BOUNTY
HUNTER.

THE INSTITUTION

The Guild is Vespa’s independent licensed bounty organization. It takes authorized contracts, protects professional neutrality, and gives hunters access to a contract wall, equipment, safe planning rooms and intelligence at its speakeasy headquarters, The Crooked Nail.

PEOPLE

Mara Voss Guildmaster, approximately 60; former elite hunter responsible for the organization.

Silas Reed Coordinates contracts and operational information.

Rosa “Rosie” Vale Ex-hunter quartermaster with a prosthetic arm; outfits and supports hunters.

The player Starts as a Prospect, earning credentials and rank through fieldwork.

THE UNDERLYING QUESTION

The Guild must decide whether its reputation is worth protecting when that means concealing the truth.

GUILD RANKS

Prospect: supervised learner. Iron: licensed independent hunter. Hound: trusted tracker. Marshal: elite active hunter who recruits and trains others. Warden: senior appointed steward. Black Badge: exceptional legendary distinction, NOT an institutional command rank.

PLAYER RELATIONSHIP

Good hunts mean more than kills. Evidence, restraint, live capture and professional conduct can preserve testimony and shape how The Guild judges the player.

DESIGN BOUNDARY

The everyday in-world name is always “The Guild.” Keep its base at The Crooked Nail. Keep Black Badge distinct from Marshal and Guildmaster.

THE EMPIRE

Victor Marrow controls real estate, financial companies, nightlife, hospitality, private enforcement and deep political relationships. His ambitions already extend beyond Vespa into other cities and international markets. He is a major power, not the obvious final villain.

VICTOR MARROW

Wealthy and calculating, Victor believes everything he builds is for the future of his daughter Elena. His belief in protection risks becoming a belief in control.

ELENA MARROW

Elena is 16 and attends school. She was six when her mother died. Her importance is personal, not a corporate title or an adult executive role.

THE PLAYER’S INVESTIGATION

New evidence can challenge Victor’s belief that the death was accidental. His reaction may move him toward negotiation, vengeance, cooperation or conflict, always intertwined with his desire to protect Elena.

STORY BOUNDARY

Isabella is Victor’s deceased wife. Elena is their sixteen-year-old daughter; artwork portraying Elena as an adult “first lady” does not change this established canon.

NEIGHBORHOOD ROOTS

The Mercy Saints were built out of local protection and mutual aid. Their food programs, neighborhood defense and social ties genuinely help residents, while protection rackets, illegal trade and coercion make that help costly.

LEADER: MARCUS “SAINT” BELL

Age 43. A Fallen Protector who loves Mercy and believes he alone can keep it safe. His central flaw is confusing the neighborhood’s survival with his control over it.

SUPPORTING PEOPLE

Evelyn “Mother Saint” Bell Marcus’s mother and guardian of the original social mission.

Darius “Dre” Cole Age 28; ambitious successor pushing a more aggressive criminal expansion.

Nadia Price Community organizer seeking safety without gang domination.

THE BROKEN HALO

The Saints’ local church/parish hall, gathering point, distribution center and informal command space. This is a place where community loyalty and criminal influence meet.

STORYLINE: THE BROKEN HALO

A bounty connected to the Saints reveals unauthorized crews, outside money and internal pressure over how Mercy should be protected. The player’s evidence, witness protection and relationships can influence reform, consolidation, displacement or a leadership challenge.

DESIGN BOUNDARY

The Saints should not be caricatured as either pure charity or pure villainy. A damaging internal rupture is possible, but not an unavoidable civil war.

FACTION IDENTITY

Mechanics, scrappers, truck thieves and freight hijackers built the Jackals from industrial decline. Their world is scrap pits, rail yards, garages and improvised muscle, not corporate boardrooms. Ashfall Yards is the label used for their industrial enclave within the broader Ironworks setting.

LEADER: ROOK MERCER

Age 48. Tough, funny, intimidating mechanic and organizer. His customized black-and-orange muscle car is “The Jackal.” He is violent, yet insists on a personal code.

THE JACKAL CODE

Rook opposes deliberate harm to innocents, trafficking of people and abandoning loyal crew for profit. This does not erase the harm caused by the organization’s other crimes.

PEOPLE

Maggie “Wrench” Doyle Age 52, veteran mechanic and Rook’s close ally.

Cole “Torque” Vance Age 31, protégé and ambitious raider who tolerates civilian risk far too readily.

STORYLINE: DEAD FREIGHT

A contested shipment and a dangerous freight attack expose unauthorized work by Torque’s people. The player can gather proof, force Rook to reckon with the Code, make lawful captures and steer the conflict toward accountability or deeper escalation.

SCOPE

The Blackwater Combine is a recurring rival or transactional partner. The Fallen Black Badge can exploit fractures, but he does not directly command the Jackals.

