TEXT: A Sourcebook for 
    for the JAGS Roleplaying System
  by Marco Chacon
  The Book of Knots
  
  1
  Book of Knots - Introduction
  Jabberwocky
  ‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
  All mimsy were the borogoves,
  And the mome raths outgrabe.
  Clash Bowley
  Rick Hershey, McLean Kendree, and 
  Jia Wang of Empty Room Studios
  Ralph Horsely
  Eric Lorfgren
  Danil Moretti
  Scott Purdy
  Bill Stoneham
  Colin Throm
  Grey Thornberry
   Copyright © 2005 Marco Chacon
  A SOURCEBOOK FOR 
  FOR THE JAGS ROLEPLAYING SYSTEM
  BY MARCO CHACON
  Jabberwocky
  ‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
  All mimsy were the borogoves,
  And the mome raths outgrabe.
  Informed by the works of Lewis Carroll
  Edited (in an earlier version, any later mistakes are ours): Jennifer Schoonover
  Cover Design, Layout Assistance, and Random Edits by David A. Tumarkin
  Featuring the artwork of: 
  The Book of Knots
  
  2
  Book of Knots - Introduction
  Contents
  The Book of Knots 
  6
  Chapter 1: The Caretakers 6
  Chapter 2: The Symposium 6
  Chapter 3: Project Puritan 7
  Chapter 4: The Community of Magicians 
  7
  Chapter 5: The Department of Works 
  7
  What Wonderland Wants 
  9
  The 
  Department 
  of 
  Works 
  and 
  Normalization 
  12
  The Deconstructionists: The Coming 
  Civil War in Wonderland 
  12
  The Enemy of My Enemy is a Useful Tool 
  13
  The Symposium On Man (The White Rab*
  bits Burden) 
  14
  The Nature of Caretakers 16
  Can You Kill Them? 
  16
  What Are The Limits of Their Power? 
  17
  What if a Caretaker is Mad At You? 
  18
  But what if they’re just mad at me? 
  18
  What Are They Like If I Meet Them? 
  19
  Are They Gods? 19
  What are Minions, Actors, and Servants? 
  20
  Tell Me About Actors and Dramas 20
  Do Humans Get Caught In Those Storms? 
  23
  The Royal Drama: Meeting The Caretaker 
  23
  What 
  Do 
  The 
  Caretakers 
  Want 
  on 
  Chessboard Zero? 
  24
  How 
  Does 
  All 
  This 
  Apply 
  To 
  Deconstructionists 
  24
  Running the Caretakers 
  25
  Multiple Personalities 
  25
  Differing Aspects and Incarnations 
  25
  Obsessions and Religions 25
  The Queen of Hearts 26
  Side: Caretaker 26
  Overview 26
  Disposition Towards Man 
  27
  Encounter Threat 
  28
  Domain: The Palace of Hearts 
  28
  Physicality 28
  Rules 
  29
  Dramas 
  30
  Humpty Dumpty 
  30
  Side: Deconstructionist 
  30
  Overview 30
  Personality 
  31
  Minions 
  32
  Disposition Towards Man 
  32
  Encounter Threat 
  32
  Operations 
  33
  Dramas 
  33
  The Caterpillar 33
  Side: Caretaker 33
  Overview 34
  Disposition Towards Man 
  34
  Encounter Threat 
  34
  Domain 
  34
  Operations 
  35
  Dramas 
  35
  Mad Hatter 36
  Side: Deconstructionist.  36
  Overview 36
  Personality 
  36
  
  3
  Book of Knots - Introduction
  Disposition Towards Man 
  36
  Encounter Threat 
  37
  Operations 
  37
  Dramas 
  37
  The Duchess of Knots 37
  Side: Caretaker 37
  Overview 37
  Personality 
  38
  Encounter Threat 
  38
  Disposition Towards Man 
  38
  Dramas 
  38
  The Cheshire Cat 39
  Side: Deconstructionist 
  39
  Overview 39
  Personality 
  39
  Encounter Threat 
  40
  Attitude Towards Man 40
  Dramas 
  40
  The Hypotherapist 40
  Side: Caretaker 40
  Overview 41
  Disposition Towards Man 
  42
  Encounter Threat 
  42
  Domain 
  42
  Operations 
  42
  Dramas 
  43
  The Polytician 43
  Side: Caretaker 43
  Overview 43
  Description and 44
  Personality 
  44
  Servants 44
  Disposition Towards Man 
  45
  Encounter Threat 
  45
  Operations 
  45
  Dramas 
  45
  The Intertainer 46
  Side: Caretaker 46
  Overview 46
  Minion 
  47
  Servants 47
  Disposition Towards Man 
  48
  Encounter Threat 
  48
  Operations 
  48
  Dramas 
  49
  The Beastly Baby 49
  Side: Caretaker 49
  Overview 49
  Description 
  49
  Minions 
  50
  Servitors 51
  Disposition Towards Man 
  51
  Encounter Threat 
  51
  Operations 
  51
  Dramas 
  52
  The Clear Widow 52
  Side: Caretaker 52
  Overview 52
  Description 
  52
  Disposition Towards Man 
  54
  Encounter Threat 
  54
  Domain 
  54
  Operations 
  55
  Dramas 
  55
  The Liebrarian 56
  Side: Caretaker 56
  Overview 56
  Description 
  56
  Disposition Towards Man 
  57
  Encounter Threat 
  57
  Domain 
  58
  Operations 
  59
  Dramas 
  59
  The Typeist 59
  Side: Caretaker 59
  Overview 59
  Description and Personality 
  60
  Disposition Towards Man 
  60
  Encounter Threat 
  61
  
  4
  Book of Knots - Introduction
  Dramas 
  61
  The Black Rose 
  61
  Side: Deconstructionist 
  61
  Overview 61
  Personality and Description 
  62
  Disposition Towards Man 
  62
  Encounter Threat 
  62
  Operations 
  63
  Dramas 
  63
  The Factory 
  63
  Side: Caretakers 
  63
  Overview 63
  Personality 
  64
  Encounter Threat 
  64
  Attitude Towards Man 64
  Dramas 
  64
  The Wheel 65
  Side: Caretaker 65
  Overview 65
  The Scribes 
  66
  The Bride of the Wheel 
  66
  Disposition Towards Man 
  66
  Encounter Threat 
  67
  Dramas 
  67
  Interview 1 (The Director of a Major 
  Pharmaceutical Company in the United 
  States) 
  68
  The Civilizing of Mankind 
  68
  Big Pharma 
  69
  Sponsor 
  69
  Approach 69
  Interview 2 (The Doctor, A leading research 
  Physician) 
  70
  Initiation 
  70
  Operations 
  71
  Project Pagan 72
  The Wheel*s Vision of Man 73
  Pagan Operations 
  75
  Pagan Agents, Pagan Operatives 75
  The Army of No. (Johnny 
  Comes Marching Home) 
  76
  Abstract 76
  Phases 
  77
  Operations Manual 
  78
  The Army 80
  Llamed Infection 
  87
  Sponsors 89
  Agents of Infection 89
  Operations 
  89
  Project Puritan 92
  Mother, Should I Trust the Government? 
  92
  Project Puritan 93
  Who Knows What 94
  Puritan Operatives 
  94
  Puritan Agents 
  94
  Special Advisor to the President 
  95
  The FBI, CIA, and Military 95
  The Aliens 96
  Oversight 96
  Philosophy and Motives 
  96
  Operations 
  97
  Equipment and Training 
  97
  Black Knight Helicopters 
  97
  White Rook Mobile Command Station 
  97
  Black and White Bishops 
  97
  Playing a Puritan Operative 
  98
  Playing a Puritan Agent 98
  Magicians 99
  The Language Of Secrets 
  100
  The Magicians 101
  Three Truths 
  101
  The Lodges 
  102
  
  5
  Book of Knots - Introduction
  The Three Knowledges 
  103
  Sciomancy 104
  Binding 
  105
  Twist Shadow 
  106
  Other Rules 
  106
  Damage: Overdoing Magic 
  106
  Ritual: Doing Magic 107
  Extra Damage Points 109
  Tricks 109
  Truth of Place 
  110
  Truth of Person 110
  Minor Hex 111
  Mesmerize 111
  Wanton Violence 112
  Message 
  113
  Summon Entity 114
  Protection 115
  Levitate 
  115
  Vanish 
  116
  Artifact 
  116
  Sleight 
  117
  Awareness 117
  Spy 118
  Astral Travel 
  118
  Healing 
  118
  Twisted Abode 
  119
  Double Team 
  119
  End Game 120
  Caveat Lector 
  120
  Chessboard Seven 
  120
  Not in Polite Conversation (who knows 
  what) 
  120
  The Caretakers  120
  The Deconstructionists 121
  Other travelers  121
  Native inhabitants  
  121
  Common Sense 
  121
  Chessboard Seven (Common Sense Part I) 
  122
  We Know It is Called The Department of 
  Works 
  122
  We Know It Was Damaged 
  122
  It Hit Back 
  123
  The Purpose of the Ma-
  chines (Common Sense 
  Part II) 123
  The Canons 
  123
  Implications: Cracks In The Universe 
  124
  Getting There and Getting Back 124
  What you might find there 
  125
  The Secret History of the 
  End of the Universe 
  125
  The Awful Truth 
  125
  The End Game of Reality 
  126
  JAGS Wonderland: Mate in Two 
  127
  Playing the End Game 
  127
  Afterword 128
  Wonderland Creatures 
  129
  Reflections 
  129
  Manifestation: Presence 
  129
  Encountering Creatures on Chessboard 
  One 129
  Monsters and Infection 
  129
  
  6
  Book of Knots - Introduction
  The Book of Knots
  Lord Kelvin (from whom we get the term absolute 
  zero) hypothesized in 1876 that the “atoms” that 
  made up reality were best understood as knots—as 
  configurations of tied strings. This led to the science 
  known as knot theory, which had very little practical 
  application when the theory of knots as atoms was 
  eventually disproved.
  That is, until string theory came along and quantum 
  mechanics appeared … and then it seemed that 
  Kelvin, or, at any rate, someone, might have been 
  onto something after all.
  Wonderland on an elemental level is composed of 
  knots, of puzzles, of clever wordplay. Its universal 
  forces aren’t gravity or electromagnetism but the 
  rules of drama. They are the rules of literature and 
  the foundational forces of criticism and canon. 
  Wonderland at its deepest level is a story wherein the 
  authors are also the characters (and, you know, that’s 
  a paradox we see somewhere else in life … in certain 
  kinds of games).
  Wonderland is all about knots. It’s all about the twisty 
  little tricks and closed loops of symbolism and foreshadowing. The 
  forces of simile are what binds like and like together, not gravity—unless 
  you mean “the gravity of the situation.”
  This final section is the book of knots. It’s untying (decomposing in the 
  language of Knot Theory) the knots to show what’s twisted up inside.
  Chapter 1: The Caretakers
  Who are these inhabitants? Who are the lords and ladies of Wonderland? 
  Who are the gross inhuman things, the elementally angry things, the 
  demanding, bizarre things that exist on Chessboards Five and Six? 
  They are the Caretakers and they were made in the same act of creation 
  that created the chessboards themselves. They are powerful beings: 
  part discrete intellect, part “office,” part “idea.” They do not perceive 
  the logic and proportion the way we do. For the most part, by human 
  standards, they are insane.
  And they have charted the future of humanity … and its solution.
  Chapter 2: The Symposium
  What effects have the Caretakers had on Chessboard Zero? Well, 
  Wonderland Infection isn’t limited to the random flopping about of the 
  Underground—in fact, although the rate of decay is accelerating, there 
  has been contact with Wonderland (on some level) for time out of mind. 
  The periodic table of 
  knots
  
  7
  Book of Knots - Introduction
  The Magicians understood there was something deeper (and something 
  darker) beyond the ken of mundane reality. The Government, for all its 
  fail-safes and firewalls was shot through with Infection almost from first 
  direct contact. 
  And, of course, Wonderland and its inhabitants are aware of us. They 
  can look through those mirrors from the reverse-side any time they like. 
  Their spies are always hiding just out of view where we can’t see them, 
  peeking around when we’re looking away and making plans.
  Chapter 3: Project Puritan
  Project Puritan was created when Project Pilgrim was shut down: 
  someone in the government—someone with influence and vision—
  feared that the Infection had survived. They were right. Now Puritan 
  exists as an arm of the Secret Service. On the books it exists to handle 
  so-called “emergent threats of a hypothetical nature to the national 
  psyche and infrastructure.” Closer to the bone, it exists to combat the 
  forces of Wonderland.
  Chapter 4: The Community of Magicians
  There has always been some traffic into Wonderland. The human mind is 
  capable of reaching through the barrier between Chessboards and pulling 
  back perceptions, insights, and madness. In the past, this was done 
  with arcane knowledge and occult practices and so today, although in a 
  much evolved form, The Community exists. As the walls of reality have 
  become thinner and thinner so to have the risks of such studies become 
  greater and greater.
  Chapter 5: The Department of Works
  Chessboard Seven is all but inaccessible to the world at large. The 
  Caretakers cannot access it. The Linear Maze can take you there—if you 
  can navigate it—but it tends to Moebius Loop back on itself and become 
  more barred doors than open windows when you try to go that deep.
  But there, in the depths of reality is the machinery that creates the world. 
  If things are falling apart, that might be where someone—maybe the 
  right someone—can put it back together.
  
  8
  Book of Knots - Introduction
  
  9
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  What Wonderland Wants
  Go Ask Alice, I think she’ll know.
  --Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit
  Once upon a time there was everything and there was 
  nothing. Everything looked like a big glowing plastic 
  marble that was big (well, compared to nothing, 
  which looked like a little tiny black plastic marble, 
  but was really a four-dimensional hole you could 
  fall into by looking at … or even thinking about too 
  hard).
  And in between there was, well, there wasn’t 
  anything—but we can’t say there was nothing, can 
  we? There were else-things that we don’t have words 
  for.
  Then there was a bright flash of light like someone 
  turned the bathroom light on while you were asleep 
  and woke you up: that kind of bright. And there was 
  a noise (well, if you could imagine a noise—there 
  wasn’t air or sound waves yet) as loud as when you 
  dropped your tray in the lunchroom and everyone 
  laughed at you (if that never happened to you, then 
  just know that there’s a special circle in hell for popular kids).
  And then BANG. There were four dimensions (yes, 
  time was the fourth. You can put down that Stephen 
  Hawking book and close that PDF on super-string 
  theory and those 34 other theoretical dimensions: 
  this is a bedtime story, kid). And they were “The 
  Universe.”
  Everything and Nothing had joined in one big 
  cataclysmic cosmic orgasm of creation and 
  destruction.
  Anyone over 20 may have the worldly wisdom 
  to know that doing things like this often has 
  unintended consequences. Sometimes bad 
  unintended consequences.
  The name of that consequence was Wonderland: 
  Outside of reality was Kaos, which is a Greek word 
  that I think is most poetically described as “angry 
  want of being.” “Want of being” because it’s not in 
  the universe and “angry” because, well, it’s never 
  pleasant to be the odd one out.
  
  10
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  But there were also flies in that soup—and the 
  dross that was left over after creation … the 
  dribblings down the side of the forging pot—that 
  became its own thing. And on its own it wasn’t 
  very sane.
  But it was okay with that, and the Caretakers 
  who were self-sustaining patterns that we might 
  call (naively) organisms were okay with that 
  too. Reality looked like a big slightly purple 
  tetrahedron that they could look into—but not get 
  into—and it was mostly full of … well … physics.
  Yes, it was jam-packed full of physics. It had 
  leptons and bosons and tachyons (that really only 
  exist if you aren’t looking for them, which is 
  why physicists trying to test for them will never 
  succeed) and all kinds of other stuff. Math. 
  Calculus. Probability theory. Yuck.
  The Caretakers found all that math to be pretty 
  repulsive (cue to Barbie saying “Math Class is 
  Hard”). But they didn’t care because everyone 
  knows that Math and Logic are for losers.
  What the Caretakers had in Wonderland (which 
  was, itself, not mollified by the fact that there was 
  a bunch of ugly physics in the single wanted child 
  of Everything and Nothing) was Literature. The 
  power of the Word. The power of Concept. 
  Paradox was no problem for Literature because 
  it could be expressed in Words without breaking 
  anything—try doing that with math and you 
  relativity and ugly questions and divide-by-zero 
  errors and wicked stuff like that.
  Literature was beautiful. Literature was poetry, 
  man—and I mean that literally … I think. 
  Wonderland, under the Caretakers, became a world 
  governed by the laws of Literature rather than 
  the laws of physics—and the Caretakers watched 
  reality cool down like a big sugary pastry that was 
  almost ready to eat.
  Now there should be a brief aside here even though 
  it makes the story a little more complicated. The 
  Caretakers—living in sunny, logic-less, overly 
  literal Wonderland—were called Caretakers 
  because they had functions that dealt with each of 
  
  11
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  the three dimensions of reality (the three sides of the Tetrahedron that are 
  ‘up’ if you go and look at one). The fourth side, which was ‘down’, was 
  time—and there were no Caretakers for time … well, there were—but 
  they did something different—and that’s where our aside comes in.
  The Caretakers, in the formative stages of universal four-space had jobs 
  holding the walls up … which they did (even while Wonderland, where 
  they lived, was seething to get in). They were ultimately arrogant and 
  highly self-assured and having an important job to do suited them well, 
  they thought. They were important self-sustaining-information-patterns, 
  after all. 
  The Fourth House, so to speak, automated their duties (which were 
  considerably more mathematically complicated than the first three) and 
  created something known as The Department of Works (we’re almost 
  done here, I promise, then you can go to sleep).
  Where the caretakers could not comprehend the concepts of infinity and 
  zero (they had words for them, but to fully understand them requires 
  … well … math.), the fourth house had to handle all the Quantum 
  Dynamics and Relativity Mechanics and all that stuff which is (as you 
  know, if you got past high school physics), like, math-central.
  When the Fourth House was done with the Department of Works (which 
  is, taken together, a thing of great beauty), the patterns in the Fourth 
  House stopped self-sustaining and sublimated 
  into the infinite.
  The Caretakers, however, had no such plans. 
  None at all. They began their great lives by 
  making many lesser lives with which to be vastly 
  superior too. It was good to be the Caretakers, 
  looking every now and then at the universe 
  getting cooler—and clumpier—and darker—and 
  more … volumetric.
  And then, as you may know, something went 
  dreadfully, horribly wrong. It was like having 
  someone piss on your Picasso. It was like finding 
  a worm in your apple with two dung-covered 
  worm-hands curled into tight-fisted worm-
  middle-fingers poking up at you from the bite you 
  just took, knowing that the rump half of the worm 
  is in your mouth and the worm has, well, a certain 
  kind of worm-grin on its worm-face that I won’t 
  go into here.
  It was like that—but a bajillion times worse.
  
  12
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  The universe—reality—that cosmic D4—coughed up man. 
  Humankind came about and humankind was an insult. Humans, trapped 
  in their little reality crystal were far inferior to the Caretakers. They were 
  miserable little disgusting things with no vision, no intellect, and no 
  manners. 
  And they could conceive of Zero and Infinity. They could do 4th House 
  Math. They were obscene. They were offensive. They were … shielded 
  behind an impregnable  reality firewall that was, as I said, a faintly 
  translucent shade of purple. Only now, they thought, it seemed to be a 
  subtly mocking shade of purple. More of a lavender, really.
  And so they were almost terminally appalled. But Wonderland—the very 
  dimensional space they inhabited—had been doing its own thinking and 
  it knew things.
  It knew that children before a certain age could safely breach the four-
  wall and exit out into Wonderland (mostly only in their imaginations but 
  sometimes in their physical worlds too).
  It knew that some adults—a very few adults—could do so safely as well.
  And it knew that where there were cracks where it could reach in and 
  touch people. It could infect them—like a disease—and then their eyes 
  would be cracks in reality too.
  And so the Caretakers stand. They’re looking down, into the great 
  tetrahedron of the universe, disgusted by man.  The stand motionliess 
  as they decide what is to be done with man. Should he be Civilized? 
  Destroyed? Allowed to exist in some diminished capacity? What? And 
  while they are paralyzed by indecision, the universe boils, rolls, and 
  seethes, and Wonderland has found all the cracks under all the doors. 
  Now, as the 4th Estate machines start to run down, Wonderland is 
  coming in.
  Now go to bed.
  The Deconstructionists: The Coming Civil War in 
  Wonderland
  Very little is concretely known about the life cycle of the Caretakers. 
  They are not organisms in any meaningful sense of the word and part 
  of their existence is directly related to their office. These offices are 
  best described as something that is a cross between a title, an arena of 
  responsibility, a point of view, and a hobby.
  Imagine an English teacher, high up his departmental ladder, scribbling 
  madly at his various scattered thesises on the body of work that 
  comprises his profession’s canon. He’s muttering “publish or perish. 
  The Department 
  of Works and 
  Normalization
  The Department of Works creates the 
  physical bedrock of the Chessboard 
  Zero universe. Its machines are 
  essentially part of creation. It resides 
  on Chessboard Seven, thundering out 
  creation itself and it winds through all 
  levels of reality. Its pipes and conduits 
  run through physical space as much 
  as through human imagination. It is 
  the Mirror Works. It is the back door 
  through reality.
  It’s also the ultimate weapon. Sort of. It 
  prevents paradox on Chessboard Zero 
  and it tries to prevent the impossible 
  from happening—but it doesn’t always 
  work … it doesn’t always work quite 
  right.
  If it were perfect there would be no 
  such thing as Infection (There is 
  some evidence that humans could 
  breach the wall themselves and maybe 
  get Infected but there would be no 
  cracks that Wonderland could sneak 
  in through). If it were perfect then no 
  “impossible things” could ever happen 
  in reality. If it were perfect we could all 
  sleep soundly in our beds at night.
  But it isn’t perfect. In fact, it’s 
  damaged and there are cracks. They’re 
  small enough that most people 
  suffer Reflection Disassociation and 
  Wonderland Infection is hard to spread. 
  The Department of Works is strong 
  enough that a really big impossibility, 
  like a Caretaker appearing on 
  Chessboard Zero, would result in 
  Normalization: the sane rationalization 
  of the universe.
  That’s a euphemism for destruction 
  of the Caretaker—if a Caretaker tried 
  to exercise the power that it wields on 
  the lower levels on Chessboard Zero 
  it would be pounded out of existence 
  by the machines that keep a universe-
  worth of subatomic particles all 
  spinning correctly.
  
  13
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Publish or perish. PUBLISH or PERISH” over and over in a dark room 
  lit with flickering, guttering candles. He’s mad.
  That’s a Caretaker.
  Their existence is tied into a recursive feedback loop that generates the 
  literary meanings and perspectives lead them to believe must be or which 
  they speculate should be. Whether that last sentence is meaningless or 
  not, one thing is clear: they argue a lot.
  But there’s something else—most Caretakers are in some fundamental 
  way created from a perspective and a mass of arguments and an intellect. 
  They believe things are true and so they are. They instruct. They analyze. 
  They philosophize and they contemplate. All this is both the natural state 
  of being and the responsibility of the Caretakers. They are beings of 
  literal literature.
  But not all of them “hold office” and certainly most do not hold “high 
  office.” In the bizarrely complicated network of hierarchy that is 
  Wonderland society, there are those who could be considered assistants 
  … apprentices … or students. They are in some senses “younger” 
  (although by any real measure they are “the same age,” so far as anyone 
  knows) and they are in some senses “less powerful” (although the 
  measure of power for a Caretaker is an odd thing). One thing they are is 
  a lot less sure that the massive, towering structure that is the Criticism 
  and Canon, that comprises the bedrock existence of Wonderland—is in 
  any way right.
  The Caretakers who meet and scheme and formulate plans to tear it all 
  down have a name. The rebel faction in Wonderland that threatens a low, 
  rumbling, civil war has a banner: Deconstructionists.
  The idea that “nothing intrinsically means anything”—that all viewpoints 
  —author, interpreter, and beer-addled NASCAR-watching reality-TV-
  junkie commentary—is equally valid is the equivalent of Wonderland’s 
  Global Thermonuclear War.
  The brewing internal conflict between the shadowy Deconstructionists 
  (Decons) and the Caretakers is one that, if it sparks, could destroy the 
  very fabric of creation.
  The Enemy of My Enemy is a Useful Tool
  Not all the Caretakers hate humanity (some of the most dangerous are 
  the ones who love humankind!) but it is generally considered amongst 
  even the most beneficent that something really should be done for the 
  poor things.
  The Deconstructionists, however, see things a little differently: they 
  understand that the Department of Works is, in some fundamental way, 
  connected to the shared perspective of man.
  
  14
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  What the Caretakers see as 
  their responsibility to the 
  world (the eradication or 
  ‘civilization’ of man—the 
  White Rabbit’s Burden) 
  the Deconstructionists 
  see as perhaps an almost 
  subconscious form 
  of self-defense. The 
  Deconstructionists think 
  that in some way, ultimately, 
  mankind is potentially 
  useful in recalibrating the 
  Department of Works, as 
  a weapon—a method of 
  bringing a philosophical, 
  literary, and therefore 
  cataclysmically physical 
  relativism to Wonderland.
  And as they say, Every Dog 
  Has Its Day.
  So the Decons are interested 
  in studying man. Many are 
  interested in various non-
  destructive experiments or 
  uses. Some are trying to 
  determine what effects a 
  sort of “alliance” between 
  the Deconstructionists and groups of humankind would have on the world (in practice, really, this almost never 
  translates to what a human would think of an alliance—it’s more like a bizarre religion or incredible delusion). 
  They have plans for mankind. So do the Caretakers.
  The Symposium On Man 
  (The White Rabbits Bur*
  den)
  The Caretakers met after a 
  prolonged contact with human 
  kind in the 1960s and they 
  decided that, finally, something 
  had to be done. So they bargained 
  and argued and warred and 
  inveigled and did all the things 
  they were wont to do and they 
  decided that Man, as a general 
  concept, needed to end.
  The Civilized Man
  It used to be human. Now it is a box. 
  Each side is an irrational number in 
  length (about a foot). It’s done with 
  red velvet and dark wood in geometric 
  patterns along the side. Sent in the 
  center of each face is a mouth with 
  red lips. Each of them talks in a low 
  whisper.
  Some plead. Some sing. Some give 
  winding speeches wherein the topics 
  and the points shift and flow and ebb. 
  The one on the bottom mutters curses 
  into the floor. Sometimes it creaks. 
  Sometimes, at night, when no one is 
  close, all of them sob.
  “This is MAN! Civilized. 
  Risen! Made into his proper 
  ACCEPTABLE form and place. 
  This is the VISION for what we can AID Mankind to BECOME! 
  We must NOT fall to simplistic solutions of artistic genocide or 
  aesthetic obliteration—no—we must have COMPASSION for 
  humankind. We must resolve ourselves as worthy guardians!”
  —The Somatoform Prince. Speech for the Continuation of Man 
  before the Symposium.
  “Let me conjecture that, as many of you know, it is my 
  theory that every wish for continued existence is a lie. We 
  tell ourselves this lie so that we may go on creating denial 
  about our own lack of real intent to continue existing!
  In my proposed simulation, we remove these comforting 
  blankets from mankind and, as I have shown in my work, 
  the outcome is predictable: self-destruction.
  If we can bring a chemically assisted and media-amplified 
  version of my pogrom … err … program to these benighted 
  souls we can relieve them of their irrational need to live and 
  they’ll simply take care of their own wretched little lives 
  themselves!”
  — The Hypotherapist, Speech at the Symposium on Man
  
  15
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Now some of them, a good deal 
  really, felt that Man was an 
  inferior beast to be taken under 
  their wings and educated and 
  uplifted and civilized—or at 
  least just put in their place with a 
  few, erm, minor modifications to 
  make man more pleasing. More 
  aesthetic. More … palatable. 
  The Caretakers didn’t like 
  rising above Chessboard Five 
  any more than you would like 
  plunging your hands into a 
  pool of garbage and excrement 
  filled with thrashing worms 
  and maggots. Going up to 
  humankind was disgusting.
  It was also, well, difficult: the active and powerful methods of the 
  Department of Works prevented the Caretakers from just manifesting 
  on Chessboard Zero and raising their arms and “turning off the lights on 
  humanity.” If they’d tried that, they’d have been annihilated. That was 
  pretty disturbing right there, all by itself.
  But they were able to go up to Chessboard One or, better yet, they could 
  send things up to the higher Chessboards to take people down (if they 
  could “get their claws on them”) and they could influence things.
  Their solution was to remove humanity’s will to live.
  And thus was born the project Big Pharma (Pharmaceutical). It is a 
  covert, subtle, and subtly insane system that is designed to, over time, 
  kill off man.
  It wasn’t a great solution. Nobody (except the Hypotherapist) thought 
  it was a good solution—but it was the one they could all agree to 
  when they were all together in the massive auditorium which floated 
  in a spherical void and whose floor was a Moebius strip surrounding a 
  circular stage whose ratio of circumference to diameter was exactly 3 
  (the auditorium is still there, you can visit it. People tend to go mad if 
  they look at the center stage long enough, so don’t do that).
  Instead, after the agreement, there was a vast fragmentation of 
  subcommittees, study groups, and action organizations, all trying to see 
  if they could come up with a solution on their own—especially one that 
  would work faster and more completely than Big Pharma’s.
  “The human being is a computer whose function is marred 
  by the flaw of emotionalism. Without this, each mind is 
  a powerful, directed calculation engine that bears the 
  hallmarks of design—design by a flawed craftsman, to be 
  certain—but even primitive tools can be used. Many small 
  cogs create powerful engines.
  In fact, I am certain that each person has some potential 
  virtue as a piece of a grander design: it is a design I plan 
  to examine and study. First the emotional fracture must 
  be understood and fixed. Then, when humans behave with 
  perfect predictability, their numbers can be reduced to 
  a minimum-redundancy-set and we can give them their 
  place in the machine they are born to serve in. Whatever 
  that is.”
  --The Mad Scientist. Speech to The Compassionate 
  Alternatives committee.
  “Off with their heads!”
  --The Queen of Hearts. Opening speaker; entire speech.
  You’re all going to die 
  down here.
     - The Red Queen,
        Resident Evil
  
  16
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  The Symposium was a tremendous spectacle and was, in fact, a focal 
  point of the highest of high drama that Wonderland had, perhaps, ever 
  seen. Its shockwaves were felt across all of reality, however faintly.
  While the important attendees were the Caretakers, their understudies 
  were there as well—and they were taking notes. Many of them wished to 
  do whatever was necessary to assume higher offices and grander titles—
  to prove themselves and modify themselves and critique themselves 
  (which, in Wonderland, is a kind of physical change that comes from 
  Literary Analysis) into being fully accredited, properly certified 
  Caretakers.
  And some of those watching wanted to bring it all down.
  The caretakers created Big Pharma, The Army of No, the Devouring 
  Accents, and several other less auspicious projects.
  The Deconstructionists waited.
  The Nature of Caretakers
  Caretakers are elemental forces that are contextually defined as Entities 
  within Wonderland (where, of course, context is everything). Rather than 
  laws of physics, they are governed by the rules of Literature. Dramas 
  “orbit” around the Caretakers as (analogously) planets orbit the sun. 
  They’re the beings Alice met down the rabbit hole. They are the arch-
  demons of the lower-realities. They are the dark gods and nightmares 
  at the back of the mirror-corridor set up when you open your medicine 
  cabinet so that it faces the looking glass over your sink. That’s where 
  they live.
  So forget about asking what they are—instead, let’s answer some basic 
  questions.
  Can You Kill Them?
  You probably can’t—but if you really do a number on them you can make 
  them go away.
  The physical manifestation of a Caretaker is very powerful. Within its 
  office (by which a reader would infer a physical room but by which we 
  confusingly mean an appointed title) it is essentially indestructible.
  If you go to the Queen of Heart’s banquet and gift her with a nuclear 
  weapon that you are somehow immune to, chances are you will find 
  yourself elsewhere when it goes off and she’ll still be conducting 
  business.
  But she’ll be out of your story for a while—maybe forever. It’ll be kind 
  The role of Caretakers 
  and Deconstructionists in 
  JAGS Wonderland
  Caretakers are both major 
  background antagonists and bit-
  parts in the game world. They 
  are the prime movers that (from 
  a Chessboard Zero perspective), 
  exist far behind the scenes but 
  they are also the characters Alice 
  meets (almost immediately) on 
  her first two trips to Wonderland.
  Our conception of the civil war 
  between the Caretakers and the 
  Deconstructionists is that, while 
  one might run into evidence of 
  it and effects from it all over the 
  place (including running into the 
  principle parties) the overarching 
  structure of the situation isn’t 
  clear—even to very experienced 
  people.
  There are several groups that 
  know “things” or “entities” exist 
  in deeper Wonderland. Many 
  people know that rather than the 
  fanciful characters most adults 
  perceive the characters in Alice 
  as, the real beings are actually 
  more like Clive Barker’s 
  Cenobites.
  However, few people understand 
  the true structure or the real 
  forces at work behind the 
  machinations of Wonderland. 
  That’s why we’ve put this 
  section last: it’s quite possible 
  to know everything and have a 
  great game—but it also might 
  be a lot of fun to explore the 
  concepts we’ve laid out here and 
  use them as revelations.
  
