Introduction

This week we witnessed some drama around a person nicknamed Karma. I was eating my bacon and eggs in a dodgy sidestreet of The Strip, more famous for it’s showgirls than it’s breakfast. It was there that some associate rolled up and yelled “We have a rogue situation, you want to get back to the headquarters, Jaryll.” Only halfway into my morningpaper and coffee, I decided to take my chances and stay put. These damn showgirls tricked me afterwards and it was quite a few hours before I finally found my way to the headquarters in Paradise. There I learned that despite promising events, the same person was still considered rogue, but that it was only to be a matter of time before apparent peace found it’s way back to our streets. Not long thereafter rumours dropped in that Karma’s brains were splattered on some sidewalk. Rogue, zero. The greater community, one.

 

So how does one rogue?

I’ve lead an exemplary life, aside from snatching some purses from one of your mothers probably, so what’s coming next are just insights history taught us and things which to me make sense after contemplating the “What if” question. It’s pretty short as well, for something that seems complicated.

Consider your goals. Revenge or bringing about change can be achieved with one shot. Once you got the skill to deliver a killshot, you really don’t need anyone. So don’t involve anyone else, shut your mouth about your intent. There’s absolutely no gain to be had to speak about your plans. Unless your goals target multiple people. In that case you’d want some distraction and an amount of loyalists to protect you and drive a getaway car. When you have to let someone in on your plans, assume that your friends on who you think you can rely are probably not your friends at all and shouldn’t be the people to rely on here.

At this point you have a problem. If your friends suck, or have relations with people who are likely to benefit from the knowledge about your plans, or simply have a big mouth, which is often the case, you’re in a tough spot. If you suspect that your friends are of the crappy type, and be honest here, don’t involve them. Either postpone until you’ve made friends you can truly rely on or just go for the single victim. When you’re this alone, it’s about the statement anyway, and not so much about getting away with it, as those chances are very slim. If you feel happy about what you’re about to do and can’t wait to involve people, you probably have the wrong reasons to rogue and you’re probably gonna get the same shitty treatment from your friends as you probably would give them.

Once you’ve decided whether you go at it solo or you found trustworthy friends, some action needs to happen. Pull that trigger. At this point it’s gonna become obvious whether you are a dreamer or do-er, as it’s not necessarily that easy to deliver a headshot on a high-profile target. You might think you’re pretty skilled at marksmanship, but chances are high that you’re more confident than you should be. Anyway, pull the trigger. Something pushed you to rogue, so add some action with it. I’d hate to see you hit innocent bystanders, but perhaps that’s the risk of being involved with this many criminals on a daily basis. Preferably target those and theirs of who you have a problem with. Whatever statement you try to make, you’re only going to be ridiculed if you don’t add some action to your statement. Even if your motives are honourable, your action is meaningless without bringing change, even a little and how shitty it might seem to someone’s operation. If it doesn’t affect anything, the chances are slim anyone is gonna give your actions a second thought. Delusional, rookie and idiot are terms that are gonna be used when your name is discussed in the five minutes after you die. Then as soon as your coffin is lowered beyond the sight of eye, you and everything you stood for is forgotten. Like a cheap-ass cinema flick you were entertaining for a short bit, but real life grabs our attention once you are gone. So yeah, pull that trigger. Regarding the how, when, where and how often after that I have a lot of practical advice, but I reckon that won’t be appreciated by everyone in our community. I however offer my advice against a hefty sum of money were you interested to go rogue at some point in your career. Inquire with your plans for current rates. Trust me, that's a smart idea.

So what are you gonna tell me that’s practical?

Well, this whole thing is more about the philosophy and fucking with you than about the practicalities of going rogue. Going actually rogue and being effective in that moment is just a very brief period of your career. If you’re good, it’s not really that hard. The challenging part is getting to that point. I reckon many people assume that flying under the radar is the best approach here. That’s false. Some of the most effective rogues were trusted hitters known by the ruling powers of their time. Some have tried a more stealthy approach, but they still made sure they had some contact with people up in high places. There’s even cases of known rogue lines, hunted for the acts of their ancestors, who made their way to the top of this world by adding a lot of work for the current powers right there in the open. They were trusted because of efforts and involvement.