THE PORT EMPIRE

Blackwater is a powerful criminal operation intertwined with legitimate shipping, bonded warehouses, docks, private logistics and valuable infrastructure. Pier 19, the Container Maze and the Bonded Warehouses are established locations. Many workers are ordinary law-abiding Vespa residents.

LEADER: EVELYN “THE HARBORMASTER” CROSS

Age 56; chairwoman and leader for roughly fifteen years. Her defining rule is “The Port Must Survive.” She will give up a lieutenant, an asset or even her position if she thinks continued port operations depend on the sacrifice.

PEOPLE

Adrian Vale Board director pressing expansion and unauthorized dealings.

Lena Ortiz Advocate for dock workers and safer, more independent port operations.

STORYLINE: THE MISSING MANIFEST

A vanished container and a missing customs investigator lead into freight records, concealed payments and historic corruption. The player can follow evidence toward a lawful arrest, expose an unauthorized operation and influence what happens to the port.

PRESSURE ON EVELYN

Expansionist board members and workers both challenge her vision. The story asks whether the harbor can survive without the criminal organization that claims to keep it running.

CANON BOUNDARY

Evelyn Cross is the leader—not Mirelle Thorne. Her doctrine is “The Port Must Survive,” not a claim that she always prioritizes workers over the port.

OLDEST CRIMINAL EMPIRE

The founding families began Vespa’s earliest major organized criminal dynasty roughly 170 years ago. Their generations survived the Harbor War, Red Winter, Concrete War and Five Families War, and then established a Compact to avoid another war among themselves.

THE COUNCIL OF HOUSES

The Council settles family disputes and maintains unity. The five houses cooperate in legal, political, financial and criminal networks while preserving internal interests. Their public image is heritage, philanthropy and civic stewardship.

THE FIVE HOUSES

Moretti — the Sword; Devereaux — the Treasury; Baptiste — the Foundation; Calloway — the Shield; Varela — the Eyes.

SENIOR LEADERS

Don Salvatore Moretti, 76 First Chair; criminal tradition and enforcement.

Celeste Devereaux, 63 Finance, development, politics and investments.

Henri Baptiste, 59 Harbor trade and waterfront property.

Edmund Calloway, 67 Attorneys, judicial and administrative relationships.

Isadora Varela, 61 Covert information networks and intelligence.

CANON BOUNDARY

The five houses stay structurally united. Their ties to the VMA are selective, generational and powerful—not total control of every police officer.

GALLOWS REACH

The Gallows Men emerge from forgotten trailer settlements, rural roads, marsh canals, salvage sheds and close-knit families on Vespa’s outskirts. Innocent residents live alongside armed fugitives and outlaws; sanctuary and predation coexist.

LEADER: WADE “PREACHER” GRANGER

Age 58. A former tow operator, mechanic and occasional marsh rescuer, Wade assembled scattered families after his sister Ruth died. He does not want the city. He wants outsiders—including The Guild—away from his people.

HIS RULE

“Under our roof, you’re one of ours. And we don’t hand over our own.” This protects vulnerable neighbors, but it also shields people who have harmed others.

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS

June Holloway Oversees Red Pine Trailer Court, protects its residents.

Ellis “Dogbone” Rourke Brutal enforcer.

Micah Boone Young protégé and possible conscience of the group.

Calvin Roe Former lawman with an uneasy connection to the past.

STORYLINE: NOOSE ROAD

A fugitive’s protection challenges Wade’s sanctuary code. Ruth’s custody records, witnesses and Iris’s receipt give the player a separate path toward justice. The case may change Wade’s trust without excusing his crimes.

AN IMPERFECT INSTITUTION

The VMA handles patrols, major crimes, detention and professional standards. Most staff are doing their jobs. Some senior figures have cultivated political and criminal connections over decades. The VMA is not simply another crime gang.

COMMISSIONER MIRIAM HOLT

Age 59. A principled leader committed to public trust and lawful accountability. She was not commissioner when Ruth died and now must navigate an entrenched institution without treating every officer as corrupt.

KEY PERSONNEL

Sofia Reyes Major Crimes detective, cautious potential ally of the player.

Elias Trent Professional Standards / misconduct investigator.

Malik Brooks Mercy precinct captain grounded in the community.

Graham Sloane, 62 Compromised deputy commissioner protecting older arrangements.

THE PARISH COMPACT’S OLD TIES

Calloway: legal scrutiny and administrative pressure. Devereaux: budgets, contracts and procurement. Moretti: veteran commands and organized crime investigators. Varela: information leaks and informants. Baptiste: harbor enforcement and waterfront connections.

STORYLINE: THE LAST TRANSFER

The player uncovers old transfer records, medical discrepancies, witnesses and administrative concealment. Commissioner Holt needs evidence strong enough to hold the wrongdoers accountable. The struggle is institutional reform versus the connected old guard—not a full police civil war.