was unable to stem the worst of the famine's effects, leading to large numbers of Gundiagh peasants being forced to either make a living elsewhere or starve. Initially, these waves were confined to southern Ordrey and Salia for the most part, but as their numbers increased, their ships were turned away, and migrants were forced to go further and further to find new homes. Gladomyr became the primary destination for many, with some even traveling as far as Viinkeland and Koranel. Others sailed to Edury, and then Ecoralia. In total, it is estimated that up to 500,000 Gundiaghs left Lathadu at this time, either forced out by hardship or simply wishing to make new lives.

The first published account of what became the Gundiagh Cloan dates to the spring of 1809. The Porth Grai Times reported that the city's Second District had become overrun by "well-known and notorious Gundiagh murderers, counterfeiters, and burglars, who in the last month, have formed a sort of general co partnership or stock company for the plunder and disturbance of the city." Cloan groups first became influential in Salian and Ordrish port cities, gradually progressing from small neighborhood operations in poor immigrant communities to citywide and eventually nationwide organizations. Quisten Quane was one of the first well-known cloan members to emigrate to another country. He and six other members of his gang fled to Noters, Ordrey after murdering eleven wealthy landowners in Lathadu. After a bloody clash with local authorities in 1811, he was grievously wounded but taken into custody, although he later died from his wounds while being transported.

Lathadun Revolution
Although the network of immigrant groups increased in the following decades, their size was limited due to their being based out of Lathadu; Ushteyghoo was the central hub of cloan activity due to its location as a major port near the delta of the Aarnieu River. However, this changed in 1871 with the end of the Lathadun Revolution and the founding of the Republic of Lathadu by Carmac Kneale. Shortly after the end of the war, Kneale initiated a campaign to destroy the cloan in Lathadu and assert the control of his Democratic Laborer’s Party and the National Federation of Trade Guilds over the country. The cloan threatened and undermined their power in Lathadu, and a successful campaign would strengthen him as the new leader, legitimizing and empowering his rule. Kneale also believed that such suppression would be a great propaganda coup for his regime, and it would provide a reason to suppress political opponents who had links to the cloan leadership.

In 1875, he appointed Thormot Calcote to handle the cloan's presence in the country. Calcote formed a small army of policemen, gendarmes, and militia which went from town to town rounding up suspects. The suspects were interrogated for their alleged links to the cloan; to force them to divulge information or surrender, the authorities would take relatives hostage, seize their property, or even publicly slaughter their livestock. By 1898, thousands of suspects had been arrested. Some cloan members who had been on the losing ends of local feuds voluntarily cooperated with Calcote's forces, as a way of obtaining protection and revenge. Charges of cloan association were commonly leveled at landowners or farm leaseholders, as many were either deeply entwined within the cloan or had previously been supporters of the Teague Regime. More than 1,000 were convicted and imprisoned, while others were exiled from the country without trial.

Calcote's campaign officially ended in the Summer of 1899, when Kneale's successor Fergus Cain recalled him to Calleebane. He had successfully crushed the cloan as first dreamed by Kneale. The country's murder rate sharply declined, and many of those major landowners not brought low during the revolution lost most or all of their wealth and status. Many fled to neighboring Ordrey and Salia and joined the existing groups there.

Growth
By 1900, prominent clans could be found across East Alutra, although now many had lost their leadership in the wake of Calcolte's purging of the clans in Lathadu. As an alternative to the previous practice of appointing a single clan leader, the largest clans came together in 1901 in the city of Scrá and agreed to create The Moot. In The Moot, the bosses of each major clan would have equal say and vote on important matters as well as solving disputes between families. By 1930, there were twenty-six officially Moot-sanctioned clans, each based in a different city. Each family operated independently from the others and had exclusive territory which it controlled. More old-fashioned clans such as those in Salia or Ordrey usually worked only with fellow Gundiaghs, which brought them into frequent conflict with competitors such as Salia's Gemurtrakian Triads. On the other hand, the more newly-established families, such as those in Edury and Ecoralia, were more open to working with other groups, be they local talent or other foreign elements, to achieve success and greater profits. The Moot's members thrived by following a common code originating in clan conduct in Lathadu that called for an organized structure and group consensus for rule. Failure to follow such rules or attempts to subvert them were punishable by death or exclusion from the group and its protections.

