Orzhov Syndicate
Black White
Wealth is power, and you absolutely can take it with you if you're an undying spirit living in decadent luxury on the ruling council of the Orzhov Syndicate. Built on the crushed dreams and broken bodies of citizens deeply indebted to the syndicate's banks and loan sharks, Orzhov's elaborate hierarchy of syndics, priests, and oligarchs exists for the single purpose of funneling wealth to the top. Beneath the twin facades of religious hierarchy and banking operation, Orzhov is an organized crime syndicate with its fingers in businesses across the city.
The Orzhov's original function was both religious and financial, with the two functions closely related. As Ravnica's dominant church, the Orzhov continues to preach an oppressive message that equates sin with debt and promises forgiveness to those who make tithes and donations. As Ravnica's principal bank, it stores and secures the riches of the city, collecting interest at high rates to expand its own wealth. Its members truly believe that their work is necessary to the proper functioning of Ravnica. Although most other Ravnicans see the Orzhov for the corrupt organization it is, many people are still dazzled by the syndicate's promises of wealth, prestige, and longevity.
The Ghost Council, also called the Obzedat, that leads the Orzhov founded the guild and signed the Guildpact, but it isn't clear which members of the original Obzedat might have faded from existence since then and which current members have joined since.
Orzhov Characters
Alignment: Usually lawful, often evil
Suggested Races: Human
Suggested Classes: Cleric, fighter, rogue, wizard
You might enjoy playing a character who belongs to the Orzhov Syndicate if any of the following sentences are true:
- You want to move through the corrupt underbelly of society and make respectable people squirm in your presence.
- You enjoy playing fearsome or decadent characters.
- You want to strive for wealth, lavish beauty, or both.
Structure
Orzhov churches and basilicas are scattered across the city, each one led by a ministrant with a staff of knights and syndics. These sites are centers of commerce clothed in the trappings of religion, where lowly borrowers come to seek atonement for their sins—atonement that is given in the form of debt and obligation.
Orzhov attorneys and advokists maintain offices near New Prahv and other Azorius courts. Despite their proximity to law enforcement, these offices are centers of operation for Orzhov protection rackets and other criminal activities.
Public Agenda
Increasing tensions in Ravnica have led to an atmosphere of instability, and to counter this, the Orzhov Syndicate promises the trappings of a stable, ordered life amid the chaos—for a price. The Orzhov 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 Orzhov have begun offering protection services, promising to shield their "customers" from both physical harm and fiscal disaster. These operations amount to racketeering, bringing with them the underlying threat that those who refuse to pay for protection become targets of the Orzhov's thugs and enforcers.
The Azorius are the greatest threat to Orzhov's operations. In times past, the Orzhov danced along the edges of the law and presented an appearance of legality, but the combination of an ever-expanding legal code and the guild's move into racketeering and other explicitly illegal activities has made it vulnerable to Azorius enforcement. So far, the Azorius have demonstrated more interest in cracking down on the chaotic activity of the Gruul and the Rakdos, but Azorius arresters also routinely shut down Orzhov protection rackets and take enforcers into custody. To make matters worse, the Azorius Senate's increasing use of precognitive magic is proving difficult for the Orzhov to work around.
So far, the syndicate's most effective tactic has been to increase the layers of separation between the day-to-day criminal operations of the guild and the leadership, ensuring that no matter how many street-level thugs and syndics are apprehended to fill the Azorius prisons, the guild's leadership remains intact. Contact between the oligarchs and lower-ranking members of the guild is increasingly rare in this situation, and even the pontiffs find it ever more difficult to arrange a hearing with their superiors.
Assets
Advokist If you are a spellcaster (perhaps a wizard specialized in the School of Abjuration, Divination, or Enchantment), you can aspire to be an advokist—one of the syndicate's lawyers, with duties that include overseeing contracts, representing clients in Azorius courts, and prosecuting those who fail to pay their debts. Some clerics of the Order Domain also choose to pursue this path.
Many advokists draw on the power of law magic to enforce regulations and contracts to the advantage of the guild. They use their magic to draw out the truth from debtors and those who dare to break their contracts with the guild, to ensure that petitioners approach with the proper humility, and to punish those who offend them or violate their contracts. Some advokists (particularly specialists in the School of Abjuration) also deal in encrypting texts, warding vaults and secret meeting rooms, fortifying structures, and cloaking important personages in magical protections.
Enforcer Enforcers guard Orzhov property and protect the guild's bureaucrats, administrators, and aristocrats. You might be the muscle who collects protection money and debt payments from the syndicate's clients, or an assassin (euphemistically called a euthanist) who brings speedy ends to lives deemed to have gone on too long. Most Orzhov enforcers are fighters. Rogue enforcers typically emulate the Thief or Assassin archetype.
PriestIf you are cleric (most likely of the Order Domain), you can aspire to serve an important function in the Orzhov Syndicate, which continues to maintain the outward appearance of a religious institution. Once you earn a position of respect in the syndicate, you will hear confessions and dole out penance (which is always of a financial nature). Your "calling" centers on collecting monetary tithes and offerings in a wide range of forms. Your spellcasting ability comes from the collective power of the spirits that rule the guild, not from a god.
