¶ Sons of Hothar
High-Risk Traders. Low-Risk Morality. Very Nice Hats.
Slogan: "We deliver everything."
Unofficial Slogan: "Smuggling with style, tariffs, and just enough trouble."
Motive: Profit through principled illegality, good public relations, and just enough crime to stay relevant but not regrettable.
Unofficial Mascot: A smiling, three-eyed customs officer winking next to the phrase "Tariffs Build Character."
¶ Overview
The Sons of Hothar are Calad Bar's most respectable criminal syndicate — if you ask them. They prefer the title "High-Risk Trade Facilitators," a euphemism that sounds like it involves storms and exotic silks, rather than half a tonne of firewine tucked under a false floor in a diplomatic shuttle. Their fleet is a motley collection of ships — stolen, inherited, or acquired in moon auctions where all bidders are blindfolded and the auctioneer communicates exclusively through coughing. Their vessels are disguised as everything from merchant ships to flower delivery barges, each with compartments mysteriously labelled "Definitely Not Contraband." They run The "Other" Market in the Market District.
¶ Activities
The Sons specialise in a variety of ventures:
- Orchestrating complex customs and bribery schemes where paperwork is a weapon of mass confusion,
- Smuggling everything but people, keeping a strict line against human trafficking,
- Running clandestine auctions on moons with unconventional bidding methods,
- Operating "community outreach" programmes that support relaxed drug use locally, while lobbying for stricter controls abroad to boost prices,
- Collaborating with the Calad Bar Dragonchess Club to combat poachers and animal traffickers, benefiting both reputation and revenue by selling confiscated ships,
- Managing their own cap on illegal activity to avoid attracting unwanted attention from the Khelda or the Big Four.
¶ Culture & Ethics
Though criminals by trade, the Sons of Hothar adhere to an odd set of principles:
- They cherish tariffs, especially foreign ones, as they raise prices and, by extension, profits,
- They never engage in human slavery, holding those who do in utter contempt,
- Their activities balance mischief and profit, carefully calibrated to keep them relevant but not infamous,
- They pride themselves on politeness, with some members even courting the press under pseudonyms like "Mr. Legitimus Freightperson,"
- Despite their illicit work, they maintain surprising respect for certain laws — especially those laid down by Khelda Braenna Wyrdsdottir.
¶ The Khelda's Law
The Sons operate under a strict edict from Khelda Braenna Wyrdsdottir:
- "Smuggle as ye like, but don't get noticed."
This law caps the amount of illegal activity allowed at any time — a quota of mischief, if you will — which the Sons not only respect but actively enforce themselves. They fear the Khelda enough to avoid empire-level audits and understand she's the thin line between their profitable chaos and total corporate crackdown.
¶ Boss
Zz'tkrin'tshk Velouris — known simply as "Velouris" to those lacking flexible tongues — is a dashing Thri-kreen rogue-bard who runs smuggling operations with the finesse of a royal ball and the chaos of a collapsing opera house. Draped in alien silks, adorned with four unnecessary monocles (one of which glows when he lies, purely for sport), and fuelled by equal parts sarcasm and bagpipe solos, he's the mastermind behind the Sons of Hothar and an exasperating delight at every interstellar tea party. Fiercely loyal to Khelda Braenna Wyrdsdottir, who once saved his life with a blanket and a glare, Velouris struts the tightrope of legality with elegant contempt, charming foes, outwitting allies, and generally being a well-dressed calamity with a raccoon mascot and a vendetta against musical restraint.
