Triads (Seattle)

The Eighty-Eights

Leader: Rick Wu (who refuses the term "lodgemaster" that the other Triad bosses use)

By far the most modern Triad in Seattle, the Eighty-Eights have severed any ties with lodges outside of North America. They hold to the traditional organization and some of the initiation rites, but have dropped traditional taboos against cyberware and other body-modifications and embrace technology as a way to better compete with the other syndicates. Membership is still heavily ethnic Chinese, however.

The Triad has almost a franchise structure to it. The Eighty-Eights have ties with numerous Asian gangs in the metroplex, accepting part of their income as “tribute,” and providing guidance, coordination, and useful information in return. They have brokered peace agreements and turf-sharing deals that avoid gang wars and let both sides profit, and the Triad emphasizes subtlety over overt shows of force.

They own a substantial number of legitimate businesses that they use to launder money, as well as several warehouses and private docks South of Downtown Seattle that are ideal for small-scale smuggling operations. Not unlike the more traditional Triad lodges (or tongs), vice is the Eighty-Eights’ primary business, especially drugs, chips, and human trafficking out of the “Golden Triangle” of Asia. That includes a big share of the world opium trade, along with a brisk business in “Kong chip” BTLs and sex slaves from Southeast Asia. Their side businesses include shaking down Chinese ethnic neighborhoods, smuggling magical goods and contraband, and murder-for-hire services.