Sword’s Edge Publishing

You might be able to tell, from Rudi’s background, that there is a lot more going on in Mundus Novit than just Tangible Stream or the Vault. Some of the groups included in the actual sourcebook have been name-dropped in Dark Horizons, but the key players in Dark Horizons were not included in the sourcebook.

As we get closer to the conclusion (and just so you know, it’s plotted out to 28 chapters), I’ll be giving you more mechanical or setting flavour. I figure now is a good time to start, pretty much two-thirds of the way through.

I thought I would first deliver onto you Madison Sinclair and Heather Jeffries’ team–known as the Vault–in the same format you will find in the Mundus Novit sourcebook. The entry begins with a kind of quote from someone on the inside. In this case, it is someone deflecting questions about the Vault. After this, we get into the meat of the entry, with the big questions, the real story (as opposed to the cover story, in a situation in which the group had a public face) and the place in which PCs would fit in this group. There are a collection of groups, such as the CIA’s ESPer unit Narcissus, and Lt. Rebecca Park’s unit, the Advanced Tactics Action Company.

So, here you are, the Vault:

The Vault
This area is restricted to authorized personnel, so I’m afraid we’re not going in there. No, it’s not anything particularly secret or memorable, it’s just a communications monitoring facility, one of the many here at CSE. Why is it called the Vault? Where did you hear that? Really? Never mind. It’s called the Vault as a kind of a joke. See this title card? Special Monitoring Actions Module. SPAM. And where do you find spam? In a can, of course. So it went from can to vault. Nothing particularly nefarious. Let’s continue on, shall we?

Who? Communications Security Establishment, Special Monitoring Actions Module

What? The Vault is involved in the tracking and analyzing of parapsychic activity globally. It provides parapsychic encounter training (PET) which prepares individuals to withstand parapsychic assualt, and parapsychic active training (PAT) which teaches parapsychs to better use their powers.

Where? The Vault is housed in the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) complex in Ottawa, Canada.

Why? With the identification of parapsychic phenomena following the Trigger Event, the CSE required the capability to scrutinize parapsychic traffic. With the mandate to monitor foreign signals intelligence, and protect Canadian electronics and communications, the CSE felt it had the purview, given that current theories of parapsychic phenomena posit an organically created signal.

How? As with most intelligence agencies around the world, the emergence of post-humans surprised the CSE. Due to its close relationship with the National Security Agency of the United States and the Government Communications Headquarters of the United Kingdom, the CSE gained access to parapsychic monitoring equipment. Cultivating a core of parapsychic assets, the CSE cobbled together a global monitoring system interlinking existing electronics technology with the new parapsychic equipment and parapsychs on staff.

The success of this initial unit led to the creation of the Special Monitoring Actions Module in February of 2005. The CSE completed construction of the Vault, designed to defeat electronic and parapsychic eavesdropping, in August of that year.

Led by the Chief of Operations, Special Cases, the staff of the Vault are mostly intelligence officers and analysts. The requirement for operatives prepared to encounter parapsychic opposition led to the creation of a Special Encounters Team, which reports directly to the CO/SC. The team is staffed with Vault personnel who have military or intelligence filed agent training or experience. The SET is also responsible for delivering both the PET and PAT programs.

The Real Story: The general public is not aware of the Vault’s existence. While staff of the CSE at the Ottawa complex may have seen or heard something about the Special Monitoring Actions Module, very few know any details. Within the government, only the Prime Minister’s Office, the Armed Forces Council, the Minster of National Defence and the Chief of the Communications Security Establishment know the truth about the Vault. The Vault’s budget is totally black, hidden amid other projects and allocations for the CSE.

The Role of PCs: The Special Encounters Team (SET) is the perfect placed within the Vault for player characters. The SET often works alongside the 7th Tactical Security Detachment–also known as the Detachment or Det 7–a black operations unit reporting to the Chief of Defence Intelligence. The SET might work on military missions, but are also involved in deniable and clandestine operations. The team may support civilian government elements but is also deeply involved in military deployments.

Basically, the SET allows player characters to get involved in any kind of adventure desired. The unit has no mandate other than to deal with strange situations and do what the Vault’s Chief of Operations tells it to do.

I wrote about Sword Noir characters in the last post, and I mentioned this was not the hardest part about Sword Noir. What is the hardest part?

The atmosphere.

Listen, giving an actual description of what constitutes film noir is pretty tough. That’s true of a lot of genres. A lot of people know what isn’t pulp, but it’s tough to catalogue exactly what is pulp.

I have attempted to define Sword Noir, but really it really is simply a mash-up of sword & sorcery and film noir. It’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser chasing down the Maltese Falcon. It’s Conan getting hired to find red-haired Velma.

And it’s as much atmosphere as anything else.

The aesthetics of noir is very much about attitude. But while that attitude is reflected in the characters, much of it is external. Let’s look at my definition of Sword Noir again.

