It was just past eight o'clock in the evening when ScipitaRourke walked into the hotel lobby. They had decided to meet in a hotel in the center of Washington, a neutral site for all concerned.

Godfather Deimne and Godfather PedroRourke were already waiting for her, they all had the same serious expression of concern on their faces.
Tonight they would set down the foundations for a coalition, it was the birth of "The Honoured Society".

It had happened too many times. Some random mobster had raised his gun and killed a child, someone who was not given the chance to experience life for at least 48 hours. These acts were bad for business and were having serious impacts across the country.

This had to stop, this killing of innocents, it was drawing too much heat from the feds on the entire American Mafia and they were not pleased with these feds popping their heads into their coffeeshops. Cosa Nostra had always operated based on omertà, the obligation never, under any circumstances, to apply for justice to the legal authorities and never to assist in any way in the detection of crimes committed to the authorities. This one, it had to be handled by the 'men of honour' operating within this thing of ours.

"We are men of honour. We are men of respect. Actions which punish for nothing more than being an innocent child, it's not why we're here" Deimne spoke first.

"What idiot would kill an innocent child and call himself a Made Man? Anyone with loyalty to cosa nostra should and must know better. These men are clearly no 'friend of mine'" ScipitaRourke questioned.

"It's time we put an end to this, I'm tired of people looking into my business because some city decided to allow some kid to be killed scot-free. The public gets outraged, questions start being asked and then I've got people asking me questions. It forces me to change my business arrangement's to avoid shining a light on it. It's costing me money and giving me problems." PedroRourke agreed.

This was the start of a conversation that ended with forming The Honoured Society. These actions, which infringed on the very tenants of cosa nostra would not be tolerated any longer.

It read as followed....

This coalition, The Honoured Society, will take a firm stand on the killing of -48 innocents across America. A zero tolerance policy will be implemented, across cosa nostra activities.

Membership of the coalition is open to all cities who wish to join.

When a person shoots a -48 and his city is a part of the coalition he will be punished instantly with death by his family. The only punishment suitable for the crime and to avoid further repercussions.

When a person shoots a -48 and his city is not a part of the coalition, the coalition will take matters in their own hands if the person is not punished accordingly. The person in question will be shot prior to the feds finding out and the the family of the shooter and his entire city will no longer be welcome in the coalition cities.

Each city head is free to join the coalition by taking the vows on behalf of the entire city. By doing so, this city will agree to punish each offender of the above with a bullet in his pig head. Soldato's who can't follow family rules, city rules and common tenants of cosa nostra will no longer be welcomed as friends of ours. They hurt our operations, they hurt our profits and through selfish and thoughtless actions put us all at risk.

PedroRourke, ScipitaRourke and Deimne each sign the vow in a secluded section of the hotel. A new step had been taken, one to protect this thing of ours.

Let me start out by saying that i'm glad to see Godfathers coming together to implement something. This is the sort of thing a Godfather council should do. However, I for one, feel like this coalition has been formed by some Godfathers and has left others out in the dark. No one came to me to see how I felt beforehand. I'm not sure if I am the only Godfather left out or if there are others as well. I remember not so long ago when I was looking to restructure a bit, I went to the six other active Godfathers at the time and talked with them about it. Maybe i'm reading too much into it, I really couldn't tell you.

While I feel that this coalition could have a positive effect on each city as a whole, I also feel that it's not as cut and dry as it's made out to be.

Say a Philly Underboss were to make the mistake of killing an innocent bum mere seconds before they were to turn. Would this still have the same 'death to all' stance? Maybe it would, i'm not singling Philadelphia out, just using it as an example of a 'what if' scenario should it happen to occur.

I'll be blunt, i've killed higher ranked people in my city for shooting a protected person or someone who was about to start a life here but never got the chance. However, the difference is this; the victims actually showed promise in actively looking for work within our organizations here. If someone is taking the life of people who are looking for work, then yes, by all means the assailant should be punished.

