An Acquired Taste

[Zapp]

OOC: This is a group effort to detail the ground battles of the new Blue Lotus Syndicate goal, namely, to own the entirety of the Cardamine trade. If you'd like to contribute, send me a PM and we'll consider you. Enjoy!

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Malta, the orange planet, viewed from orbit it’s a marvelous sight, pick the right point on the planet below and all you can see in any direction are fields of the orange plant, Cardamine. It’s from Malta that the seeds of Outcast dominion are sown, from here that the insatiable desire spreads. From low-down street hobo to high up government official, there is no echelon of society that does not feel the touch of the orange dream. Even Malta is not immune from the spread of Cardamine, it’s in the air, the water, it seeps into everything and nothing remains untouched by its influence. There are politics to this as there are with any endeavor, currently the production of Cardamine is given to numerous independent cartels, some consisting of only a single plantation, others, like the mighty Blue Lotus Syndicate, consisting of hundreds of them. The Blue Lotus Syndicate sits at the heart of Cardamine production on Malta, they are the single largest grower and distributor of this highly addictive substance. But that is not enough for them, they seek to control it all, they seek to be the only supplier of the drug and they will stop at nothing to ensure this is the case.

It’s difficult though, Outcasts do not kill Outcasts, the birth rate is so low that if violence where to break out amongst them it could seriously hamper the overall goal. This leaves two angles of attack, the workforce, consisting primarily of slaves considered less than life, or pressure to join an existing cartel through attacks on shipping lines and political pressure brought through the Council of Dons. It is the Council of Dons who set the agenda for the Outcasts, they who decide when to wage war and when to rest, they who decide whether their allies may access technologies. To go against the Council is to go against the whole Outcast nation. Still some try and fail, their memories testament to the viciousness of Outcast justice and retribution.

The sun rises over the vast orange fields, its light causing the plants to glow. It’s a marvelous sight but one that most Outcasts are jaded to now, none more so than Don Arturo Marcellus. Rumored to be over 100 years old Don Marcellus is a titan of a man, barrel-chested and well built, he is the perfect head for the Marcellus Familia, a small syndicate consisting of just 5 Plantations. Still he is considered one of the more influential independents, his Familia have held this land for nearly 600 years, and he has no intention of relinquishing his iron grip.

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