Creeping Green

The Creeping Green is a radical and secretive criminal faction in Ragmarket that blends eco-terrorism with the drug trade. Unlike other gangs that focus purely on wealth and power, the Creeping Green operates under the belief that civilization has gone too far, poisoning the land and weakening the connection between the people of Aru’Mas and the Spirits of Ahvantir . They seek to reverse technological progress and sever the astral pathways that allow outsiders to reach Ahvantir, using guerrilla warfare, alchemical sabotage, and the spread of hallucinogenic drugs to manipulate and recruit new members.

Operations and Criminal Activities

The Creeping Green’s illicit activities are deeply tied to their radical ideology:

  • Alchemy and Drug Trade – The gang produces and distributes rare alchemical substances, including potent hallucinogens that they claim awaken one’s connection to the spirit world. Their most notorious drug, known as Verdant Dream, induces vivid visions and deep-rooted paranoia against modern technology, making users more susceptible to their ideology.
  • Eco-Terrorism and Sabotage – The gang attacks industrial sites, workshops, and artificer guilds, seeking to destroy machinery and research that they believe harms the natural world. Their targets often include forges, foundries, and magical research institutions.
  • Guerrilla Warfare – Operating in small, hidden cells, the Creeping Green strikes at key infrastructure and disappears into Ragmarket’s shifting landscape before authorities can respond.
  • Mystical Experimentation – Some of the gang’s higher-ranking members are rumored to conduct rituals designed to summon ancient spirits or mutate willing initiates into something beyond human.
  • Illicit Botanical Trade – They control much of the underground market for rare plants and poisons, often using these resources to bribe, manipulate, or eliminate their enemies.

Initiation and Leadership Structure

  • Initiation Ritual: Known as the Rite of Rebirth, the initiation process involves consuming an alchemical concoction that either grants the initiate heightened resilience and a deeper connection to nature or destroys their mind and body. Those who survive are then required to commit an act of sabotage against a technological or industrial target before being fully accepted into the gang.
  • Leadership Structure:
  • Verdant Father (or Mother) – The enigmatic and revered leader of the gang, rumored to have undergone numerous alchemical transformations, no longer fully human.
  • Thorned Elders – The highest-ranking members, often former alchemists or druids who have dedicated their lives to the gang’s cause.
  • Vines – Mid-tier commanders who oversee different cells and direct sabotage efforts.
  • Sprouts – Regular members who carry out the gang’s orders, from drug distribution to ecological sabotage.
  • Seedlings – New recruits who have survived the Rite of Rebirth but have yet to prove their worth.

Relationships with Other Gangs

The Creeping Green’s radical philosophy puts them at odds with nearly every other gang in Ragmarket:

  • Dragon’s Claws: The two factions are bitter enemies, constantly clashing over the trade of rare alchemical reagents. The Claws see the Creeping Green as a destabilizing force that threatens their business, while the Green considers them nothing more than parasites feeding on civilization’s decay.
  • All Are One : While the two groups share an interest in mind-altering substances, the Creeping Green sees All Are One’s forced indoctrination as abhorrent. There have been reports of clashes between the two gangs when the Green attempted to ‘liberate’ those under the Haze’s influence.
  • Iron Boots : The paramilitary enforcers view the Creeping Green as a direct threat to stability. The gang, in turn, has placed the Iron Boots on their list of ‘tools of oppression’ that must be eradicated.

Influence in Aru’Mas Beyond Ragmarket

The Creeping Green has managed to expand its influence beyond Ragmarket, particularly in districts where their ideology finds fertile ground:

  • Temple Way – The gang has infiltrated certain fringe religious sects, spreading their beliefs under the guise of spiritual awakening. Some rogue priests and mystics secretly support their cause, using sacred spaces as hidden meeting points.
  • Spillway – Due to its impoverished state and lack of oversight, this district serves as a key recruitment ground. The Green provides food, shelter, and their version of ‘enlightenment’ to desperate individuals in exchange for loyalty.
  • Aurora Song District – The gang has taken root among countercultural artists and alchemists who reject traditional authority. Through street performances and coded messages, they spread their message to those disillusioned with modern society.
  • Stonegate – The gang operates clandestinely in this district due to its proximity to the Spiritsway Passage , believing it to be a sacred site that must be protected from technological encroachment.

Conclusion

The Creeping Green is more than a gang—it is a movement. While its members commit heinous crimes, they do so under the belief that they are saving the world from itself. Their influence grows as more people become disillusioned with Aru’Mas’s expansion, and as long as the city continues to develop, the Creeping Green will remain a shadowy force fighting against the tide of progress, one act of sabotage at a time.

Source Source: world-anvil — imported from wa_articles_structured.json