Maceral

Along the southeastern border of Dragonhome, at the fringes of the Tangled Wood, is a clawful of classy dens of gambling an iniquity that are the favored haunts of criminals from both flight's underworlds. Their proprietor is Maceral, a genial and well-connected businessman whose establishments serve as an excellent neutral ground in which criminals of all prison stripes from both flights can meet, gamble, and scheme. Maceral himself is an independent- if opportunistic- party in all of this.

His gambling dens attract such a large array of dragons for a number of reasons. Earth natives go there to have some fun with their ill-gotten gains, while Shadow dragons go for the games. All of them can also enjoy the opportunity to sink their claws into a whole other element's worth of villainy. Crooks can go to Maceral to arrange a private meeting place for their dealings, to pass a message along to another regular, or keep an ear open for particular news- all for a fee, of course. Maceral and his employees get word of almost every felony perpetrated in both domains sooner or later. This makes them valuable assets to other felons, ensuring that anyone who threatens him will be taken out by other crooks who depend on his information network- and as long as Maceral keeps his claws clean, no inter-clan law enforcement can touch him.

There's one more reason why Maceral can safely bet on staying safe for the foreseeable future in spite of having no skill in combat: If he were to sustain so much as a scratch at the claws of another, his parents would see that their days numbered in single digits. What virtually no one outside of the inner circle of the Hydra Scorpions knows is that its bosses have a son. Certainly none of their potential partners in crime are aware that Maceral, an affable neutral party with no vested interests in whether their deals succeed or not, is in any way affiliated with the Scorpions, let alone the heir of Basalt and Vaida themselves.

Maceral is cheerful and friendly by nature, and he uses this to his full advantage. There's nothing like a good-natured attitude, empathetic ear, and the right amount of drink to make crooks open up to someone they think has no ties to their allies or enemies. Occasionally he even pretends to be a regular bartender if a crook is likely to be way of chatting with a businessman. He never lets his calm and amiable mannerisms falter, and he's always on the lookout for opportunities to line the Scorpions' dens with more money.