To quote:

So what is sword noir as a genre? Characters morals are shifting at best and absent at worst. The atmosphere is dark and hope is frail or completely absent. Violence is deadly and fast. The characters are good at what they do, but they are specialists. Trust is the most valued of commodities–life is the cheapest. Grim leaders weave labyrinthine plots which entangle innocents. Magic exists and can be powerful, but it takes extreme dedication to learn, extorts a horrible price, and is slow to conjure.

See how much of that is setting? To me, setting is more than just a collection of places. Setting is atmosphere. The city of Lankhmar is what it is because of its atmosphere, not its locales and location. What makes Shadizar the city of the wicked? Casablanca isn’t about the actual place–it could be called Singapore or Cairo and the story would still work.

Setting is atmosphere.

The atmosphere is dark and hope is frail or completely absent.

That’s the second sentence in the definition. The dark atmosphere isn’t illumination, it’s a lack of hope, a setting of pessimism in which cynicism is simply being realistic. I would say it is our world, but that isn’t exactly true. Our world has hope in many places. In the case of Sword Noir, dark is a few steps away from dystopia. It’s a look at the poor and abandoned places of our own cities. You know that section of town where you wouldn’t want to be caught alone after dark? It’s that place.

And this isn’t about anything physical. This is about a feeling. This is about fear and expectation. You can’t really show this on a map. You can’t use miniatures or models to designate it. This is something that the GM and players must concoct and maintain in unison.

Notice, this is something the GM and players must concoct in unison. If the players don’t buy into this, it is not going to happen. It is tough to create atmosphere in someone’s basement, or dinner table, or spare room, or wherever. The GM can try to build the atmosphere through words and description. It can be reinforced through the actions and reactions of NPCs. What it cannot do is withstand the disinterest or disregard of the players. They must feel it, and they must portray their characters as feeling it.

That’s tough.

And this is only a part of it. Next, let’s look at:

Trust is the most valued of commodities–life is the cheapest.

I’ll be back to talk about that later.

Continued from Eighteen: Who’s Taking the High Road?

Nineteen: Getting In Your Head

The Little Guy—the talker, the ESPer—took a step toward Boyle. He sneered. Rudi wanted to track the Little Guy with his pistol. He wanted to put that arrogant bastard down. He wanted to erase the Little Guy then do the same for the Lifter—that bulk of flesh and muscle who also had a firearm in hand.

Rudi did not shoot. He could not. No one in the little restaurant moved. His back to the store opening, he wondered if everyone in the store were equally paralyzed. If not, perhaps someone in there would notice the frozen tableau in the restaurant, all those guns out, only the Lifter and the Little Guy moving.

“Poor little Rajendra.” The Little Guy considered the corpse, its blood an ever expanding pool beneath it. “The funny part is that he really didn’t know anything. Nothing important at least. So much for him. Now for you two.”

“You need to hurry up.” The Lifter spoke slurred English with a strange accent. Rudi would have put him as an Indian, but now he wasn’t so sure.

“We have time.” The Little Guy stopped just in front of Boyle, who was on one knee, weapon out, aiming at where the Little Guy had stood before the paralysis. “And I figure I might as well enjoy this little victory. Stop and smell the roses, you know?”

In his mind, Rudi had a strong sense of the Little Guy. The Little Guy’s presence had expanded to fill everything, like a balloon inside a box. Thoughts percolated up and then bounced off the balloon. It made everything so chaotic for Rudi, so disconnected.

Then the balloon deflated. Wiggle room. Rudi tested its limits. Slowly, he turned to get the Little Guy in his sights.

I’ve got the parapsych. Cascade spoke in his head. You need to remove the bodyguard. Do it now.

And the balloon disappeared. No trace of it remained. Rudi shifted target to the Lifter. That one didn’t even notice. Three rounds impacted, two in the chest and one in the head, before the body even started to fall. The Little Guy gurgled out something that might have been a plea or a curse.

Supercilious little prick. Even as a disembodied voice, venom laced Cascade’s words.

Everyone in the restaurant moved–a surge of people and the associated noise. Someone started to scream.

“Sit in your chairs with your hands on the table.” The volume and the steel in Boyle’s voice forced obedience as much as the Little Guy’s parapsychic commands had. “Look at your hands. We’ll be gone soon. Feel free to tell the police everything you saw and heard. It should be interesting explaining how you couldn’t move or act in any way.”

Did everyone in the restaurant speak English? It didn’t matter. Everyone complied. Why as why?

Cascade stepped into the restaurant from the store. She had her silenced Beretta in hand. She pointed to the Little Guy. “We take him with us.”

Boyle had already holstered his weapon and had flex-cuffs in hand. “Way ahead of you.”

