From Professor Arnold Bumble’s[82] “A Study of the minor and major criminal factions, gangs and collectives active in Prasus during the 11301th eon”

Chapter 416.E - The Crawlers.

One of the largest gangs that have ever operated in Prasus and the largest to operate during the 11301th eon, for unknown reasons this highly brutal and powerful gang limited its area of operations to the northern dock spur (the Prasian local parlance for the four vast docking piers that extend from the city made from a number of so called “districts” or city blocks) of the city alone.

The Crawlers were characterised primarily by their incredibly deep resources and sheer brutality, they had access not only to a seemingly inexhaustible supply of rare and powerful clockwork crossbows but also to a drug called fury. This drug (of unknown source and origin) was highly addictive and prolonged use stripped away the higher portions of a man’s mind reducing him to the level of a beast, the serial users of this drug were termed ferals at the time as they acted more like animals than men but were entirely obedient to those who could supply them with fury.

These addicts formed the core of the Crawlers forces, acting as expendable shock troopers entirely fearless and numbed to all pain.

The Crawlers started operating around the 11298th eon, arriving in Prasus from parts unknown and quickly claimed a large amount of territory from the more established gangs.

They then continued to spread at an unprecedented rate thanks to their high quality weapons, well developed tactics, distribution and control of the highly addictive fury and deployment of the resultant ferals to use as “crossbow fodder” in their near constant turf wars.

These wars are what lead to the northernmost dock district temporarily falling from its iron safety rating to stone, the Crawlers took to regularly ambushing and annihilating watch patrols in the district until the watch presence was eliminated with the exception of a few cut off watchhouses most lacking their captains.

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The Crawler leadership subsequently bribed several high ranking officials heavily to ensure the watchhouses received no reinforcements leaving the northern docks essentially undefended. In fact if it wasn't for the so-called Old Guard, a united banner under which all the other dock gangs and criminals rallied to repel these invaders of the Prasus underworld, it is possible that they would have taken over the entire dock district.

That our fair city owes the vast trade wealth of the northern dock spur to an alliance of criminals rather than the city's guards is indicative of the quality of the watch during that eon along with their near total corruptibility.

The dread Crawlers were eventually toppled by some sort of internal schism that resulted in the destruction of their hidden base and the death of their upper command with the exception of their leader Nathanial “Red-Razor” who was famously arrested by the heroic captain Pendleton of the Prasus City watch (whose later career is so well known that it need not be reiterated here). Many claim that it was the arrest of the infamous “Red-Razor” that began his rise through the ranks.

The exact nature of the schism that weakened the Crawlers enough to allow his capture and the parties that caused it are unknown to this day.

Whilst many of my colleagues cling to the assertion that the Crawlers were financed by the city state of Ulmar and that their leader Nathanial “Red-Razor” was in fact a member of Ulmar’s Special Forces (the so called Black Shields) I am forced by scholarly ethics to disabuse this notion.

There has never been any factual and validated evidence to even hint at support for this hypothesis far more likely is accepted theory that Nathanial “Red-Razor” was a deserter or retired soldier (probably a captain or similar judging by his well developed leadership skills) for the army of one of the city states near Prasus that fled to the trade city for protection after stealing a large shipment of military arms.

Presumably the fact that they lost both a veteran captain and a vast amount of weaponry is why no nation has stepped forwards to claim him as its citizen, the shame would be considerable and recrimination possible even now. Whilst the idea of a criminal cult led by a member of a mysterious nation’s Special Forces has a romantic simplicity to it I am afraid that the entire Ulmar theory is simply spurious nonsense[83].

Phew... is that everything you needed to know? I think so. Nathaniel, fury, ferals, clockwork crossbows, Ulmar... yep that's everything.

Let’s get back to the fun stuff!