The Clermont Group

By Grot

The Clermont Group is an organized crime organization located on in the Sinchi Ring in Estle City and run out of the Purgatorio Bar. The Clermont Group is run by Jesse Clermont, the owner of Purgatorio, as well as his immediate family, and close associates. The group is primarily known for drug running, protection rackets, and prostitution schemes, but in recent years have begun to branch out into contract killing and organized robbery

Jesse Clermont

Fat and aging, Jesse Clermont is the leader and patriarch of the Clermont Group. He is the owner and operator of the Purgatorio club and bar, from which it is presumed that he oversees most the group's businesses. He runs the group in conjunction with his biological daughter, Corinna Clermont, who serves as his secretary and bookkeeper, as well as Bellico Clermont, his adopted son and primary enforcer. His wife, Corinna née Riburn is presumed deceased, with her cause of death being unknown.

Mr. Clermont is a shrewd businessman and highly private. He has built an entire business (The aforementioned Purgatorio bar) off of providing military-grade security for its patrons. This caution often tips into full-blown paranoia and a crippling insecurity. Most of his business is conducted within the premises of Purgatorio, and he refuses to leave the premises more and more as he grows older.

Knowledge of his background before becoming the owner of Purgatorio is fragmented, but he is theorized to have come from a relatively poor background. Evidence suggests that he earned the capital to immigrate to Selen and start his business through a ring of underground street-fights, potentially in connection with criminal organizations on Port Ol'Val.

Recently, Mr. Clermont has begun to grow increasingly ill and infirm. He has spent a small fortune on experimental medical treatments and private doctors, but the cause of his illness remains undiagnosed. Faced with the immediacy of his own mortality, he has begun preparing the Clermont Group to be taken over by a successor. He intends to pass control of the group to his adoptive son, Bellico, though this is disputed by his biological daughter, Corinna.

Bellico Clermont

The young and brash Bellico is the adopted son of Mr. Clermont and de-facto heir to the family business. He acts as Mr. Clermont's face to the rank-and-file, coming and going from Purgatorio and delivering orders from his father to the group’s underbosses, most prominently Bron Sartoske. He also serves as his father's private enforcer and is accorded great leeway by him in this role, undertaking private missions while being allowed to run his own business autonomously within the organization.

Bellico is the youngest of the Clermont Group’s leadership, probably adopted by Jesse sometime after his daughter reached adolescence and groomed specifically for his role. He has, in a short time, earned great respect from the Clermont Group's common associates. This is primarily due to his preference to work jobs in person, alongside his men. Bellico is directly responsible for the creation of numerous sub-gangs and groups within Korda, Celeste, and numerous other cities across Selen and potentially elsewhere in the system.

Bellico is brash and energetic, unlike his adoptive father, and seems to be the driving force behind the group's recent expansion into more criminal fields. This behavior puts him at odds with Mr. Clermont’s daughter, Corinna, who wishes to being the group in a more legitimate direction. This feud is further fueled by their disagreement as to which one of them will succeed their father, as Bellico is adopted and Corinna is true-born. Of the higher leadership, this tendency has made him the easiest to surveil and gather evidence on. As such we’ve determined that

Corinna Clermont

Suave and sophisticated, Corinna is the biological daughter of Mr. Clermont and acts as her father's secretary. Functionally, this means she manages the bulk of the group’s financial activity and legitimate business dealing. She also spends a great deal of time with her father, and her advice seems to influence his decision making quite heavily.

Unlike her father and adoptive brother, Corinna is well educated and cultured. Her father’s newfound wealth enabled him to hire expensive, private tutors for Corinna and to provide her with a relatively sheltered lifestyle. Her tutors spoke well of her, reporting she was abnormally bright and well behaved, excelling in etiquette and arithmetic. Corinna is ambitious and motivated, but also constantly seeking the attention and approval of her father.

In light of her father’s infirmity, Corinna currently acts as the public, business face of the group. Like her brother, she is accorded a great deal of leeway in her investments and business decisions, and now manages most of the day-to-day affairs of Purgatorio and the group's other properties. She is currently attempting to expand the group into more legitimate areas, and this push towards “going straight” has placed her in direct competition with her adoptive brother, Bellico. She is also the second candidate to command the group should her father die, and this places her into even further direct competition with her brother.

Bron Sartoske

Bron Sartoske is a close personal friend of Mr. Clermont and serves as his underboss, an intermediary position which directly manages the numerous smaller gangs of associates that make up the bulk of the organization.He's a tank of a man, massive and muscular, relying as much on physical intimidation as reputation to do his job. He’s careful, with a caution tempered by age, and while the upper leadership decides general group policy, Bron is in charge of making it a reality. He ensures the gangs are working together smoothly and keeps a handle on any growing tensions. He mainly operates out of “The Pub”, a drinking establishment in the Sinchi Ring also associated with his nephew, Bran Sartoske.

Bron is keenly aware of the upcoming leadership change within the Clermont Group, and informants within the organization believe him to be setting up his nephew to take advantage of the change. When Mr. Clermont dies, it is likely the Bron will take the position as the newest second-in-command, leaving his old post as Underboss vacant. For that reason, he has single-handedly raised his nephew to his current position and has been angling for him to be his successor, chafing the older, more experienced gang-bosses.

Bran Sartoske

The nephew of the underboss Bron Sartoske, Bran leads a gang of common criminals running the business for the group. He owes his position largely to the interference of his uncle as Bran himself is, by all accounts, arrogant, overconfident, and reckless. He often tries to assert dominance over the other gang-bosses, causing a good deal of friction in the organization, but this is largely kept in check by his uncle.

Bran believes himself to be the natural successor to his uncle and is opposed in this matter by one of the elder gang-bosses, Cal Basai, who also seeks the position. The two are competing for the position and driving each other to greater and greater acts of criminality with the intent of impressing group leadership. This tendency is worrying, as the conflict could spill into open internecine warfare.

Ona Veldoogar

Ona Veldoogar is an enigma as far as the Selen underworld goes. She is a contract killer, who is wanted in connection to a number of confirmed and suspected murders in and around Estle City, yet she has only once been caught on camera and is known primarily by name and reputation. It is as of yet unknown how Ona is capable of evading any and all attempts to surveil her, but it is speculated that she may be a Force-user capable of thwarting any attempts.

The most common accounts regarding Ona describe her as a young Mirialan, female, tall, and thin. Forensics reports of her victims suggest she wields a blade of some sort and prefers to ambush her targets in close combat. Her primary role within the Clermont group seems to be that of a hitman, and a threat to keep the rank-and-file in line. It is primarily through her efforts that we have lost a number of promising informants within the organization as well as one of our best investigators.

Cal Basai

Cal Basai is one of the oldest, most experienced gang-bosses under Bron Sartoske and is considered by the average soldier to be his natural successor. Cal Basai is an outsider in the openly nepotistic Clermont Group, having no prior relation to any of the leading members. Cal has risen through ranks on the basis of pure merit and ruthless efficiency as a drug runner. He is responsible for the massive influx of drugs reaching Estle City from Korda, using the “Sugar’s Playhouse” burlesque bar as his primary front for moving the narcotics.

Cal Basai holds an open rivalry with Bran Sartoske, and resents him for relying on his familial relations to carry him through the organization. He has made moves within the group structure to oppose Bran, building his reputation and support amongst the rank and file while simultaneously courting Mr. Clermont's daughter, Corissa. By all accounts she has rebuffed his advances, but his naked ambition makes him a dangerous member of the group.