Tabellarium, “Sedes, vel acervus tabularum, vel locus, ubi tabulæ servantur” 

The war against the Dark Lords is anything but a holistic conflict, and instead it falls on numerous small, dedicated groups of Minion Hunters to stand against the evil that permeates into our world. This scattered, piecemeal approach can, and has, achieved some victories, but rarely are such isolated groups able to make major breakthroughs against the most powerful things that stand against humanity. Worse still, with such a scattered, piece-meal approach to the war against the Dark Lords, when a Darkling’s weakness is uncovered, or a Dark One’s plot is revealed, it is rare that this information can be capitalised upon, before the opportunity is lost for good.

And it is here that the Tabellarium ply their trade, as an anonymous dealers of information and secrets, connecting groups of Minion Hunters and their allies; bringing order to a war of chaos.

Who is behind the Tabellarium is open for debate and their history is not as long or active as some other underground groups. Nevertheless they been very successful to date, and amongst other deeds, are widely known to have provided the key details that blew open a series of Cobra People plots in Chatalanta, and information that freed at least one group of Minion Hunters imprisoned in a Gold Coast detention centre. Their other efforts haven’t been quite so impressive, but rarely do they reach out to a party of Minion Hunters if they do not have some substantive lead or another.

However, while the Tabellarium seem on the up and up, the group is not exactly an altruistic entity and has the reputation of only doing deals when a ‘fair’ trade of leads or other contacts are given in return; whatever that might mean! They are also a very secretive group, using the anonymity of technology to contact Minion Hunters. And in this they rarely use the same method twice, be it via hacking devices to reach out, the use remote drones to drop coded notes, or the sending cryptic electronic messages via online bulletin boards they never meet face-to-face.

This cloistered approach to information sharing, coupled with their seemingly wide-reaching access to data and secret files – including some things that even the most well-connected Minion Hunters can not –  has resulted in some significant suspicion amongst the more paranoid of resistance fighters. In recent times there have been rumours of the Tabellarium being a Fifth Column backed by Dark Ones, or that they’re a group of hackers based out of Arlington, Virginia, and even that there is no ‘they’ but rather is a near sentient AI determined to undermine its own dark masters. Whatever the reality, the majority of Minion Hunters may never know who they really are…

The Truth behind the Tabellarium

As with all rumours, the stories told of the Tabellarium have some aspects of the truth buried within them. This underground group is, in fact, made up of only two ‘beings’. The first, Barry Watkins, is retired National Security Agency (NSA) technician, and the second is semi-autonomous super computer known as ‘Wilder’.

Now in his seventies, Watkins worked his entire professional career within the NSA, assisting with the creation of a variety of code-breaking and data analytics devices. It was this experience that lead him to be involved in the Wilder project, an attempt the government undertook to understand the extent of the Dark Lords’ invasion into our reality. However, as with many of the centralised projects created to fight against this threat, it was closed down as funds and influence dwindled. Although Barry wished to continue the fight, he was no longer a young man, and instead took what retirement he could.

Years later he found himself in a position to become a custodian at the mothballed lab he had once spent most of his life at. Here he discovered what remained of the Wilder project, and through a bit of hard work and redirected resources, he was able to reactivate the mainframe. What he didn’t know was that some of the systems he procured had come directly from experimental ET devices, and when this technology was combined with human ingenuity, it awoke the intelligence within Wilder.

Although not exactly a full Artificial Intelligence, Wilder is able to undertake independent thought and over the last few years has learnt much about the networks run by both the Dark Ones and their human allies. This information is what Barry now trades amongst the various Minion Hunting groups.

Classifications

As defined in the 1st Edition Empathic Sourcebook, the Tabellarium have the following four classifications:

  • Goals: The Tabellarium are Information Brokers, who have stretched out their communication network far and wide. However, rather than raiding and hacking into sources of Dark One data, the Barry and Wilder have focused on creating connections between other Minion Hunting group. They take the rumours, leads and clues that one party might discover, but will be unable to act upon (such when they are outside a team’s operational area, or requires resources and means they just can’t muster), and will trade them for information that is more pertinent to their ability.
  • Methods: The Tabellarium are Pencil Commandos, who have so far remained able to avoid direct conflict with any Dark Minions. While this has allowed Watkins to stay under the radar in that regard, it has also opened himself up to suspicion and rumour amongst the very groups he is attempting to assist.
  • Empathic Philosophies: As a scientist and a super computer focused on harnessing technology to connect the disparate and diverse bands of Minion Hunters, the Tabellarium is Indifferent to empathic abilities. While Wilder has collected plenty of evidence that such powers exist, Watkins is a skeptic that needs more than a few newspaper articles or dodgy video to convince. No one really knows what their response will be if directly confronted with Empathic powers.
  • Organisation: The structure of the Tabellarium doesn’t really fit into any of the pre-existing categories for empathic underground organisations. Instead you could call them a Symbiotic Alliance; Wilder provides the information for Barry to fight back against the otherworldly invasion, while the scientist ensures that the computer is maintained and remains hidden from those who would use it for their own purposes.
  • Relations with ETs: Although much of Wilder intelligence and infrastructure comes directly from alien technology, both it and Watkins feel that all of the ETs on earth have been subjugated by the Dark Ones. As such, it’ll take considerable convincing for either of them to act alongside any renegade ET.
  • Size: At this time the Tabellarium is just Barry Watkins and Wilder. That said, Barry isn’t getting any younger and knows that if not supported, it is only a matter of time before Wilder is compromised. Ultimately, Watkins would like to bring a prodigy into the fold, but he is reluctant to open the Tabellarium to the potential of any out threat.
  • Resources: Despite Barry being on a minuscule pension, the group has Adequate Resources. This is mainly the result of both their access to military technology, and Wilder’s ability to leverage their information into some substantial resources.
  • Level of Activity: While Wilder is active across a number of networks and systems, gathering information and calculating future possibilities, the two only have a Low level of Activity; they will only look to reach out to Minion Hunters if they truly think their leads will be acted on, or they can gain something substantial from such engagement.

Using the Tabellarium in Play

As described earlier, Barry and Wilder do everything they can to avoid directly interacting with the Minion Hunter groups they look to assist. Rather they get in contact via technological means, looking to trade information they think will help the group in exchange for either other leads or future favours. The following are some examples of how the Tabellarium could be used.

  • The players are contacted by the Tabellarium, via a device they had long believed broken or inoperable. This mysterious message offers them a lead to a new Darkling plot, or reveals somew clue on one they are already investigating. In return, however, it states that they must provide the Tabellarium with some seemingly extraneous data from their currently Dark Minion target.
  • Stuck in unfamiliar territory the Minion Hunters find themselves being threatened by overwhelming forces. Here the Tabellarium will come to the party’s aid, offer connections to other Hunters, a safehouse to recover at, or leads to resources they desperately need. In return, the group now owe the Tabellarium a favour…
  • Watkins is threatened, be it by a Darkling spy, or another group of paranoid Minion Hunters. Here the old technician will look to use Wilder to create an alliance between the players’ group and the Tabellarium. This has the potential to open up Wilder’s massive database to the group, but at the risk of creating further threats to their well-being.