Brass Jackals — Rogue Pactwrights

Created by Catriona "Cat" Fraser on Mon Oct 20th, 2025 @ 12:14am

Brass Jackals — Rogue Pactwrights

Aliases: The Jackals, Copper Teeth, Clause-Runners
Type: Mixed cabal (rogue witches/warlocks + clause-bending djinn, with mortal fixers)
Territory (fluid): Highlandtown back offices • Station North studios-after-hours • courthouse-adjacent coffee shops (never the Copper House or Circle House)
Seat/Cover: No fixed house; rotate through mailbox LLCs, short-let “mediation suites”, and pop-up notary desks
Status: Profitable, slippery, under quiet sanction by Concord & Coven; Accord declares them non grata

Who Are the Brass Jackals?

The Brass Jackals sell results without ethics: fast hexes, faster contracts, and bargains with hidden teeth. They mimic Concord hospitality and Coven consent practice, but swap witness rules and cooling periods for speed and cash. Their work leaves tidy signatures—until the bill comes due.

Signature tells: a copper pin bound with red thread on doorframes; contracts written perfectly save for one archaic word that shifts meaning; receipts stamped with a tiny jackal head.

Overview

The Jackals thrive where desperate clients meet impatience: evictions, custody battles, club licences, debt. They undercut Circle House rates, poach Concord petitioners, and “fix” problems the Accord would rather de-escalate. When challenged, they call it “free enterprise” and vanish behind shell companies and notaries who forget names.

Maxim (heard in whispers): “Bread later, signatures now.”

Faces & Inner Ring

  • Zara CorvinHedge-Law Witch; drafts razor clauses; charming until ink dries.
  • Kasra ibn-RihDjinn Clause-Broker; hospitality theatre, loopholes real; carries copper chits from old debts.
  • Mason PikeFixer; venues, decoy witnesses, muscle hire; keeps three phones and no scruples.
  • “Notary Lark”Forger-Notary; seals look perfect; memory politely porous.
  • Yvette SloanHexwright-on-call; fast bindings, dirty counter-charms; leaves a salt rash on skirting boards.

Structure & Cells

Model: Broker (Zara/Kasra) → Contract Desk (drafts & seals) → Field Cell (2–3 witches + 1 mortal runner) → Retainer Muscle.

  • Contract Desk: laptop, travel printer, “mobile notary” sign; cooling-period checkbox always “waived”.
  • Field Cells: pin-door, place ward, collect fee; never linger after the clock ticks.
  • Accounts: shell LLCs rolled monthly; refunds impossible by design.

Methods & Habits

  • Counterfeit Consent: faux-witness forms; recorded “yes” spliced from other words.
  • Hidden-Teeth Bargains: the archaic term (hazelright, mainprise, estover) flips obligation at a season change.
  • Pay-to-Hex: shelf curses (souring luck, sticky doors, sickly lights) with easy instalment plans.
  • Debt-Flips: buy your marker, resell it with interest to someone with fewer manners.
  • Venue Poaching: set up across the street from Copper House tea nights or Circle House clinics.

“Jackal Law” (as they peddle it)

  1. Price first. If they can’t pay, they are the price.
  2. Witness is a luxury. A phone camera counts—if it helps us.
  3. Speed is mercy. Cooling days are for cowards and rivals.
  4. Burn the trail. New desk, new number, new stamp every month.

Note: All four breach Concord & Coven doctrine; Accord fines escalate to sanctions.

Resources & Kits

  • Clause Pack: laptops with boilerplates, translation crib, antique lexicon for trap words.
  • Hex Case: copper pins, red thread, bone needles, smoke inks, cheap hush-powders.
  • Hospitality Props: bread/salt set for theatre (not binding); copper cups; counterfeit witness bell.
  • Cold Ampoules: “edge” tonics in medical coolers (dry, cold, wrong); offered as add-ons to anxious clients.

Relations & Enmities

  • Highland Concord: mortal enemies; clause-audits expose Jackal tricks; Jackals court Concord defectors.
  • Coven of Seven Ways: targeted undercutting; counterfeit consent ledgers mimic Circle House layout.
  • Crimson Harbour: transactional; sell NDAs and panic-stair cover stories to Red Wake types.
  • Glasswrights: attempt pane rentals without bonds; blacklisted; use Looking-Glass Line smugglers.
  • Meridian: cat-and-mouse; Jackals craft “boring explanations” that poison real narratives later.

Emerging Rumours (GM Guidance)

  • Aurum Clause: a new boilerplate includes “temper of gold”; clients show a brief surge then shakes.
  • Witness-for-Hire: paid “witnesses” with perfect memories and no names; three accents, one script.
  • Pinstorms: blocks wake to find copper pins on every shop door; half the alarms fail that night.

Known Desks & Pop-up Rooms

  • Suite 404 (Station North): hourly-rent office; jackal stamp in the carpet glue.
  • Courier Van “Mabel”: mobile desk; printer, kettle, two folding chairs; plates swapped weekly.
  • “Mediation Loft” (Highlandtown): plants, rugs, forged diplomas; cleared in under ten minutes.

Notable Operatives (NPCs)

  • Zara Corvin — smiles like a receipt; hates cooling periods; respects only leverage.
  • Kasra ibn-Rih — keeps hospitality technically correct; debts follow him like weather.
  • Mason Pike — finds rooms, breaks leases, hires problems.
  • Notary Lark — stamps the world clean; can’t recall who paid.
  • Yvette Sloan — leaves copper splinters in your luck.

Hooks & Episode Seeds

  • Protection by Tuesday: A row of shops sports copper pins and red thread; night takings plummet; owners beg for help.
  • Clause at the Gate: A frightened petitioner is minutes from signing a Jackal contract outside the Copper House. Talk fast or unmask the trap word.
  • Witness Bell Lies: A “witnessed” expulsion shreds a tenant’s life. Prove the bell and the witness were faked.
  • Cooler Add-on: A client waves an ampoule upsell. Seize it without spooking a desperate crowd.
  • Pinstorm Night: City block seeded with pins; alarms die; thefts spike. Who paid the Jackals—and why tonight?

Countermeasures (For PCs/Allies)

  • Clause Audits: Concord reviews with plain-speech rewrites; force cooling periods; publish the trap word.
  • Witness Protocol: Circle House co-witness on doorsteps; bell provenance checks; pencils not phones.
  • Pin Hygiene: remove pins with copper tongs into brine; sweep thresholds with bread & salt; re-seat house wards.
  • Paper Trail: Gloam ledger hunt for shell LLC overlaps; catch the bank account that didn’t move.
  • Venue Shield: coordinate with Meridian for neutral windows; set decoy “cheap rooms” wired for testimony.

GM Notes

  • Tone: legalistic menace; kindness vs. convenience; paperwork as a weapon.
  • Pressure Dials: Exposure □□ • Rumour Heat □□□ • Community Harm □□
  • Escalation Path: pin on a door → small win with a fee → clause bites → community backlash → Accord sanctions.
  • Fail State: a tragic “consent” on film; public anger; Meridian forced to raid sympathetic victims.
  • Win State: clause unpicked, witness proved false, pins cleared; client routed to Concord/Circle House for a real remedy.

Categories: Breakaway Groups