So I had an idea for a small to medium sized street gang, one with a highly visible presence that works for good PR and image. They are a go-gang/wiz-kid gang, but style themselves as feudal knights. I don't know if there has been something like this before, maybe in one of the previous editions on the UK.
They were founded by a mystic adept from England, Alastair St. George, who founded the original chapter of the gang in London's sprawl in 2058. St. George had a rough and violent upbringing in Londonsprawl until his Awakening, when he managed to get off the streets and into an corp-sponsored education program. On the streets, he had learned to live by his fists and blade, and learned the value of brotherhood. A street thug upholds his colors with all his strength, and hangs with his brothers come hell or high water. To fight for your brothers, and to defend your turf against invaders, defined gang life for him before he left it. As a boy, he had idolized bikers and gang members, strong men who brooked no insult and dressed colorfully, resplendent in their gang colors and symbols. A young boy with only his mother, he was often frightened and intimidated by the world around him. He idolized the men who seemed to fear nothing, and excercised what passed for authority in his patch of the sprawl. With no father in his life, and mother dating several of them, they became his role models. Along with this upbringing was his childhood obsession with chivalric tales and fantasy media. Swords and sorcery tales, ancient and modern, filled his youthful mind. They created a shining fantasy land to escape into from the world around him. He imagined the local go-gang as knights on steeds of steel, with proud heraldry, defending their land and the people who lived there. His initiation into gang life was inevitable, but he was pulled from that mire when he discovered his magic at age 16, already a blooded ganger.
At school, he felt alienated and withdrawn from the people around him. Some were like him, plucked from the dregs of society and thrust into a new world because of their Talent, but most of his fellow students were the children of corporate drones, elevated by their Talent. Most of the people around him tried to put him down because of where he came from and the nature of his talent. Fully aspected magicians sneered at him, thinking a adept, even a spell slinging one, was fit only to be a bruiser and could never match their Talent. Physical training, and later combat training, gave him focus and discipline. His skills greatly improved; his unsophisticated brawling on the streets was refined through a training regimen of western martial arts, and he became an expert with a Western longsword, his weapon of choice. This physical regimen disciplined him and he began to master adept powers, using them to enhance himelf physically and refine his swordsmanship. He also made progress in his study of sorcery, though this proceeded slower. Prior to his graduation, he got into an altercation with another student over comments made by the other young man, and things became violent. His rival, though, had the family connections to get St. George thrown out of school and in debt to the corporation who had sponsored his education. Sick of the corporate world that tried to exploit him at every turn, he went back to his old home and dropped out of legitimate life.
Back on the streets with his skills and Talent, and a chip on his shoulder, he saw the state of his old patch and friends, and it was dire. His old Gang, the Longjohns, were in shambles. A series of defeats by other, more vicious gangs had carved away their territory, and decimated their ranks and leadership. Other gangs, with no connection to the St. George's homeground, brutalized its people and ran roughshod over the community. St. George puttered about for awhile, unsure of what to do with himelf now. He wasn't the returning hero; most of his old friends were dead, incarcerated or resented him as a sellout for leaving, and the Longjohns were a dying gang. Everything he had looked forward to in his life, his gang or the position his Talent would bring him, seemed out of reach again. Sitting in his childhood bedroom in his mother's dingy apartment, he despaired. Looking at his old games, trids, and ebooks, he thought of his childhood dreams of real magic, and men of martial skill and valor, and came to a realization. If that was his dream, he already had the means to make it real. He was a goddamned magician, and he did have a mastery of the sword. What he needed now to make the fantasy kingdoms of his imagination real, was a kingdom to make it real.
That day a man, wearing a black synthleather armoured jacket with a red dragon rampant on the back and bearing a longsword, attacked the leader of the Longjohn's rivals, the Red Bastards. The half dozen gangers with the man went down from a stunball spell, and the leader of the Red Bastards was killed in a hand to hand combat, and his body decapitated. Riding the dead man's motorcycle and bearing his severed head, St. George stormed into the Longjohns' hangout and demanded leadership. He was quickly given it, and led his gang on a quick and brutal war against the Red Bastards and several other small time gangs that had been pushing the Longjohns out. After retaking territory and making secure their turf, he began a purge and reorganization of the gang. What resulted was the gang called the Street Knights, sometimes ironically called the Knights of St. George.
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The Street Knights are a strange gang that often defies any title, including gang. They organize themselves from the streets like a gang, wear their colors proudly like a gang, but rarely seem to operate in the traditional criminal activities of street gangs. They are also famed as motorcycle riders and enthusiasts, owning and being proficient at riding a bike being one of the primary qualifications to joining the gang. Just the same, they are not strictly a go-gang. They also have elements of a wizkid gang, recruiting heavily from Awakened members of their street community. They offer sponsorship, protection and instruction in exchange for membership, and are rumored to have an initiation group within their ranks.