The criminal empires established under The Moot's authority continued to expand following its founding. Popular ventures included illegal gambling operations, loan sharking, extortion, protection rackets, smuggling, fencing, drug trafficking, and labor racketeering through infiltration of labor syndicates. This allowed the clans to make inroads into profitable legitimate businesses such as construction, waste management, trucking, and in the waterfront and garment industries. In many cities, construction projects could not be performed without the approval of the ruling clan. In the port and loading dock industries, the clans bribed syndicate members to alert them to valuable items being brought in. Cloan members would steal these products and fence the stolen merchandise. Roodham, Ecoralia was seen as an "open city" where any family could work - and many did. The sheer volume of cargo passing through the city made it a major target, and virtually all of the major families had some presence there.

Operating in the shadows, the clans initially faced little opposition from law enforcement. Local agencies lacked the resources or knowledge to effectively combat organized crime committed by an underground group they were unaware existed. Many within police forces and courts were simply bribed, while witness intimidation was also common. In 1961, an Ordrish committee assembled by the Federal Assembly called a series of hearings, concluding that a "sinister criminal organization" had infiltrated many cities within the nation. Many suspected members were summoned for questioning, but few testified and none gave any meaningful information. In 1967, the Ecoralian National Gendarme uncovered a meeting and arrested major figures from around the world in Roodham. The event, dubbed the "Roodham Moot," forced the world to recognize the Gundiagh Cloan as a serious problem and changed the way law enforcement agencies battled it. The arrests also sent shockwaves through the clans, forcing them deeper underground and making them reevaluate their strategies.

Restructuring and rebuilding
In 1973, Asmund Avelson became the first known member of the Gundiagh Cloan to flip sides when he became a state witness for the Salian government. Although he was killed two years later by the cloan, he provided detailed information of the inner workings of the cloan and its secrets. Following Avelson's testimony, the clloan could no longer operate completely in the shadows. National agencies put more effort and resources into combating organized crime, and several East Alutran nations came together and signed the Criminal Activity Warrant Treaty, or CAWT. Following the signing of CAWT, each member nation was able to pass legislation defining what a criminal organization was, and what activities by those organizations would be subject to international warrant in fellow CAWT countries.

Some success was made by the beginning of the 1980s, with Ecoral national police doing battle with the cloan and ridding Roodham of much of their previous influence. By this time, however, the cloan were involved in many industries, including sports gambling. Involvement with different types of gambling allowed the cloan to run gambling halls as legitimate businesses, which in turn helped finance different illegal activities. Labor racketeering helped them control many industries from a macroeconomic scale, allowing them to grow in power and influence in cities with big union presences. There was a sharp decline in overt cloan activity following the 1980s, due to zealous governments hunting down members wherever they could find them. Extended criminal penalties were established for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. Violation of these laws passed among CAWT member states, could be punished by up to 20 years in prison per count, and tens of thousands in fines as well as forfeiture of any properties or assets obtained while violating the laws in question. These laws, collectively called the CAWT Laws, proved a powerful weapon in attacking both ground level and officer members of organized crime groups. Between 1981 and 2000, 23 high-ranking chieftains were arrested and convicted in the region, while 13 advisors and 43 high-ranking captains were convicted. While this significantly crippled many smaller clans, the most powerful clans continued to dominate crime in their territories, even if the new laws put more of their members in jail and made it harder to operate.

Further complicating matters for the cloan was the increasing presence of other foreign organized crime syndicates, particularly in the case of the Gemutrakian Triads in the nation of Salia. Although the triads had had some presence in Salia since the mid-20th century, the silent war that had been waged between the two organizations for wealth and influence turned loud in the 1970s and 80s. Bloody street shootouts, bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations were commonplace at this time, with the triads able to gain a great deal of ground very quickly due to their structure and pressure already faced by the cloan from the Salian government. By the late 1970s, the cloan had undisputedly lost Scrá to the triads, a loss that would send shockwaves thrown the organization's psyche. The cloan in Salia regrouped in Porth Grai and set about ensuring their continued survival through less open means. Indeed, in the mid to late 80s and early 90s, cloan leadership in Salia permitted small-scale cooperation with Salian authorities against the triads, due to the surging prevalence of their activities in Salia's major cities.