Rudi swept the restaurant and the store opening with his Yarygin Grach autoloader pistol. The three had driven a non-descript sedan from their safehouse. That sedan had been parked in the alley behind. Would it still be there? Boyle had chosen visually unpleasant for a reason.

The Little Guy cuffed, Boyle took glanced at Rudi. “Carry him.”

In that he had agreed to assist Boyle and Cascade in their work, he had accepted Boyle as his commanding officer, his leader, his boss. One did not contest the role of alpha male in the middle of an operation. Rudi holstered his weapon, and moved to lift the surprisingly light ESPer.

With the Little Guy upright, Boyle got in close. He held in his hand what Rudi took for an autoinjector–like what medics used for morphine. He jammed it into the Little Guy’s neck.

“You thought you’d have fun mindfucking us?” Boyle leaned close, speaking into the Little Guy’s ear. “Guess who’s on the menu now.”

The Little Guy, already a passive load, became a total dead weight in Rudi’s arms. Rudi hooked him over his back, grabbing one arm and one leg in a fireman’s carry. “Let’s go.”

Boyle nodded. He had his SIG in hand again. He moved quickly and all but silently through the door behind the counter. Rudi followed, assuming Cascade would follow. Through a kitchen and past two staring faces, jaws slack, then Rudi stood in the alley. The sedan remained, and Boyle waved him to it. Boyle scanned the area, waiting for the ambush. Cascade came through the door.

Five more, almost at the entrance. Cascade spoke in his head. They have a powerful parapsych with them, but they aren’t expecting an active screen.

Rudi reached the sedan. He didn’t have the keys. He heard the vehicle unlock, so he tried the trunk. It popped open. Before he dumped in the Little Guy, he pulled out the duffle bag with some of the weapons Boyle had collected. The Little guy ensconced in the trunk, Rudi took an MP5SD—a silenced sub-machine gun—and chambered a round. The selector remained on safe, and the duffle went into the back seat.

Cascade arrived next and got into the driver’s seat. “Shouldn’t you be doing this?” The car started.

“I’m keeping the boss covered.” Rudi didn’t joke.

Boyle reached the car. He no longer held his SIG, but rather had his HK53 short assault rifle in hand. “Someone was expecting this.” He got into the passenger side, and Rudi got in the back. “Expecting the meet, expecting the ambush, and expecting us to counter and escape.”

“Maybe, but they didn’t expect it so fast.” Cascade threw the vehicle into gear and lurched down the alley, away from the restaurant.

“Can you monitor them while driving?” Rudi asked Cascade.

“Not well.”

“Concentrate on driving.” Boyle watched the side mirror.

Rudi had the sub-machine gun ready. He saw the back door of the restaurant open just as the sedan turned out of the alley. Too late for the opposition. Too late for the Little Guy.

Abandon all hope . . .

Cascade took a circuitous route back to the safehouse. Rudi had no idea if the team had other roosts, but he had only been allowed to see one. He watched for tails and, as they approached the safehouse, for surveillance. He saw nothing.

The safehouse had a convenient rear entrance on a conveniently unremarkable alley on a similarly unimpressive side street. That side street had little traffic, and no one witnessed them removing the unconscious Little Guy from the trunk. Rudi again had the pleasure of carrying the prisoner, which wasn’t too bad, considering the Guy didn’t weight much.

Cascade paused at the mouth of the alley. She shook her head. “Unless they’ve got some optimum shielding, we’re clean.”

Boyle still had the HK53 in hand. He went to the safehouse door and paused. Perhaps he listened, but Rudi would have been surprised if Boyle though he would note signs that Cascade had missed. He entered, followed by Rudi while Cascade came last, securing the door.

The safehouse had few furnishings. An old storefront, whose covered front window declared it undergoing renovations, the first floor had their cots, kitchen and computers. The building also had an upper floor and a basement. The upper floor saw little use, except for occasionally as a perch from which to watch the street outside. The basement had already been prepped to receive prisoners.

Rudi navigated his way down the narrow stairs, the unconscious package on his back not helping at all. Boyle switched on the main light. Rudi dumped the Little Guy on the table to which Boyle pointed. Boyle then secured him while Cascade wheeled out an IV drip.

Stepping back as Cascade searched for a vein, Rudi rubbed his chin. “Sodium thiopental? Amytal? Love potion number nine?”

Boyle stood beside him, watching Cascade work. “Actually, propofol.”

“I haven’t heard of that used in interrogations,” Rudi said.

“We’re not talking a truth serum here.” Boyle moved to grab a chair and slide it over to Cascade.

“Not truth serum?” Rudi did a quick survey of the dimly lit basement. “I don’t see any tools or implements. The Burmese like show off their collection before they begin their session.”

“We’re not the Burmese, Rudi,” Boyle said. “No torture. The subject’s been anesthetised. Cascade’s going in to get us what we want.”

Rudi’s hand froze on his jaw. “Going in?”