The Street Knights display a love of chivalric romance tales, sword and sorcery media, and medieval and fantasy media of all kinds. Many affect Shakespearean speech patterns, and pepper their speech with "thee"s and "thou"s. Their colors are a red dragon rampant on black field, not dissimilar to the flag of Wales, with bottom and top rockers like an old school motorcycle club. Another symbol they use, as a kind of corporate emblem, is a knight in plate armor with lance and shield emblazoned with their symbol, riding a motorcyle. As much as this play acting and fantasy obsession would normally draw all manner of mockery by other street types, few who know of them insult the Knights. Those who do find the swords, combat axes and lances they carry across their bikes on their belts are not for show, and they are extremely proficient in their use.
Like many street gangs, they prefer melee combat and hand weapons, but unlike many gangs, they engage in organized training in the use of real weapons, mostly from a western martial arts tradition. Western martial arts, such as Alastair St. George was trained in at university, are reproductions of martial arts practiced in the medieval and Renaissance periods of Europe, practiced by enthusiasts of those historical periods. In the early 21st century, numerous groups were created to study and disseminate training in those arts, and the practice of them gained new impetus after the Awakening. Many Westerners who didn't wish to ape Eastern traditions sought out the martial arts of their pasts, and many Western adepts follow paths of those styles. St. George himself taught the first of his Knights, while they, and others, have expanded on those teachings. As many members are Awakened, cyberware and bioware are not looked on with much favor, so the mundane members are under pressure to learn real martial skill, instead of chipping skillsofts.
Augmentations are not viewed as anathema though, as the Awakened members know their mundane brothers want to keep up with them as best they can. The one thing the Street Knights do abhor though is vehicle control rigs, at least when used for bikes. A Knight must be able to ride themselves, not due to technology. It is a point of pride of theirs. Many members customize their cyberwear to appear as fantastical as possible, from engravings on cyberlimbs to cosmetic mods to appear almost like changelings, so that one may appear as some fantastical creature that appeals to the gang's sensibilities.
Besides swords and axes, the Knights are known for their use of lances from motorcycle saddleback. Their bikes are universally choppers, and they are distinctive for their racks on the sides of the rear fenders, with slots for lance shafts. Many members keep their lances on their bikes at al times, and attach colorful pennants to the lancetips that fly dramatically as they ride. Their lances are not just for show, and many members spend hours practicing "at the tilit" as they call it, charging each other in Urban Brawl armor with blunted lances, using a streets dividing line as their posts. They often record these training sessions, and when the Street Knights gather, they almost always host a joust on the occasion. Selling recordings of these tournaments is a semi-legitimate means of support for the gang. Their tournaments oftne turn into huge block parties that they control and profit from. As much as this practice seems for show, they sometimes use their lances for deadly effect in high speed battles with other go-gangs.
The gang also attracts a certain number of ex-military members, who are used to train other members in use of firearms and small unit tactics. In battle the gang is a mad combination of modern strike force, go gang, and feudal knights.
The Street Knights are also known for their colorful iconography, which they loudly proclaim physically and in AR. Their commlinks broadcast their gang symbol, thier personal symbols, and those of their liege. Each gang member, when made a full member after a period of training and initiation, are given the title of Knight, addressed as sir, and given the right to create and wear their own personal heraldry. The gang observes the rules of heraldry creation in regards to colors and symbols, and each Knight wears his personal heraldry on his shoulder as a patch. Those who carry shields, most often while jousting, either paint the shield with the gang's symbol, or their personal symbol quartered with the Knight's dragon.
Speaking of the Street Knight's heraldry, just as each member wears his own device and the gangs, each also wears the device of his liege to show his allegiance. The gang's chapters are organized with members, knights, swearing allegiance to one of their own as their liege lord, and they as his vassal knights. The gang uses elaborate ceremony to mark the solemnity of the occasion and the seriousness of their oaths, which are sometimes magically enforced. Each chapter, or court as they are sometimes known by the more extravagant members, swears allegiance to their liege, who swears allegiance to his own liege, either the liege of the chapter he originally came from, or the overall leader of the Knights, still Alastair St. George. St. George as something of a mix between a king and a grandmaster of an order. The Street Knights are a street gang modeled on a feudal kingdom, as well as an order of warriors and mages. This secondary organizational mode comes into play more when it comes to the Awakened members. St. George doesn't have a particular title to go along with his unique status; in a feudal kingdom he would be king, but has not done so. He toys with the idea, unsure if he should, fearful it would make his brother Knights distant from him, and cost him their loyalty. For now, he eschews the grandoise titles many liege lords assume, baron, duke, count, etc, and remains simple Lord St. George, liege of the mother chapter.
