Blackcloaks

Founded in 821 AD alongside the Veil Treaty, it is the mandate of the Blackcloaksis to do everything possible to keep the Veil from falling. Though this can usually be achieved through espionage and illusion, sometimes they have to resort to tomb raiding, blackmail, and even assassination at times. However, the Blackcloaks argue this is all necessary to protect the mundane world from supernatural threats and to protect the supernatural world from the threats of the mundane.

When the Veil Treaty was established, the supernatural factions had an upper hand on humanity. But now, the tables have turned. Humanity has advanced technologies such as modern firearms, jet planes, drones, and nuclear weapons. And there are also more humans now, as a percentage of the world's population. A supernatural might be able to hold off a dozen humans, but not ninety-nine.

And that's about the percentage of 'sleepers'--or humans who are unaware of the supernatural world. Ninety-nine percent of the world is unaware that they share the Earth with ghosts, demons, dragons and spirits. Of the remaining one percent, a plurality is 'wakers', or mundane humans who are aware of the supernatural world, seeing through the Veil.

Most wakers are created by Veil breaches but either slip through the gaps, or agree to follow the Veil's rules and thus become counted as members of the supernatural world. And after that comes supernaturally gifted humans, such as mages, mediums, psychics, warlocks, hunters, and the like: humans who happened to be awakened to the supernatural world but have become supernatural themselves somehow--by fluke of birth, years of study, possession, pacts and rituals, radiation, mad science, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Humanity dominates the world, and it is through the Veil that the supernatural races and factions preserve their lives, cultures, and communities. Though originally despised, the Veil has become a shelter, a sanctuary where those who are different can be themselves without having to hide behind masks and lies.

Administrative Division

Also known as “the suits” or “the powers that be,” the Administrative Division sets the Blackcloaks’ policies, assigns priorities, and authorizes large-scale action. While they are seen by the other divisions as would-be puppet masters, they see themselves as the only ones keeping the Blackcloaks accountable and on-target. The Administrative Division is headquartered in London.

Oversight Council: The actual leadership of the Blackcloaks is the Oversight Council, seven members of the Veil Treaty’s Grand Council assigned to monitor the Blackcloaks and ensure they remain focused on the Grand Council’s priorities. By a majority vote, the Oversight Council can issue directives to any Blackcloak asset, from entire departments down to individual agents. Most of the members of the Oversight Council are ranking members one of the Veil Treaty’s constituent organizations, and are well-aware of how the secret war is played. The Oversight Council has historically been consumed by internal politicking between its members, leaving the Director largely free to run the agency however they see fit.

Department 1 – Ethics: This small, independent department is mostly composed of veterans of the other departments, academics from various supernatural universities and career bureaucrats from the Veil Treaty, all appointed by the Oversight Council. The Ethics Comittee has overarching powers of review regarding any Blackcloak action. While they mostly serve as a check to the Director’s powers, Department 1 can call any agent in for questioning, and have even shut down ongoing operations if they feel they stray from the Blackcloaks’ mandate. Members of Department 1 are jokingly called “Questions and Answers” by members of other departments, given how fond they are at asking questions they already know the answers to.

Department 2 – Human Resources: This department is responsible for the minutia needed to run a modern multinational organization. Publicly, they’re known as the department that handles payroll, disbursements and expense reports for the rest of the Blackcloaks, as well as providing housing and accommodations for agents. They’re also the ones who book vacations and time off, and a not inconsiderable amount of their time is spent balancing schedules and ensuring that all the field offices remain staffed at any one time. Less well-publicized is this department’s role in assessing current employees for performance, mental health, and loyalty—moles and informants have an unfortunate tendency to vanish after being called into meetings with HR. 

Department 3 – External Affairs: The public face of the Blackcloaks to the supernatural world, External Affairs handles media requests, maintains relations with mundane governments and agencies, and seeks out promising recruits from the ranks of civil and military organizations. In its role as the Blackcloaks’ recruiting arm, Department 3 performs background checks, psychological and physical assessments, and surveillance of potential personnel, ensuring recruits meet the high standards set by the agency. Department 3 also employs a number of champions and lawyers to represent the organization in supernatural and mundane courts, and to provide the agency with legal council when needed. 

Sub-departments of External Affairs include:

    • 3A: Recruitment

    • 3B: Legal

    • 3C: State Relations

Department 4 – Facilities and Technical Services: FTS is responsible for the technical maintenance of all the Blackcloaks’ facilities and equipment in current use, including vehicles, weapons, and the agency’s portal network. They oversee the agency’s dozens of laboratories, offices, warehouses, garages, and remote-testing facilities, while also collaborating with Department 22 on supernatural containment and incarceration facilities. Department 4 also handles logistics, transporting equipment and human resources between facilities and locations of interest as needed. The Blackcloak’s aeroplane, helicopter, and ship crews are all members of Department 4. 