“Cascade is going to ESPer our answers.” Boyle spoke with easy nonchalance, as though mentioning Cascade was going shopping at the market.

“You say no torture, but ESPer intrusion has its own particular scars.” Rudi’s hand fell from his jaw. He shoved both in his pockets. “It’s never pretty. I’ve seen good men ruined.”

“We’re professionals here.” Boyle gestured at Cascade. “She’s good. She’s smooth. She’ll go in, get what we need, and be out. The subject won’t remember it. There’ll be no damage. She’s been trained by the best.”

Rudi raised an eyebrow. “The best?”

Boyle scowled. “Did you forget who we are? We’re Tangible Stream. The best.”

“And humble.” Rudi touched his jacket. He found his cigarettes. “I’m going to get some air while you get your answers.”

“This isn’t going to be messy, trust me.” Boyle’s scowl became evaporated. “We’ve done this before. Successfully.”

Rudi just nodded as he climbed the stairs. Of course they had. They were, after all, Tangible Stream–the ghosts that frightened even the blackest of operations. Rudi had worked in SD8, had worked alongside the Hunters, had contact with just about every unit that used or researched techniques from the “beyond-the-limit sphere.” The Stream haunted all of those, just as it haunted the Western units, like Narcissus, like Oberon.

He stepped out into the alley. The shadows had lengthened, bathing most of the alley in darkness. Nothing moved. Rudi could hear the city around him, breathing the noise and commotion common to cities. Here, in the alley, a cocoon of quiet and gloom separated him from the rest.

He noted, as he took out a cigarette, the beat-up, brown and white cargo van at the end of the alley, near where Cascade had parked the sedan. He took out his lighter.

Cold metal pressed against the top of his head.

“Stay quiet,” said a woman in thickly accented Russian. “I cannot hesitate in killing you.”

“Your grammar is terrible.” Rudi still held the lighter in one hand and the cigarette in the other. He started to lower the lighter, getting closer to his holstered weapon.

From the size and shape of the object, Rudi guessed the weapon at his head was suppressed.

“You move, I shoot.” She sounded closer now. The voice came from above.

Cascade would be busy probing the Little Guy. Hearing the door, Boyle would assume he was coming back in. If Rudi didn’t act, this team would have surprise. The best or not, outnumbered and surprised would spell the end for Boyle and Cascade.

“You get gun, you dead,” said the woman.

His heart beat loudly. His hand hovered near his hip, near his weapon. How fast? Could he outrace a bullet?

From out of the shadows, a male voice spoke in English. “You say the wrong thing, she will kill you. Is Boyle inside?”

Reason # 3 to buy the current issue of On Spec: it may lead to the wholesale adoption of Sword Noir as a genre . . . that or it goes into the dustbin of history, either way you have an issue of On Spec!

Yes, this article is going to be about Sword Noir. Don’t worry, Dark Horizons will be back soon. I have an itchin’ to talk sword noir in celebration of me being the featured author of the current issue of On Spec, Canada’s premier speculative fiction magazine. What, you didn’t realize that? Time to rush out and buy a copy, or perhaps order it on line? Go ahead, you do that. I can wait.

Peanut butter is good.

Wow, that’s a lot of snow.

Hmmm, do we have beer in the fridge? Maybe I should go—

Oh, you’re back. Cool. Let’s get started.

The concept of sword noir is—as you might suspect, or even know—a mashup of film noir and sword & sorcerery. I’ve already deduced what I consider to be the elements that I need to pull from each, but in case you forget, let’s go over them again.

To quote:

So what is sword noir as a genre? Characters morals are shifting at best and absent at worst. The atmosphere is dark and hope is frail or completely absent. Violence is deadly and fast. The characters are good at what they do, but they are specialists. Trust is the most valued of commodities–life is the cheapest. Grim leaders weave labyrinthine plots which entangle innocents. Magic exists and can be powerful, but it takes extreme dedication to learn, extorts a horrible price, and is slow to conjure.

How does one work this into your game?

Some of this is about the characters. As you might suspect, I’m about to tell you that you need to get player buy in.

You need to get player buy in.

The thing is, deciding to go sword noir means that there are constraints or at least expectations in regards to the characters. Consider the shining knight/paladin/holy warrior. You could certainly play such a character in a sword noir campaign, but the shining knight would need to be tarnished, the paladin would have strayed, the holy warrior would be questioning her faith. There are no paragons of good. There are no paragons of anything. Nothing is purely good or purely evil.

And that leads us to the villain. The characters cannot be purely good and the villain should not be purely evil. The villain should be, of course, a villain–but a sympathetic villain. By that I don’t mean one feels sympathy for the villain, but that one can understand the villain, why she does what she does. You would not do what the villain does, she goes too far, but you can understand why she does these things.

