Shireroth

Baron Andreas,

Does Melangia happen to have any famous crime families? If so, may I incorporate them into some writing I may be doing for the Antican Province of Aryez? As you may know, Melangia, a Shirerithian County, stands precariously close to Aryez and, therefore, its parent nation, Antica.

My thesis is that the past tension between Aryez and its parent nation made it possible for Shirerithian interests to expand and flourish in Aryez while at the same time being nearly impossible for them to do so elsewhere in Antica. The tensions and restrictions made it possible for only the most flexible of Shirerithian enterprises to succeed in Aryez during those days, organized crime and enterprises with close proximity to Aryez. Melangian crime families would also have varying degrees of penetration in mainland Antica, usually through Aryezi intermediaries. Through it all, only a small percentage of Aryezi and Melangians were ever involved in organized crime, but together both groups filled the pages of many books, movies, and newspapers with often exciting stories of their escapades, operations, and feuds, as well as of the brave law officers who investigated and prosecuted them for their crimes.

Regards,

An interesting question.

What you have to understand is that Melangians are fairly different from normal people. This is kind of old but a start. In general, Melangians are smaller and weaker than normal humans (though excellent swimmers). They tend to be calm and calculating, and their primary job is that of historian (if not historian, they tend to be bookish - clerks, accountants, academics - that sort of thing). So they're certainly not your traditional Italian mafia.

That said, there has been the occasional Melangian known to do odd things (odd by Melangian standards). Mel'Kat served as my admiral for several years, before despairing of the evil depths of human nature; and becoming Micras' first air-pirate (in a very Robin Hood-esque style). Cla'Udi, my right hand man, is, off the cuff, the leader of the Time Revisionists, an order of elite Melangians who travel through time to ensure that history happens as it is meant to; and is currently leading the Shirithian Expedition to Hell (to help the Gralans) when the Kaiser failed. [I wonder if Scott's noticed the historical references yet]. And I have absolutely no difficulty in imagining a Melangian stealing historical documents from non-Melangians.

So I would be delighted for there to be some Melangian crime families in your stories, but I'd suspect they'd be in things like antiquities smuggling and historical sources black markets, rather than more traditional crime patterns. As for names, the 'Kat and 'Gia families would probably be the ones you want.

The Melangians will be given as culturally appropriate roles as is possible. The Melangian aversion to dirtier or less cerebral aspects of the criminal enterprise can be incorporated into the stories. The Aryezi would fill the tough guy roles, handling the messier aspects; though some Aryezi crime lords were at least as shrewd and sophisticated as their Melangian counterparts.

Sounds like a plan. I look forward to reading it.

"The Family of Melangia" is what the story will be called.

Chapter 1:

http://nafticon.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=1513

Chapter 2:

http://nafticon.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php ... 404#p12404

More chapters to follow.

Very nice - I look forward to seeing how it develops.