And that’s perhaps the most intriguing point. The road to becoming a successful rogue is awkwardly similar to the way to become a successful mobster. Hiding your ugly face is gonna be a hard time if you’re this ugly. But if you’re out there working hard, talk with the people in your family, offer your insights and build a relation with people that matter, you’re chances of having a smooth way to the point where you can be a successful rogue… or a successful crewleader is gonna be so much easier.

Let’s keep in mind that a rogue is nothing more than someone who decides on their and someone else’s fate without assumed powers authorising this behaviour. They are not by default wrong. They often are more opinionated, dedicated and convinced than majority of the population. At least… the successful ones. When you turn out to be an unsuccessful rogue, you probably didn’t have a just cause, but the current powers have been just in denying you the career and influence that you sought for. Sucking as a rogue means you sucked in the life upto that point as well.

So to sum up, the chances of you being a successful rogue are very slim. If fuckups in your career force you to go rogue. or you are eager to go rogue, you’re going to fail. Becoming a successful rogue means staying in line, working hard and invest in relations. Be excellent. Be patient. Work for the family and not for ambition. And then at this point you’re just as likely to become a crewleader and influence things in more legal ways… or yeah, go rogue, but don’t forget to pull that trigger.

So what kind of flowers do you like on your funeral, Jaryll?

White lily’s, purple roses. I could care less. I can understand if this presentation raises eyebrows and that some of the things I’ve said here are being compared to my attitude within this world. However I’m confident in the relation with my leader before and after the deliverance of this speech. And to finish off, how much reason do we have to be wary of those who talk this openly about rogue behaviour and how much reason do we have to trust those we auth or those in the top of our operations, as in the end… they walked the perfect path to become a successful rogue or worthy advisary in war.

After listening to Jaryll's instructional on how to properly rogue Bobby gave him a confused look, looked around to see if anyone else had anything to say first then raised his hand and waived wildly. When he wasn't noticed he coughed loudly and yelled "Hey over here!" When Jaryll finally noticed him he questioned his guide.

"Now this is a fairly good guide, I've taken a lot of notes and will study them every night before I pass out on top of a crow eater. However! Why would I not want to get extremely close to completing my goal and then tell someone of my plans and where I hide out? I mean c'mon, who doesn't like to show off? I think that would maybe even get me a chubby going, who knows. What could possibly go wrong with just telling one person of my plans, my desired target and where I sleep at night?"

So this topic appears to be painfully relevant. It’s been mainly me ranting on the matter, so let me just continue with that. I can look past the fact that Turtle decided to involve Co, but never asked me for any advice. I can look past the fact that someone turned out to be more successful than we want them to be. But bottomline is that someone just pulled a gun on my boss and killed him. I’m not happy and despite convictions I’m about to go to some beach and dance on some turtle-eggs.

The loss that is felt across the community is proof of my earlier point that pulling that trigger actually matters. Well, while things that matter will be questioned, I won’t directly question PaleRider for housing and growing the person who killed my boss, because whatever your efforts as a leader, chances are real someone’s gonna be disloyal to you at some point. So I won’t say this rogue character has been neglected by PaleRider. Hell, it’s not fair and it wouldn’t even be my place.

But in a more general sense I am questioning PaleRider and with him all of the leadership of this community; Who are you trusting? I won’t ever defend or promote not to trust people, because our world would go to shit if we stopped doing that. But I will pressure a bit and ask you all to re-evaluate who you trust and for what reasons? I’ll ask whether you are happy to have quality members because they are quality members or is it because you can truly rely on them? Do you consider loyalty as a given after being together for this long or is there an actual reason to assume loyalty? I’m not here to create mistrust amongst you people. I just hope that after spending this much time together that you have an actual ground to assume neither of you will go on a different path than what the family is focused on doing. Could you do better or do you just hope for the best?
 

History taught us how difficult that is, but that’s a reason to give that area extra attention. Ask yourself whether you truly inspire loyalty as a leader or whether you hope and assume no one of yours fucks up.

