Murder cults and ninja clans in Minkai

[Uqbarian]

A new player in our Jade Regent game has a murder cult as part of her background, so I'm thinking about how to fit that into Minkai. (I think this is more a setting question than a question specific to the AP plot, but apologies to the mods if this is the wrong forum for it.)

Now, Minkai (and Tian Xia more broadly) has ninja clans, obviously. But the way they're presented in Jade Regent part 4, they're not murder cults (at least, the major ones aren't). Rather, they're professional underground organisations that include murder as part of their business. The Dragon Empires Gazetteer mentions that Yaezhing is the patron of ninja and assassins (as well as executioners), but the ninja clans don't appear to be religious organisations with his worship as their primary focus. (Yaezhing doesn't even rate a mention in the 'Way of the Ninja' article'. Contrast this with the Red Mantis assassins, who are inextricably tied to the worship of Achaekek.)

So, does anyone have any thoughts on how the major ninja clans would react if they found a murder cult in their neighbourhood?

My first thought is that it would depend on whether the cult follows ninja codes, and whether they're in direct competition. There are probably a couple of minor ninja clans that are murder cults (or cults of Yaezhing); these might coexist with the major clans by following (or at least paying lip service to) established norms of ninja behaviour while also not stepping on the turf of any major clans. But if a bunch of assassins set up shop into Minkai and started killing the wrong people and/or undercutting ninja prices on the murder market, my guess is the major clans would come down on them hard.

Also, is there any published material about Yaezhing that goes into more detail than the Dragon Empires Gazetteer?

[Ouachitonian]

It seems to me that if the ninja are more like an organized crime syndicate, they might be willing to hire a murder cult to take care of that side of the business, effectively using them as a subcontractor. More religious (or paranoid) ninjas might consider the job a holy duty (or simply not trust anyone else), and refuse such an arrangement though, in which case I could see the two groups coming into conflict.

[Kyudoka]

One word: yakuza.

These are the mafia of Minkai. They do business and have their hand in all sorts of criminal activities. They are lead by their oyabun, who is like a feudal lord to his underlings. These may consist of fighters, rogues, assassins and other sorts.

Some yakuza specialize in certain sorts of activities so there is no reason why one or two could not specialize in...problem solving.

Keep in mind that the oyabun is almost never accused of committing a crime. If he is, one of his underlings will step up, admit it, and take the fall for him.

[Uqbarian]

Ouachitonian wrote:

It seems to me that if the ninja are more like an organized crime syndicate, they might be willing to hire a murder cult to take care of that side of the business, effectively using them as a subcontractor. More religious (or paranoid) ninjas might consider the job a holy duty (or simply not trust anyone else), and refuse such an arrangement though, in which case I could see the two groups coming into conflict.

Hmm, I hadn't thought about subcontracting. Thanks!

[The Raven Black]

As long as the murder cult does not make the Ninja clans look incompetent or threatens them, their stance would be live and let live