Today
In the 21st century, the Gundiagh Cloan has continued to be involved in a broad spectrum of illegal activities. These include murder, extortion, corruption of public officials, gambling, infiltration of businesses, labor racketeering, loan sharking, tax fraud schemes, and stock manipulation schemes. Although its reach once spread widely across East Alutra, today most of its activities are confined to a string of major ports along Alutra's east and northeastern coast. While other criminal organizations such as the Gemurtrakian Triads or the Gozyar Mob have grabbed a share of criminal activities, the Gundiagh Cloan continues to be among the dominant criminal organizations in these regions, partly due to its hierarchical structure. Regional law enforcement agencies and task forces have since focused their energies on international terrorist groups, allowing the cloan to enjoy a small resurgence in certain areas. To avoid attention and prosecution from the authorities, the modern cloan outsources much of its work to other criminal groups.

Structure
The Gundiagh Cloan operates on a strictly hierarchical structure. Resembling the function of clans in wider Sedic society, the cloan's modern organization structure was created in 1901 by The Moot. Each major clan would have a chieftain (toshiagh), advisors (coyrleyder), captains (ardeeideilagh), and footsoldiers (fercaggee). Initially it was agreed that only full-blooded Gundiaghs could be members, but these rules were relaxed over time in some areas to allow lower members to come from any background. The highest position is that of the chieftain, one that could either be passed by blood or by a chieftain selecting his successor. Although bloodshed over such successions has been common historically, other clans of The Moot commonly intervene to prevent too much damage from occurring. Below the chieftain are his advisors, appointed by him to keep tabs on his territories and update him on any developments. Below these, there are factions each headed by a captain, who leads a crew of footsoliders and "associates" (non-clan members retained by the clan for assistance). When a chieftain makes a decision, he rarely issues orders directly to those who would carry it out; instead, the order passes through his advisors and captains down the chain of command. This allows the higher levels of the organization to somewhat insulate themselves from law enforcement should the lower level members be arrested or investigated.

Occasionally, there are other leadership positions found in the clans. Ruling panels (pleadeilagh) have been set up when a chieftain is incarcerated or is forced into hiding to divide the responsibility of the clan. Typically consisting of three to five members, it also helps divert police attention from any one individual. This method was invented by families avoiding prosecution in Edury, but the technique has since spread elsewhere.

Customs
The initiation ritual to become a full member of a clan emerged from various sources, such as historical oaths of fealty taken by warriors as well as from various Ayekist rituals. Before physical prowess and strength, prospective recruits must memorize certain passages of poetry. The rank determines how much - footsoldiers must only memorize a few lines, while advisors must learn up to twelve books worth, recording the histories, genealogies, and legends of the Gundiagh people. Once this element is fulfilled, the recruit is surrounded by nine members, each holding hazel sticks. The men beat him with the sticks while he recites his vow, which he must do without trembling.


 * 1) I shall marry without portion, choosing a wife for her virtue.
 * 2) I shall be gentle with all women.
 * 3) I shall never reserve myself to anything which my brother stands in need of.
 * 4) I shall stand and fight against all odds, as far as nine to one.

Once he has successfully completed his oath, the sticks are taken and burned. Then, his joining is announced by the ranking member in attendance, and he is named a member of the clan for life.

The killing of a sworn member of a clan must be approved by its leader, or retaliatory killings are made, possibly inciting a war. In a state of war, clans commonly commit shootings, bombings, and other acts of violence toward one another attempting to intimidate each other into submission. Traditionally, to become a member of a clan, the inductee is required to be a man of full Gundiagh descent, later extended to men of half-Gundiagh descent through their father's lineage. Although maternal lineage is not held to the same importance, those with non-Sedic ancestry are typically not regarded as highly. Traditionally, high-ranking members of the Gundiagh Cloan grow their hair out and sport mustaches or full beards, calling back to the warrior heritage to which they often allude.