The Speakeasy

The Speakeasy is, quite simply, the single largest manufacturer of illicit drugs in the Pittsburgh area. Keeping all their facilities in cracks, where Pittsburgh can't get at them, is simply their greatest advantage over mundane competition. A haven for anti-authoritarians, rebels, and people of questionable ethics, the Speakeasy isn't always popular with some of the older factions, but they have enough allies to keep their activities legal.

Internal Structure

The Speakeasy has one administrator, the Public Relations Officer ("the pro") chosen by general consensus once a year. In principle, the pro could be removed by general consensus as well, but this has never come up. The pro avoids stepping on too many toes, keeps people in line when they overreach, and mostly deals with keeping the other factions out of the Speakeasy's business.

Ordinary members are called pushers (even those who work in manufacturing and don't actually sell drugs). The most common way to join the faction is to get hired by a pusher to do some grunt work, and do it well enough to get invited to be a grunt in the faction. Grunts work their way up to pushers—it's an informal title—by doing a good enough job that the other pushers recognize their competence. Typically, the faction has about two pushers for every grunt, but many of the pushers are themselves low down on the chain of command.

Besides being involved in directly dealing drugs, many members of the Speakeasy work on manufacturing the faction's goods in one of the several labs they maintain, and the faction also has a research division which is working to improve their processes and keep on the cutting edge of the market.

While the Speakeasy has a reputation for being a bunch of druggies, many members using drugs sparingly or not at all—they're attracted by the faction's informal structure and independent streak more than the specific business.

Relationships with Others

Most other factions maintain a laissez-faire policy towards the Speakeasy. A few of the more traditional houses dislike the faction, but not enough to strongly oppose them. Gaslight Hospital may be their most vocal critic, especially since the Speakeasy has a tendency to recruit clever orphans who the hospital would prefer to see go on to more respectable careers. But the Speakeasy cooperated with a needle exchange program the Hospital run in response to a hepatitis C scare a few years back, which eased tensions. The fact that ambrosia makes people resistant to addiction has prevented any movement to prohibit the Speakeasy's drugs.

Their only other real enemy is the Businessman's Club, with whom they have a longstanding feud over influence in Pittsburgh's criminal community.

History

The Speakeasy was founded in 1920 as a response to the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution. A disgruntled group of brewers, distillers, and their families began quietly distributing alcohol in Pittsburgh, and they continued to do so even after the repeal of prohibition. "The Speakeasy" became the name of the house's bar which still serves homemade liquors, wines, and beers to the praetermundane. As time went on and new laws were passed banning various mind-altering substances, the speakeasy became a refuge for those who wanted to continue to produce and use drugs.

About fifteen years ago, the speakeasy acquired more laboratories in order to accommodate a growing demand for drugs in Pittsburgh. The speakeasy also equipped an abandoned building with grow-lamps and an irrigation system. Besides cultivating illegal substances, the pushers enjoy growing fresh vegetables and herbs in this makeshift greenhouse . They will happily grow whatever is desired, if the price is right and there is room left in the greenhouse.

The house recently volunteered to start composting a good portion of the town's waste, and besides a small "meth lab incident" in 1997, the Speakeasy has generally been seen as a good neighbor.