Syndicates

"New plan: we don't cut each other's head off in an attempt to gain asymmetric power."

Whether they like it or not, supernatural characters in After Sundown are subject to the rules and judgments of one or more of the Syndicates. Acting as defacto nation states, Syndicates provide a Hobbesian mandate of behavior that is difficult to ignore. Characters may indeed be a member of one of them, which provides benefits comparable to those of being the citizen of an archaic empire. However, breaking the edicts of any Syndicate is punishable by that Syndicate if it catches you (subject to possible negotiations if you are a well placed member of another).

The Syndicates do not have directly analogous social hierarchies. Each is kind of like a mafia, with some sort of shady leadership hierarchy and elaborate titles to convey subtle differences in duties and status. But they were generally founded centuries and continents apart from one another, an they are not based on identical or even comparable theories of government. However, while each has very different justifications for its own existence, all the Syndicates exist to fulfill essentially the same functions and are essentially on the same side. So while they spend a fair amount of time insulting one another, it is profoundly unusual for them to actually come to blows. Each Syndicate provides the following:

  • Preserves the Vow of Silence - each group calls it something different, but everyone is keenly aware that sufficient numbers of peasants with torches have slain supernatural creatures in the past and will do so again if the lid isn't kept on pretty tight. In ages past this was handled with the "Tradition of Misdirection" where humans were fed bullshit about how magic really worked, when that started to break down during the Classical era, it was replaced with a system where supernatural creatures hid their existence from mortal observation entirely.
  • Facilitates Social Interaction - for all the Nosferatu babble about how they prefer the life of the hermit, they really don't. Normal humans are incapable of really understanding what it is like to be a supernatural creature and really the only peers a Leviathan has is other Leviathans, or at least other supernatural creatures.
  • Acts as a framework to work out differences - supernatural creatures exist outside and in many ways above normal human societies, and live their life very much like a Hobbesian battle of All against All. And while it is true that their power and mystery does make them well qualified to do that, they have no unique advantages over other supernatural creatures. And thus it is in true Hobbes fashion the creatures have put together over organizations to keep each other in check. Arguing things out with a Manadi is slow, but many supernatural creatures have a lot of time.

Syndicates do not, as a rule, recognize dual citizenship or anything of the like. And switching one's status from one to another is a slow painful process that generally just isn't done. But a supernatural creature from one Syndicate can generally expect to not get stabbed in the face or eaten by members of another. A supernatural creature from another Syndicate can expect to be treated as a foreigner, but not as a foreigner from a nation that is at war with the local one. Indeed, since all the Syndicates are international and borders are pretty vague even when they exist at all you can pretty much go where you want without getting much more than the fish eye. And that mostly from Leviathans who actually have fish eyes.

The Makhzen

"Lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in every walk of life."

The Makhzen is, according to its own history, an ancient truce declared between various supernatural creatures long ago in Babylon. It was apparently put together in the face of some grave threat which is no longer talked about. Members of the Makhzen are called "Kindred", and the regional leadership is divided into "cities", "domains", and "kingdoms" all of which terms are used interchangeably. Regional leadership is held by a Mehtar Council, which powerful kindred are appointed to for life, and this council is led by a Prince or Aval (both are unisex terms which predate their use in royalty). How much influence the prince actually has varies from region to region. A Mehtar or prince who travels to another domain is automatically a member of the Mehtar council wherever they happen to be.

Laws of the Makhzen are hopelessly baroque, and most of the old ones are shockingly specific and draconian and inscribed into clay tablets. They have by and large been repealed and replaced with ones which are easier for everyone to get along with. Still, there are some hangers on, as it is widely reported that it is still technically a death sentence for the perpetrator and their three closest friends to steal an aurochs from a member of the kindred.

Tonight, the Makhzen remains strong in the Middle East and North Africa. It has spread somewhat into North America in the American South. Once it extended the entire length of the Silk Road and all through Southern Europe, but both of these areas have broken off over the centuries. If you go West or North from Bulgaria you get into Covenant territory. And if you go North or East from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan you get into Communes territory. The Makhzen is bordered on its southern reaches in the old world by World Crime League territory. It is a noticeable source of contention that from the Makhzen's founding lands in Persia you can literally see Afghans who work (albeit unknowingly) for the WCL.

Probably Established: 8th century BCE, Persia

The Cauchemar Communes

"Tradition is but the illusion of permanence. Change is not just inevitable, it is good."

Supernatural societies have with necessity been extremely conservative over the generations. And such it was that when the age of enlightenment hit the human world, the supernatural world found itself falling behind. The Cauchemar Communes were founded as a reform movement for the supernatural world to take advantage of the new ideas and opportunities found in human science. The term is French for the common people of the nightmares - which was how non-elder supernatural creatures were thought of in 18th century France. Arranged in a "cell structure", the Communes nominally hold that all of their membership is equal, save for the Revolutionary Committee members themselves who are substantially more equal.

The Cauchemar hold that advancements in human strength and society are, or at least can be, for the good of the supernaturals. Rather than viewing the world as shrinking, leaving them with less and less space in which to hide, the Communes view the world as growing with more and more humans and cities with which to obscure themselves. The Communes' understanding of the Vow of Silence is one based largely upon anonymity rather than invisibility.

The Cauchemar message appeals to the young (which in supernatural terms means those born or made in the last 400 years or so), and campaigns for the removal of traditional privileges for the ancient and established monsters of the world. The Communes favor change and a new way of doing things modeled upon human reforms, but that's about as far as they go in agreeing with one another. It is easy to get the distributed Communes apparatus to help tear down something or turn upon a criminal, but relatively difficult to pass effective resolutions. The ideological divides amongst the Revolutionary Committee are fierce and hard drawn, so the group as a whole acts rarely and with much debate on matters of anything but immediate survival.

