In more recent use, the City Elders name has become a way to distinguish the older initiates from the younger, generally taken to mean those who took the pattern less than a century ago. Not that anyone would bring up age around Flora...
Benedict King | The much feared and only rarely seen 'Biggest Brother' of the Triads. Many would call him Oberon's heir, at least in effect. He sends most of his orders through Caine or other lieutenants. | |
Sponsored By: Oberon (father) | Sponsor For: Caine | |
Caine Ng | Benedict's right hand man and chief enforcer, "Mad Dog" Caine is quite possibly the most feared man in Hong Kong. He is ruthless and efficient, though only he knows when he is acting on his own and when it is Benedict's orders. | |
Sponsored By: Benedict (boss) | Sponsor For: none known | |
Julian Lam | Keeper of the New Territories, which he keeps technologically frozen well behind the city. Offers lip service to Eric's attempts to cut back on smuggling from Shadow but is widely considered to be Benedict's man. | |
Sponsored By: Deirdre (half-sister) | Sponsor For: none known | |
Eric King | Chief of Police, Eric does his best to keep the peace in the city. Benedict's primary open rival, he hasn't been able to turn his apparently stronger position into anything but a frequently bloody stalemate. | |
Sponsored By: Oberon (father) | Sponsor For: Gérard | |
Gérard Li | One of Eric's more capable and steady senior officers. Considered a likely successor should Eric leave his post, as he's thought to be the most honest man on the force. Cynics would say he's the only honest man on the force. | |
Sponsored By: Eric (boss) | Sponsor For: none known | |
Random Huang Fu | One of Eric's most successful (if least predictable) officers. Shows open disdain for procedure and regulations, but gets excellent results (if one discounts collateral damage). | |
Sponsored By: Corwin (friend) | Sponsor For: none known | |
Bleys Sik | Former head of Eric's "Triad Bureau". Left Hong Kong after finding himself trapped between Benedict's tight organization and Gérard's constant internal affairs pressure. Rumor says he is far off in Shadow, still planning to take Benedict down, this time without having his hands tied by official procedures . | |
Sponsored By: Fiona (cousin) | Sponsor For: none known | |
Brand Sik | Guardian of the Pattern and master of the Po Lin Monastery that sits above it. He inherited this position from his own master, Dworkin. | |
Sponsored By: Dworkin (teacher) | Sponsor For: none known | |
Corwin King | Originally believed to have died after vanishing into the Palace of the Celestial Dragon (the sometimes-solid reflection of the city against a complete nighttime cloud cover) many years ago. | |
Sponsored By: Oberon (father) | Sponsor For: Deirdre, Random | |
Flora | Scandal-loving popular culture icon, she lives for attention and doesn't seem to care if it's adulation or notoriety. Rumored to be linked to several of Benedict's operations, at the least through an overlap of acquaintances. | |
Sponsored By: Oberon (paramour) | Sponsor For: none known | |
Llewella Lan | Unquestioned ruler of the underwater 'free zone' known as Fragrant Harbor. Outside Eric's legal jurisdiction and (thus far) resistant to Benedict's attempts to incorporate it into his empire, Llewella's realm provides a perfect environment for those who are willing to take a few extra risks in their business and leisure activities. | |
Sponsored By: Oberon (ex-husband) | Sponsor For: none known | |
Fiona Sik | Lives in something much like a self-imposed exile on one of the many islands near Hong Kong. She is said to have withdrawn to dedicate herself to her studies of obscure mystical arts. | |
Sponsored By: Dworkin (teacher) | Sponsor For: Bleys | |
Deirdre Lixue | Blaming the rest for the disappearance/death of Corwin, she had sworn herself to take revenge. Frequently led small Shadow forces in guerrilla raids into Julian's Territories and is rumored to have been linked to a recent rash of bombings in the city itself (though she denies the latter). | |
Sponsored By: Corwin (paramour) | Sponsor For: Julian |