  17
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  of like she’s forgotten you exist, like she 
  doesn’t ever want to hear your name or have 
  anything to do with you, like she’s scared of 
  you. It isn’t any of those things—but if you 
  ‘slay’ a Caretaker’s physical manifestation you 
  do, indeed, kind of win.
  This is different than the question “can they 
  die” (to which the answer is “yes”).
  As to how they ‘die,’ that’s another matter: 
  usually a matter of choice or by being 
  ‘vituperated’ by other noted critics (of which 
  humans number very, very few); essentially 
  receiving a bad enough literary review.
  What Are The Limits of Their 
  Power?
  You ask the hard questions, huh? In person, 
  they are strong, tough, and can do immense 
  damage just by looking at you (although they 
  almost always delegate). They can re-shape 
  reality (and usually do so subtly): walk with 
  one for an hour and you could wind up on the 
  far side of the moon.
  They can vanish in an instant but almost 
  always make a dramatic entrance. They usually 
  conform to some element of style when they 
  act: they are, in a human sense, insane.
  In a larger sense, they create the world of 
  their office—a physical manifestation of 
  their conceptual title and responsibilities. 
  This “realm” or “bubble” in Wonderland (on 
  Chessboards Five and Six) is an area that 
  conforms to their ideas of what reality, in some 
  sense, is like—a statement of their critique and 
  lit-analysis of it. Needless to say, these places 
  are pretty strange.
  Beyond that (and within it as well) they create 
  life after a fashion. Caretakers intentionally 
  create unique, named servants who are 
  “beings” in the common sense. They spawn 
  numerous servants to take care of the physical 
  necessities of their households (in a way, the 
  servant polishing the bronze banister is sort of 
  like a personification of gravity which keeps 
  people moored to the earth). They also create 
  The Caretakers and Their Minions in Combat
  Minions of the Caretakers can be destroyed and will be 
  recreated by the elemental forces that are the Caretakers 
  themselves (recreating them may not be so much an “act 
  of will” as a natural occurrence). The stats they have are 
  for their typical incarnations. If they are killed it’ll set 
  back a plan or stop some initiative (and, indeed, the next 
  incarnation might be different in temperament!) but it won’t 
  get rid of the character.
  Caretakers, likewise, can be destroyed—but it usually takes 
  an act of another collitiation of Caretakers. The process is 
  described as “Editing Them Out of Existence.” More often 
  a Caretaker will simply be “demoted” or “banished” or 
  “punished in some semi-permanent fashion.”
  If you kill a Caretaker (their “avatar”) through anything 
  resembling a physical method, what usually happens is this: 
  the reality around you collapses quickly (maybe instantly) 
  and you (and everyone else nearby) are ejected back up to 
  Chessboard Zero (or maybe One or Two). This can happen 
  in a random fashion (you could wind up hundreds of miles 
  away—although usually on solid ground) and is moderately 
  traumatic (you may have amnesia, lost time, be disoriented, 
  etc.)
  In combat with a Caretaker they may either “fight you 
  physically” (which usually happens if the attack is not a 
  breach of social etiquette or extremely disrespectful) or 
  decide to will you out of existence. The physical option is 
  good news since their standard forms aren’t unstoppable. 
  However, even in this case, they may rearrange themselves 
  in order to face you on a more even basis (or even an 
  overwhelming physical basis).
  On the other hand if you really upset them, they’ll erase you 
  (or warp you or imprison you). This is bad news. Unless you 
  have attained Expert or Master level Mastery you don’t have 
  much of a chance against it (running is a good idea—but if 
  they really want you that won’t work).
  Caretaker Stats
  The stats Caretakers are given are for when they are the 
  size and scale of the characters they are interacting with. 
  This is their “standard form.” If attacked they will become 
  Large, as per Twisted and their stats will change accordingly 
  (they will have 4x the listed standard Damage Points). This 
  “Dominant Form” is adopted if they are in combat but not 
  “truly enraged.”
  
  18
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  dramas. These dramas are enacted by beings 
  that exist outside of the Caretaker’s offices 
  and, while they follow certain literary rules 
  and have characters and real-seeming living 
  beings, they are also very much aspects of 
  the fundamental forces of existence that the 
  Caretakers represent.
  What if a Caretaker is Mad At You?
  Let’s back up a minute there, Sparky: a 
  better question is what if a caretaker is 
  aware of you? Let’s get to first things first. 
  We call being in the eye of a caretaker 
  Notice (and it’s touched on in earlier 
  chapters). 
  Notice is something you risk when you 
  go deep. On Chessboards Three and Four, 
  Notice means that Wild Things might follow 
  you home. On Chessboards One and Two, 
  Notice means some of the top-level things 
  like Whirls, have gotten involved with you 
  or are following your life.
  If you hit levels Five and Six, then Notice 
  means a Caretaker is aware of you. Once you 
  are Noticed by a caretaker you may be drawn 
  into their drama field. This means you start 
  getting roles and responsibilities assigned to 
  you on those levels in those lower realities 
  and neglecting them or not understanding 
  them can have very real consequences!
  But what if they’re just mad at me?
  You don’t give up, do you? I like that in a 
  game-book paper-person. Well, the good 
  news is that if you are on Chessboard Zero 
  there isn’t much an angered Caretaker can 
  do. Very, very few of them are directed and 
  focused enough to even go after someone on 
  the higher levels of reality—and to expend 
  effort going after a human? How gauche.
  The bad news is that you are probably 
  Unsane and that means you’re going down 
  there to their areas sooner or later. Even if 
  you don’t natively go down to Chessboards 
  Five or Six during an Episode, if you’re 
  Noticed then even a moderate descent may 
  be “hijacked” and you could wind up in one 
  However, if they are really offended  (a gross breach of 
  etiquette is worse than an out-and-out attack) then they will 
  turn their attention to you (their full attention, that is) and 
  they will Edit you. This means being either destroyed or 
  re-envisioned as they wish to see you. There aren’t many 
  defenses against being Edited into some horrible form or fate. 
  The really powerful Caretakers can do this to other Caretakers, 
  so if you’re on the true receiving end of a death sentence (and 
  it’s sort of a sentence in the literal sense). Either some other 
  Caretaker needs to intercede on your behalf or you are just 
  screwed.
  If you have Mastery of Expert or Master then you stand a 
  chance. 
  Mastery
  Notes
  Expert
  You get a WIL roll against the Caretaker’s WIL. If you 
  beat theirs by 5, nothing happens and you’re immune to 
  Editing by that Caretaker thereafter. If you win by 0 to 
  4, you “survive” but may have both permanent Damage 
  (the GM may assign one or two Damages) and you may 
  be physically warped in some way (a -4 point crippled). 
  If you lose you are affected fully.
  Master
  You get a straight WIL vs. WIL roll. If you win, you’re 
  immune. If you lose by -1 to -3 you suffer the “damage 
  effect” as above. If you miss by 4 or more you are fully 
  affected.
  Editing a sentient being is an 8 REA Long Action. Getting 
  into the Linear Maze or otherwise leaving the Chessboard 
  will help you escape—physically moving, won’t. Destroying 
  the physical form of the Caretaker may save you. It isn’t 
  guaranteed.
  Note: Editing may be something dramatic such as turning 
  someone 1” tall and stepping on them. This is pretty unfair but 
  it may give a clever character a chance.
  Caretaker’s Block
  Caretakers, for 2 REA, can “dismiss” an attack that’s coming 
  in. This works automatically on a 13- roll (it isn’t rolled 
  against the to-hit score). This may be accomplished by a wave 
  of the hand which makes the incoming projectile vanish or 
  deflects a physical blow off an imaginary shield.
  Caretaker’s Teleport
  All Caretakers can teleport as an 8 REA Long action. This is 
  infallible and can get them out of any danger (they can simply 
  discorporate). 
  Change Terrain
  Within their domains, the Caretakers can (apparently) reorder 
  
  19
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  of their dark orbits—a dangerous Caretaker 
  Drama (or, more rarely, even face-to-face 
  with one).
  What Are They Like If I Meet 
  Them?
  Insane. Clearly this varies a lot from 
  Caretaker to Caretaker but most of them are 
  far from what would be considered normal. 
  In addition to possessing unusual ideas about 
  logic and proportion, they are also rarely 
  pragmatic since, in their reality, style is also 
  substance. This is good in that rarely will 
  they just melt you by looking at you. It’s bad 
  in that, if they decide to be creative, they can do far, far worse.
  But when most Caretakers are met—and not already angry—they appear 
  as talking things or people of a somewhat grumpy, didactic disposition. 
  Although they are grossly offended by humanity in general, in specific 
  they rarely seem to be able to distinguish between an actual human and 
  one of the many artificial creations (actors and minions) that populate 
  their world: that is, even if they know you are a human, once you are 
  down there with them, many will not just immediately vent their low 
  opinion of humanity on you in a fiery mushroom cloud.
  Of course you don’t want to insult one—and they are usually very quick 
  to take offense (as Alice found out).
  Are They Gods?
  No—although they are “god-like.” They don’t exercise power over 
  things like the weather, childbirth, health, or dying like mythological 
  deities do. Their relation to whatever the afterlife is isn’t clear, although 
  they can intercede in death and they seem to have some way of 
  communicating with either the actual personalities or constructs of the 
  deceased. 
  They are sources of great amounts of information about the workings of 
  the universe—most of it almost incomprehensible, some of it, outright 
  lies. Sometimes, in “full regalia” their personages carry with them, a 
  kind of spectral awe.
  They can also be worshipped. Well, not worshipped—they can have 
  disciples. On the lower levels, things that are spawned by them (either 
  intentionally or by the nature of their existence) sometimes do worship 
  them—or otherwise follow them. Even up to Chessboard Zero there 
  space and time as they wish. In theory this should give them 
  an ultimate weapon over any attacker. However, they usually 
  don’t simply smash people flat by dropping the roof on them. 
  If a Caretaker spends 8 REA to “Imprison” someone, it is 
  usually done in a dramatic, often horrific, but usually not all 
  that effective manner (i.e. An imprisoned character might 
  escape eventually or be rescued). More commonly this is used 
  to create needed chambers and doors.
  Caretaker’s Power Bolt
  If a Caretaker is upset and engaged in combat, most of them 
  can throw power blasts for 5 REA (-1/50 yards). These hit 
  for 24 IMP damage (although, once again, if a Caretaker is 
  really upset they can crank that up to astronomical amounts of 
  damage).
  
  20
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  are cases where humans have become disciples of 
  Caretakers (usually with very little understanding of 
  what they are doing).
  The process is a lot more conceptually like having a 
  favorite author whose philosophy you study than like 
  worshipping in, say, a pagan religion. But, on the other 
  hand, getting into those philosophies, as a human being, 
  leads to things like ritual murder and cannibalism, 
  charismatic leadership of lesser minds, and a good deal 
  of license in the spreading of the word. Maybe you’ll 
  decide it really is like a religion after all. 
  At any rate, what they do for their followers tends 
  to be in many cases almost autonomic—persons of 
  sufficiently and specifically warped frame of mind 
  descend directly to the Caretaker’s office where, being 
  insane and following the Caretaker, they have a better 
  chance of survival than most. The experience will tend 
  to Twist the person in specific ways and drive them 
  further and further from humanity until they snap 
  completely and either die or come down to the office 
  forever. At least that’s what people think happens.
  What are Minions, Actors, and Servants?
  They are different beings that Caretakers create. 
  Minions are unique individuals that serve some function in the 
  Caretaker’s household (or act as messengers or confidants or what have 
  you). 
  Minions, if you meet one, are, to the average human undergoing Descent, 
  indistinguishable from a Caretaker save that the Minion rarely claims 
  noble rank (although since not all Caretakers do either, this is by no 
  means a universal test). They can be coolly crazy, annoyingly insistent, 
  gruff, incoherent, easily offended, brilliant, and inscrutable. Often they 
  do what their natures tell them to in the service of their Caretaker rather 
  than necessarily following orders. In a few cases, that function could be 
  something like “Go out and annoy other Caretakers I don’t like.”
  Minions are usually fairly powerful but, unlike Caretakers, may be slain. 
  If this happens, another Minion—of different personality—but the same 
  statistics is usually naturally created. 
  Servants, while each is “an individual,” of which there are several and 
  they too serve the Caretaker in some way. Usually they are less strong 
  of personality and often less powerful, and they are produced at a steady 
  rate as they die, drift away from the dramatic orbit of the Caretaker, or 
  are slain.
  Actors are another matter altogether—and they need their own section.
  
  21
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Tell Me About 
  Actors 
  and 
  Dramas
  Imagine the office 
  of a Caretaker as 
  a castle (and if 
  you envision it as 
  Kafka’s Castle, 
  all the better). 
  Imagine that 
  around it is the 
  lands it rules: This 
  gives you have 
  an easily grasped 
  (and very, very 
  wrong) impression 
  of how a Caretaker 
  manifests itself. 
  For another 
  analogy, imagine 
  a super-storm 
  whose central eye 
  is a baleful sun 
  and each particle 
  caught up in the 
  cyclone around it 
  is both created by 
  the sun and given 
  an intellect by it 
  so that it believes 
  that in the exercise 
  of its free will, it dances and swirls according to its designs while the 
  greater perspective shows that is merely part of a larger vortex.
  That’s a little better. Now expand it out to eleven dimensions and 
  pretend that virtues and vices were actually physical forces like 
  electromagnetism and gravity. Still got that? Good.
  The particles caught up in the storm are actors. They are not (directly) 
  servants of the Caretakers. They are not (exactly) subjects either 
  (although they may perceive themselves as such—or not even be aware 
  such things as Caretakers exist). In their realms (Chessboards Five 
  and Six) time is not a linear thing: existence over any great period is 
  dreamlike. The present always seems sensible to you—but mad to 
  someone with even a minor variant of perspective. Everything within 
  this world moves with a plan—but not a conscious plan by some 
  authorial director.
  Instead it is a script or a story because the bedrock nature of reality in 
  Wonderland is stories … stories and knots. To the actors, things such as 
  Running Dramas
  Running Dramas
  For characters caught in Caretaker dramas the experience can be anything from demented horror (the 
  character is assigned the role of setting up a party at which the guests, Shadows of the people the character 
  knows and cares about, will be flamboyantly executed) to lighthearted adventure.
  In our experience, running the Drama game involved the following:
  1. A Caretaker who was at least moderately sympathetic to the characters and treated the characters 
  as though they were subjects or employees.
  2. Fantastic terrain (the worlds of Chessboards five and six) to adventure in. 
  3. A task to which the characters were at least nominally suited.
  Examples
  In one game, a Caretaker (the Red Queen, a 9’ living chess piece) summoned an astronomer character 
  (and her escorts, the other PCs) to her court. A new constellation had been sighted in the sky and the Royal 
  Astrologers needed to know its name in order to properly read its portents.
  The character was assigned to a fleet of sailing vessels (the Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod) to sail off the edge 
  of the world and into the sea of night to reach the constellation and ask it its name).
  In another drama-based adventure a mountaineering character was asked by the Mad Hatter to carry a letter 
  (penned using tea as ink) to Time, who was imprisoned on a mountain across the Tulgy Wood. 
  In both of these adventures the characters weren’t sure if they were going nuts or not—but they were 
  motivated to work with the powerful (and fairly friendly) forms of these beings (who, in their turn were 
  able to do some things for the characters such as offer protection from other Wonderland dangers).
  Timing
  A drama may be played out in one descent but the above dramas took place over many days and weeks of 
  game-time. The ongoing action in the drama simply ended when the characters went back to Chessboard 
  Zero and resumed more or less where it left off when they had their next Episode.
  In our games deep Descent dramas were played out interspersed with shallow Descent Episodes.
  
  22
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  gravity, light, electricity, and chemistry seem like natural things—like 
  universal laws (when they think about them)—but they are not.
  The Actors are part of the dramas that surround (or “orbit”) the 
  Caretakers. On the dusty, Victorian streets of the Great Gray City, an 
  orphan girl perishes in the snow: her tragedy is a story and it is dictated 
  by the laws that created her. A carriage plies the almost empty streets, 
  the gentleman inside looking for his lost love: that too is a story in 
  every sense—the conflagration of events has meaning, premise, theme, 
  symbolism … it isn’t the random nature of intersecting particles but  
  there is no conscious author to it—it is the nature and existence of the 
  Caretaker.
  The man’s wife who he thinks has in a bout of depression run out into 
  the cold dark actually coils in her lover’s arms in a decrepit hotel. The 
  two of them drink cheap alcohol and trade disease: that is a story too. 
  Neither she, nor her husband, know that the girl is their niece and, when 
  his carriage runs over her body, causing him to stop (too late) it is the 
  delay that ensures that his love (now dying of the cough) will never see 
  him again as she makes her way towards the high gates of the city wall.
  But it doesn’t end there—the dramas take place on all scales and in 
  
  23
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  many, many different ways. In this Great Gray City there is a cat who 
  knew the orphan. It’s a cat that wears a tuxedo and dines on mice who 
  beg for their lives before they are eaten. The dramas know no limits of 
  size or plausibility—the gentleman would never be surprised to see a 
  tuxedo wearing cat or a talking mouse. 
  The cat has fished a pocket-watch off of a drunk who, in turn, lifted it 
  from an eager young secretary who was having it repaired for his new 
  employer. The cat prizes the watch, but wants it to tick. It knows there is 
  a raccoon—a disreputable fellow—but very good with his hands—who 
  lives above Harley street and he will have him fix the watch—for a price. 
  A price, which, perhaps, involves the gentleman.
  All of this—and a thousand more stories—in a hundred more terrains—
  winds on and on like a clockwork storm of interacting particles of theme 
  and genre and portent.
  Do Humans Get Caught In Those Storms?
  When they come down to Chessboards Five and Six, they may. That’s 
  the woods Alice wandered in during Wonderland. It’s the chess match of 
  Looking Glass. When a person is on Chessboard Five or Six, they may 
  be more of a tourist—or they may be caught up in it. The latter happens 
  when they are “mistaken” for someone who has a “role” in the drama. 
  In some cases, people from reality have found themselves in twisted 
  doctor’s offices—as the doctor—forced to diagnose and treat patient 
  after inhuman patient.
  Screw up badly enough and you could get tried for be a fraud—run for 
  it and you might be hunted. On the other hand, quick wits and a touch 
  for seeing the literary story-structure of what’s going on might get you 
  through it.
  Actors (be they white rabbits late for dates with murderous queens, 
  high-society human-seeming members of a gentleman’s club where 
  the servants are all floating draperies with tentacle-like tassels, or tiny 
  armies of ants in Napoleonic uniforms) are all real living beings that 
  exist within what they think of as an actual, logical world. Despite their 
  creation and trajectory as “literary characters” they are capable of self-
  direction (or, well, at least that isn’t as clear as maybe it could be) and 
  when a human arrives in their midst, they will treat them both within the 
  constraints of their role and to their basic personalities.
  The Royal Drama: Meeting The Caretaker
  We’ve established that there are dramas and actors but it hasn’t been 
  made clear under what circumstances a human undergoing Descent 
  might meet a Caretaker. This, actually, happens quite a bit: it is called 
  the Royal Drama. Alice’s adventures are an example of these—she meets 
  one Caretaker after another as she wanders through the dreamlike reality 
  of the deeper realms.
  A caretaker is…
  Mad
  Because he sees the world, not 
  as it is but as he wishes it would 
  be. And for millions and millions 
  of years, the world has bent to 
  conform to his delusions.
  The Eye of the Storm
  Because she believes herself 
  to be physical thing, while her 
  influence roars around her, 
  corrupting, perverting, and 
  degrading everything within her 
  sphere.
  Munificent
  Because he has everything he 
  could ever desire and yet can 
  still be bigger by demonstrating 
  his largess.
  A Petty Bastard
  Because she knows she has 
  limits and they make her furious 
  and when she sees weakness and 
  mortality in others it reminds of 
  things that she hates in herself.
  Paradoxes with Opposing Poles
  Each Caretaker is obsessed 
  with something and repelled by 
  something else. Sometimes these 
  are polar opposites. Sometimes 
  these are the same things. And 
  these things are represent deep, 
  universal truths that would be 
  enlightening if one could see 
  through the
  pageantry, rage, and distortion.
  The Queen of Hearts has 
  sacrificed millions upon the altar 
  of the rules, but violates their 
  spirit with every psychotic deed.
  The Duchess of Knots is 
  ensnared in storm of 
  
  24
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  This is sometimes dangerous directly and often dangerous indirectly. In 
  the direct sense, anyone without a Survival Trait who meets a Caretaker 
  is often consumed, twisted, and/or driven insane by the encounter. For 
  those with Survival Traits (or without, under special circumstances) the 
  encounter may be simply another encounter with an odd, irrational, non-
  human entity.
  But if you’re unlucky, the Caretaker Notices you—and then you may 
  be given specific tasks (roles) in ongoing dramas or you may be (more 
  ‘rationally’) expected to serve the Caretaker’s interest on Chessboard 
  Zero. The latter is rare: the Caretakers don’t really understand 
  Chessboard Zero and most of their servants are simply twisted students 
  (Hunger Disciples) who sort of do the Caretaker’s work by their natures.
  What Do The Caretakers Want on Chessboard Zero?
  Ultimately? The end of man (for the most part). More concretely: they 
  don’t really have a plan you can formulate well. Their communication 
  with the humans involved in Big Pharma is so diffuse that it’s hard to 
  really know what they think is happening as a whole. The Army of No 
  has some potential to cause humanity problems but it’s usually limited 
  to Chessboard Two and it usually needs help to really impact the real 
  world.
  Hunger Disciples are a direct effect of the Caretakers on Chessboard 
  Zero but they’re almost an autonomic function: a person gets close to a 
  Caretaker and they come back warped. The Hunger Disciple may teach 
  a doctrine (a warped form of “literary criticism” directed at man or the 
  nature of the universe) but there’s no indication that these cults—danger-
  ous and destructive as they may be—are part of a Caretaker design.
  But if you are Noticed then you will find that the Caretaker may expect 
  you to obey the orders of something far closer to the surface than itself—
  a minion it controls that may have distinct plans (for the corruption of 
  innocence, for instance) and you may find yourself battling with that.
  How Does All This Apply To Deconstructionists
  The Deconstructionists have plans for mankind too—they plan to use 
  man as a pawn in their coming civil war in Wonderland. On a basic level 
  this means changing the global perspective of mankind so as to cause 
  massive Infection, which would recalibrate the Department of Works.
  On a more sophisticated level, though, it involves far more practical 
  things. Certain ideas can be insinuated into mega-cultures in subtle ways 
  to adjust the Department of Works … just a little. That’s easier to do. 
  They also recognize that Humans, for all their innate inferiority can have 
  substantial effects on the lower realms from their high-ground position. 
  So having them form Magician Lodges, cults, and Waldens is something 
  the Deconstructionists are working with all the time. 
  maddening change and 
  tumultuous chaos, but 
  sponsors a massive, dark 
  bureaucracy whose rules and 
  bylaws and dusty files consign 
  those caught in its grip to stasis.
  The Liebrarian worships the 
  sanctity of truth, while residing 
  over an infinite collection of 
  blasphemy and perversity. She 
  seeks ordinal mastery over 
  the un-ordered and cardinal 
  understanding of the un-
  numbered. She is a keeper of 
  knowledge so wrapped in lies, it 
  provides uncertainty.
  Darker things less human rule 
  over chasms dedicated mirth that 
  are filled with weeping. 
  The Factory is, in itself the 
  means of production – the 
  engines of capitalism, but they 
  vomit up resources without 
  scarcity: the utopian dream.
  Full of Hatred
  In a refined, civilized way, they 
  hate everything, and it gnaws at 
  them.
  
  25
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Imagine a hundred disembodied hands trying a million combination 
  locks: that’s the Deconstructionists playing with humanity, trying to 
  find the combination of changes on Chessboard Zero that will give them 
  power in the coming storm.
  Running the Caretakers
  The entities at the bottom of Wonderland are paradoxical, complex, 
  and insane by human standards. They are extremely versatile and 
  may go from antagonist to monster to ally depending on how they are 
  approached and what role they are fulfilling.
  Multiple Personalities
  Caretakers are creatures of drama as much as they create their own 
  “drama vortex.” As such they may be encountered as implacable enemies 
  of humanity (and thus the PCs) or as benevolent royalty where they 
  assume the PCs to be their subjects, or as seemingly random travelers in 
  an insane land. This isn’t exactly contradictory: the mind of a Caretaker 
  is highly fractured and when they are acting as a regent they are not so 
  much playing a role as being it. A trip to the Queen of Heart’s castle 
  could be a bloody death-fest—or it could just be a fancy ball (albeit still 
  with a strong hint of execution, most likely).
  Individual Caretakers may wish death or brutal “civilizing” on humanity 
  in general but they respond to PCs caught in their dramas the same way 
  the respond to human-like and non-human actors caught in their dramas: 
  as “people.” If a PC is summoned to The Factory as a “quality inspector” 
  the fact that The Factory’s ultimate aims for mankind are as part of its 
  machines won’t result in an ambush for the character—rather they, so 
  long as they play the role of “quality inspector” to some reasonable 
  degree, will only be in as much danger as that character would be in the 
  drama.
  Differing Aspects and Incarnations
  In addition to having more than one active personality, Caretakers may 
  have quite different appearances and physical attributes depending on 
  how they are approached. Sometimes versions of themselves will be 
  found traveling on the lower-chessboards and, although still formidable, 
  they are pretty much their physical incarnations there. When encountered 
  in their offices their abilities and knowledge may be quite expanded.
  Often fragments of traveling Caretakers may even be seen as weak and 
  pathetic to human eyes (a Queen may be lost in the woods, Humpty 
  Dumpty may be broken, etc.) How the character relates to them will 
  have some bearing on how other incarnations of the Caretaker respond 
  to the character but often another incarnation’s memories of the event 
  may be indistinct or even different.
  
  26
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Obsessions and Religions
  Caretakers are philosophical beings at their core: they represent a 
  complicated set of obsessions, irrational beliefs, and a superior intellect. 
  They have massive egos and their egocentricity is so deep that they 
  are not merely “self-centered” but rather warp reality itself to their 
  own aggrandizement. As a result of this and their innate power in 
  manipulating the lower Chessboards, they act as rules and gods to the 
  beings of the upper Chessboards.
  On Chessboards as high up as Two (but most commonly seen on three 
  and four) they are the mysterious alien royalty that, while rarely seen, 
  has powerful influences on the civilizations there.
  A colony that is a subject of the Queen of Hearts could be focused 
  on streams of oppressive, irrational, and often changing rules with 
  hideous judicial punishment for breaking them. If a town is under 
  the thrall of the Duchess of Knots it may have a twisted, oppressive, 
  incomprehensible, bureaucracy about it (while the scions of the 
  Polytician would be endemically corrupt and bureaucratic).
  The beings that serve as their subjects do not understand the nature of 
  the “royalty” they serve (they may have several explanations for it or 
  simply accept that the beings that rule them are worthy of their exalted 
  status although rarely seen and having seemingly little interest in their 
  taxes or tributes save wanting obedience for its own sake). However, 
  beyond the simple subjugation of these people, there is an aspect of 
  reverence. When one adopts the philosophical world-view of a 
  Caretaker (at least as much as one is able, usually drifting into 
  various degrees of insanity) one becomes its disciple. This 
  can have powerful effects. Towns, villages, and individual 
  persons on the lower Chessboards that do follow the edicts of 
  their rulers more aggressively and authentically will usually 
  change in their nature. Even on Chessboard Zero, a person 
  who adopts the insanity of a Caretaker can become a Hunger 
  Disciple.
  The Queen of Hearts
  Side: Caretaker
  “What is the fun?” said Alice.
  “Why she,” said the Gryphon. “It’s all her fancy, that: they 
  never executes nobody, you know. Come on!”
  --The Gryphon, reassuring Alice about the Queen of Hearts, 
  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
  “I see nobody on the road,” said Alice.
  “I only wish I had such eyes,” the King remarked in a fretful 
  tone. “To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too!”
  -- The White King, putting that assurance in proper context. 
  Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There
  
  27
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Overview
  On the high plains of Gosnor 
  (where even the blades of grass 
  are political) sits The Twisted 
  Palace, an exterior of columns, 
  frescos and stairways surrounds 
  a series of inner-chambers 
  adorned in the finest blood-red 
  velvet and gold leaf. It is said 
  that the ceilings are painted 
  masterworks colored with 
  pigments made of the ground 
  heartstrings of the souls that 
  have been ground within. The 
  Twisted Palace is the domain 
  of the Red Queen and her 
  vivisectionists who critique the 
  human condition in the form 
  of its painstaking and painful 
  disassembly and analysis. 
  The Red Queen seeks to fill 
  her cavernous, ever-growing 
  library—a collection of 
  analytical works on The Human 
  Condition: the largest volume 
  of literature ever “published.” She and her disciples believe that 
  humankind itself—each individual—is a book in the language of 
  its DNA. She seeks to, by tortuous insight into the individuals, find 
  the touchstone in each person that is their own point of view that 
  sheds light in The Author’s statement that is the person made flesh. 
  Massive meat grinders connected to madly chattering linotype 
  machines stand next to great looms each unspooling a human mind 
  into component thought threads, each loom positioned above their 
  owner’s screaming faces. Vivisection tables whose clay surfaces 
  etch their victim’s thoughts as they run with fresh blood slowly take 
  the measure of each of their occupants.
  Her minions in the world are those whom she has taken and deemed 
  salvageable: they have been disassembled and reconstructed in an 
  image that is pleasing to her—an insane image. They are monsters 
  that exist with only semi-ordinary Shadows at Chessboard Zero. 
  At Chessboard One or Two they become bloated things: recruiters 
  for her horror-show. Sometimes they simply take anyone they can 
  catch—but other times she has certain themes or trends she sends 
  them after (runaways, television executives, twins, etc.). In these 
  cases her minions in the real world are built to pass until their time 
  comes to drag her prey screaming into a mirror.
  Name: The Queen of Hearts
  Caretaker
  PHY 14
  STR 24
  BLD 14
  CON 14
  REF 10
  COR 10
  REA 10
  AGI 10
  INT 17
  RES 17
  MEM 17
  WIL 17
  DP 240
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  80
  240
  480
  To Hit
  16-
  To Be Hit
  +1
  Armor
  10/20
  Damage
  varies
  Description: The Queen, an entity that takes form as a 12’ grotesque woman in an ornate, 
  flowing gown sweeps the corridors ceaselessly ordering her chaotic domain. Where she goes 
  death follows by decree of execution, by consumption for her own ravenous appetite, by 
  dissection for study, or simply for her amusement. 
  She wears a massive ball-dress and carries a fan. Everything about her from the smallest 
  piece of jewelry to the fractally complex designs in her dress is reeks of hearts.
  The Queen of Hearts is an imposing, bombastic figure, striding across the landscape and 
  issuing commands to terrified underlings. Her ugly mouth can unhinge at the jaw stretching 
  to become massive in size (although she does this rarely) and she has literally bitten the head 
  off of those who displease her.
  In person she performs her court’s duties: presiding over trials, attending games and dinners, 
  dancing at balls, and so on. She usually travels with a small retinue of sycophants.
  Hearts Blade: She carries a royal scepter with a heart-shaped blade atop it (often red with 
  blood). It can extend up to Long Reach and it cuts for 40 PEN damage, 120pts if it hits by 
  4+ (and that’s Base Damage). At Medium Range, it costs 5 REA to swing. When extended to 
  Long Reach, it has a +2 Back Swing (and can only be used once per turn).
  The Queen of Hearts
  I like the Queen; she’s found 
  her method of coping with 
  life – beheadings – and she’s 
  okay with that. It’s kind of like 
  creative visualization, really; if 
  there’s something happening 
  that she doesn’t dig on, she 
  creates a world where the 
  person responsible has died 
  horribly. And if nobody ever 
  actually ends up headless, 
  well, you create your own 
  reality. I really think there’s 
  some room here for a new and 
  potent form of therapy. B+
  - Lore Sjöberg, 
   The Book of Ratings
  
  28
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Disposition Towards 
  Man
  She wishes to study man in 
  order to complete her library—
  but if mankind were to go 
  away then it would be finished 
  just the same. Her fury is 
  genocidal.
  Encounter Threat
  Very high. To displease her is 
  to invite death (the upside is 
  that she doesn’t always carry 
  out the sentence herself so 
  you might be able to beat her 
  headsman once you get a little 
  away from her).
  Domain: The Palace of 
  Hearts
  The Palace of the Red Queen 
  is a place of shifting reality 
  that conforms to her nightmare 
  vision. She is truly mad—and 
  incredibly powerful. Doors 
  vanish, halls appear—but 
  if you’re there you’ve got 
  nothing coming: nothing good, 
  anyway.
  Physicality
  The Palace has the look of an 
  animation to it—the materials 
  all seem slightly luminescent and well defined—but it is a real physical 
  place … or seems to be.
  The Palace (whose colors are red and gold) is resplendent. The 
  guards (playing cards, Marionettes, and Mannequins) wear uniforms 
  reminiscent of the most gaudy of the 17th century European armies. 
  Checkerboard patterns in various colors repeat themselves and many 
  corridors go from being “paintings” to “real” seemingly on a whim.
  One constant is the many, many pictures of the Red Queen (there are also 
  statues). They show her presiding over beheadings, riding into battle, etc. 
  These paintings can become animated with some portion of her spirit 
  and give commands (or even step out and take actions—but they’re still 
  obviously animated 2D oil paintings). The problem with these is that one 
  never knows if following their instructions (or failing to) will get you in 
  hot water with the Queen.
  Name: The Heart Cartographer
  Minion
  PHY 11
  STR 11
  BLD 08
  CON 11
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 12
  AGI 12
  INT 15
  RES 15
  MEM 15
  WIL 15
  DP 45
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  14
  45
  90
  To Hit
  12-
  To Be Hit
  -2
  Armor
  8/16
  Damage
  7 PEN 
  Sword
  Description: The Cartographer is a tall man—bald and gaunt and bent over like a question-
  mark. He wears a white lab coat and his skin is an asphyxiated blue. He sports a head-set 
  with magnifying glasses in various powers, flashlights, and quills in various colors. 
  Station: The Heart Cartographer is one of the stewards of the Red Queen’s castle. From his 
  high tower in the Twisted Palace he works for the Queen’s aims, seeking people whose life 
  stories have a specific theme or premise.  Making maps of the mysteries of the human heart, 
  he specializes in those who have loves that are forbidden. 
  He can find these people with his telescopes (that stare up into the sky and show him views 
  of planet Earth). Sometimes people embroiled in such affairs are turned in to him—he 
  receives mail with the proper address from the real world.
  The Art of the Deal: The Heart Cartographer (whose tower is filled with maps of imaginary 
  continents the shape—and bearing the geographical features—of loves forbidden, lost, or 
  hard won) can contact those who he seeks. He can make deals. It is said that he may permit 
  three of four to slip away from him such that he only takes a quarter of those he contacts. 
  Others say that to deal with him at all is to have one’s broken heart graphed in the massive 
  steam-driven plotting machines while the two lovers are sealed in glass jars separated for all 
  eternity. What he can do is intervene if some test is met or passed. He usually sets the nature 
  of the test and he usually determines if one passes—but he’s a very exacting individual (one 
  may expect cartographers to pay attention to their work) and he is “fair.” Whatever that 
  means.
  Blinding and Binding: When the Cartographer intervenes he does so by visiting his target 
  (usually someone other than the lovers) and talking to them. He understands the chambers 
  and arteries, the highways and byways, and the hidden places of the human heart and his 
  words are irresistible to those he contacts. It is said he can convince anyone of anything—
  but he acts in the subtlest way possible.
  
