The World
New York. 1929.
It is a time of strict regulation - the prohibition of alcohol is in full effect. Those still looking for a drink now turn to the Speakeasies - hidden bars and taverns spread throughout the United States. These venues, run by large organised crime groups, provide their own bootlegged alcohol to anyone that comes through the door.
It is also a time of great prosperity. The economic boom of the ‘20s has left many far better off than they’ve ever been in their lives. But all this is about to change: confidence in the market is faltering, and the shadow of the Great Depression looms just over the horizon.
Tensions are high, and they’re about to boil over.
The Beneventi Crime Family
The Unspoken tells the story of the Beneventi Crime Family, a fictional Mafia operating within a very real world. Overseen by the Don with the advice of his Consigliere, the family runs a variety of hidden taverns scattered throughout the Manhattan area. None of these are more prolific than the coveted Solitary West; the pride, joy, and personal property of the organisation’s Underboss, Marco.
The story focusses on the Distribution branch of the family, functioning under the watchful eye of fiercely passionate and self-entitled Caporegime, William ‘Billy’ Beneventi. Through the Solitary West and the surrounding city, we witness a violent power struggle beginning to unfold, as the wife of the speakeasy’s bartender decides to make her stake in the game, engineering a situation in which to have the Head of Distribution removed from the equation.
The Irish Mob
By the late 1920s, the influence of the Irish street gangs that once dominated the city has been drastically diminished. Many of the most notable organisations have fallen into disrepair, and their members have reformed into a more anarchic and decentralised entity known as the Irish Mob.
Throughout The Unspoken we meet Saoirse ‘The Royal’ - an independent fixer and ex-Gopher Gang member that operates her own Irish splinter group out of Hell’s Kitchen. Known throughout the underworld for their violent and ruthless acts of brutality, the faction has a long-standing and bloody rivalry with the Beneventi Family, one that has caused the loss of many Italian and Irish lives.
