Boromar Underboss

The Boromar Clan

The Boromar Clan is the most powerful criminal organization in Sharn, with a reach that includes the city council, the Sharn Watch, House Jorasco, the elite social circles of Skyway, the shipping trade, and a wide array of illegal activity to boot — particularly extortion, gambling, smuggling, and thievery. The clan began as a family of halfling immigrants from the Talenta Plains, and its headquarters and key holdings lie in the Little Plains district of Middle Menthis, where many such migrants dwell.

Goals of the Boromar Clan.

For generations, the goals of the Boromar Clan have been simple: to maintain an iron grip on shady and illegal activities in Sharn. The Boromars extend their influence into places of power and bribe offi­cials of the Sharn Watch, all to maximize profits and power. Short-term goals come and go in service of these overarching objectives — blackmailing a councilor here, purchasing a shipping company there. But with the rise of Daask, the Boromars have the new and urgent goal of eliminating their upstart rival once and for all.

The fierce enmity between the Boromar Clan and Daask creates interesting options for inquisitive characters who stand (at least nominally) on the side of the law against both criminal organizations. Will they accept help from the Boromars against the much more obviously dangerous Daask? Or might they disregard Daask operations clearly meant to undermine the Boromars? The inquisitives might even «nd a way to ensure the conflict between the two criminal groups weakens them both, making Sharn safer in the process.

A Boromar Clan Arc.

The conflict between inquisitives and The Boromar Clan might follow this broad outline.

• Levels 1–4. The characters investigate petty crimes — pickpocketing, burglary, blackmail, and such — and help bring several Boromar Clan members to justice. The inquisitives find the Sharn Watch unhelpful in dealing with these criminals, though, and some legitimate businesses and law-abiding citizens start shunning or insulting the characters, angry at their interference with the "hometown heroes" of the Boromar Clan.
• Levels 5–10. Ostensibly trying to mend the poor relationship between the Sharn Watch and the inquisitives, a Watch o­fficer recruits the characters to bring a Daask gang to justice. The Watch helps, and the characters catch several Daask criminals. However, the characters' Watch allies don't seem concerned about whether any Daask members are hurt or killed in the final confrontation. Indeed, it turns out that the Boromar Clan arranged the operation to remove a dangerous group of rivals.
• Levels 11–16. Boromar leaders try to recruit the characters to their side, offering exorbitant fees and extravagant gifts as payment for simple jobs. If bribery doesn't work, the gang tries to coerce the characters into helping them, using friends, family members, or contacts as leverage. Along the way, the characters learn that a trusted NPC ally is firmly in the pocket of the Boromar Clan.
• Levels 17–20. Assuming the characters haven't joined the Boromars, the clan leadership tries to eliminate them. The Boromars can't muster a physical threat to challenge characters of this level, so they wield their political power instead. Under pressure from Boromar leaders, the city council declares the adventurers a threat to Sharn's safety and security. O­fficials revoke their inquisitive agency's operations permit and ask the characters to leave Sharn.

Boromar Operatives.

The Boromar Clan began as a single family of halflings. Though its influence has expanded widely, its key operatives are still family members. Boromar operatives prefer deception and bribery over outright violence, though they defend their interests when necessary. Besides those described here, other Boromar operatives include bandits, commoners, spies, toughs, and warriors.

Boromar Underboss. Underbosses supervise larger clan operations, such as gambling halls and warehouses of smuggled goods awaiting transport. Accustomed to the criminal lifestyle, these hardy individuals (mostly halflings) dismiss and dispose of threats with calculated ease.