  29
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  There is also a gallery of 
  severed heads that winds a 
  long way. The heads are still 
  animate (in glass cases) and 
  can speak.
  The Dungeons and Cages are 
  where the Queen’s victims 
  are taken. Most of the cages 
  are tiny—some are ‘form 
  fitting.’ There are interrogation 
  rooms—but, more terrifying, 
  are the examination rooms 
  where the targets have pieces 
  of their anatomy removed and 
  inspected in a search for the 
  “touchstone”—the physical 
  (if, perhaps, microscopic) 
  manifestation of their being 
  that explains their point of 
  view and thus illuminates the 
  cryptic text of their DNA. 
  Her blood-splattered, gore 
  drenched Chirgons are capable 
  of taking apart a person slowly 
  and meticulously looking for 
  it. This does not always (and, 
  in fact, far too rarely) mean 
  death: there are great meat-
  grinder machines into which 
  the still-living, still-sentient  
  person is fed: they become 
  gristle for the Marionette 
  factory (the biological material 
  is converted to “living” plastic and wood”). The spare parts may also be 
  used to assemble monstrosities.
  Rules
  The Palace is a complex eco-system of predation: the furniture can 
  walk around and eat you and many chambers become traps. Sometimes, 
  deathtraps fill with water or sand, or corridors are patrolled by huge 
  rolling metal spheres or sliding blocks. Weapons (pole-axes) march 
  around by themselves, and even the seemingly sane beings that 
  “oversee” sections of the madhouse are prone to degenerate in a sudden 
  downward spiral of insanity.
  That’s a Survival Trait: if you are insane, a lot of the bizarreness makes 
  sense (and the worst can be avoided). A person who instinctively and 
  reflexively is disconnected from what their senses tell them about the 
  world will perceive the castle as a different sort of place: that stairway 
  Name: The Cerebellum Preparer
  Minion
  PHY 13
  STR 13
  BLD 24
  CON 13
  REF 11
  COR 11
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 11
  WIL 11
  DP 90
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  30
  90
  180
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  +0
  Armor
  8/16
  Damage
  13 PEN 
  Bite
  Description: The Preparer is a fat thing whose face is a massive mouth of jagged teeth. It 
  wears a blood-stained apron and its thickly muscled arms have metal talons set over the 
  fingernails. When it speaks the voice is cool, pleasant, and urbane—it seems to issue from 
  the air around the Preparer—not from its maw.
  Station: In the lower reaches of the Twisted Place are the kitchens and each fortnight the 
  Queen dines on a Royal dinner. Her chefs and appetites are legion and legend but one office 
  that stands out is the preparer of the Cerebellum. 
  The room is a horror show of clamps and knives so that the subject’s brain may be removed, 
  examined, and prepared for consumption. The meal, however, is not intended to nourish the 
  eater—rather, the experience of consuming a human’s brain is meant to inform the diner—to 
  explain the thoughts, life, and mind of the person consumed.
  The centerpiece of the course is the Head Plate—a domed plate under which a still living 
  head, bare from the eyes up, is placed amidst a composition of rare vegetables, spices, and 
  oils. As the brain itself is prepared painstakingly, delving into the meal is a exploration of 
  the senses—taste, sight, smell, and even touch (finger food!). Although the brain has no 
  nerve-endings, the preparation—the sauces, the stuffing, the cutting and the basting—leave 
  the subject with a cyclone of sensory stimulation that often leaves him or her screaming, 
  singing, or babbling for the audio component.
  Subjects of Interest: The Preparer wants only the most rarefied subjects for his feasts. It is 
  those who think in some way different (oddly, owning a Mac doesn’t qualify you). Artists, 
  musicians, writers, and others are on the dream menu. The preparer often is lured with the 
  promise and tantalizing hints at an awakening of muse—of the creativity within. When 
  possible the Preparer works through a network of “talent scouts,” who seek to bring those 
  with the tastiest talent into their domain.
  
  30
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  isn’t the way up—instead, one must be eaten by the couch and then 
  ‘released’ upstairs from the alcove with the bust in it.
  Adopting this mindset is hard to do intentionally (although some of the 
  people there come by it ‘naturally’ after a time)—the best bet is to get a 
  guide (and a guide, being crazy, is capricious at best).
  Dramas
  The Queen of Hearts acts as the head magistrate in her kingdom and her 
  court is bloody and random. There are barristers who one can appeal to 
  for help—but the system of “justice” is Byzantine and nonsensical and 
  one is almost as helpless with one’s lawyer as with the final judge. Many 
  dramas include various Actors in Wonderland being drawn into her 
  courts and trials.
  She is also a socialite and holds balls, fairs, and other events (Croquet 
  matches) to which one may receive an invitation. Refusal means 
  execution but accepting is usually almost as dangerous.
  Humpty Dumpty
  Side: Deconstructionist
  NOTE: Unlike most 
  Deconstructionists (whose 
  sympathies are hidden or are hunted) 
  Humpty is both recognized as the 
  ‘head of the movement’ (well, at least 
  a major philosophical contributor 
  and aider and abettor) and accepted 
  in Caretaker society (although 
  many despise him). This is partly 
  because he is powerful. It is mostly 
  because the office he holds, as he 
  has redefined it, legally allows him 
  to critique Wonderland itself into 
  destruction!
  Alice felt even more indignant at this 
  suggestion. “I mean,” she said, “that 
  one ca’n’t help growing older.”
  “One ca’n’t, perhaps,” said Humpty 
  Dumpty; “but two can. With proper 
  assistance, you might have left off at 
  seven.”
  -- Alice and the Egg Man, Through 
  the Looking Glass and What Alice 
  Found There
  Overview The Hollow Kingdom 
  is a shared domain where the Futile 
  King sits on a golden throne. The 
  
  31
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  lands of the Kingdom are 
  fairy-book rolling hills, copses 
  of trees, and towers with ban-
  ners flying from them. There 
  are small hamlets and during 
  the winters: sleigh tracks past 
  the numerous winding walls 
  and fences that run across it. It 
  looks idyllic. 
  The people (many human, but 
  also a good helping of talking 
  foxes, chased by talking 
  hounds during the hunts) live 
  a strangely simplified life—in 
  many ways, a ‘perfect one,’ so 
  long as it is examined on a small scale.
  On a large scale, it is disaster. The Hollow Kingdom is eaten through 
  with subtle worms of failure in every enterprise beyond the microcosm 
  of the small faux-medieval town. Many of the walls are broken 
  waterworks of failed aqueduct projects. There are picturesque windmills 
  that do nothing and waterwheels that turn broken mills. There are 
  numerous clock towers, but the times told by the hands are random. 
  And there are dark mud-plains where the disease of failure has overtaken 
  everything, sucking towns, and people, and travelers down into the 
  mud. When failure comes, it comes like a storm and it can bring pitiless 
  starvation and ruin. This happens fast—maps are all out of date. Roads 
  sometimes curve away from where a town has vanished to ghost-town 
  (or worse). All of this is part of the world.
  There are several Entities that share this sprawling Kingdom. One of 
  them, is Humpty Dumpty.
  Personality
  At heart, he is the critic and his drive is to destroy by analysis. Although 
  he has set his talents on many things and people over time, his ultimate 
  goal is the devastating critique of Wonderland itself. As such, he is not 
  just a Deconstructionist—but their leader. He is the first amongst the 
  Anarchists.
  He travels many places and is accepted (in Wonderland) as a personage 
  of great prestige and power (although he is treated as a nobleman or 
  visiting royalty and not a king). Where he casts his eye, he will observe 
  and then judge. His judgment goes beyond harsh: if he does it right, he 
  will make the child lose faith in his mother, the champion lose faith in 
  himself, and the pastor lose faith in God. 
  In person, he is disgruntled—quick to take offense (although rarely 
  Name: Humpty Dumpty
  Deconstruc-
  tionist
  PHY 09
  STR 09
  BLD 12
  CON 09
  REF 11
  COR 13
  REA 11
  AGI 09
  INT 19
  RES 19
  MEM 19
  WIL 19
  DP 6
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  2
  6
  12
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  +1
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  None
  Description: Humpty Dumpty is an egg with arms and legs. He wears a cravat and a scowl. 
  He has a wicked sense of humor and a cruel nature. He is, however, fragile. He is easily 
  broken (although he’ll reform within a day or two). Whenever he is broken, great tragedy 
  occurs within the Hollow Kingdom unless the King, his advisers, and anyone else who can 
  help is able to reassemble him. So far, they’ve never been able to.
  
  32
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  violent) and demanding. He will spar verbally with a person he chooses 
  (one who believes something strongly, or holds a side) and argue with 
  them (often redefining words in an imperious manner, making his 
  arguments tautological—if, to some, unconvincing).
  He will also, bestow wisdom. This is sort of a euphemism for bestowing 
  a curse. In an elemental sense, his act of giving a final piece of advice 
  is (sort of) the kind of thing that, once heard, careens around your head 
  like a cue ball “breaking” your free-will. In practice, once Humpty 
  has bestowed his wisdom, one way, or another, the recipient is usually 
  destined for a great fall.
  However, he is quite learned and, if he can be engaged in a proper way  
  he can be useful. Alice was, perhaps, lucky to be a little girl. There are 
  other ways to encounter and even talk with Humpty Dumpty without 
  ruin, but being cleverly obsequious helps.
  Minions
  Humpty Dumpty has noble rank and calls on the various servants 
  (Actors) of the Hollow Kingdom to serve him. He rarely travels without 
  a footman and a small escort of immaculately dressed cavalry (with 
  talking horses).
  Disposition Towards Man
  Mankind is, ultimately, the audience whom will look upon his final 
  critique of Wonderland (perhaps before they, themselves, are destroyed 
  in a cataclysm of relativism). As such, he doesn’t want them gone. He 
  recognizes the value of mankind as a (simplistic? Moronic? Idiot?) 
  audience for his analysis—what he feels he must do (not himself, of 
  course, but his movement is educate them).
  In person, this usually means haranguing individuals for their paucity 
  of thought, but on a grander scale he wishes to instill a foundation of 
  understanding in mankind. He supports the Big Pharma project, not 
  because he wants it to succeed, but because he thinks it will fail and 
  create, along the way, mind-altering, advanced, Wonderland-based 
  pharmo-psychotics that will allow him to redesign the human mind.
  His ideal human is hard to describe (and can take many forms). One 
  that he’d be satisfied with is a physically mutated (mutilated) sea-going 
  (since it can’t live upright or support itself out of water) being with limbs 
  fused into flippers and numerous aphasic mouths spouting lexically 
  complex word-salad. He might settle for a group of “properly educated” 
  graduate students (who would be, by our standards, quite insane—
  although they might not appear that way at first glance) if he had to.
  Encounter Threat
  Medium. Violence wise, Humpty Dumpty is not much of a threat (even 
  if one fights through his retinue of men, he will break easily). However, 
  
  33
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  in most cases, the person would be surrounded by soldiers who will kill 
  or imprison on his command (and if he gets to determine your fate it will 
  be worse than death!) However, in social situations, if snubbed (or if he 
  perceives he is snubbed) he will bestow wisdom.
  Operations
  He gets messages from the resistance movement. He organizes 
  operations on the higher chessboards like a round, grumpy general 
  moving troops. He sabotages other Caretakers for fun. 
  There are several Chessboard Zero operations trying to get in contact 
  with him (some know him from the Carroll books and have no real 
  understanding of what he might do to them or what his aims are). Some 
  are misguided Infected philosophy students who have made it a point 
  to reach him and absorb his teachings. These people form some of the 
  communes—and they accept people based on their ability to swallow 
  Humpty Dumpty’s dogma which consists of seemingly nonsensical 
  arguments that use “redefined words” to “make sense” or streams of 
  nonsense where the student must work out the “right context” of the 
  words (which are never authoritatively given because that is, in fact, 
  counter to the philosophical underpinnings) to make any sense.
  Dramas
  The Hollow Kingdom has a king who is in a constant state of panic (and 
  is in a dismal mood when he is not) dealing with various pre-ordained 
  catastrophes. Humpty Dumpty finds the palace quite a wonderful 
  place to hang out. He may be found chatting with the ladies, accepting 
  accolades from the premier fencers or chefs or artisans (whose work he 
  inexorably destroys by ruining their faith in themselves).
  The dramas that surround him are those of failure or potential failure 
  when anything but the 
  absolutely mundane is 
  attempted. 
  And, of course, having 
  something of an interest 
  in man, he may wish to 
  encounter travelers in his 
  domain or have them brought 
  to him.
  The Caterpillar
  Side: Caretaker
  “What do you mean by that?” 
  said the Caterpillar, sternly. 
  “Explain yourself!”
  “I ca’n’t explain myself, I’m 
  Name: the Caterpillar
  Caretaker
  PHY 09
  STR 09
  BLD 12
  CON 09
  REF 11
  COR 13
  REA 11
  AGI 09
  INT 19
  RES 19
  MEM 19
  WIL 19
  DP 6
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  2
  6
  12
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  +1
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  None
  Description: The Examiner appears at different scales and in different proportions at will 
  (he believes he has always chosen the appropriate size for an occasion) and he is usually in 
  the role of a professor—asking questions and demanding answers. Sometimes he is insistent 
  (and can become angered if the subject does not cooperate). He is gruff and short tempered 
  but, if his questions are answered with an appropriate sense of gravity, he can be helpful as 
  well.
  The Hookah: The Caterpillar’s water-pipe can produce profound hallucinations, mind-
  expanding experiences, and Twists in those who inhale its potent chemicals.
  
  34
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  afraid, Sir,” said Alice, “because I’m not 
  myself, you see.”
  “I don’t see,” said the Caterpillar.
  “I’m afraid I ca’n’t put it more clearly,” Alice 
  replied, very politely, “for I ca’n’t understand 
  it myself to being with; and being so many 
  different sizes in a day is very confusing.”
  “It isn’t,” said the Caterpillar.
  -- Alice and the Caterpillar, Alice’s 
  Adventures in Wonderland
  Overview
  The Office of the Examiner is filled a with 
  single being with more than one form: most 
  often it is a caterpillar. Sometimes, it is that 
  of a butterfly. The shift back and forth takes 
  place when the Examiner has gone from 
  thesis to antithesis and from there to synthesis 
  (back again). The Examiner is looking 
  for something—some element within his 
  subjects—which will answer the questions 
  he has been posed. What these questions 
  are, exactly, is unknown: The Examiner has 
  said that ultimately, humankind (and most of 
  Wonderland) cannot formulate them with their 
  meager grasp of language.
  Disposition Towards Man
  The Examiner believes that humankind is a cipher which he must 
  unravel: within man’s blunted, nearly blinded perceptions is the key that 
  will unlock the secrets he seeks. As such, he is dispossessed towards not 
  seeing them destroyed and is interested in altering their states of mind 
  to see if that gives them any more insight or any more clarity into their 
  own conditions (which he believes is some fragmentary fractal shard of a 
  larger truth). He is a patron of magicians and often lures those who wish 
  to experiment with their own minds.
  Encounter Threat
  Low. The Examiner is more likely to give you mind-altering drugs (of 
  temporary effect) or Twist you (which may be disturbing but usually 
  doesn’t Damage you) than slay you. If one is obstinate with him, he 
  may make things difficult for them but is rarely murderous. He does, 
  however, come off as insistent and demanding and has little regard for a 
  subject’s feelings when questioning them.
  Domain
  The Examiner lives in a spiral palace which is said to be built into a 
  seashell that is either incredibly huge or exists on a tiny scale along 
  some normal-sized beach. Within it all directions eventually shift and 
  
  35
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  wrap around themselves. Any travel that does not successfully navigate 
  “inwards” into smaller and smaller chambers will return to where it 
  started.
  Within the estate is a hall of many columns, each of which contains 
  a human body suspended in light. These people are surrounded by 
  an aura of whispers that is their thoughts, memories, and experiences 
  sublimating out of them in a soft babble of many different languages. 
  These bodies do not decay—but they do collapse. In some columns only 
  a brain, two eyes (connected with nerves) and a spine remain. In others, 
  the skin is only starting to collapse. In each case, this person is yielding 
  all that they are to the great listening machines somewhere in the nexus 
  of the palace.
  Often, however, The Examiner is found beyond his home traveling and 
  questing. In some cases he may merely wish to speak with a person. In 
  other cases he has been known to find them and alter them. Sometimes 
  beneficially, sometimes horrifically.
  Operations
  The Examiner believes that each expression of a human soul is a tiny 
  expression of a larger whole and that this can be clarified by changing 
  the state of mind of the artist. He was behind part of the Flower Power 
  movement and is often associated with the Waldens as he is eager to 
  make contact with those who can reach him.
  He works, himself, as an artist in the spectrum of mind-altering 
  substances and produces vials and powers and rolled cigarettes which 
  all have profound effects on those who ingest them. In some cases, these 
  materials, when ingested by a non-Infected lead to Infection and deep 
  Descent. He has been active in getting traveling magicians to bleeds 
  where they can transfer these materials up to the surface: in the hands 
  of the right people, if they take his drugs, he can bring them down and 
  examine them (a cross between a philosophy-class oral exam and a 
  mutation-generating medical exam).
  Dramas
  The Examiner is often drawn to dramas of questioning. Actors will 
  sometimes come to question “who they are” (in both an existential 
  sense and an “I’ve awoken as a giant insect” sense!). He also meddles in 
  one’s physical sense of self and has been an agent of Twisting for many 
  who’ve undergone Descent. 
  In some cases, he is sought out—he can provide interesting 
  conversation—but there is always a risk that he will either be displeased 
  with the simple mindedness of the applicant or decide to undertake an 
  experiment that renders the subject “differently sane.”
  
  36
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Mad Hatter
  Side: Deconstructionist. 
  “Well, I’d hardly finished the first verse,” said the Hatter, “when the 
  Queen bawled out ‘He’s murdering the time! Off with his head!’”
  “How dreadfully savage!” exclaimed Alice.
  “And ever since that,” the Hatter went on in a mournful tone, “he wo’n’t 
  do a thing I ask! It’s always six o’clock now.”
  -- Alice and the Hatter, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
  Overview
  There are several avatars of madness in Wonderland. The March Hare 
  and the Hatter were two represented in Carroll’s book. The Mad Scientist 
  is a caretaker of great power (and, paradoxically, some degree of sanity). 
  There are others. The Hatter exists in the Tulgy Wood (a wood that was 
  not named by Carroll directly but was correctly assessed by Disney).
  Reflections of this wood extend all the way up to Chessboard Zero and 
  walking its paths can take one up and down through any reality.
  The Mad Hatter lives in a time-bubble after being imprisoned by the 
  Queen of Hearts (in whose court he went mad, attaining both the office 
  of minor Caretaker and Deconstructionist sympathies at the same time—
  and being broken for it).
  Others can enter and leave his prison but he cannot. For him it is always 
  Tuesday. Entropy flows strangely within his prison and things break and 
  reform in a way that renders him helpless, while seeming illogical to any 
  visitor. Logic and proportion, he distorts on his own.
  Personality
  He is frantic, nervous, and disjointed—it is speculated that he may 
  actually be quite sane and his dialogs and actions make sense from the 
  perspective of the Queen of Heart’s prison-reality. If so, some have 
  speculated her sentence is one of abject cruelty.
  The Hare, on the other hand, has become quite sane and a good deal 
  more urbane (he shops on ebay, has a cell phone, and smokes). When 
  encountered with the Hatter, the Hare often acts as an interperter, 
  protector, and agent.
  Disposition Towards Man
  Whatever was done to him (either to his mind or perspective) he seems 
  fairly incapable of distinguishing between “man” and “anything else” as 
  
  37
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  such, he is one of the few Caretaker-type-beings that does not have an 
  agenda.
  Encounter Threat
  Low to none. He may be confusing or maybe helpful—his dialog may 
  sometimes give a person a sense of where to go or what to do. 
  Operations
  Interestingly, a discontinued and sterilized project run in the wake 
  of Pilgrim but developed separately in England, “contacted” an 
  information source identifying itself as “Mad Hatter.” This was using 
  radio frequencies and random number generators and high-level 
  cryptographic sequences so no one could be sure if the “messages” 
  were actually “innate as a transmission” or if random phrases were just 
  being “interpreted out of thin air.” For a few weeks, point-source Hatter 
  carried out several possible (if extremely disjointed) conversations with 
  personnel and claimed, among other things, to be Jack the Ripper. 
  The facts surrounding the project are murky but it seems that some of 
  the project was ‘compromised’ (Infected? It seems likely) and vanished, 
  looking for it. There are still echoes and rumbles from this in the annals 
  of conspiracy theory today.
  Dramas
  The time-bubble around the Hatter prevents him from creating drama-
  driven actors. Usually he is encountered as a separate entity.
  The Duchess of Knots
  Side: Caretaker
  “The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh my dear paws! Oh my fur and 
  whiskers! She’ll get me executed as sure as ferrets are ferrets!”
  -- The White Rabbit, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland
  Overview
  From cottages to grand musty castles and sprawling estates, the Duchess 
  hurries on with her retinue 
  of sycophants and servants 
  fleeing from one crisis to 
  another. There’s a ball to 
  attend, a theater show that she 
  must be seen at, a disaster in 
  the kitchen to look after … 
  and the Duchess (a large, ugly 
  woman of nasty temper and 
  prone to physical abuse) is 
  terribly in charge of it all.
  Name: The Duchess
  Caretaker
  PHY 15
  STR 15
  BLD 16
  CON 15
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 12
  AGI 13
  INT 13
  RES 13
  MEM 13
  WIL 13
  DP 90
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  30
  90
  180
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  +1
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  6 IMP
  Description: She is a large, exceedingly ugly woman dressed in regal clothes with a massive 
  headdress. Her voice is a dissonant shriek and she is given to cuffing and striking servants as 
  well as throwing things when enraged (which is often). She stands over six feet tall and tops 
  seven with her headgear.
  
  38
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  She is the roiling eye of a storm of chaos and activity that swirls around 
  her. With a chain of homes that stretches across Wonderland and an 
  itinerary nearly that vast, she is always caught up in something and if 
  you’re with her, you’ll be caught up too.
  Personality
  The Duchess is often found in a foul temper, surrounded by the tangle 
  of dramas she brings down on herself. Unlike most Caretakers who 
  are often observers or instigators of their dramas, she is often one of 
  several protagonists and she’s not happy about it! She has to clean up 
  messes other people make (and her wrath may be extreme). She has 
  responsibilities and orders to take care of (from very important people, to 
  be sure) and you don’t want to cross her when these aren’t going well … 
  and so on.
  Whether this is some sort of masochistic self-imposed game of hers—or 
  it’s the Caretaker equivalent of a  psychological illness isn’t clear: but 
  she certainly doesn’t seem happy about it!
  Encounter Threat
  Medium. She is usually attended by servants (maids, footmen, even arms 
  men at times) and, if threatened, can lash out with, well, frightening 
  consequences. However, she is usually involved in some drama and 
  needs (although may not especially want) assistance. If you don’t assist 
  her, that’s dangerous. If you do, that can have consequences too, but they 
  won’t be her attacking. Indeed, some people get off lightly.
  If you are near her, you may be struck physically (or she may throw 
  something). She is capable of hitting very hard—but usually only strikes 
  hard enough to hurt or leave a bruise. Rarely is her “casual” violence 
  deadly or dangerous.
  Disposition Towards Man
  She doesn’t have time to notice, frankly. Those who wander into her 
  dramas are often imperfect servants—but almost all of her servants 
  disappoint her at one time or another (good help is so hard to find these 
  days).
  Dramas
  There are always at least two emergencies she is responsible for. 
  Congratulations: you’ve got one of them. Sometimes they resolve 
  themselves, sometimes … they don’t. If you get stuck with a sticky one, 
  you have to do your best and suffer the consequences—just running 
  out on her will earn her wrath. You might be put in charge of a chaotic 
  kitchen with (literally) nonsensical orders and demanding patrons 
  she’s entertaining. There might be another member of royalty she is 
  entertaining and you’ve got to make pleasant conversation and hold 
  things together while she sees about some other catastrophe.
  
  39
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  The Cheshire Cat
  Side: Deconstructionist
  The Cat only grinned when it saw 
  Alice. It looked good-natured, she 
  thought: still it had very long claws and 
  a great many teeth, so she felt it ought 
  to be treated with respect.
  -- Not quite the Disney picture, is it? 
  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
  Overview
  The Cat is one of Wonderland’s 
  outlaws: the Caretakers (the elder, 
  established Caretakers) have been 
  trying to kill him, well, forever. He 
  exists in a state of what has been 
  described as Hisenberg Uncertainty—
  everywhere and nowhere at once. 
  He can certainly manifest at will, becoming solid, a phantasm, or only 
  partially “there” in an instant (or taking his time). When he is invisible, 
  no force known can locate him (other than sound, if he speaks).
  Personality
  The Cat is a trickster: he likes to watch. He likes to stir things up—the 
  more chaos the better. He likes the underdog but may play games with 
  those he’s chosen to engage 
  with. He can be hard to get a 
  straight answer out of as he 
  finds frustration and confusion 
  amusing and he’s never one 
  to let things settle down to a 
  conclusion if he can “turn the 
  heat up.”
  If you are powerful, and you 
  have a plan he gets wind of, 
  he may decide to foil it for his 
  amusement (indeed, many of 
  the Caretaker’s meetings take 
  some precautions to keep the 
  Cat out, should he discover 
  the congregation). If you are 
  noteworthy, he may find ways 
  to vex you, since nothing 
  is more interesting than an 
  Name: The Cheshire Cat
  Decon
  PHY 14
  STR 14
  BLD 08
  CON 14
  REF 16
  COR 16
  REA 16
  AGI 16
  INT 16
  RES 16
  MEM 16
  WIL 16
  DP 90
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  30
  90
  180
  To Hit
  18-
  To Be Hit
  -7
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  13 PEN
  Description: The Cat appears as a shaggy, leopard-sized feline with a massive grin and 
  wicked claws that extend like switchblade knives when it wants to scratch. It is sometimes 
  striped a little like a tiger and sometimes solid in color. Often it is only partially visible, 
  shifting in and out of space and time as it wishes.
  The Uncertainty Principle: As a Short Action the Cat can vanish and re-appear anywhere. 
  There is no roll for this and it operates as a defensive action. It can equally become 
  insubstantial and any attack that effects the normal spectrum of physical objects will simply 
  pass through it. Equally, if it chooses it can become invisible (or partly invisible).
  Phase Claws: If the Cat chooses physical combat (very rare, often simply to make a point) 
  its claws ignore all armor and, if it hits by 4+, the Base Damage is doubled to 26 PEN 
  (before damage modifiers are applied).
  
  40
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  interesting person in a sticky situation. 
  Encounter Threat
  Medium. The Cat is rarely aggressive—almost never, in fact. He is also 
  often perceived as helpful since he can sometimes give one directions or 
  warnings that, if properly deciphered, can get one out of the frying pan 
  one has found one’s self in (and where do you go then?)
  He’s rated as a Medium threat since his appearance usually portends 
  “interesting things” for the character who meets him even if the danger 
  is not directly related to him. He has freed captives and then sounded 
  alarms (leaving them to scramble and hide). He has led lost groups out of 
  the woods and into unfamiliar lands (from which they have no easy way 
  back). He has told people things that impel them to take risky courses of 
  action. 
  If he is insulted or mocked in a vulgar manner (he appreciates clever 
  mocking though), he may bite. 
  Attitude Towards Man
  Mankind has the same right to exist as the Caretakers and, with so 
  many of them, they boast enough interesting specimens to be worth 
  keeping around. The Cat is no “great friend” of mankind in general 
  from a philosophical perspective (he does not weep for the injustices 
  the Caretakers’ plans wreak on their victims) but he doesn’t want to see 
  those plans succeed either—and on a case-by-case basis, he may find 
  individual humans interesting!
  Dramas
  The Cat is usually an instigator to someone else’s drama. He may appear 
  to tell a bride-to-be that her husband is giving his affections to another 
  beloved, touching off a comedy of errors (perhaps a black comedy) of 
  spying, counter-spying, and mistrust. Of course, it may turn out that the 
  groom is giving his love to an aging family pet and not another woman. 
  Sometimes the Cat simply appears, untouchable, to provide snide 
  commentary and see if he can provoke a reaction out of someone. In 
  other cases, his advice may be actually helpful. Either way, the inability 
  of just about everyone to do anything about him (other than, sometimes, 
  chase him off—most Caretakers can throw him out of their home 
  domains) has frustrated beings across the entire range of power-scales.
  The Hypotherapist
  Side: Caretaker
  ‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
    ‘To talk of many things:
  Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
  
  41
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
    Of cabbages--and kings--
  And why the sea is boiling 
  hot--
    And whether pigs have 
  wings’
  -- A coversation before lunch. 
  Through the Looking Glass 
  and What Alice Found There
  Overview
  In the mad city of Durithel 
  where there are no right 
  angles and the buildings stand 
  like crooked teeth, there is 
  a massive dark estate that is 
  The Asylum. Within it are the 
  offices of the Hypotherapist, a 
  being who has devoted himself 
  to studying the “lie” that is 
  consciousness. 
  He is a great 2000-pound Walrus usually appropriately dressed in a suit 
  with tails and he sports a monocle. He has Doctorates in Philosophy 
  from all the most prestigious schools, lectures before the esteemed 
  masses and he knows his business.
  His business is that of despair. He believes that all 
  “reasons to live” are simply the result of a pragmatic 
  biological survival instinct (indeed, many of those 
  who have been subjected to his therapy have 
  committed suicide). He believes that love is a form of 
  denial. That hope is always self-deception.
  His method of therapy is to pose hypothetical cases 
  which he uses like a jeweler’s hammer to try to shatter 
  the subject’s inner faith, strength, or integrity. He isn’t 
  explicitly cruel in this (although he can seem so)—he 
  is scientifically examining a phenomena. All emotions 
  are lies anyway. 
  His subjects are patients in the Asylum—many are 
  non-human things captured or interred for a variety of 
  obscure rationales. Some are captive humans. Some 
  are shadows. A very few beings come and see him for 
  regular sessions—his acumen and insight is powerful 
  if it can be harnessed safely.
  As he conducts his experiments on the nature of 
  sentience, he writes great twisted books (and studying 
  Name: The Hypotherapist
  Caretaker
  PHY 26
  STR 14
  BLD 81
  CON 14
  REF 11
  COR 11
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 16
  RES 16
  MEM 16
  WIL 16
  DP 210
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  70
  210
  420
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  +3/+3
  Armor
  3/18
  Damage
  35 IMP
  Description: He has the air of a stuffy professor and a dark, shadowed aura about him. He 
  moves with surprising speed for something of his bulk and he reads voraciously. His flippers 
  form as hands holding anything he needs to.
  Therapy: Having the Hypotherapist treat you is taking a terrible risk. If you engage him 
  in therapy he can easily drive even a stable person to suicide. Usually this is handled by 
  comparing his 19- Psychology roll (Level 4) against either the Psychology roll of the target 
  or the target’s WIL. There may be bonuses (as the GM deems appropriate) for a strong 
  will to live. A roll the character loses by 10 will result in the character doing whatever the 
  Hypotherapist asks (usually self-destruction). A roll lost by 5-9 will result in the acquiring of 
  a major psychological defect. A roll lost by 1 to 4 a minor one. A therapy course is usually 
  1-3 rolls
  
  42
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  them closely can give the 
  reader awesome psychological 
  insights—but can also 
  do terrible psychological 
  damage).
  Disposition Towards 
  Man
  Man is disposable and, if 
  mentally healthy, would 
  destroy himself. The 
  Hypotherapist created the 
  solution that was chosen by 
  the Symposium. He has a 
  cool, scholarly interest in 
  seeing mankind awaken to the objective pointlessness of its continued 
  existence.
  Encounter Threat
  Medium. The Hypotherapist is not given to violence although he distains 
  denial (and running away from him is a perfect chance for him to capture 
  you and force you to face your own denial!). 
  When talking to him, if he goes into therapy mode there is the danger 
  of becoming psychologically skewed, developing blindspots or taking 
  on self-destructive behaviors. Worse: he can cause his hypotheticals to 
  become true (“What if all of your friends were dead?”). When this is 
  done, the changes may only be temporary and there may be some ways 
  to “get back to how things were”—but not always—and not easily. 
  In some cases, rarely, his commentary is beneficial—but one must be 
  careful in dealing with him not to get caught up in “therapy.”
  Domain
  The Asylum is a terrifying place where faceless mannequins and 
  carnivorous nurse sharks preside over an almost medieval snakepit of 
  bedlam and horror. There are squalid padded cells and straight jackets 
  that crawl around and jump on you. There are electroshock therapies and 
  “face your fear” sessions in dark rooms where whatever you are afraid of 
  comes for you.
  Operations
  The books the Hypotherapist has written are dangerous and valuable in 
  multiple ways—more than one has found its way onto Chessboard Zero 
  where they act as gateways, inflict various Wonderland-style insanities 
  on their readers, and consume (usually mentally, but in some cases 
  physically, those who study them).
  The Hypotherapist also has some contacts with the entities that are 
  running Big Pharma—and, although he finds it distasteful, has toured the 
  Name: Nurse Shark
  Minion
  PHY 12
  STR 14
  BLD 11
  CON 12
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 12
  AGI 12
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 11
  WIL 11
  DP 27
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  9
  27
  54
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  -2
  Armor
  2/6
  Damage
  7 PEN
  Description: Imagine a small shark wearing a white medical gown with a little red 
  “plus sign.” Nurse Sharks are quite capable of adequate medical care (14-, L2) and basic 
  psychological counseling (L1, 13-). It’s not their fault that they sometimes eat the patients. 
  They can fly or walk on their tails as appropriate.
  
