- This article is for the character. For the role and its history, see: Syndics of Beryl
The Syndic was the ruler of Beryl, the oldest of the Jewel Cities, during Croaker's first chronicle. The Black Company was in service as his personal bodyguard. This small man with a huge hooked nose was fated to be the second-to-last of the Syndics of Beryl.
The Black Company
The Syndic was the leader of the political organization known as the Reds. He ruled Beryl during a time of escalating upheaval both inside and outside of his borders.
He was troubled by the recent conquest of Opal, another major Jewel City (but located across the Sea of Torments) by a mysterious northern empire. But even more pressingly, he needed armed protection from many internal enemies among three groups: his own army, known as the Urban Cohorts; an opposition group known as the Blues; and the unpredictable masses of the city at large. When the Syndic refused to pay off the Urban Cohorts to suppress the rioting mobs, the conflict escalated to a full scale civil war in the city. After the Company lost almost one hundred of its members trying to suppress these riots, they realized their continued service to the Syndic could result in their destruction. But they had a contract to protect him nevertheless. Searching for a way to break out of the contract, they had a secret meeting with a mysterious legate (Soulcatcher) from the northern empire, who offered to orchestrate a little accident for the Syndic, evacuate the Company, and bring them north with a new contract.
During the rioting, the Syndic hid in the Paper Tower under the protection of the Company. On the final night of the riots, a shape-shifting beast believed to be the forvalaka invaded the tower, apparently sent by the legate. Surprisingly, the Syndic managed to hide from the monster inside his massive stone strongbox, but was nevertheless surreptitiously killed, presumably by Match, under the orders of the Captain of the Company. After this, Soulcatcher installed a puppet Syndic as replacement, a distant relative of his predecessor who was also a member of the Reds. Though he was merely a figurehead, that man would be the last leader of Beryl to be called "Syndic", as his successors were imperial governors.