Freed Men

The Freed Men, or Uomo Liberati, often referred to as Liberati in Aciria, are members of organized crime syndicates originating in Aciria, or made up of ethnic Acirians. There is no higher authority that rules over all the Cricca, literally meaning "clique", resulting in occasional clashes of interest between the cricca, but respect to one another and wishing to ensure the Freed Men territory isn't stepped on by foreign crime syndicates, they band together and prefer to fight foreign crime syndicates rather than fight one another. The public opinion regarding the Freed Men has drastically shifted since the 2000s due to the popularization of the Freed Men in media, with various romanticized portrayals leading to figures becoming almost cultural icons.

While the exact numbers of Freed Men today and historically are difficult to pinpoint, the number of Freed Men is thought to have been the highest in the two decades following the end of the Second Great War. The authorities in Aciria turned a blind-eye to the activities of the Freed Men to an extent due to their help in reducing unorganized crime, but following Giovanni Esposito's tax evasion charges in the 1980s, the state began cracking down on the Freed Men and their activities. It was also during this time the public's fear of the Freed Men reached its peak.

Etymology
The Acirian name Uomo Liberati, or Liberati, refers to the Vietati class of Aciria. During the period when the term was first used, practically all members were Vietati due to their discriminated against and outcast status in society: the name remains the same to this day despite the fact that over the years many non-Vietati now are a part of these organizations.

Origins
The abolishment of slavery in Aciria replaced the slave class with the Vietati; while free of servitude, the Vietati faced vast discrimination by other social classes. Vietati were largely left on their own in the countryside, where communities made up nearly entirely of Vietati were formed in rural Aciria, with the state often preferring to protect the property of other classes, leaving the Vietati vulnerable to raids during turbulent times of the Republic. Similarly, Vietati who resided in cities were forced to live in a secluded area of the city, also alongside other Vietati, with crime running rampant in these parts of cities. This ostracization eventually prompted the creation of Vietati Cricca, which took payments in return for protection, eventually allowing them to branch out to extortion, torching farms or establishments from those who refused payments.

During the 18th century the Marinai people began organizing together against the primarily Acirian state which had raised taxes on trade, which they thought hurt their livelihoods more than anyone elses. The Vietati cricca had already been well-established by this point, primarily existing as an effective private militia in the rural regions of the country: some cricca close enough to the regions inhabited by the Marinai took advantage of this by bribing officials to gain access to expensive imported goods, such as valuable wine, sharing some of the profits with the Marinai that took part in the smuggling operation. This was the period the Freed Men were first mentioned in writing, most notably in the 1796 PAI report on the subject, and also likely the period the first non-Vietati were taken into the organization.

Structure
Each cricca is lead by the custode, who all the cricca bow to. Directly below the custode is the sapientone, who functions not only as his second-in-command, but often is a senior member of the Freed Men, and functions as an advisor to the custode. Their position as second-in-command and advisor sometimes means that the sapientone hold more power than the custode, able to effectively rule the cricca without the risks of being the custode itself. The sapientone also are in charge of the Lavoro Bianco, the legitimate businesses used to hold a steady income coming into the cricca even if police crack down on their illegitimate operations. The counterpart of the sapientone is the comandante: a position overseeing the Lavoro Anonimo, the illegitimate businesses, and responsible for the behaviour of the associates of the cricca. While there is no higher power overseeing all the cricca, the riunione (lit. get-together) is an assembly that can take place if the threat of cricca infighting takes place. It is called on by the eldest custode of all the cricca that is not involved with either of the cricca that risk a war. The most notable riunione took place in 2003 when the Freed Men agreed to start a unified front against the Savatu Brotherhood following their entrance into Aciria.

