Crook's Creek

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Crook's Creek

Crooks' Creek in the 800s PR

Type	Town
Government	Cronyist-Mercantilist
Location	central Pteris
Inhabiting Race	Criminals of all Races

Crook's Creek is a shady spot in Pteris that has been home to a number of shady organizations and clans over the millennia.

About

Whenever a Pteris town ain't big enough fer the two of 'em, thems outlaws need to lay their head somewhere. That somewhere is formally incorporated under the name "Safehaven," but everyone knows it's true name: Crooks' Creek. Located on the "coast" of the sea of dunes, the Kharmaja, Crooks' Creek houses pirates, outlaws, and smugglers. It's a lawless boomtown known fer barfights, gang shootouts, and the occasional skilled tattoo artist.

History

Establishing Crooks' Creek (200 BR)

The town was founded in the wilds as a lawless town of outlaws banned and hunted in neighboring cities near the badlands.

Around 200 BR crook's creek was run by a "Shootin' Cheyenne" (formerly Miss Anne-Marie McLain) who defended the town by rallying as many marauders as possible to keep the town highly armed and defended against the oncoming swarms of devils that emerged in the The Infernal Emergence. Cheyenne and her bandits are a force to be reckoned with, along with her husband, Mr. Six. He don't talk much, and even if he did you prolly couldn't hear im over the whir of his cursed saw-o-chains situated over the stump of his left hand. And if you think he's scary, wait till you hear why he's called Mr. Six. That tale involves Cheyenne, a reverse Russian roulette, and five less lucky suitors. So keep yer wits about you in this domain.

It was known that at least one tavern called "The Low Lantern" was on the streets at this time.

Another establishment, the Pilgrim's Barn and Inn, was run by Ira.

The Families of Crooks' Creek (805-825 PR)

In the times of the Greedy Green, the sandy lands of Pteris had changed rapidly, but not necessarily towards improvement. The wastes of Crooks' Creek bred many things, principally the namesake of the 'land'. Land was a subjective term; the only level of truth that statement had was in the literal. A tourist leaving would be lucky to leave in their underwear; keeping even a copper piece on your person was equivalent to wearing a suit of meat fighting a Tabaxi. And yet, you'd still find nobility scattered throughout, some completely unscathed with an air of invulnerability around them. For every one of those, nine others wandered aimlessly in bloodied scraps of clothing, pockets bare, stomachs empty. Whether it be from gambling debts past due, protection fees that were a little too light for the bookie's liking, or just the poor bastard's luck running out, the 'citizenry' of Crooks' Creek would always find a reason to gang up on someone.

To survive, you needed protection. The more easily coerced ended up within one of the Five Families of Crooks' Creek, usually as some sort of goon or pair of hands to dirty instead of their own when they needed to dispose of someone. Those somewhat less morally bankrupt ended up as merchants, shopkeeps, bartenders, and other such service oriented employment, although the fingers of the Five always seemed to be dipping into their coffers deeper and deeper. Sometimes, you'd find someone ballsy (read: stupid) enough to stake their own claim and try to dodge the Families. For some, that was merely a roundabout way of taking a long walk off a short pier, for others, a necessary precaution in their line of work, and for a select few, salvation.

The few who dodged the families successfully tended to be those with some high degree of specialized knowledge; whether it be in wizardry and majicks to alchemy and artificery or even more forbidden arts, if you could afford to learn, you could afford to live. More specifically, you could afford to thrive.

A few of the more curious, a rarity and yet a constant as there always were a handful in the town, had built themselves a family of their own. These were dedicated scholars, their newest acolytes having read stacks of ancient tomes assigned to them in mere hours, able to recite by page and line number each of their incantations. Their numbers never amounting to more than two hands worth, but all fervently, fecklessly dedicated to one ideal: freedom.

Unfortunately, their idealism led not to their liberation, their release from the shackles of a corrupt, crony-mercantilist system where the gangs got rich and the government richer, but to subjugation, persecution, and nigh-extermination. But they had a secret. A long-forgotten and well-hidden power, so well hidden it almost acted in plain sight; only those wielding it, and scholars of high renown, knew the truth. They could pass down their will; a testament to the fervor of their devotion to, in their eyes, a logical, peaceful, stateless society. In this, their leader, usually referred to by the title of "Wizened Elder", when in a near death or deadly experience, can simultaneously commune with both a new vessel for their will, and the gods of the realm, humbly offering a barter of their own life in service to these deities, in exchange for the power to guide their vessel and bestow upon them further knowledge and strength to continue down what they believe is their ultimate, fated path to freedom for all in the realm of Quelmar.

Similarly, their strict dedication of to their ideals and consequent misconstruement of  interpretation led to conflict, internal strife, political discussion where once abhorred (as they were united under one creed of freedom), and even attempts at infiltration from the Five (all thwarted, as admission required a complex ritual that acolytes were unaware of; the acolytes instead needed to be vouched for by the sentinel themselves).

This 'family' had many names, all in secretive tongues, the preference Infernal, no two names translating back to the same in Common, but all sharing one agreed upon interpretation: "The Clan of Auton".

Notable Places

• The Needle and Dread: A tattoo and piercing parlor run by Borya, a fearsome, bald giant who doesn't speak common. Some whisper that his sleeves of rune tattoos are pure magic. Mr. Whiskers is Borya's hairless sphynx cat, covered entirely in tattoos.
• The Low Lantern is a sandship anchored in the dock. It hasn't been sand-worthy for years, but its a bustling hub of gambling where powerful gangleaders make deals behind closed doors. In more modern times (circa 800s PR), it has grown into a near micro-state with five hubs connected by an open air bazaar, each hub rented to each head of the Five Families. Infighting at different parts of the Lantern left the local construction unions nigh-constantly busy. Of course, that meant kickbacks had to be paid.
• Fort Knucklebone: During the First Infernal Emergence, Mad Maggie and her cackling brood set up shop outside Crooks' Creek. Spiked walls of infernal iron surrounded this one-stop shop for infernal war machines, the preferred mode of travel for roving devil gangs.
• The Labyrinth: Just south of Crooks' Creek, the cliff coasts fracture into a mess of pieces from the tectonic turmoil of the First Infernal Emergence. Agile ships can dart through these deep, winding canyons, but so can the occasional sandworm and even worse.
• Chateau Non Loft: Hidden in plain sight within the main streets of the city, this seemed to be one of the few buildings completely free of influence from the Families. It was a relatively large, seemingly empty, but unassuming building, open during regular hours as a place of rest, relaxation, food, drink, smoke, and refuge. Those particularly adept in their linguistic abilities might notice something in the Chateu's name (psst... it's the Clan of Auton's hideout: THECLANOFAUTON -> CHATEAU NON LOFT).

Notable Events

• Nezza spent her time there as she plotted to stop the first Brightwater posse from reaching Ta-Shedet.
• The Revolving Wedding: Cheyenne (formerly Miss Anne-marie McLain) came to town and started with a bang. Six suitors lined up to marry the ascending queen of outlaws, and so she had them play a game of Rogue Roulette. Cheyenne loaded five chambers of her revolver, spun the chamber, and handed the suitors her gun to demonstrate their dedication to her. As luck would have it, the last chamber was the empty one, and her current husband simply goes as Mr. Six.