Syndicate

The Imperial Syndicate Empire, more commonly referred to as Syndicate, is a nation founded on Rivers in mid 2017 by p\_hardd, who rejoined Rivers almost a whole year and a half after he suddenly went offline. p\_hardd might be better remembered as his original name, ZeldaKing414. But few players will remember this since the last time he logged on from that account, the land that would soon become the Mainland was just discovered by ItsEntriix & JacksonRFW a few days earlier. Syndicate labels itself as an imperialist empire with a form of democracy sealed within a parliament. When in reality, all forms of democracy inside of the country are controlled by one leader; this making Syndicate an authoritarian empire.

## Background

Syndicate is a country located on the North side of the Rivers spawnpoint. The country is made up of three different kinds of architecture styles, that of the original country, LumioseCity, then Bleachland, and now the current, Syndicate. Ownership of the land has been transferred to over 5 people, that is more transferring than all of the countries on Rivers combined. The current (and final) state of the country is lead by the player p\_hardd (aka DaVeed, or Zeldaking414). When p\_hardd negotiated ownership of the land with mthebeastOG (the owner of Oftelia, a major state in one of the largest countries in Rivers, Bleachland), it marked the sixth and final transfer of land for the territory. It is believed that construction of Syndicate, or marking a capital for the mostly unchanged territory, began as soon as the next day. The country faced multiple hardships and unforseen difficulties in its creation. Not only did its neighboring country, Bleachland, resent the decision to give up the land to p\_hardd, but only a few hours after the newly built structures that marked Syndicate sovereignity were established; the map was accidentally wiped due to a major plugin error. A few days later, after the map was restored, the map version that was used as the backup was from a few hours before construction on Syndicate began. After Syndicate was rebuilt, another major plugin error caused the nation to be erased from Rivers. Syndicate was rebuilt for a third time in the final month of Rivers existence. This third and final verison of Syndicate was militarized to an extent never before seen in any country in Rivers. Syndicate divided itself into two different land sections. The first section only pertained to the newly built Syndicate structures, these structures were put on massive terracotta & stone bases called "Blocks". While buildings on naturally generated terrain were called "Municipalities". This was done so that the totalitarian system of Syndicate could be maintained and carefully managed by the leader, p\_hardd (which it is assumed that an uprising from within Syndicate could take place in Vindemia. A municipality thatt is mostly made up of property built by and legally owned by mthebeastOG & GameBoyPower, both player own and operate their own countries.). Overtime, tensions rose between Syndicate and its neighboring country, Bleachland. Soon, war erupted between the two countries, resulting in the destruction of the capital of Bleachland, The Compound. Then subsequently resulting in the destruction of multiple sites in Syndicate, such as Atsana (The Capital Block), The Tower of Triumph (Capital Building), The Jurisdictio Bloc (Second Block), The Exodus Arch, and SilverDollar64's house (the capital of the original country, LumioseCity). Even though the destruction from the war shook the server, the shock didn't last long. The biggest greifing spree spread across Rivers by one player, MinerIRC, took place during the time of the war. This greifing spree was done in the Mainland of Rivers, near the spawnpoint. This greifing spree called for a map backup to be loaded into the world. This backup erased all of the destruction caused by the greifing and the war between Bleachland and Syndicate. In conclusion, the war happened, but the consequences of it were erased from history, only to be preserved in few captured screenshots.
### Country Info

##### Land Infrastructure

The land that Syndicate now owns has been built over the course of three countries. In that time period, the territory has expanded from its original borders designated by LumioseCity founder, SilverDollar64. When Syndicate met the requirements to become a sovereign country, it was clear that the nation had the goal of creating a greater country than what the two previous land owners did in their own effort. This was done by first separating Syndicate itself from the rest of the territory by establishing a distinct architecture style and building platforms for all the new Syndicate structures. These player-made platforms were called "Blocs". In its final state, Syndicate has two blocs, the first entailing the capital and residence of Syndicate Nonpareil, p\_hardd. The second bloc was supposed to have a statue of p\_hardd and has an underground court which houses the Parliamentary Jurisdiction (aka, the Syndicate Jury). Many players tend to be confused about the Parliamentary Jurisdiction in Syndicate, since, by Syndicate law, all members of the Parliament must vote in accordance with p\_hardd or risk being kicked from the country and having their property seized by the authoritarian government. On the far opposite side of the blocs lies a small settlement built far before Syndicate, Bleachland (Radar), and even LumioseCity. This territory was built by mthebeastOG and still, by the Rivers law, is legally owned by him to this day. This area of land is designated by Syndicate as "Vindemia". Syndicate has designated a special watchman to survey and monitor the land because of superstition of an uprising or a threat to power coming from that part of land. Throughout much of the country, monuments, flagpoles, and minor details signifying Syndicate sovereignty are present. It is rumored that under the country exists a hidden underground network of tunnels designed to keep p\_hardd safe from dying in the time of a war with another country. While dying during a time of war in Rivers doesn't signify that country's loss, it seemed as if Rivers President BossBoy42 was nearing a reform that would add such implications. Being a country that wanted to overcome its problems with its neighboring country, Bleachland- through war, TNT cannons were lined up on the border of both countries. Every cannon is still loaded with TNT and ready to launch at the press of a button.

