Myriad
Any civilised society will turn the people it has failed into criminals, and the societies of Wildemount are no exception. The continent's largest criminal organization took shape about eighty years ago, when a shipping company in the Dwendalian city of Yrrosa turned to smuggling contraband to make ends meet. This tightknit group of clever smugglers soon began to bargain with their competitors, employing blackmail and offering membership to their organization as an alternative to elimination.
The syndicate grew with alarming speed, infiltrating the criminal underbelly of every major city in Western Wynandir. Masquerading as purveyors of antiquities and foreign textiles, the Myriad focuses on providing their clients with exotic goods, such as illicit substances and magical beasts, or supplying hired muscle to intimidate their clients' rivals. The worst of the Myriad even deal in human merchandise.
Originally centered in Yrrosa, the Myriad now operates across the continent as a loose network of gang bosses who run their own local sects without direct oversight from the mysterious heads of the syndicate. Each satellite group is expected to regularly deliver information and a cut of their profits to the leadership. Those who fail to pay up receive quiet threats of enslavement or assassination—and the Myriad always makes good on its threats.
Members of the Myriad are sworn to keep their syndicate secret by pretending that their chapter is still just another local gang. This has given the Myriad a sinister and enigmatic reputation, which further obfuscates its activities from the authorities. Since members of the the Myriad prefer coercion to public displays of violence, officers of the law often fail to recognize Myriad activity until it's too late.
The empire scored a major victory fifteen years ago when they discovered and raided the central Myriad stronghold in Yrrosa, forcing the surviving leadership to scatter across the continent. The Myriad has emphasized the narrative of its own fall in order to keep a low profile, though in fact it has retained most of its power. Its influence has stretched to the distant corners of Wildemount as it bide its time and waits to reinstate its control within the empire. Shifting tactics, the Myriad has now begun seeding major factions with double agents, who turn the most foolish or corrupt of their colleagues into the Myriad's unwitting pawns.
Public Agenda
The loss of their headquarters taught the surviving Myriad leaders to temper their arrogance with caution. Now a decentralized network of allies and informants, the Myriad is reconnecting with their temporarily dormant contacts, not all of whom are happy to see their cruel masters return.
Beyond the borders of the Dwendalian Empire, the Myriad has deftly utilized the chaos of the Revelry's decades-long reign of piracy to infiltrate the guilds of the Clovis Concord. Between the war in the east and the distractions on the western waters, there has never been a better time for the Myriad to strike.
Foreign Relations
Merely mentioning Myriad activity within the Dwendalian Empire or the Menagerie Coast is enough to draw unwanted attention; members of the local law enforcement might investigate the rumours - and the person who started them. Those involved with the Myriad often vanish into the darkest prisons, or worse. Though the Myriad has apparently scattered since the raid on their base in Yrrosa, the authorities still keep an eye open for cell activity.
Twenty years ago, the Myriad established satellite cells in the distant lands of Tal'Dorei and Marquet. Since their headquarters in Wildemount was destroyed, some have suggested sending agents across the oceans to reinforce their foreign operatives. If the network can quickly regain its former strength, there will eventually be little chance of stopping the spread of its power and influence.
In the supposed absence of the Myriad, the Tribes of Shadycreek Run have begun to push into the empire to stake their claim in Myriad territory. The leaders of the Myriad watch from the shadows and plot ways to conscript (or, if necessary, to destroy) the prideful families of Shadycreek Run.
Type
Illicit, Syndicate
Government System
Anarchy