Page 32 - Hunter - The Vigil

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is rumored to maintain a Skull-and-Bones-style network of the US under the guise of DEA or ATF crisis teams, and the
academics, industrialists and politicians around the world, Cheiron Group keeps a very powerful, well-funded legal team
for example.) The more wealth and infl uence these groups on retainer, 24 hours a day. This doesn’t mean that conspiracy
acquire, the more supporters and recruits they are able to at- operatives are above the law, but they don’t spend every wak-
tract; eventually, their size and capabilities are limited only ing moment looking over their shoulder, like many hunter
by the strength of their leadership and the weight of the cells do. For this reason alone, many hunter cells and small or-
bureaucracy that supports them. ganizations view these powerful groups with no small amount
By comparison, agencies such as Task Force: VALKYRIE and of jealousy — and fear.
the Cheiron Group are extremely recent creations, but they enjoy In addition to these advantages, hunter conspiracies are
a degree of power and influence out of proportion to their age. able to equip their operatives with unique Endowments that

Task Force: VALKYRIE, which traces its official origins to a classi- give them powerful advantages against their foes. These En-
fied Presidential Executive Order in the mid-1950s, is composed of dowments take the form of ancient, mystical relics, elixirs,

highly trained operatives from every branch of the Armed Forces pharmacological compounds, or cutting-edge technology —
and Federal Law Enforcement, and has billions of dollars of tax- the sort of equipment most hunters can only dream about.
payer-funded resources to draw on. The Cheiron Group, funded Yet there is a steep price to pay for such unrivalled capa-

by a powerful and influential global conglomerate, enjoys a similar bility. The Endowments these conspiracies bestow upon their
degree of sophistication; it can recruit the best and brightest minds operatives often come at a terrible physical and psychologi-
right out of college and back them up with well-paid former sol- cal cost. The Cheiron Group, for example, synthesizes crude
diers from the world’s foremost militaries. What these conspiracies biotech devices from dissected monsters and issues them to its
lack in age and experience, they make up for with the best people operatives, leading to nightmarish tales of mental illness, mu-
and equipment money can buy. tation and death. Agents of the Lucifuge wield terrible powers
The operations of these hunter conspiracies are far more bestowed upon them by purportedly diabolical entities, forc-
centralized than in smaller hunter organizations, determined ing these would-be hunters to contemplate if they aren’t any
in accordance with strategies and directives established by different from the horrors they are sworn to destroy.
conspiracy leaders. Missions are assigned to respective cells or Further, operatives in the employ of these groups don’t
strike teams, and any change of plans must be passed up the enjoy the freedom of action an independent hunter cell does.
chain of command for approval. This means that, for all their They are given their missions, told where to go and what to
power, these conspiracies do not have the agility or flexibility do, and have little freedom to deviate from the plan. What is

of their smaller counterparts. more, many hunter conspiracies will not hesitate to sacrifice

Hunter conspiracies are quite large, often comprising as an operative — or an entire team of operatives — if it is in
many as 2,000 to 4,000 personnel worldwide. It is believed the best interests of the conspiracy’s overall goals. Sometimes
that Task Force: VALKYRIE is among the largest of modern they are even ordered to spare a monster they encounter, for
hunter conspiracies, with an estimated complement of 8,000 reasons known only to those at the top. Conspiracy opera-
personnel, but three quarters of that figure are support staff and tives frequently operate in a world of shadows, risking their

administrators. Even relatively small conspiracies, such as the lives for an agenda they only dimly understand.

Malleus Maleficarum, consist mostly of support personnel, in Finally, like all large and powerful organizations, hunter
the form of administrators, researchers, armorers and so forth. conspiracies are mired in often-Byzantine layers of bureaucra-
Estimates vary, but it is widely believed these conspiracies can cy and red tape, as the central leadership struggles to maintain
field anywhere from 750 to 1,000 frontline operatives world- its control over its sprawling web of money, resources and po-

wide. While hunter conspiracies will occasionally recruit new litical influence. Opportunities are often lost while a mission

operatives from hunter cells or “headhunt” them from smaller team sits in its safehouse, waiting for permission to act, or

organizations, they also have the resources to seek out and re- teams find themselves walking into an ambush because urgent
cruit potential operatives. These recruits are then trained and warnings took too long to reach them.
formed into mission teams, or kept in a pool of operatives and
organized into ad hoc groups as the situation demands. The Hunter Community
Strengths and Weaknesses Any given city around the world is host to a community of
hunter groups, from individual cells to representatives of dispa-
Hunter conspiracies are able to bring a wide range of
rate compacts and conspiracies. Despite the secretive nature of
powerful assets to bear in the course of the Vigil, removing
the Vigil, it is only a matter of time before these groups come
many of the day-to-day challenges that smaller cells and
into contact with one another. Alliances are formed against
second-tier organizations must contend with. A conspiracy’s
the horrors of the night, but in some cases, the presence of mul-
operative has access to operating funds, equipment — even
tiple compacts can lead to competition and even open confl ict

lodging, in some cases — and benefits from a well-established
over everything from ideologies to potential recruits.

and efficient support network that provides everything from
The sections below detail the various ways that elements
operational intelligence to medical aid. Conspiracy infl uence
of hunter society come together — and the reasons they
and resources can also shield operatives from local law en-
sometimes compete or even clash with one another.
forcement — Task Force: VALKYRIE frequently operates in
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