Shadowdealer

The Shadowdealers are a trade organization in Grandis that specialize in black-market merchandise. The Shadowdealers have several branches throughout the system and have a working relationship with several factions in Grandis and Maple World, including the Nova and the High Flora.

Organization

The Shadowdealers are led by the Shadowdealer High Council. Though their headquarters are unknown, it is presumed that they are based in the main planet Grandis. There are also several other branches of the Shadowdealers throughout Grandis. The two currently known branches are based in the cities of Heliseum and Savage Terminal. Each branch is led by a branch leader, who manages the branch's members and activities.

Rules and Maxims

All Shadowdealers are required to memorize and follow the rules and maxims of the Shadowdealer code:

Rules

1. Always remain proud of your station.
2. Infighting between Shadowdealers is prohibited.
3. Do not fight unless there is profit in it.
4. Never do anything for free if you can charge a fee.
5. Betrayal is worse than lost profits.
6. Transactions should always be swift and accurate.

Maxims

1. Give a peck and get a bushel.
2. The simple life is the best life.
3. If you cannot enjoy it, avoid it.
4. You always reap what you sow.
5. The early worm dies first.

History

Savage Terminal

The current branch leader of Savage Terminal is Gen, a Nova who has been leading the branch for at least several decades. During the fall of Heliseum, the General of the Nova army brought the Nova princess, the last surviving member of the royal family, to Gen. As he owed the General a favor, Gen took the princess in and treated her injuries with a special medicine, although its side effects put her in a coma for many decades.

After the princess woke up, she joined the Shadowdealers and took on the new name of Cadena. Though she was still new, she quickly proved herself to be one of the strongest Shadowdealers, although she lacked real world experience. As she completed her first few missions, Gen was called off-world for a meeting with the Shadowdealer High Council. Soon after, she learned that several strangers were collecting taxes from the branch's clients by impersonating Shadowdealers. After Corbo, one of their clients, was kidnapped, Cadena rushed to rescue her when she learned that the kidnappers were cronies of Mr. Hazard, who had been made the new branch leader of Savage Terminal. After Gen returned from the meeting, he explained that Mr. Hazard had told the others at the meeting that Savage Terminal was under a threat of attack, and that he had successfully petitioned the Shadowdealer High Council that he be allowed to take over the branch in order to protect its members. The Papyrus Brothers recognized Hazard as the second-in-command to the leader of the Shadowdealers and explained that it was said that he sowed chaos in his wake, and that the worlds he visited all fell to ruin, with Hazard even having sold the secret of Vision Bombs technology to the High Flora.

As Hazard continued to seize control of the city, Cadena, Gen, and another member named Coney attempted to learn what Hazard was planning. They soon learned that Hazard had bought schematics from the Angler Company for a bioweapon called the Heliogene Device, whose completion would result in the destruction of the entire moon. Cadena immediately moved to gather the necessary parts for the weapon before Hazard could find it, although she learned that the final component - the life energy of several living beings - was already in Hazard's hands, as he had kidnapped one of the branch's clients, Antuin, and his grandson Anzu. Cadena rushed to stop Hazard while Gen led the branch members against Hazard's cronies. Cadena successfully stopped him and exposed his treachery to the Shadowdealer High Council, which moved to arrest him. The Council was also impressed by Cadena's actions in exposing Hazard.

Soon after, Cadena obtained a ledger containing a list of Hazard's secret clients. Gen told her that many of the clients on the list were people whom the Council didn't approve of, such as the High Flora. He then decided to take over Hazard's business and assigned each member a contract to manage. He sent Cadena on a trade mission with one of Hazard's clients, who turned out to be Magnus. Cadena immediately recognized him as the one who had usurped the throne of Heliseum and attempted to fight him, though she was easily defeated. After Gen rescued her, he suggested that she leave Grandis in order to get stronger and arranged for the Heliseum branch of the Shadowdealers to help secure passage through the Interdimensional Portal.

