The Tower [Pathfinder 2] (In-character - Sheena-Tiger, DigitalBlue)

[DigitalBlue]

The Tower is inhabited by all sorts of individuals and all these individuals typically want something, it is only natural. Most of them want money. At the top of the Tower is where almost all of the money sits literally. Perhaps 80 to 90 percent of the Tower's total currency can be found up here above the toxic fog clouds. Up here it shows up as hand crafted lawn chairs for a guild master to sit on while he sips his afternoon tea out on the balcony that has actual grass and flowers. Or perhaps it shows as the chandelier hanging above the man who runs the Towers magical supply, powering lights and the elevators, while he makes out with just of the many women crowding around him.

But a lot of that moment is cycled back down. What many people don't realize is, all these higher ups, these Upper Levelers, they all have their hands in something other than a responsible business. In the Upper Mid and Lower Mid levels. Mafias control and run legitimate businesses, while running many of their other businesses. The mafia bosses sit comfortably here, buying lavish items for themselves, albeit not as lavish as the Upper Level items.

The money continues to trickle down behind the scenes from the Higher ups to the mafia bosses to the gang leaders in the Lower Levels. Here is where more of the unsavory business makes itself known. Drugs, theft, robbery, prostitution, sure all of this goes on on the levels above but just not as blatantly.

There are a few of these organizations that run the operations. Some specialize in certain things like theft and robbery, like the Twilight Collective or the Syndicate who specialize in theft and assassinations. Both organizations are a guild of sorts who hire contractors of all sorts to complete jobs. The Twilight Collective is preferred by Lower Level gangs and Lower Mid mafias while the Syndicate is preferred by the Lower and Upper Mid mafias, they also deal with the Higher ups who need wet work done in the lower levels.

@Sheena-Tiger

 

[Sheena-Tiger]

Xylene let out a long yawn while she stretched herself. What she called a bed was rustling below her, the straw covered by a blanket was at least cushioning the sleeping place a bit and keeping the cold from the floor in check. This far away from the central pillar and this far down on the tower, it was not the nicest of places. The building materials consisted of thinner and lighter materials, unable to hold much of the warmth from the day or the industry that could warm things up was far away. Heavy things like that simply needed to be closer to the tower but one could look at the bright side. Considering how far down Xylene had her tiny living place, the air could be considered clean. It was still advised to cover your face to filter the air as much as possible, not that many people could pay for a regular supply of filters of any kind.

The young human checked her few belongings and decided it was time to get some fresh supplies, her food was running rather short but it was not a thing she had to take care of this early in the morning. Instead she donned the things making up her simple leather armor. It was mostly something that almost doubled as corset, giving her chest not only some protection but some support as well. Some additional protection was put on too, making sure her arms and legs had at least some protection to it. To prevent people to get the wrong kind of ideas in the first place, the belt with the shortsword was donned too and a dagger was fastened to her leg not far above her boots. With her size of 5'3'' / 160 cm she was not the most impressive person, her lack of well defined muscles was not helping either.

Having readied herself, the dark haired young woman finally left her place, locking the door behind herself, not that it was much of a protection but nobody in this region of the tower had much anyway, it was hardly worth the time and possible trouble to break into a locked place. Xylene was talking from personal experience. Most people locked their doors only so they hopefully had not to shoo away some pests, may it be things like rats or people seeking refuge from the wind. A young woman was making her way through the streets, the level of the tower she was on stuffed with tiny and often stacked huts, every now and then with openings between some of them forming alleys and what could be called backyards. Sometimes there even was enough earth brought together and a tree was growing from it, looking ill and with only a few leaves on it, but it was... nature. At least in Xylene's part of the level people formed a bit of a community around it, gathering to meet each other and sometimes even trade things they had a surplus off, considering what little everyone had. The major benefit was, of course, showing that this place had people working together, protecting each other, keeping the actual crime a tiny bit lower than was the norm. At the very least, it was seldom that someone got attacked and even Xylene refrained from sticking her rather sticky fingers into other peoples pockets.

Making her way through the roads formed by the buildings on each side, she entered something that was definitely made of a bit more sturdy material compared with everything around it. The structure was larger as well, taking up the same space at the streets front as 4 of the regular huts as well as 2 stories and for the uninvited almost 3 huts deep. Bright green eyes met the eyes of someone inconspicuous sitting close to a door at the back, which seemed to lead to the street on the other side of the buildings, a small nod was exchanged and Xylene crossed through the door, pushing a curtain just enough out of the way to pass through. Finally she had reached what might be called her office, of sorts. The front of the building was for those going about a normal life, back here was were money changed owners in exchange for often dangerous work. Xylene could be called an adventurer of sorts, not like in legends like in the novels about fantastic worlds people swore they had seen in the hands of rich and stores in the higher levels. No, Xylene was more the kind of person you called when you wanted to go places no one should go in the first place or to retrieve things from places and people who not wanted to part with the objects. Often she had to step carefully on her jobs, a set of tools always at hand to disarm devices old enough to be from the early days of the tower and Xylene was suspecting, most of them were not even meant as traps when they had been constructed. And if it was not traps, it was monsters, usually overgrown rats, thanks the goddess or whoever, or guards or locks in the way. She had not 'worked' for almost a week now, time to see what she might be able to find at the board or maybe someone would be pointed to her by the barkeeper in the back.

 

[DigitalBlue]

The Twilight Collective was at its core a thieves guild. If someone wanted something stolen, someone mugged or a place robbed, well they'd have to go through the network but eventually their job might land here. Ideally a person wanting something specific stolen already knew someone part of the guild or was actually part of it themselves. Many potential buyers of stolen items put up items they desire. Thieves primarily came here to find a lead, a lead to the next big hit and to find a buyer for something they stole. Rogues and thieves are always trying to one up each other, always trying for the next big score. The front of the collective was a pub and inn. But the actual guild was in the back behind the mask of a legitimate business.

How one would typically get jobs was through the board. Essentially it was a bounty board of sorts but for thievery. Jobs and even rumors would be pinned here. These were first come first serve and typically didn't stay up for more than a day. On today's board there were a couple of jobs.

• The Feathered Skull - rumored to be located in a noblewoman's home in the Upper Levels. Located in her bedroom in an enchanted glass case. The skull is of a Dragonborn encrusted in jewels and with bright colored green and blue feathers attached to the back of the head. Buyer willing to pay 500 gp.

• Frosted Lace - Madam Lao Chaom wants someone to steal this rare, enchanted necklace from her divorced husband, Nino Virsk, leader of the Virsk Family mafia. Investigate and execute. Madam Lao Chaom will pay 650 gp upon delivery. Note - proceed with caution.

Other than the board, one could come directly to a thief of their choice and ask them personally or even tell the bartender they wanted to speak to someone. Oftentimes other rogues will recruit another to assist them and split the cost of the goods. But backstabs and betrayals weren't unheard of. The bartender looked up at Xylene. "Ah, Xylene! I haven't seen you take a job in a bit. We've got a couple of things on the board or… those guys over there." He pointed towards a group of three sitting together at a table in the corner. "They're lookin' for one other person, thought you might be interested in talkin' to them. That is if you're willing to do a heist." He grins at Xylene after looking her up and down.