  43
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  upper realms once in a while in this capacity. 
  There are several therapists who, during these periods, have become 
  his disciples. Dr. Nothing, from the Fall of New York JAGS module is a 
  template for one such person. These people are on Chessboard Zero and 
  they are doing his work, spreading his despair.
  Additionally, his minions sometimes capture Shadows from the upper 
  reaches and take them down for therapy. This can have subtle, life-
  wreaking effects on those whose Shadows are taken. Often the Shadow 
  vanishes—and reappears safely, thus “freeing it”—but actual humans 
  have been driven insane because their Shadow was in the Asylum.
  Dramas
  When encountered “on the road,” a character might find that whatever 
  he is presently pursuing somehow relates to the lecture the doctor is 
  going to be giving when he reaches his destination. This could result in 
  meaningful, necessary, dangerous conversation.
  Shadows of people captured may be people the character knows 
  (prompting a rescue attempt).
  The Polytician
  Side: Caretaker
  Overview
  On the outskirts of the great gray city are the estates. These are 
  picturesque spreads of well-tamed land with massive fountains (some 
  six stories high!), sparkling ponds, and massive gates of marble and iron. 
  Roads wind through these estates between the massive homes: homes 
  that may be said, in some 
  senses, to be infinite inside but 
  are mainly folded into each 
  other.
  The Polytician lives within 
  one of them and travels (as is 
  part of his duties) to an office 
  in the Ministry of State in the 
  Great Gray City. He is the 
  leader of the governmental 
  machine that runs the Great 
  Gray City and while he may 
  appear as the Head Minister 
  of many different offices 
  within the building he pretends 
  not to know of his other 
  appearances—while still 
  keeping some hidden agenda 
  Name: The Polytician
  Caretaker
  PHY 12
  STR 12
  BLD 23
  CON 12
  REF 11
  COR 11
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 12
  RES 12
  MEM 12
  WIL 12
  DP 90
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  30
  90
  180
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  +1
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  5 IMP
  Description: The Polytician appears as a fat man in an expensive suit with many arms. 
  When he moves, a centipede-like “trail” of multiple versions of himself trails out behind 
  him, each talking at once and gesturing and making comments. When he stops, this trail 
  ‘collapses into him,’ leaving only the arms which sprout from him at will to mark his nature 
  (and he can be several places at once, to boot).
  Multiple Attacks: The Polytician can make 5 attacks per turn for 5 REA (striking with 
  many hands). 
  Pick Pocket: The Polytician can lift things from a target with an 18- Level 4 skill.
  
  44
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  going.
  He oversees a massive, Kafkaesque 
  bureaucracy that is unintentionally cruel 
  to those it rules, bizarre in the extreme 
  (documents require drops of blood as 
  identification, forms to do anything are 
  Byzantine, and miles of mechanically 
  accessed filing cabinets wind through 
  dusky warrens in the many basements of 
  the Ministry of State). Ultimately, he is a 
  powerbroker (both in the Great Gray City 
  and in Wonderland in general)—he is a 
  schmoozer in some cases, a monster in 
  others. He gets things done or stops them 
  from getting done. He rewards his friends 
  and relentlessly punishes his enemies.
  Description and
  Personality
  A slimy political animal with multiple hands 
  in multiple pockets, the Polytician is by turns 
  charming, threatening, and pandering. He is 
  an expert pickpocket and to meet with him 
  is to be fleeced, although he usually makes a 
  point of giving back people the things they 
  “dropped” when they leave—he is not at all, 
  a common thief. He’s an uncommon thief and 
  he participates in all kinds of high-level graft, payoff, and corruption—
  it’s how things get done with him. 
  He is also an expert manipulator. 
  He usually knows what he has that 
  you want and what you have that 
  he wants. In the case of people 
  who often “have nothing,” he is 
  both monstrously indifferent and 
  exquisitely cruel (this is the case for 
  most of the suffering Actors who 
  come across him)—but for human 
  Infecteds, he may have designs.
  Usually he is chummy, gregarious, 
  and bombastic (and spits a bit 
  when he talks). Sometimes he is 
  dangerously quiet and reserved. 
  Servants
  The Polytician surrounds himself 
  
  45
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  with many actors who are 
  “powerful men” in his 
  dramas—although he may 
  be found behind any door 
  in the Ministry of State, in 
  the old-boys clubs and the 
  back rooms—there are cigar-
  smoking gentlemen who 
  are the elements he uses to 
  make his masterpieces of 
  incomprehensibly complex 
  governmental office.
  Indeed, often he will declare 
  that he, unfortunately, may 
  not do something because 
  “the man upstairs” or the 
  “Executive Minister” or 
  some such title has made a 
  “Indisputable Policy Change.”
  Disposition Towards Man
  The Polytician believes that man should be erased like a tract of 
  overgrown woodland that badly needs a condo (no offense to present 
  company).
  Encounter Threat
  Low to Medium. The Polytician almost never initiates physical combat 
  and is not violent. However, usually someone in the Great Gray City is in 
  violation of some law, bylaw, rule, stipulation, regulation, or ordinance. 
  When encountered, one is often on thin ice and he might well summon 
  the constabulary to deal with an offender, after all: rules are rules. 
  Sometimes he may even be apologetic as the party is being carried off.
  Needless to say, The Trial (capitals as a reference to Kafka) is horrific 
  and the sentences are long, wordy, and severe. 
  Operations
  The Polytician is usually involved with other people’s operations since 
  he is brought in as a facilitator and negotiator. In some rare cases, 
  humans on Chessboard Zero who have encountered him have become 
  servants of his—members of his organization who seek to rebuild his 
  organization on Chessboard Zer. There are some truly nightmarish 
  governments and corporations, especially in third-world countries that 
  are reflections of the Machine that runs the Great Gray City. Whether he 
  really understands or endorses this is a matter of speculation.
  Dramas
  The denizens of the Great Gray City suffer deeply under its policies and 
  Name: The Intertainer
  Caretaker
  PHY 12
  STR 12
  BLD 23
  CON 12
  REF 11
  COR 11
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 12
  RES 14
  MEM 12
  WIL 12
  DP 90
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  30
  90
  180
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  +1
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  5 IMP
  Description: The Intertainer appears as a life-sized chain of paper dolls and most often 
  seen as what appears to be several people, seen in shadows, seated around a massive, round, 
  table. 
  Combustible: Being made of paper is sometimes a fire hazard. If attacked with flame--even 
  a candle flame, there is a 7- (+1 per point of damage taken) that he will catch on fire and 
  burn at the end of each round for that amount of damage. Frantically flapping about, trying 
  to extinguish himself, he will have a 13- (-1 per point of damage done, minimum of 6-) 
  chance to extinguish himself each turn taking an 8 REA Long Action.
  No Vital Organs: The Intertainer takes only 1pt of damage from PEN projectiles (they make 
  a small hole).
  
  46
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  politics. Apartments are demolished in the dead of winter, the innocents 
  inside left to perish in the unforgiving cold. There are men and women 
  (and children) awaiting trials of such complexity, inscrutability, and 
  with such demented laws that no one can truly understand them and 
  they are moved helplessly from one horror to another until the final 
  judgment is rendered (since only a Superior Court can render a judgment 
  of True Innocence, most Inferior Courts render a judgment of Supposed 
  Innocence, meaning that the unfortunate is never truly free of the ordeal).
  On a personal level, being sent for audience with the Minister of Policy 
  or the Adjudicator of Information (or any of the other thousand titles and 
  positions the Polytician holds) is an ordeal in and of itself—one with a 
  multitude of legal trapdoors to be negotiated and dismal frustrations to 
  be endured.
  Finally, if one has some status, (or some strange luck) one might find 
  oneself at a party (one of the many the Polytician holds) and encounter 
  him there.
  The Intertainer
  Side: Caretaker
  Overview
  The Intertainer is a man-sized chain of paper-cut-out-dolls that runs 
  The Broacast Station (its main offices are in the 
  Great Gray City but there are many others across 
  Wonderland). It is a media-mogul, producing mad 
  snippets of TV and radio that might seem, for a 
  moment, like news or comedy or drama but, when 
  listened to for a time, are things that work on the 
  receiving mind like a deep massage on the body: 
  it’s effects are subtle, the meanings obscure, but 
  intuitively understood.
  The signal drives some people insane.
  The highest rated shows the Intertainer puts out are 
  the Reality TV dramas. The Intertainer is one of 
  the incredibly few Caretakers who even modestly 
  understand Chessboard Zero: Actors are not the 
  preferred subjects of its shows—it prefers Infecteds.
  The shows involve commentary from a few of its 
  several voices and its right-hand minion, the Master 
  of Ceremonies2. An Infected is auditioned and 
  selected (of course the explanation is never, shall we 
  say, very exacting).
  
  47
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  In each episode there is one or more trials the character must overcome 
  and the character will be able to hear the ironic running commentary in 
  his head. Usually this will give some indication of what is going on—
  and maybe even clues to help the hapless subject.
  Announcer’s Voice:Today seems like a normal day for Henry—
  breakfast in the morning, the commute to work, and the long hourly 
  slog until the five o’clock bell rings. But ssshhh! Don’t tell him: we’ve 
  replaced one of his co-workers with a psychopathic mannequin who’s 
  going to try to kill him!
  If he survives the initial round, on each hour, we’ll reveal the secret 
  location of various weapons we’ve hidden around the office! Will he 
  last long enough to get the machine gun? Let’s find out.
  If the subject doesn’t cooperate or leaves the area, sometimes the script 
  will be broken—but usually the Intertainer is happy to wait—or up the 
  stakes:
  “Henry left work before the Bonus Round even started—we’ve sent 
  Psycho-The-Mannequin to kill Karen, his pretty innocent co-worker: 
  what will Henry choose? Door number one? Or Door number two? 
  Let’s find watch and find out!
  Minion
  The Master of Ceremonies2. This is a tall handsome man who dresses 
  immaculately and has a deep, booming voice. He can bi-locate: appear 
  in exactly two places at once. When he meets with you, you usually 
  only “see” one of him (viewers see more on TV) but his other half is 
  around—and making comments. Usually the only time you realize the 
  other being was there is after he already left. Then, in your memory, you 
  recall the second, identical version providing ironic commentary as you 
  talked.
  Note on Running This: Depending on how the participants (GM 
  and player) want to handle this it could be dramatic to have the GM 
  describe the other version of the MC2 making illuminating, but snide 
  comments as the PC and the visible version have their conversation.
  It might even be possible for the PC to react to what is being said even 
  though, in the game, he cannot hear it. Perhaps there is a crawling 
  sense that things are wrong. A lot will depend on how your group 
  handles in-character vs. out-of-character information.
  Servants
  There are walk-in audition halls as high as Chessboard Two. There are 
  talking black-birds that “talent scout” for people on Chessboard One 
  (Infecteds). They’ll make deals (“I have a great proposition for you”) 
  and keep them.
  
  48
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  If the target is really 
  interesting (most PCs would 
  probably apply) then these 
  talent scouts may barter 
  anything from modest control 
  of one’s Infection to secrets of 
  power to money and goods. 
  The Intertainer has ways to get 
  these to people.
  Disposition Towards 
  Man
  Man is the raw material for 
  the ironic masterpiece that the 
  Intertainer is creating. Man is 
  the jester that dances for him. 
  Actors are commonly used 
  (and their programs range from simple atrocities to raw abominations of 
  cruelty and low-brow humor). But Actors aren’t satisfying. It’s Humans 
  the Intertainer needs and it would like to get all of them into its shows.
  Encounter Threat
  Medium. The Intertainer is always looking to cast you somewhere. 
  Maybe you’d be perfect for his “College Kids go out in the woods and 
  get killed” show. Maybe he’s looking for a new person for “Date from 
  HELL.” Whatever, you fit somewhere and when you meet him there’s a 
  chance he’ll be figuring out how to place you. 
  Being dull isn’t a good defense either. He hates the terminally dull. 
  Some people have used agents: having someone like a powerful 
  magician, another caretaker, or previous winner act as an Agent can 
  work. However, that’s far less satisfying; if you are willing but you have 
  backing and your price is high, he might move on.
  If you are willing and you seem a reasonably good casting (dramatic, 
  maybe angsty or bubbly, or otherwise good TV) then he might ‘go easy’ 
  on you: cast you in a show where, although you may think you are losing 
  your mind (hearing voices) for a while, you may come out of it okay.
  Operations
  Usually Infecteds encounter either a talent scout or an audition hall. 
  The scouts (talking blackbirds) might appear to someone having an 
  Episode and offer him “help with his pain.” A person wandering around 
  a deserted wasteland in Chessboard Two might find a fluorescent-lit 
  doorway with a personable (if strange seeming) girl inside who gives 
  you a clipboard with a weird questionnaire and asks you some questions 
  (has you read some lines) and then delivers you safely back to sanity (out 
  the back door). Later, the problems start.
  Name: MC-Squared
  Minion
  PHY 11
  STR 11
  BLD 10
  CON 11
  REF 11
  COR 12
  REA 13
  AGI 12
  INT 12
  RES 12
  MEM 12
  WIL 12
  DP 21
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  7
  21
  42
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -2
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  1 IMP
  Description: A young, trim, very handsome game-show announcer whose manner implies a 
  sharp, ironic sense of humor. 
  Bi-Locate: The MC-Squared can exist in two places at once, one of whom is not usually 
  visible to normal people in the area. 
  Security!: If attacked, the MC-Squared will summon security. Stats vary, usually they are 
  very large, very tough humans with no faces and audio-headsets attached to their ears (with 
  a mike running to where the mouth would be).
  
  49
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Most of the games take place on Chessboard One—not Chessboard 
  Zero—however, once someone is cast, the game can take them up and 
  down rapidly. Essentially, the character may have burst episodes where 
  strange things happen (seemingly in reality) but the results are hard to 
  prove.
  In the Killer Mannequin game, there is, indeed, a mannequin somewhere 
  on the premises—on Chessboard Zero, it’s inert. On Chessboard One, 
  it’s walking around with a butcher’s knife. It’ll move on Chessboard 
  Zero when no one is watching it.
  Dramas
  The Major Studio is in the Great Gray City—but there are other studios 
  all over the place. There are many on Chessboard Four in the Naught 
  lands. People come from far and wide to be on the shows in an attempt 
  to better themselves. Some of these people need help. Some need to be 
  rescued.
  The Beastly Baby
  Side: Caretaker
  Overview
  In the grimy countryside out past the Great Gray City, near the Basalt 
  Peaks, and near the slate-rock lake, there are villages, cottages, ranches 
  and farms. Many of these have connections with the politics of the city 
  and the machinations therein—but there are other stories as well. One is 
  particularly dark.
  The Beastly Baby travels amongst them and other places as well. Its 
  form is vile but helpless—those caught in its thrall are subjected to the 
  torments worse than outright slavery. Keeping it is a horror visited on 
  the unfortunates—one that usually, if the Beastly Baby has its way, ends 
  with the life of its caretaker.
  Its ambitions are far less visible than many of the Caretakers, but in a 
  sense far more vile. It has no realm, but rather travels where its guardian-
  victims take it. No one attached to it will be welcome in one place long, 
  and so it moves.
  The Baby’s desire is to play – and all the world is its plaything. Its games 
  range from the elementally simple (breaking things) to the monstrously 
  intricate and complex. It has a razor-honed appreciation of chaos; both 
  the confusion and misery it wrecks and the ability for a small change (or 
  small creature) to affect the world at large.
  There are those who suspect the Baby may be one of the most masterful 
  strategists in Wonderland.
  Description
  The Beastly Baby is first recognized as being worse than other babies. 
  
  50
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  For one thing, it is bloated 
  to the point of obesity, and 
  misshapen in a hard-to-define 
  asymmetrical way. It has 
  beady, guilty-looking eyes. 
  It is damp, sticky, and smells 
  suspect. Its feet have lumps 
  where they shouldn’t and too 
  many knotty toes. Its color 
  is off, as though it had been 
  holding its breath.
  It does not cry exactly, nor 
  talk, but makes either gurgling 
  noises that are disturbing to 
  the point of causing nausea 
  when it has succeeded in 
  something wicked, or a horrific 
  screeching noise when it has 
  been prevented from doing 
  something wicked.
  It cannot walk. Therefore it 
  must be cared for.
  Minions
  The baby does not have 
  minions, per-se, but it will 
  discover creatures capable 
  of caring for it, and subtly enslave them. It usually appeals (initially) 
  to whatever maternal or paternal instinct they might have. Although 
  no one would look at it without feeling some measure of unease (or 
  outright disgust), most subjects feel guilty leaving a baby – even an 
  preternaturally ugly one – to its own devices.
  Of course, once it’s been invited in, leaving it will be terribly difficult. If 
  directly attacked, it will use powerful magic to defend itself. Otherwise, 
  it will manipulate its guardian-victims through mild rewards and vicious 
  punishments as they try to guess what it wants of them (to be taken here 
  or there, where it might continue its games).
  It does have a number of toys which are wind-up constructs and 
  automations which follow it and are capable of tending it and moving it 
  in a pinch.
  One of these is the Meat Grinder: a largish grinder (about the size of 
  a wood chipper) with a tiny baby-sized crank handle. A living creature 
  fed into it will emerge at 1/10th its original size (after the traumatic 
  experience of feeling slowly ground up). The Baby delights in having 
  people made into “toys” for its amusement. The Meat Grinder travels 
  Name: The Beastly Baby
  Caretaker
  PHY 02
  STR 02
  BLD 01
  CON 7
  REF 09
  COR 09
  REA 13
  AGI 09
  INT 14
  RES 14
  MEM 14
  WIL 14
  DP 30
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  10
  30
  60
  To Hit
  12-
  To Be Hit
  +0
  Armor
  Special
  Damage
  Varies
  Description: An offensively ugly, ill-tempered baby.
  Play: When the baby is playing with something its own size it usually strikes for up to 
  3 PEN damage. When terrorizing something larger, it can bite for up to 6 PEN damage 
  ignoring all armor.
  Invulnerable: The baby can only be damaged if the attack is properly thematic. It can 
  disappear and reappear anywhere near its current care giver (throw it off a cliff, it’s waiting 
  for you back at home). In order for destruction to be properly thematic, the attacker must 
  have “suffered enough” (often that means the death of one of the two parents) or have lost 
  everything in order to care for their child. Then, and only then, will damage work. 
  Sometimes, however, a caregiver can be rescued. In these cases, dramatic events such as 
  presenting them with their “real child” or getting the baby to do something that will destroy 
  itself may work (it is lured off a cliff with the promise of torturing the family pet).
  Helpless: The baby’s psychological grip is strong. When it wants a new caregiver it will 
  appear nearby and call out to them. This gives the target a WIL roll against the baby’s WIL. 
  This is at -3 if the target is given to being a care giver in the first place (GM’s decision). If 
  failed, the character must care for the baby until one of them is dead. This means the care 
  giver must be present with the baby and make a minimal attempt to feed it (since it cannot 
  be ditched effectively, feeding and cleaning it is the only way to maintain a sembalance of 
  sanity with it). The caregiver is still allowed to do whatever he or she can to destroy it--but 
  until the thematic goals are met, the odds are not good.
  
  51
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  about on long, spindly spider’s 
  legs when no one is looking.
  Servitors
  The Beastly Baby surrounds 
  itself with people who owe it 
  something or are willing to do 
  its bidding in order to be left 
  alone. These ‘servants’ speak 
  for it and advance its agenda, 
  while its victim-guardians 
  scurry in desperate, unending 
  attempts to keep it happy.
  The Beastly Baby may also be 
  found in the company of the 
  Army of No, but while it is 
  one of their leaders, the Army 
  is somewhat… unreliable and the Baby knows this and doesn’t trust 
  them very far.
  Disposition Towards Man
  The Beastly Baby hates everyone; man, especially.
  Encounter Threat
  High. Running across the Beastly Baby is 
  dangerous—it probably will desire that the 
  character adopt it. It will screech and demand 
  to be picked up and fed (it may bite; its favorite 
  food is flesh). Characters who ignore it do 
  so at their own risk. It usually doesn’t attack 
  directly but has made arrangements with the 
  local environment to bring pressure to bear 
  (other Wonderland entities may demand that the 
  characters take care of it).
  If it is being cared for, it very likely knows who 
  the characters are (or if not, is interested in 
  them) and will try to fit it into one of its games. 
  Characters who refuse to play are advised to 
  clear out quickly. Any contact with the Beastly 
  Baby is unwholesome at best and traumatically 
  fatal at worse.
  Operations
  The Baby is one of the Triumvirate (originators) 
  of the Army of No.
  Name: The Meat Grinder
  Minion
  PHY 12
  STR 19
  BLD 21
  STC 15-
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 10
  AGI 12
  INT --
  RES --
  MEM --
  WIL --
  DP 150
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  -1:10
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  +1
  Armor
  9
  Damage
  12 IMP
  Grapple
  24/22
  Description:A walking mechanical meat-grinder with spindly legs and long, narrow 
  mechanical arms it uses to feed people in.
  Grind: When the meat grinder scores a Major Success on Grappling the person starts being 
  fed into it (the mouth can expand as necesary to handle up to 100 BLD). Each turn the grinder 
  will grind up 5 BLD per 5 REA action. When the target is “ground” they are ejected at a Very 
  Small size.
  Machine: The grinder does not suffer Penetrating damage modifiers. A Major Failure will 
  cause it to stop grinding a target. A Minor Failure will reduce its offensive grapple to half.
  
  52
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Dramas
  The Baby’s games usually involve putting someone in a position where 
  they have to choose between two horrific fates for them or their loved 
  ones. The Baby manipulates these scenarios subtly, spending months 
  researching its games pieces, and then carefully laying a web of traps 
  for them. Its favorite tools include debt, disease, and temptation. It may 
  use characters in its dramas as bait or as force to be employed when the 
  subject resists.
  The Baby is usually not obviously involved, but it can’t resist being 
  nearby and watching. An astute observer will notice that the Baby is 
  present when the trap is sprung and fate is delivered.
  The Clear 
  Widow
  Side: Caretaker
  Overview
  The Clear Widow is a 
  mysterious, tragic figure 
  that wraps itself in tears and 
  aggressive self-pity. Its sorrow 
  is both a very real, palpable 
  thing and an affectation: a pose 
  adapted to justify its extreme, 
  unending need and hunger. 
  While some Caretakers are 
  angry, the Clear Widow’s 
  attitude is more one of vicious resentment.
  Description
  A woman dressed in white—a wedding dress turned mourning shroud. 
  Her clothes are soaked by a quiet, constant drizzle of tears that makes 
  her smell brackish. Her flesh is transparent; vaguely visible. She has 
  cried out all of her color and substance. She weighs as much as a feather, 
  and drifts in the hallways of her great mausoleum like a ghost.
  She is very quiet. To hear her, one must lean in close and concentrate. 
  She is wracked constantly by sobs that seem to come from deep within 
  her body. Those who approach her feel a great sense of unease at her 
  misery: some party of them that feels empathy longs to comfort her, 
  but even at a distance it is clear that her misery is beyond comfort—
  practically infinite, and that is where the second disquiet one feels comes 
  it: is it safe to get so close to such an open wound, a vacuum? Might one 
  be… drawn in?
  The Clear Widow is, in fact, a vortex of hyperbolic, melodramatic grief. 
  Name: The Clear Widow
  Caretaker
  PHY 12
  STR 16
  BLD 08
  CON 12
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 12
  AGI 12
  INT 12
  RES 14
  MEM 12
  WIL 12
  DP 240
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  80
  240
  480
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -2
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  18 PEN
  Description:A very quiet, grief-wracked woman in a wedding dress. She is translucent and 
  carries a tactile aura of sadness.
  Hate Claws: When angered, her hands become wicked talons. She can tear for 18 PEN 
  damage twice per turn (5 REA each).
  
  53
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Her existence is a litany of one 
  unendurable loss after another. 
  Husbands, lovers, children, 
  friends, fortune – all have been 
  lost to her, and each loss has 
  left not scars (for she does not 
  scar), but a wet laceration that 
  goes through flesh and into her 
  soul.
  And yet, even after all of that, 
  she does not protect herself, 
  but still she desperately seeks 
  more things to lose. She 
  inexorably draws people into her orbit, fully and perversely aware they 
  will be taken from her.
  Howlers
  When someone in her domain runs (See Dramas), she unleashes the 
  Howlers. They are great balls of gnashing teeth and bone spikes that 
  cry like wolves and move with terrible, flickering speed. They swarm 
  out of great pits and track unerringly. They first bite to cripple and then 
  consume the subject alive, leaving nothing but blood-soaked earth in 
  their wake.
  Waifs
  Waifs are very sad, very pretty girls that project a kind of aching 
  emotional (and physical) vulnerability. They look as though they might 
  be drawn away by a strong wind. As though the world weighs heavily 
  upon them, and as though they might shatter into moaning tears at any 
  moment.
  Careful examination reveals signs of self-mutilation —cutting of the 
  delicate flesh —and a waif almost always has a journal nearby filled with 
  heart-rending poetry that bares her most private soul.
  Waifs are spawned when the 
  Clear Widow’s tears fall on 
  grass; the grass grows tall and 
  flutters and becomes a waif—
  you can still see their origins 
  in their emerald-green feline 
  eyes.
  Waifs need to be protected, 
  saved, cherished, nurtured. 
  They are far too delicate for 
  this world, and anyone who 
  meets one senses first, that 
  they are too fragile and second 
  Name: Howlers
  Minion
  PHY 12
  STR 15
  BLD 12
  STA 15-
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 14
  AGI 12
  INT 08
  RES 08
  MEM 12
  WIL --
  DP 60
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  -1:4pts
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -2
  Armor
  3/8
  Damage
  12 PEN
  Description:Balls of gnasihing teeth and bone spikes about a yard and a half across. They 
  can move at 18 yards per second and attack in groups of up to 15!
  Tracking Sense: The Holwer’s track like bloodhounds with a 15- L3 Perception roll.
  Name: Waifs
  Minion
  PHY 08
  STR 08
  BLD 06
  CON 09
  REF 11
  COR 13
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 10
  RES 10
  MEM 10
  WIL 10
  DP 8
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  3
  8
  16
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -1
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  none
  Description: Waifs are young, pretty (Attractive Level 2) girls of indeterminate age who 
  exude a sense of vulnerability and helplessness. They appeal to one’s need to protect and, 
  whle physically helpless, are masters of emotional manipulation.
  Manipulation: Waifs have a Charm and Persuade score of 16-.
  
  54
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  that they must be rescued. They are charming—in their sad, clinically 
  depressive kind of way. Waifs are the Clear Widow’s eyes and ears, 
  and to men who need to be strong protectors or women with emotional, 
  maternal instincts they are almost perfect parasites. In a home where a 
  Waif has taken up residence, she will run the household, her never-met-
  needs driving everything until there is nothing left.
  Waifs wait on the Widow as serving girls and handmaids and when there 
  are guests of the right persuasion about she can be quite cruel with them, 
  tormenting them so that they might be rescued.
  Disposition Towards Man
  The Clear Widow claims to love mankind; to appreciate—if not his 
  current form, at least his potential. Mankind’s obstinate refusal to 
  reciprocate that love (and, presumably, either self-immolate or undergo 
  some indescribable mutilating change) is an act of betrayal of the highest 
  order.
  She feels all of the disgust (and fear) and repulsion that the other 
  Caretakers feel toward humankind, but because of her great sensitivity 
  and her generous, kind, and loving nature, she has taken Mankind’s 
  nature personally.
  Encounter Threat
  When meeting an individual human, she will happily give the visitor the 
  benefit of the doubt—she can be a gracious (if distracted) host, but once 
  her (considerable) patience has run out, she will begin to gently suggest 
  some “options” to her guest: he could renounce his humanity this way or 
  have it surgically removed through that procedure… or at least have the 
  decency to drink this cup and thus acknowledge his miserable existence 
  and end it simultaneously.
  Guests who do not pick up on subtle hints will receive gradually more 
  specific suggestions until (finally) her long-suffering patience will run 
  out and she will become angry. Angry that she has been forced to act 
  terribly despite her good nature. Angry that her kindnesses and well-
  meant advice has been rejected. Angry that she has been put in the 
  position of administering punishment.
  Her wrath, under those conditions, can be intricate and truly terrible.
  Domain
  The Clear Widow lives in a vast mausoleum surrounded by a graveyard 
  that extends from horizon to horizon. Each tomb, or urn, or slot has a 
  specific meaning to her. It is someone who was cruelly taken from her.
  As she walks the halls of her domain/prison, she is wracked by the 
  memories of each loss, the tragic stories that still haunt her. The terrible 
  unfairness that surrounds her. Her tears flow into channels cut in the 
  
  55
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  marble floors, and if one follows those channels they come to the very 
  heart of her domain.
  At the center is a vast, white-water whirlpool—a thundering vortex that 
  makes the sound of wailing. The whirlpool can be viewed from high-
  arched glass doors and several verandas that look down into its raging 
  waters. Mists rise up into the sky, a vast dull-white cloud.
  Operations
  She is the architect of some of the most aggressively sadistic elements 
  of the Army of No. These were not all her ideas; she collected them 
  from other imaginative and inventive Caretakers. The thought of what 
  she’s doing pains her greatly, but given what humankind has done to her 
  there’s really no other choice.
  She, unlike many of the other caretakers, also pursues operations 
  concerning specific humans. She has her agents (Waifs, amongst others) 
  searching the higher chessboards looking for people of interest. Her 
  “charity work” involves rewarding the virtuous and punishing the 
  deserving—although she has found (to her infinite dismay) that if she 
  watches long enough almost everyone is deserving.
  Dramas
  The Clear Widow is a creature of her dramas – her life is all drama and 
  she revels in it. Her domain is a vast graveyard of her victims: thousands 
  (tens of thousands?) murdered by her or driven to suicide (or worse).
  She opens the game by giving of herself—helping some poor soul at 
  great cost to her own well being (after all, she is in mourning – even 
  getting out of bed in the morning is an impossible feat). The game 
  continues as she works the subject further and further into her debt, all 
  the while acting as a wise and kind benefactor.
  She adopts orphans. She befriends the bereft. She gives succor to the 
  miserable and a helping hand to the humbled. She gives and gives and 
  gives (usually in ways carefully crafted to ensure that the subject will 
  still need more). And what she asks in return is friendship: “Come and 
  sit with me and let a sad, sad woman tell you her tale. Let me reminisce 
  about my dead lover. Visit me—for in my misery, the ones I had truly 
  thought were my friends have abandoned me.”
  And over time, the demands become greater and greater, always in 
  accordance with what she has given. Soon, the subject is in her orbit and 
  in her control. To leave—to disengage—is to draw her wrath, and so she 
  takes and takes, requiring ever more to fill her emptiness.
  And then one day, her new friend has nothing more to give and she finds 
  an urn, or a cabinet, or a plot of land for him, and she has one last thing: 
  another story; another wound. Another tale of woe to spin for the next 
  guest who comes to her domain.
  
  56
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  The Liebrarian
  Side: Caretaker
  Overview
  High up in the Basalt 
  Mountains there is a massive 
  structure that looms over a 
  tiny, picturesque town below. 
  It is the Liebrary and it is both 
  the sum of all knowledge in 
  book form and the largest 
  collection of untruths in existence. So cryptographically sophisticated is 
  its filing system that one could browse it for centuries and never know 
  if you had found something true or not. But if you could tell—then it 
  would be one of the greatest prizes amongst the Caretakers.
  There’s one person who can tell. She’s the keeper of the Liebrary: the 
  Liebrarian.
  The Liebrarian is a young Caretaker—a wonderland entity recently 
  appointed to her own House. As such, she is in some ways more 
  unsure and in other ways more certain than the others; she desires their 
  approval—her own success.
  She appears as a young woman, impeccable and conservative, with 
  ever-so-slightly ridiculous glasses and an overly stern disposition. Her 
  position places her in the possession of considerable information, and 
  she’s quite careful to give the appearance of being responsible and 
  neutral with it.
  The Liebrarian is a keeper of forbidden knowledge concerning various 
  hyper-infectious strains of Wonderland. As such, she is sometimes part 
  of special groups that work against the Deconstructionists or with the 
  Magicians.
  The Liebrary is something many Magicians have a concept of visiting 
  and searching for information (but without help they will usually come 
  away with ever more twisted falsehoods … or, worse, run afoul of her 
  rules and regulations).
  Description
  A girl in her mid-20s, but far more serious and collected than most 
  young women. Everything she does is considered and precise (especially 
  her choice of words; she speaks so elegantly that it’s almost flipped over 
  into awkwardness).
  Name: Liebrarian
  Caretaker
  PHY 12
  STR 10
  BLD 08
  CON 12
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 13
  AGI 12
  INT 15
  RES 15
  MEM 15
  WIL 15
  DP 90
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  30
  90
  180
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -2
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  Special
  Description: A young, female, stern-looking librarian. She wears large glasses and is 
  dressed conservatively.
  Scissors: When the Liebrarian hits with Scissors, the subject gains a Physical Defect of her 
  choosing.
  
