To my knowledge there have been no attempts at ever making a Hogosha faction. I have spoken with many members and decided to try and take this on myself. The Hogosha are an interesting bunch to RP, so I want to get any advice or suggestions I can from all of you. Here is what i have so far:
Hogosha translates literally as "guardian" or "protector," reflecting the organization's rather romantic view held not only by its own members, but by a large portion of the Kusari population -- though by no means the majority. Far from protectors, the Hogosha are actually descendents of the organized crime syndicates that grow within the shadow of any sizable human society -- though the Hogosha have an oddly symbiotic relationship with both the government and Samura. Their political connections would make any serious attempt to dismantle them an embarrassment to Kusari as any number of secrets and deals that had been kept out of the public eye came to light. However, neither do the Hogosha have a free license to operate. Arrests of low-level Hogosha operators who flaunt their activities are frequent and help keep up appearances -- very important in Kusari. "Hard" crime, such as drug smuggling, is not tolerated. Individual opinions vary, but most police consider the Hogosha a necessary evil required for the smooth functioning of Kusari society. The government simply treats the Hogosha like any other large keiretsu. The Kusari population as a whole has a similar attitude: It is pointless to like or dislike the Hogosha; they are simply a fact of life. The Hogosha handle Artifact and gun smuggling and the fencing of stolen goods. They also do occasional dirty work for Samura. They view the Blood Dragons as a major threat to their existence and have engaged in turf wars with them, mostly in the asteroid fields of Tokyo. The Golden Chrysanthemums are a new problem, as they have few qualms about dealing in the drug trade or its consequences. Since they have no corruptible leaders or long associations with Samura or the Kusari government and police, The GC -- like the Blood Dragons -- are dangerous to the Hogosha way of life. They view the Junkers as their only real competitors within the Sirius Sector, and their only obstacle to expansion into the other Houses. They have approached the Corsairs to assist them in their plan, although no concrete steps have been taken. The Hogosha made a recent arrangement to purchase Artifacts directly from the Corsairs on the cruise ship Hawaii, a move that infuriated the GMG, who formerly served as the middleman between the two crime syndicates. It also raised the ire of the LSF, who applied pressure on Orbital Spa to deny landing privileges to the two factions.
The Kokuryū-kai (黒龍会), or Black Dragon Society, is by far the largest and oldest of the Hogosha syndicates. The Black Dragon Society is a secret ultra-nationalist umbrella organization whose membership is composed of government officials and military officers as well as many martial artists and members of the Kusari underworld who engage in political terrorism and assassination. They also provide espionage services for the Kusari colonial government. The Black Dragon Society engages in contraband operations including the Corsair artifact trade, as well as prostitution and gambling which provide them with funds as well as information.
The Society is headed by the Kumichō (組長, family head) who gives orders to his subordinates, the kobun. In this respect, the organization is a variation of the traditional Kusari senpai-kōhai (senior-junior) model. Members of the Black Dragon Society cut their family ties and transfer their loyalty to the Kumicho. They refer to each other as family members - fathers and elder and younger brothers. Unlike many crime groups, women are sometimes involved in its activities. When Kumicho was assassinated in 539 AS, his wife took over as boss of Society, albeit for a short time.
The Black Dragon Society has a very complex organizational structure. There is an overall boss of the syndicate, the Kumicho, and directly beneath him are the Saiko Komon (senior advisor) and So-Honbucho (headquarters chief). The second in the chain of command is the Wakagashira, who governs activities in a region with the help of a Fuku-Honbucho. The rank and file themselves are governed by their local boss, the Shateigashira.
I have a little more to do, but the Black Dragons will follow the RP of the Hogosha. All of our relations with other factions will be based on the NPC Hogosha standings. I have already spoken with a couple faction leaders and so far I have gotten some favorable response for our diplomacy.
I can't comment on the need for a Hogosha faction as I don't operate in Kusari space, but that is an excellent basis/background.
"To gain a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the highest excellence;
to subjugate the enemy's army without doing battle is the highest of excellence."
That is exactly what I was thinking. We would do quite a bit of smuggling, maybe some under the tables assassinations, aid the KNF at times, etc. There are a lot of possibilities. I don't think that open piracy is a great idea though, at least not among any Kusari factions. The Hogosha are supposed to be a major factor in the stability of Kusari.
I'm talking with Lotek right now trying to figure out how to handle the "untouchable" factor that the Hogosha has with they Kusari gov. I think it would have to be a sort of "we ignore you, you ignore us" kind of thing. You know, since there really isn't any feasible way to reflect bribes in game, at least not among the player chars.
Really nice background there. We've been needing a Hogosha faction... I haven't really known what they would do with their time, but you've made a really good description of their activities there. I could also see them possibly running pirating operations in Bretonian space, something like the QCP does in Kusari.
One thing though... The Blue Lotus Syndicate, considering their smuggling ties in Kusari, has the potential to be one of the biggest enemies of the Black Dragons (though probably not the most powerful enemy, what with the NovaPG and Bushido right next door). You're second in command of the BLS, so wouldn't that be a bit of a conflict of interest? I mean, what if the two factions went to war (something I can easily see happening, based on both of the RPs)?
I had talked to Pipboy about this one already, and he has some great ideas and seems to have the dedication to it to see it through. This has the potential to be one of the great factions. He knows the story of Hogosha very well and might have a secret or two up his sleeves. Got my blessing on this.
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Also, the Corsair side of the fence is in need of a good roleplay based faction. There aren't as many on that side as there are on the Maltese end of the spectrum of crime.
Well, there's not really much to do in Kusari right now, with the Curse of the Blue Lagoon waxing in right now, but this does seem very well-thought-out. I'll make sure to come and vaporize them every time I run out of BSG or Corsairs:PGood luck with it.
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