Red Grieving Bat Society
The Red Grieving Bat Society is a smuggler cartel that operates in the contested waters between Pallesand, the Sway, and the Faraslendi Seat. Its most consequential action within the novel's frame is a raid on the Palleseen supply carrack Rectitude (ship), a seizure of goods that draws the attention of Sage-Invigilator 'Gil' Angilly to the activities of Lasaret and, through them, to a wider web of disloyalty. The Society thus functions less as a fully realised organisation on the page than as the instrument by which a single act of piracy unravels a traitor's network in the eyes of the Sway's surveillance apparatus.
Alongside the Whitefish and the Seadragon priest Vortez, the Red Grieving Bat Society is classed by Angilly among the enemies of the Sway and of Palleseen pledges to the Faraslendi Seat. Its importance to the story lies in that classification: by meeting with the Society and exploiting its authority over shipping, Lasaret places himself beyond the pale of Pallesand and Correct Thought, and the Society's "complete fiat" over contested sea-lanes becomes the mechanism through which a smuggler's cartel is recast as a vector of treason.
The Group
Purpose & Method
The Society exists to move goods through waters claimed by three rival powers-Pallesand, the Sway, and the Faraslendi Seat-without submitting to any one of them. Its method is seizure: the raid on the Rectitude (ship) demonstrates that it takes what it wants from Palleseen shipping by force. What makes the Society more than a nuisance to one navy is the "complete fiat" it exercises over shipping in the contested zone, a monopoly of passage that Lasaret identifies as the very reason to seek its cooperation - Lives of Bitter Rain, ch 3.
Standing
Angilly's written summary places the Society, the Whitefish, and Vortez together as enemies of the Sway and of Palleseen pledges to the Faraslendi Seat. Against Pallesand the Society is openly hostile, having attacked a naval supply vessel; against the Sway it is an adversary whose mere existence in the contested waters is a political threat to existing pledges. To consort with the Society is, in Angilly's framing, to become a traitor to Pallesand and to Correct Thought - Lives of Bitter Rain, ch 3.
History
Lives of Bitter Rain
The Red Grieving Bat Society is a smuggler cartel operating in waters contested by Pallesand, the Sway, and the Faraslendi Seat - ch 3. In the weeks before the novel's present action, the Society attacked the Palleseen supply carrack Rectitude (ship), and the goods seized in that raid drew Sage-Invigilator 'Gil' Angilly's attention to Lasaret's dealings - ch 3. Angilly's two-week surveillance found Lasaret meeting with the Red Grieving Bat Society specifically to exploit their "complete fiat" over shipping - ch 3. Her written summary characterises the Society, alongside the Whitefish and the Seadragon priest Vortez, as enemies of the Sway and of Palleseen pledges to the Faraslendi Seat, and she brands Lasaret a traitor to Pallesand and Correct Thought for consorting with them - ch 3.
Relationships
- Lasaret - Lasaret meets with the Society specifically to exploit its "complete fiat" over shipping, a contact that two weeks of Angilly's surveillance ultimately exposes and that Angilly uses to brand Lasaret a traitor to Pallesand and Correct Thought - Lives of Bitter Rain, ch 3.
- Sage-Invigilator 'Gil' Angilly - Angilly does not interact with the Society directly but surveils Lasaret's dealings with it, composing a written summary that categorises the Society as an enemy of the Sway and uses the connection to justify Lasaret's condemnation - Lives of Bitter Rain, ch 3.
- Vortez - The Seadragon priest is grouped with the Society and the Whitefish in Angilly's enumeration of enemies of the Sway and of Palleseen pledges to the Faraslendi Seat - Lives of Bitter Rain, ch 3.
Notable Quotes
- "complete fiat" - Sage-Invigilator 'Gil' Angilly, written summary of surveillance on Lasaret's meetings with the Society, Lives of Bitter Rain, ch 3
Tags
- smugglers · #criminal · #maritime