  57
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  She is rather appalled by even 
  the most mild breaches of 
  social etiquette and in her own 
  domain spends considerable 
  time ensuring that visitors 
  obey the rules (especially her 
  check-out, return, and never-
  above-a-whisper policies).
  When things are in order and 
  the project is under control, 
  she can be helpful and 
  charming. She’s ambitious—
  her post gives her considerable 
  visibility and a chance to rub 
  elbows with the top echelons 
  of Caretaker society. Any 
  potential to insert herself into the dramas of a powerful Caretaker (in a 
  way that might reflect well on her) would be of great interest to her.
  After making sure the rules are obeyed and seeing to the project, she has 
  a few minutes every night to reflect on social life; she is lonely running 
  a House, and wonders what will become of her—success and glory, 
  or failure and ignominy?  She believes herself to be a caterpillar – a 
  creature that was destined to enclose itself in a chrysalis, and emerge as 
  something radically different. Her chosen career path prevents that, and 
  in her quiet moments, this fills her with regret.
  She is far too busy with the key dramas of her life, however, to spend 
  much of her waking life revisiting decisions already made.
  Book Worms
  While the Liebrarian can bi-locate (and then some) to handle many 
  affairs of her collection, she has many helpers, all of them a bit fanatic. 
  The Bookworms are large, friendly worms with luminous tails that crawl 
  about the Liebrary reshelving and mending books (with self-spun silk). 
  They can also be helpful to visitors since they know the  maze of books 
  better than almost anyone but the Liebrarian herself.
  Disposition Towards Man
  She is intrigued and utterly convinced of the Red Queen’s “Human 
  Condition” project (one of the reasons she was chosen for the job was 
  her honest appreciation of the Red Queen’s approach). She believes that 
  mankind should be properly converted into book format and filed under 
  the appropriate setting.
  Encounter Threat
  Medium. Out of her domain, she’s reasonably inoffensive (although 
  very often irritating —she’s prone to scolding). In the Library, she can 
  be quite dangerous unless one is either very careful or protected by a 
  Name: Bookworm
  Minion
  PHY 13
  STR 23
  BLD 50
  CON 13
  REF 10
  COR 12
  REA 10
  AGI 10
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 18
  WIL 11
  DP 60
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  20
  60
  120
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  +2/+3
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  24 IMP
  Description: A large brown worm with a friendly looking human face, the bookworm’s 
  tail has an amber, incandescence that is good light to read by. They are friendly and helpful 
  (although they cannot distinguish the truth in the library from the lies, they can locate many 
  items or at least get a person close to what they are looking for.
  Shock: The bookworm can throw an amber bolt from its tail (ROF 1, -1/5 yards) hitting for 
  up to 24 IMP damage (they usually just fire a 1-2pt warning bolt, however). This is non-
  flamable: that could damage the books!
  
  58
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  powerful Caretaker whose favor she wishes to curry. Her library is full of 
  useful information, but the risks involved in getting it are quite high.
  Visitors to her library are subject to her rules, and she has elaborate 
  punishments for those who break them.
  • Speaking unnecessarily or ever speaking above a whisper: She has 
  a pair of brass tongs decorated with jade that she uses to rip the 
  tongue out. Tongues are pressed into a special book; as you turn 
  through the pages they wag, repeating whatever the offending 
  sentence was.
  • Touching a book with unwashed hands: She has a pair of (blunt) 
  scissors that she uses to cut the hands of the offender off. 
  Walking with unwashed feet will result in the same thing. This 
  punishment often results in screaming which is, unfortunately, 
  talking above a whisper…
  • Late books: Flesh from the offender is cut into paper dolls—
  one doll per day the book is late. This produces a row of 
  tiny, screaming figures (that look like the offender) made of 
  compressed flesh linked at their hands and feet. The ‘paper dolls’ 
  live in terrible agony for a few days (they scream and writhe 
  constantly in soft, very, very high-pitched voices). The offender 
  suffers not only being partially (or completely) flayed, but the 
  dying figures still transmit the pain of their deaths (although at a 
  greatly reduced rate, or the subject would go mad).
  • Reading something you’re not allowed to read: She plucks your 
  eyes out.
  • Damaging a book: Death by pressing.
  • Misplacing a book: She’ll snatch away a feature (eye, nose, mouth, 
  etc.) or limb and just as quickly replace it in the wrong place 
  (“See how you’d like to be mis-placed!”).
  • And so on…
  For those who encounter her outside of the Library, there is still a risk: 
  a risk that she will become honestly fond of certain you (she likes those 
  who appreciate literature and are a little bit… shy in social settings). 
  People whom she takes a liking to will be delivered to the Red Queen for 
  translation and binding so that she can enjoy their company whenever 
  she desires (she sees this as a great compliment, but understands that 
  most people are a “tad squeamish” about such a fate, so she’s unlikely to 
  give them much advanced warning).
  Domain
  The Liebrarian’s House was created to oversee the Encyclopedia—the 
  development of a canon of all knowledge. The Encyclopedia would be a 
  set of books that record every fact in the universe. It would, by itself, be 
  a perfect model (in text form) of the universe.
  
  59
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  The passion behind this project (its purpose) has to do with proving the 
  foundational beliefs of the Caretakers: that the universe is finite and that 
  it can be fully and properly expressed in terms of literature.
  Operations
  She is often an element in someone else’s operation. A Caretaker may 
  send someone to see her and ask for information (this usually takes some 
  doing and may, in kind, result in doing favors for her). 
  Dramas
  Actors are often sent to see her to check out books for others. This is 
  dangerous since the books might be returned late or in bad condition 
  (very dangerous). It is also not unusual for Actors who don’t understand 
  the nature of the Encyclopedia to become obsessed with finding some 
  obscure fact within it—this can take centuries and still come to nothing 
  since the filing system is so obscure. However, searching the deeper and 
  darker sections of the Liebrary has many dangers (not the least of which 
  is that you will break one of the rules).
  The Typeist
  Side: Caretaker
  Overview
  The Typeist is a sixteen-legged ‘spider’ the size of a Volkswagen with the 
  head of a young woman and each of her eight legs terminating in a white 
  gloved hand, she crosses all Wonderland observing and categorizing one 
  thing after another in infinite series of lists and tables. She is part of the 
  group that creates and maintains The Encyclopedia (where the Liebrarian 
  oversees the access and cataloguing of the work).
  The Typeist believes that 
  everything has a fundamental 
  nature and that things can be 
  reduced to theirs with enough 
  study and insight. She is trying 
  to gain that and produces 
  volume after volume (her 
  bloated stinger contains an 
  near infinite supply of books 
  and quills).
  she has catalogued many 
  things : Actors, Minions, 
  Servitors, Caretakers, and the 
  like. These things are easy. Her 
  stumbling point, of course, is 
  man. As that’s where she runs 
  into trouble, that’s where those 
  who encounter her may run 
  into trouble.
  Name: The Typeist
  Caretaker
  PHY 12
  STR 21
  BLD 25
  CON 12
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 12
  AGI 12
  INT 12
  RES 13
  MEM 12
  WIL 12
  DP 120
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  40
  120
  240
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  +0
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  Special
  Description: A spider with 16 legs and a (female) human’s head. Each of her legs terminates 
  in a white-gloved hand and she is constantly moving about examining, categorizing, and 
  tabulating.
  Shrink: Once per turn as a 5 REA Medium action, she can shrink a target down to Very 
  Small size (mouse-sized). She gets no to-hit negative against small targets.
  Multiple Attack: With any 5 REA physical attack, she can make two more “for free” due to 
  her multitude of arms.
  Clinging: The Typeist can cling to any surface and is effectively weightless if she wants to 
  be (but she must remain affixed, she doesn’t float).
  
  60
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  The Typeist is considered one of the leading sources of data and 
  analysis on strains of Infection. This information was used to create 
  Llamed and is considered dangerous by the Caretakers: they do 
  not want hyper-infectious strains created since a mass Infection of 
  mankind could destroy Wonderland. She is loyal to the cause of 
  keeping this information protected but is often a bit absent-minded 
  about it: Deconstructionists have gotten information out of her on this 
  count.
  Description and Personality
  The Typeist comes off as a little frantic, a little distracted, and a little 
  incoherent. She is usually writing with two or three hands at once and 
  holding magnifying glasses, calipers, scales, and other instruments to 
  measure whatever it is she has discovered.
  When she finds a person though, she wants to categorize them. Usually 
  she has some new theory (“There are 10 types of people: those who 
  understand binary notation and those who do not—which are you?” 
  and then try to make some generalizations about them and see if they 
  measure up to her theories. 
  During conversation with her, one might find a full accounting of their 
  dimensions, favorite ice creams, and least preferable ways to die all 
  taken and recorded.
  There are two ways to make her angry: the first is to not cooperate 
  fully—in this case one might be webbed up for examination (and 
  possibly encouraged with the stinger, which injects a terribly painful 
  Truth Serum). She might also get frustrated with one’s stubborn ability 
  to not fit into her latest theory (“You’re a Type Five—you’re supposed to 
  like oranges!). 
  In this case, one can find themselves stuck in a usually unpleasant but 
  not generally deadly predicament of some sort (she can, and will, warp 
  reality around them in a fit of pique).
  Also: she can change size and perspective at will: a person might be 
  shrunk and placed in the many “ammunition belts” of small bottles that 
  crisscross her person for future study. They might wind up in the clutches 
  of the Liebrarian or the Mad Scientist or somewhere else altogether.
  Disposition Towards Man
  She would like to see the “Equation Simplified.” Oh, she knows it’s a bit 
  lazy of her—a bit selfish—but she really thinks there’s no reason other 
  than abject inconsiderate stubbornness for humans to be so discordant. 
  Quietly, she wishes someone else would just “take care of the whole 
  mess” but in person she’s usually just vaguely annoyed by them.
  
  61
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  Encounter Threat
  Medium. She is rarely deadly (that would be shirking) but often highly 
  inconvenient or even dangerous to encounter. She is good at detecting 
  lies and one rarely knows what the right answers are to her questions. 
  However, some people have placated her by guessing answers (if 
  she’s really frustrated she might ‘lead the witness’ in her polling) or 
  by explaining some “reason” for their personal anomalies. Finally, 
  sometimes when she’s encountered, she may be useful (she often carries 
  many things and people and knows lots of facts).
  Dramas
  The Typeist’s Dramas center on Actors whom she has taken for 
  categorization (sometimes their relatives will seek her out to get them 
  back). Sometimes they center on questions she is trying to answer and 
  she is a “guest” in someone’s home while observing them.
  She is also quite familiar and friends with the Liebrarian. 
  The Black Rose
  Side: Deconstructionist
  Overview
  On the far side of the Basalt Mountains, near the Mare Imbrium coast, 
  there is a temple. It is now overgrown with vines that bear flowers whose 
  scent is that of dreams, whose nectar tastes like warm compliments from 
  someone you admire, and whose leaves are a multi-hued hypnotic green. 
  Wind-sanded idols stand ancient watch at the gateways and there are 
  many stairways, many terraces, and inner courtyard after inner courtyard. 
  There are monks who tend the temple and there are the sea-villagers who 
  know of it … and there are those who come and seek it out. In the center 
  of the temple, in the Exalted Inner Courtyard, stands a single perfect 
  rose, its pedals a color that is described as Infra-Black. It is a color that 
  makes one think of blood so deep red that it has become black—of a 
  lightless heart that beats within a mammoth chest. The rose is the subject 
  of the temple. The Temple is the Temple of Secrets.
  When Shadows come here, sometimes sent by Magicians, more often 
  sent by members of the Underground who wish to see global Infection, 
  in order to learn, they must pass through several chambers of testing 
  and several trials of the terrible secrets. These are rooms where the 
  hieroglyphs are, once understood, shattering to the person who reads 
  them. They are the Truths we fear. They are what our Loved Ones 
  Really Think. They are our most Frightening Desires set in stone. The 
  supplicant must decipher the writing and re-write it with brush and 
  parchment and ink wet with tears.
  The Black Rose is a teacher—it is a teller of secret truths, and it is a 
  destroyer. If Llamed had been successful, it would have taken the world 
  in a super-storm of unreality and it would have engaged the cannons 
  
  62
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  (canon?) of the Department of Works and turned it downwards into 
  Wonderland.
  But it failed. Now, those who come and learn and suffer are fewer. 
  The Caretakers would destroy the temple, but it is protected in various 
  ways—sometimes Deconstructionists stay there for a time, waiting until 
  they can slip quietly away. The Rose waits, though, until it can gather 
  strong enough followers or revise Llamed to a more virulent strain.
  Personality and Description
  The Black Rose is about 12 inches high. It has, however, an incredible 
  psychic presence and drawings show a vast rose looming over the 
  person who has gotten audience. It speaks telepathically. It is cool and 
  androgynous in its manner. It is a prime user of people and by the time 
  one has made it to see it, they are often Twisted to its liking.
  Disposition Towards Man
  Man is the calibrating device for the Department of Works—man’s 
  Infection will be its triumph (that mankind will mostly be destroyed and 
  otherwise pretty much driven mad by this is icing on the cake). That 
  said, individually, the Rose is a stern teacher and even cruel at times but 
  not murderous. It demands respect and may (physically or mentally) 
  punish those who displease it—but it usually does not kill them. It would 
  rather send an iterant Infected back with a new strain of Wonderland 
  Infection to see if it can test a mass-infection-plan than bury another 
  body.
  Strains of Wonderland: Many people who visit the rose come back 
  with temporary variances in their Infectiousness. In some cases they 
  may be temporary retrievers, able to carry devices out of Wonderland 
  (this may be discriminate—all to often they can carry ‘trivial’ things 
  out but not the really Impossible Things they (and the Rose) would 
  like. They may also return with a bigger “tidal pull” able to Infect 
  those nearby more readily during their next Episode (but, alas, this 
  usually doesn’t last nor is it transmitted).
  The Rose As A Teacher
  Visiting the Rose does not necessitate going through the shattering, 
  twisting chambers of Truth—if one seeks an audience, there is 
  usually a way to arrange it. The Rose, however, can be convinced to 
  teach magic for a trade in carrying Twisteds and Infections back to 
  Chessboard Zero.
  Encounter Threat
  Low. If one misbehaves in the Temple, they may be flogged. If one 
  annoys the Rose (comes in to make deals with it that are clearly one 
  sided) they may be Twisted and Infected with some test strain and kicked 
  out—but even this is rarely deadly and often no more than extremely 
  
  63
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  unpleasant or inconvenient.
  Operations
  The Black Rose is works through Waldens and Activists on Chessboard 
  Zero. Many discuss The Temple of Secrets without really knowing what 
  it is (Chapel Perilous?) and consider it a path to enlightenment, which it 
  certainly can be after a fashion.
  Dramas
  Along the sea-coasts of Mare Imbrium there are many people who know 
  of the Temple and periodically make pilgrimages there to seek physical 
  help, counsel on a tough problem, or ask for a variety of blessings. These 
  all have various high prices the Rose extracts. 
  Also, in the fishing villages, there is a tendency to “haul in” dreamers 
  (who may be humans undergoing deep Descent or may be other actors) 
  and bring them up to the shores. Usually these people are used in a 
  variety of important rituals for the villagers and may, for instance, be 
  married to the daughter of a village elder or be asked to participate in an 
  important function. 
  Most times these revolve around secrets that one of more of the Actors 
  (not necessarily the person who washes up) has, and their catastrophic 
  exposing.
  The Factory
  Side: Caretakers
  Overview
  There are vast acres and complexes of buildings powered by miles of 
  buzzing generators. Underground there are layered stories of conveyor 
  belts, furnaces, and robot-arms. The “Executive Offices” are hospital-
  sterile and mausoleum-quiet, the omnipresent industrial grayness 
  punctuated by cheery motivational posters (and ominously threatening 
  safety posters) mounted under dirty, scratched glass. 
  This is The Factory. Men, women, and even children toil away here 
  on every shift. No one is sure what the factory makes—in some places 
  workers use machine-looms to spin fabrics into cloth ... but is it for 
  clothing? In other places metal is melted and cast in waves of blinding 
  heat. Still other sections across its seemingly limitless span have 
  refineries—and hospital wards where subjects are bled into tanks—and 
  machines crush rocks—and workers stand before walls of humming 
  radium dials—and ...
  The fact is, you’ll never find anyone who runs the Factory: at each step 
  up the corporate ladder the illusion of luxury and paradise is shattered 
  by close inspection revealing misery and despair. The Factory, some 
  say, exists to grind down the souls of those in its clutches: and those in 
  
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  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  its clutches are legion. Where a human must manage production quotas, 
  a legion of uniformed cats must catch (and kill) uniformed rats (who 
  are part of the scavenger teams). Along the outer walls and around the 
  squalid, poisoned villages that house the workers (and children as young 
  as three must work) there are anti-aircraft guns and turrets and barbed 
  wire.
  The truth is that The Factory itself is alive and cognizant and it does 
  produce things. Weapons and soldiers for the Army of No roll off 
  its assembly lines. It produces toxic waste to be dumped throughout 
  Wonderland and the upper Chessboards. It produces waste heat to try to 
  hasten along the final burn-out of the universe (this is a conceit: the laws 
  of thermodynamics don’t apply in Wonderland). It expands to swallow 
  woodlands. It opens branches to hire workers. It makes policy to destroy 
  them (the most cleverly and subtly sadistic individuals are, of course, 
  promoted to HR ... just as in reality).
  Personality
  Mostly what you’ll speak to is one of the Executives—a “spokesperson” 
  for the Factory who may either “spin” (giving you glowing lies about 
  the work that is done) or threaten (if you are perceived as not doing your 
  job). When it does speak or communicate (in a cacophony of clanging 
  metal) it is slow, patient, and bitter. It is showing what the universe is 
  really like for all its wards and servants—giving them the unvarnished 
  experience. They ought to be grateful, really.
  Encounter Threat
  Medium-high. If you are caught on Factory Grounds without a visitor-
  pass, you are a worker and, if you aren’t working, you’re slacking! 
  This can result in punishments (ranging for humiliation to horrific 
  execution depending on who catches you). If you approach from the 
  outside and get a visitor pass, there will usually be some offers made for 
  employment—and sometimes some industrial accidents arranged if you 
  say ‘no.’ 
  Attitude Towards Man
  Man is fuel for the machine and must be properly refined in order to 
  be used. The Factory would like to turn the entirety of space-time on 
  Chessboard Zero into more of it. On a personal level, Man is a dirty, 
  lazy, misdirected slacking employee with no sense of decorum, personal 
  pride, or honor: these things come from being tireless, obedient workers 
  and humankind must be shaped into them (or scared into doing a poor 
  approximation).
  Dramas
  There are many prisoners of the Factory and many tragedies within it. 
  Everyone wants to get out (although most don’t see this as an escape 
  attempt—but rather an need to find another job elsewhere, something 
  that is impossible for most of them with the schedules they keep). 
  
  65
  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  There are also those irrepressible souls who strive to find happiness 
  with one another within the world of the Factory: it particularly enjoys 
  crushing them. Finally, sometimes, a person will come, hoping to work 
  only a while (the money is good) and then return home (in some cases 
  to a higher Chessboard) and, of course, something will happen (some 
  regulation will be broken, some contractual loophole will be found, etc.) 
  that traps them and keeps them within the machine.
  The Wheel
  Side: Caretaker
  Overview
  The Wheel turns out in the vast desert called the Nonillion Planes. It is 
  70 stories tall above ground, and must be 70 below. It is the color of rust 
  and dried blood.
  Its axle extends through the earth, and ends in a vacant cement building 
  at a joint connected to nothing. It is clear, then, that the axle does not 
  turn the Wheel. The Wheel turns the axle.
  From a hundred miles away, it sounds like the whisper of thunder. At a 
  hundred yards, the earth churns, drawn up and cast back down, and it 
  sounds like a waterfall. To stand within its shadow is to be blinded by the 
  sandstorm it drives.
  Every year (as near as it can be figured in 
  Wonderland), on each solstice and each 
  equinox, it stops.
  And when the Wheel stops, it speaks.
  One of the most remote of the Great Lords 
  of Wonderland, it has its own language 
  and its own philosophy. It has told its 
  scribes many things, and some of them are 
  probably lies, but its wisdom is considered 
  unparalleled in Wonderland, even if it is 
  (Even amongst the Lords and Ladies of 
  the Mad) perverse.
  It has been asked “What drives you, Oh, 
  Great Wheel?”
  And it has answered, “Self Hatred.”
  It has been asked, “What is the Nature of 
  the Universe?”
  And it has answered, “A circle for 
  which the centre is everywhere and the 
  circumference is nowhere”
  
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  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  It has been asked, “What is the Nature of a Thing within the Universe?”
  And it has answered, “Each Thing contains within itself the kernel of its 
  own annihilation – and each atom of nothingness contains, within itself, 
  the kernel of an whole Universe.”
  And so the Wheel turns, and it stops, and it speaks, and around it are 
  those who revere it.
  The Scribes
  The Wheel is tended by The Scribes, who rise before dawn to see it, and 
  then travel back to their low mud huts to wait for evening. They sustain 
  themselves on its wisdom, reading transcribed works, for sustenance. 
  They practice its Art – eternity through focused self-loathing, through 
  which they hate themselves empty and are filled by bounty of the world 
  around them – not because the world wishes to cherish or nurture them, 
  but because Nature Abhors a Vacuum.
  The Scribes appear as stooped, wasted men, with loose flesh under dun-
  colored robes. They smell of ashes and faintly of faded flowers, and their 
  voices rasp dry. They are smart – they have to be – for they must pull 
  new wisdom from the Wheel’s koans or they will wither and die.
  When they do die, they wither quickly and become dust, and their robes 
  lay in the narrow streets between the buildings, until a new person 
  arrives in town ready to drink knowledge from the teat of the Wheel.
  To even think about being a Scribe, you must be nearly suicidal, but hate 
  yourself just enough not to be willing to end your misery.
  The Bride of the Wheel
  The Wheel is married to its Bride who was chosen, it is said, because she  
  hates The Wheel more than it hates itself.
  The Bride is a column of seven hundred helium balloons that are wound 
  together in a DNA-like helix. The Bride and the Wheel are both mobile, 
  but the Wheel never goes anywhere. The Bride carries out The Wheel’s 
  bidding amongst its servants and in other realms. She will often dispatch 
  a balloon (usually a red one, or sometimes a blue one) to float afar and 
  deliver its message. The balloons can communicate telepathically and 
  can carry objects weighing less than a 16th of a pound tied to their string. 
  Their strings are not prehensile. They hang limply.
  Disposition Towards Man
  Some years ago, the Wheel produced a series of discourses on humanity. 
  It outlined, in its works for that year, what is so repulsive about men and 
  how they can be cured.
  No one is quite sure exactly what it meant (in either case), but after 
  much study of the book-length dissertations, the general consensus was 
  
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  Book of Knots - The Caretakers
  that humanity is corrupted by its irrationality, and its vulgar strength 
  of emotion. To be cured, then, The Wheel seemed to suggest, mankind 
  should be scrubbed clean until nothing was left but the hidden jewel of 
  pure, logical thought.
  The Wheel’s Bride, realizing that as badly humanity offended and 
  distressed The Wheel, the only thing it hated more was to see its own 
  awful ideas put into action, set about developing what is known as the 
  Rational Actors.
  What made humanity objectionable, said The Wheel, was the way its 
  emotions and self-doubt interfered with its beautiful capacity for rational 
  thought. So research begun as to how to destroy those parts of humanity 
  that were so disgusting. When a method was found that was thought to 
  work there was one problem: the procedure needed a lot of help from 
  Chessboard Zero and none of the Caretakers had any assets there.
  Enter Project Pagan. When contact was made, although it’s highly 
  unlikely that Pagan really understood The Wheel (they weren’t that 
  insane yet) and it’s equally likely that The Wheel and its emissaries 
  didn’t understand an apocalyptic secret society within the US Air Force 
  they were able to agree on something: they both wanted each others 
  cooperation. 
  The discourses have been refined over time but the basic thrust is this: 
  turn everyone who is suitable into a Rational Actor ... the sterilize the 
  planet of everyone else.
  Encounter Threat
  Low. If you are the kind of person the Scribes can push around then it 
  goes to Medium or High—but if not, The Wheel, unless you have the 
  capacity to destroy it, doesn’t get involved. In fact, if you make it to the 
  Wheel the Scribes may try to recruit you.
  Dramas
  The desert is largely empty of recognizable human Dramas but if you 
  look there are some. Around the monasteries there are small, miserable 
  towns (with humans and other things) that assist the scribes (bringing 
  food, doing laundry, etc.). These people are often involved in a state of 
  seeking answers that they might get if they can overcome the myriad 
  near-impossible, often nonsensical tasks the scribes impose on those who 
  wish answers. The graveyards of these towns are filled with headstones 
  that, in addition to names and dates, are inscribed with the unanswered 
  questions that the person came for and died unknowing. 
  
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  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  The Civilizing of Mankind
  From the Symposium there were a variety of solutions to the 
  problem of man. The only one that was fully endorsed was Big 
  Pharma—but several coalitions of Caretakers created their own 
  initiatives (some well known, some in secret). All of these were 
  designed to either alter man to an “acceptable state” or destroy 
  humanity outright. Some of these solutions are detailed here:
  Initiative: Big Pharma
  Mission Statement: Develop a pharmaceutical 
  solution for Mankind. Prognosis: 88% mortality; 
  remaining 18% of humanity will be chemically 
  cured of hope and creativity. Potential for ultimate extinction 
  through species-level suicide: High. Regrettable.
  Caretaker Sponsor: The Hypotherapist
  Chessboard Zero Affiliation: Global Pharmaceutical Industry.
  Note: Big Pharma is the official Symposium Initiative. All other 
  Initiatives are considered either renegade or at least suspect.
  Initiative: Project Pagan
  Mission Statement: To create a civilized variant of 
  mankind (see “Rational Actors”). These mutations 
  are fused with self-generated Whirls and will reflect 
  both beneficial psychological and physiological 
  changes in the subject.
  Caretaker Sponsor: The Wheel
  Chessboard Zero Affiliation: US Air Force division known as 
  Project Pagan
  Note: Pagan is a direct descendant of the US Government’s 
  Project Pilgrim. Pagan is considered under sanction/quarantine 
  by Project Puritan [Orders: Shoot on Sight].
  Initiative: Army of No
  Mission Statement: The punitive destruction or 
  enslavement of mankind by lower-reality military 
  force. Short term goals: infliction of global-scale 
  suffering. Long term goals: extermination.
  Caretaker Sponsors: The “triumvirate” (The Clear Widow, 
  The Beastly Baby, The Factory)
  Chessboard Zero Affiliation: Individual operatives.
  Initiative: Llamed Infection
  Mission Statement: To create a “strain” of 
  Wonderland Infection which will be extremely easy 
  to contract. The resultant pan-cultural infection 
  will result in the break-up and dissolution of the 
  Chessboard Zero structure in its entirety. Projected immediate 
  mortality: 85% to 98%. Projected eventual mortality: 100%.
  Caretaker Sponsors: Deconstructionists. Lem, Black Rose.
  Interview 1 (The Director of a Major 
  Pharmaceutical Company in the United 
  States)
  Sometimes--a lot of times--I get 
  the [high-pitched, nasal, vaguely 
  feminine voice] “how could you doooo 
  this” crap. Like it’s some kind of… 
  I don’t know. Like they wouldn’t. 
  You know?
  The fact is – I’ll tell this 
  straight up – the fact is anyone 
  would take the kind of opportunity 
  I’ve been given. Anyone. All 
  the whining moralists. All the 
  blubbering mental invalids. Any of 
  them. If they’d been approached the 
  way I was, they’d have said yes.
  Yeah—-you would too. Believe me. 
  A chance to work with these guys? 
  A chance to be part of the future? 
  You’re either a winner or a loser 
  –-that’s never been more true than 
  today, and it’s getting more true 
  all the time. And let me tell you: 
  I’m a winner. They saw it in me and 
  that’s why they chose me. And all 
  those crybabies? Losers.
  And I’ll tell you something about 
  losers – listen: you don’t hear the 
  truth very often, so you know, take 
  notes: Better. Off. Dead. I mean it. 
  These guys haven’t been happy a day 
  in their miserable lives. This work 
  we’re doing—this work I’m doing? 
  It’s a fucking mercy, okay?
  So don’t lecture me about right and 
  wrong. Ninety percent of the human 
  race needs the fucking strength to 
  do what’s right and we’re going to 
  give it to them.
  [Pauses. Breaths calmly for a 
  moment, staring out the window as 
  though his thoughts are ordering 
  themselves before he continues 
  talking]
  So. Do I feel bad about it? Not a 
  bit.
  Recruited. You make it sound like 
  I’m in the army. I didn’t get 
  “Recruited.” I’m the director for 
  –-well, no details. Let’s say I do 
  serious long-term R&D [Research and 
  Development] for a company you’d 
  know the name of if you read the 
  Journal [The Wall Street Journal]. 
  We make the drugs that are changing 
  
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  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Chessboard Zero Affiliation: The Community (magicians), The 
  Underground’s Upper Echelon
  Note: Uncontrolled Llamed Infection could result in the destruction of 
  the foundational sub-structure of the universe itself. The Caretakers 
  council considers it a forbidden initiative.
  Big Pharma
  Resolve Humanity by “curing” one of the most irritating and obscene 
  delusions harbored by mankind: hope. The Hypotherapist believes that 
  there is some simple psychoactive medicine that, when delivered to 
  the human central nervous system will heal the pathological tendency 
  toward optimism and aspiration and replace it with a pragmatic and un-
  deluded view of reality.
  Humans, so treated, would be expected to undergo “self-directed 
  therapy,” colloquially known as “suicide.”
  Sponsor
  The Hypotherapist is the primary caretaker sponsor but a number of 
  other Caretakers provide assistance with the research that is necessary.
  Approach
  The solution requires several steps
  1) Identify and develop a working relationship with Chessboard 
  Zero entities willing to support the project. This step has been 
  accomplished: The Caretakers have found their Chessboard 
  Zero allies at the top of the pyramid of the multinational 
  pharmaceutical companies generally referred to as “Big Pharma” 
  Status: Complete
  2) Develop the Cure. In some ways, this is no different from any 
  normal development of a pharmaceutical product. Advances 
  in neurochemistry and psychopharmacology have provided 
  significant assistance in this area. And many current drugs 
  result in varying degrees of suicidal psychosis anyway. The 
  trick is to find something that’s subtle enough for use Stage 3 
  – distribution. Status: Underway
  3) Worldwide Distribution. Once the cure is developed, it must be 
  administered to the overwhelming majority of the population. 
  This step is far enough in the future that it remains a “mere 
  logistical detail” but everyone operationally involved in the 
  project (the people on and close to Chessboard Zero) know 
  it’s going to be tough. Some of the plans on the drawing 
  board include marketing the cure as a cheap treatment for 
  a number of mental ailments (and working with the major 
  insurance companies to ensure that it will be widely prescribed 
  as a treatment). Ultimately, however, there may need to be a 
  government (and ultimately pan-government) mandate that 
  requires everyone to take it. Status: Planning
  people’s lives–-make your 
  dick stand up. Make you grow 
  hair. Hell, I’ve seen the 
  “big one”–-the pill that 
  makes you skinny… [snickers]
  And yeah–-the ones that make 
  you happy. Those were some of 
  mine. Back when serotonin was 
  all the rage.
  So if you’re going to find 
  the guy who can help you, who 
  do you go to? I’ll tell you: 
  you come to me. And that’s 
  what they did. They did their 
  homework, that’s for sure. 
  They knew the industry. They 
  had a short list of guys in 
  my position and guys with–- 
  you know-–my philosophy.
  My philosophy? Simple-–I’ll 
  lay it out for you. Take 
  notes: this is good. Ready? 
  I’ll tell you my fucking 
  philosophy. It’s the same 
  philosophy all the guys at 
  the top have. Seven habits of 
  highly effective what? Forget 
  that crap. It comes down to 
  one thing:
  Never. Lose.
  Got it? That’s me. And, say, 
  two or three other guys. Sure 
  there’s a lot of ‘family men’ 
  out there in the industry 
  plugging away like… well 
  anyway. They’re useless. It 
  was me, it was some others 
  – we’re out there at the 
  cutting edge, and we’re 
  willing to do what it takes 
  to win.
  So they’d done their 
  homework, and they knew me…
  It was a phone call. From 
  a ‘placement specialist.’ 
  Yeah—a headhunter. Executive 
  headhunter. Said he had 
  an opportunity for me. And 
  I was looking. You know? 
  This was when making your 
  prick hard was still new and 
  everything and our pipeline 
  had something in it that 
  made your heart valves go all 
  screwy. Kind of a low point. 
  