Now, if the victim has showed no promise, and no one even noticed the death until hours later I don't see how it can be classed so black and white as the first scenario. The sleeping bum just happened to wake up from his coma for a moment to dig through a corner store trash can. This bum was still 'very poor', had no interactions with anyone else working throughout the cities, had no tattoos or even a sentiment that he was trying to make an effort to start a life here. Say an Made or above member of a crime family in the United States happened to see this bum fall back asleep and just happen to shoot him a few seconds before he was considered a legal bum, should he suffer the same consequence as the man who shot the youngster who was making an effort to associate himself with a family around our cities?

As far as being 'left out in the dark', I very much hope that isn't the case for any Godfather in how they react to this. Each and every city is welcomed and encouraged to join in with this effort. The stance on the no killing of innocent children has long been a commonly agreed upon stance by the majority, one that has had unquestioned support of the leadership of recent times.

Obviously, this can change depending on the leadership in question.. but recently, most if not all have been in agreement upon it. The only change here is applying a common rule to the stance. Each and every city will be welcomed to join and support the venture, as was mentioned previously by Godmother Scipita. Each city is free to join, or not, as they feel is best. I personally hope that all of our eight cities do join in full support.

As for the questions on is it 'cut and dry', in my humble opinion... it is.

Nobody 'accidentally' shoots somebody. It's a consious decision to pick a target, load that gun and pull that trigger. Sometimes, mistakes will happen. But this is always due to the carelessness of the shooter. If they shoot at a protected member of a city, we have our systems of checks and balances to sort this out. For innocent children however, the system has never been consistant.

If a New York leader were to shoot a child moments before they came of age, they made the concious choice to shoot at this child. They knew the risks attached to it, yet choose to risk their own life, their members and the safety of all my business ventures for the thrill of the kill. In such a case, if they can't control themselves and their gun appropriately, they have put themselves above their responsibilities to me and their members and made it a very 'cut and dry' case in my eyes. For a friend of ours, be it a leader or simply a button man, to put their own personal training above the good of me and their family, they've thrown the trust and honour bestowed upon them on being given their button right in my face.

Nobody is forced to try and shoot these children, if they choose to do it they know the risks attached. Certain skilled hitters have for generations managed to try these shots without ever making a slip, for others they've messed them up enough times that possibly they should try and find other targets or at least make sure on their timing.

The matter is a debatable one, in which subjectivity will always come into play. This is the reason that an option has been included for any/all cities to join or not and why there is/was a need for such a stance. I'm sure it won't please everyone, but that is seldom (well, never) an aim or a concern in this thing of ours.

Julius listened to the announcement by the wonderfully beautiful Godmother of Philadelphia, and nodded his agreement. Although he was a mere gangster in this thing of our's his blood line was proud of what it had achieved, and he too would add a few notches to that achievement belt.

With a situation such as this you must draw a line in the sand and pray that those that work for you don't cross it. It's never easy to have to kill one of your most trusted, but at the same time, it shows an example. My blood line is a firm believer in dealing with punishments swift and hard for mistakes that occur. Especially mistakes like killing an under age. You set the rule, the individual under you chooses whether to follow it or not. This is not a babysitting organization, it is one meant for profitability. War is un profitable, and if other city heads are going to refrain from allowing you and your family to enter a city, it causes YOU to lose money. The exact opposite of why we're all here.

That being said, I believe it is the principal of the matter Godmother Aurora, that defines it. By your own conclusion, if that under boss of Philadelphia took out a -48, I honestly believe that the Godmother from Philadelphia would resolve the situation and kill said under boss. What does that do? Sure she's left without an under boss, but it lets EVERYONE else in her city understand that this isn't some mere wim that she's out on, she does believe in this policy and she will kill for it.

Julius pulled a smoke from his pocket and lit it, pulling a bottle of Dr Pepper along with it, he popped the top on a fence post nearby and waited for another to step out and make their reply

I would echo Aurora's sentiments that this seems to have come to the streets perhaps a little prematurely, when discussions may have been better served in private. In saying that, I completely understand that this is a debate you could discuss for months and still not have people in complete agreement, no matter how close their views were. More so when so many cities are involved.

