The Solstice Syndicate: Agents of Change

Current Changes in Motion

The Solstice Syndicate is no longer satisfied with being the shadow in the corner of Camp Hope. Once content to operate its casino and underground network with careful discretion, the Syndicate is now executing a bold new initiative: the slow normalization of vice, alternative culture, and social independence within the camp.

They are pushing boundaries publicly—hosting grander casino nights, expanding access to recreational drugs, and openly supporting Others and Awakened in leadership roles. Their operations are growing more visible, more ambitious, and more disruptive. They are funding artists, hosting public performances, and distributing literature that questions the authority of the Church of Hope.

The message is clear: Camp Hope doesn’t need salvation. It needs freedom.

Key Changes the Syndicate Is Pushing For:

• Cultural Liberalization: Advocating for the recognition of Others and Awakened as full citizens with rights and respect.
• Economic Expansion: Establishing black-market trade routes with other camps under the guise of “resource exchange” networks.
• Legal Grey Zones: Pressuring local governance to remove moralistic laws and allow more permissive interpretations of trade, drug use, and entertainment.
• Underground Justice: Offering protection and arbitration in civil disputes outside the official systems, reinforcing their image as a viable alternative authority.

Who’s Trying to Stop Them?

The Church of Hope

Belief: The Syndicate is a moral rot threatening the soul of Camp Hope.
The Church believes the Solstice’s growing influence is corrosive. Their alternative values—pleasure over sacrifice, individual power over collective unity—threaten to undo the delicate social balance that keeps Camp Hope from tearing itself apart. The Church is actively pushing for tighter regulations, using its influence to condemn public events and framing the Syndicate's expansion as a spiritual sickness.

The Town Watch

Belief: The Syndicate is out of control and undermining order.
With racketeering, unregulated commerce, and whispers of assassination contracts, the Town Watch has officially labeled the Syndicate a "criminal threat." They've stepped up enforcement—raids, curfews, sting operations—but are increasingly frustrated by the Syndicate's layered structure and public support. Arrests of low-level members do little to disrupt the actual power.

Camp Administration & The Doctors

Belief: The Syndicate’s rise destabilizes crucial systems.
Though less vocal, the Camp’s governing bodies and The Doctors are growing concerned. Their hesitancy comes from practical risks: if the Syndicate controls the supply chain for entertainment and "mood stabilizers," they could gain leverage over public morale and medical dependency. Quiet investigations and political pressure are underway.

The Shadow of Revolution

For the first time in years, Camp Hope feels unstable. But for some, it also feels alive. People laugh more, question more, live more freely—and that makes the Solstice Syndicate dangerous in a way brute force never could.

What started as a vice operation now plays like a cultural coup. The question is:
Will Camp Hope evolve… or burn?