July 7, 1999
Hoyte: So it's agreed then?
Terrel: Agreed. I think this is the best way of finding the Witnesses before they do.
Hoyte: By God I hope so. And I hope we are ready by then.
Terrel: We'll find them. And you'll be ready. Let's get started.
Sunday, February 12, 2012. 2:28pm
I do apologize, Bacco/Terrel says.
However I'll need you to trust me just one last time...
The helicopter tilts, speeding over the island.
Bacco/Terrel takes his pipe from between his teeth and points it up towards the roof. Arcane energy shoots from it and Frank and Tobias can see smoke starting to trail the helicopter. The craft begins to wobble from side-to-side, causing Bacco/Terrel to grab onto a strap with his other hand while otherwise looking unfazed.
He fires off another bolt and flames join the smoke coming out of the top of the helicopter. He plucks the pipe back in his mouth and turns to fold out a panel on the side of the cabin. It looks technological in nature but is covered in glowing arcane runes. Bacco/Terrel peers out the window, hand hovering over the panel as he watches the land go by.
As soon as the helicopter is over the water several things happen in rapid succession. He lets go of the strap he was holding with his left hand to grab his pipe again and fire one last spell, this time straight down, causing a huge flash of orange light to fill the cabin. Immediately after, he taps a combination onto the panel with his left hand and the cabin gets completely silent. Frank and Tobias can still hear themselves breathing (and perhaps saying a prayer of safety), but the rotor and engine noise become as quiet as if they were turned off. Finally, the rocking motion ceases and the helicopter flies in a straight path once again. Frank leans over to peer out the window and can't see any smoke or fire any more. He also can't see the
helicopter any more; it's as if they are floating above the sea in a disembodied cabin.
Terrel sits back down with a
whumph and buckles himself back in.
I'll have to thank you for the inspiration Mr Byrne, he says.
Invisibility is a really great way to stop anybody from following you. Only in a you've got to make it a little more showy if you want people to think you are dead.
The aircraft settled, Terrel unbuckles his harness and leans back, making himself comfortable.
Most of what I'm about to tell you is known only by Gary and me. Nobody else in the worlds knows all of it. But since you are in this deep you deserve to know the truth...
Terrel explains that he and Gary Hoyte, many years ago, started THE Company as a for-profit enterprise in order to protect the world from threats originating from the plane of Shadow, as well as keep the existence of shadow creatures away from the mundanes as long as possible. But at the same time, Terrel created a non-profit organization called The Displaced, which is dedicated to protecting those accidentally transported here from Shadow who mean no harm, only wanting to live the new lives they've been stuck with. By all appearances they are two separate enterprises, but in reality they are two arms of the same beast. Between the two organizations, they handle anything that comes through from the other side, good or bad.
The Company earns revenue through government contracts and royalties on patented technologies (much of which comes from Shadow), then funnels much of that money to fund The Displaced. The Displaced, in return, funnels people and tech into The Company, giving Shadow transfers a place to work, while providing expertise in Shadow technology.
But they aren't the only pieces at play in the realm of Shadow-aware entities.
Tobias already knows about The Fellowship and the Fraternal Order of Vigilance. The Fellowship, like The Company, is dedicated to protecting the world from the more dangerous elements of Shadow, but they take a more "the ends justify the means" approach of doing business that some call ruthless or even borderline evil. They are not afraid to wipe out entire towns to combat a serious threat from the Shadow. The Fraternal Order is at the center of many outlandish conspiracy theories (including one in the movie American Treasure that alleged that the American Founding Fathers all belonged and hid Templar treasure under famous D.C. landmarks), but none of those stories are real. Behind their mask of public safety campaigns, career networking, character building, and community service, the Fraternal Order of Vigilance serves to train its members in ways to combat shadow creatures. The FOV sees any shadow creature as a threat, good or bad, and wants any extra-dimensional beings barred from our dimension forever.
There is also a third group, one that is both more secretive and more dangerous than the first two put together. This group has no public presence, but internally they call themselves the Order of the Crimson Dawn. Their goals aren't entirely clear, and that fact scares Terrel. What he
does know is that they are intent on finding portals to the Shadow plane, whether natural or man-made, and he fears that their ultimate goal is to permanently merge the two worlds, which would have disastrous effects for each.
In order to uncover and eventually thwart the Order's motives, Terrel has infiltrated them under one of his many aliases, acting as a double agent. He knew the Order had its own spies in The Company, but he never would have expected them to make such a bold move against Frank and Tobias. He assumes that the combination of the value of the target they were seeking, along with the fact that they were completely "off book" and therefore had very little Company scrutiny, made them too ripe a target to ignore. His biggest worry is how the spies figured out what they were up to in the first place, since he took every precaution to keep the mission safe.
Terrel leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and holding his fingertips together in front of his face.
So, my plan of action is thus: I can safely get you two to Company headquarters. If you show your faces there then the spies will no longer have the cover story of you being rogue agents, and since you don't have the bowl, they won't have any reason to go after you. I think I was successful in keeping any of the double agent Retcon Dons from contacting home base, so your appearance may even surprise someone into giving away their position. Thoughts?
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:59, Tue 14 Dec 2021.