Sub-departments of FTS include:

    • 4A: Site Maintainance

    • 4B: Fleet Maintainance

    • 4C: Thaumaturgy and Ward Maintainance

    • 4D: Resource Acquisitions and Disbursement

    • 4E: Logistics

Department 5 – Records and Information Security: RIS handles the storage of mundane materials relevant to to the Blackcloaks’ operations. They handle all the case files, research reports, and classified information produced across the entire organization. Everything resulting from the Blackcloaks’ activities are eventually brought to Department 5, where they are archived in secure sites across the world. Sub-departments of RIS include:

    • 5A: Antiquities

    • 5B: Documents

Security Division

The “spooks” of the Security Division are the most iconic members of the Blackcloaks. They are the face of the organization to most members of the supernatural world, and the iconic image of the Men in Black among sleepers as well. It is not a stretch to argue the rest of the Blackcloaks’ organization to support the Security Division in their day-to-day operations. Indeed, the majority of active Blackcloaks are members of the Security Division, and directors of the organization tend to be drawn from this division’s ranks. Like the Administrative Division, the Security Division is headquartered in London.

Department 6 – Intelligence: Composed of largely of ex-intelligence agents from mundane intelligence groups, Department 6 represents the most proactive element of the Blackcloaks’ operations. The Intelligence Department is responsible for discovering, tracking and researching supernatural anomalies across the globe and collecting information on potential threats to the Veil Treaty or the Veil itself, from hostile organizations to powerful individuals. D6 includes deep-cover agents active in other groups and mundane organizations, hackers with access to global intelligence networks, signal intelligence experts, and even a few individuals skilled in enhanced interrogation techniques. 

Department 7 – Field Operations: Department 7 represents heart and soul of the entire Blackcloak operation. These are the men, women and monsters who are on the frontlines, serving as the organization’s boots-on-the-ground. Around two-thirds of all active members of the Blackcloaks are members of D7. This department maintains fields offices in nearly every major city across the globe—with the exception of nations that have banned the Blackcloaks from operating within their borders, such as the People’s Republic of China and North Korea. In total, D7 has around 2,500 field offices and other special detachments, ranging in size from small 2-person teams to the sprawling operations of New York, London and Singapore.

Department 8 – Special Task Forces: While D7 agents handle most of the day-to-day field work of the Blackcloaks, there are cases that go beyond the training and expertise of most rank-and-file field operatives. From outsider incursions to temporal anomalies to Mythic Age superweapons, these threats require specialists to safely contain them. That’s where the Special Task Forces of D8 come in. Most members of the STFs cut their teeth as field agents in D7 before being promoted, though more than a few came from organizations such as the Templars, Green Dragon or Atlanteans Orders, and bring their own unique talents and knowledge to the defense of the Earth. 

Department 9 – Internal Security: Department 9 is a small department responsible for the security of the Veil Treaty’s VIPs and facilities, including the London Labyrinth and the Veil’s regional headquarters in New York, Rio, Cape Town, Cairo, Moscow, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney. Though primarily a protective service, IS also handles investigations into specific threats against the operations of the Veil Treaty and the Veil itself. 

Communications Division

While the spooks of the Security Division handle cover-ups on a local level, the “faces” of the Communications Division handle the large-scale planning needed to keep a secret as big as the supernatural world hidden from the ignorant masses. Members of this division are drawn from across the media and advertising world, and use their skills and connections to spin the truth, fabricate covers stories, and generally discredit any attempts by the public to pierce through the Veil. There is a fierce rivalry between the Securities Division and the Communications Division over the amount of time and effort the faces have to put in to cover up for the sometimes dramatic incidents the spooks get themselves involved in. The Communications Division is headquartered in New York City. 

Department 10 – Information Detraction and Censorship: Composed of spin-doctors and publicists, IDC’s role has only grown more important in this digital age. IDC monitors the media—from global networks to local radio stations to conspiracy-spewing tabloids—for any sign of the unveiled truth reaching the public, from talk of strange creatures or lights in the sky, to mentions of mysterious disappearances or investigations into the true history of things. It’s then that IDC springs into action to shut those investigations down, usually by pulling strings at the corporate level, though sometimes they will produce false witnesses and experts to send the stories wheeling off in completely the wrong direction. IDC also monitors the production of books, research papers and films, and prevents most works that discuss the truth of the world from reaching the public.