I’ll admit, I’m somewhat lost due to today’s events and the loss of Artus. You can say I’m over-exaggerating given the context of our world, but instead of being slutty to every semi-friendly face in the crowd, I invest all I have and am in my boss. Someone just killed him, which puts me pretty much at point zero aside from the recognition from people I shared a bagel and a coffee with one day. Now I agree that Artus’ loss, Kurgan’s loss is way more impacting than that I feel shitty. But the individual, practical experiences are what make up the greater abstract loss to the society, so let’s not ignore the practical questions that come from it.

Now you may question whether I should have shared my attention over multiple people, to prevent feeling lost right now. I’d like to counter that by wondering whether sharing your attention over this many people is a healthy thing or that it invites for missing obvious things… like a rogue spawning from your people.

And let’s say that this person was known and cared for, that they were assumed loyal because a lot of attention went to this person, than I’d be interested to learn who it was that sent two prominent members of our society swimmin’ wit da fishes and for what reasons. We’re mourning those we loved. We’re celebrating we beated the violent rogue. But why did Turtle do this? Why did he got to this point?  Can we invest more in those who surround us at the top, without becoming paranoid fucks? What can we learn from the past day? The events are over, but the questions remain.

Much hard work is lost… let’s try and answer why, because at this level it’s hardly ever a case of drunk violence.
People we care for died, let's ask why and try our hardest to prevent future incidents.

Drunky reads the public diary of JaryllJicchai and gives it some foggy thought.  He ponders the history here, he ponders the deaths of prominent mafioso and he ponders the issue of trust itself.  Deep shit.  I know.  Drunky throws back some liquid courage to get his ass out in the streets and then clears his throat...

"You know.  I read something on the wall of a bathroom stall as I was puking in the toilet once.  The handwriting looked familiar - but anyway..."

"You can't be successful here without trusting a good number of people.  Ultimately - times change, so do loyalties sometimes and oftentimes the end product is you have a guy who's been around a long time turning on his leader.  Now - I deplore what Turtle did.  He wears that burden.  And if I'm being truthful - I don't think he really cares.  That says more about him and his ethics than it does Palerider 's, I believe.  Can I fault Palerider?  Not really.  Rogues happen.  They will continue to happen and if I look back in the history books I see rogues that were housed in the families of legendary mobsters here in this world of ours who were loved and respected."

"Now - I'm going to focus on the good.  I know it's hard with such a stinging loss like we suffered yesterday, but I think it's important to help us pick up the pieces and move on.  Some guy in a sweater said something to the effect of "In scary times - look for the helpers.  There are always people who are helping."  What I saw yesterday was a bunch of people pull together, work together and ultimately mitigate what could have been far worse."

"Now as I reflect on the events, I must tell you something that was highlighted for me.  Communication is key.  Why?  Because I think it builds trust.  I think you can learn a lot about people if you sit and talk to them.  I think we all need to keep our ears open for others and I bet a lot of issues work themselves out with words instead of bullets.  With that - my mailbox is always open and looking forward to conversation."

Drunky takes off for the bar to have a beer.

WoonDa sips some hard stuff out of his glass, drops some down to earth for the respect of all the fallen ones, and so their souls have some stuff too, before they start floating around, as his own is destined to do too at some point in time. Then he begins to share his thoughts with the few gathered, interested in his way of thinking about the topic.

I am not interested as much in methods for being a "good" or a "bad" rogue, coz I know any good killa is a potential rogue, with potential proers... What saddens me is that we current mortals only know stuff by "third" hands after the events, and the explanations are only reserved for the fewer part of the masses with more connections and knowledge than me... When you browse history you can find a few excellent killers, being CLs or rogues at their time, but very few first hand messages left to the general public concerning their own viewpoint of their deaths. Sometimes, hopefully not at this moment, leaves a bad taste for the future relations among the survivors, in the form of spinning real reasons and acts, causes and consequences... If that's not the primary aim of those rogue actors to try spin and distort reality, I and others am sure  too would like a clear explanation, if not of events, at least of their thoughts and reasoning after their death.

WoonDa finishes his hard stuff of his glass, and starts listening to what those voices he never heard before were going to say.