Circles, Syndicates, & Posses

Circles

The Circle of Lanterns: The Circle of Lanterns claims to oversee all sex work on Wyrlde. They are known to compete somewhat with the Innkeeper and Tavernhost Guilds and will often operate in opposition. Their Saloons are very popular in Dorado.

The Circle of Crossings: Provides guards for traveling caravans and mercenaries not affiliated with a guild. They compete with the Vanguard guilds, as well as the Adventurers Guild.

The Circle of Dreams: The Circle promises all a very good time, albeit with perhaps an uncontrollable interest to return after.

The Circle of Spells: Originally out of Lyonese, and merged with a couple others, it is considered one of the finest organized groups providing imbued and ingrained items to the public (for a price). They are engaged in direct conflict in many locations with the Mage Guild and Wizard Guild but are often on friendly terms with the Cunning Guild.

The Circle of Songs: The Aztani equivalent to the Bards Guild, with a focus on those who use music as performance.

Circle of Home: A collection of places that provide care for infants, Children, and youths during the workday. Strictly found in cities, except for Sibola. Popular in Akadia.

Circle of Sweets: Candy makers, sugar growers, sugar sales folk. They have a practical monopoly on Sugar.

Circle of Skirts: Clothing makers. Originally focused on mending and adjusting existing clothing, an unpopular Guild Lord in the Clothiers Guild gave rise to it becoming much more. Currently, only women are allowed to be members.

Syndicates

Syndicates compete with Guilds in Durango and at the same degree, using less savory tactics and with a more criminal bent. Syndicates are headed by a Syndic, who achieves their position through violence and subterfuge, removing the prior person for the most part, although in more internally peaceful times, there will be a designated heir. Syndicates are considered criminal organizations but tolerated because they do compete with and give pause to the Guilds, even as they will prey upon the same people and focus on their criminal activities.

Syndicates do not tolerate Circles in their territory, as it is seen as a threat to their business and competition, and syndicates do not want competition.

Syndicates openly and explicitly state themselves to be organizations dedicated to trade and public welfare, yet appear to specialize in fraud, extortion, gambling, prostitution, drug use, robbery, kidnapping, theft, and graft as normative aspects of their operations.

Most Durangans tithe a Syndicate of one sort or another because they know that the bonds of a syndicate are stronger than blood in many cases, and the Syndicate protects its own; at least in theory. They are also aware that if they don’t, they will be brutalized, suffer startling misfortunes, and other bad things.

While based in and around Durango, they have influence which spreads throughout the world, and they seek to keep it going at any cost. Small Syndic outposts are said to exist in every major city.

The street murders that Durango is famous for are the work of Syndicates, who often disagree about territory, business, and loyalty. The Syndicates are very wealthy, overall, though the Syndics themselves may come from very humble or impoverished beginnings. One interesting thing is that the syndicates do not harm their targets usually; for example, a shopkeeper who tithes to one syndicate and is desired by another won’t have to worry about the syndicates causing his place of business harm (unless he misses a payment), as they will fight among themselves. They will also fight any of the assorted police, and the reputation of a Syndicate man as a murderous thug with little heart or morality is well earned.

Syndicates have a strong internal discipline, rigid codes, and expectations of those who are members, and often competing middle management. They do, however, keep their promises – for woe or for weal, they always keep their promises.

The most influential Syndicates currently are the Cosa, the Triskelion, the Kuza, the Sinola, and the Kamora. It is notable that the Lantern syndicate and White Rose Syndicate are indeed related to the Circle and the Order of Knighthood that share their name.

Posses

Dorado is the home to many new and different ways of doing things that are already done perfectly well elsewhere, but this has given us such thing as the Pistols of Eld and the Train and more. Among the reasons for and the examples of this trend are the Posses.

A Posse is a formally confirmed business arrangement among many diverse people who pool their resources, people, and effort towards a business purpose. Posses are formed by a Charter that is registered with the Kinhouse and operated in a strange way.

They are created by the pooling of resources by several different people who each have an interest that is considered property all by itself. This interest is recorded by Deed and has a value that determines how much of the Posse’s left-over revenue in each season goes to that person. These people are called Members, and while they collectively have oversight and are in charge, the day-to-day affairs of a Posse are run by a Leader, who is himself employed by the members and in turn employs the people needed to achieve their goals, as that is the Leader’s job: to make as much money as possible for the Members.

The Train is the work of the Posse of Rails, and the Leader of the Posse is Hariman, who is both a Member and the Leader. His father was the person who designed and created the first Dynamo, and they have kept the secret of that process ever since while building the vast rails that connect the Bright lands along the traditional trade routes. It is estimated that out of every ten gold pieces the Train brings in, one falls to Hariman.

Posses, then, are essentially an alternative to the Guilds, though several guilds are members of the Posse of Rails, making it less a competitive model and more a way of achieving things that no one person or small group can do on their own.