The characters may recognize how close they are to being the villain. One misstep, one ethical lapse, and the characters might find themselves on the same path. Killing that prisoner because he killed your best friend. Torturing that old merchant because the word on the street said he knew who kidnapped the boy. Turning a blind eye to the fishmonger pimping out young women because he occasionally feeds you information. None of these things would be unacceptable in a sword noir campaign. That’s not to say they are expected, and these steps could easily lead to others.

The thing is, while the characters are not lily white, they are usually better than others around them. Neither Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon, nor Jeff Bailey/Markham in Out of the Past are bad guys, but that’s only in comparison to other characters in those films. They are very flawed, very cynical, and while they do some good acts, they are very self-interested.

No, that doesn’t sound like player characters at all!

Playing the bad guy is also fine. You could make the villain the local magistrate or king’s representative. In sword noir, though, the forces of law are about imposing order, not seeking justice. The city watch might be as bad as any gang, and are certainly as corrupt. The prince is not interested in the well-being of his vassals, he just wants everything to run smoothly so he can get more taxes.

If you are going to fight the power, it’s likely someone is going to bring up the prototypical outlaw hero. Errol Flynn’s Robin Hood and Robin of Sherwood wouldn’t fit into sword noir, but make their band of merry men more like a real criminal gang, and you might have something. There’s nothing wrong with them taking care of the locals with the money they steal, but they’d likely keep the lion’s share for themselves. And they certainly wouldn’t like anyone speaking ill of them. A local who gets out of line would be as bad off with Robin’s men as with the sheriff’s.

Whether “good” or “bad”—in context—the characters would be talented. This fits with most RPGs, as the characters are expected to be special. They are not average joes. These are not uber-competent characters, though. They are not super-heroes. They are usually good at something in particular, though that something might be killing. Specialization is also a hallmark of a lot of RPGs, so that works out fine.

One problem with noir in regards to gaming is the adventuring party, the PC group. Usually, the characters of noir are loners. Given that, it’s still not exactly beyond the pale for the characters to form some kind of association. Trust is important in sword noir, and that may be one of the things that make the characters special: loyalty. Perhaps this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

That’s a lot of stuff to think about, right? However, making characters for a sword noir campaign isn’t the most difficult part.

So, what is?

We’ll talk later.

This follows Seventeen: Foibles

Eighteen: Who’s Taking the High Road?

“How safe is this safehouse, yknow, exactly?” Digs had his Browning Hi-Power in hand, discrete but ready.

“As safe as possible.” Gurung led Digs up a rickety flight of stairs on the side of a three story structure that looked fabricated out of poured concrete. It was on a street block filled with more of the same. Windows and balconies revealed these to be tenements. Bikes were chained to railings or left for thieves desperate enough to want them. “Nowhere in this city is completely safe right now.”

Digs noted the quiet. Usually in a residential area, one heard life. People talked, or listened to the radio, maybe watched TV–but around here, nothing. It unnerved him. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

With neither reply nor recognition of Digs comment, Gurung stopped on the third storey, the top flight of the stairs. He listened at the door, but given the volume of their conversation, the precaution seemed odd. He drew his Browning, older and having seen more service than Digs’. “I think we’ve got a situation.”

Pulling the slide on his Browning back slightly, Digs verified he had a round chambered. “You heard something?”

“Nothing.” Gurung stared at the door, as though he could will himself to see through it. “That’s what worries me.”

If someone was in there, they would expect company. That staircase had creaked and groaned as it threatened to collapse. Digs and Gurung wouldn’t be getting the drop on anyone. No, they’d be walking into an ambush. As much as he would have liked to have just cut bait and run, Gurung’s people might be in there, maybe prisoners, maybe hostages.

And maybe everyone was out getting cake.

Gurung had his weapon ready, Digs tight behind him. Gurung gestured right, pointed at Digs with his chin, and then gestured left. Digs nodded.

Son of a bitch, we’re going to die.

Weapon up, Gurung quietly tried the doorknob.

It wasn’t locked.

Digs felt the adrenaline, felt the rush, the high. At that moment, the fear of death subsided. The thrill of action enveloped him. He coiled, ready to launch. His eyes became laser focused, his ears keyed to specific sounds, specific warnings.

The door swung open, and they moved–low, fast, sweep the room.

Target one–that was Walker.

That was Walker!

Walker stared down his sights, finger on the trigger. Digs raised his weapon over his head, stood straight, started to call to Walker just as Walker lowered the barrel of the MP5K. Digs still heard the shouts around the room.

“On the ground, on the ground!” Jeffries’s voice came firm but calm.

“Hold it! Stand down! He’s a friendly!” A woman’s voice demanded notice.

“Drop the weapon! Drop it!” Mads didn’t hide his anxiety well, though his words still rang with command.

Digs turned. Weapons all around the room remained fixed on Gurung, who held his Browning over his head, and slowly lowered himself to his knees.