As a reformist, "bottom up" movement, the Communes have been able to make great inroads in areas that were previously outside Syndicates, and toppled several minor ones (such as the Puppeteers, the Laibon, and the Kingdom of Yomi). Most impressive of their feats was the dismantling and absorption of the Bumin Horde of Ergenekon. The Cauchemar Communes hold a great deal of power in China and many former Soviet Republics, and also in much of the American Midwest, Canada, and France. The Communes hold territory easily containing more human population than any other Syndicate, a fact that is truly frightening to many other Syndicates considering their newness.

Despite their European origins, or perhaps because of the proximity of their founding to the capital of the Covenant, the Communes have made little progress in Western Europe. In 1798 it seemed that the Communes were on the brink of sacking the Heresiarch Council and ending the Covenant Church altogether. However, in the coming years the Covenant made a number of reforms and concessions to various bishops and interest groups and held onto their European holdings all the way to the Alps. The Cauchemar ended up signing onto peace and expanding instead into the lands of those Syndicates that refused to adapt.

Probably Established: 18th century CE, Pyrenees Mountains.

The Covenant

"A bishop of the Covenant can believe anything, but most of us don't."

The effect of the Roman Catholic Church on human history is hard to over estimate. As Rome itself was coming crashing down, Europe was largely cut off from the Middle East, Africa, and points further in Asia. Europe became isolated, and the influence of the Makhzen all but vanished. It was at this time that the supernatural creatures of the European region created a new organization modeled on the fledgling Roman Catholic Church.

The Covenant has extremely confused theology and you are specifically not allowed to be excommunicated for heresy. After all, the Covenant's primary role is to facilitate social interaction and conflict resolution between members rather than to advance any specific theological agenda. The Covenant is led by an Anti-Pope who wears a mask and whose identity is nominally secret. The Anti-Pope leads the council of Cardinals, from whom he or she is nominated, and does so for an unspecified amount of time before being replaced - occasionally by themselves in a different mask. Below the cardinals are bishops, below bishops are priests, and everyone else is referred to as "Flock". Other organizations refer to Covenant members derisively as "Sheep".

The Covenant maintains a number of parallel hierarchies in addition to the primary one. Rather than being a bishop or priest (which is regional), one could be Apostolic Exarch (which governs a region that is not under Covenant Control), a Military Ordinal (which handles defense of the order regardless of location), or a Palatine (which is organizational and has personnel but no fixed territory). All of these titles carry approximately the same weight as Bishop. The Covenant also recognizes some of its members as "saints". Once a Covenant member has descended into sainthood they carry a status that cannot be taken away, which essentially allows them to speak and be listened to on any issue by any church conclave at any organizational level. Since the membership of the Covenant are supernatural in nature, the requirements of miraculous activities is entirely a formality and being recognized by the Anti-Pope as a Saint is entirely political. Saints are given spiffy blood red uniforms when they serve in any official capacity and are thence known as Sanguines regardless of their rank or duties.

Law in the Covenant is confusing and pre-baroque, grounded in Roman law and medieval superstition. It is doctrine in the Covenant that canon law is infallible, and thus no law is ever replaced or contradicted. The immense amount of doublethink required to make this function at all is produced by Glossators, who philosophize the inordinately convoluted structures whereby contradictory statements can be rationalized as merely seeming to contradict each other. Canon law itself is crafted by a group of bishops called the Heresiarchs who draft documents for potential Anti-Papal blessing. Who sits on the Heresiarch council at any time is highly variable, as a seat becomes vacant whenever a Heresiarch misses two meetings in a row, and an empty seat is filled as soon as seven bishops not on the council, three bishops on the council, or the Anti-Pope nominate one of the other Bishops into the seat.

World wide there are about a hundred bishops or bishop equivalents, and the substantial majority are in Europe.

Probably Established: 5th century CE, Rome.

World Crime League

"Don't tell me that you're innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and it makes me very angry."

With the encroachment of the Mongols into South and Southeast Asia, the kingdoms remaining outside the Khan's grasp were cut off from trade with the outside world. The supernatural creatures of the region were forced to make their own way, without influence from the old power structures. A pirate navy formed in Southeast Asia, which preyed upon naval traffic and helped fight the Mongol Empire alongside the mortal forces of Emperor Trần Nhân Tông. Keeping themselves on a military, outlaw footing kept the Mongols out of their lands and waters for as long as the Ming dynasty stood, but by the time they had reestablished connections with other Syndicates, the Viet Shadow Kingdom had power of its own and its membership had no real desire to rejoin the Makhzen. They instead took their criminal activities world wide and became the League of Pirates, and eventually the World Crime League.

Because of their piratical roots, the World Crime League has a vaguely naval structure at the top. There is a council of Captains who discuss world issues and update the guidelines. Locally, WCL members infiltrate whatever criminal groups happen to be active in the region and modify themselves appropriately. WCL members have risen to high ranks in Triads, Vory, Mafia, and Ghost Cartels.

The WCL values money and other trappings of human temporal power as well as mystical power, and one can literally purchase their way up in the ranks of the Syndicate. The group holds that breaking the laws of man and corrupting the values of human society is a goal in and of itself, and undermining the rule of law and morality is seen as a powerful and respectable achievement by the League.

Probably Established: 13th century CE, Dai Viet.

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