User:Symposium/Xunageri

Șunageri
Founded	17th century (modern structure)
Years active	1783–present (current incarnation)
Territory	Kalșeri
Ethnicity	Ancestral Kalșerians (usually)
Membership	approx. 2,500 known members
Activities	protection rackets; loan sharking; drug trafficking; arms trafficking;
Notable members	Ionsi-geri, Evalrie Ligiageri, Iskioșunageri and other syndicates

The Șunageri ([ˈʃunɐgeːɾɪ], Kalhan for "protection group"), also rendered as Shoonagerry in English, is a group of criminal organizations based in Kalșeri which offers loans at an excessive interest rate. The Șunageri is most active in rural areas, suburbs and other zones with a low quality of life. According to police descriptions, members of the Șunageri (Șunagia, "protectors") are most often white males who speak Kalhan fluently and wear business suits.

The Șunageri has a federal structure, meaning that there is no one central organization or leader. Even though the traditional definition of a Șunageri-like organization is usually reserved for those composed of a majority of Ancestral Kalșerians, the Police Force states that some prominent Șunageri syndicates are operated by minorities, and that the definition based purely on ethnicity is therefore misleading.

Șunageri groups bear their own symbol, usually a monogram or a cypher.

History

The first cases of para-legal groups of soldiers offering protection from looting and rivalries for high fees in modern-day Kalșeri were documented in the first century BC. While efforts to regulate protection groups were made, these para-legal organizations still existed in rural areas, where enforcing central laws was difficult.

The Șunageri reached its zenith soon after the Province of Callen was established as a part of the British Empire: during the colonial period, former royal guards and bureaucrats, who rejected the control of the British Crown, offered protection to native Kalhan speakers from injustices by Englishmen and spread Anglophobic literature. Because of the high prices demanded by the groups, only rich people could afford the service without having to resort to barter of things or people.

After Kalșeri achieved independence in 1783, the Șunageri stopped distributing Anglophobic literature and shifted to more conventional criminal tasks, while still offering protection to important Ancestral Kalșerians; one notable group that kept on with Anglophobic operations was Narasi-geri, which campaigned for the accession of Cape Sundervale to Kalșeri through the removal of British authorities and the expulsion of Britons in the Cape, often using violence. In the 1987 trial following the 1985 Cape Sundervale bombings, Frankus Narasi, leader of the Narasi-geri, confessed that his organization had helped the Kalhan Liberation Front build the bombs.

Cases of female Șunagia were virtually non-existent before the 1990s, as women were traditionally barred from carrying out Șunageri tasks due to their "purity".

Structure

There is no one central Șunageri group: all organizations defined as "Șunageri-like" operate on their own, although groups operating in a common territory may sometimes agree to carry out tasks together and even elect a common leader.

At the top of a criminal organization is the Leader (Geriseugi), to whom all Șunagia swear their allegiance. Below the Leader are three branches: the naugia ("number people"), who monitor the group's finances and relations with non-members and migia ("middlemen"), the serigia ("house people"), who carry out non-violent crimes, and the foriria ("erasers"), who kidnap, maim and eliminate people deemed dangerous to the group. Control of each branch is usually given by the Leader to a relative. Whenever the Leader dies, all members of the club get to vote on who becomes the next Leader.

Admission to a Șunageri group is usually restricted to relatives or good acquaintances of existing members. Before being let in, a background check is performed on the newcomer to prove that they have no outstanding debts with the organization; then, they are made to wear a white pin for a year, symbolizing their status as a new member, and they usually have to carry out petty crimes, often with more experienced members, before being promoted. If the newcomer commits a mistake leading to the failure of an operation, they are expelled. Those who fail to pay their debt with an organization are given the option to join it; once they are in, they are made to wear a black pin and are not allowed to go up the ranks of the organization until they have paid their debt or contributed to a set number of jobs.

Activities

Its main purpose is to offer protection and loans to disadvantaged Kalșerians at a high price and interest rate. Șunageri syndicates hide their operations behind legitimate companies, usually banks and insurance companies that operate locally.

Besides loan sharking, groups classified under the "Șunageri" label perform activities such as drug trafficking, gambling in areas and contexts where it is illegal, arms trafficking, bribery of local politicians, insurance fraud, escorting and protecting fugitives, creating and distributing fake identity documents and money. With the rise of the Internet in the mid-1990s, security hacking, copyright infringement, software cracking, and later crimes involving cryptocurrencies, have become a sizable source of income for the Șunageri.

Funds obtained from criminal operations are regularly used for investments in legitimate businesses, such as construction and upkeep of public utilities. Payments are carried out through cash or cryptocurrencies.

Giraskogea

All Șunagia are expected to obey the code of conduct (giraskogea, "doctrine of dignity"), which puts restrictions on when and how to carry out murder and arson, and outright forbids "ungentlemanly" acts like abusing newcomers in any way, animal abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking.

Under the giraskogea, members of the organization must appear kind and caring when approaching someone for the first time; it is not uncommon for Șunagia to "pamper" non-members into refraining from calling the police by way of gifts or small "donations" in cash.

Violation of the code of conduct may result in seizure of possessions, expulsion, being reported to the police, maiming or even death, depending on the severity of the violation and who ordered it. The code also proscribes wearing "revealing" clothing and accessories that may lead to being outed as a Șunagi and therefore prosecuted.

Șunageri syndicates

Name	English name	Area of activity	Leader
Ionsi-geri	Ionsi Club	New Lothian	Rikardus Ionsi VI
Evalrie Ligiageri	Gentlemen's Club of Evalria	Evalria	Albert Șávagi
Iskioșunageri	San Rafael Protection Club	San Rafael	Tomas Taugi
Venmonkugia	Rustlers	Tigupoke and Western Janval	Reinhard Krentz, aka "Rinus"
Sigma-geri	Sigma Club	Kalúen	Darius Narki
Narasi-geri	Narasi Club	Takalim	Abelardus Narasi
Urgelkrona	Urgel Crown	Urgel	Enrik Ușigi
Phénix Cartierois	Cartierois Phoenix	Cartier Island	Georges Battin
Provvidenza	Providence	Lág and Takalim	Joe Ciccone Jr.