Friends, a moment if you would.

green pauses to check he has the attention of enough people before continuing. He probably didn't, but he was confident the acoustics were right on the streets today and it wasn't raining, so this was probably about as good a time as he was ever going to get. green hated the rain.

I can clearly remember the day I was called into Kurgan's office and, after spending several minutes worshipping his mighty claymore (oo-er), I was told that my request to relocate to Las Vegas had been granted. That was a proud day for me, possibly the proudest of my life, and I can still remember how excited I was to embrace the new opportunity I had been given.

green sighs to himself, always one to enjoy a little nostalgia but knowing it could never last.

Despite the initial euphoria and once the celebrations had died down, it became apparent that it wasn't going to be easy. There have been a lot of long days and seemingly endless nights trying to get things into a position that we are happy with. To an extent, that still continues on a daily basis as we don't just want to be another nameless face, forgotten long before our eventual demise, so in addition to dealing with the usual teething problems associated with moving into new territory, getting to know the local bigwigs and establishing boundaries with the other families, we have also tried to get a new venture off the ground with our Las Vegas Fight Night.

Whilst these things have taken a lot of time and effort, at no point have I ever thought about turning my back on them. I knew that being a Don wasn't all fun and games and to do it properly, there are certain things you must to do in order to be successful. I wonder if others actually think through these decisions before they make them. I see an increasingly worrying trend of people setting up, giving it a few weeks/months, then trotting back off to rejoin a family. That's not right. Being a Don, rather like a puppy, isn't just for Christmas when it is all new and exciting, it is a business decision that should only end in either death or retirement. You've got to work at this shit, it doesn't just happen on it's own.

green pauses, clicks his fingers to HighPitchEric, who quickly brings him a cigar before reaching into his pocket and bringing out a money clip engraved with "PacaCasal". Eric pulls a few dollars from the lifted clip, sets them alight and uses the smouldering remains to light green's cigar. He takes a couple of puffs before continuing.

The other strange eventuality that seems to have come to prominence as a result of the free cities project, is people relocating their operations seemingly on a whim. This is also baffling to me. Did you not choose the place you decided to locate your headquarters for a reason? Personally, The Strip was my only destination because it was the ideal location for my strengths; gaming and gambling. Would I now up sticks and fork out millions and millions of dollars to move over to Los Angeles if things got a little heated? Fuck no. I'm not being run out of town, this is where my business is and where I want it to remain.

green shrugs.

Each to their own I guess, but what do you think about Don's retiring or skipping town? I'd love to know.

Oblivion, while taking a lovely stroll down the streets of Las Vegas, his pockets far lighter than when he first arrived, spotted green with a grand assortment of individuals around him. He decided to throw his few cents in.

When one makes a decision such as this, to leave the family that has nurtured them from their young years and into, presumibly making a blood oath to be a Made Man, to then start their own operation, they should be entirely sure. It should only end in death or retirement. You owe it to our new family, no matter how small, to see it through to the end. One way or another. Is it a matter of thinking it's all fun and games? That anyone can make decisions that must be made by a leader? Or is it simply the misunderstanding that anyone can handle the stress and the sleepless nights? It's honestly impossible to know without hearing from those that have commited the astrocty. 

Oblivion takes a small flask from his jacket and takes a sip before continuing to speak.

Relocation is something that needs to be reviewed in my opinion. When you make your initial decision, you really shouldn't be allowed to just jump ship when the going gets tough. It's one thing to move to take a Godfather position, but that isn't what is going on here. I'd be curious to hear other opinions on this myself!

Mr green I am actually delighted to hear your words and do have some comments for you...

The free cities has made things rather...interesting, true colours get shown I guess by hook or by crook in these cases. My journals from my lineage show that under a different regime some were still chasing a life any life anywhere at any cost, and I am proud to say that my ancestors did not support that ever. It was a harsh upbringing but it has made me strong in my beliefs. Staying alive in this world is not the same as living in this world and flourishing.

We have free cities now of which Philly is one of course, this is designed for people to come freely and also go freely too - but as you rightly said when you either reach a rank or a position within a city I feel there should be loyalty to to that as a very basic level.

I stand with my crew here in Philly today because firstly this world is not always nice....we cannot be in the mafia and run to anywhere that keeps us safe when the going gets a bit tough, this is not the way of things and secondly my home, my family are here in Philly and we will stay loyal to that to the end. It would be too easy for me to move to a 'safe' city and hide - I choose not to.

I do think the free cities are still a fabulous idea and for the most part it is playing out one way or another to sort itself out and will settle down I believe in the coming days, I also think it has the potential to attract those that might not yet understand omerta, working hard and even harder when the going gets tough and remaining loyal to those that have seen you right in this world.....