Each set carves out a territory for itself, and new sets are usually founded by an experienced Knight from an established chapter, along with some of his fellows who swear allegiance to him, usually with their previous liege's blessing. This new chapter departs to make its own territory and recruit new members. Once established, the gang begins securing its territory and implementing their organizational model on their turf. The gang runs protection rackets, but prides itself on providing a real service for their payments. Anyone who victimizes a person or business under their protection finds itself enduring brutal retribution from the Street Knights. They are effective fighters and reliably have magical support, as well as great discipline (for a street gang), so they often can fight above their weight class. Part of their strength is also their loyalty to one another. While a liege lord can always call upon his knights, he can call upon his own liege for support should he need it. When a chapter gets into trouble, it calls upons its fellows for assistance, which is readily provided most of the time. The quickest backup a chapter can call upon are its closest physical brother chapters, but if their support is unavailable, the liege lord of the Knights can dispatch the Knight's nomad chapter, it's unaffiliated members, the Black Knights, to assist. The Black Knights are made up of unaffiliated members, knights who swear to no liege except the gang's leader himself. Some are survivors of destroyed chapters, other's couldn't get along with their chapter anymore, or the heat on them is too much in their home chapters. The Knight's borrow an old motorcycle club tradition and established the Black Knights as a nomad chapter, a roving chapter without a territory. They work as troubleshooters and backup for chapters in trouble, and go about on St. George's business. A few of their members are powerful adepts and magicians, as well as some of their most experienced fighters. These members were seconded directly to the the Black Knights as their leaders and St. George's personal agents.
The gang also demands a cut of all criminal activity in their territory, but bans certain criminal activities. They don't tolerate anyone stealing from those who pay them tribute, and take a moral stand against metahuman trafficking and the sale of drugs to children. Personally they prefer to stay clean, with the exception of some use of Awakened drugs among members. These restrictions are a part of their chivalric code, which they follow and uphold religiously. Some have described them as almost cultlike; they mix pagan mythology with chivalric romance, fantasy, and especially the chivalric stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Their understanding of their symbolic system, and the myths and stories they perpetuate, form a kind of religion to them, each Knight seeking to outdo the others in his quest to uphold the Knights' virtues and emulate their heroes. They have elaborate ceremonies, for initiation, for duels, for meetings, even for their protection rackets. They have those under their protection swear oaths of vassalage like medieval peasants, though their duties are far less, limited to only a tax and a promise not to aid the enemies of the Knights.
Initiation, becoming a Knight of the Street Knights, is a long process. It is more akin to joining an army than a street gang. They accept only teenagers, wishing to mould young members into model Knights. They draw young people from the streets to them, through the example they all strive to set. They are powerful, brook no insult, and carry a magical mystique. They combine modern ganger flash with ancient symbols and chivalric imagery, seeking to craft a specific image for themselves. They also carry a fine reputation, as dangerous fighters and honorable men. This often costs them, as they are drawn into many unnecessary fights to defend their honor and those under their protection, but it also enhances the rep that draws new members to them.
When a teen hangs around the Street Knights for a long enough period, he is often encouraged to make a petition to the liege by the surrounding knights, if they deem the youngster of good material. The young person must petition the liege for membership, and if accepted, takes a knee before him and swears to obey and support the knights with all he is and has. He must also have a sponsor, a full Knight who will advocate for him to his liege. This sponsor will become his mentor and master, and the youngster is given the title of squire. He serves his master, and in return is trained in swordsmanship, riding, and the chivalric code. Squires are also instructed in whatever other skills their master feels necessary. Awakened squires are always apprenticed to appropriate masters who can teach them according to their Talent, but outside help will be sought if there are no available teachers.
After an apprenticeship of at least two years, a squire may be considered for knighthood. Each is usually assigned some task, his "errantry", to accomplish as a final test. This is often to seek combat with a rival ganger or accomplish some daring feat of arms, motorcycle riding or magic. When accomplished, a squire is taken before the liege lord, who, with elaborate ceremony, knights him in the traditional (read, trideo) fashion, with great ceremony. The new Knight is presented with his colors and a shield, which he may decorate with his own blazon.
The gang is mostly male, but women who manage to stick out the grueling apprenticeship are accepted. This goes easier if they are Awakened, as the gang values Talent almost more than martial skill. The gang doesn't discriminate based on race either, though the majority of members are also human. There is some amount of misogyny to the gang, but of the patronizing, chivalric type. The Knights often put their "ladies", their wives and girlfriends, on a pedestal. This romantic ideal does not apply to all members, and certainly not all women they meet.
The gang's primary means of financial support is their protection rackets, and tribute from the crime they do allow on their territory. As stated, they also record their jousting tourneys and market them heavily, partly to raise funds and partly to spread their image. They want to be known as modern knights, and spread that image as much as possible. Most members do some amount of muscle for hire work, security, smuggling, courier work, and other odd jobs and criminal sidelines that can help them. Many also steal from corporations, using their magical backup and their own bravado to hit targets hard and fast. They are expert highjackers, taking over drone trucks and absconding with vehicle and cargo. Each knight needs to pay tribute to his liege, and his liege must pay tribute to his own, and so forth, up to St. George himself. While each liege uses this money to maintain his own lavish, by comparison, lifestyle, most also give back to their brothers, hosting huge parties and tournaments to garner goodwill among his vassals and the people under their protection.