Page 31 - Hunter - The Vigil

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C CHAPTER ONE: SHADOWS CAST BY FIRELIGHT
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A compact’s size is also its greatest weakness. Like an about. This includes special equipment or Endowments spe-
individual hunter cell, the more people involved, the more cially created by the conspiracies, built to give their personnel
noticeable the cell’s activities become. Hunter compacts have superhuman abilities akin to those possessed by the monsters
suffered remorseless attacks by groups of monsters (such as the themselves. In certain cases, these Endowments are actually
plague of attacks unleashed on the Union in the 1990s) and synthesized from the very creatures the hunters fi ght against.
even been the subject of Federal investigations. One small Most hunter conspiracies maintain a permanent pres-
group in Washington state found itself under investigation by ence in every major city around the world; even Task Force:
the ATF as a result of several illegal arms purchases, which led VALKYRIE, a black-ops monster-hunting organization an-
to an armed standoff at the founder’s residence that resulted swering to the United States Department of Defense, has

in the deaths of several of the organization’s members. one or more officers assigned to embassies in Europe and else-
Internally, hunter compacts are prey to conflicts of lead- where. Smaller chapters or “crisis teams” can be found in less-

ership and ideology. Sometimes these differences can be re- er cities and towns, ready to swing into action at a moment’s
solved by the group’s members, but can also lead to a schism notice. Most of these conspiracies go to great lengths to stay
that breaks the organization into a multitude of angry fac- informed about the operations of other hunter organizations.
tions. The Loyalists of Thule, an organization of hunter-the- Some, like the Cheiron Group and Task Force: VALKYRIE,
osophists, suffered such a schism in the years following the devote almost as much energy to tracking other hunter groups
Second World War, which sparked two decades of violent as they do the monsters themselves.

conflicts between splinter groups. The internecine conflict Hunter conspiracies perform a wide range of opera-
only ended after two of the splinter groups were killed in a tions in pursuit of the Vigil, from tracking and destroying
mysterious explosion at a farmhouse outside Paris in 1968. monsters to information-gathering missions, resource ac-
Finally, even the most stable compact is vulnerable to abuses quisition and surveillance of other hunter activities. Many
of power, corruption and secretive agendas that can undermine conspiracies also perform what is euphemistically referred
or even subvert the efforts of its members. Hunter compacts are to as “human resources” missions — building ties with po-

not above using unaffiliated cells as pawns or stalking horses in litical and commercial assets that will support the conspir-
the course of their operations — and from there, it’s only a small acy’s future operations. This can include anything from
step to manipulating its own members as well. contributing to a senator’s re-election campaign to gather-
ing incriminating photos of a CEO’s sex life. Problematic
Hunter Conspiracies individuals are sometimes removed to pave the way for
potential allies as well. Though no concrete proof exists,
Most hunter compacts eventually reach an organiza-
rumors persist that the Cheiron Group has been instru-
tional plateau and, barring a radical change in leadership or
mental in fomenting unrest in the Haitian capital of Port-

a huge influx of resources, they don’t grow any larger. Some-
au-Prince in order to create an advantageous environment
times, this is a conscious choice on the part of the compact’s
to pursue secret initiatives in the island’s interior.
leadership; the Ashwood Abbey, for example, has very strict
Most hunter conspiracies measure their existence in cen-
requirements regarding whom it accepts into its ranks. Larger,
turies; past a certain point, they attain a degree of size and ma-
more freewheeling compacts such as the Union eventually
terial wealth that insulates them from even the worst catas-
reach a point where they are too large to effectively control
trophes. A conspiracy could lose all of its fi eld operatives and
without a strong central authority, leading to dissension and
most of its leaders — such as with the infamous Easter Purge
mismanagement that not only inhibits further growth, but
of the Malleus Maleficarum in the early 1800s — but as long

can eventually cause the group to disintegrate altogether.
as their core supporters remain, the organization can eventu-
In a few rare cases, however, some hunter groups man-
ally restore itself. The only way to completely tear down a
age to survive these challenges and grow until they become
hunter conspiracy is to cut off its lifeblood: the vast amount of

influential, well-financed conspiracies that are capable of
money such an organization requires in order to function.
challenging the world’s monsters on an even footing. Many
of the world’s operational hunter conspiracies are quite old: Forming a Conspiracy
the Malleus Maleficarum, for example, is a monster-hunting

Hunter conspiracies typically form in one of two ways:
th
society formed by the Vatican in the mid-16 century, while
either they are built from the ground up, starting with a few
the mysterious cult called the Aegis Kai Doru traces its ori-
determined cells and a collective vision, or they are created
gins back to ancient Greece (or before, according to some
almost whole cloth by the mandate of an even more powerful
members). Another group, referring to itself as the Lucifuge,
political, religious or corporate entity.
claims it can trace its origins all the way back to Mesopotamia
Conspiracies such as the Lucifuge and Aegis Kai Doru
and beyond, though not even the scholars of Null Mysteriis
owe their current power and infl uence to the strength of
care to confi rm such audacious claims.
their respective ideologies, which lent focus to their efforts
Through shrewd leadership and relentless dedication to
and sustained them over hundreds of years of bitter strug-
the Vigil, these conspiracies have built a resource base that al-
gle. Their mysterious, legendary origins, cloaked in layers

lows them to operate more or less self-sufficiently; more impor-
of tradition and custom, also serve to draw the attention of
tantly, they have accumulated a storehouse of occult knowledge
wealthy and infl uential supporters, who ally with conspira-
and operational tactics that their smaller peers can only dream
cies such as these in hope of future rewards. (The Lucifuge
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