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  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Initiation
  Imagine you’re one of the top four or five guys in the world. You run 
  a multinational empire of drugs that make people happy, erect, and 
  (hopefully) thin. Imagine that it’s not enough—it’s never enough. 
  Then you start having visions. In the vast cathedral to chemical 
  salvation that your building has become, many, may Chessboards of 
  reality down, your Shadow has been brought before a terrible and 
  magnificent queen. She has taken it and warped it and dictated to it 
  over and over again what it is to do. The tenuous link between it and 
  you is strengthened and thickened until you, on Chessboard Zero, 
  begin to hear voices.
  The procedure requires vast expenditures of power. It requires 
  skill and luck. It requires exotic techniques that almost nobody 
  understands—but in the end, you know something is coming. And it 
  does.
  Your Shadow is snapped from you, creating a Whirl—a vision of you 
  that is an Ambassador from the lower realms. It embodies everything 
  you are afraid is true about yourself. It is every desire you’ve spent a 
  lifetime trying to destroy made flesh. You can’t see it ... yet. But you 
  know it is coming.
  It travels upwards with a retinue of guard. It travels upwards guided 
  by constellations that you’ll never see. It travels upwards, looking 
  for you. It has been made powerful and mad. It has a message and 
  it casts a feeble reflection to Chessboard Zero when it arrives on 
  Chessboard One.
  If you are ready: if you have been prepared you know its there, 
  patient. Waiting. You begin to seek and eventually, in mirrors, 
  probably, you find it. You suffer the schism of reality that makes 
  you Unsane. You’ve been prepared in a very, very specific manner 
  and you can meet with yourself—with the dark image of yourself 
  then, talking 
  in mirrors, 
  hearing voices, 
  making 
  contact.
  The message is 
  ... the message 
  is ... so awful 
  it fills you 
  with awe. So 
  terrifying it’s 
  like lightning. 
  This thing that 
  you do not 
  So I said I’d listen…
  And here was the pitch. You 
  don’t leave your job. You 
  start working with certain… 
  executives. Members of the 
  board. Top, top, top guys. 
  But it’s all quiet. It’s 
  secret. And you’re working 
  with guys from other firms 
  also.
  And the payback?
  When it goes down-–and it 
  will go down–-you’re like the 
  only ones left. What’d I tell 
  you about winners and losers?
  We win.
  You lose.
  It’s that simple.
  Don’t ask me why the fuck 
  I do this, or if I feel bad 
  about it, or anything else 
  that stupid. If you have to 
  ask shit like that, you know 
  what you are? Yeah. You know 
  it, don’t you.
  Get out of here. Don’t come 
  back.
  [Laughs]
  No. I’m not worried about 
  anyone believing it. Fuck, 
  I’m not worried about you 
  even publishing it. We got 
  lawyers, buddy. 
  Go away.
  Interview 2 (The Doctor, A leading research Physician)
  The idea is not to cause depression-– whatever that means. But if you ask 
  the suits that’s what they’ll tell you. [Sighs] It doesn’t matter because 
  fortunately we understand the objectives of the project.
  Oh? It’s simple – to remove hope. The Doctor – the Hypotherapist – is very 
  clear about that. Hope is an illusion, the result of millions of years of 
  evolution, that makes life bearable. And when you remove it, you see things 
  the way they really are. Hopeless.
  Do I? I… Well, when you’ve seen what I have, you start to suspect that maybe 
  there’s something to it. I mean… in the project we know what’s out there. Most 
  people—the folks walking around on the street – they have no idea. And that 
  makes it, you know, bearable to them.
  I like to think we’re in the business of bringing them Truth. [Smiles]
  
  71
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  understand has come from beings that are 
  not gods and not demons and it wants you 
  to do what you’ve always dreamed of. It 
  has chemical equations (strange ones—the 
  scientists need to be hand-picked and they 
  need to examine and refine the formulas that 
  were conceived of by a mind so far from 
  human in your nightmares you dread to meet 
  it). It has techniques and experiments that 
  make your hands clammy. It has promises 
  that you’d kill your own children to secure. 
  Well, that’s not so much. Promises you’d 
  trade everything for.
  And the project begins with you—with a 
  few others. You start making the contacts 
  and you’re careful about what you tell 
  the others—even the powerful ones who 
  you need to keep close: because talking to 
  yourself in mirrors isn’t something a sane 
  person does. Is it?
  Operations
  Big Pharma runs “test markets” (which are 
  no kind of market at all) wherein subjects 
  collected by a number of means (such as 
  tracking depressive teenagers by posts to 
  a certain message board) are given various 
  chemicals to see how they react to it. The 
  usual goal is mass suicides and they’ve have a number of success. But 
  their failures are even more impressive so they’ve gotten several new 
  tacts.
  The higher-ups—the inner circle are well aware that their benefactors are 
  far, far from human. They have made some cautious inquiries and studies 
  into the real “state of the world” and have received disturbing results. 
  But they have come up with a few alternate techniques.
  Chemicals combined with therapy (of the right sort) has had a powerful 
  effect. One of Big Pharma’s initiatives has been to spread infection 
  amongst its subjects using chemical hallucinogens to create temporary 
  shifts wherein their targets can watch a Hypotherapist-hosted Dr. Phil-
  like TV show, where the guests are the Shadows of the targets. This has 
  had a number of successes (of course people not on the chemicals can’t 
  see the show which has added advantages in making the subject despair 
  and believe they are going crazy). Attempts to create permanent or 
  strong infection, however, have been uniform failures.
  
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  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Project Pagan
  Even amongst the most 
  highly knowledgeable and 
  experienced of Wonderland 
  Scholars (itself, a very elite 
  group) it is widely believed 
  that only the InNetwork 
  Physicians have discovered 
  a way to “breach” the barrier 
  that lets connects one’s 
  Shadow to one’s self. Only 
  the twisted doctors can 
  become “hollowed out” from 
  the inside and taken over 
  by autonomous, degenerate 
  versions of themselves.
  This, technically, is true (so 
  far as anyone we can find 
  knows)—but it isn’t, as they 
  say in the courts, “the whole 
  truth.” If certain things are 
  done to you on Chessboard 
  Zero then, indeed, your 
  Whirl can not only “inhabit 
  your body” but it can even, 
  powerfully, create bleeds in 
  your form and mutate you 
  physically. 
  As you might imagine, 
  this process of separating 
  a human sentience from its 
  body and then allowing it 
  to be devoured by a warped 
  version of itself is horrific. 
  The process, itself, is called 
  alienation.
  After the disintegration of Project Pilgrim, the government research team 
  that “made contact” with Red Queen (an aspect of the Queen of Hearts) 
  the “sterilization of information” that was supposed to take place failed. 
  An arm of the US Air Force, guided by both high-ranking commanders 
  and extremely wealthy civilians with religiously based apocalyptic 
  visions of the future created a think-tank to reestablish contact with the 
  data source under the belief they could barter with it: they thought they 
  could trade a nuclear holocaust for gardens of paradise.
  They were wrong. 
  Name: Alien. Type Green
  Whirl
  PHY 08
  STR 08
  BLD 06
  CON 09
  REF 12
  COR 14
  REA 12
  AGI 12
  INT 13
  RES 13
  MEM 13
  WIL 13
  DP 6
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  2
  6
  12
  To Hit
  15-
  To Be Hit
  -2
  Armor
  none
  Damage
  Special
  The Greens were the first generation of Rational Actors. They have the strongest ties to 
  Wonderland and to The Bride. They are greenish in pallor, with especially large heads and 
  especially spindly and useless limbs. The Bride, after an exhaustive search, selected one Alex 
  Cotlington, because of his belief that his particular intelligence and superiority gave him the 
  moral right to strangle his neighbor when he was sixteen and she was a year younger.
  The Bride knew he was perfect when he was caught because he would not deign to lie about 
  doing something that was his birthright as a superior creature. Upon stating for the court 
  record (Cotlington v. the State of Illinois, 1917) that he had planned to further murder his 
  parents that they might hasten to fulfill their last reason for existence (to provide him with a 
  substantial inheritance)  he was committed to a discrete facility in Connecticut where he was 
  abducted.
  In the intervening years, his body has decayed, but his handpicked team of physicians (all 
  formatted into greens) have developed a technique for sustaining the brain in a glass tube 
  filled with semiotic fluid, oxygenated by a special pump.
  He has conducted several such experiments, and has created entire “Brain Trusts” or “Think 
  Tanks” of formatted minds he deems especially worth saving. These baroque, living super-
  computers are housed in installations off the coast of Main and in a salt mine in his home 
  state.
  Although far too psychotic to have direct dealings with normal humans, some of his 
  followers are more patient (if not more moderate in their beliefs) and have opened lines 
  of communication with elements of the United States Government. They have even 
  conducted joint ventures including military operations in Soviet countries and an exchange 
  of technologies (some elements of the flying saucer technology for cutting edge biological 
  warfare research).
  Cotlington was never patient and losing his body and most of his mind hasn’t helped. He 
  believes that if the Program is not “on a success path” by 2010, that it should be scrapped, and 
  the human race destroyed through a series of viruses and nuclear detonations.
  
  73
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  They thought they could 
  control their contact in a 
  safe fashion.
  They were wrong about 
  that too.
  If the original conspiracy 
  had a name or the present 
  one does, it isn’t known. 
  It’s referred to, by those 
  who do know it exists, 
  as Project Pagan. It is a 
  name to conjure with: 
  Project Pagan exists 
  behind multiple veils of 
  government secrecy. It has 
  members both infected 
  and subverted at multiple 
  levels of national and state government. It has its hooks deep 
  within the armed forces. 
  Its motive, what can be gleaned from it, is the complete 
  reformation of life on earth into its vision: its vision of alienation. 
  The Wheel’s Vision of Man
  The Wheel views man as work of art wherein the genius is 
  obscured and damaged by the unnecessary work that the artist has 
  done—unnecessary additions to the piece. When it made contact 
  with the agents of what would later be called “Project Pagan” it 
  enticed them with a new vision of humankind—a clean vision. 
  Whether they were already disposed to be taken in by its madness 
  or it warped their minds to its vision is unclear but the results are 
  obvious. Pagan has become an alienation factory.
  The ideal man is a human who has been stripped of the filth that 
  is emotion. They are beings of pure 
  logic and perfect hate (not an emotion 
  by the Wheel’s definition, but rather an 
  expression of a universal force). These 
  beings, the “perfect men,” are Whirls 
  who are created on Chessboard One by 
  horiffic psychological processes and 
  then reunited with their host-bodies by 
  technological procedures on Chessboard 
  Zero. Their final unification comes when 
  they consume their hosts from within.
  The Rational Actors are created by 
  Mind Stunners: When an abduction is taking place (at first) it is taking place with the subject’s 
  Shadow on Chessboard One (the real person is asleep in bed or something). The creation of 
  a “contact field” means that the real person, however, experiences the abduction as though it 
  were real. Since it is terrifying, Mind Stunners are used to make people compliant. They are a 
  Resisted attack against WIL with a Power of 14-. They can only be used once. They look like 
  remote controls and never miss.
  Result
  Effect
  Minor Effect
  Victim feels calm and dream-like. There is no effect on performance 
  but the essential horror of the situation is mitigated. If this is the best 
  the Aliens get they may simply make contact and try to come back 
  later.
  Standard Effect
  The subject is lethargic and feels like he or she is “stuck in a dream.” 
  All rolls are at -2 and the victim loses 3 REA. If this lowers the 
  character’s REA to 7 they are “stuck.”
  Major Effect
  The character has two seconds of being Dazed before they are 
  paralyzed. The character’s recollection is very good at the beginning 
  but will get vague after about 30 minutes.
  Critical Effect 
  The character is instantly paralyzed. Memories of some parts will be 
  clear and some will be murky.
  Catastrophic Effect
  Character is instantly paralyzed and will have a hazy memory of 
  what happened.
  Grabbers
  When a human isn’t cooperating and the Mind Stunner hasn’t 
  taken them down (or only partially worked) they’ll use grabbers. 
  These are harness-mounted extendable robotic arms that can be 
  use to catch and immobilize targets. They have a reach of 20 yards 
  (telescoping out in a bizarre fashion and growing joints as they 
  go) and they terminate in a large padded claw with a camera lens 
  and a syringe needle mounted on it (so the alien can reach around 
  corners and see). It has a 21 Offensive Grapple. It can squeeze 
  for 5pts of damage per turn (but once a person is held they’ll 
  administer a sedative through the syringe).
  
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  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Caretaker-instructed humans 
  (Project Pagan agents) 
  operating on Chessboard Zero 
  in concert with the Rational 
  Actors on Chessboard One. 
  The Rational Actors have 
  developed a process where 
  (suitable) subjects’ Shadows 
  are strongly linked to their 
  casters (the real person 
  on Chessboard Zero) and 
  abducted for the process of 
  Extraction. To the subject this 
  feels like a real (well, surreal) 
  abduction but there is almost 
  never any evidence of it (as it 
  is really their Shadow that is 
  abducted on Chessboard One 
  or Two). 
  They are taken to the 
  Extraction Theater where 
  horrific procedures began 
  the process of “separating” 
  an Alien Whirl from the 
  subject’s Shadow. This 
  involves lurid half-memories 
  of mutation, of fleshy, 
  membranous cancers growing 
  up and bursting from one’s 
  stomach, of terrible devices 
  inserted into the flesh, and 
  other things (the implantation 
  and removal of eggs in female 
  subjects). 
  When Extraction is complete, 
  there is a new Alien Whirl 
  on Chessboard One, separate from its host. It is a fragile thing: it 
  will not live long. That is when the person is ready for “Phase 2 final 
  processing.” This is when the human arm of Pagan moves in and abducts 
  the subject back into reality. Real machines are used and physiological 
  and psychological techniques are employed to “open the subject’s mind 
  like a flower.” The Alien Shadow, on Chessboard One, then “inhabits 
  the host,” causing the physical body itself to mutate and the subject to 
  complete the final process: to become alienated.
  These subjects (now appearing as mutations with expanded heads, 
  shrunken spines and spindly arms and legs—the blood vessels of the eye 
  burst to become a uniform black) are beings of perfect logic and a deep 
  Name: Alien. Type Gray
  Whirl
  PHY 09
  STR 09
  BLD 08
  CON 10
  REF 12
  COR 14
  REA 12
  AGI 12
  INT 13
  RES 13
  MEM 13
  WIL 13
  DP 6
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  2
  6
  12
  To Hit
  15-
  To Be Hit
  -2
  Armor
  none
  Damage
  Special
  The Grays are much like the Greens, but taller and a little stronger. They are the result of a 
  Green experiment in the early 70s that was supposed to produce a more “reliable” format. It 
  did––while only the most extreme humans can be converted into Greens, most people who are 
  reasonably selfish, proud, and a little smarter than normal can be successfully converted into 
  Grays.
  To the outside world, Grays and Greens seem pretty similar (both are insane), but they find 
  each other repulsive as well.
  Grays are especially offended by humans who display strong, honest emotion. They express 
  this offense as “curiosity” and seek to “explorer and examine” the “specimen.” They track 
  “vectors” who are “emoting” and abduct them when they are alone and vulnerable.
  Gray’s experiments usually consist of exposing the subject to a very convincing hallucination 
  that adapts to the subject’s experiences to push his or her buttons––often reliving trauma or 
  abuse, or finding one’s self sudden back at the end of the last horrid relationship. The effect 
  is not unlike a horrible nightmare that is remembered in vivid detail when the subject is 
  released.
  The experiment must be repeated several times, and subjects are usually quivering wrecks by 
  the end, usually choosing suicide over continued mental torture. Since they will not remember 
  the abduction, they are usually not clear on how to protect themselves (the Grays are 
  unwilling to risk exposure, so being surrounded by friends is a pretty good defense; checking 
  into a sleep clinic where one would experience 24-hour observation would work also).
  In most cases, the subject is broken and is finally abducted and formatted. In some cases, 
  however, the experiment is surprisingly therapeutic, and the subject will not only overcome 
  the trauma (healing), but may even remember elements of the abduction or develop enough of 
  an understand of what is going on to take action against her tormentors.
  In rare cases, those humans have developed strong psychic powers––something that horrifies 
  both the Grays and the Greens.
  
  75
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  understanding of Newtonian Physics. They 
  are stored in bunkers and “sleeper tubes” 
  until Pagan can locate a Bleed through which 
  to eject them into the lower Chessboards in 
  a physical form. There are “hives” of these 
  aliens and their human caretakers under 
  various buildings, schools, and homes where 
  Pagan operatives live and work. Although 
  most of the Aliens sleep, some are always 
  awake and experiments and abominations 
  continue in these twisted laboratories until 
  the Migration can be accomplished.
  Pagan Operations
  Pagan is working on the Alienation project 
  but it has many different tentacles doing 
  many different things. Pagan has managed 
  to organize several mass infections which, 
  due to mass-Descent have plunged a 
  closing-down military base into Chessboard 
  One. The servicemen and women were 
  then attacked using the technology and 
  resources that the Aliens have created (much 
  of which only works in Wonderland) and 
  were overwhelmed and given personality 
  reformats into Pagan agents. The base (on the 
  outskirts of a Midwestern town) was the site of human experimentation, 
  test flights of Impossible aircraft, and the launch point of a variety 
  of mind-games on the nearby town (including several Wonderland 
  Infections using Llamed strains).
  Pagan is very interested in finding and controlling Bleeds (which 
  allow them to exchange alienated humans and receive closely guarded 
  technology from Wonderland). There are many teams of “investigators” 
  following up on unusual news stories and scanning the Internet for any 
  information that looks like it might indicate an active, semi-permanent 
  Bleed.
  Pagan Agents, Pagan Operatives
  Pagan Operatives are the term for the “humans” involved in running the 
  operation. There are fewer of these than you would think. Most of them 
  don’t qualify as what would normally be thought of as sane, however, 
  they are far more sane than the other members of the group. They range 
  from apocalyptic ultra-rich paranoids out in Montana compounds to 
  high-ranking Pentagon officials. They cover their tracks well. 
  The Operative’s ultimate aims may be power. They may be to remake 
  the humanity in something like the image of the Alienated. They may be 
  personal and petty. What makes an Operative an Operative is that they 
  are a functional human being. 
  
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  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Agents, on the other hand, are people who’ve been “inducted.” The 
  process of recruitment involves psychological conditioning, drugs, 
  and Wonderland Infection (which is very well managed). They seem 
  human. They can act human for a good long time. They’re not: they 
  have personality re-format overlays and they are essentially complicated 
  biological machines. If you somehow got to speak candidly with one 
  (something they are essentially incapable of doing) you would find them 
  dramatically insane. Their minds exist only on a per-mission basis. They 
  partake of strange disturbing behavior when they are not “on the job” 
  (i.e. in private they may eat insects, mutilate themselves, paint hotel 
  walls in intricate, repeating patterns, etc.)
  Some of them have families (their families think they are workaholics 
  … at best). Most of them live alone and have a façade of a normal life. 
  Agents can be very dangerous, exhibit very complicated behavior, and 
  are very well trained. All of them will, programmatically, commit suicide 
  rather than be captured.
  The Army of No. (Johnny Comes 
  Marching Home)
  For many Caretakers, Big Pharma was judged insufficient. Humanity 
  was not just disgusting––its existence was an insult. The Caretakers who 
  would not compromise created their own solution––one designed not just 
  to eliminate humanity, but to punish it: to inflict the maximum misery 
  and pain along the road from subjugation to annihilation. They created 
  the Army of No.
  Abstract
  The Army of No is both a force and an ideology. Physically, it is a 
  mechanized fighting force supplied by an independent neo-national 
  “homeland” deep within Wonderland (although not on Chessboard 
  Five––the Caretakers do not want the Army of No next to them). 
  Philosophically, it follows a brutal, fascist philosophy that calls for 
  absolute obedience to the leader and enslavement and ultimately 
  destruction of all outsiders through a program of total and continuous 
  war.
  Ideally, the Army of No would directly invade Chessboard Zero, but 
  since this remains well beyond their capabilities, their current plan is to 
  wage war on Chessboard One, enslaving Shadows and exerting control 
  over their casters.
  The current plan as it now stands, calls for the development of interment 
  camps on Chessboard One from which the Army will develop operations 
  for Infecting Chessboard Zero humans and collecting them when they 
  Descend. The Army is also conducting cutting-edge research into finding 
  ways to spread Wonderland Infection and influencing Chessboard Zero 
  
  77
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  humans through operations on their Shadows. 
  The Army is a great believer in research and 
  science. 
  Sponsor
  The Army of No is sponsored (primarily) by 
  three Caretakers whom the soldiers refer to as 
  the “Triumvirate.” They are
  ·The Beastly Baby
  ·The Factory
  ·The Clear Widow
  The Red Queen is also a significant contributor, 
  although she objects to the Army’s color 
  scheme.
  Phases
  The Operations of the Army of No work 
  according to a fairly regular series of steps. 
  They try to affect Chessboard Zero by changing 
  things on Chessboard One. This is tricky but 
  theoretically possible (especially with help from 
  humans on Chessboard Zero). It involves the 
  creation of a dark army that will march up from 
  the lower levels to enslave and control man.
  Note: All stages are in planning:
  1) Establish observation posts and ‘beachheads’ on Chessboard One. 
  Identify humans who can be affected by their shadows. Recruit 
  or gain influence over Infecteds who can operate directly on 
  Chessboard Zero.
  2) Develop command centers where direct experiments and 
  Chessboard Zero operations can be carried out. Permanent 
  Interment Centers on Chessboard One have dramatic effects on 
  Chessboard Zero (on both the environment and the people whose 
  shadows are interred).
  3) Find an approach to either bring Chessboard Zero people to 
  Wonderland (working with Army-controlled, Chessboard Zero 
  totalitarian states, for example) or for gaining direct access to 
  Chessboard Zero (the Army’s “Manhattan Project” seeks to 
  find a way to gain reliable, wide-scale access to the E-Train in 
  Manhattan).
  4) Establish a world-wide totalitarian state on either Chessboard Zero 
  or Chessboard One.
  5) Eliminate 90% of humanity directly and the remaining 10% 
  through “scientific research.”
  6) Find another enemy.
  7) Rinse, repeat.
  
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  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Operations Manual
  Stage I
  Stage I operations prep the area for an Army of No operation. The 
  important thing is to keep people from thinking too clearly about what’s 
  happening (thus the plans to irritate and distract), while removing hated 
  and dangerous influences like music, passion, and art.
  The vanguard of the army (usually a squad of Multitude under the 
  command of a Field Martian or an Exquisitor) will survey the area 
  (a small town, a school campus, a high-rise apartment building) and 
  identify:
  · Threats (things and people who might cause trouble)
  · Tools (things and people who might be useful)
  · Opportunities for FUN (an important part of the Army’s philosophy 
  is that tormenting people and ruining their lives should be 
  enjoyable!)
  Threats include anything that inflames the loving passions. This includes 
  art, music, and people with a true joy of life. Joy and Love are anathema 
  to the army––not just counterproductive and distasteful, but downright 
  dangerous.
  The vanguard will need to neutralize these threats as completely 
  as possible before the operation can begin. While their tactics and 
  techniques will depend on the situation, here are some examples of what 
  they do:
  Pod Thumpers
  While the Army of No hates any musical device (they particularly 
  delight in ruining musical instruments, which they don’t just break but 
  actually torture), they reserve special venom for iPods. While iPods 
  don’t make music, they deliver it so effectively that in an area where 
  people are jamming contentedly to the music that really speaks to them 
  and makes them happy, the Army has a hard time operating.
  As a short-term solution, the Vanguard will round up all the Shadows 
  with iPods, confiscate the pods, and smash them (they carry special 
  thumb-screw-like devices and revel in destroying the iPods in front of 
  their enraged and terrified owners).
  In the long-term, the General is investigating a Program similar to the 
  Big Pharma program to work with the RIAA and other Chessboard Zero 
  legal entities to make personal music devices illegal.
  Commercial Bugs
  The Army of No finds television––at least commercial television and 
  most broadcast radio––useful. As the General has said, “If Commercials 
  
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  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  didn’t exist, we would have had to invent them!”
  Annoying, offensive, and intrusive, commercial broadcast are 
  exactly the right kind of torment the Army loves to inflict on 
  its targets. Their survey of the Op Zone should identify all of 
  the electronic receiver devices, and they’ll work to ensure each 
  one is fitted with a commercial bug.
  A commercial bug is a fat, blue cockroach with long, 
  disgusting, feathery antennae and RF sockets. They’re 
  fit between the antennae and the receiver, and they can 
  expertly insert the most irritating, fingernails-on-chalkboard 
  commercials into any broadcast.
  When the installation is done, no one is safe from their 
  maddening corrupted electronic devices.
  Special Treatment
  The vanguard will also begin a campaign of harassment and 
  terror against the Shadows they find especially dangerous––
  anyone with joy in life. Anyone with passion. 
  While everyone’s Shadow will be having a hard time (people 
  are getting harassed by the Vanguard soldiers) special targets 
  are identified for special treatment. Exquisitiors will devise 
  special torments for these special targets and work hard to 
  influence Chessboard Zero. They can attach special machines 
  to the target’s bed that prevent sleep. They will kidnap the 
  Shadow and perform special dental operations that wire 
  the jaw shut. They might replace the shadow’s blood with 
  40 weight motor oil. These torments are not designed to be 
  lethal to the shadow but subtly damaging to the human on 
  Chessboard Zero.
  A well-run operation can cause despair and misery even before 
  it officially starts.
  Stage II
  When Stage I is complete, the Army can start real operations. 
  They usually try to increase both anarchy and authority 
  in the area under assault. While these might seem like a 
  contradiction, it is part of how the Army fundamentally views 
  reality and the human race.
  Specifically, they will instigate anti-authority acts (vandalism, 
  mild crimes, rebellious disobedience) in order to provoke an 
  over-reaction and crack-down from the authorities.
  This will be carefully planned. The Exquisitors will have 
  identified who the most likely miscreants are and which 
  The Scrucifixes: Machines created by the 
  Army of No are used to empower those 
  whom they wish to aid. On the lower levels 
  they look like gruesome vertical wracks with 
  electrical devices wired into the subjects 
  and a massive metal screw that winds into 
  the head at the base of the neck. Generators 
  spark, dynamos hum, and jacks and wires 
  penetrate the skin while the Shadows 
  strapped to the devices smile their gruesome 
  rictus grins. 
  The people whose Shadows are in these 
  devices are suffering—but they’re getting 
  something too. These devices require a sort 
  of agreement with the Army of No to work: 
  the subject, on Chessboard Zero, may not, 
  indeed, usually does not, know what they 
  are agreeing to exactly—but they are “down 
  with the program” and work can begin.
  For one thing, people whose Shadow is 
  attached to a Scrucifix, can be more clearly 
  communicated with by the arm. They can 
  hear voices in their heads. They can see 
  images. They can be told what to do.
  They can be tortured. If they displease the 
  Army (or don’t please them enough) they 
  will be. Headaches, physiological symptoms, 
  sickness, and worse are all possible. Even 
  death may be caused.
  They can also be given power. They may 
  be made stronger, tougher, more perceptive, 
  run through “training cycles,” and given 
  psychological defects to better suit the 
  Army’s needs.
  Those hooked up are usually not Infected—
  and if they become Infected, when they 
  have an Episode they may either wind up in 
  the machine (in which case they may well 
  stop working for the Army) or may appear 
  elsewhere and their shadow will be freed—
  so the Army isn’t interested in Infecting its 
  human factor—just controlling and using 
  them.
  
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  authority figures are most likely to play along. Still, Stage II is very 
  difficult to pull off. In many cases they will work with Agents In Place 
  (infected people who have agreed for whatever reason to serve the Army 
  of No), or Whirls such as the Orange Peel Men who have considerable 
  experience in subtly manipulating the physical world.
  Stage II will usually begin with acts of mild sabotage and defacement 
  that escalate as the response escalates. They will use all of their tricks 
  and power to encourage the authorities to overreact––if they can provoke 
  collective punishment or humiliation of suspected (usually framed) 
  individuals, they will have successfully completed Phase II, and are 
  ready for Phase III.
  Phase III
  By Phase III, things have already gotten bad. The relationship between 
  authority and everyone else in the area will be strained and on edge. 
  Almost everyone will have taken sides by now (and those who started 
  off on someone’s side will be nearly fanatic). Daily operations will 
  become a battle of wills between authority that requires obedience and 
  submission, and the workers or students who desire autonomy.
  The environment will be almost unlivable–– mechanical malfunctions 
  make radios and TVs almost unwatchable. Heaters and air conditioners 
  will be broken or running intermittently. Noise––humming, scratching, 
  crackling, is a constant background annoyance. And everyone knows 
  things are heading for a showdown.
  By this point the Army will have identified their fulcrum––an authority 
  figure who demands victory at any cost and sees defiance as a personal 
  affront. This is the kind of man (or, often, woman) who the Army can 
  work with. They will try to make contact through infected agents or (if 
  necessary) dreams.
  They will offer the fulcrum total victory and the humiliation and defeat 
  of those who stand against him if he will agree to serve them. By this 
  point they are almost never refused.
  What the fulcrum is to do, is to institute the Army’s rule on this world 
  and (ultimately) Infect those under his care so that they will Descend 
  into the Army’s grasp. In areas where they have reached Stage III, the 
  army has established a beachhead in Chessboard Zero, and has one more 
  piece of the Grand Puzzle in place: the creation of hell on earth.
  The Army
  The army is composed of very big single-celled, cybernetic organisms 
  (technically called Eukaryborgs) that may look somewhat human. Some 
  army organisms are 90% mechanical and these are called Cybarkyots.
  
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  General Ledger
  The leader of the Army of No 
  is General Ledger––he (it) 
  appears as a hugely muscled 
  four-armed man about 12 
  feet tall. His eyes burn with 
  a coal-fire red light and he is 
  bedecked in a startling and 
  awe-inspiring uniform of the 
  Army’s standard black-leather 
  and cobaltblue decorated with 
  glittering medals and symbols.
  The General always wants 
  reports. His staff, an elite 
  guard of no-accountants, 
  provide him with a constant 
  flow of everything from the 
  latest battle-damage estimates 
  and casualty counts to the 
  results of the Army’s cutting-
  edge experiments. He reads 
  thes without pause, constantly 
  signing forms, scribbling out 
  orders, and barking out demands for more reports!
  He has several great black telephones cybernetically attached to his body 
  and there’s always at least two ringing, while he’s got someone on the 
  phone and someone else on hold. Being close to him is dangerous ––
  many of his hands wield stamps and being (even capriciously) stamped 
  with a “Terminated” mark is a death sentence.
  The General is the ultimate micromanager, and it is said all of the 
  Army’s operations flow through and from him.
  The Secretary of the Army (Andrea)
  If this poor girl wasn’t cruel and evil, you’d feel sorry for her. Her job 
  is to manage the General’s schedule as best she can. To see the general, 
  you need to go through her. She’s a knockout blonde, who’d be ice-
  cool if not for her utterly impossible job: she’s always in a state of 
  frazzled hysteria, pausing only to tell people desperate for an instant of 
  the General’s time that it’s “Impossible. Booked until Thursday of next 
  year.”
  She cleans her fingernails (and dispatches people who annoy her) with a 
  poisoned stiletto, and smokes unfiltered cigarettes on her breaks. In the 
  beginning, the General went through secretaries quickly, executing (or 
  eating) a few a day (and always drawing more from the spawning pool 
  in the dank basement of his fortress office ministry), but Andrea proved 
  Name: General Ledger
  General
  PHY 13
  STR 45
  BLD 25
  CON 14
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 12
  AGI 12
  INT 13
  RES 13
  MEM 13
  WIL 13
  DP 120
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  40
  120
  240
  To Hit
  15-
  To Be Hit
  -1
  Armor
  12/24
  Damage
  38 IMP 
  Punch
  Description: General Ledger is a 12 foot tall man in a crisp, cobalt-blue military uniform 
  decorated with rows of ribbons and medals. He has four old-fashioned (rotary dial) 
  telephones grafted onto his body and answers them constantly. He carries a stamp that can 
  say anything he wants at his belt and he is a constant flurry of activity.
  Luger: He wears an Luger handgun that is built to 2x scale (firing 18mm bullets!). He is a 
  crack shot: 15- Level 3. He also strikes as a boxer in close combat (14- to hit).
  Name
  Dmg
  Range
  ROF
  Clip
  Luger
  18 PEN
  -1 / 13”
  S
  9
  Reflection on Chessboard Zero: If the General is in your area on Chessboard Two or 
  higher (he usually isn’t) then there will tend to be a presence like one sees in 3rd world 
  countries with massive images of something all around. It might be oppressive corporate 
  logos, the face of a dictator, or massive outdoor plasma-screen TV’s all showing the same 
  thing.
  
  82
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  so brilliant and indispensable, 
  that now, even if he wants 
  to kill her, he’s afraid that 
  it might be a… mistake. An 
  impression she relentlessly 
  cultivates.
  On her desk there is a black 
  phone and a red phone that 
  is, in fact, a hotline to the 
  Caretakers. When the red 
  phone rings, it always gets 
  through.
  It should be noted that Andrea 
  is one of the few members 
  of staff that doesn’t dress in 
  black leather and cobalt. She 
  prefers autumn colors and 
  Prada accessories. 
  No-Accountants
  The Army is run by pencil-pushers and bean counters: the No-
  Accountants. These troll-like creatures tend to be pudgy, squeaky rat 
  things (some look more crow-like and shed feathers). They have quick, 
  beady eyes, and are always scheming. Even their slick black leather and 
  dark indigo uniforms can’t make them cool.
  But when you’re an 
  accountant, you don’t need 
  to be cool… you control 
  the flow of information, 
  processing and consolidating 
  the field reports that flow 
  through several layers of 
  “middle management” before 
  they reach the General. The 
  No-Accountants would never 
  lie, but a well-turned phrase 
  here or there can influence the 
  General’s decisions.
  Typically, getting something 
  through to the General means 
  paying a lot of medium-sized 
  bribes to the No-Accountants, 
  or one truly enormous (and 
  usually humiliating) bribe to 
  his secretary.
  Name: No-Accountant
  Servant
  PHY 10
  STR 10
  BLD 12
  CON 12
  REF 10
  COR 10
  REA 10
  AGI 10
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 13
  WIL 11
  DP 120
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  40
  120
  240
  To Hit
  11-
  To Be Hit
  +0
  Armor
  none
  Damage
  2 PEN 
  Bite
  Description: A shabbily dressed, overweight vermin-looking creature (often with thick 
  glasses and reeking of cigarette smoke). They toil away endlessly on reports, analysis, and 
  inter-department memos. They are nasty-tempered and cruel.
  Reflection on Chessboard Zero: The office of Army No-Accountants will tend to be a 
  place of chattering, discordant machines. They will pick places like secretarial pools (real 
  typewriters are preferred) or computerized offices. Even a machine shop (a printing press) 
  would work. The machines will become louder and while they won’t break, they will 
  malfunction—sort of. What is happening is that they are becoming reminiscent of the twisted 
  adding and calculating machines used by the No-Accountants. Computers will pick up strange 
  viruses. Keys on typewriters will stick, be reversed, or even appear strangely redesigned.
  Subjects who run the machine-shop (a secretarial pool, an accounting office with computers, 
  etc.) will become protective and secretive (even more so if they are part of the program 
  and have their Shadows placed in Scrufixes). They will try to bring in stranger and stranger 
  devices.
  Name: Secretary of the Army
  Human
  PHY 09
  STR 09
  BLD 07
  CON 11
  REF 13
  COR 13
  REA 13
  AGI 13
  INT 13
  RES 14
  MEM 13
  WIL 13
  DP 120
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  40
  120
  240
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  -3
  Armor
  none
  Damage
  -2 IMP
  Description: A short, pretty looking young woman with a ruthless glint in her eyes. She tends 
  to dress conservatively with unbelievably scandalous undergarments underneath. She often 
  wears large glasses (some believe because it cultivates a “bookish and intelligent” stereotype).
  Ice Pick: She strikes for 1 PEN damage with a 4 PEN Value. If 1pt is done and the attack 
  penetrates the poison is Base Damage 24, Power 17- (nasty stuff!). She full-strikes with it for 
  a damage of 3, PEN of 6.
  Reflection on Chessboard Zero: Andrea has no specific Reflection on Chessboard Zero. 
  She’s too subtle.
  
