# TARBEAN UNDERGROUND: COMPLETE LORE DOCUMENT
## I. OVERVIEW
City: Tarbean (major port city of Vintas)
Nature: Underground network of criminals, survivors, and street folk
Organization: Fragmented; multiple gangs and power structures
Population: Thousands; from desperate orphans to crime lords
Governance: No formal structure; ruled by force, cunning, and street code
Tarbean is the largest and poorest city in Vintas—a port metropolis where ships from across the Four Corners unload cargo, crews, refugees, and disaster. The poor quarters (where the "Underground" dwells) are a sprawling maze of alleys, slums, warehouses, and hidden chambers beneath the city streets. This is a place where the Four Corners' official civilization ends and survival becomes the only law.
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## II. THE CITY OF TARBEAN
### A. Geography & Structure
Upper Tarbean:
- Noble quarter with mansions and estates.
- Merchant quarter with large trading houses and warehouses.
- Temple district with the great Tehlin cathedral.
- Patrolled by the City Guard (usually corrupt, sometimes brutal).
Lower Tarbean (The Slums / The Warrens):
- Cramped tenements, lean-tos, and buildings on the verge of collapse.
- Narrow alleys that twist and double back, making navigation difficult for outsiders.
- Docks and waterfront, where ships arrive and crew members desert or hide.
- Underground: literal tunnels, cellars, abandoned wells, and passages beneath the streets.
The Docks:
- Constant activity: loading, unloading, smuggling.
- Home to sailors, dock workers, prostitutes, and thieves.
- A crossroads where foreigners arrive with money and valuables.
### B. Population & Diversity
Tarbean attracts refugees and the desperate from across Temerant:
- Deserters: Soldiers fleeing military service.
- Refugees: Those fleeing war, persecution, or poverty in their home regions.
- Orphans: Children abandoned or separated from families.
- Criminals: Thieves, murderers, and those with no other option.
- Traders & Smugglers: Legitimate and illegitimate merchants.
- Runaways: Young people seeking freedom or escape.
- Foreign Sailors: Cealdish, Commonwealth, even rare travelers from beyond known lands.
### C. Economy of Poverty
The slums operate on a subsistence economy:
- Daily Labor: Dock work, construction, carrying goods for merchants.
- Thievery: Shoplifting, pickpocketing, burglary, mugging.
- Prostitution: Both male and female; often the only income for orphans.
- Gambling & Vice: Illegal betting, drinking establishments, drug dens.
- Smuggling: Moving goods without taxation or licensing.
- Information Brokering: Trading secrets and rumors for coin or favors.
Those with luck, talent, or ruthlessness rise to become gang leaders or respected thieves. Most survive day-to-day, never accumulating wealth or stability.
## III. THE UNDERGROUND: ORGANIZATION & FACTIONS
### A. Fragmentation
The Tarbean Underground is not a single organization:
- No central leader or council rules it all.
- Multiple independent gangs control different territories (alleys, docks, warehouses, specific neighborhoods).
- Gangs range from 5-10 members (small crews) to 50+ (organized operations).
- Alliances shift constantly; today's ally is tomorrow's rival.
This fragmentation makes the Underground resilient: destroying one gang weakens the network, but never breaks it.
### B. Territory & Turf Wars
Control of territory means:
- Protection racket: Merchants and residents pay for safety from gang violence.
- Tax on theft: Thieves operating in a gang's territory pay a percentage of their haul.
- Access to resources: Safe houses, fences (people who buy stolen goods), information networks.
Turf wars are frequent and bloody. A rising gang may challenge an established power; a falling gang may try to expand or ally with stronger forces. Players might arrive in the middle of a conflict that reshapes the entire Underground.
### C. Major Gangs (Examples)
The actual gangs vary by campaign, but examples might include:
- The Rats: Street urchins and young thieves; numerous but individually weak.
- The Dockside Brotherhood: Thieves and smugglers with connections to sailors and foreign traders.
- The Red Hand: Violent enforcers; known for brutal punishment of those who cross them.
- The Whispers: Information brokers and spies; valuable and mysterious.
- The Coin Keepers: More organized than others; possibly approaching something like a guild.
Each gang has:
- A leader or small council of elders.
- Specialization (theft, smuggling, violence, information).
- Territory and safe houses.
- Codes of conduct (however brutal or self-serving).
### D. Hierarchy Within Gangs
A typical gang structure:
├── Lieutenants (trusted inner circle)
├── Specialists (best thieves, enforcers, negotiators)
├── Members (regular gang members)
└── Prospects (those trying to join)
Advancement depends on:
- Skill: The best thieves rise quickly.
