Rooks

"I've always thought of myself as a gang leader. Firm, but fair. We'll have uniforms, and I'll unite a mix of disenfranchised outsiders under one name. […] We'll call ourselves the Rooks."

―Jacob Frye, February 1868.^[src]^-[m]

The Rooks were a crime syndicate active in London during the 19th century and early 20th century. Founded in 1868 by the Assassin Jacob Frye to counter the Templar-affiliated Blighters, their rise was meteoric. Before the year was out, they had seized control of all of London's criminal underworld, virtually snuffing the Blighters from existence. In the process, they assisted the British Brotherhood in liberating children from involuntary labor in factories, destroying Blighter strongholds, assassinating Templar agents, and apprehending wanted criminals for the Metropolitan Police Service.

In this light, the Rooks were the closest that the British Brotherhood had to rank-and-file soldiers in London during this era of industrial society. However, they were not Assassins in their own right, and many of them originated as Blighters themselves, having defected with every victory by the Assassins. Their instrumental role in the collapse of Crawford Starrick's British Rite of the Templar Order aside, they themselves proved to be corruptible when the rogue Assassin and serial killer Jack the Ripper took command over them. Under Jack, the Rooks trafficked in sex and opium, stole priceless artifacts from British colonies, and enforced his Autumn of Terror over London in 1888.

History

Origins

By February 1868, the Blighters, a crime syndicate operated by the British Templars, had monopolized crime in all of London under Grand Master Crawford Starrick.^[1]^[2] The Clinkers of Whitechapel were one of the last remaining gangs which still remained free their control.^[3] When the Assassin twins Jacob and Evie Frye arrived in London that month to begin a campaign against the Templars, the former had the idea to form a gang of his own called the Rooks.^[1] The two fostered relations with Sergeant Frederick Abberline of the Metropolitan Police Service and the street urchin Clara O'Dea to begin building their network,^[4]^[5] but Evie was dismissive of the plan to establish the Rooks.^[1]

Nevertheless, Jacob proceeded to reorganize the Clinkers as the first members of the Rooks. The Clinkers welcomed his promise for a new way to combat the Blighters.^[3] With the foundations laid, the Assassins launched their first open attack on the Blighters, killing the Blighters' boss in Whitechapel, Rexford Kaylock and appropriating his train hideout run by Agnes MacBean as their own mobile base.^[6]

Activities

The criminal syndicate was regularly involved in fighting the Blighters and vying for influence and territory in the city. This was done mainly through overrunning the Blighters' strongholds, hunting their members, liberating the child laborers in Blighter-run factories, and eventually engaging in gang wars. By eliminating the Blighters' leaders of each borough, the Rooks thrived as they gained recruits from their rivals, and eventually had control over all boroughs.^[7]

Corruption under Jack the Ripper

In 1888, a former Assassin apprentice, who would soon become known as the infamous Jack the Ripper, usurped control of the Rooks from Jacob, and elected to use Whitechapel as the center of his operations. Jack trained the Rooks in combat techniques that would allow them to better challenge the surviving Assassins in the city. Under his orders, the Rooks provided security for Lady Olwyn Owers' brothels, reopened fight clubs, trafficked opium and stole antiquities from the colonies.^[8]

The Rooks also yielded multiple lieutenants for Jack, working willingly for their 'Mr. Jack'.^[8]

World War I

During the early 20th century, the Rooks still operated in the Tower Bridge area of Southwark, and were at least associated with, if not led by, Lydia Frye.^[9]

Behind the scenes

In accordance with the bird naming theme of the Assassins, a rook is a member of the crow family of birds.

The Rooks' symbol depicts a rook clutching onto a chess piece, the knight, marked with a Templar cross, symbolizing the Assassins', and by extension, the Rooks' goal of getting rid of the Templar Order and their gangs. This is likely intended as a visual display of "Rook takes Knight" as a rook is also a chess piece.

Under the Fryes, Rooks wear green. Under Jack the Ripper, Rooks wear black.