Gumi
The Gumi are a loosely affiliated group of Yugawan gangs. Though the origins of the Gumi can be traced back for centuries, they largely disappeared during the last few decades - all but vanishing from prevalence before the start of the Yugawan Civil War. Originally rising from the backlash against the unification of Yugawa into a single empire, seeking to undermine the singular authority by sowing dissent and resistance, their reformation came as a result of Juzo Hitoshi fighting against the raiding on the part of many Samurai during the war. Now grown well beyond the original organization Hitoshi started, the Gumi are targeting anyone who lords their power. For the most part, they believe themselves to be heroes of the people, fighting on behalf of the common folk. Each gang is a distinct entity, but the umbrella of “Gumi” marks a certain culture and set of rules they follow compared to other gangs or guilds.
The first of these rules is that they don't harm children. Even if they were to potentially be sold out by the child in question, they are not to raise a hand against them. Additionally, they are not to intentionally involve children in their dealings. The Gumi recognize that they are criminals – though they believe themselves a necessary evil for the good of others – and thus don't want to dirty the hands of the innocent.
Second, they do not deal in foreign affairs. They have no interest (or aren't supposed to) in expanding their influence beyond Yugawa. Their purpose is to protect the people of their homeland, and thus the issues of people beyond their shores are not their concern.
Thirdly, they do not draw first blood. This speaks specifically to acts of actual violence against persons, as they are not opposed to striking first if they believe it will serve a purpose. Since their targets are all individuals with power – either military, financial, or otherwise – they often strike at the source of that power, trying to cripple what would otherwise be an insurmountable foe for the common folk they protect.
Finally, there is a culture of redemption. Their methods seem cruel to many outside the organizations, but they see it as penance and forgiveness. While most gangs will kill someone for treachery or failure, the Gumi cut the hands off of those that betray the organization. They start with the non-dominant hand. If it is done again, the other hand goes. On the third offense, they are to stab themselves in the heart and then are beheaded.
Structure
Their structure very much reflects the military structure of their country. At the top of each gang is a Shogun. Below them – their lieutenants – are Daimyo. Then the common members are referred to as soldiers. The exact number of Daimyo varies between gangs, and how one obtains the role is also inconsistent across the Gumi, but the actual structure of power is the same. This includes the relationships between the gangs, as it is strikingly similar to the tenuous relations between Samurai clans.
Culture
The culture of the Gumi is defined by the belief that they are the truly honorable ones fighting the corrupt and dishonorable. They believe that their willingness to become “bad” in defense of the “good” makes them inherently better than those that serve themselves – i.e. the ruling class. This means that they carry themselves very unlike common criminals, and aren't treated as pariah by the majority of the common folk.
Additionally, each Gumi faction has a very family-like culture. What kind of family is varied; some are authoritarian, others egalitarian, others have an absentee father; but all represent themselves as being "family". It is for this reason that they refer to each faction as a "clan". This is another way that they bear similarity to the Samurai, but they think - as in all things they share with the ruling class - that they do it better.
Another aspect of their culture is their tattoos. So much so that it has come to be an instant identifier of the Gumi, and has more-or-less resulted in "normal" folk not tattooing themselves at all. These tattoos serve partly as a method of self-expression, but also tie together members of a clan through shared iconography.
Public Agenda
To protect Yugawa and the people. They seek to overturn what they see as an oppressive system and give the power of governance to the people, rather than a bunch of warlords and their puppet king.
History
The Gumi came into being because the War of the Divine Heir - the war that eventually unified Yugawa as an empire - led to many Samurai being left leagues away from home and desperate. As a result, they formed raiding parties and started attacking the villages of the countryside. A select few banded together to form the Gumi, fighting against their former compatriots. They trained up a number of commoners in the way of the sword, and pushed the raiders out of the villages. However, as it seemed their work was never done – there were villages all over suffering the same fate. So, in order to do their job better, they split up into multiple gangs in various parts of Yugawa, but remained under the banner of “Gumi”. After eliminating the threat posed by the raiders, they started expanding their efforts to resisting imperial power in general.
Now, they fight against anyone they see as a tyrant. With the current war on, they are staying quite busy, deposing despotic military leaders setting themselves up as overlords of a small town, driving away clans recruiting levies through extortion, and stealing back excessive taxes from the corrupt monarchical Bursars.
Live in shadows so that light can thrive
Type
Illicit, Syndicate
Alternative Names
No-Kage
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Related Ethnicities
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