Personally, given the drive on these shores to see a marked differentiation between those of Made status and those below, I will probably never believe that one rule-set is appropriate for all mafioso. Sometimes you need to look at each case on its own merits. Afterall, we're gangsters out to serve our best interests. More than one have been wacked for this, and more than one have been spared. Life isn't fair, especially in the mafia.

In saying this, I will not cut my nose off to spite my face, which is what I would be doing if I didn't agree to this policy, from today onward. More important than any individual punishment is that if people expect something, then it has been made as clear as day, upfront. One way or the other, consensus is desirable.

We are all already aware that there is a standard approach to shooting -48s, and that is "Don't do it". Before this, there has never been a federal approach to the punishments or consequences. If this is to be a country-wide agreement, I would propose a standardised "city rule" rather than the disparate messages we are seeing across the board currently, which surely only serve to contribute to confusion of expectations.

I already follow the rules set down by the Godmothers/Godfathers and have never been accused or otherwise of killing any member of the section of society in question.

However, it seems to me that, by implementing a blanket punishment, not only are we removing any room for pragmatism but we're also putting the welfare of a bum, who has pledged loyalty to no-one and contributed nothing, above 'friends of ours', irrespective of how important they are, their standing or their contributions to this thing of ours over and above one misdemeanour.

Having discussed the forming of the coalition with Godfather
Rhuarc I can confirm that from this moment forward St Louis will be signing up and joining this
coalition.

I will however echo Godfather Kenobi's sentiments that with
this coalition there should be a unified rule across all cities under the
coalition banner to avoid any possible misunderstanding. Yes I understand that
to the majority this shouldn't be needed however there is always a minority who
look for holes in things to exploit them to meet their own requirements.

The debate on 'a made member is above a civilian/child and should never be punished' has long been suggested by many. It is a debate which has valid points on both sides, I won't suggest otherwise, but.. one which I will always end up falling on the same side of the fence on.

If a member of my family or city is deserving of their button, the expectations on that member rise significantly. Their actions and words reflect directly on me and on all 'friends of ours'. The potential impact of their actions impact me directly and on all of our business activities. Should this member be worthy of their button, hell... be worthy of their life, an action such as shooting an innocent child should be something beneath them. Something they condem and dispise rather than believe is suitable behaviour for a made member.

It's not a case of 'some random gangster is more important than my made man', that's obviously not the case. It's a matter of my made man knows better, knows the risks involved, decided that the risk of putting me and him in hot water was worth it for the thrill of a risky shot, puts his personal benefit above the risks and impacts on the family as a whole... things that no associate never mind a made member should be willing (or allowed) to do.

I will always defend my city and its members with my life. However, I do expect them to be aware of and to follow my rules set down. If they choose not to, they will be punished. If the crime in question is the killing of an innocent child, I can't ever see a suitable punishment other than death. Pragmatism isn't in question when it's an action that is condemed and damned by all, an action which is far from a 'misdemeanour'.

Thank you for clarifying a bit, Deimne.

I don't believe I ever used the word 'mistake' when mentioning the above scenarios. Obviously I know and agree that people use their guns at their own free will, and should know what they are getting into before they take the shot. Check and re-check should always come into play.

I merely wanted to point out a couple different scenarios, that weren't mentioned above to get a feel for the extremities that can occur here. As I would tend to want to protect the importance of killing mades and above so hastily. As i've already stated, i'm not against the general rule we've all practiced before in regards to killing -48's but there are some exceptions to the rule. Another example, if someone is going around taking pot shots verbally or with their shiny new guns, I would expect this person to be dealt with regardless of how long they've been on these shores.

I feel that maybe we all should set up a meeting time to discuss this more privately and together, so the original three signers can maybe outline a few more questions that the others might want to discuss.

There is no proposed changes to what 'exceptions' can and will continue to be made in relation to -48's. We all know that disrespect or pot shots will always be punishable by death, even in the case of sponsored members. If there is no leader to handle this punishment it will fall on the family of those who suffered the 'attack' to handle it, be it verbal or physical attack.