  83
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  This institutionalized incompetence is intentional on the part of the 
  General. Bureaucracy is part of the Army’s regime of terror.
  The Long Divisions
  The General wouldn’t go to war with ordinary divisions; he demanded 
  long ones and he got them (the army, all together, are the multitude, of 
  course). These divisions are filled with the foot soldiers of the army. 
  Slope-headed hulking things, with kind-of-piggy faces (and sometimes 
  piggy tails), they’re not so much dressed in leather and navy––their 
  skin dyed blue and the leather is sewn into their flesh as they leave the 
  conveyer belt.
  Looking at these brutes, one might be surprised to see that they’re prone 
  to giggling and screaming like little girls. When not commanded by a 
  fierce leader, they flee from any confrontation they aren’t fairly certain 
  they’ll win. The Multitude is an army of lazy bullies who prefer nothing 
  more than settling down to a nice meal and tormenting the prisoners of 
  the day.
  The Long Divisions are armed with riding crops and carpenter’s 
  hammers for close range combat and Bubble Guns and Stun Cannons 
  for engaging the enemy at range. At this stage in the army’s operations 
  targets are meant to be captured, and giving them real guns would tend 
  to make that unlikely.
  Bubble Guns
  Bubble Guns are non-lethal 
  weapons that fire sticky 
  bubbles which entrap their 
  opponents. The ammunition 
  must be “activated”––mixed 
  with saliva, and spat into the 
  weapon’s breech.
  Stun Cannons
  Huge, black, oversized 
  blunderbuss-looking-things 
  that fire pseudo-electric bolts 
  which paralyze their targets.
  Bull Dogs
  Tiny, vicious bulls that the 
  soldiers of the Multitude use to 
  intimidate and track enemies. 
  They live for nothing more 
  simple than to be let off-leash 
  so they can gore and maim 
  their prey.
  Name: Long Division Soldier
  Servant
  PHY 12
  STR 12
  BLD 14
  CON 12
  REF 11
  COR 11
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 09
  RES 09
  MEM 09
  WIL 09
  DP 15
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  5
  15
  30
  To Hit
  12-
  To Be Hit
  -1
  Armor
  2/4
  Damage
  Varies
  Description: They dress like demented Nazi fetishish
  Reflection on Chessboard Zero: When the Long Divisions have moved in, things will 
  become oppressive and dilapidated. Graffiti will appear on walls (even inside). Equipment 
  will break. Discord reigns. People may feel giddy or nervous or full of wild destructive energy 
  (how they respond will vary a lot). Pipes will leak water, lights will flicker, and systems will 
  break.
  Someone is making a mess of things: garbage will be found everywhere and it almost always 
  can be traced to a real source—but the person littering may seem unaware of it. Some of the 
  trash may literally seem to come from nowhere.
  Those who cast Shadows down to Chessboard Two where the arm is will feel watched, 
  imprisoned, oppressed, or terrorized without any direct reason for it (their Shadows are being 
  mistreated).
  Where guards are posted, there will be new locks, stuck doors, and blocked passages on 
  Chessboard Zero.
  
  84
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Field Martians
  The General needed to mass produce strong 
  officers to run his army. His scientists 
  developed the Martians. The Martians 
  don’t come from Mars––the name may be a 
  reference to the Roman god of war. Unlike the 
  Multitude, their skin is green, and their armor 
  is bronze and gold. The Martians are tough, 
  disciplined, and form the competent core of 
  the army.
  They rule their divisions with great bullwhips 
  and use megaphones for barking orders. If 
  they have a weakness, it’s lust. The General’s 
  scientists developed Martians that, in classic 
  form, need women.
  There is an almost infinite variety of other 
  soldiers in the General’s army. These include 
  Weeping Willows (great, crying, walking 
  trees), a developing air force composed 
  largely of Flying Buttresses (don’t ask), 
  and an armored cavalry mounted on nearly 
  indestructible armored unicycles.
  Exquisitors
  Special troops who look like sleek, beautiful 
  humans (albeit cobalt blue and black…) who are experts in interrogation 
  and pain. They are connoisseurs and their own senses and appreciation 
  of sensation guide them in the use of pain as well as pleasure. The 
  Exquisitors have antennae that vibrate (with a faint audible hum), that 
  allow them link nervous systems with a subject so that he feels what they 
  feel and vice-versa.
  Exquisitors are often dispatched for special operations or to deal with 
  important prisoners. Their base of operations is a campus near the 
  General’s fortress that is famed for its development of unspeakable 
  perversions for which there are no names in common languages.
  
  85
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Reflections on Chessboard Zero: The Exquisitors are sometimes seen 
  as shadowy auditors who may leave an impression of having been 
  seen—but were not “actually there” (“Who was that talking to you in 
  your office?” “I was here alone.” “I could’ve sworn I saw someone 
  through the glass.”)
  However, they do have places they work—the torture chambers. These 
  are places where strange sculptures are welcomed (and will start to 
  “collect” if left to their own devices). On Chessboard Zero, one might 
  find an office with disturbing leather straps on office chairs. One might 
  find an abandoned basement with dentist drills scattered about the 
  floors, etc.
  A person who has been or is being tortured there will feel a horrific 
  aversion to the room. A normal person may have walked his Shadow 
  into the chamber with Exquisitors—they may become sick and 
  horrified very quickly!
  Toy Soldiers (Wind-up)
  The Multitudes are poor troops but they are cheap (4 for a dime). 
  Somewhat more expensive are the Toy Soldiers. These are wind-up 
  robotic troops which look a bit blocky (their chests open up to reveal two 
  flashing Stun Cannons). 
  Praying Mantis (Chaplains)
  Six-foot tall Praying Mantises are the religious support for the Army 
  of No. They are the beings that can sort of “get a message” to the 
  Caretakers that created the Army (other than going directly through 
  General Ledger—but that’s crazy-talk for most field commanders). They 
  are also powerful battle machines—although they are a bit rare and high 
  in the chain of command to be front-line troops.
  They are also counselors. They, perversely, play the good cop to those 
  caught in the Army of No’s torture chambers and prisons. They are 
  often the ones who will talk to the Shadow of an authority figure they 
  are trying to convert to their cause. They have resonant voices and are 
  masters of psychological manipulation.
  Reflections on Chessboard Zero: The chaplains love motivational 
  posters. They like mugs with slogans like “There’s no I in Team”—
  they like all that stuff with the most condescending smarmy 
  atmosphere that can be mustered to go with it. Their disposition is one 
  of false morale and manufactured cheerfulness.
  It’s the irony of the guy with the “Vision” Poster telling you that your 
  idea just “isn’t mature enough.”
  Pundits (Talking heads)
  Pundits are the Psy-War radio stations of the Army of No. They are about 
  six feet tall, blue, and immobile (they are usually moved around by the 
  
  86
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Long Divisions on wagons). They need to observe and then hold forth—
  their speeches can rally the troops but they serve another function: their 
  voices can be heard by Shadows on Chessboard One. Some percentage 
  of people will be aware of what their Shadows hear (some people who 
  have a very strong connection to their Shadow or those who’ve trained, 
  like magicians, will hear the voices clearly “in their heads”).’
  This can be used to try to gain converts—usually people who are sort of 
  “trying” can project their Shadows down to Chessboard 2 where they can 
  be seized by the Army of No and, after some extreme things are done to 
  them, used to communicate more directly with their owner.
  This can also be used to demoralize people or create rumors of unknown 
  origin. Shadows hearing the broadcast may relay the message to 
  their casters. The real people will have the idea they heard something 
  somewhere—and may repeat it to others.
  Flying Fists 
  The ultimate fetishistic fascist weapon, the Flying Fist appears as a 
  rocket-propelled hand (pointing with a finger or curled into a fist) 
  that strikes like a kinetic kill missile and targets based on its own 
  intelligence. It has eyes and, between the second and third fingers, a 
  mouth. Thankfully these are rare and most divisions have, at most, one, 
  but in areas that have been subjugated there may be shows of force with 
  squadrons of four of them streaking through the skies over the huddled 
  masses (Shadows) below.
  Reflections on Chessboard Zero: Flying Fists represent power. 
  Shadows cringe when their scram-jet roar thunders overhead: people 
  who are in the same vicinity on Chessboard Zero tend to cringe a little 
  too.
  There is a feeling of being watched from on high and a distinct feeling 
  of a giant fist ready to smash down. The ‘Hanger’ is usually some high 
  up place with limited access (the guards on Chessboard Two usually 
  mean the doors are locked). In the area one will find empty fuel cans, 
  bits of mechanics, computer gear (sometimes broken) all arranged in a 
  strange way that has meaning. This is where the Fists come to roost.
  Bombardiers
  The Long Divisions are good at instilling general terror but they are bad 
  at making examples of people. The Bombardiers are good for that. They 
  appear as tall skinny men walking on high stilts and wearing stripped 
  top-hats. They drop 1.5 yard-diameter “green apples” on their targets. A 
  target that has been covered loses all motivation—the shadow becomes 
  despondent and listless. A real person who has had their shadow 
  “bombed” in this fashion may lose their zest for life or at least their will 
  to resist.
  
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  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Llamed Infection
  There’s a pirate radio station 
  that plays out of Cleveland. 
  The FCC is looking for them 
  hard but they use a clever 
  series of re-broadcasters and 
  some people say a “mobile 
  unit” like a van with a 
  transmitter in it. You’ve read 
  (on private Internet message 
  boards) that if you listen to 
  it a lot you’ll start having 
  disturbing visions. Some 
  “long- time listeners” have 
  posted frantic, disjointed 
  messages warning people off. 
  Others say it changed their 
  lives.
  There’s an old guy you met 
  in a diner near Pittsburgh off 
  I-279 who told you he was 
  there at Altamont Speedway 
  when the Stones concert got 
  out of hand. His story includes 
  government agents with 
  some kind of sonic “agitation 
  generator” and silenced pistols 
  with special subsonic bullets. 
  “They shut it down, man,” he 
  told you through a beard with 
  food stuck in it. “They knew 
  what’d happen if it kept on going. It’d have been the end of the world.”
  You read about a mass-suicide up in Vermont by a bunch of tech-literate 
  cultists who were publishing encrypted books about magic on the web. 
  You’ve got a friend who works for a local paper near there. She says 
  a story came across her desk saying that the first investigators into the 
  house have been having “experiences” and some of them have vanished. 
  One went nuts before the psychiatric facility lost track of him. It all 
  sounds too weird to be believed.
  They are talking about Llamed Infection—even if they don’t know it.  
  The Caretaker’s first response to the discovery of the really appalling 
  nature of humanity was to simply try to attack the Department of Works, 
  shut it down, and then crack reality open like an eggshell. Humanity 
  would be Infected, plunged into Wonderland, and the resulting chaos 
  would get rid of most of them and, well, reshape the rest.
  The Operator
  He’s a short guy with thick glasses and tousled brown hair. He runs the 
  only reliable communications network that spans several Chessboards of 
  reality. He came to a Support Group in the late 90’s as a telecommunications 
  specialist who had begun experiencing nightmares and hallucinations after 
  troubleshooting (and listening in on) calls that were routed through a small 
  Southeastern Telco. After eight months of not-getting-better he moved to 
  one of the enclaves out off I-95 that farmed its own food, grew its own pot, 
  and promised its members a safe-place in the insane new world they were 
  sinking into. 
  The Operator, however, wasn’t willing to wait and find out what “eternal 
  interconnected brotherhood” actually meant (he says, today, it turned out to 
  be something like a terrifying jigsaw puzzle—just what it sounds like) but 
  he used the resources and the experiences there to experiment.
  And slowly he created the bathysphone—a device that, when “dropped” 
  down through layers of reality could still, somehow, communicate with 
  others of its type. It is said the Queen of Hearts has a listening room where 
  a servant stands over what looks like a vacuum-tube-phonograph machine 
  listening for messages and will run (or crawl, since the servant looks like a 
  massive human ear with a small globe from which eight-spider-legs extend) 
  to her side with a message, should it be sent.
  The Operator isn’t public and he isn’t cheap—but he is connected. Many 
  people from multi-billion dollar heads of pharmaceutical companies to 
  members of the four-star-club of the armed forces call on him for a few 
  minutes of static, awful sounds, and a whispered message from out of the 
  depths.
  
  88
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  This turned out to be a big 
  mistake; the machinery of the 
  Department of Works hit back 
  ... hard. So they tried a different 
  tact: if Wonderland infection 
  could be reconfigured so that 
  instead of being hard to catch it 
  was much easier (say by reading 
  the wrong book or watching 
  the wrong TV show) then 
  humans could break open reality 
  themselves. 
  A few early successes were 
  tempered by two things: Firstly, 
  although some of the new strains 
  (called Llamed by the humans 
  who later catalogued them) 
  were moderately successful 
  there were always hard limits 
  on how well any could really 
  spread. Secondly, and far worse, 
  preliminary projections showed 
  that while a massive Infection 
  could break open reality like an 
  eggshell, as the Department of 
  Works was calibrated somehow 
  based on humanity’s perceptions, 
  even marginally out of control such an event could “flat-line the 
  continuum.” If that sounds scary to you, it was exponentially scarier to 
  the Caretakers who think they’re the only ones who matter anyway.
  But the Decons were willing to gamble a lot more than their more 
  established brethren and so, when the project was shelved, they took it 
  up themselves. What’s more, they realized that while the Caretakers had 
  never really been willing to interact much with humankind, the project 
  was potentially far more successful if they had human help.
  And they had something to offer. The magicians wanted secrets of 
  the universe—the Decons had secrets aplenty. A small percentage of 
  Infecteds wanted to stabilize their condition, whatever the cost. The 
  Decons could help with that. The group of human nihilists wanted to 
  bring “the whole thing down anyway.” The Decons understood that.
  So journeying magicians and desperate Infecteds and angry nihilists 
  (mostly in the ranks of the Underground) were contacted and the plans 
  were made. Test cases were created and operations are planned. They’re 
  going to perfect the disease ... and they’re going to spread it.
  Revolution Girl
  Her father’s rich. She got most of it from him so she’s rich. She’s angry 
  too: enraged. People say that if you’re with her at the wrong time—when 
  she Descends—she becomes a towering burnt thing with many long necks 
  ended with brutal, sightless mouths arching out from the top of it. They say 
  that if you’re with her at those times and she harbors even a trace of dislike 
  for you? You’ll be eaten … slowly. She likes to chew her food well.
  She is the spider in the center of the web that is Pathogen, a cellular 
  organization devoted to the spread of destructive memes. When she came 
  to understand what Wonderland was, she brought in trainers, psychologists, 
  and mystics to prepare her—and then used her vast monetary reaches to 
  collect objects and people in an attempt to Infect herself. She succeeded. 
  Pathogen does things like try to destabilize the stock market with perfectly 
  timed rumors. They try to create food-scares and terror-alerts. They’re 
  working hard to try to spread the “new disease”––in some cases she’s just 
  trying to get the idea that there is a communicable psychological disease out 
  there. In others she has actual, super-rare artifacts she tries to utilize for a 
  mass Infection).
  In person she acts like a revolutionary: she has several homes (owned under 
  a maze of corporations) and often has armed bodyguards with her. Those 
  who come looking for her are people with a twisted sense of right and 
  wrong and an interest in her expertise: she meets these people for a price, 
  often in the form of favors. She has a small chain of mental health facilities 
  whose purpose is to study the people (many of her own) who have been 
  Infected. She hires InNetwork doctors to conduct these examinations, as 
  they are willing to do what others would not.
  
  89
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  Sponsors
  The sponsors of the original 
  project put the Liebrarian 
  and the Typeist in charge of 
  gathering data and making 
  plans. When the project was 
  shelved, it was undertaken 
  by the Black Rose whose 
  contacts with magicians gave it 
  purchase in the human world. 
  Agents of Infection
  The Underground’s Upper 
  Echelon is the prime force 
  behind Llamed. The members 
  range from magicians (who 
  have never been to a support 
  group meeting) to survivors 
  who have personal and 
  political motivations for 
  wanting to see the Infection 
  spread. The group is so 
  disparate that there is no one 
  vision concerning what will 
  happen if a decent Llamed 
  strain is developed but the 
  goals range from enlightening 
  mankind to destroying it.
  For its part, although this is 
  potentially the most dangerous 
  operation (if mishandled it 
  could tear reality down), it 
  is also the one that is, in its 
  way, the most conscientious: The Black Rose doesn’t want to destroy 
  humanity (or even, really, civilize man—the target is the order of the 
  Caretakers). If Llamed was properly handled (at least in theory) the 
  results could be far less destructive than standard Infection usually 
  results in. There is a least a hypothetical chance that such an outbreak, 
  managed and controlled and properly “calibrated” could raise mankind 
  to an elevated level of consciousness.
  It could also destroy it.
  Operations
  These are some of the historical Llamed projects. Modern ones include 
  similar initiatives (and a great deal of danger from Puritan, who is 
  dedicated to eradicating the threat).
  Flower Power
  The Lost Family
  There are two of them, a man and a woman (although they are not married). 
  They were Infected and came together in a facility run by one of the malign 
  beings that calls itself an InNetwork physician. When the ordeal was over 
  and the doctor was dead they both escaped—and survived, as well as they 
  were able. They managed to control their Infection. They managed to repair 
  some of the damage.
  Now they work with groups around the country to find and exterminate the 
  warped things that call themselves therapists. They provide what comfort 
  they can to their victims and what advice they can give to the other Infecteds 
  (and they don’t have much good advice—they know the odds are not good). 
  Their “children” are those taken, often damaged, from the hospitals where 
  they have been imprisoned. The immediate members of the Lost Family 
  organize breakouts, plan escapes, and sift through information looking for 
  evidence of their former tormentors.
  The two have deep experience in the lower Chessboards and are often 
  sought for help (and, often, they make sojourns down into the lower realms 
  to help those of theirs who have fallen … if they can). It’s an overwhelming 
  task and one that wears on them—but they are tireless and they are kind. 
  They have the respect of the rest of the Upper Echelon because of their 
  expertise, mastery, and the information they gather. They have contacts 
  within many major psychiatric hospitals and have friends throughout 
  the MHS whose identities they guard closely. They are aware of Big 
  Pharma. They are aware of Project Puritan (and Pagan) but they keep this 
  information secret from most of their wards as part of a deal that extends 
  their reach and credibility.
  They believe that the only solution to the mounting series of tragedies is the 
  creation of a strain that will reduce the damaging effects of Nin (the name 
  for the “standard strain”). They have dedicated some of their safe-houses 
  and resources to studying this.
  
  90
  Book of Knots - The Symposium
  The most audacious (and, 
  some say, nearly successful) 
  attempt at a full-scale Llamed 
  push occurred during the 
  sixties and early seventies. 
  The psychedelic movement 
  offered a new consciousness 
  and universal connection 
  through the use of intense 
  (transcendental) meditation, 
  hallucinogens (LSD being the 
  breakthrough development), 
  and trance music. It is 
  impossible to know how many 
  of the drop-out-disappearance 
  and narco-casualties of the 
  era were actually Wonderland 
  Infection, but it is believed 
  that the experiment was a 
  failure partially due to active 
  countermeasures by Pilgrim 
  acting through more well-
  known government programs 
  like MK-ULTRA and 
  COINTELPRO.
  Lullaby
  A popular children’s author who is also the member of a fraternal order 
  has developed a song that subtly (subconsciously) communicates the 
  basic existence and nature of Wonderland to young children who are still 
  willing to believe the impossible. While children in this stage cannot be 
  Infected by Wonderland, their experiences may be sufficient to trigger 
  episodes when they reach maturity. Characters that had a strong reaction 
  to the books or lullaby’s as children will still be especially attuned and 
  vulnerable to the invisible world as adults, but the lullaby is not reliable 
  enough to be a fully successful strain of Llamed. Some adults may even 
  be triggered by hearing or re-reading the books as adults.
  Audio Drone
  A fraternal order of techno-pagans developed an audio signal (sounds 
  like static with distant voices babbling over each other) that can be 
  broadcast over AM, FM, and Shortwave frequencies. People who listen 
  to it at length will receive flashes of insight about Wonderland from their 
  Shadows (they will “hear” their Shadow’s voices in the signal). Over 
  time (as they begin to trust and believe this insight) they will begin to 
  develop a full-fledged Infection.
  The Drone can be broadcast independently or in the background of 
  a more normal broadcast. The techno-pagans mix it with popular 
  underground tunes that get played on pirate radio-stations. They also 
  The Mind Expansion Guru
  In an exclusive mansion in the Hollywood CA hills, the Mind Expansion 
  Guru holds court. The price for one of his three-day retreats is three hundred 
  thousand dollars. You sign a contract saying you cannot divulge anything 
  that goes on there. The grounds are surrounded by high walls and armed 
  guards: it is said they will open fire if someone tries to get in … or tries 
  to get out. Before attending, the group is taken by limousine to the LAX 
  airport and the group are marched through the metal detectors and examined 
  by the security there. They are taken, as a group, into the enclave.
  What happens inside is unclear: those who return, speak very rarely 
  (and very vaguely), talking of wonders and of communion with “greater 
  spirits.” The Guru himself is highly sought and, at the most exclusively 
  elite functions (which are the ones he attends), he says he is “opening 
  the doors of the mind” and taking the people down into the depths of the 
  “underworld” from which no traveler emerges unscathed or unchanged.
  A freelance journalist (now missing) traced the MEG’s origins to a 
  grubby junior college campus where a very few people (all in institutions) 
  reported his arrival at the age of 21 as a depressive schizophrenic in need 
  of assistance and having horrifying visions. The story (never run for 
  legal reasons, but released on the Internet) found witnesses who said he 
  experimented with a variety of highly unusual hallucinogenic and tantric 
  magic while swimming through the culture of junkies, crazies, and hustlers 
  that made up San Francisco’s “rock bottom” street scene.
  
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  distribute it in mp3 format over p2p networks.
  The Audio Drone is potent enough, but it requires significant devotion to 
  be effective. Only a small portion of the population would ever study the 
  Drone sufficiently to become Infected and therefore it is not considered a 
  fully effective Llamed Strain.
  The System of Dr. Tarr
  There is rumored to be a text penned by a student of Freud’s that 
  reveals surprising secrets that the master never shared in his own works. 
  The text is long lost, but experts in the restoration and fabrication of 
  books from that era have created a convincing forgery that describes 
  a regimen of ritualized meditation artfully disguised as a variant form 
  of psychotherapy. When practiced correctly under the direction of a 
  trained therapist, the ritual will support contact with the subject’s shadow 
  that can be quite therapeutic and can also lead to triggering events and 
  Infection.
  The book will be sold at auction, but its audience will never be large 
  enough to fully realize Llamed.
  
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  Project Puritan
  Mother, Should I Trust the Government?
  I have a dark fantasy in my mind about how it goes.
  It goes like this: I get the communiqué––it’s not a phone call, 
  it’s not an email. It comes in on a special channel, and I know 
  what’s in it before I open the envelope. There’s only one thing 
  that comes in on that channel, and if comes, it means one thing: 
  nightmare.
  I open the envelope and read it. No surprises.
  I go to see the President. He’s in his office; everyone’s nervous. 
  When he gets an unexpected visitor (not really unexpected; 
  I’ve called ahead––made arrangements, of course), it means 
  something bad has happened.
  In my fantasy, the colors of the room seem washed out; the 
  sound’s muted. In my fantasy, there are Grave Men there with 
  him to hear what I have to say.
  “Mr. President,” I begin, showing him the 
  communiqué, “Sanction has been invoked. 
  I need to brief you, and we need to discuss 
  your options.”
  He answers me, confidently, as though he’s 
  aware of the situation.
  “No, Sir,” I have to explain. “This isn’t 
  about the aliens.” He knows about the 
  aliens. Every President since Eisenhower’s 
  known about them. Part of the induction 
  briefing. All about their machinery and 
  hives, and how they aren’t really aliens at 
  all.
  But this isn’t about the aliens.
  It’s about something else, and in my 
  fantasy, I look down at the paper to explain 
  the situation.
  And in my fantasy, it’s blank.
  Because 50 years ago wise men looked 
  into the dark heart of creation and learned something so awful 
  and deadly that just knowing it killed them. But before they 
  
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  died, they put protocols and directives in place so that if the worst case 
  scenario ever came true, we––the United States, the human race––would 
  have one last chance.
  They created the Sanctions––the ‘seals’ on the scrolls of apocalypse. And 
  God Help Us––the scrolls are opening.
  I don’t know what the communiqué would say. I can’t even imagine 
  what might justify killing a hundred and fifty million people.
  But in my fantasy, I read it and I understand, and the President orders 
  the bombers fueled and bedecked with their heavy cobalt payloads, and I 
  shiver.”
  ––Psychological Evaluation 4425, Subject 1QE473 Directorate of Secret 
  Service
  Project Puritan
  Project Pilgrim made contact—and was hushed up. In the end, the Inner 
  Circle didn’t know what they’d found but they knew it was dangerous—
  too dangerous to be disseminated. They also knew that eventually 
  they’d see it again. The dissolution of the Inner Circle was supposed 
  to be a complete roll-up of the operation. There were no survivors 
  from the project down below. The Inner Circle’s official findings to the 
  congressional oversight “Outer Circle” would indicate that the initial 
  reports were false: there was no unusual intelligence. Things would go 
  back to normal.
  That didn’t happen.
  One of the members of the Inner Circle began work on a special division 
  of the Secret Service, which is known internally as Project Puritan: as 
  in purify by fire. They are the new inquisition. They are the new watch 
  keepers. Many Puritan operations work through proxies and other 
  departments. There are NIMH and FBI initiatives to keep watch on 
  Underground Activists (there have been some “sterilizations” as well, 
  although those are carried out by an elite Special Operations Group). 
  There are Federal Marshals who have been quietly recruited and wield 
  their (considerable) authority to control situations where Wonderland 
  seems to be active and … out of hand.
  Today Puritan has three primary responsibilities:
  1. Remember and be prepared. There are sealed orders and affidavits 
  signed by generals and scientists that (supposedly) explain 
  the danger and ask the President to take all necessary action 
  to prevent mass Infection. This is called Sanction. It is a last-
  chance clause if the other two responsibilities fail, wide-scale 
  annihilation of Infected populations would be the only way to 
  contain the disease.
  2. Finish the job. Pilgrim left traces. There are still records in 
  
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  university labs, books (out of print) in forgotten public libraries, 
  puzzle pieces that could be put together. Puritan is charged with 
  eliminating all trace, by whatever means necessary. This includes 
  the identification and termination of Pagan.
  3. Maintain vigilance. The threat is still out there. In the 1950’s 
  it took a massive government program and super computers 
  to make contact with the other side. What the lab-coats didn’t 
  know was that outside, in the communes, dormitories, and 
  occult temples, contact was being made by other means. Puritan 
  was formed during the years of calm before the storm of the 
  psychedelic movement and the many faceted spirit of the new 
  age. They reacted, and they may have won many battles, but the 
  genie is out of the bottle, and today they’re tracking the spread 
  of Wonderland through the population, watching the ranks of the 
  Underground grow, and deciding what to do about it.
  Who Knows What
  The name “Project Puritan” referred to an operation created by the 
  1950’s Secret Service to assess “real, theoretical, and hypothetical threats 
  to the psychological health of the nation.” The project was officially 
  expanded in 1963 and became an internal organ of the Service that 
  continues to this day. From the outside, they are tasked with a variety 
  of threats dealing with sophisticated political blackmail against military 
  officers and politicians to recruit the mentally ill for terrorist activities. 
  Their real purpose is closely guarded and their agents are selected from 
  both the Secret Service and the FBI. This section details what different 
  agencies know about Wonderland.
  Puritan Operatives
  There is a refitted missile silo out in the Midwest that serves as the 
  training and induction center for Puritan Agents. Agents are recruited 
  after they have been exposed and Infected (when the damage of possible 
  disclosure has already been done) but they also recruit and train new 
  agents. In the silo (also called “The Rabbit Hole”), there is training 
  in Mastery techniques (most Infected Puritan Agents are Proficient or 
  Advanced level) and psychological conditioning exercises.
  The top-level Puritan operatives (of which there are exceedingly few) 
  understand the Chessboards, Reflections and Shadows, and Whirls. 
  They are less clear on the Caretakers––they know entities exist on the 
  lower levels but are unclear as to their natures. They prefer to work 
  with non-Infected agents (people who are not part of the inner circle). 
  They believe that any accurate knowledge of Wonderland is a dangerous 
  thing beyond their organization. It has been conjectured that a complete 
  briefing given in a believable manner to, say, the President, would make 
  him far more susceptible to Infection.
  Puritan Agents
  There’s a very small number of Operatives. They are trusted with the 
  
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  deepest secrets Puritan has and they are expected to devote their lives to 
  the battle. Often, however, Puritan needs more manpower than its pool of 
  Operatives can provide. That’s where Agents come in. 
  Agents are members of other services (most often the FBI—but also 
  Federal Marshals, and in a few cases, big city police forces). These 
  are people to whom something has been explained. Each Agent has a 
  “controller”––an Operative who manages them. What exactly they are 
  told depends on how well they are trusted.
  Grade
  Information
  Grade 1
  The Agent is told that there are terrorists using hallucinogens and schizophrenia-inducing drugs 
  working with disaffected citizens to create chaos as practice runs for a major initiative to destabilize 
  the government. The Agent (who is not Infected at Grade 1) may be expected to spy on or infiltrate 
  groups that are engaged in Wonderland activity.
  Grade 2
  The Agent is aware that something is wrong with the world. They may be told there are aliens, 
  demons, or other such non-human entities at work. The Operative may simply say “we don’t know.” 
  The Agent may be asked to assist in cleanup operations, to assist normal forces in an investigation 
  and keep things quiet, or to take direct action against a threat.
  Grade 3
  The Agent (usually a military or law-enforcement officer) is Infected. They are not “brought into 
  the fold” but are given training, drugs, and other assistance in controlling their condition. They are 
  asked to assist in operations but they are not “fully briefed” as to what is going on. In some cases, 
  if Grade 3 Agents become highly proficient and have the right psychological profile they may be 
  “adopted” and become fully briefed Operatives. In other cases, they are deemed a security risk and 
  “retired.”
  Special Advisor to the President
  The highest public position on Puritan’s Team is the Advisor to the 
  President. He rarely meets with the President and often says nothing 
  or very little unless the topic under discussion is very strange. He is 
  prepared to brief the President concerning what Puritan knows about 
  Wonderland and what must be done. This has never been invoked. Most 
  in Puritan hope it never will be. Many think it’s just a matter of time.
  The FBI, CIA, and Military
  Puritan has produced numerous papers, NIMH studies, and evidence 
  of the existence of “phagic memetic warfare” which is described 
  as psychological warfare techniques in use by global and domestic 
  terrorists. The claim is that these techniques (ranging from sub-sonics 
  to some poorly understood subliminal hypnotic trigger generators) 
  can induce anything from schizophrenia to hallucinations to “religious 
  conversions” in certain subjects.
  All of this is considered hypothetical and (by many) a waste of time. The 
  military has concluded that no such techniques exists and usually doesn’t 
  credit Puritan with doing much important work. However, various high-
  ranking members of the government’s intelligence and law-enforcement 
  agencies believe there is a loose-knit movement to undermine the 
  national mental health. This has received some attention (such as 
  separate FBI investigations into CPD and Support Groups ... which were 
  disturbing but inconclusive).
  