##### Governmental Infrastructure

While the government of Syndicate is an authoritarian bureaucracy completely submitted to Nonpareil p\_hardd, it wasn't supposed to be that way. Originally, p\_hardd wanted to form a group of richer players and disperse them throughout the territory surrounding Radar, a state of Bleachland. In doing this, they would create minimalist countries- or a country created with only three players, which is the ultimate minimum required to create a country on Rivers. After surrounding the territory, the countries would seep into the territory and slowly acquire it through negotiation with Bleachland leaders Triggeredbleach and mthebeastOG. After acquiring the territory, a confederation would be created under the rule of p\_hardd, whereby all citizens of the former nations would unite under one greater country. p\_hardd intended to pay out these citizens with emeralds from the Stateness treasury. This plan, however, was completely thrown off because of the many major plugin glitches that lead to the continual erasing of the Stateness treasury. Even if the treasury was completed, though, p\_hardd would be tried for impeachment as President of Rivers; since his tactics for winning the Presidency were underhanded and left him with a sour approval rating. Clearly, the Syndicate we know now isn't what was supposed to be. With all of these setbacks, p\_hardd still managed to acquire the land through less-than-legal but 'close-enough' negotiations that led the country to be in an Israel-Palestine like conflict between Syndicate-Bleachland. Because of the major opposition to Syndicate from Bleachland, which is one of the strongest countries in Rivers, p\_hardd rules the country with an iron fist. Syndicate "Eye of Triumph" flags are dispersed densely throughout the country to remind every player that they are not in Bleachland or Vindemia, but Syndicate. The nation does have a parliamentary jury to make decisions on reforms in the country, as well as decide whether or not someone should be charged for a crime committed by a citizen within the countries borders. The country also has an 'Administrator of Justice' (JacksonRFW), which is the investigator of the criminal activity as well as the adviser to p\_hardd. In the governmental system, there is also a 'Vindemia Watchman' (Dragontrainer3). This player is tasked with monitoring the territory of Vindemia (a state in Syndicate), which is said to be prone to uprising since part of the territory is owned by Bleachland's co-leader, mthebeastOG. The only actual independent player here is Dragontrainer3, the Vindemia Watchman (mostly because they don't get a vote). Because both the Administrator of Justice and every member of the Parliamentary Jurisdiction must vote in accordance with p\_hardd. In closing, many believe the governmental system is just a shield of democracy to mask the real efforts of p\_hardd to win a war against Bleachland- even in spite of Syndicate allies (e.g. Neocarpathia, Stateness) warning against it.

### Allies

Even though Syndicate was a secretive, isolationist kind of country, p\_hardd still retained connections with few country leaders after the Syndicate Confederation plan fell through. These leaders included Greatness685 (leader of Stateness), Kitty\_Guts (leader of Neocarpathia), and Heir\_Of\_Neptune (leader of Atlantis). While p\_hardd would never disclose any plans about Syndicate with other players outside of the Vindemian Watchman, Administrator of Justice, and some members of the Parliamentary Jurisdiction, it is well known that these allies are meant to be aides in a time of war.

### Enemies

Even before Syndicate was created, p\_hardd had already made many great allies and even greater rivals. Not only did his victory in the sixth Presidential election cause him to gain some opposition, but when he eviscerated mthebeastOG & GameBoyPower from the election (who of which was one of the final two candidates), it was an unexpected loss and an even more odds defying victory for p\_hardd. p\_hardd ran with the narrative that certain players in Rivers are gaining too much power, while this is true in some right, it is hypocritical in a way because he himself was going to use his Presidential power to payout a group of players to create a confederation for him. Two of the many players he put in this group of overwhelming power were both leaders & co-leaders of their own countries. One of the countries, Retro, is one of the largest countries in Rivers, utilizing the unique technique of creating your own land in the sky. The other country, Bleachland, which was the first country ever created on Rivers, is the only country neighboring Syndicate. While Retro was not a direct enemy to Syndicate, Bleachland, on the other hand, had to ready its never-before-used forces to combat the aggressive behavior of Syndicate. The tensions between the two countries escalated to their height when Syndicate constructed a cannon atop a tree aimed exactly at The Compound (the capital of Bleachland and TriggeredBleach's house/base of operations). As tensions grew between the two countries, their allies began to gear up for a massive showdown between the strongest countries in Rivers. Pair this tension with the expected executive order by BossBoy42 (more information HERE) on war, and the long lasting rivalry between both countries; you have a war.

