“From the nothing rises one truth. Amidst the shadows, it rises to illuminate the path. It tells us that We are free to follow our own path and that with every step, we will encounter those who would take that freedom from us. Too many of you gladly give it up, but it is our ability to choose whatever we think is true, and that makes us human. No book or teacher can give you the answers, show the correct path, or open the minds of others. By the love and grace of God, we are all individuals who must choose our own path. The path that lies within your heart.” ~Sermon excerpt from the secret founding of the Syndicate.
The Omega Syndicate[]
Within the wake of the destruction of the Unified People's Collective and The Church of Humanity, Repentant, the remnants of each movement directed a lot of thought towards a particular question: Where do we go from here? How do you live in a universe which treats what you hold as true for a lie? Some of these people arrived at the conclusion that to forge another mask of complacency and live a lie would be acceptable, and others concluded that to go against societal norms would be preferable to the false smiles and the illusion of compliance.
More still was the feeling of being persecuted by a system designed for oppression. A system with castes of people born into privilege or born to work the fields. The destinies of people already shaped by birth. The Unified People’s Collective of Yakiyah tried to prove people wrong. The STO was egalitarian enough to show the world a new path, but that path was ultimately denied.
The irony was that the knowledge of the path was already there. The light had been lit in the minds of people that the emperor. The divine Messiah was not only a man but proven to only be a man by the blade of an assassin. A Serpens Assassin no less. Someone gifted with immense privilege, whose testimony is known only to any priest who would dare take his confession, and now executed by the high church. A martyr. A path forward perhaps. Anyone following this path openly would die a traitors death. For that is how the empire deals in treason, and how House Crux meets out justice.
Goals and Motivations[]
“What follows is the great irony of the syndicate. Here we stand united to promote peace, but the means to achieve it is murder. Here we seek to open the minds of men, but it requires a set of rules, a code of ethics, and a teacher to reveal the way. Here we try to reveal the dangers of blind faith, and yet we are practitioners ourselves. How can we change this? What balance can be struck between tolerance and our thirst for truth? Some Repentant sects speak of education, believing that knowledge should free us all, and they hold to the idea that good dialogue will make some difference. I hold to another Idea. The idea that one man wielding the assassins blade showed us how to make a difference. For the love that we bear our children and for the future of the sector some of the perpetrators and beneficiaries of this system need to die. Not all of them, not even most of them. Merely those that get in the way.”
Combine the religious zeal of a Repentant with the idealism of a United Peoples Collective member and what do you get? A potent blend between antipathy towards authoritarianism and a willingness to use violence, The Omega Syndicate gathers around a banner of liberation for the oppressed. Freedom from conformity. Their ambition is ultimately not freedom, however, but global peace, prosperity for their followers, and the harmony of coexistence.
At the heart of this is the Repentant utopian dream, and a desire to resolve all of what ails humanity. Those who gather around the banner of the Syndicate are people of faith, whose love for humanity is core to their character and an ideal everyone aspires towards. The ideal is that humanity will gradually turn towards these Utopian goals, but sometimes humanity regresses, and that is something the Syndicate cannot abide. They would rather stain their own hands through murder than allow for such regression to take place.
At the heart of the syndicate is the belief that the ultimate peace can only be achieved through the struggle of mankind. They consider freedom of information as critical to achieve that end. The Syndicate preserves all books and aim to assemble all such knowledge that the authoritarian nobility of the empire might deign to suppress and continue the legacy of the repentant church in this regard by preaching its doctrines and dogma. So long as the heretical texts and doctrines are out there, there will be people who will be persuaded by these arguments.
Ironically. In spite of the optimistic view of humanity as a whole, this notion that the adversaries of progress can be swayed by force of argument or educated is ignored in favor of targeted assassination and permanent removal. Preferably with a martyr assassin to take the fall. The idea of killing or removing an interfering noble is considered virtuous in that it allows for someone better, and more pliable, to take their place, and it also allows fear of death to temper any capriciousness by the privileged class. There are few who believe in the efficacy of dialogue to achieve the same result. The accepted mantra is usually that sometimes “There is no other way,” and "Glory to the martyr for we shall join them in death."
Organization[]
Whereas SERAPH is invested in legitimate business, the Omega Syndicate freely partakes of the underground and its vices. Racketeering, Gangwars for territory, Gambling, Prostitution, and Drug manufacture all under a veil of mysticism, religious dogma and though they might appear ridiculous to outsiders, all the theatre leads to a distinct group identity.
The Council of Affairs:[]
Sects of the former Church of Humanity, Repentant wield some authority in The Omega Syndicate. They have the power to decide whether or not the Syndicate serves its purpose and have the ability to disband any branch of the syndicate if it is not fit for purpose, but they are not privy to all of what each branch of the Syndicate does.
The Outer Garden:[]
Organized and able-bodied members of the syndicate all take part in the outer garden. They are mostly kept in the dark regarding syndicate affairs and serve to make it appear on the surface level that this is simply a hidden enclave or a debate-club with interesting members, messaging and wholesome community spirit.
The Inner Temple:[]
Each world with a syndicate presence has an inner temple usually comprised of 3 high ranking members of the syndicate based out of the 3 tenets and the 3 sub-factions of the Church of Humanity, Repentant. These individuals pick between the best and most prominent members of the Outer Garden, put them through trials to secure their loyalty and ensure their secrecy through oaths of service and indoctrination before recruiting them into the Inner Temple. These are usually people of influence or the children of people with influence, but also people of no consequence who might be of use working many of the dangerous jobs needed to advance syndicate goals.
- Uphold the tenets of the Repentant faith and safeguard the freedom of all thought.
- Do not divulge the true nature of your work no matter the cost.
The Three Voices:[]
- The Voice of Idealism: Ultimately responsible for reviewing major decisions taken by the council of affairs and carrying them out.
- The Voice of Pragmatism: The master of ceremonies and in charge of initiating members to the Inner Temple. They’ll have their own regional rites and rituals to go through depending on which sect they belong to and what class of person being initiated, but it is ultimately a repentant ritual in nature.
- The Voice of Liberation: The safeguard of all syndicate temples. A killer trained by birth and raised within the monastic traditions of the liberator faith. Their enemies are those who reveal the secrets of the syndicate, and the unrepentant who stand in the way of progress, and their tools to remove these enemies are as diverse as the thought that traverses through the syndicate outer garden.