The City's struggles with crime are familiar to any modern follower of current events - Murder, robbery and the usual assortment of crimes occur on a daily, even hourly basis. With a population of several hundred thousand living in close proximity, and the additional social strain of 4 different species sharing the space, The City at times seems to be teetering on the edge of collapse, but somehow always settles back into a relatively calmer mode.

Gangs have divided up the poorer neighborhoods. Most are organized along species lines, with the Orcs tending to form in tribal or clan groupings. A few, notably in the area around Eastbridge in the Lower City, have begun accepting members of any species. The gangs tend to specialize in protection rackets, loan-sharking, prostitution and the like. There are persistent rumors of a "Thieves' Guild" operating in The City, but most City officials insist this is nothing more than a rumor. The actual truth is that there are several organized crime syndicates that have divided the city between them. Most gangs answer to a patron, usually a fence or brothel owner, who in turn reports to a lieutenant in the syndicate that "owns" that part of town. The lieutenants are always disguised, with additional layers of magical protection serving to render them unidentifiable. The internal dealings of the syndicates are shrouded in mystery, even to the lieutenants. Orders are received via magical means, and efforts to backtrack the spells have resulted in failure. It is generally assumed that some very powerful mages are either employed by or running the syndicates.

By and large, the syndicates prefer to concentrate on collecting income and on subtle warfare among themselves. A gang switched to a different syndicate here, a fence assassinated there, a guild assimilated over there - nothing enough to draw official attention, but slowly and surely the syndicates are gearing up for what threatens to be a major conflagration.

Even without the syndicates, crime would still be a problem, and the City Guard is too small and stretched too thin to provide the level of protection the city needs. It is common, then, for groups of neighboring merchants to hire mercenaries to protect their blocks. Dwarven neighborhoods form their own civic patrols, and the sight of a patrol of axe-weilding dwarves tends to discourage all but the most dedicated or foolish cutpurses.

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