The Void Cartels are a loose network of criminal syndicates, black-market houses, raider clans, smugglers, assassins, and corporate defectors who pooled resources after the Fracture shattered legitimate commerce. Unlike the Corporate Constellations, the Cartels never pretended to be anything but what they are: a power built on shadow, force, and forbidden trade.
Their throne is Zephyria, the gas giant with storm bands that glow like burning gold, lightning that cuts across continents of cloud, and a gravitational field strong enough to crush a small moon. Few worlds are as dangerous or as beautiful—and none offer the anonymity the Cartels require.
Zephyria is their sanctuary, fortress, and hunting ground.
Zephyria is a massive swirling gas giant rich in volatile particles, rare atmospheric fuels, and exotic storm-charged minerals. The Void Cartels exploit these resources ruthlessly while hiding their operations within the planet’s impossible storms.
Skyvault Platforms: Floating city-stations chained to graviton anchors, drifting above the highest storm layers.
Stormmines: Dangerous atmospheric harvesting rigs that plunge into lightning clouds to capture exotic ions and hyperreactive fuels.
Shadowports: Hidden docking cradles in Zephyria’s orbit, used for smuggling, discreet negotiations, and ritualized cartel meetings.
Windrunner Fleets: Fast strike ships built to slip between atmospheric turbulence and sensor shadow zones.
Zephyria has no surface.
Only storms.
Endless storms.
The Cartels thrive in the chaos.
The Void Cartels operate as a conclave of six major families, each with their own specialty. They cooperate just enough to survive, backstab just enough to stay sharp.
Trade in weapons, mercenaries, raider fleets.
Specialize in prototype weapons, black-market biotech, stolen Constellation research.
Handle disappearances, intimidation, and “final negotiations.”
Run the largest illegal logistics network in the Reach.
Money-lenders, credit forgers, launderers, and info-hoarders.
Control Zephyria’s stormmines and exotic fuel trade.
Together, these forces form the backbone of the Void Cartels. When they unite, entire systems tremble.
Unlike the Constellations, who dream of order,
the Void Cartels embrace chaos.
They believe:
Law is a tool to be manipulated.
Profit flows where risk is highest.
Information is power.
Trust is negotiable but fear is reliable.
Survival belongs to those who adapt without hesitation.
To many in the Reach, the Cartels are not villains—they are a necessary evil, filling gaps left by failing governments and collapsing corporations.
But make no mistake:
the Cartels serve only themselves.
They maintain the only stable infrastructure: skyvault cities, atmospheric rigs, and storm-hardened smuggler docks.
They bribe port handlers, run black-market cargo channels, and maintain hush-money arrangements with rogue engineers.
The Cartels avoid open conflict with the Marshal Authority but maintain deep ties to the Tumblewalk, the Dusty Spoke’s underbelly, and independent traders who need “off-ledger” goods.
They hate the Corporate Constellations.
The feeling is mutual.
The Constellations enforce strict anti-smuggling controls; the Cartels sabotage refineries and steal research whenever possible.
This hostility is a cold war—one that could turn hot with the wrong shipment.
CPG tries to maintain neutrality.
Cartels exploit desperation without collapsing the economy.
A delicate “you don’t see us, we don’t break you” dynamic.
Openly adversarial. Marshals see the Cartels as the greatest underworld threat to stability in the Reach.
Often allies, sometimes enemies, frequently business partners.
Pure rivalry.
A wolf and a tiger sharing the same hunting ground.
Despite being criminals, the Cartels operate with:
Codes of honor
Debt-ledger traditions
Skilled negotiators
Assassination councils (when diplomacy fails)
Ritual assemblies atop Zephyria’s skyvault platforms
Each Cartel family maintains its own identity, but all pledge allegiance to the Storm Council, a meeting of the six leaders.
Storm Councils are rare, loud, and usually followed by a dozen bodies going missing.
Zephyria is nearly impossible to invade.
Storms can tear fleets apart.
The Cartels are decentralized.
Kill one leader and a dozen lieutenants take their place.
Their logistics web is unmatched.
They can move illicit goods faster than legitimate governments can file reports.
They control unique resources.
Zephyrian fuel and storm-charged minerals are irreplaceable.
They cultivate public goodwill where needed.
They protect settlements abandoned by governments.
They fund hospitals, repair wells, and offer credit—at a price.
In many places, they are the government people actually interact with.
Crime syndicate politics
Loyalty vs. survival
Criminal empires rising from political collapse
Moral ambiguity
Shadow power behind “legitimate” factions
PCs escort a witness fleeing a cartel debt.
A skyvault platform goes dark and drifts into a storm.
A cartel assassin mistakes the PCs for targets.
A stolen Constellation artifact surfaces on Zephyria.
A cartel fissure threatens to ignite a Reach-wide turf war.
Something alive is found deeper in Zephyria’s storms—something older than the Cartels.
The Void Cartels serve as:
The chaotic opposite to the Corporate Constellations’ rigid authoritarianism.
The shadow to Credence’s fragile democracy.
The unpredictable counterweight to Marshal regulation.
The criminals who sometimes act like heroes… and heroes who sometimes must act like criminals.
Zephyria is their throne.
The Reach is their market.
Your players are their next opportunity.