The Syndicate

"Sic semper tyrannis."

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The Syndicate is an underground organization started by Technoblade and Philza on January 18, 2021. Members of the Syndicate promote anarchy and wish to diminish tyranny in all its forms. The Syndicate's base is located in the arctic north near the homes of Technoblade, Philza, and Ranboo. Its meeting room is in a stronghold and features immovable end portal frames, although the members of the Syndicate are unaware of their true nature (though Ranboo has some suspicions), and use it as their meeting table.

Members

 * Technoblade: One of the founders of the Syndicate, codenamed "Protesilaus." He is given the task of recruiting members for the Syndicate.
 * Philza: One of the founders of the Syndicate, codenamed "Zephyrus."
 * "Harpocrates": An unknown member who was not present for the first meeting of the Syndicate. Technoblade has stated that he would rather not reveal his name until he feels comfortable.
 * Nihachu: Joined just before the first meeting, codenamed "Nemesis."
 * ConnorEatsPants: Joined after the prison break, no codename yet.

Former members

 * Ranboo: Joined just before the first meeting, codenamed "Lethe." Was killed by Awesamdude on November 28, 2021.
 * Apollo: As a joke, Technoblade said that one of his dogs that teleported to him just before the prison break was part of the Syndicate. The dog was codenamed "Apollo." Died to Awesamdude.

Codenames
Each member of The Syndicate is expected to choose a codename for themselves. As a callback to the end of the Manberg vs Pogtopia War and Techno's speech on Theseus, the codenames generally are characters from Greek mythology.

Recruiting
Technoblade was tasked with finding members for their new faction. He began searching the ruins of L'Manberg when he received a message from Niki, inviting him to her city as she had heard he wanted to talk. Upon meeting, the two spoke about anarchy, and Technoblade talked about how impressed he was because she burned L'Mantree. Niki said that the offer to join him in anarchy was tempting, but declined his offer because her goals were currently different from anarchist ideals. Technoblade left her and said that he wasn't going to ask people for a while, as he thought Niki would be great and that he probably couldn't convince anyone else if he couldn't convince her.

First meeting
The first meeting was held on March 6, 2021, and was attended by Technoblade, Philza, Ranboo, and Niki. During this meeting, Philza revealed the meeting room and its features like the meeting table (made out of an end portal that cannot be activated), the secret entrances and exits, the qualities of the room, and the ender pearl stasis chambers. The meeting room is located in the stronghold under the ocean near Technoblade, Philza, and Ranboo's bases. They discussed the following:


 * The Egg and the Eggpire: Brought up by Phil, they discussed their preference against the Eggpire and their personal experiences with the egg. Technoblade suggested talking to people not directly involved with the egg. Phil said that there is the possibility that the Syndicate would have to make an "omelette," referencing the new sub-faction "Pro-Omelette."
 * Snowchester: Technoblade brought up rumors of a new nation forming in the snowy forest to the west of L'Manberg. Niki confirmed his suspicions, and the members agreed that they would have to investigate if it was a government.
 * Tommy's death: This fact was brought up by Ranboo. All members (except for Ranboo) agreed that it was virtually impossible for him to die and that they were not convinced he was dead. This suspicion turned out to be correct; Tommy had been revived by the time the meeting took place, but the Syndicate was unaware of this until Tommy left Pandora's Vault six days later.

Investigating Snowchester
After the events of the first meeting, the Syndicate set out to investigate Snowchester. Upon arriving at Snowchester, the group met up with Tubbo, who gave them a tour of Snowchester. Tubbo told them that Snowchester was not a country, but simply an isolationist and militaristic colony. Tubbo also showed the members of the Syndicate the nukes, and when the group asked why Tubbo would need nukes, Tubbo cited that it is simply for self-defense. This made the Syndicate extremely suspicious of Snowchester. However, since Snowchester had not done anything with the nukes, the Syndicate accepted the self-defense excuse.

Techno's birthday
On June 1, 2021, the members of the Syndicate met up at Technoblade's cabin to celebrate his birthday. They set off a few fireworks, joked around, and ate some cake. Philza then decided to tell the members about Wilbur's revival which surprised both Techno and Niki, as well as upsetting the latter. The four of them talked about how Schlatt's return would be even worse. They also brought up Ghostbur, which caused Niki to freak out, but the others managed to calm her down. They then started to talk about the new risks of governments popping up.

Whilst Technoblade left to talk to Quackity, Phil told Ranboo about "her," a woman that allegedly helped grow a forest that had recently sprouted near the cabin, although the contents of this conversation are unknown. When Techno returned to the others, the group continued celebrating his birthday. Phil then showed the other Syndicate members the training area under the cabin. After Phil asked who Techno spoke to, Techno briefly talked about it, although he didn't mention who he talked to or what they were talking about in great detail. Most of them didn't persist, although Niki asked if it was Wilbur because the person "sounded like someone with empty promises." The members then decided to just party and forget about it for the time being.