After the Drakas uprising nearly wiped out the organization, Kain was sent to meet Gen, who helped him travel to Maple World. Soon after, a surviving Drakas member named Illin made a deal with Kain to give him the coordinates to his hometown in exchange for an introduction to the Shadowdealers. Illin worked with the Shadowdealers for some time, providing useful information in exchange for the Shadowdealers attempting to help her remove the choker that allowed the Drakas to track her location. Some time later, Illin found a lead on someone who could remove her choker. Before the Shadowdealers could vet the source, Illin rushed in alone. Gen reached out to Kain and asked him to check on her, explaining that she was set to meet the source at the Drakas headquarters. There, Kain found Illin dead at the hands of his sister Luska and Dr. Y.

After leading an uprising against the Magistrate of Narin Village, Lara was given a letter of introduction to the Shadowdealers by a black-market merchant. Upon meeting Cadena and Coney, however, Cadena realized that the letter was a contract with Mr. Hazard and angrily tore it up. After Gen diffused the situation, he apologized to Lara and allowed her to ask whatever questions she wanted as compensation, following the Shadowdealer rule to deal in equal transactions. He then helped her gain passage to Maple World through the Interdimensional Portal.

Following the Nova's union with the Maple Alliance, the operation to retake Heliseum was put into motion. As the Nova were some of the Shadowdealers' best customers, the organization made it a priority to back the Nova in their campaign to take back Heliseum. Gen summoned Cadena back to Maple World and told her that it was a prime opportunity for her to get revenge on Magnus. He also made arrangements for the Heliseum branch to help her whenever she needed. Gen also reached out to Kain and let him know about the operation and asked him to let Lara know as well.

After the death of the Black Mage, Cadena returned to Savage Terminal and met with Gen and Coney. Gen asked whether she would reveal herself as the Nova princess in order to rally the people of Grandis against the High Flora, but Cadena told him that she had severed all ties to the throne and admitted that she was content with leaving the burden of leadership with Kaiser while she handled the business side of the operation as a true Shadowdealer would. She then revealed that she was planning to meet the Shadowdealer High Council, though Gen warned her that it would be dangerous.

Heliseum

The leader of the Heliseum branch of the Shadowdealers is unknown, although Tonero, the best trader of the branch, may presumably be so. He, along with his siblings, Romero, Gallero, and Mayala, are the four known members of the branch. Soon after the Interdimensional Portal opened, the Heliseum branch began to expand their operations to Maple World. After Xenon left Edelstein in order to prevent Beryl from tracking his Pulse and discovering the location of the Secret Plaza, Claudine hired Tonero to deliver a secret message to Xenon, in which she invited him to join the Resistance's secret research organization called Veritas. Romero also helped Cadena secure passage to Maple World through the Interdimensional Portal.

The Heliseum branch played a pivotal role in the Alliance's campaign to liberate Heliseum from Magnus. Despite the Nova's hesitance about working with the Shadowdealers, believing that they would take advantage of the Nova war against the High Flora, Supreme Commander Edea authorized a trade deal with the Shadowdealers in order to acquire specialized parts for restoring the Blue Dragon Cannon in the battle to retake Heliseum. Tonero, who had persistently been attempting to broker a trade deal with Edea for some time, was surprised at how strong the Nova had grown after forming a partnership with the Maple Alliance, for which he decided to back the Nova in the fight against Gerand Darmoor.

Known Members

Gen Branch Leader Savage Terminal Branch	Cadena Savage Terminal Branch	Coney Savage Terminal Branch	Papyrus Brothers Savage Terminal Branch
Popoh Savage Terminal Branch	Branch Member A Savage Terminal Branch	Branch Member B Savage Terminal Branch	Tonero Heliseum Branch
Romero Heliseum Branch	Gallero Heliseum Branch	Mayala Heliseum Branch

Former Members

Mr. Hazard Former Second-In-Command of Shadowdealers Former Savage Terminal Branch Leader