Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago, ADN Computer Center
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 16:21:07 CST
From: Tim Olivas <U28839@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf
Subject: $yndicate: The Death Merchants

     The Death Merchants (An ur-Convention of the $yndicate)

     Hell opened up and put on sale
     Gather 'round and haggle
     For hard cash we will lie and decieve
     Even our masters don't know the webs we weave
     One world--it's a battleground
     One world--and we will smash it down
               --Pink Floyd, "The Dogs of War"

     It is faceless. It is monolithic. The tentacles of the $yndicate embrace
every shadowy corner of the earth, influencing events wherever things are
bought and sold. They dispense material happiness to the people, and crush
any who suggest there might be a higher, spiritual fufillment.
     The Secret Masters of the $yndicate are never seen. Through agents they
manipulate markets and enforce the Pogrom. Even the files the Virtual Adepts
stole when they left the Technocracy say little about the ultimate rulers of
this Convention. However, the Traditions are slowly becoming aware of a vicious
force within the $yndicate, a group of high functionaries who specialize in the
commerce of human misery--the Death Merchants.
     From their Chantry deep beneath the Pentagon, the Death Merchants oversee
war and terrorism around the world. They engineer conflicts and arms races to
bring countries further into the camp of the technocracy. They promote strong
feelings of nationalism and extreme ethnic identification so sleepers will
remain divided. They sell high-tech weaponry to both sides of any fight, thus
increasing dependance on technology and industry. It is largely due to this
ur-Convention that wars usually lead to great leaps in scientific knowledge and
international trade.
     The Death Merchant's ultimate goal seems to be the reduction of human life
to another commodity. The Traditions so far have maintained among the sleepers
the idea that no price can be put on human life, that it has infinite value.
However, the Death Merchants are long-sighted, and their initiatives range from
the sale of mercenaries to health care reform.
     The highest ranking members of this ur-Convention wield staggering power.
Some are the masters of multiple spheres, most commonly Forces and Entropy.
They have insisted that such staggering instruments of destruction as the
nuclear bomb and anthrax-leprosy lambda be incorporated into the technomancer
paradigm, convincing the other Conventions that the Technocracy carry the
biggest stick imaginable, just in case.
     Furthermore, the Death Merchants include in their ranks some of the finest
military strategists in history. On the rare occasions that the Technocracy
mounts large-scale, inter-Convention operations against its foes, it is always
one of the Death Merchants who plans and coordinates the attack. They are the
quintessential warmongers, the foremost advocates of the pogrom, and they are
ready to accept massive loss of living sleepers to be rid of the Marauders, in
particular.
     Individually, the Death Merchants are a grim lot. Almost all are men
over forty years of age. Some hold high ranks in military throughout the world,
but most avoid the spotlight and are known only as "consultants," "procurers,"
"advisors," and so on. Most are humorless and rigid, obsessed with command and
obedience. All put great emphasis on conformity. However, every Death Merchant
seems to have a number of bizzare eccentricities. One might be fond of surfing
and of Wagner played at extreme volumes--another might constantly quote T.S.
Eliot--another might like to wear lingerie underneath his khakhis--another
might have a fetish for chewing gum.
     In a chronicle, the Death Merchants symbolize the obscene power the
Technocracy has assumed over the lives of the sleepers. One Death Merchant
can start or stop a civil war. United, they could conceivably end human life
on Earth.

+----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| Tim Olivas           | "...the moon is full, the stars are bright,  |
| U28839@UICVM.UIC.EDU |  and the sky is a Poisonous Garden tonight." |