Crime Lords

'Gotham stands on the edge of the cliff. Though you'll never hear about it in the news, tensions are escalating in the underworld. Sure things great if you care to look up. Bat in the sky watching over us. Wayne Tower shining brightly for all the world to see. But look down, and it's a different story entirely. Gangs at each other's throats. Suspicious death after suspicious death. It's only a matter of time before it erupts. The only question is who's going to be the one to set it all in motion?'

 

(Left to right)

 

Diego Escabedo - The head of the Escabedo cartel, and the most recent addition to the Gotham underworld. Diego's often found himself forced to embrace a volatile behaviour pattern in order to draw attention to himself. Not from the GCPD. But from his rivals. Everyone thinks twice before crossing a psychopath after all.

 

Primarily focused on the smuggling of illegal narcotics into Gotham, Diego has often found himself in direct competition with Warren White for control of the illegal narcotics market. Despite a quickly earned and fearsome reputation, Diego is also known to make donations to members of the Gotham City council on occasion. It's widely speculated that he's one of the main causes for Gotham City's tough stance on drug use.

 

Alexandra Kosov- For thirty years the Odessa Mob has operated in Gotham City with relative obscurity, in part because they've always been content with the money earned from private protection. But since Vasily Kosov's death two years ago, his daughter Alexanda has decided to expand her father's operations. Whilst continuing to offer protection services to any one who can afford it, the Odessa mob has slowly been trying to make a dent into the Penguin's territory by offering military grade weaponry.

 

Often, the weaponry being sold by the Odessa mob, is stolen from Penguin's own warehouse. Much to his anger. Though no-one dares to say it in front of her, there are whispers that Alexandra only seeks to undermine Penguin's business interests for his role in her father's death. Officially, he was a killed in a shootout with the GCPD. But what's missing from the post mortem is that before he met his end, Kosov's body was found to contain one of Jervis Tetch's first attempts into chemistry.

 

Oswald Cobblepot - Perhaps the worst kept secret in all of Gotham is the face behind the name 'Penguin'. Despite his best attempts to undermine the Wayne family name by using his position on the company board to procure Waynetech prototypes, Oswald soon found himself at the centre of a scandal when six former Gotham hitmen identified them as their supplier. Unlike most though, Oswald was able to use the little of his family inheritance to have the charges pardoned.

 

The six who testified against him were found a week later with their vocal chords ripped from their throats. Since then, no-one's ever been brave enough to testify against the Penguin. Knowing full well that he was under observation from both the GCPD and Batman, Cobblepot ended up investing in a run down property he inherited on the passing of his father and created the Iceberg lounge.

 

No-one doubts that it's merely a front of Cobblepot to launder the money he makes from smuggling arms into Gotham, but when there's always an off duty cop in the club to tip Cobblepot off, it's all but impossible to successfully move against.

 

Batman has been known to frequent the Iceberg lounge on occasion. Both for information, and to make a mockery of Cobblepot in front of his underlings.

 

Warren White - Known by the name of Great White Shark following an altercation with Dr. Victor Fries, Warren White was severely disfigured and hospitalised for months. Slowly but surely he abandoned all hope of corrective surgery to fix his injuries, and ended up going in the opposite direction. Rather than try to make himself look normal, White instead had his skin tone modified, and his teeth filed all to mimic the look of a shark.

 

At the start, no-one took him seriously. Until he was able to take a chunk out of Black Mask's right hand man. It's claimed that act alone was enough to convince Sionis to bring him into his gang's ranks. Following the death of Black Mask at the hands of the Red Hood and his gang of Outlaws, Warren found himself stepping into Sionis' shoes, claiming the group as his own. Often, when a new crime lord arises they make an act of aggression against one of their main competitors as a show of force. White chose to simply pay a visit to the Iceberg Lounge where he struck a deal with Cobblepot.

 

So long as Oswald stayed out of the drug trade, Warren would avoid any arms trade. This surprisingly peace transfer for power caught many by surprise, especially the GCPD and Batman who both expected a loud declaration of his intentions. Despite this supposed civilised approach to crime, Warren is known to be more than willing to feast on his competitors to send a clear. Many speculate that Emmanuel Escabedo, Diego Escabedo's brother, was simply one of the latest victims of this policy.

 

Following an encounter with the masked assailant known as the Crimson Knight, White has gone to ground. Most claim that it's out of fear. Whilst others claim he's amassing an army to wage war against the other crime lords, and merely waiting for the Crimson Knight to take out his main obstacle.

 

The Batman.

Done