“It’s good, it’s good,” Digs said. He didn’t get in the way of the pointed weapons, that would be stupid, but he waved his arms to get everyone’s attention. “He’s with me. It’s good.”

Slowly, weapons around the room lowered. An Asian woman had a silenced Steyr TMP on a tactical rig, hanging now. Digs recognized her from the briefing– Lt. Rebecca Park.

“Goddamnit, man.” Walker laughed. “I just about shit myself.”

Letting out a held breath, Gurung released a bit of laughter along with it. “I never wish to do that again.”

That was when Digs saw Dyck in the corner, on a cot, looking pale. He recognized the situation for what it was. Dyck had been shot.

Removing the suppressor from his weapon, he went over to Walker. “I’ve got shitty news.”

“There’s a mole,” Walker said. “I mean, other than your buddy over there.”

Digs glanced at Gurung, then back at Walker. “Yeah, besides my buddy. How’d you figure it?”

A low chuckle came from Walker. “We didn’t. Scott told us. Seems to know it all. Seeing as we’re only missing Flick, I’m guessing he was the one.”

“That’s what Boyle said, after he aired him out.”

Walker’s eyes narrowed. “You met Boyle?”

“Got jumped by, but yeah, met,” Digs said.

“We’re going to need to talk.”

“For certain, but two questions, man: how’s the Dick doing and what’s with Park?”

Leaning close, Walker spoke quietly “The Dick is fine, mostly thanks to Park. We hooked up with her and Scott after our little cafe reconnaissance turned into a clusterfuck.”

“Scott?” Digs glanced over at Park, who was speaking with Gurung. “You mean the guy working with Boyle?”

“Listen, none of that shit may be true,” Walker said. “Right now, Scott is getting us a doc for the Dick. After that, we’ll have some time to talk. And your friend?”

Digs had forgotten for the moment that no one else on the team had met Gurung. “Working with Boyle? Maybe. He’s working with someone.”

“Apparently including Park, and therefore Scott.” Walker scratched at the stubble on his chin. “Looks like everyone on the fucking board knows the game while we stumble around blind.”

“That’s pretty much business as usual, boss.” Digs figured Walker would have command, partially for rank and partially because no one else likely wanted it.

“Doesn’t make it suck any less.”

Gurung and Lt. Park approached the two. “Lt. Walker, my name’s Gurung.” He extended his hand. Walker took it. “I hesitate to say this, given the circumstances, but we must go. Park and Scott have a prisoner, and no one is watching him. Sergeant Dyck is stable and Scott should be here soon with a doctor. We need to secure the prisoner. And there is the question of your own guest. Perhaps we could secure him as well. We may have access to a rather efficient interrogator.”

“Wait a minute.” Jeffries had come up behind Gurung and Park. “The mysterious Lt. Park and Digs’ very questionable friend just walk out of here? With Scott not even back yet? And possibly taking our only source of information with them? I don’t think so.”

Walker offered a tight smile. “Listen, Heather, I trust Scott. He’ll be back.”

Jeffries; face remained tight, her eyes hard. “I understand you have a history and trust the guy, but everyone’s been playing us like a piano since before we got here.”

“That much is true,” Walker said.

“And you don’t see that as a problem?” Jeffries asked.

“Gurung may have access to an interrogator.” Park spoke quiet and cool, like she knew she had what the team needed–no hard sell required. Probably the right tact, given that Jeffries didn’t seem willing to offer anyone a free pass. “He’s got someone who can get the job done quick and done right.”

“Is that a fact?” Jeffries’ crooked smile had little humour to it. “That’s convenient.”

“It is a fact, Ms. Jeffries.” Gurung met Jeffries’ gaze, but with no obvious hostility or challenge. “In truth, I am not certain I will be able to gain access to the interrogator, but if I am successful, we may have the answer to the Kathmandu silence.”

“Are we talking ‘enhanced techniques’?” Digs asked. “There’s no way I’m going to a party to that. No more CIA bush-league bullshit.”

That brought a slight quirk to Gurung’s mouth—almost a smile. “I am not part of the CIA, nor the NSA, nor any other Homeland Security organization.”

Mads walked up behind Lt. Park. “We need help. We need the information. How else can we get it? I’m guessing this guy has more contacts in the Kat than we do.”

“In the Kat?” Walker raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Mads shrugged. “Thought it needed a spiffy moniker.”

“Potential monikers aside, Mr. Sinclair is correct,” Gurung said. “I have contacts. I can be of use to you.”

Mads eyes narrowed as he focued on Gurung. “Those contacts, they might include a certain Irish guy named Boyle, right?”

“That is correct.” Gurung met Mads’ gaze evenly. “I am Boyle’s fixer just as I am yours.”

“Didn’t help him all that much, now did it.” Digs mumbled this, almost under his breath.

“He’s still alive.” Gurung held out his open hands. “That was a trick, I assure you.”