You might even be a most unusual priest for the syndicate—one who thinks the guild's wealth should be used to ease the suffering of the downtrodden. You might also believe in the inspiration and delight that beautiful pageantry can offer to the world. If you seek to distribute wealth and share beauty, rather than hoard them, you must do so discreetly to avoid the ire of the Obzedat.
History
Guild Background
Orzhov Representative
The prospect of immense wealth is the promise of membership in the Orzhov Syndicate. All of the guild's endeavors channel wealth from Ravnican society into the ranks of the Orzhov-and concentrates the spoils at the top of the hierarchy. As a functionary in that system, your best hope is to claim as much as possible of the money that passes through your hands on its way up, so that you can work your way into a more prominent position. Regardless of your past and the wealth of your family, your initial status with the guild is near the bottom, until you have proven your value.
Features
Leverage
You can exert leverage over one or more individuals below you in the guild's hierarchy and demand their help as needs warrant. For example, you can have a message carried across a neighborhood, procure a short carriage ride without paying, or have others clean up a bloody mess you left in an alley. The DM decides if your demands are reasonable and if there are subordinates available to fulfill them. As your status in the guild improves, you gain influence over more people, including ones in greater positions of power.
Orzhov Guild Spells
Prerequisite: Spellcasting or Pact Magic class featureFor you, the spells on the Orzhov Guild Spells table are added to the spell list of your spellcasting class (If you are a multiclass character with multiple spell lists, these spells are added to all of them.) You can view these spells in Spells by Guild Tables
Your magic tends to manifest as swirling shadows, brilliant light, or sometimes the momentary appearance of shadowy spirit forms. Your spells might draw the blood of your enemies, or even directly touch their souls.
Suggested Characteristics
Members of the Orzhov Syndicate range from the decadent nobility at the top of the oligarchy to the debt-ridden wretches at the bottom. You fall somewhere between those extremes, so you might behave with the arrogance of the very rich or the humility of the impoverished.
Traits
| 1d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I am always willing to act in accordance with the financial incentive offered. |
| 2 | Debts are never meant to be forgiven. |
| 3 | I am accustomed to enjoying the finest pleasures money can buy. |
| 4 | No one could doubt that I am a cut above the masses of pitiful peasants that infest the city. |
| 5 | I can't stand to spend a zib more than necessary to purchase what I need. |
| 6 | I hate it when people try to make light of a serious situation. |
| 7 | I want to make sure everyone is aware of how wealthy, powerful, and important I am. |
| 8 | I can't think of anything to look forward to. |
Ideal
| 1d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Guild. My guild is all that really matters. (Any) |
| 2 | Wealth. I will do whatever it takes to become as rich as the oligarchs. (Evil) |
| 3 | Power. One day, I will be the one giving orders. (Evil) |
| 4 | Prestige. I want to be admired, respected, feared, or even hated for my position and wealth. (Evil) |
| 5 | Stability. The economy functions best when chaos is kept under control and everyone knows their place. (Lawful) |
| 6 | Eternity. I want to live forever-in the flesh as long as possible, and as a spirit afterward. (Any) |
Bond
| 1d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | The unbearable weight of my debt has driven me to desperation. |
| 2 | I'm duty-bound to obey the dictates of an ancestor on the Ghost Council. |
| 3 | I value my worldly goods more highly than my mortal life. |
| 4 | An oligarch publicly humiliated me, and I will exact revenge on that whole family. |
| 5 | My faith in the Obzedat never wavers. |
| 6 | I want to prove myself more worthy than an older sibling and thereby ensure that I inherit a greater share of my parents' wealth. |
Flaw
| 1d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I hold a scandalous secret that could ruin my family forever-but could also earn me the favor of the Ghost Council. |
| 2 | I'm convinced that everyone I know is plotting against me. |
| 3 | I'll brave any risk if the monetary reward is great enough. |
| 4 | I am convinced that I am far more important than anyone else is willing to acknowledge. |
| 5 | I have little respect for anyone who isn't wealthy. |
| 6 | I'll take any opportunity to steal from wealthier people, even for worthless trinkets. |
Contacts
The Orzhov Syndicate operates according to a strict hierarchy built on a network of connections among old, wealthy families. Your family might provide important contacts, while your family's activities in crime, banking, or debt collection could tie you to members of other guilds.Roll twice on the Orzhov Contacts Table (for an ally and a rival) and once on the Non-Orzhov Contacts Table.
How do I fit in?
The structure of the Orzhov Syndicate means that you are always doing the bidding of someone higher up the ladder than you are. Ultimately, your role in the guild is defined by whatever the people (and spirits) above you decide for you.For most of your career, you can expect to engage in some aspect of the day-to-day criminal operations of the guild. That can mean throwing your weight around to enforce the will of the guild or using religious authority to extort offerings from the people. But it can also mean doing various errands for your superiors, from bearing messages to carrying out assassinations.
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