The Black Protocols

[Basil Ambrose Shrikeweed]

The Black Protocols

---

Storyline Status:
Open to any opponent of civil chaos, no matter from what quarter

Storyline Activity:
Active

Storyline Locations:
Centered in Vienda, this is a take of intrigue, of conflicting loyalties, of politics, and dangerous paperwork

Plot Summary

In the waning months of 2718 a plot was hatched. Its conspirators were influential, even pillars of galdori society. Their aims were obscure, their methods monstrous. Under cover of the growing threat of resistance and revolution, the conspirators arranged that the city of Dorehaven should be bombed, and that the blame should fall on those same revolutionary elements. Were they trying to turn public sentiment? Consolidate their own power? It was a prime opportunity for both. New laws could be passed in the wake of the public outcry, humans placed under closer control and surveillance. Their gatherings broken up, their ability to plot scattered. The influential and the well connected could aggregate power to themselves, even assume emergency powers.

And yet, none of that happened. A senseless bombing without apparent ends. An unsound plan.

It was quite by accident that Basil Ambrose Shrikeweed, Deputy Chief for Policy Analysis, discovered the plot. He had been given what seemed a simple enough assignment: keep an eye on Incumbent Vauquelin as he recovered from his mysterious illness, and prevent the man from engaging in any unsound actions. It was said the man was confused, unpredictable, not himself. The assignment failed before it could even begin. Incumbent Anatole Vauquelin was one of the conspirators.
And yet the man seemed changed, even horrified at what he had helped facilitate. Curious in the extreme. Something was amiss there, though what, Mr Shrikeweed could not tell. An uneasy alliance was struck between the two men, working in secret to try and root out the conspirators and uncover the inscrutable motives of this most dangerous cabal.

What Shrikeweed does not know is that the Incumbent truly is not himself, but a raen named Tom Cooke who now inhabits the body of the Incumbent. Worse still, Tom Cooke is a Resistance member.

That too is unsound.

Working in secret, and according to the traditions of the Black Protocols (rules and customs for clandestine governmental and counter-intelligence operations), Shrikeweed endeavours not only thwart the galdori conspirators, but root out the prediction for their actions: the Resistance.

Chaos, in whatever form, cannot be allowed to reign in Anaxas, no matter from what quarter.

Who is Involved?

PCs:

• Basil Ambrose Shrikeweed - Civil servant, Deputy Chief for Policy Analysis and Acting Chief of Staff to Incumbent Vauquelin. A committed foe of chaos and disorder, and a man of Vienda to his bones. He believes in galdori rule in the way that one believes in gravity, but he is not opposed to the lower races or even the expansion of their rights. Indeed, he is tolerably sure that expanding them would go a long way to ammealoriting the chaos and starve the Resistance of their much-needed fuel. And the Dorehaven conspirators are as dangerous, if not more so, than the Resistance. Shrikeweed would think it proper to hang Jon Serro and William Azmus beside each other on the gallows, both as enemies of the state.
• Tom Cooke - In his guise as Incumbent Vauquelin he provided a window into the conspirators’ plot. Note: Tom has his own intersecting plot What Lies Beneath which is likely to overlap in many ways with this plot.

Secondary Characters

• Bailey Sneed - Shrikeweed’s wick factotum, general agent, and unlikely ally. A thief, burglar, and all-around cocky fellow. Loyal though. Well, Mr Shrike ain’t such a bad kov, after all.

The Dorehaven Conspirators

• Julian Megiro - An important man who is not a household name
• High Judge William Azmus - The High Judge and perhaps the most obviously powerful of the conspirators

How to Get Involved

If you are committed to upholding the order of Anaxas, whether against bloody-minded galdori or the Resistance, this may be a plot for you. No need to be galdori of course, not all humans support the violence of the Resistance and may be looking for more peaceable means of gaining their much-desired rights.

Anyone looking for what I hope is a tense and interesting espionage and intrigue tale is welcome to join. Perhaps this will be a decent plot for villain protagonists and their allies.

Please join and oppose both the worst aspects of galdori rule and the excessive violence and chaos of the Resistance.

DM @Runcible Spoon if you’d like to get involved in this.