Niki started to distrust the members of the Syndicate for not telling her of Ghostbur or of Wilbur's potential revival sooner. She wondered if everything she had done with them had been for nothing because now Wilbur would retake the spotlight and manipulate her again.

Jailbreak
On November 28, 2021, Technoblade gathered the members of the Syndicate that were not imprisoned. Philza and Niki showed up to the meeting, and Techno discussed the plans to break Dream out of Pandora's Vault and how Sam had imprisoned Ranboo. With the development of Ranboo being imprisoned, the rest of the Syndicate joined Technoblade in his plan to break Dream and Ranboo out of Pandora's Vault. During the meeting, Techno also discovered his dog at this meeting and named it Apollo, recruiting Apollo into the Syndicate.

After the other members of the Syndicate agreed to join in on the jailbreak, the group discussed the plans and roles of each member while gathering supplies and navigating towards the prison. Techno would break into the prison with Apollo by his side, and Niki and Phil would stay outside to create a distraction and activate Techno's ender pearl stasis chamber if he was unable to escape. Since Niki did not reveal her membership to the Syndicate and affiliation with the anarchists to outsiders, she could talk and mislead the crowd while also secretly spawning withers nearby.

Techno succeeded in breaking Dream and Ranboo out. Connor, who was imprisoned for "stolen valor," was also broken out at the same time. However, the Syndicate also faced some issues during the jailbreak and escape. Apollo was killed by Sam while breaking Ranboo and Connor out, and Sapnap saw Niki spawn withers during the chaos. Ranboo was also killed by Sam during the escape and lost his final canon life during the group's escape. Nonetheless, the Syndicate and Dream managed to regroup at Technoblade's cabin without any other losses.

Post-jailbreak
After the Syndicate and Dream reconvened at Technoblade's cabin, Dream gave the netherite supplies back to Technoblade and left. Connor, now with the Syndicate, agreed to join the anarchist organization after Techno offered him the chance. Connor began building his new house with dirt in the mountains near Techno's cabin.

During an argument between Niki and Jack, Niki accidentally revealed the Syndicate to him. When he left, Jack pondered about the Syndicate and his relationship with Niki, but showed no hatred towards them and merely wondered if it was what Niki needed in her current position.

Manifesto
Technoblade wrote and signed a manifesto during the creation of the Syndicate; copies of a copy (done to prevent cloning of books) are distributed to each member, who is expected to keep it secret. It reads: "Page 1

This Syndicate is formed to serve as a network for fellow Anarchists to meet, exchange information and cooperate in the mutual pursuit of Anarchy and the fight against Tyranny.

We shall have no Leader; no Member shall be compelled to act against their will.

Page 2

No Member shall reveal information about the Syndicate to outsiders.

Technoblade shall serve as the Recruiter to induce new Members into the Syndicate with Approval from a majority of Members."

Armory

 * Enchanted netherite armor and weapons - The members of the Syndicate are known for their resilience and dedication to mining; they've achieved much from grinding levels at experience farms and are some of the most efficient netherite miners on the server. Each member has full enchanted netherite armor and weapons.
 * Withers - Technoblade provides the Syndicate with a large arsenal of 40 withers, as he had been grinding wither skulls before L'Manberg's annihilation and still possesses a large reserve in his ender chest.
 * Tridents - Each member of the Syndicate is equipped with a riptide trident for mobility, and some members have an impaling trident as well.
 * Totems of Undying - The Syndicate holds several totems of undying obtained from woodland mansions.
 * Miscellaneous - The Syndicate has many potions, bows, crossbows, enchanted golden apples, ores, and more that makes them one of the most powerful factions on the SMP.
 * Hound Army - Technoblade has an army of hounds that he had developed prior to the Doomsday War.

Trivia

 * The motto of the Syndicate, "sic semper tyrannis," is also the Virginia state motto which means "Thus always to tyrants" and was shouted by John Wilkes Booth after he shot Abraham Lincoln and jumped off the president's box to the stage. The phrase's origin is sometimes attributed to Brutus, one of the participants in the assassination of Julius Caesar.
 * It suggests that bad yet just outcomes should - or eventually will - befall tyrants.
 * The Syndicate HQ was designed by lujoBoy.
 * Wilbur has heard of the Syndicate, as indicated when he briefly mentioned it after his revival. However, he never explained how he had heard of the Syndicate.


 * There are Syndicate outfits for each member made by carrot_gardens on Twitter (formerly carrot_sprouts). These skins were requested by Technoblade himself. Whether or not these skins will be used is still unknown.7B348484-0C53-4B9C-A733-DC3F42090AC1.jpg