Who were the "syndics" of the Syndics Ban?

[smiorgan]

Here's a question that came up in relation to the Italian translation of RQ. 

I've read about the Syndics Ban and how Prince Snodal inadvertently caused it, but why is it called SYNDICS ban? The English word syndic can denote a mayor (like Italian "sindaco") or some other sort of official, an advocate or representative of the people, a trustee acting in the name of some group or community, etc. But who were the syndics of the ban? Does the term refer to the socerers and priests that accompanied Snodal and performed the ritual on the corpse of the God of the Silver Feet?

 Thanks!

Smiorgan

[svensson]

This is just a guess.

'Syndics' is another word for 'oligarchs'... those made powerful by wealth. Because the Syndics Ban prevented trade, some of the most wealthy could no longer support their position in their society. With the loss of the sea and caravan trade routes, a vigorous reshuffling of the power structure of most cities happened.

So the 'Syndics Ban' may not refer to a ban BY syndics, but a ban OF syndics.

I grant you that it's a reach, but that's the best off-the-cuff answer I have.

[Bill the barbarian]

46 minutes ago, smiorgan said:

I've read about the Syndics Ban and how Prince Snodal inadvertently caused it, but why is it called SYNDICS ban?

It was lengthy and ensured peace...

Quote

Similarly, the fortifications of many Loskalmi cities have fallen into disrepair due to the long peace of the Syndics Ban.

Page 51 G2G V1

 

Started in 1499... Some areas are still under it...

Page 141 G2G V1

Caused by actions of a Prince Snodal, who crossed the Valind Glacier and got future knowledge in 1443 and set forth on a disastrous... well, read on. 

 

Quote

 

Prince Snodal led a band of priests, Malkioni sorcerers, and specialists through the Hero Plane to a place where lived the God of the Silver Feet, the Fronelan god of communications. They slew him, and performed dread rites over the body.

When they returned they found disaster had befallen their land. Each separate state or region was cut off from its neighbors. Each region became isolated. Several years after Loskalm had been isolated, a man, Snodal’s son, came and occupied the vacant throne of the kingdom. The kings of the current dynasty are descendants of his companions.

 

Page 145 G2G V1

This seems to be the Syndics and the ban was the result of their actions...

 

And there is an entire side bar on page 200 of volume one of that heavy tome I mention above! With permission I would post more, but... sans permission, this is worth a deep dive it seems. It receives substantial mention for the next 100 or so odd pages. 

 

Still does not answer your original question, smiorgan... sorry.

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Bill the barbarian

[Joerg]

Since the victim was the god of communication and trade, I wonder whether Syndics Ban really is a ban of the syndicated trade, communication, and diplomacy, rather than telling who caused it.

Thus, the banned syndics could have been the practitioners of the cult of the God of the Silver Feet.

As a side effect, this might have neutered the talar caste ancestral abilities in Malkioni Fronela, possibly making a meritocratic advancement scheme necessary.

[metcalph]

I understoodd the Syndics (solely on the basis of the name) to have been the urban leaders of the Janube - Perfe, Riverjoin, Southbank, Eastpoint and Galastar.  While Snodal was in it to stop Zzabur's Evil Plot, the others might have gotten involved to stop the White Bear Empire, which could have been still a threat.  The sidebar on p200 in retelling of how his heirs discovered what he was up to (summoning him after his death) suggests that Siglat, Gundreken or Gaiseron didn't know what Snodal was upto beforehand.  Nor does it seem was the University of Sog City.  Sorcerors and Malkioni Wizards are specified which suggests answers could be found in High Ffort and Kerantos

[JRE]

We know that the cause was the murder of the God of the Silver Feet, but I would say that beyond a few members of the Loskalm royal family, and possibly the Lunar Empire after use of divination magic and their early access to the area, very few people in Glorantha know it.

Following Joerg proposal, and lacking any official answer, I would expect that the Syndics in the name are the representatives of the God of Silver Feet, and that at his murder they issued some kind of curse and warning, and that is what the isolated communities know, that the Syndics cursed them and the borders rose. The Syndics probably died/were taken away/burst in flames, so they could not offer additional information.

 

[David Scott]

I often wondered about where the Syndic's Ban came from. The phrase appears in Wycliffe Ballads, a long piece of biographical poetry:

Quick! burn all such books and papers
As might aid the Syndic's ban,
Which you find within my chambers :"
Thus the hurried message ran.

I never asked Greg about this, so it amuses me to think he read this and just noted it down as a cool thing to use at some point.

The Syndic's Ban (singular, belonging to the syndic) as it appeared in Greg's typed notes also appears later as Syndics Ban (just plural), it appears to have lost it's apostrophe completely in the Guide.

The syndic of the poem controlled the Sorbonne and had the king's ear, so going back to a singular Syndic, I think it was the High priest of the God of the Silver Feet, backed by what remained of the cult. (syndic as religious controller).

just a flight of fancy...

[Jeff]

54 minutes ago, David Scott said:

I often wondered about where the Syndic's Ban came from. The phrase appears in Wycliffe Ballads, a long piece of biographical poetry:

Quick! burn all such books and papers
As might aid the Syndic's ban,
Which you find within my chambers :"
Thus the hurried message ran.

I never asked Greg about this, so it amuses me to think he read this and just noted it down as a cool thing to use at some point.

The Syndic's Ban (singular, belonging to the syndic) as it appeared in Greg's typed notes also appears later as Syndics Ban (just plural), it appears to have lost it's apostrophe completely in the Guide.

The syndic of the poem controlled the Sorbonne and had the king's ear, so going back to a singular Syndic, I think it was the High priest of the God of the Silver Feet, backed by what remained of the cult. (syndic as religious controller).

just a flight of fancy...

This has far more truth in it than the previous speculation.