- Loyalty: Those who don't betray the gang are trusted with important work.
- Ruthlessness: Willingness to hurt, kill, or make hard choices.
- Luck: Right place at right time; good reputation spreading.
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## IV. STREET CODE & CUSTOMS
### A. The Unwritten Laws
Those who survive the Underground understand certain rules:
Honor Among Thieves (Sometimes):
- Betraying your gang brings death or worse.
- Breaking a deal with a fence or loan shark brings consequences.
- Informing to the City Guard is the deepest betrayal.
Territory & Respect:
- Working in another gang's territory without permission brings violence.
- Stealing from residents of a gang's protected area invites retaliation against you.
- Respecting boundaries prevents constant warfare.
Payment & Obligation:
- Debts must be repaid (often through service, not money).
- Owing protection money is non-negotiable.
- Breaking a promise to a gang leader is often a death sentence.
The Code of Silence:
- What happens in the Underground stays there.
- Informing authorities brings vendetta.
- Even rivals maintain the code against outsiders.
### B. Communication & Reputation
In a world without formal records, reputation is everything:
- Word of Mouth: A person's reliability, skill, and honesty spread through gossip.
- Marks & Signals: Graffiti marks, colored cloth, or carved signs indicate gang territory or warnings.
- Intermediaries: Those trusted by both parties (fences, bartenders, crime bosses) facilitate deals.
- Rumors & Legends: The most skilled thieves become folklore; young urchins hear their stories and aspire.
A good reputation can make you; a bad one can end you.
### C. Street Wisdom
Those raised in the Underground develop practical knowledge:
- Navigation: How to move through alleys, identify patrols, find safe routes.
- Reading People: Spotting undercover guards, identifying wealthy marks, gauging danger.
- Survival Skills: Finding food, shelter, medicine; staying warm in winter; avoiding disease.
- Thievery: Picking locks, moving silently, identifying valuable goods, timing a heist.
- Social Engineering: Smooth talking, deception, identifying weakness in others.
## V. THE CITY GUARD & AUTHORITIES
### A. Corruption & Inefficiency
The City Guard in Tarbean is:
- Understaffed: Too many streets, too many crimes to monitor.
- Corrupt: Many guards accept bribes to ignore gang activity.
- Brutal: Those arrested face casual violence and torture.
- Ineffective: Gang leaders have more respect and enforcement power than the Guard.
### B. Types of Guards
- Honest Guards: A few remain; they are either newly recruited, idealistic, or politically connected and protected.
- Corrupt Guards: Take bribes to ignore crime; may even work directly for gangs.
- Brutal Guards: Use their authority to extort, assault, or terrorize the poor.
- Street Enforcers: Ordinary citizens deputized to help patrol; often as corrupt and brutal as any gang.
### C. Interaction with Underground
Most gang leaders maintain relationships with guards:
- Protection Payments: Bribes ensure that patrols ignore specific areas or crimes.
- Cooperation: Guards may warn gangs of rival activity or incoming danger.
- Mutual Benefit: A powerful gang leader can use guards as muscle; a corrupt guard can use gang networks for personal profit.
The line between law enforcement and organized crime is often invisible.
## VI. POVERTY & SURVIVAL
### A. The Economics of Desperation
In the slums, money is always scarce:
- A laborer earns 1-2 silver talents per week (if employed).
- Rent for a single room is 3-5 talents per week.
- Food costs 1-2 talents per day for basic sustenance.
- Most people exist in perpetual debt to landlords, moneylenders, or gangs.
### B. Survival Strategies
The poor employ various methods to stay alive:
- Street Orphans: Beg, steal, or trade sexual favors for food and shelter.
- Dock Workers: Exhausting labor for minimal pay; dangerous and prone to injury.
- Thieves: Higher risk but higher reward; theft can provide more than a week's labor in a single successful heist.
- Prostitutes: Women and men sell sexual services; dangerous but relatively reliable income.
- Beggars & Hawkers: Sell small items, beg for coins, or offer services (carrying messages, running errands).
- Gang Members: Provide protection money; in exchange, receive steady income, protection, and community.
### C. The Trap of Debt
Debt is often the real ruler of the Underground:
- A person borrows money for food or medicine.
- Interest accumulates; the debt grows faster than wages.
- The debtor becomes trapped, working to repay what can never be repaid.
- Inability to pay results in slavery, servitude, or death.
Powerful fences and moneylenders build empires on accumulated debt.