Tel’Mavar Yanta (The Shepherds Syndicate)

**Them:** Aist-Erume'rauko (Church of the Desert Patron), Kavath'rak (Cult of Kavath) - Bankers' conspiracy, Cultist conspiracy. THE Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) .

**Structure:** **Crime confederation. Circle within circles** -  Tel'Tapatendar (The Thieves) are actually a subset of Aist-Erume'rauko, doing all the crimey shit so that way Aist-Erume'rauko can keep their hands clean. Crime confederation.

**Menacing Name:** Tel'Mavar Yanta (The Shepherd's Syndicate) (guide the sheep)

**Hiding the Evil:** A seemingly benevolent but evil organization. A secret alliance between a seemingly benevolent organization and an obviously evil (criminal) one.

**Motivation:** Power via destruction of non-believers and profit.

**Evil Plan:** Dystopia Justifies the Means - They see Themselves, in a perfect world, as the arbiter and enforcer of a social order that keeps everyone in their place, and the Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) in the highest place

**Methods:** Murder, kidnapping, mass destruction, human sacrifices, illegal business practices, blackmail, deception, cover-up, drug trafficking, water and food supply tampering, orchestrating wars, false-flag operations.

* Yo the Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) has people from Tel'Tapatendar FRAME PEOPLE TO MAKE THEM GO TO THE CHURCH AND BECOME INDEBTED
* WILL FREQUENTLY WORK WILL TEL’VALAR TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM SUFFERING THE DEATH PENALTY
* PEEPS WILL GO TO THE CHURCH FOR HELP, THE CHURCH WILL OFFER TO PAY OFF THEIR LIFE SENTENCE TO TEL’VALAR, AND THEREFORE PUT THE CONVICT INTO THEIR DEBT.
* THEY TELL TEL’VALAR THAT THEY USE THE CHURCH’S TEACHINGS AND FAITH TO REFORM THE WRONGDOERS, INSTEAD OF KILLING THEM.

**Motifs:**

* Aist-Erume'rauko -  For the church. Not the evil plot, just need to see the elephant stuff everywhere in the church to build the association
* Tel'Tapatendar - Just the thieves guild, not their evil plot or anything. Just will see coyote stuff in places to build the association. playing cardes, joker & aces
* Tel’Mavarim - The Shepherds
	+ Mavar - Shepherd
	+ Mama - sheep
	+ Taimavar - shepherd of the sky - a constellation.
	+ The shepherds cane thing

**Rituals and Ceremonies:** All members of the Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) are undead. Their initiation rites are to become undead.

Usually, They are expected to appear and act as a hive mind, so make Them experience internal struggles and schisms. Let the protagonist draw upon these to gain allies and weaken the enemies. Contradicting motives is also one of the best ways to characterize your villians.

MacGuffin: [item that's only purpose is to move the plot]

Chekhov's Gun: [item they get early that ends up being super important and useful later]

TWO HEADED ROC GONE CRAZY HAS TO PLAY A PART

There’s three parts at play here, the church - who do all the PR stuff, all the preaching, the public face. They maintain the benevolent appearance. The thieves do all the dirty work and get take the fall when Tel’Valar starts sniffing too close.

The Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) is all behind the scenes, no one really knows they exist, they operate stealthily to advance their own goals.

## **Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate)**

* Built on crushed dreams and broken bodies of citizens deeply indebted to the church’s banks and loan sharks
* Elaborate hierarchy of syndics, priests, and oligarchs exist for the single purpose of funneling wealth to the top
* Twin facades of religious hierarchy and banking operation
* Organized crime Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) with its fingers in businesses across the city
* PReach an oppressive message that equates sin with debt, and promises forgiveness to those who make tithes and donations
* Stores and secures riches of the city, collecting interest at high rates to expand its own wealth
* The king/crown borrow money from the church
* The members truly believe that their work is necessary to the proper function of Tal En’EStela
* Many people are dazzled by the church’s promises of wealth, prestige, and longevity
	+ So the whole thing about the city believing wealth = longevity!!!
	+ Fueled by the Princes/Kings being immortals, and the church elite being undead
* The GHOST COUNCIL leads the Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate)
	+ It isn’t clear which members of original council might have faded from existence since then, and which members have joined since then

## **Inside the Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate)**

* The Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) is ruled by the iron fist of the GHOST COUNCIL
	+ Costing of the oldest and most powerful undead oligarchs
	+ Huge hierarchy stretches out beneath them
	+ The 3 heads of the church are part of this council, they are the only undead members of the church
* Most interactions with the leadership of the guild are with the people or spirits who occupy the rank right above you
* This hierarchy has corruption in it at every level, and at any time your superiors might be passing instructions down from on high, or just using you to pursue their own agendas of greed and ambition
* The churches are scattered across the city, each one led by a ministrant with a staff of knights and syndics
	+ Centers of commerce clothed in the trappings of religions
	+ Lowly borrowers come to seek atonement for their signs
	+ Atonement that is given in the form of debt and obligation
* The syndic’s attorneys and advokists maintain offices near Tel’Valar.
	+ These offices are centers of operations for protection rackets and other criminal activities

## **Goals of the Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate)**

* The Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) is dedicated to the quest for power
	+ It sees the value in an organized, structured, law-abiding community, because it is adept at exploiting laws and structures for its own gain
	+ WILL FREQUENTLY WORK WILL TEL’VALAR TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM SUFFERING THE DEATH PENALTY
	+ PEEPS WILL GO TO THE CHURCH FOR HELP, THE CHURCH WILL OFFER TO PAY OFF THEIR LIFE SENTENCE TO TEL’VALAR, AND THEREFORE PUT THE CONVICT INTO THEIR DEBT.
	+ Yo the Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) has people from Tel'Tapatendar FRAME PEOPLE TO MAKE THEM GO TO THE CHURCH AND BECOME INDEBTED
	+ THEY TELL TEL’VALAR THAT THEY USE THE CHURCH’S TEACHINGS AND FAITH TO REFORM THE WRONGDOERS, INSTEAD OF KILLING THEM.
* Increasing tensions between the rock elves and fire elves have led to an atmosphere of instability in Tal En’Estela
	+ To counter this, the Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) promises the trappings of a stable, ordered life amid the chaos - for the price
	+ They believe that adherence to hierarchy is the key to success, and they find great comfort in the rigid structure of their guild
* To boost their declining profits in a vacillating economy, the Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) has begun offering protection services,
	+ promising to shield their “customers” from both physical harm and fiscal disaster
	+ These operations amount to racketeering
	+ Underlying threat that those who refuse to pay for protection become targets of the Synidcate’s thugs and enforcers.
* The Mavar Yanta (Shepherd's Syndicate) ’s most effective tactics to avoid detection
	+ Increase the layers of separation between the day-to-day criminal operations of the guild nad the leadership, ensuring no matter how many street-level thugs and syndics are apprehended, the guild’s leadership remains in tact
	+ Contact between the oligarchs and lower-ranking members of the guild is increasingly rare
	+ Even the pontiffs find it ever more difficult to arrange a hearing with their superiors

## **Rank 1**

*Prerequisites: Renown 3 or higher with this guild.*

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## **Rank 2**

*Prerequisites: Rank 1 and renown 10 or higher with this guild.*

s

## **Rank 3**

*Prerequisites: Rank 2 and renown 25 or higher with this guild.*

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## **Rank 4**

*Prerequisites: Rank 3 and renown 50 or higher with this guild.*

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