Here are some of the criminal factions for Blood in the Dark. Some of them interact with yet to be published factions. I’ll have to write another post once I’ve detailed them all to explain a bit more how they fit together. Generally though, each criminal faction ties in to a neighborhood and a couple of factions.

Chiropterz

Dressed in combat leathers covered in hooks, the Chiropterz are able to dominate the DanglesThe area of the city that dangles below the rock, hanging on a variety of chains and cables by being more agile than anyone else. They use hooks both sewn into their leathers and mounted on long poles to swing from Dangle to Dangle. Superb thieves and spies, the Chiropterz have built a reputation over the past decade as the dominant force of the Dangles.

Lasadairguld

The Guild of Lamplighters, or Lasadirguld in the KohlnessSwamps beyond one of the portals dialect, are responsible for lighting and maintaining the public torches, lanterns and other illuminations of the city. Once directly under control of the Tallow Chandlers, the Lasadairguld has recently gained a modicum of independence and now discretely sells information collected by its many members spread throughout the city.

Old Cinder’s Linkers

Although the majority of the public areas of the city are lit by the Tallow supplied by the Tallow Chandlers, and maintained by the Lasadairguld, some back alleys rely on either pedestrians supplying their own light, or on the link-boys who offer to guide travellers with their candles and lanterns. Old Cinder, a blind elderly Kobold, who guided citizens for decades, realised she could expand her business by blacking out lit parts of the city too. She now runs a network of saboteurs, who offer to light people through the city after vandalising the lighting.

The Corkscrew Crew

Named after the twisting alley that is a vital shortcut between two major portals, the Corkscrew Crew made their name from tolling the eponymous passage. They managed to hold their own against the factions dissatisfied by their activities and have expanded into extortion and a bit of smuggling.

The Sump Choir

The Swamps of Kohlness harbours many minor demons and the Sump Choir have taken to smuggling them into the city to milk them for their glee, distilled demon-ichor that floods a user with manic howling exuberance. Cheap and addictive, the drug has quickly overrun the city. The Sump Choir don’t just use the proceeds to tithe to ArxanA minor deity worshipped historically by Kobold tribes in the swamps. Arxan’s worship has become unpopular in recent decades due to unsavoury forms of worship that are considered by most Kobolds as unbecoming of a modern, sophisticated, species., they believe an addict hollowed out by glee is the perfect vessel for Arxan’s return.

The Tap

The blood economy has a black market, a market dominated by The Tap. They run two products: red (illicitly harvested blood, violating the Phlebotomist Guild monopoly) and skimmed HemalineThe low-grade animal sourced blood that powers the base industry of the city, siphoned straight from the pipe infrastructure of the city via illegal taps.

A desperate family can sell their blood to the Tap, or an unscrupulous factory owner can power their machinery on the cheap. Both acts draw people into the grasp of Maelis Vance, the gang’s unscrupulous, but meticulous leader.

The Whigs

Founded by an embittered under-solicitor, the Whigs wear a mocking version of the wigs and gowns that form the uniform of the legal classes of the city. They stalk the law district in search of rich and important targets.