DX Association

"Maris Amaryllis"

- on the DX Association.

About
The DX Association (DXの会, DX no kai) is a crime syndicate based in the Free City of Rockearth. With a rumored total of 30 million members under its employ, it is recognized as the single largest and most influential criminal organization on The Continent.

The origins of the DX Association date back to ancient times, when a man with a strong sense of justice made a wish to the Gods to gain a means of ensuring that people would be unable to break the promises they made to others. He was bestowed with an item known as the Deluxe Book, a Cursed tome that bound all who signed their name into it to unbreakable contracts that seized control over their mind and body until they had fulfilled their end of the agreement. The man eventually disappeared, causing the Deluxe Book to shift from the possession of various people throughout history. At some point during the GI Era, the Deluxe Book fell into the hands of the founder of the DX Association, a corrupt and ruthless individual who used its great power to trick others into signing contracts that made them forfeit control over their lives. Over time, these contracts allowed the DX Association's founder to steadily amass influence within the criminal underworld until they were able to establish their organization as its dominant power. The Deluxe Book continues to be utilized by the acting president of the association to conduct deals to further expand the group's authority.

The DX Association engages in a wide range of illegal activities, including the selling of narcotics, the running of brothels, money laundering, blackmail, and extortion. By far the most profitable business that the organization takes part in is human trafficking, with its most popular product being a particular kind of slave known as SEX slaves; kidnapped individuals who have been specially conditioned through a combination of sexual training and torture to be in a perpetual state of extreme arousal. SEX slaves are highly regarded for their quality as sexual partners and sell for a premium on the black market, with their primary clientele being members of nobility. The DX Association also owns a sizable number of more legitimate businesses, such as sex shops, which often double as covers for illicit ones. The organization generates billions of GOLD annually; equivalent to the economies of the superpowers of the Continent.

While the headquarters of the DX Association are ostensibly located in the Free City of Rockearth, the organization actually controls the city in its entirety, to the point where every single one of its citizens is in some way affiliated with the group. As a result, the president of the DX Association functions as the representative of Rockearth during meetings with other national leaders, bestowing them with some amount of legally-recognized authority. Rockearth represents barely a fraction of the DX Association's global power, however, and the group holds significant political and financial influence in numerous cities across the nations of Leazas and Helman, as well as many other Free Cities. The organization has established comparatively few footholds in the Magic Kingdom of Zeth, where it is unable to compete against the institutionalized slavery instilled by the government's historically magic-biased class system, and the eastern nation of JAPAN, which spent much of its recent history engaged in violent civil war that made it hard for foreign powers to operate within. Nearly all criminal activity across the Continent can be in some way traced back to the DX Association, with countless smaller institutions deriving their funding and equipment from the group. Though the organization and its actions are known by the major world powers, the sheer difficulty of destroying something of its size has largely allowed it to continue operating without opposition.

In the fifth year of the Blank Era, the DX Association began a formal business relationship with the Helman-based assassination group the Dark Wings. The details of this arrangement are vague, making it unclear whether one group was absorbed by the other or if the two became equal partners.

Trivia

 * Zucchini Autobahn, the executive in line to succeed Katyusha as president of the DX Association, shares his last name with the the German federal controlled-access motorway. Notably, he is only referred to by his first name when he is mentioned in Rance X, with his full name being given in the rough outline of the plot included within the game's script.
 * Don Bombom, Gracq's predecessor as president of the DX Association, has a name comprised of the words "don" and "bomb", which are respectively used in Japanese as onomatopoeia for gunfire and explosions. The word "Don" is also the term used to refer to the highest level members within the Italian mafia, adding an additional layer to the pun.
 * Though never explicitly stated, it can be inferred from the nature of how the Deluxe Book was first acquired that it was created by the Supreme God Planner, who is known to have granted similar wishes with ironic consequences throughout history.
 * No mention is ever made of the Deluxe Book throughout the DX Association's appearance in the non-canonical Kichikuou Rance, with its president, Gracq, simply being said to have inherited his position by being the latest in a well-established crime family. This incarnation of the DX Association is also implicitly less powerful, as it can be destroyed within a week with little difficulty by the forces of the Leazas Army.