Mundane helpers to Practitioners.
General[]
Muscle are mundane—i.e. non-magical—helpers or personal staff to Practitioners, and as such at least partly tied to the Shadows. They might be tied to an individual Practitioner or a whole circle. Common duties include being a bodyguard, lookout, driver, or manservant.[1] There are also some known cases of muscle for hire, or a circle hiring muscle for a limited time.
Depending on the circle and the individuals involved, muscle can be viewed as cannon-fodder, servants that are to do what they are told, or as valued people within the circle. However, most muscle appear to be very loyal to the Practitioners. Likewise the training and skills of the muscle varies highly.
Notable examples[]
Harold and Troy, serving Garrison.[2]
The Brotherhood of Apollo had Manny and at least three other thugs assisting Kenneth. Lord Stefan had two bodyguards in his meeting with Lydia later the same day.[3]
Archimedes’s and Hypatia’s driver.[4]
For all practical purposes, the Crew is muscle for Molly and Onyx. The relation seems more informal and focused on friendship than with most other known cases.
Sierra, serving the Native circle and fully informed about their use of magic. She is also very highly trained.[1] The circle also hires other guards, but it is unclear to which degree they are associated with the circle, are aware of the supernatural, or the training they have received.[5]
The Light had an unknown number of non-Practitioners as members. The relation between Practitioner and muscle appeared to be more egalitarian than most other known examples.[6][7]
Hector Kingston had at least two associates helping to run the gun shop.
Rico’s team to the Family. They were more mercenary and with less personal loyalty in comparison to most other muscle.[8] The Family also retained both werewolves and vampires as muscle, something no other known circle has done.
The International circle enlisted the services of Alex Carlisle to help them in a conflict with another circle.[9] It is unclear if this is because the circle lacked mundane helpers entirely, they doubted they would be of use in this specific situation, or had some other reason.
Anatole employed several mundane guards, including Frank, a police officer. He employed at least one vampire. He also had the services of Christian Miller, but that seems more to do with mundane contacts and influence than pure muscle.[10][11]
Sunday was well-established as a bodyguard, bounty hunter, and troubleshooter for hire in Los Angeles.[12] The same was true for Oscar Torres’s group of mercenaries, who had clients both within the Shadows and outside it.[13][14]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Personal Demons, chapter 25
- ↑ Good Intentions, chapter 1
- ↑ Good Intentions, chapter 14
- ↑ “Authenticity”
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 6
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 10
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 19
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 24
- ↑ “Outsourced”
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 1
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 11
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 5
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 2
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 16