Department 11 – Disinformation: While IDC is reactive, covering up potential breaches before they reach the publics’ attention, the Disinformation Bureau is more proactive. The role of its agents is to continue to enforce the lie of the Veil: that magic and the supernatural doesn’t exist. Many members DB are professors and scholars who use their professional credentials to publish works that support the Veil’s lie, undermining discoveries on the true age of the pyramids, or the nature of dark matter. They sow disinformation and create confusion among the public, shaping a culture of scepticism and ensuring that those out there who do attempt to reveal the truth are treated as crackpots and conspiracy mongers. The DB also funds hundreds of authors and artists around the world, both supernatural and mundane, encouraging them to create stories that further muddy the water, obscuring the truth behind fantasies. 

Analytics Division

A small, but complex, division, the brains of the Analytics Division function as the Blackcloaks’ R&D department. Their primary objective is to investigate the anomalies discovered by the Securities Division to better understand and protect humanity against these threats. They tend to be rather insular, engaged in their own pet projects, but thanks to oversight from the Administrative and Security Division, the Blackcloaks’ labs feature some of the lowest rates of scientific malpractice, escaped subjects, and base self-destructions in the supernatural world. Though technically headquartered in Paris, each of the various departments is based in another city around the globe.  

Department 12 – Chemistry and Alchemy: Department 12 handles research into anomalous physical and metaphysical substances, from metals and alloys found only in the supernal realms, to strange chemicals concocted by alchemists and savants. Department 12 is skilled at hazardous substance retrieval, and are often called in by Field Teams to secure the labs of mad scientists, wizards, and others pushing the boundaries of knowledge. Department 12 is the oldest of the Blackcloaks’ research departments, and is based out of Paris. 

Department 13 – Memetics: There is no Department 13. The Blackcloaks never had a memetics department. This department did not research anomalous psychologies and thought-patterns, nor did it develop the Blackcloaks’ current memetic protection program. It never was based out of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Sub-departments of Division 13 did not include:

    • 13A: Anti-Memetics

    • 13B: Cognitohazards

[NOTE: Despite the best efforts of editors, we have been unable to remove the above section from this guide. There never was a Department 13. This is a matter of public record. It was determined during the last reorganization of the Blackcloaks in January 2013 that we would avoid designating a department 13 due to its metaphyisical association with back luck, and the Oversight Council found it cost-prohibitive to properly ward an entire R&D department from the ill-fortune that would ensue. Memetics are currently handled by D18’s Sub-Department of Psychology, specifically the counterconceptual team.]

Department 14 – Biology: Department 14 specializes in the analysis of supernatural or anomalous organisms, from sasquatches to ghost-eaters to krakens. Many of their researchers spend a great deal of their time in the field, chasing down legends of strange plants, animals that should be extinct, or the myriad cryptids not yet documented by science. They’re also called in by members of Department 7 to help restain anomalous creatures that have wandered into sleeper communities or are otherwise threatening the Veil. Department 14 is based out of Boston, Massachusetts. 

Sub-departments of Department 14 include:

    • 13A: Botanical

    • 13B: Zoological

    • 13C: Cryptozoological

Department 15 – Mathematics: This small team of researchers focuses on anomalous mathematics, mostly focusing on the fields of fringe mathematics, where reality starts to bend and warp in all kinds of strange ways. They’re rarely called in to handle field cases, instead spending their time monitoring research papers and ensuring that the proofs contained within are just strange, and not actually detrimental to the Veil or reality itself. Department 15 is based out of Oxford, England.

Department 16 – Physics: This broad-based department covers all kinds of anomalies in the space-time continuum, from temporal paradoxes to attempts to combine nuclear physics with arcane sciences. Generally, members of Department 16 are called in to investigate those locations where reality bends and warps due to the influence of excess dark matter. They are experts in detecting disturbances in the fabric of space-time, and have even come up with a few inventions to help stabilize reality and encourage it to heal. Department 16 is based out of San Francisco, California.

Sub-departments of Department 16 include: 

    • 16A: Electromagnetics

    • 16B: Nuclear

    • 16C: Spatial

    • 16D: Temporal

    • 16E: Quantum

Department 17 – Engineering and Fabrication: The most hands-on department of the Analytics Division, department 17 handles everything from reverse-engineering seized anomalous technology to determining the structural integrity of ruins from the Age of Myths. Generally, on any major Blackcloak expedition, there’s one member of Department 17 there, usually to present unconventional solutions to the various unconventional problems one can anticipate encountering in the supernatural world. Department 17 is based out of Munich, Bavaria. 