Fresh from a good towel whipping, Walter was feeling on top of the world. It was amazing what a good towel whipping did to help leach the toxins out of your system, and what with the Alcohol, Cocaine, speed, amphetamines and coffee, Walter's body had more than its fair share of toxins, and Harry was awfully good at administering the towel. Harry was just a couple of feet away, ready to top up said toxins should things seem to be going awry.

You know Green, I was just talking about similar topics on my Cable show the other night, in between my articles on the 'sudden prevalence of anal bleaching' and that 'half a million Americans die of Colon cancer each year, many of which could be saved by routine colonoscopies.' Now crew leaders standing down I can understand. you are right, a lot of people don't realise the amount of work it takes to lead a family, but i don't believe that is why they step down. Often these people are full of good intentions, in the way that some people are full of bullshit.  Unfortunately, on some occasions, the unforeseen rises unbidden, like a transexual hooker's penis, and you are left with the choice of struggling on and trying to cope, or dealing with it as sensibly as you can. Often these people have relations who take ill, or long term illness themselves. It is better that they stand aside, and allow others to effectively lead the masses, rather than fall into a coma and allow their hands to struggle on without them.

In most cases, these circumstances were not planned for, like a crack whore getting pregnant. Are we to hold this against them? I think not. Its not like they are Argentinian usurpers stealing the homelands of innocent men and women.

Harry reached his hand towards harry, who pulled a flask from his pocket and handed it to Walter. "Here you go major." Slaking his thirst, Walter hands the flask back, Harry taking a swig himself before retuning it to his pocket.

Your second point is a little different though. Its fear that makes people move city fear or opportunity. If you fear for your crew, or your own life, I can see how you would run. Run like a good dose of diarrhoea from a Rent boy with IBS. Run like the Argies ran from Goose Green! However, as is the case with that other fellow recently, ummm, Raoh I believe his name is. He moved for opportunity. His move improved his station, it improved the position of his family. I can understand why he moved. Just because you don't understand the situation, doesn't mean there isn't a good reason for it.

Walter hurried off with Harry, he knew where he could lay his hands on some quality coke, and the chances were his psychiatrist wouldn't wait all day.

I see an increasingly worrying trend of people setting up, giving it a few weeks/months, then trotting back off to rejoin a family. That's not right. Being a Don, rather like a puppy, isn't just for Christmas when it is all new and exciting, it is a business decision that should only end in either death or retirement. You've got to work at this shit, it doesn't just happen on it's own.

"First off, thank you Consigliere Green for coming out to share your thoughts. There is one particular part of your speech that I wish to comment on; the idea of leaders setting up and then giving up after some time. I do think that this sort of situation is one that was bound to happen in this experiment of free cities. It's a rather new idea that anyone can set up in any of these three cities at any time after they achieve Made Man status. Many of the bloodlines that have chosen to set up have no previous experience with being a Crew Leader. They don't have journals to guide them on the difficulties of the process. That's not a bad thing, however it may have left them unprepared for the numerous challenges of leading a crew."

"It can be easy to be idealistic about running a crew until you actually start doing it. In a structured city you have people to help guide you. The Don who gave you auth or the Godfather of your district or city. People who can help oversee your decisions until you're comfortable handling the challenges on your own. When you leave for a free city, you don't have those supports. I don't mean to assume that that crew leader doesn't still have moral support from friends. I'm sure if you approached Kurgan from some advice, he wouldn't turn you away. But he can't make a decision for you, because there can't be a false impression of him involving himself in LV affairs. These are unique challenges to running a crew in a free city and I rather respect the person who realizes that maybe this isn't quite for them. I respect them more for stepping down when they realize they cannot do the job properly and deciding to step away then I would if they refused to step down because if they can't do the job the only people suffering are their crew members, who are stuck with a leader who doesn't have the time and/or ability to do the job right."

"The free cities are a change, one I know the Pillars hope to see become permanent. These sorts of concerns are new and ones that we will certainly need to address or grow accustomed too, depending on how the community as a whole sees them."

Walter_Blunt, thank you for your insight into this, you are clearly a gentleman wise beyond your years.

Green, I would like to address your points separately as I feel that is required on this occasion. Being given a suit and the option to lead your own family is the greatest honour one can achieve in this world, in my opinion. This goes above that which any title can provide. Having the ability to be there and guide new mobsters that arrive on these shores, seeing their faces when they get that first promotion or when they contact you directly to tell you have much they feel appreciated, that is what this life is all about for me. My family comes first and I would happily lay down my life for any one of them and they all know this. Having that bold suit is not an easy thing to do though and sometimes people have reasons for choosing to take actions which others may not understand. I agree with your statement though, for me, it would either be death or retirement.

