Themes: ambition, god complex, being the “alpha”, hustler, abuse (perpetrator)
Luka’s family, the Bulyats, had been dirt-poor farmers back in Yugo-Graad. When Luka was still barely old enough to walk, they made the journey to Revachol, looking for a better life. They didn’t find it in La Cage. Instead, Luka grew up with a profound sense of disconnect, the knowledge that they had been stripped of their birthright, of an opportunity to experience the cutthroat Yugo-Graad underworld where they’re certain they would have made a name for themselves. The La Cage equivalent was just sad: little scams by little people for little payout. Nonetheless, Luka wanted to be a big fish even in this small pond: that’s why they idolised Matija, the former patriarch of a Yugo-Graad criminal clan. It’s also why they turned on the charm to get Matija’s child, Zhenya, to agree to marry them; it’s why they ditched the dirty farmer’s name to become a Krot, to be a member of a bloodline with promise. They know the name has power by how other people approach them for sex and favours, by how Luka has power over them. Everything Luka does is to get the Krots back on top, and they aren’t shy of doing some dirty work. Luka can feel the power running through their veins, especially with a bit of white powder, or after they’ve put Zhenya in their place. Can Luka get the Krots back on top and rule the La Cage underworld?
FULL GROUP TEXT
(mandatory for members of the group and Immigration Officers, optional for others - for example various other foreigners)
The immigrant housing occupies one whole wing of La Cage, the more decrepit one, hosting families that are far from home. People love creating distance between one another. Migrants from Graad and Oranje and some undocumented poor souls live here, stuck between horrible jobs in local sweatshops and old dreams. All together, squashed under one roof, the various cultures are clashing and mixing with each other, while everyone is still trying to maintain a sense of belonging. But is it even possible to call La Cage home?
The North Wing Crew is a fresh local La Cage street posse, that took on a legacy of a previous crew during a power vacuum, centered around the Immigrant wing. Always sporting the orange color and patched jackets, keeping it fresh and always reciting some experimental dope bars while blasting loud and aggressive music on the corners of their turf and having a life-long rivalry with a South Side Crew group. They spend their time not only spray-marking their territory and coming up with lit insults and rhymes, but also often making bold claims about how they will fuck the South Side Crew up, and then have to fulfill that promise. After all, they fight from the position of the underdogs, who are going to show the fancy-ass Apartment people, who are the real deal here.
“Come by and watch the spectacle! Watch adults pummel each other bloody! Watch the gladiators of our modern times face off for your amusement!” So read the worn posters and flyers every week. The Fights are happening weekly, and are one of the few entertainment establishments in La Cage. Everyone knows the story of the rise of the “Red Bannerman” and the “Twirling Moustache” - glorious fighters in a bloody sport. As part of the Fight Club, you might be one of these fighters, facing off with wooden sticks, some bringing the finesse of ancient samaran martial arts, while others beat down their opponents with brute force.
Life in La Cage could never be called easy, but nothing takes the edge off like a little something to tickle the brain. The Druggies are less a formal group and more a handful of users that found themselves in the same grim alley every day to take the edge off before the corners got too crisp. Whether trying to escape or enhance reality, to get a grip or lose it, the Druggies explore the fractals behind their own eyelids, may it lead to enlightenment or their own destruction. The users of the group are enabled by the suppliers that take advantage of them: manufacturers and smugglers with their own agendas. Should the users ever manage to get it together, they might find some clever ideas to turn the tables.
