Crestian Syndicate

***“**Let our disunity be our unity. We all have our own goals, and we'll work towards those together.**”***
— Edmond Heyer

The **Crestian Syndicate** is an organized crime syndicate operating out of Whitecrest. They ultimately proved victorious in the War for Whitecrest and subsequently overthrew the League of Whitecrest. The Syndicate has been the governing body of the City-State of Whitecrest since 1228 AW.

The Syndicate has branched out towards neighboring countries. These groups are not considered part of the Crestian Syndicate but as independent organizations in their own right, although they ultimately report back to Edmond Heyer. The other Syndicates are the Wyrsian Syndicate, Innyrian Syndicate, and Fühlgartian Syndicate.

## History

Talks about cooperation between the gangs of Whitecrest's Eastern Districts have always happened, yet never on a large scale. Smaller gangs would cooperate with one another, yet these were isolated incidents, and they never turned into an alliance the size of the Syndicate.

However, the Purge of Whitecrest in 1193 AW made the League of Whitecrest a common enemy for the squabbling gangs of Eastern Whitecrest. In the aftermath of the Purge, new gangs rose up, while older ones solidified their position. One of these new gangs, the Dirtcloaks, under Edmond Heyer, would eventually seek an alliance with Herman van Corberg's Red Serfs, one of the three big gangs of the East.

With a major alliance in the East established, smaller gangs began to be incorporated into the Dirtcloaks or the Red Serfs. Before long, other gangs began flocking into the alliance. Newcomer groups such as the Anti-League were brought into the fold, but also the Sons of Innyria, another of the major gangs. Finally, with the Dogs of Whitecrest reluctantly joining the alliance, the Crestian Syndicate was formally created under Edmond Heyer in 1198 AW. In 1201 AW, the Crestian Syndicate reluctantly recruited the Great Orchestra. While many were distrustful of Floris Gill and the Orchestra, they were highly feared across the Western Districts in the wake of their many bombings, the most notable of which was the Temple District Massacre.

With a unified front, Heyer used the Syndicate to launch the War for Whitecrest, an effort to reduce League control to later overthrow them altogether. After a series of extremely controversial terrorist attacks by the Great Orchestra, however, the Second Purge of Whitecrest was launched by the League. While the damage done by the Second Purge was minimal, Heyer would ultimately be captured in 1203 AW and imprisoned in Greihill Keep in the Western Districts.

Without Heyer's central leadership, cooperation all but collapsed between the individual gangs of the Syndicate, with it more or less becoming a ceremonial body used for minor negotiations. Floris Gill's Great Orchestra ultimately received the blame for the near-collapse of the Syndicate and was subsequently attacked during the Dog-Orchestral War by both the Dogs and Red Serfs, which would ultimately lead to their destruction.

By the latter half of the 1200s, the Red Serfs managed to regain control over the Syndicate and resumed the War for Whitecrest intending to free Heyer, who had been kept alive to prevent him from becoming a martyr. The early 1210s saw the Syndicate gaining ground in the Western Districts, with Edmond Heyer being freed in 1215 AW.

With the League of Whitecrest on the brink of collapse, they begged the Republic of Fühlgart for military assistance. Ultimately, the Syndicate came under attack by Albert Schmied and his famous Second Army. With the Syndicate driven back to the Eastern Districts by 1216 AW and ultimately forced into hiding once more, the Republicans turned Whitecrest into their own puppet dictatorship. Yet, the Syndicate did not sit idle during this period, continuing the War for Whitecrest from the shadows. Constant sabotage and ambushes became the status quo for the next decade.

In 1227 AW, Jan Luftschwert died, as Fühlgart began to descend into chaos. The Second Fühlgartian Civil War began properly in 1228 AW, forcing Ulfric Luftschwert to recall the overwhelming majority of Republican troops stationed in Fühlgart's proxy states, with Whitecrest being no exception. With the League of Whitecrest suddenly abandoned and outnumbered, the War for Whitecrest escalated once again, with the Syndicate rapidly overrunning the Western Districts. Near the end of the year, they had captured all of Whitecrest, with Armin Oligel and what remained of the League being executed.

Since 1228 AW, the Syndicate has transformed into the governing body of the City-State. Many gangs have begun to transfer to civilian activities, yet the Syndicate continues to "transport goods of a delicate nature" to the Wyrsian, Innyrian, and Fühlgartian Syndicates, which indicates that they are having some trouble letting go of their criminal tendencies. Still, how the Syndicate will ultimately evolve remains to be seen.

## Leaders

* Edmond Heyer, 1198-1203 AW
* Edmond Heyer, 1203-1215 AW (de jure)
* None, 1203-1208 AW (de facto)
* Herman van Corberg, 1208-1215 AW (de facto)
* Edmond Heyer, 1215 AW-

## Members

* **The Big Five**
	+ Anti-League
	+ Dirtcloaks
	+ Dogs of Whitecrest
	+ Red Serfs
	+ Sons of Innyria
* **Minor Gangs**
	+ Bridgekeepers
	+ Common District Fighters
	+ Crestian Shadowfangs
	+ Crow Street Gang
	+ Fühlgartian Boys
	+ Gemstone Gang
	+ Ghosts of the East
	+ Mudcloaks
	+ Redcloaks
	+ Vy'elan Syndicate
* **Former Members**
	+ Great Orchestra
	+ Sons of Shylia

## Documents

*Main Article: Documents*

* Document: Crestian Syndicate Proof of Purchase