RP Aid (Organizations: Black Sun)

[Jerrel]

From the pages of Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Hero's Guide

The Black Sun Crimianl Sydicate
Anyone who says that the Hutts are a leading example of organized crime has never heard of Black Sun. Black Sun differs from the Hutt criminal syndicate chiefly in that, not being a sovereign state, it opperates covertly, and it does so with thae tacit approval of the Emperor himself. Black Sun deals in information, much like the Bothan Spynet, but Black Sun acquires it in a much more agressive and ruthless fashion. Though blackmail, coercion, intimidation, and sometimes assasination, Black Sun learns what others would rather keep secret--then uses those very same techniques to turn information into credits.
No one can truely say when or where the Black Sun criminal syndicate came into being; it seems to have been a fact of life as long as any underworld figure can remember, the Falleen Prince Xizor is certainly not its first leader, though he is most definitely its best. Black Sun has at times dealt in arms, spice, liquor, slaves, kidnapping, extortion, bounties, contract killings, and credit laundering. All of this business is conducted right under the nose of the authorities--Prince Xizor's palace on Imperial Center is not far from the Emperor's palace, in fact. Indeed the Empire is one of Black Sun's best customers.
What Imperial Intelligence cannot discover for itself, Black Sun's operatives often can garner with ease. Because Black Sun frequently gathers information through blackmail and coercion, it has informants not only with in the Rebel Alliance but also the Corporate Sector, Hutt Space, and even the Unknown Regions. Perhapse the only organizationthey have not been able to successfully infiltrate is the Bothan Spynet--their only real competition in the feild of galactic intelligence--which might explain why no cover identity is ever good enough to pass them.
Like the Bothan Spynet, Black Sun conducts its business in secret. Its members might be well known individuals, but they lead doubble-lives, and their real agenda is known only to Black Sun. Prince Xizor expects his operatives to exercise extreme discretion, or brace for the consequences--and he is not generally considered a forgiving person. The rewards for good service, on the other hand, are great: Even a lowly street thug, with dilligence and loyalty and the proper amount of initiative, can rise to the rank of vigo, or lieutenant, in Black Sun. And rank, especially in Black Sun, carries many privileges.

Joining
Permanent agents of the Black Sun criminal syndicate are actually no more inherently long lasting than the temporary kind; the only differneceis that they get a steady pay chit from Black Sun for as long as they survive. The work is often dangerous, since taking advantage of illicit information frequently means strapping on a blasterand taking what belongs to someone else--and the rightful owner all too often objects. Black Sun is no place for people who don't want to get their hands dirty; even Prince Xizor sometimes deals with matters personally. Black Sun is an organization that rewards ambition, initiative, ability,and ruthlessness in equal measure, and the more one is willing to advance through coercion, deceit, and brutality, the father she will go.
Black Sun recruits almost entirely out of its pool of temporary labor. Its existence is a closely guarded secret--a rumor at best--so aspiring members cannot simply seek out a known Black Sun opperative and ask for an interview. Instead, Black Sun slowly brings the new member deeper into the organization until she is in too deep to back out.
In fact, because Black Sun is a criminal organization that uses ill-gotten information to coordinate illegal activities, one might say that the job interview never really ends. Any failure--to complete one's assigned tasks, to pay propper respect to one's superiors, and above all, to keep quite about Black Sun and it's activities--is met with stern and sometimes leathal punishment.

Leaving the Black Sun criminal syndicate
No one has ever managed to "resign" from Black Sun. Membership is for life, and leaving Black Sun--especially following some sort of transgression--is effectively a request for execution. Some members have tried to run and hide, only to discover that Black Sun's agents can find and kill nearly anyone, nearly anywhere. The only way to survive separation from Black Sun is to contract a debilitating illness or injury--unpleasant options at best. Otherwise, one can best hope to make a suitable living from Black Sun for as long as possible, and eventually die quietly in one's sleep.

[Keer]

I just wanted to say how cool it is to see this information here. I'm a buff of the histories of criminal organizations and secret societies and this post has given me more of a respect for the concept of the Black Sun syndicate's place in the Star Wars universe.

After reading Shadows of the Empire, the book in which Black Sun was introduced, I was somewhat ambivalent to it as worthwhile part of the saga. As I roleplayed my character as a criminal being I was still reluctant to fully embrace it. But, this post's information gives a bit more perspective for me, seeing Black Sun as a Star Wars analogue of the historical real life underground crime cult, the Assassins (Hassansin or Hashshashin)....and they were some baaad S.O.B's in their day.

Ironically, now even though I "like" it, I still can't RP Black Sun because personally I don't want my character to be aware of it yet, if ever. :lol: (those forays into the Death Watch Bunker were against a group of unknown super-mercenaries *shrug* Coulda been anybody...).

Also, good stuff from Oroho with the Star Wars Wildlife posts (I would have posted in that thread too, but it looks like there's more to come there). It was generally informative and interesting, with that part about the life bond between Tuskens and Banthas especially fascinating.

[Jerrel]

bump

This is a bump of some RP Aids I've done that I think the newer members would like to read.