“Let me get this straight.” Digs didn’t need Jeffries’ tone crossed arms to tell him she was about to get seriously contrary. “We’re talking about letting two ciphers are walk away with our only source of information, in the hopes that the colleague of the man we are supposed to be bringing in will uncover that information and then relay it to us. Are you telling me that sounds like a good idea?”

“I’m telling you it makes sense,” Walker said. “We’re not going to get anything out of this guy, not immediately. There may be a very real and very ominous clock ticking.”

“Listen, Walker trusts Scott, and Scott trusts Becca.” Mads coloured slightly when he looked at Lt. Park. “I trust Becca too. And Becca trusts this guy. So what do we have here? It’s a great big circle of trust, people. Let’s let them into the circle of trust.” He paused for a couple of beats. “What, no one saw the movie?”

“This isn’t the time, Mads,” Jeffries said.

“It is exactly the time.” Mads looked her in the eyes, no levity on his face. “It’s not a joke, Heather. The way I see it, we’ve got a few choices. We can bail on the mission. We can continue to stick out our necks until we get our heads chopped off. Or we can put some trust on the table and get the big reward. Worst comes to worst, it might put us a step closer to Boyle.”

“That might not be a place you would enjoy standing,” said Gurung.

“What makes you so certain that Boyle and his crew will be able to crack these guys?” Jeffries asked. “Why should we even risk it.”

“They’ve got an ESPer.” Mads held Jeffries’ eyes. “Put it together: Gurung’s the fixer for Boyle’s team, so he’s got access to them, right? They’re Tangible Stream. You know they’ve got at least one ESPer with them, last count. You want enhanced interrogation? It doesn’t get much more enhanced than that shit.”

—

Continued in Nineteen: Getting In Your Head

Where are we going?

That’s a good question. This recent, short hiatus did provide me with some time to think, as I nursed a couple of sick kids through a lot of coughing and nose drizzle.

Here’s what I concluded. I concluded that pushing SEP as a serious venture has run its course.

Who are we kidding? SEP is really just me, Fraser. There isn’t much actual business going on, though there might be some in the near future (more later). So, the site is getting rebranded into a more personal site. The SEP connection with products, reviews, etc will remain, but this is my site. There are no longer any partners in SEP. I have people who help, but the vision and direction—or lack thereof—is wholly mine.

I am SEP.

Will this tarnish the professional veneer of SEP? Likely not as much as not publishing anything for a couple of years.

Given all that, I was also pondering possible projects in the future. I want to continue to generate content and possibly even products. I’m torn, though, as to what I would like to pursue. Here are the projects that interest me:

1) Updating the Albenistan series.
The only product in the original trilogy that I am still proud of is the Khorforjan Gambit. It’s not about content, it’s about presentation. Raid on Ashkashem was produced from a Word document. I’m not sure what Dean used for the Qalashar Device, but I’m not happy with that layout either. I wanted to redesign the series to be more like the Khorforjan Gambit, but if I’m going to do that, why not go ahead and correct the errors and issues that have been noted with all three products?

And if I’m going to do that, I can update the series. Move it forward to the present, or even the near future.

Then I’d collect all three into a single volume of just the adventures–none of the extra stuff, just the campaign.

That’s a lot of frikkin’ work, but these are my babies and I want them to look good.

2) An e-book based on the Scouts, Spies and Other Guys series at Collateral.
Scouts, Spies and Other Guys became the name for the series on gaming in the military genre I produced for the podcast Collateral, from the Accidental Survivors. I put a lot of work and research into those episodes (from Collateral 10 to Collateral 27, not counting Collateral 18).

While I didn’t do scripts for all the episodes, I started to transcribe Military Solutions (episode 10), the introductory episode, and figured it’s about 150 words per minute. That means with the 17 episodes in the series (not counting any extra episodes), I have a total of around 50,000 words, or between 150 and 200 pages, depending on the layout.

I think there’d be interest out there, but like updating the Albenistan series, this would be a lot of work.

3) True20 guide for Mundus Novit
Honestly, Mundus Novit will be out soon. I’ve seen the first proofs, but there were revisions that were necessary.

While Mundus Novit was originally written for d20 Modern, the setting is being released systemless. The Modern system supplement will be released in conjunction with the setting book. Like Freeport, this gives the opportunity to do other system books. True20 is the one I’d be ready to do, and have actually started work on. That has stalled, given that I was uncertain about the actual release date for Mundus Novit, and what the reception will be.

4) Osiris Files
As discussed here, this is a series of adventure overviews. These are not adventure modules per se, rather a concept is presented and considerations as to how approach it are discussed. The first two are done, but this is a series, and I don’t want to start releasing anything until the series is done. However, my motivation has waned because I honestly don’t know how well these will be received. Is it worth my time and effort?