In regards to your second point in reference to paying millions to move the base of your operations, this is a decision which would require a great amount of thought prior to any action taking place. Some do it for the wrong reasons, others do it for reasons which they stand by and believe in. A home can only be called a home whilst it provides you with that feeling that you belong there. If that were to change, then it will sometimes prompt for things to be reviewed to figure out the best solution. As Tellurium correcly pointed out, omerta is about respect and remaining loyal to those who have seen you right in this world, that applies in many ways. Sometimes it is simply better for parties to go their separate ways and continue doing the one thing the majority of us want, to help build a better future.

Some interesting points here green, some of which I have thought about myself over the last few days.

Whilst I don't fully agree on someone needing to die if they want to step down from being a crewleader I do fully agree that they should not be allowed to just up and leave to another city.

I'll cover my first point in a bit more detail, to my understanding the free cities idea was to encourage those people who have never had the opportunity to become a crewleader finally have the chance to be able to do so, however let's say JoeBloggs takes up the opportunity he has never been a crewleader or for that matter held any position of merit, he moves to a free city sets up shop and tries his luck, but after a few weeks he realises that being a crewleader isn't for him after all and so makes the only logical solution and that is to step down, he has given it his best shot but alas it simply wasn't good enough, why in a situation like this should he retire? he has done nothing wrong to warrant a death sentence.

Those who take up the opportunity but then fly the nest the moment things get a little rough that I do disagree with, it seems to me that a few people have just jumped on the bandwagon and set up without giving the whole idea much thought and are therefore destined to fail, personally I think if you are going to take up the opportunity of running a crew in one of the free cities firstly you need to think long and hard about whether you are going to be able to have a good crack at it and to a certain extent set yourself goals to accomplish along the way, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

If when the going gets tough you are just going to run to another city then I am sorry you simply are not cut out to lead or up to the tasks required to succeed.

If when the going gets tough you are just going to run to another city then I am sorry you simply are not cut out to lead or up to the tasks required to succeed.

Lancelot, just to clarify, you weren't referring to my recent move to LV were you? There were reasons behind the move and it had nothing to do with 'running when the going gets tough'.

No Raoh I was not as your move was not done out of thing's getting tough and just bailing out, I was referring more to what we have seen over the last couple of days and the situation we saw with TonyCosta.

Thank you for the clarification Lancelot.

I have done a great deal of work internally and will continue to work to help LV grow and blossom. There is still much we can do in this world to help the progression from the seeds handed to us. We have been given the blocks but its up to all of us to use them to build.

I have done a great deal of work internally and will continue to work to help LV grow and blossom. There is still much we can do in this world to help the progression from the seeds handed to us. We have been given the blocks but its up to all of us to use them to build.

I wish you all the best over in Vegas Raoh and look forward to seeing how you progress, there's a lot of good people over there and if you all work together could do something really good, one of my own ancestors Templar took up such an opportunity and I have to say he thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the challenge and felt as if he had achieved something, so stick at my friend and give it everything you got.

Disorder was always interested to hear what his boss had to say. green was an unusual man but he was firm, articulate and consistent in his abuse. Disorder respected that. He also had a strong understanding that continually ignoring your boss was not the best way forward, so, with heavy heart, he pasted on a fake smile and propped himself up to listen to the guy speak. To his pleasant surprise it was actually an interesting subject with some eye-opening responses.

"This is something pretty unusual to my thinking so its been informative to listen to the rest of you chime in and help enlighten me on some alternate perspectives!"

He turns to Walter_Blunt and smiles.

"I have a crate of brandy and a big can of fish oil for you lad! Lot of promise in those shoes and you're welcome for tea and cake at mine any time."

Turning back to the rest of the group he goes on.

"I might be a bit old school here and I can see some of your points about trying out a position and then realizing its not for you. Stepping down and taking a lesser role would make perfect sense in that respect. Except for one thing. This isn't a fucking grocery store! This is the mafia!

Now it might not be made clear enough but by the time you've been in this thing of ours long enough to be eligible to start your own family, you'd better have a pretty clear idea of what's involved. Principal of those, the awareness that taking that step is a life decision. Meaning your life! You are going to be the head of a family. You will have many lives depending on you. For guidance, protection, leadership and tutelage. You don't just decide its not for you all of a sudden and run to hide under mommy's skirt. You think really fucking hard and really fucking long about the severity of the decision you are about to make before you do. you accept the enormous gravity of the situation and commit your entire life to it. That's what the job entails. That's the nature of the beast. !f you can't accept that right off the bat then leadership is not for you!

I'll honesty have a million times the respect for someone who thought it through and came to the sensible decision they couldn't handle the commitment, than for someone who couldn't resist the short-sighted power lust and made a foolish choice that put lives and reputations at risk."

Disorder looked around for a moment before moving on.

"As for moving around. Our businesses and needs change all the time. There can be all manner of situations that necessitate a family moving district or city. Some are silly and irresponsible and some are simply ordered from above. They all have to be measured on a case by case basis."