Lavoro Bianco and Lavoro Nero
The activities conducted by the Freed Men are classified into two sections by the PAI: Lavoro Bianco (lit. White Jobs) and Lavoro Nero (lit. Black Jobs). The Lavoro Bianco are made up of various legitimate businesses varying from restaurants to accounting firms: the variety of businesses and the steps the Freed Men take to distance themselves from these businesses makes it difficult to make the connection, resulting in many employees of these businesses even being unaware of their connection to organized crime. These businesses became more commonplace 1980s onwards after the authorities began cracking down on Freed Men activities, ensuring a steady flow of income even if the illegitimate businesses are shut down.

Lavoro Nero is an umbrella term used to refer to all the illegal and illegitimate business the Freed Men take part in. The less prestigious the job, such as a low-level hit, are often given to associates that seek membership with the Freed Men.

Aciria
With the bulk of its members reciding in Aciria, most of the Freed Men's activities take place on Acirian soil. The Freed Men have also been noted to have done humanitarian work in the impoverished regions and neighbourhoods of Aciria, with various cricca being known owners of homeless shelters and soup kitchens. It keeps the Freed Men not only in good graces of the lower strata of Aciria, but provides the opportunity for recruitment of cricca members or associates.

The Freed Men are most well known for their prolific part in the drug trade not only in Aciria, but on Sarpedon as a whole. While the rise of drug labs associated with the Freed Men have been on the rise since the 2000s, most drugs are still imported from abroad, most notably Corumm. The trade between the Freed Men and various Daxian narcotics suppliers has been well-documented and despite efforts to end the trade, Aciria remains as the gateway of Daxian drugs into Sarpedon. Freed Men have also attempted to expand their business to countries such as Metzetta, but with limited success. Extortion is also a well-documented practice of the Freed Men. Targeting small and big business alike, the Freed Men are however known for their unusual practice of blackmailing wealthy families with evidence of their children taking part in illegal activities: most of these families begrudgingly pay off the monthly fee to the Freed Men instead of going to the authorities to avoid the stain on their family name. This type of extortion became more commonplace in the 2000s after the romanticisation of the Freed Men in media resulting in many youth seeking to rebel by associating with the Freed Men.

While human trafficking has been a source of income for the Freed Men for a long time, it was notably accelerated following the introduction of the Foreign Manpower Act. The Freed Men created NGOs under their Lavoro Bianco, heading to poorer or wartorn countries, promising better pay or refuge in Aciria. With their passports taken from them, the Freed Men could easily coerce them into becoming their associates or do dirty work they didn't want associated with the Freed Men.

The Freed Men have low tolerance for small crime, with neighbourhoods containing notable Freed Men presence having practically zero small crime due to the efforts of the Freed Men. Their presence and reputation of taking out entire small gangs puts people off from it, resulting in them seeking membership or associate status with the Freed Men instead.

Sarpedon
The Freed Men operate largely in the same way across Sarpedon as they do in Aciria. Arrests and raids taking place in the 2010s have revealed expanded attempts of Freed Men recruitment in both Pelaxia and Cartadania through offering loans the potential recruits are unable to pay back, forcing them into associate status.

Levantia
Failing to establish a reliable foothold in Urcea despite repeated attempts, the Freed Men eventually gained a foothold in Yonderre and minimal presence in Urcea due to their involvement in the distribution of pornography in Urcea.

Freed Man
Originally a term used by authorities to describe the members, the Freed Men eventually adopted the term to describe members that had been officially inducted into a cricca, referring them to a Freed Man, liberato in Acirian. No formal rules forbid non-Acirians from becoming a Freed Man, but generally cricca with members of foreign descent are frowned upon, resulting in the cricca made up primarily of Acirians, most notably the Vietati class, but over the years the percentage of Vietati in the Freed Men has declined.

Associate
The term associate is used to describe anyone with association to the Freed Men. Small-time criminals in the employ of Freed Men or those coerced into the employ of Freed Men: previously the authorities in Aciria counted those in the employ of Lavaro Bianco as associates as well, but with many of them unaware of the connection to organized crime, the label was dropped.

As opposed to the liberato, there is no social expectations regarding race or gender when it comes to associates.