Sub-departments of Department 17 include:

    • 17A: Manufacturing

    • 17B: Civil Engineering

    • 17C: Ballistics and Demolitions

    • 17D: Material Sciences

Department 18 – Social Sciences: Looked down upon by the rest of the Analytics Division for serving as the home of “soft science,” it is the responsibility to Department 18 to examine anomalies that crop up in human society. This can include researching past anomalous events, examining supernatural works of art such as paintings or plays, or investigating the religious doctrines of cults. Members of Department 18 are often involved in field research, and coordinate closely with Department 7 and 8 when and where appropriate. Department 18 is based out of Milan, Lombardy. 

Sub-departments of Department 18 include:

    • Historical Analysis 

    • Archaeology and Paleontology

    • Arts

    • Religion

    • Sociology and Anthropology

    • Psychology

    • Film and Media

Department 19 – Metaphysics: The strangest department in the entire Analytics Division, Department 19 handles the science of magic and the supernatural. They research occult spells and rituals, delve into the nature of the supernal realms, investigate dimensional bleeds and alternate realities, and examine prophecies for signs of truth. Generally considered eccentrics even by their fellows, many members of Department 19 are wizards, mages, and other scholars of the arcane arts who joined the Blackcloaks as a means to further their own personal research. Department 19 based out of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sub-departments of Department 19 include:

    • Magic

    • Dimensional Mechanics

    • Alternate Realities

    • Prophecies and Fortune Telling

Department 20 – Forensics: Likely the most mundane of the Analytics Division’s departments, Department 20 handles forensic analysis that cannot be passed off to mundane law enforcement. They are typically called in by members of Department 7 to help investigate matters of local crime. With their extensive database and state-of-the-art technology, they can perform 24-hour turnaround on blood or DNA analysis, determine the presence of mundane or supernatural drugs, and determine the source of various objects found at the scenes. Though based out of Chicago, Illinois, most members of Department 20 are found on assignment to various field offices across the globe.

Department 21 – Information Technology: The newest department of the Analytics division, Department 21 is charged with investigating anomalies of a digital nature. These can be as simple as a computer possessed by a ghost, or as complex as an incursion of Cyberspace into the persistant world of an MMO. Department 21 deals with technomantic viruses, AIs, and all sorts of strange technology made possible by modern science. When called into the field, it’s typically to provide professional advice on cases where magic and technology have intersected in anomalous ways. Department 21 is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Containment Division

The Containment Division consists of a single department with a highly specialized mission. Members of this division are often called “wardens” by members of the other division, when they do actually do leave their facilities to interact with the rest of the Blackcloaks. The Containment Division is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. 

Department 22 – Containment: Department 22 handles two vital roles: guarding the supernatural prisons of the world, and securing anomalous artefacts in locations where they cannot harm the world. The wardens mostly keep to themselves, preferring to handle problems internally. In most cases, their prisons and storage facilities are off-limits even to other members of the Blackcloaks, to discourage their use as way-stations or fall-back points by field operations. Indeed, they operate almost as their own organization that only happens to report to the Administrative Division when called upon. They take the secrecy of the Blackcloaks to another level, believing the less the rest of the organization knows about what they keep locked up, the safer they will all be.

Codes

Code Red: Violence or conflict involving supernatural powers. This could be anything from a feral werewolf attacking a small town to the Gates of Hell opening and the legions pouring forth into an unprepared world. Code Reds always authorize lethal force in containing the threat.

Code Orange: Mad science or technological threats. Difficult to categorize, need to be handled with caution. Recovery of the anomalous device is preferable, but not mandatory.

Code Yellow: Outsider threats. Usually involves a dramatic weakening of reality, and, more often than not, cults dedicated to the Outer Gods. Bring reality stabilizers to close up any wounds in the astral caused by the Outsiders or their cults.

Code Green: Biologic threats, mutants, cryptids, and the like. Usually involves non-sapient supernatural creatures appearing and terrorizing a mundane population. All efforts should be taken to neutralize the threat non-lethally and bring them to a reserve where they can live without threatening humans.

Code Blue: Ancient threats, relics from the Age of Myths, ruins from Atlantis and other lost empires, and the like. These should be handled by specialized teams to ensure that as much knowledge can be preserved and recovered. The average agent's job is to create an exclusion zone around the anomaly and wait until the specialists arrive.

Code Indigo: Arcane or occult threats. It can range from a mundane human who stumbles across a book of rituals, to the schemes and plots of an archmage. This requires at least one mage or other supernatural to be present to identify the magic being used and to nullify it. Demonic possessions fall under Code Indigo as well.

Code Violet: Temporal anomalies and parallel realities. Thankfully rare, these are some of the worst-case scenarios and always involve specialists. Like with Code Blue, the average agent should establish an exclusion zone once a Code Violet is identified, and then await specialists from London.