In a similiar manner, during times of war pro shooters can't try and hide behind a protection due to 'age'.

This move isn't to change the common and agreed rulings on -48's that I believe (and hope beyond hope) all families already follow, but simply to ensure that the handling of these cases is on an agreed methodology.

I'm always open to further discussion at any time, be it in private or public. If the questions are potentially of concern to others and not due to specific personal issues, I believe that having them discussed in public can and will in this specific case be of benefit to all concerned.

The way I see this is very simple, shooting a -48 is just not done.
In the example of the Philly underboss shooting at a child, that is for me unthinkable, and I like to explain you why.
I highly believe that my people are just not that stupid, since Philadelphia only has one underboss (PoisonousJelly) I am going to extend this a bit further to the "Bolds" in general.

If, hypotheticly speaking, a bold would shoot a -48 consequences will be completely the same as if it was a gangster shooting a -48.
Why? A bold should know better, he should set the example, if a bold was going to risk his life and those of his family over a -48 about to turn +48 that means for me his time is up.

The most important thing here is, it is black and white, when it comes down to punishment of the offender, punishment is death.

I am more than happy to discuss this matter in private or answer any questions that might be there but I personally prefer to keep the discussion where it is right now.
Though this is coalition formed by godfathers I believe in the matter of -48 it's everyone business, everyone that holds a gun.

I'm curious as to who decided that -48 hour "Gangster" now means "child"? Seems to me like a fairly useful invention to suit a decision that lacks any basis in reality.

I'd prefer we stopped trying to justify this and the Gods just made it impossible to shoot a Gangster/Ape/Child who is -48 hours old, so we can stop pretending there is any realistic basis for the killing of established, connected members of organized crime over nobodies, which there isn't. Feel free to point me to all the Bosses punished for killing unaffiliated nobodies doing crimes on their territory though.

This is an admin rule and players have no real justification for becoming embroiled in it.

~G~rin.

As El_Nino has previously stated, St Louis has signed up to The Honoured Society as it echos the values which I already live by, with or without the society.

That being said, I would like to draw on a few points.

Firstly, I'm sure that any and all leaders punish their members who break this rule, the only thing The Honoured Society will be changing is standardising the punishment. As Godfather of St Louis, I will kill anyone from my city who shoots a -48, that's my decision as Godfather. If another city leader decides different, that's their decision to make, not mine BUT the point is, in my experience, they always carried out A punishment, just not perhaps the one I would have opted for.

Secondly, I was privy to the early conversations regarding the incident that prompted The Honoured Society being formed however, I was not privy to a public engagement where open declaration was to be made. I received news from El_Nino of The Honoured Society and promptly advised El_Nino to voice our agreement. Would I have I preffered to be informed last night when these conversations were being held? 100%.

Finally, though I believe each Godfather and Godmother has the right, as leader of the city to decide upon their own punishment, I do believe this is a positive move and one which, as previously stated, I was more than happy to sign.

Rhuarc

I'm curious as to who decided that a decision made by Godfathers, including myself and since backed by the Godfather of New Orleans, lacks any basis in reality?

I don't think it matters if I refer to them as a 'child', a '-48 gangster' or an 'umpa lumpa', it doesn't change any of the reasoning behind the decisions made.

While I do think very highly of myself, I don't (yet at least, but give me a few drinks first and who knows) think of myself as a God, nor do I believe that I might, should or could dictate to them. Heck, I'm not yet sure if I even believe in them! My decisions, my future and my life are and will continue to be in my hands. I'm not going to wait for someone 'up above' to come and solve a situation, especially when I have the ability to handle it myself. To suggest that I or we as Godfathers do not have the ability to shape our world in our own vision, but must turn to praying to the gods, is an insult to anyone holding the position.

Established and connected? I'd also include careless, trigger happy, potentially selfish... I think you catch the drift here... to that description. I believe it has clearly been explained why this stance has been taken, explained in a manner that gives a very realistic basis for a zero tollerance stance to be taken.

