Csscun

Csscun (pronounced [ˈqs̩xɤŋ] or simply /ˈkʌskən/) is an Icathirian lulian who heads a large interplanetary organized crime ring. The exact number of individuals in Csscun's ring is unknown, but certainly numbers in the millions, if not billions. From his lair on the planet of Neorne, a palatial estate called the Spring Hall, he directs his underlings' activities, though he makes fairly frequent forays to the farther fringes of his domain to see to matters personally. Still, these ventures only occupy perhaps ten or fifteen percent of his time; most of his time he spends on Neorne itself.

Description

Csscun stands about 1.8 meters tall, about average for a lulian, though his body is somewhat longer than the mean and his neck rather shorter. He has eight limbs, the lower four of which he customarily walks on, and eight eyes, with a slight violet tinge. Other recognizable features include a squarish head and a slight gap in the top of his arrangement of facial tentacles.

Disdaining the taeniate clothing favored by his species, Csscun wears fitted suits in several parts specially made for him at considerable expense. The fact that the suits must be placed over so many limbs makes them difficult to put on or take off without help, and Csscun employs several servants for just that purpose. Although those he most commonly wears are charcoal gray or chocolate brown, Csscun owns suits of many styles and colors, and has a reputation as something of a fashionplate.

History

Growing up in a poor neighborhood on Cheras Tan, Csscun got into criminal life early, as one of few means to survive. He initially joined a local gang of toughs, but his ambitions were always bigger, and it wasn't long till he got the attention of some operatives of a much larger organized crime ring run by a churse named Afjjar. Once he began to work for Afjjar's organization, he proved his worth and rose rapidly through the ranks.

But even as after many years he entered the ring's inner circles, Csscun's ambitions remained unsatisfied. Carefully gathering together a clique of loyalists by a combination of promises and blackmail, he laid his plans for a coup that would topple Afjjar and place Csscun himself at the head of the organization. The operation didn't go as smoothly as he'd hoped, and there were any number of schisms and discontents to be dealt with afterward, but his main goal was achieved: when the dust settled, Afjjar was dead, and Csscun had the loyalty of most of those who had once served him.

Since seizing the leadership of the ring, Csscun has worked to expand its activities, and to tighten its control where it is already active. He has moved the center of operations from Afjjar's citadel to a new palace—though one on the same planet and only a few kilometers from the old one, the better to take advantage of the infrastructure Afjjar and his predecessors had already established.

Relations

Wary of his own usurpation as he overthrew his old don Afjjar, Csscun places absolute trust in none of his subordinates, having implemented a careful system of mutual observation and reporting that ensures that none of his underlings escape the scrutiny of others that report to him. This has engendered in his ring, and especially in the upper levels, an atmosphere of suspicion and m´fiance, and a sense of unrest only somewhat mitigated by Csscun's generosity in rewarding those who are (apparently) loyal to him. Still, if no one in Csscun's organization is entirely trusted, some are mistrusted less than others. Among those whom Csscun allows to get closest to him are his lieutenant Excelsior, his majordomo Haichoqossikh, and his spymaster Cantret Kon Dinin Tars.

While Csscun longs to create his own dynasty, to pass on his criminal empire to his descendants, he has found it difficult to locate a descendant whom he thinks equal to the task. By various partners (none of whom he kept with him long), he has sired at least four children. Of these, however, two are dead, one (Shhack) betrayed him, and the last (Cocoum) he judges far too stupid to be fit for such responsibility. As he sees it, his best hope of an heir is his granddaughter Chaaou, daughter of Sossis, one of his deceased children (the other, Hakhac, died without issue). While he leaves the actual raising of Chaaou to others—both to avoid encumbering himself with such tasks, and for her own safety should something happen to him—he visits her, or invites her to visit him, frequently, and does his best to guide her in the paths he wants her to follow.

Given that his own grandchild represents his best esperance for the future, there is perhaps some irony in the fact that his most dangerous enemy is the grandchild of an old associate. Lgal, grandson of the old crimelord Afjjar whom Csscun murdered and supplanted, has not ceased seeking vengeance for his grandsire's death, and if he has not managed to kill Csscun yet, he has come close enough to make the lulian uncomfortable, and has interfered with a number of his operations. Csscun, of course, has no qualms about eliminating his foe by any means possible, but thus far has been no more successful at killing Lgal than Lgal Csscun. At times, Lgal has even gone so far as to make common cause with the Justice Brigade, the Legion, and other like-minded organizations (legally sanctioned and otherwise) that would love to bring Csscun down. If few in those organizations are naïve enough to think the young churse completely trustworthy, they at least recognize his hatred of Csscun as genuine, and are willing to work with him as a useful ally and the lesser of two evils.

Personality

Csscun can come across as social and amiable, and often strikes those who meet him as trustworthy and charming. There is little he really cares for, however, aside from himself and his legacy, and if he seems friendly and charismatic it is because he has consciously learned the proper gestures and voice inflections to give that impression; it's all nothing but an act. Indeed, he has gone so far as to learn to mimic the appropriate signals for other races than his own, so that to someone not wise to his manipulations he may seem more relatable and honest than other aliens whose mannerisms are less familiar.

One thing that Csscun does relish is travel; he enjoys seeing new places and experiencing new cultures and environments. He finds it necessary, however, to balance this desire against his own safety; he is more vulnerable when far from his base, and especially when in areas he does not control, and consequently he travels much less than he would like. His thwarted wanderlust therefore further motivates him to expand the area of influence of his crime ring, the better to establish as many places of safety on distant worlds as possible. He has even given some not inconsiderable covert support to the League of Discontent—after all, if the League succeeds in its mission, it could open up literal new universes to explore.