WORLD CRIME LEAGUE
HISTORY
The World Crime League is a world-spanning crime syndicate led by the notorious criminal mastermind
Shiwan Xan. Xan controls his vast empire from the island fortress of Sabah
in Malaysia.
The League is organized in a pyramid structure. At the base of the pyramid are the gangs of street criminals that
make up the bulk of the World Crime League's foot soldiers. Above them are the Bosses, who control individual regions,
usually a city or part of a larger metropolitan area. The Bosses report to the Overlords who each control large
geographic areas. The Overlords themselves are handpicked by Shiwan Xan, and report to the Dragon Lord for their region.
There are only three Dragon Lords and they form the Dragon Triat, the highest level of the pyramid except for Xan
himself.
The Dragon Triat
While Shiwan Xan is the overlord of the World Crime League, the Dragon Triat are the critical pieces that keep it
operating. The League has divided the world into three regions each with a Dragon Lord in overall control. The regions
are the Americas, Europe, and Asia. League assets in Africa answer to the European Dragon Lord, though the situation
there is fluid and with the return of Shiwan Xan it is likely only a matter of time before an African Dragon Lord is
appointed.
Efforts in the Americas are mainly focused on the United States, as it provides the greatest sources of
income to the League. Theft and Vice are the watchwords of the League where the USA is concerned where its interests
run the span from drug smuggling and sales through to industrial espionage that keeps the League at the cutting edge
of technology.
Political and economic manipulation, and a touch of domestic terrorism, are the name of the game in Europe. Africa is
a bit looser, with the European Dragon Lord focusing mainly on the E.U. territories this leaves the operations in Africa
more directly in the hands of the Overlords.
The focus in Asia is on the traditional and the ancient. The Dragon Lord of Asia controls many legacy organizations
from the Chinese Triads and Japanese Yakuza. She also has an intense interest in the esoteric and mystical, and is
constantly seeking knowledge of the occult and of strange phenomemon in the Far East. Her unusual hobbies make the
other Dragon Lords wary of her.
The Overlords
Operating in secret, the Overlords work behind the scenes at the highest level of government and private industry
to further the goals of the League. The Council of Overlords only numbers in the hundreds, and they hold regular
meetings to coordinate their efforts (or occasionally stab each other in the back). The true identity of each
Overlord is generally known only to Shiwan Xan, the Dragon Lord of the territory the Overlord works in, and a
handful of the senior ranks of the Order of Heavenly Unity and the
Warrior Elite. Periodic trips back to Sabah keep the Overlords loyal to
Shiwan Xan. Those that fail Xan, or manage to resist conditioning enough to be considered traitors, are dealt with
by a member of the Warrior Elite.
The Bosses
The Bosses manage the day-to-day operations of the League in their respective territories. They each report up to
an Overlord, though are not typically privy to the Overlord's true identity. Bosses can be a stereotypical gangster
or might be senior government official or corporate executive. The size of the territory controled by
a Boss can vary, but depends more on the size of the operation than the area covered. For example, because the
League has only recently begun building its presence in Superior City there is only a single boss to cover the whole
area. A handful of the Warrior Elite also serve as Bosses of a territory.
THE ORDER OF HEAVENLY UNITY
Outside the pyramid of the World Crime League there is another arm of Shiwan Xan's power on Sabah, the Order of
Heavenly Unity. After forming the League and seizing control of Sabah, Xan sought a means to cement his rule and
maintain, and expand, his power. At the urging of one of his followers Xan created a cult-like religion with
himself as the god-like figure at its center. Thus the Order of Heavenly Unity was born.
Initially the Order was limited to Sabah, where it was used to manipulate and control the local civilial
population. By the late 20th Century, however, the Order had begun to spread out across the globe. Anywhere there
there were downtrodden or oppressed people looking for hope or something to believe in the Order would move in
to fill that need. It didn't matter that the World Crime League was often directly or indirectly responsible
for the suffering of those the Order was targetting; in fact, areas where the League had a major presence were
often the most fertile ground for the Order to spread.
Most of the philosophy and tenets taught by the Order are a mix of New Age gobblety-gook and pseudo-religious
nonsense, but it has been carefully crafted to appeal to the dispossessed and the wayward members of society.
