Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-26130256-20150806184438/@comment-26130256-20150930025100

"Just because I don't want to do something doesn't mean it doesn't need to be done," Trigo sighed, lowering his voice. "But you saw him.  Azulius would have emptied his drum into Uriel if I hadn't stopped him, and it's only right you understand why." The drunken master took a deep breath before beginning.

"As you might imagine, organized crime is a dangerous business.  Not too many dons or bosses get the luxury of dying of old age.  It was roughly ten years ago.  Ochre Cardamom, my father and Azzie's grandpa, had recently become Don of the Cardamom family.  At the time, he was married to Rosa Cardamom, my mother.  A wonderful woman, in all respects.  How she ever wound up with a band of scoundrels like us, I will never understand.  She loved Ochre, but she did always wish he had chosen a less dangerous business."

"Now, at the same time, there was a gang in Vacuo called the Glass Hearts.  Not a group you ignore, but they certainly weren't planning world domination.  But with the recent changing of the guard, they thought they could make a move on us, perhaps steal some territory or assets of ours.  So as Ochre and Rosa left a favorite restaurant, a Glass Heart strike team ambushed them, and they brought enough firepower to show they were serious."

"While their bodyguards were occupied with most of the group, one of them, armed with a light machine gun, managed to flank them and get a firing line on them.  With his combat training, Ochre didn't take any damage, but Rosa was gravely injured, and she died in his arms before they could reach a doctor."

"We all took it hard.  Ochre locked himself in his study for two weeks after the funeral, only opening the door so one of the servants could bring him more liquor or cigars.  The rest of us all buried ourselves in something, anything to distract us from what had happened.  You know Azzie, how he's always been a problem solver.  Personally, I think seeing all of us in such pain, and having nothing he could do to help... it tore him up a little inside, more than we all realized, and far more than he will ever admit."

"But after those two weeks, my father came out of the study.  He told us that the time for mourning had ended, and it was now time for revenge.  So the entire family loaded its weapons and went on the warpath.  We levelled their headquarters, and Ochre found the man who used the LMG and killed him personally.  Then we tracked down and dealt with each and every surviving member of the Glass Hearts.  My brother Sienna, who taught Azulius everything he knows about being sneaky, actually snuck into the Vacuan Police Departments and destroyed all of the evidence they had about the Glass Hearts.  Today, there is literally nothing left." His hands clenching in rage, Trigo took another deep drink from his flask.

"But, nothing we could do would bring Rosa back.  I think we all knew it from the start, but it wasn't until our revenge was finished that it sank in.   So a few months later, Ochre made the announcement that the Cardamom would begin moving its assets into slightly more legitimate operations.   Which is a large part why we're much more gray than the black of yesteryear."

"And that is still one of our guiding principles, has been since the beginning:  Mess with one, mess with all.  We're certainly not the greatest people in the world, but we take care of our own, no matter the cost.  I have no doubt in my mind that if Uriel or the phantom had killed you, Azulius would have rendered their bodies unidentifiable."