5)Fiction
I mean, I’m basically a fiction writer. That’s what I like to write. It’s what I’m passionate about.

I know that Dark Horizons is going to be collected for a PDF and print on demand book. I’m going to extend some scenes, fix some errors, and perhaps change some aspects. However, the book will essentially be the same as the web series. I have no idea if anyone will bother to buy it, but most of the work is already done, so this one’s a no brainer.

But what about beyond that? Anyone who reads my blog will know how many ideas I come up with. Do I want to start pursuing these ideas? And if so, do I want to release for free and later for pay, like Dark Horizons? Do I want to continue doing modern genre? I don’t have a lot of ideas for modern, but sword & sorcery doesn’t fit too well with the main output at SEP.

I think I’m going to wait and see how Dark Horizons works before making a decision on this one.

Now, I don’t know how I’m going to decide what I’m going to do. For some stuff (Mundus Novit and fiction), the market will help me decide. If either Mundus Novit or Dark Horizons are successful enough, that’ll decide it for me. Yes, I am mercenary like that. Otherwise, I’m going to see what my time availability is like. While all require effort and time, something like transcribing can be done in short spurts without any real degradation, while creative work—for me—suffers if I don’t have at least an hour to devote to it at a stretch.

If anyone has any strong opinions, you know where to find me.

Sword’s Edge Publishing is back as I have not died from the plague.

However, I will be candid with you and admit that I have burned through the buffer of chapters I had for Dark Horizons, so the new chapter will not be forthcoming this week. I apologize. Any explanation would seem like a rationalization, so I’m not going to provide one. I screwed up, let things get away from me, and this is the result.

Mea culpa.

Rest assured, a new chapter will be ready next week. Dark Horizons will continue to its conclusion.

Posting directly from the press release:

(Atlanta, GA) – DriveThruRPG, an online marketplace for traditional dice-and-paper roleplaying games, recently conducted a fund-raising program in the wake of the devastating earthquake that affected Haiti. The effort resulted in an amount of $178,900.00 being wired to the international relief organization, Doctors Without Borders.

“Nothing like this has ever happened in our community,” said Sean Patrick Fannon, Marketing Manager for DriveThruRPG. “The response of the publishers and the gaming community has been nothing short of miraculous. I am extremely proud of what we’ve all done here. It can’t take away the misery and tragedy faced by the people of Haiti, but we are hopeful that our efforts can bring some relief and recovery to them.”

DriveThruRPG chose Doctors Without Borders because of their flawless reputation for bringing medical and humanitarian aid to those in need without any partisan or philosophical agenda attached. Already on the ground when the earthquake struck, Doctors Without Borders is perfectly positioned to make immediate and efficient use of the funds collected.

“We are extremely grateful to DriveThruRPG and the roleplaying game community for choosing to contribute to Doctors Without Borders. Their generosity will help provide lifesaving and urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti,” said Jennifer Tierney, Director of Development for Doctors Without Borders-USA. “As Doctors Without Borders provides surgery for victims of the earthquake, as well as post-operative care, mental health support, and other medical care, this contribution will make a real difference in Haiti.”

Reports from Doctors Without Borders indicate that over 11,000 have been treated by them, with over 1,300 surgeries performed (most of them major). The money donated by DriveThruRPG will go directly to helping rebuild their supplies and expanding their operations during the recovery of the Haitian nation.

“This is just the beginning,” said Steve Wieck, CEOof DriveThruRPG. “We’ve tapped into a real power for positive social change and charitable good here, and we’re looking ahead to future opportunities to use our technology to help game publishers and game fans network to provide assistance to those in need.”

DriveThruRPG.com is the world’s largest source of roleplaying game products available for download. It is an industry leader in modern business and technology developments for the tabletop gaming fan. For more information, contact Sean Patrick Fannon (sean@onebookshelf.com, 614-946-9371).

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization working in nearly 70 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. For more information, contact Emily Linendoll, Press Officer (emily.linendoll@newyork.msf.org, 212-763-5764).

Due to family illness, the SEP site is going to be quiet. It’s nothing serious, but the whole family has a pretty bad cold, the kids have fevers, and no one is getting much (if any) sleep.

Once this blows over, I’ll be back.

We are about two-thirds of the way through Dark Horizons, and things are starting to fall in place. Things are falling in place for Mundus Novit as well. I’ve seen proofs for the sourcebook and the Modern system supplement. They are looking good. It’s been a while, and I admit to having moments of doubt, but Neal Levin at Dark Quest Games has done what I had hoped and created a fantastic product, one I can be proud of.

I can’t say when it will be out exactly. What I saw were proofs that needed corrections. Neal also runs Dark Quest Books, so he has a lot on his plate. That and there is always real life, which has thrown me more than one curve ball.

But for those of you interested in the setting, you shall not be waiting much longer. For me, this has been a long, long road, and I will be really glad once I’ve reached my destination.