Once recruited, the new followers are subtly brainwashed into becoming a Child of the Order. Once indoctrinated
the Children are used for a variety of purposes ranging from helping recruit new members, serving as slave labor
in League-dominated territories, or engaging in illegal activities like kidnapping or worse, all done in the name
of their true god Shiwan Xan.
The Order is directed from Sabah by the Archtheon, the head priest. Reporting to him are the hundreds of
Theons (priests) who operate the individual temples across the world, open up new territories, or act as
undercover operatives under false identities waiting to be called upon to serve their master. Under the Theons are
the Children of the Order, those recruited and brainwashed to serve the Order. Finally there are
the Phantom Warriors, the elite of the Order of Heavenly Unity's Assassin-Priests. Although they age and die ten
times as quickly as normal humans, they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their beloved leader. Phantom
Warriors are the ultimate ninja – highly-trained, lethal martial artists with the ability to literally walk on
air and pass through walls and other solid objects. Their single-minded devotion to duty and the Order also makes them
almost completely immune to psychological and psychic attacks.
The Warrior Elite are the primary enforcers for the World Crime League. The Elite is made up of master martial
artists, many with metahuman or supernatural abilities.
SHIWAN XAN
PERSONAL DATA
- Alter Ego: None
- Occupation: Megalomaniac
- Group Affiliation: None
- Known Relatives: Xien Xan (Yellow Flame, son),
Cedrick Vandergauss (Manticore, son)
- Base of Operations: Sabah, Malaysia
HISTORY
Shiwan Xan is one of the most powerful criminal figures in the world. His exact age is a mystery, but by the middle of the
20th Century he had already established a reputation for himself as a master criminal in the Pacific Rim.
Xan disappeared for a short time in the late 1960s, only to emerge nearly a decade later rejuvenated and more powerful than ever.
He is rumored to have discovered a mystical or possibly extraterrestrial power source which he used to make himself young again
and to grant himself his powerful abilities. The renewed Shiwan Xan took control of a fledgling criminal organization on the
Malaysian island of Sabah and quickly forged it into a globe-spanning criminal empire, the World Crime League.
Xan's most frequent nemesis over the last two decades has been the scientist-adventurer
Dr. Buckaroo Banzai and his allies. This emnity started even earlier than
that, as Xan was allegedly responsible for the death of Banzai's parents when the hero was still a child. However it was
over a decade ago, Shiwan Xan encountered his most tenacious adversary, his own teenaged son. Xien Xan, Shiwan's chosen heir, had
rebelled against his father's evil and had sworn to destroy him. In a raid on Sabah five years ago Xien, Dr. Banzai, and
Banzai's allies, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, penetrated into the heart of Xan's fortress and in the ensuing battle Xan was killed.
Fearing the consequences should Xan's death become public knowledge, the ruling body of the World Crime League, the Dragon
Triat, covered up his death.
In the intervening years, the religious arm of the World Crime League, the Order of Heavenly Unity (which considers Xan to be a
divine entity) has been searching for a means to bring their leader back. Recently, one of the ranking Theons (priests) of the
order discovered a means to resurrect Shiwan Xan using an arcane book called A Madman's Mutterings. Xan's corpse was
smuggled into Superior City and the tyrant was successfully resurrected.
Following his resurrection, Shiwan Xan's attempted to transform himself into a god-like being using another mystic ritual
that required the energy of people's souls. This plot was thwarted by his son Xien Xan (now goiong by the hero name Yellow
Flame) and the Enforcers of Justice. Even with this failure, Xan
remains one of the most powerful criminal figures on the planet, and he is always seeking a means to expand that power.
POWERS & WEAPONS
Shiwan Xan is a deadly combatant, a master of Shaolin Kung Fu, who through either scientific or mystical means has gained
an array of supernatural powers. Most of his extra-normal abilities are centered around his ability to focus his inner engery,
or Chi. By focusing his Chi, Xan can increase his strength to superhuman levels, or can project bolts of physical or psychic
mental force that can shatter objects or destroy an opponent's mind. He has also mastered the mystical Shaolin ability to
walk on any surface, from water to even air itself.
Xan possesses a genius-level intellect, an intelligence he has used to become an expert on technology, military strategy,
and the occult. Beyond this, Xan possesses an almost supernatural charisma that lets him seduce, persuade, and manipulate all
but the strongest wills.
