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== Convention Relationships ==
 
== Convention Relationships ==
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It's no secret that the Syndicate and the [[New World Order]] don't get along. The meat of this dispute is between Disbursements and the Ivory Tower. The later is top-down, policy driven, and ideological. The former is bottom-up, value-driven, and about personal politics. While the Ivory Tower says what the Union should be doing, Disbursements doesn't always fund what they want funded. The NWO hasn't accused the Syndicate of working against the Time Line, but everyone knows that day is on the horizon.
   
 
== References ==
 
== References ==

Revision as of 21:29, 15 April 2017

Disbursements is a Methodology of the Syndicate focusing on financing the projects of other Conventions of the Technocratic Union as well as the Syndicate's own programs.

Overview

Disbursements controls money for the Technocracy. Which means in effect they control Reality for the Union. It funds projects. Some hotshot Progenitor wants a new lab? She has to get funding. A Void Engineer want to build a new type of Void Ship with new Technology? He has to prove it worth the cost. If you stay on the good side of Disbursements then the money and good move your way. Make them mad and resources dry up. They control the largest and most secure Ventures in the Technocracy, parceling out primal utility to all... for a price

Most men and women of Disbursements are skilled in politicking and contract negotiation. They attend Symposia and keep an eye on Convention representatives. They approve budgets and file requests and so are rarely popular among their fellow technocrats.

History

Disbursements started at the Convention of the Ivory Tower when someone asked, "Yeah, but how do we pay for it?" Originally called the Sun Guild, it, or its various permutations, have controlled funding of the Union for centuries. For most of that time it was the head of the Convention until Queen Victoria, turning them into the Syndicate, put the Financiers in charge, trying to make Disbursements simple clerical support. Now the methodology uses the only tool it has to maintain power and control: the pursestrings.

Organization

The Methodology has several subdivisions.

  • Assessment Division: When you say “Syndicate,” most Technocrats think of this subdivision. They are bureaucrats who show up, inspect, assess, and approve or deny funding for new projects. While Assessors can be caricatured as paper-pushers, this isn't the case. They usually have a good handle on several sciences, both Enlightened and mundane, to do their jobs well. They can be accomplished engineers, lawyers, doctors, and policy makers. Many older Syndicate members decide to retire to Assessment after a lifetime or two of more exiting business. Given the nature of the sometimes ill-conceived projects they inspect, they often have to become troubleshooters to contain... problems. You don't become a respected Assessor by being sloppy or lazy.
  • Reorganization Division: Sometimes called Axe-Grinders behind their backs, these are the Syndicate people you least want to mess with. When an amalgam or construct doesn't do as well as it could, Reorg consultants go in. It basically does the same thing that Assessment does, except it considers the entire organization, not individual projects. It finds weak links, excesses, and loose cannons: all the parts of an organization that have to go. Technically Reorg consultants just offer advice, not decisions, and the amalgam or construct leadership carries it out. However, everyone knows that ignoring them usually leads to Assessors starting investigations.
  • Procurements Division: The Syndicate doesn't just distribute; it needs things too: materials or services only the other Conventions can supply. Procurements manages the flow of these things into the Convention's hands. It looks out for inventory and distributes new tech, clones, etc., to Syndicate members who deserve it. This makes them quite popular in the Syndicate. It’s equally disliked by those outside the Convention,  who “forget” their obligations or argue that they need the materials for their own "very important" projects. Procurement politely and gently reminds them and always comes home with the goods.
  • Extraction Division: Controlling the largest collection of Nodes and Ventures of any Enlightened group in the world, the Syndicate maintains them through this subdivision. These specialists arrange security and secrecy of node locations, and also harvest, distill, and distribute the Primal Energy gathered to Union operatives. These deliveries keep the Union working and fighting, and those who make deliveries are seen as beneficent saviors or stingy misers, depending on how much they give. Technically, Assessment says how much the Extractors are supposed to deliver, but Extractors tend to have a habit of under-reporting harvests and then selling the 'extra' for profit and favors.

Convention Relationships

It's no secret that the Syndicate and the New World Order don't get along. The meat of this dispute is between Disbursements and the Ivory Tower. The later is top-down, policy driven, and ideological. The former is bottom-up, value-driven, and about personal politics. While the Ivory Tower says what the Union should be doing, Disbursements doesn't always fund what they want funded. The NWO hasn't accused the Syndicate of working against the Time Line, but everyone knows that day is on the horizon.

References