To pretend 'Gangster' and 'child' have the same connotations is completely wrong. I'm sure we would all agree that murdering innocent children is not part of our thing, but Gangsters are not innocent children, nor should it be painted that they are. However, as you have already decided to take this action, it makes little difference whether you do indeed refer to them as children, -48 hour Gangsters or umpa lumpas, the punishment will be uniform.

My preference is not a suggestion of any practical inability that you personally or you collectively as Godfathers may posess in enforcing this, nor was it insulting. I apologise if you have interpreted it in that way.

~G~rin.

While we may see the work they have done, and dubbed them a gangster, upon their death the only thing the public sees in the newspaper the next day is 'child.'

PedroRourke

They're glorified civilians is what they are. 

To me, the bottom line is this. We are all agreed on the non-shooting of under 48s. To be frank, it doesn't matter whether they die at 24 hours or 48 hours. All fine. The issue here is on punishment. Before today, like it or not, there was no agreed stance or consensus on an approach that was country-wide. There may have been between certain cities, but not country-wide. As I've mentioned, disparate "city rules" demonstrates this.

As long as can reach a consensus on the way forward, I genuinely don't think it makes that vast a difference. The fact of the matter is, beyond genuine errors, this is a very rare occurrence in this world these days. Now, ideally there will be consensus because to have people banned from one city or another does no-one any good. The banners or the bannees (yeah, making up words).

As I say, New Orleans will stick to this policy from today onwards. Subtle differences in personal views will, and should, take a back seat to maintaining quality of relationships over the country. The likelihood and hope is that we continue to see very little of this happening. The difference now is an agreed path. 

I for one know for a fact that if I had ever shot a child/umpa lumpa, whether it was 40 minutes ago or when I first started my career, I would be just another listing in the obituaries. This isn't what stops me from shooting them though, my own beliefs in that the killing of children/umpa lumpas is what stops me.

I am a man of honour. Is killing a child/umpa lumpa honourable? I don't believe so. Which is why I think this is one of the best things to happen to our cities for a long time.

Let me state again, that I am not trying to say people shouldn't be killed for this. Overall, I agree with this eye for an eye policy as I have killed my own for taking lives of -48's and protected listers.

Since the general consensus is to keep everything in the open, I will do that. My overall concern when I first heard this speech was not to take away from the importance of this rule that we all generally practice anyway. I am not against punishing them. Jumping the gun or not, it shouldn't happen unless absolutely warranted by being provoked by the new Gangster. I will not argue that. I did just want to throw a few examples out of extreme situations as I stated earlier.

I would've really liked to have been informed of this beforehand. I love the fact that Godfathers are holding meetings to discuss the welfare of our cities. I just wish everyone was included to begin with. We are all active and conducting business here on a daily basis. I realize at the time the incident that prompted this unified agreement occured, I was out of the country dealing with other affairs. However, I returned to the states well before Godmother Scipita came out to address the public about this coalition. Surely there was plenty of time to speak upon this behind closed doors. As Scipita stated herself, 'Though this is coalition formed by godfathers'. That's exactly it, I feel if you're going to include a couple on this to begin with you could've included them all.

What's done is done though, and we must move forward. I look forward to working closer with all of the Godfathers in the future and creating a better horizon for all cities to prosper.

I've always been impressed with how tightly regimented this world of ours is.  It's amazing how the people of our world can come together and establish the rules and procedures that govern what is and what is not acceptable.  I've been involved in other crime organizations in other countries in which no one was held accountable for these types of actions.  The answer came back the same again and again:  the rain-makers must be the ones to enforce the rules--not karma, not the Gods, but the true fuel of this world itself--the criminals.

Bravo to all who stand together to protect the innocent.  And, of course, I say the innocent, and not the young, because we are all aware of particular circumstances that warrant the death of a youngling.  I am continually impressed by our efforts and ability to self-govern and to establish a set of our own rules.  The truth is, there is very little room for anyone to rock the boat in this world, and it comes as the result of the constant vigilance of our leaders.