Griffins Gang

The Griffins

Membership

Common Descriptors: Underhanded, charismatic, cunning

Primary Classes: Rogues, fighters, bards

Alignments: N, NE, CG, CN

Locations

Trades Ward bleeding into the North Ward, centered on the Griffin Roost neighborhood.

Ranks

• Fledglings: Rank 1+. Those working to prove themselves are usually under the sponsorship of a member of the gang, who also acts as guide for them. • Griffin: Rank 3+. Only full members of the gang have the right to call themselves "Griffins," and they receive their bracers from the Wing. • Wings: Rank 7+. The gang's lieutenants are called "Wings," and they usually divide leadership of the rank and file between themselves. • Griffin King/Queen (Rank 10): Head of Gang. The leader of the gang is referred to as the "Griffin King or Queen," or sometimes just "the Griff" for short.

Supposedly founded thirty years ago by a pair of bored nobles, the Griffins are a gang who focus their efforts on giving folk the illegal things they want, rather than victimizing folk. They deal drugs, fence, sell smuggled goods, and arrange for illegal gambling dens, all with the aim of thrilling rich folk and parting them from their coin. The Griffins maintain the northernmost territory of any other gang, bleeding slightly into the North and Sea Wards.

Symbols

• Badges: Brown leather bracer, with three slashes as though from talons, on left forearm. Many of the Griffins get tattoos of the gang's sign (the griffin) as well.
• Signs: A stylized griffin symbol, usually painted outside of establishments hosting Griffin Gathers.

Activities

Drug dealing, confidence games, fencing, middlemen for smuggler sales, host illegal gambling dens (in events called "Griffin Gathers"), illegal pit fighting.

Members

	Valesta Griffin Queen (Rank 10) The unassuming Valesta is often underestimated – which is just how she likes it. She is a capable fighter, and a decent tactician, but most of all her manners and comportment are up to the standards of the nobles who most often frequent her Gathers. Though clearly from the streets, she knows how to dress up to meet the standards of the highnoses she's out to fleece. According to rumor, one of Valesta's ancestors was one of the last Waterdhavian griffin riders.
	Saembesta Tumn Wing (Rank 9) Acrobatic and utterly ruthless, Saembesta is Valesta's main bodyguard. The two women are fast friends, though one couldn't tell by their behavior in public: Valesta is the gregarious, charming one out in front, and Saembesta watches with sharp eyes from the shadows.
	Whiteveil Wing (Rank 8) •  A moon elf with a distinctively acid-scarred face, Whiteveil does not discuss where he got his horrific scars. For all his aloof appearance, Whiteveil is best of companion with all the other Wings, and with a good many of the rest of the gang. Though composed, he is very good at seeming to cut loose in the company of his gangmates, and they love him for it. He is also a magician of some talent. Whiteveil acts as the main announcer and Pitboss for the fighting circuit.
	Grother Wing (Rank 7) The newest of the Wings, the hobgoblin Grother oversees the security concerns for Griffin Gathers. As such, many of the Griffins who act as security are under his command. He is a former pit fighter himself, and sometimes oversees the training of some of the Griffins' own fighters.

Former Members

Brivitil Flummeth Former boss of the Griffins Though retired for a few years now, Brivitil still seems to be subtly in touch with the criminal underworld of Waterdeep. He often acts to advise Valesta – the two have dinner at least once a tenday – and he also is known to act as a fixer of some sort.

Hangouts

• The Roost: Tavern. A ratty local drinking hole, the Roost has been the defacto headquarters of the Griffins since their founding. Most nights Valesta can be found there, with her lieutenants and whoever else has business with her. The back part of the tavern has basically been claimed by the gang, who urge others trying to sit there to move on.

Relationships

• Enemies: The Drunkard's Own have remained antagonistic with the Griffins for quite a while now, although that antagonism is mostly confined within each gang's boundaries. Recently, the gang of hoodlums raided a Griffin Gather and made off with several thousand gold pieces in coin, plus the jewelry of the attending nobility, and Valesta has sworn to get her revenge for it.
• Allies: None, though the Griffins have hired the Squires to provide extra protection in the form of additional fighters in recent days.
• Treaties: Arulembar's Shields and the Griffins have a non-aggression pact, and both are careful to observe the niceties. Rumors say that the Shields may have struck up an alliance with the Drunkard's Own, however, so it may just be a matter of time before that treaty is broken.

Faction Perks

Agents of the Griffins in good standing might receive the following benefits:

• Call for Help: Rank 2+. When in Griffins turf, you can call for help from your fellow gang members. If they have been established as being on-scene, they come running. If this hasn't been established, there is a 30% chance that 1d4+2 thugs associated with the Griffins are nearby and within earshot. If this roll results in a 5% result, one of the upper echelons of the gang with them.
• Doss Space: Rank 2+. You always have doss space with members of the gang. It's not always the best accommodations, of course, but beggers can't be choosers, right? You may always receive the Poor Lifestyle benefits for free as long as you are in Waterdeep. This will always be padding down with some other Griffins, and so is almost guaranteed to be within Griffins turf.
• The Good Life: Rank 3+. Griffins like to live it up. You only pay half the cost for alcohol and other intoxicants. Additionally, when taking the Carousing downtime action, the cost for lower class carousing is halved.
• Pulling Jobs: Rank 3+. At full membership, you are expected to do work for the gang's interests. You must spend one tenday of downtime per month tending to this effort. You may choose one of the following types of downtime performed for the gang.
  • Crime: When taking the Crime downtime action, you may choose to get the aid of your fellow Griffins. This reduces the cost to perform the action by 10gp, and gives you advantage on up to three of the checks involved (minimum one). For each check you gain advantage on, you have to give over a quarter of the takings, assuming there are any. So, help on just one check requires you relinquish a quarter of the Loot Value, on two checks, it is half, and three-quarters if you take advantage on all three. Additionally, you are expected to hand over half your take to the gang, but only one one such heist per month.
  • Gambling: If you work one of the Griffin Gathers and gamble on behalf of the house, they cover 100gp of your gambling coin. You may choose to gamble more, but the gang covers 100gp of it, and still takes half of what you win after recovering their initial buy-in for you, regardless of how much it may end up being. The gang deals with any Complications that may crop up, however.
  • Pit Fighting: The gang takes half of your winnings. The gang deals with any Complications that may crop up, however.
  • Work: There are plenty of jobs necessary to the gang's livelihood: recruitment, bodyguarding, security, information gathering, playing messenger, and more. If the task doesn't fall into the above, it is covered by the Work downtime activity.
• Crew: Rank 5+. Griffins of this rank can get the assistance of their fellows for other tasks, although if it's not something for the gang, they'll need to hand over 2gp a head to the gang for the "loan" of the muscle. If the request is for within a tenday, 3d6+2 Griffins can be available. If it it within five days, 2d6+1 Griffins can be available. Only 1d6 are available within a day, or 1d4 within an hour.
• Upper Echelons: Rank 5+. Now, when performing a Pulling Jobs-based downtime activity, the gang claims only one-third of what you make.

The Griffin Gathers Fighting Circuit

The Gathers are host to a variety of types of gambling, but the most hotly anticipated is the pit fighting. An entire fighting subculture has developed around the Griffin Pits, with a variety of fighters and their trainers vying for the coveted "crown" of the Champion of the Gather: the champion fighter for the circuit.

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