The Sparrows

The sparrows are made up of a diverse group of people from all over Kantostara ranging from average individuals, who occasionally deal in regulated goods in order to help make ends meet, to hardened criminals, who live their lives completely outside of the law. This shadowy subculture first began to take shape in the aftermath of the acquisition wars when the United Association of Guilds (UAG) took over the interstellar trade routes. Very few escaped the societal changes that followed as the UAG essentially took control over the economy of the entire galaxy. The UAG's stranglehold on manufacturing and distribution pushed smaller merchants and light freighter pilots to the fringes where they were forced to compete for scraps deemed too small to be profitable enough for the UAG. Those who refused to submit to the new regulations formed an underground economy fueled by a network of smugglers who found safe haven in places outside of UAG territory. This group of individuals eventually coalesced into the sparrows that we know today, so named because of the light freighters they use for transport which are fast and agile like little birds.  

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Customary Codes & Shared Values

  As a whole, the sparrows are a rebellious bunch who value diversity and individual freedom above all else. That being said, even the most lawless among them, will adhere to the code of the flock which states that protection and aid must be provided, to the best of one's ability, for any and all fellow sparrows in need.  

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Language

  All sparrows are fluent in an alternate version of tag, the pictographic messaging language commonly used for interstellar communication throughout Kantostara. What looks like an innocent message to the untrained eye, actually hides a very different meaning. This makes it possible to send all sorts of messages and warnings right out in the open without the UAG regulators ever suspecting their true purpose.  

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Traditions

  The sparrows have a strong tradition of loyalty. When a sparrow is caught by UAG regulators, they will deny any knowledge of the group and refuse to provide any information about their fellow sparrows regardless of how strongly they are pressured to do so. Loyalty to the flock takes precedence over all other connections. Belonging to the sparrows is like being a member of a family, and for some, it is the only family they have ever known.