Akuma

“Are you deaf? I said go away. You’re not going to get me killed.”

“Don’t you get it? Your money isn’t going to change anyth—”

…

“Oh... Oh is that… Is that real?”

…

“Fuck me, look at the size of it. With this I could… well I could get the fuck out of here…”

…

“Ok… Ok. You want to know about the… *the Bug*?”

“Ok. You forget my name and give me that… That beauty, and I will tell you what I know. Deal? Deal.”

“You ever sit in a sweaty tenement, breathing the slightly cooler night air off the harbor, listening to the summer song, then hear a cry for help down in the alley?”

“No? What? Oh. The summer song. Those fucking bugs that keep you up all night. It’s what we call it ‘round here. Got it? Ok, then answer my question.”

“Yeah, well that is what he is. The… *the Bug* is that. He is exactly that. That disturbance in a sweltering night. Blood on the stones from a broken nose. The family jewels torn away in haste. The whistles from the guards too far away to matter.”

“He is… Or it is, I guess. No. He… He is this city’s dirty, sad story. He isn’t death, though he can be. More like, he is what makes things just a little bit worse here. He runs things, but doesn’t, because he doesn’t care.”

“He is why things are a little bit dirtier here. Why you never know what street is a safe street each night until you know. He is in the hand of every thief and and the eye of every roller.”

“He is this city and the city is him…”

…

…

“Now give me my fucking diamond. I need to get out of here.”

~ From Taubha’s Lesser Book of Names

Akuma of House Sonegh is the consummate criminal mastermind that attaches themself to a city and conspires to slowly transform it into squalor. Some scholars have theorized that he was a thief that got caught up in the Madness accidentally. Others simply believe he was a scheming member of the Awakened that the Madness transformed into their truest form.

Either way, Akuma functions effectively as a criminal mastermind for urban adventures. He is colorful and clever, working through lesser agents, such as street toughs and thieves. However, he isn’t a crime boss, but rather his criminal empire doesn’t even know they are doing his bidding.

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