### The Battle of the North

In the last month of Rivers, tensions reached a breaking point between Syndicate and Bleachland. While p\_hardd denies it, the most active players during the time of the beginning of the war believe that p\_hardd directly ordered the cannons lined up on the Syndicate / Bleachland border to fire. This was what set off the war. The first damages of war were the Bleachland lighthouse and The Compound watchtower. Throughout the war, allies from each country rushed in with their own reinforcements. On Bleachland's side, their allies such as Retro, Golden Banana Republic and Lakes fought on their side. While Neocarpathia, Atlantis, and Twinkietopia fought in favor of Syndicate. Stateness, being the largest country in Rivers in terms of citizen numbers, split both ways- choosing to supply emeralds and firepower to both sides. In the war, the only country leader to not directly fight in the war, or show any sign of participation in it at all for that matter, is TriggeredBleach of Bleachland. Many players are confused to why one of the most armed players on Rivers wouldn't look for an opportunity to defeat their rival in a battle, but it has been confirmed that it was because TriggeredBleach just simply wasn't online or notified about ANY war whatsoever happening in Rivers.

### Contributions to Syndicate's defeat

* The effect the war had was far reaching in the surrounding area. The North Side of Rivers remained relatively unchanged for a long period of time since the establishment of Bleachland and Lumiose. But this war completely set off a chain of events to switch around the territory. One of these events was the expansion of territory. During the war time, Syndicate took advantage of the unprecedented ability to advance and gain territory much quicker through means of battle than that of negotiation and property law reform. This choice to expand territory was just as much a benefit to Syndicate as it was its downfall later in the war. During the war, Vindemia, a state in Syndicate, was suddenly brought up to sovereign nation status. The country was partially inside of Syndicate while also building itself up a few blocks away from the Syndicate border wall. This could be done legally because much of the property in Vindemia was built pre-Lumiose by mthebeastOG, thus meaning that the structures built there belong to him, not Syndicate. Vindemia was a minimalist country, 3 citizens, nothing more and nothing less. With Vindemia being lead by mthebeastOG, they had the backing of Bleachland. Since Bleachland couldn't advance beyond the border of Syndicate, Vindemia was the hidden back door for their advancement into enemy territory.
* Syndicate amassed territory the size of Stateness and Retro during the time of war by pushing into unclaimed forests and swamps far North. This usurped much of Syndicates resources for war and left them relying on reserves to hold back the advancement of Bleachland into their territory. When Syndicate focused completely on Bleachland, they let an uprising take place in Vindemia, something that p\_hardd always feared would happen during an unfortunate time in war.
* The biggest contribution to Syndicate's loss was the speed of reinforcements. While Syndicate did have many reinforcements and support from allied countries, these countries were very distant from the mainland in Rivers. These countries were also not the oldest nor the richest compared to the allies of Bleachland. This lead to the more constant delay of resources from Syndicate allies when the war began to tip in the favor of Bleachland. When the war began to fall and it was clear that either Syndicate would completely lose or surrender in a last ditch effort to salvage damage and territory, allies of Syndicate began to pull out of the war- cutting off resources from that country. The first country to withdraw was Atlantis, following quickly was Neocarpathia, and when Atlantis withdrew, Dragontrainer3 resigned from their duty as Vindemian Watchman. The only country to stay with Syndicate til the end of the war was Twinkietopia.

#### The Ceasefire Agreement

Syndicate was not going to surrender, but they were also not going to keep fighting a war they would lose. An agreement between Vindemia & Bleachland was petitioned by p\_hardd. While Bleachland was unresponsive to the agreement, Vindemia seemed to stop pushing into Syndicate. The advancement of the allies of Bleachland also began to slow. While the agreement was never officially recognized as an established ceasefire, it seemed as if every country was ready to pull out of war and go back to business as usual. The full outcome of the war is unknown, however. Because a major greifing spree committed in Rivers had the map rolledback to days before the war ever began. Reversing not only the damage done, but it gave every player a chance to reclaim and reaffirm their position as a citizen or ranking official in a country.