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  The Aliens
  Something that is both Top Secret Specially Compartmented Information 
  and not subject to debate is that human-based mutations have been 
  uncovered. The number of people who have information on this (all 
  Puritan and Military) is minuscule and everyone means to keep it that 
  way. The belief is that certain external governments and agencies have 
  several substantial leads in genetic engineering that have created “non-
  viable” forms of human life and are using their allegedly enhanced 
  intelligence to work on projects in the United States (and other nations).
  This is such secret knowledge that if Puritan encounters actual live 
  “Aliens” (the Greens and Grays) they can get help from elite special 
  forces units to help with the clean-up. No Alien, nor their human 
  keepers, have ever been captured alive (Puritan may have gotten some, 
  the military never have) and this remains a mystery to the small group of 
  the government that knows about it. 
  Tests have been conclusive though: none of this is from outer space. 
  None of the technology captured (brains in tanks, mental-stunners, 
  experimental aircraft, etc.) is anything approaching a spaceship. 
  Oversight
  A powerful group of Senators and Representative sit on the Oversight 
  committee. They are responsible for protecting the funding and 
  operations of Puritan. They are Puritan Operatives and understand the 
  necessity for its existence and its secrecy.
  Philosophy and Motives
  Puritan is in the role of the Inquisitor. The top-level members believe in 
  the philosophy of amputation. They would prefer to sterilize someone 
  (or even a community) than try to manage it. When they have found 
  members of the Underground who might have a chance of spreading 
  Infection, they have eradicated them, without regard for the level of 
  knowledge of each member. After all, the person pegged as “the new 
  guy” might really be one of the Upper Echelon members there to observe 
  or guide the group when necessary.
  They have an uneasy relation with their own Infected members (and it’s 
  not an uncommon case). Operatives undergoing an Episode may create 
  publicity problems: their Reflections, acting as grim (or sometimes 
  funny) parodies of investigators create Men In Black legends. But these 
  same agents are often better equipped to actually deal with Whirls or 
  monsters than the un-Infected.
  There is a secret training base in a decommissioned Minute Man nuclear 
  missile silo that provides special training and evaluation for members 
  who are Infected. Usually these people are heavily monitored and often 
  segregated. In some cases, if they are believed to become unstable, they 
  
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  are “retired” (the word is that you have a choice between honorable 
  suicide or going to a special asylum for the rest of your life).
  Operations
  Puritan members are far more likely to be “agents in place” (meaning 
  they work for other agencies but have been selected and recruited) than 
  “operatives” (members of the Secret Service who work full time for 
  Puritan). The people Puritan wants are usually FBI, Federal Marshal, 
  BATF—those with unusual amounts of license to operate and the ability 
  to provide cover and oversight for unusual projects.
  Secrecy is paramount: an attempt to protect its members would 
  eventually necessitate the revealing of the information the Inner Circle 
  was ready to commit suicide to protect. It’s possible that if Puritan’s files 
  and labs were exposed and studied there could be mass Infection of the 
  government.  As such, the organization prefers to be as subtle as it can. 
  Although it has acted decisively in a few cases, mostly, it would rather 
  track the activities of persons believed to be involved with Wonderland 
  and try to “collect them” through normal means and agencies.
  What this means is that Puritan is an almost all-powerful force but, it is a 
  very quiet, very subtle force which is willing to lose many battles so long 
  as it wins the really important ones.
  Equipment and Training
  Puritan Operatives have access to a small amount of special gear and 
  weapons. 
  Black Knight Helicopters
  Refitted Black Hawks with stealth rotors for silent flight. They are also 
  painted with an active-camouflage paint that makes them nearly invisible 
  at night. They are sometimes used for urban operations and have 
  excellent surveillance gear. Some of these are outfitted with fairly heavy 
  anti-aircraft cannons and sophisticated missiles. They have operated in 
  areas where Pagan aircraft have been sighted. 
  White Rook Mobile Command Station
  A panel truck outfitted with armored sides, a medical bay, and 
  surveillance and communication gear. When one can be requisitioned it 
  can tap area phones, triangulate mobile phone numbers, pick up images 
  off of computer screens at 100 yards, and access most wireless networks 
  (even if secured).
  Black and White Bishops
  The possibility of the successful launch of a Media Event (a wide-
  spread Wonderland Infection) has convinced Puritan that the most dire 
  circumstances call for the most dire responses. There are two normal- 
  looking 18-wheeled trucks always in motion around the country. Each 
  
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  contains a “dial-a-nuke” with a yield range of 10 Kt (kilotons) up to 
  5 Megatons. They would be invoked in the case of an unstoppable 
  outbreak under the command of the President. This is known as 
  “Sanction.” 
  Playing a Puritan Operative
  Operatives are usually built on 75 to 100pts and have investigative and 
  military skills. Most are Infected and have Proficient or Advanced level 
  Mastery. Many have 4-8 AP (16-32pts) in Twists. Puritan is aware of, but 
  does not employ, practicing magicians as standard Operatives.
  Playing a Puritan Agent
  A Puritan Agent can be anyone Puritan deems solid enough to trust with 
  a degree of responsibility in the battle with Wonderland. Police officers, 
  military personnel, and so on are all good possibilities. They may be 50-
  75pts and will be capable characters.
  
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  Magicians
  In the human body where the blood flows into the brain there is 
  a layer of endothelial cells which have gaps no larger than the 
  smallest of molecules between them. Oxygen, carbon dioxide, 
  and sugars can pass but almost no drug, no bacteria, almost 
  nothing else can penetrate it. This wall, called the blood-brain 
  barrier protects us from the chemical chaos in our own bodies.
  It is the same wall, of a metaphysical sort, that screens the 
  perceptions and thoughts of our Shadows from our own 
  consciousness. It is called The Egg. If The Egg did not exist 
  the visions, sounds, and sensations of the lower realities would 
  come flooding into our minds. We would be Infected. We might 
  go insane.
  The Egg is many things but it is not absolute. When you feel a 
  haunted chill in an empty room it may be because your Shadow 
  is seeing things that you can’t. An instant dislike of someone? 
  Your Shadow sees the “true person” in their own Shadow and 
  you feel that faint echo.
  The Magician in JAGS 
  Wonderland
  Magicians are usually fairly 
  advanced characters: the modern 
  magician is “stereotypically” 
  not Infected with anything 
  worse than Aleph (although 
  PC Magicians, we think, most 
  commonly will be). Their 
  magical training will allow them 
  to do and know certain things 
  about Wonderland that even 
  many experienced Infecteds 
  will not. It will give them some 
  abilities, if they are Infected, that 
  will rival some of the Twisted’s 
  (and, of course, a Magician may 
  be both Infected and Twisted, 
  combining the abilities).
  It is even possible that some PCs 
  will be Hunger Disciples—the 
  usually deranged predators of 
  the Invisible World. 
  The GM will need to decide 
  what role Magicians will play in 
  the game: they may be forces in 
  the shadows that know things but 
  rarely do things. They may be a 
  force that is seeking to explore 
  and exploit Wonderland for 
  their own purposes—but they’re 
  rarely involved in mundane 
  affairs. 
  There might be a whole party 
  composed of Magicians—or 
  Magician trainees—that 
  is seeking to approach 
  Wonderland on their terms. It 
  is our experience that Infected 
  Magicians (either intentionally 
  or accidentally) make for more 
  involved characters than those 
  who practice their craft but 
  are extremely careful never to 
  come in actual contact with the 
  subjects of their work.
  
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  Suppose you know what’s going on in another room? It may be that your 
  Shadow has left you (for a minute) and wandered off—you get faint 
  impressions sent back like static-filled radio waves from deep space. 
  Mostly, in today’s rational, scientific world, we think nothing of this. 
  Mostly, where the barrier leaves off, our intentional blindness begins.
  But that’s not true for everybody. That hasn’t been universally true for a 
  long time.
  The Language Of Secrets
  “Whosoever would know Secrets, let him know how to keep secret things 
  secretly;
  and to reveal those things that are to be revealed, and to seal those 
  things which are
  to be sealed”
  The first Aphorism from Arbatel of Magick
  Translated by Robert Turner, 1655
  The inner voyage of meditation, ritual, and arcane specially structured 
  belief patterns that lets one crack The Egg has been known of for a long, 
  long time. Deep secrets have been kept. Great truths have been sought. 
  Almost everywhere, almost everyone understood that this journey, when 
  embarked upon for real, is a private thing that must not be shared. The 
  greater one’s understanding, the greater one’s grasp of the danger.
  There was certainly great danger from one’s fellow man 
  misunderstanding your goals in these esoteric meditations and 
  sometimes horrific summonsing rituals. There was certainly danger in 
  becoming “blinded” to your own insights by trying to share them too 
  broadly. There was danger from your brother magicians if they figured 
  out you were trying to get the word out.
  But, largely, the danger was that if you did things well enough to start 
  learning but screwed up just a little? Well, there was danger you could go 
  mad—or worse. 
  People say that in the ancient times things were safer: the world was 
  more whole and the journey to the lower Chessboards was more 
  abstract. If things came back after you they were far weaker, rarer, and 
  more transient. For another thing, with fewer cracks in the world, it was 
  a lot harder to “fall down the dark well at the center of everything.” It 
  was harder to meet the things down. It was harder for them to get at you.
  Today the Magician walks a finer line: the world is cracking. Mirrors are 
  opening. If you work the magic they may open for you. To the standard 
  magician, Wonderland Infection is a great danger—something that one 
  must avoid (unless you are one of the transgressives who explores the 
  forbidden of the forbidden). To the standard Magician, the lower realities 
  are touched only through one’s Shadow and one must keep one’s own 
  soul clean.
  “There is great danger 
  in me; for who doth not 
  understand these runes shall 
  make a great miss. He shall fall 
  down into the pit called Because, 
  and there he shall perish with 
  the dogs of Reason.”
  LIBER AL VEL LEGIS
  -Alister Crowley
  Reason over magic – and 
  then reason over religion, 
  and ultimately reason over 
  everything. In our Age of 
  Reasons, there is no place 
  for wonder – reason dissects 
  and explains and grinds away 
  the very ideas of grandeur 
  and magnificence. In its 
  understanding, it belittles.
  But it still obeys the ancient 
  laws: to name something is to 
  own it. Let us chant now.
  • The universe if 15 
  billion light years across. 
  Nothing is bigger.
  • It is 15 billion years old. 
  Nothing is older.
  • Planck’s distance is 10 to 
  then -33 meters. Nothing 
  is smaller.
  • Planck’s time is 10 to the 
  -43 seconds. Nothing is 
  younger.
  Reasons has fit everything into 
  a box, and there you are. There 
  is ignorance in the box, but no 
  secrets. Reasons has no interest 
  in secrets.
  
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  The Magicians
  Who are these Magicians? Who gains entry to the Invisible World? Why 
  does one come to magic at all?
  Throughout the ages, magic has been sought in the role of a religion. It is 
  not. Magic offers no inner peace, no spiritual solace, and no absolution.
  Others have come to magic for power and wealth. It is no sure route to 
  either. Magic is subtle. Magic, even for real Magicians, is trickery. It 
  does not offer as sure a way to slay an enemy as a blade. It does not offer 
  as simple a way to gain money as theft.
  Magic has been sought for knowledge. It offers knowledge but the truths 
  it exposes are mad truths. It does not deliver the beautiful revelations of 
  science or medicine or art.
  Those who have become Magicians traditionally fall into three broad 
  categories:
  • Con Artists. Magic offers advantages. Magic can trick, fool, and 
  manipulate. Magic can put the odds in your favor, reveal hidden 
  cards, and get you out of a tight jam with a little work. If you 
  wish to be the power of the throne it is no sure method … but 
  behind the throne? Magic can help.
  • Seekers of deeper truth. The purest of the Magicians, the seeker 
  comes to magic willing to know what is. Magic does reveal 
  the lower realities. Magic does reveal the Caretakers (called 
  “Entities” by Magicians who, for the most part, do not truly 
  understand the Chessboards below Four). These seekers want to 
  plunder the depths of creation and are satisfied to know things, 
  even if those things are ugly.
  • Libertines. Those who have felt that nothing should be forbidden 
  them have always been drawn to magic. Magic opens a door to 
  such a place. Magic offers a method to near ultimate license with 
  one’s fellow man. Magic, by its nature, is somehow counter to 
  the laws of nature and man. 
  For people within the extremes of any of these categories magic is out 
  there. When these people encounter even the vestiges of magic it is said 
  they are resonant with its hidden possibilities. It is said that the secret 
  that Magicians keep is seen clearly by those who seek.
  Three Truths
  The Initiate is a Seeker: Magicians are almost never recruited. In 
  many cases the training runs in families. In some cases students are 
  sent to private tutors or even schools to learn the trade—but successful 
  Magicians who progress beyond the beginning mysticism and the early 
  ordeals are always (it is said) looking for something.
  Making a Magician
  If the GM allows characters 
  to be made as Magicians (or 
  become them in the game) a 
  number of Archetype Points will 
  be allocated to the characters. 
  These will be spent on:
  1. Magical Expertise 
  2. Mastery Level (if the 
  character is infected 
  with normal Wonderland 
  Infection)
  3. Twists (if the Magician is 
  infected).
  Additionally the Characters will 
  have to have Occult Skill (Level 
  1 if Initiates, Levels 2 through 
  4 if they are actually competent 
  Magicians).
  The GM should work out what 
  Lodges they belong to and 
  what politics are going on in 
  their world. Since most PCs in 
  a Wonderland game will either 
  start Infected or become Infected 
  the GM will need to figure out 
  what the ramifications of that 
  will be to the characters (they 
  might be outcast from their peers 
  for having transgressed too far—
  they might be part of a sect that 
  pursues power in that regard … 
  but since not all Magicians have 
  Survival Traits, the ones that 
  take this approach are risking a 
  great deal).
  
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  When the Student is Ready the Teacher Will Appear: Magicians 
  do teach. There is something seductive in the passing of forbidden 
  knowledge from one person to another. Any Magician can tell you that 
  when the right student appears the master will know. Something about 
  the key of the seeker and the lock of the master’s knowledge just fits.
  The Truth is Forever Hidden in Lies: There is probably no Magician 
  in the world who could tell you precisely what of ritual, belief, and 
  incantation is necessary for the learning and working of magic and 
  what is not. Since the beginning men who have studied magic have 
  embellished it and enhanced it and coated it with lies. It is said amongst 
  the cabals of modern lodges that magic is not only the best secret 
  mankind has ever kept: it is the only secret.
  The Lodges
  As far back as anyone knows the lodges were secret. They had hidden 
  chambers and coded messages. They wore hoods to cover their faces and 
  masks to change their voices. The Lodges were always parasites: another 
  organization would be chosen as a host (the best being another secret 
  society) in which to hide themselves. They would draw their students 
  from the seekers within the host body, culling them out for admission 
  into the Invisible College (the general term for a school of magic). 
  It is said that Pythagoras’ cult (from where we get the once secret 
  Pythagorean Theorem) was host to one of the greatest schools of magic 
  the world had ever known or has ever seen since. 
  Secret societies already did the things that the Lodges would be punished 
  for—they simply did them for religious reasons rather than exploratory 
  ones. If the cult was found the activities of the Lodge were obscured 
  by whatever rituals the host organization held. Whatever secrets (save 
  for inter-Lodge communications which were always, always written in 
  invisible inks and encoded with advanced ciphers) might be found were 
  few amongst many others, each indistinguishable: a tree hidden in a 
  forest. 
  Vows of silence are part of the initiation for all Magicians but there is 
  something deeper that worked in their favor: the kind of person who 
  is drawn into the world of magic has a special ability that most of his 
  brethren simply do not: the true Magician can keep a secret. This, it 
  has been written, is rarer than genius, more valuable than diamond, and 
  harder to divine by sight than empty air.
  Today the Lodges are still in existence. They work in much the same 
  way. Pagan-ized executive retreats for ultra-wealthy captains of industry 
  (which are a mix of male bonding, old-fashioned cathartic ritual, and 
  a dash of mystique) hold within them real members of the Invisible 
  Colleges. There is a secret order of librarians who track the library use in 
  ways the FBI can only dream of. It is said that they know when someone 
  is ready—and they keep secret books written on the backs of random 
  grocery receipts with the single contacts for other Lodges who might 
  Using Magic on the Lower 
  Chessboards
  When a Magician is on 
  Chessboard Zero, his Shadow 
  is a useful tool: if he sends it 
  into the next room, he can see 
  what is going on in there and it’s 
  usually highly relevant to what’s 
  happening in reality. If the 
  Magician is on Chessboard 4, 
  one Chessboard down looks and 
  acts nothing like where he is.
  When a Magician is on the lower 
  Chessboards (and therefore 
  Infected) he may use any of his 
  Shadow’s Twists normally and 
  without incurring any Stress 
  cost (he simply uses them 
  as standard, listed powers). 
  Anything that lasts more than 
  one second costs Running 
  endurance to keep going.
  Sciomancy is a different deal, 
  however: the Magician can 
  still send his Shadow questing 
  for him—but the information 
  it brings back won’t be as 
  relevant. Unless the Magician 
  has Sciomancy Level 4 and 
  Binding Level 4, he cannot bring 
  a Shadow to his own level. If he 
  does have Sciomancy 4, he may 
  “meet himself” and may run two 
  characters (or the GM may run 
  one). In this case, any time one 
  of them takes damage, the other 
  will take it as well (although 
  they may make separate CON 
  rolls).
  
  103
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  train their members (in invisible ink with advanced ciphers, of course).
  There are mind-expansion gurus and their cults (within them an 
  accountant or right-hand-man will be meeting select students off on the 
  side). There book-clubs that read demented exotic fiction and hold fully-
  clothed orgies in the backs of prestigious bookstores in a fashion such 
  that you could watch one from afar without realizing anything unusual 
  was happening (there’s someone about mid-way up who will speak with 
  those of a certain bent and see if they want to try something stranger).
  Lodges tend to be well-off (but not always wealthy or super rich: magic 
  is not a method to easy money). They tend to meet in secret, having 
  social contact only through the host organizations they feed off of. They 
  meet to exchange notes, to share experiences, and to assist the others in 
  their exploration of magic itself.
  Lodges are often composed of 3 to 12 men (sometimes women) who 
  are often average men in many respects. Some may be wealthy. Some 
  may be powerful. Some may work as mid-level managers in department 
  stores. Some are virtually homeless. Many are poorly received artists.
  Magicians are always “dangerous” in that they are often possessed of 
  very shaky morals and have both exotic appetites and little respect for 
  the rules of society. They are also sneaky—a mediocre Magician may 
  have difficulty killing a man, but far less than a court of law would have 
  of convicting him. 
  Lodges, however, are usually advisors to the more dangerous 
  conspiracies. They are adjuncts to the political movers and shakers 
  who employ armed assassins. They are figures behind the regimes that 
  commit atrocities. They are more likely to be found in a jury than as 
  the judge. When men of power do seek to become Magicians they are 
  often the worst sort—but for the most part Magician’s goals do not deal 
  with the manipulation of governments or the silencing of witnesses 
  (there is usually nothing to witness). When they act they are more often 
  inscrutable, petty, and personal.
  The Three Knowledges
  There are three things that a magician can learn to do and these, 
  combined, make up the Magician’s Tricks (which are called spells by 
  Initiates and neo-Pagans and contributes to the mysticism that obscures 
  all of Magic). These are:
  • Sciomancy: The art of commanding and seeing through the eyes 
  of one’s Shadow.
  • Binding: The art of strongly associating what a happens on a 
  lower Chessboard to what happens on a higher Chessboard.
  • Warping of the Shadow: Sometimes a human is not enough. 
  Magicians can Twist their own Shadows to be more than human.
  Buying Magic
  Each Archetype Point spent 
  on Magic counts for 4pts used 
  to buy Sciomancy, Binding, 
  or Twist Shadow. A character 
  who invests 4 Archetype points 
  in Magic would have 16pts to 
  purchase Sciomancy, Binding, 
  and Twist Shadow with.
  The character might look like 
  the following:
  Sciomancy Level 3 [4pts]
  Binding Level 2 [8pts]
  Twist Shadow [4pts]
  Such a character could perform, 
  for example, the Sleight Trick 
  which requires Sciomancy and 
  Binding and Level 2.
  
  104
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Sciomancy
  The first knowledge the Magician learns is that of contacting his Shadow. 
  Sciomancy allows the character to both utilize his Shadow’s perceptions 
  and give orders to it. A Sciomancer can order his Shadow to go answer 
  the door on Chessboard One and know who’s knocking on Chessboard 
  Zero. 
  Communication with one’s Shadow, even at high skill levels, is more 
  conceptual than direct: Shadows don’t “talk back” to the character 
  (unless you have an unusually intelligent one). Orders are usually 
  relayed as “intent” rather than actual specific terms. Most importantly, 
  information that comes back from a person’s Shadow comes as insights 
  and flashes of thought—not as “audio and video.”
  Depending on your level of expertise you get some data as a feeling or 
  intuition and some as actual pictures (often distorted) in your mind’s eye. 
  The amount of data you are getting from your environment depends on 
  the Tricks you do and how good you are. The example we’re using is a 
  school test where you don’t know any answers but send your Shadow to 
  look at a complete text on the teacher’s desk: it can see all the answers—
  what do you get (assuming it’s an essay test and you’d get a solid F since 
  you can’t guess answers!). The grade given for each level indicates the 
  amount of information you receive in a general sense.
  A Shadow operating under Sciomancy orders has a good deal more 
  composure and intent than Shadows normally do and can therefore be 
  more effective at getting things done (it won’t make them fight much 
  better but it can make them use better tactics, for example).
  Sciomancy Levels
  Level
  Cost
  Notes
  1
  1
  The character can get sensory information from his Shadow in the forms of dreams and riddles. Insight 
  may not come immediately (or not all at once). The simpler the task the more directly the character can 
  receive the information.
  If you used Level 1 Sciomancy to cheat on a test by sending your Shadow to look at the answers you’d 
  get a D (60%)
  2
  2
  The character can issue fairly simple commands that do not take the Shadow away from the Magician’s 
  general location. The Shadow can be induced to do specific things differently (carry a piece of gear the 
  character has put down, for example) but will not stray too far from the character.
  If you used Level 2 Sciomancy to cheat on a test by sending your Shadow to look at the answers you’d 
  get a C (70%).
  3
  4
  The Magician can order his Shadow to leave the location and work remotely from the caster for up to 
  24 hours.
  If you used Level 3 Sciomancy to cheat on a test by sending your Shadow to look at the answers you’d 
  get a B (80%).
  4
  8
  The Magician can send his Shadow on lengthy quests and to other Chessboards of reality.
  If you used Level 4 Sciomancy to cheat on a test by sending your Shadow to look at the answers you’d 
  get an A (90%).
  
  105
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Running Shadows 
  There is a difference between Commanding a Shadow and Inhabiting it. A character with Sciomancy Levels 
  1 or 2 may command their Shadow and will “get reports from” their Shadow. We advise that the GM will not 
  usually “play out” a character’s Shadow performing tasks (for one thing, the Shadow might try something 
  over and over).
  For tasks a Shadow is sent to perform we advise the GM assign a success number (usually between  6- and a 
  13-) and roll that to see how well the Shadow performs (and make an estimate as to how long it will take for 
  the results to come in).
  When the character is at Sciomancy Level 3 or 4, they may choose to “inhabit” their Shadow and steer 
  it directly. When this is being done the Magician is meditative and isn’t acting (they are controlling their 
  Shadow). 
  Binding
  The second knowledge the Magician learns is to “bind” a Shadow to 
  Chessboard Zero more tightly. This reduces the Disassociation that 
  occurs when one’s Shadow does something. Thus, if the Magician 
  wishes to damage someone on Chessboard Zero they will bind that 
  target to their Shadow and then kill their Shadow. If the target’s Shadow 
  is tightly bound they will die when their Shadow does! If the target’s 
  Shadow is more loosely bound they might just get sick.
  When the Magician binds his own Shadow to Chessboard Zero then the 
  Shadow’s actions have more effect there. If you command your Shadow 
  to wash your car and bind it, your car will get mysteriously cleaner (but 
  probably not completely clean unless your binding is very strong!).
  Level
  Cost
  Notes
  1
  4
  Weak Binding: Only effects that seem “reasonable” will happen on Chessboard Zero. They will take time to 
  happen as the Magician’s Shadow must work on the target over and over and over. Damage done to a bound 
  Shadow may appear as simply getting sick or having some other negative effect. In the case of actual damage 
  getting through (GM’s call) the damage is quartered and must come from some potential viable source (if there 
  is none in the GM’s opinion then no damage will be done).
  2
  8
  Binding: Only effects that can translate as “plausible” will happen on Chessboard Zero (even if very unlikely). 
  Damage done to a bound Shadow is halved and will appear from some other form (a slip and fall, a collapse of a 
  wall-rack, sudden internal bleeding, etc.)
  3
  16
  Strong Binding: the effects of actions will have a very close effect but will usually still appear to have “no 
  obvious cause.” Effects will usually only last no more than 2 seconds (i.e. if the Magician has his Shadow lift 
  a pen it’ll be seen to float up, hover, and then fall). Damage done to a bound Shadow is taken directly but may 
  appear to be some other form of injury.
  4
  24
  Perfect binding: the actions taken by the Shadow will reflect exactly on Chessboard Zero. Effects persist so long 
  as the caster wants. Damage done to a bound Shadow is taken directly and appears as the type of damage it was.
  Binding: Double Attacks?
  Let’s say a Magician with Level 4 Binding punches you. His Shadow punches you too (well, your Shadow). 
  Does that act like you got hit twice? It doesn’t unless the Magician is doing a specific kind of Trick (Double 
  Team).
  
  106
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Twist Shadow
  The third knowledge that Magicians learn is to “edit” their Shadows and 
  give them impossible abilities. This relies on an intuitive understanding 
  of the “literary nature” of Wonderland. This greatly improves what a 
  Shadow can be asked to do for the character. A Magician who is Twisted 
  will be able to manifest his abilities in his Shadow at will but Magicians 
  can learn some additional, specific, talents.
  Unlike Sciomancy and Binding, Each Twist Shadow ability is purchased 
  separately. The cost is on a per-Twist basis and is determined either by 
  the Trick description or by the GM (if the Player wants something that is 
  not listed in the book).
  Other Rules
  Damage: Overdoing Magic
  Since ancient times, Magicians have known that there are dangers to 
  doing too much magic. Working in the lower-spaces and working with 
  one’s Shadow makes the Magician vulnerable to certain influences. 
  Magicians who over-exert the bond between human and Shadow can 
  become Damaged. This is the same type of negative-twist that characters 
  without Survival Traits can get (although having a Survival Trait won’t 
  stop Damage from magical over-use).
  Each trick has a certain “stress” which is applied to the character when 
  they do it: these points accumulate. When they exceed the Magician’s 
  Threshold, the Magician starts suffering Damage. Fortunately, in most 
  cases, Damage is not permanent and the effects can be fought off after a 
  day or two. Unfortunately, sufficient abuse and bad luck can shatter the 
  protective Egg and the Magician that happens to will not recover!
  Threshold: WIL + (Occult Skill Level2)
  Example: A Magician with a 12 WIL and Level 3 Occult has a 
  Threshold of 21.
  When the Magician performs a Trick, causing Stress, he adds that Stress 
  number to his total score. The negative effects of too much Stress don’t 
  happen immediately. About a minute or two after the use of magic 
  (usually after a magical battle) the total Stress accumulated is compared 
  to Threshold. 
  The Player has the option to either “reduce his Threshold” temporarily 
  (taking a few days to return to normal) or risk a WIL roll against 
  suffering Damaging Twists (or possibly even Corruption, the Magician’s 
  fate-worse-than-death).
  The amount of Stress the Magician has above his Threshold is checked 
  on the chart below and the Magician can choose to reduce his Threshold 
  statistic by 1⁄4 per rank the results are reduced.
  Corruption
  When a Magician’s defenses 
  fail entirely he becomes a 
  Hunger Disciple. These are 
  Infected beings who have 
  become Twisted in such a way 
  that they can Infect others 
  (although they usually must be 
  alone with the victim) or feed 
  on the Infected to prolong their 
  life. This transformation is not 
  simply a change to the subject’s 
  body: their psyche becomes shot 
  through with subtle fault-lines 
  and deep, disturbing, desires.
  Hunger Disciples are explained 
  in more detail in the Creature’s 
  Appendix.
  Binding Block
  A Magician may use his 
  Binding directly against another 
  Magician’s Binding as a block. 
  This is done by bidding Stress. 
  The Blocking Magician pays 
  3 REA and makes an Occult 
  Skill roll. If made, he may bid 
  any number of Stress up to his 
  Threshold (initially). The target 
  Magician may bid to counter. 
  Each may only increase the 
  Stress by one pt each round. 
  Whoever wins pays the entire 
  Stress amount.
  If the Blocking Magician won, 
  the target’s Binding Level is 
  reduced by 1⁄2 (round down) the 
  Blocking Magician’s level for 
  up to the Blocker’s WIL x 10 
  minutes.
  
  107
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Points above Threshold
  WIL Roll
  Effect
  0 or less
  No Roll Needed
  NONE
  1 to 4
  -2
  2pts, Recovers within 1 day
  4 to 5
  -3
  2pts, Recovers within 1 week
  6 to 10
  -4
  4pts, Recovers within 1 month
  11 to 15
  -5
  4pts (no specified recovery)
  16+
  -6
  Corrupted
  If the Magician cannot reduce the Effects to NONE, then the Magician 
  must make the WIL roll. If the roll is made, the Magician suffers no ill 
  effect. If the roll is missed, the Magician suffers the listed effect. If the 
  roll is missed by 5+, the Magician suffers one rank lower (worse)
  Example: The Magician expends 24pts of Stress in a mystical operation. He has a Threshold of 18 so he is 6 
  points of Stress above his Threshold. On the chart that is 4 pts of Damage Twists (which will last a month!). 
  He doesn’t want to risk that so he reduces his Threshold by 50% (to 9) moving the effect two levels down 
  (2pts Damage, recover within 1 day).
  He makes a 13- WIL roll, reduced to an 11- and rolls a 9, no effect.
  Recovery of Stress
  A Magician who has Stress equal to 1⁄4 or less of his Threshold after 
  about 2 minutes of magic will recover it all within 2 minutes. If, after 2 
  minutes of doing magic the Magician is above that level, his total Stress 
  will still be reduced by 1⁄4 his Threshold but the remainder will go away 
  at a rate of 1pt per hour.
  Recovery of Threshold
  A Magician who has reduced his Threshold will get it back at WIL/10pts 
  per day. 
  Meditation and Other Techniques
  There are numerous methods for recovering Stress and Threshold faster. 
  Burning certain herbs, drinking certain potions, and other rituals can 
  mend the Magician’s Shadow-egg more quickly. The GM may determine 
  what methods are available.
  Ritual: Doing Magic
  A Magician’s ultimate tool is his mind but the methods man has 
  discovered of learning and teaching magic rely on a complex and poorly 
  understood network of thought-forms that is usually accessed through 
  certain repetitive steps: ritual. The art of walking the inner pathways 
  of the mind is not easily reduced to scientific equations or basic simple 
  elements (although many have and continue to try).
  The way that a Magician invokes his magic is by the use of Occult skill. 
  The level of skill in Occult will determine how quickly and easily the 
  character can use the Magical knowledge they’ve learned.
  
  108
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Magical Focus: Bells, books, candles, magical circles, prisms, and 
  other such devices are focuses that magicians have learned contain the 
  necessary elements to focus the mind for magic. A large magical focus 
  is anything that takes time to set up and needs its own room. Boiling 
  cauldrons, intricate circles with candles set out, and other such things are 
  large.
  A small magical focus might be a specially designed ring, cane, or other 
  handheld object. The Magician will focus on the object during the magic 
  (pointing the object at the target might be common, for example).
  Magical focuses must be specially “consecrated” for the purpose of 
  doing magic by the Magician or by someone he or she knows: the 
  significance of the object to the Magician is what’s important. Usually 
  this takes several hours and can be expensive and use things like the 
  Magician’s blood in the ritual.
  Incantation: Speaking words that have been made resonant in the 
  Magician’s mind is a way to open doors. Many of these words have 
  religious or symbolic significance to the user and get their power to 
  affect the mind from that. Others form intricate mental puzzles that the 
  Magician ponders when doing magic. Either way, most Incantations 
  require Occult skill rolls at -5 to speak or they must be written down and 
  read from a book (note: eventually you do learn them, but it takes some 
  time).
  Gestures: Sitting in certain ways, making motions with one’s hands, 
  and manipulating tools (lighting candles, burning objects, etc.) count 
  as gestures. Watching a Magician work is something most people will 
  understand on an elemental level. 
  Note: the difference between a focus and tool is that the tool need not be 
  consecrated. 
  Occult Skill
  Notes
  Level 1
  The character requires a skill roll at -5 to make anything happen. Each roll (ritual) usually takes at least 
  two hours: an initiate can work for days without anything happening (and when it does, it usually isn’t 
  much). Rituals require more than one large magical focus, incantations, and gestures.
  Level 2
  A ritual takes 1 hour and requires a large magical focus (props), incantations, and gestures. If the 
  character makes a roll at -3 they can try a short-form of the ritual taking only 10 minutes and requiring 
  only one of the components). 
  If the character has a 15- roll or better the short-form is always successful if the character has a small 
  magical focus and the player only need roll if the GM deems the situation especially difficult.
  Level 3
  With a word, gesture, or small magical focus the character can perform magic in 1-5 minutes. 
  If the character takes a -3 skill roll the character can use a small magical focus to perform magic as a 5 
  REA action. If the character has a 15- skill roll or better there is no need to roll.
  Level 4
  The character can perform magic as a 5 REA action with no obvious actions or gestures at all.
  
  109
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Extra Damage Points
  The training a Magician undergoes changes his body. A Magician’s 
  Shadow gains 4 DP for each Archetype point spent on Magic. This 
  means a Magician with 8 AP in Magic (32 Magic points) will get +32 
  DP. How this relates to the character on Chessboard Zero depends on 
  their level of Binding.
  Level
  Effect
  Binding 1
  Character gets +1/4 his extra DP for his Chessboard Zero persona.
  Binding 2
  Character gets +1/2 his extra DP for his Chessboard Zero persona.
  Binding 3
  Character gets +3/4 his extra DP for his Chessboard Zero persona.
  Binding 4
  Character gets +1x his extra DP for his Chessboard Zero persona.
  Tricks
  There are many, many tricks a magician with sufficient knowledge, 
  craft, and creativity might be able to work. These are some of the more 
  common. Any trick may be performed if the magician has the required 
  levels of Sciomancy and Binding—and has the required points spent in 
  Twist Shadow.
  There is no specific cost for any Trick.
  Trick
  Needs
  Truth of Place
  Sciomancy 1
  Truth of Person
  Sciomacny 2
  Minor Hex
  Sciomacny 2, Binding 2
  Mesmerize
  Sciomancy 2, Binding 3, Twist Shadow [4,8]
  Wanton Violence
  Sciomancy 2, Binding 3/4, Twist Shadow [2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12]
  Message (human)
  Sciomancy 3, Binding 2/3, Twist Shadow [1, 2]  
  Summon Entity
  Sciomancy 4, Binding 2, 3, 4
  Protection
  Sciomancy 1, Binding 2, Twist Shadow [2, 4, 8, 12]
  Levitate
  Sciomancy 1, Binding 3,4, Twist Shadow [8, 12] 
  Vanish
  Sciomancy 2, Twist Shadow [8]
  Artifact
  Sciomancy 4, Binding 4
  Sleight (of hand)
  Sciomancy 2, Binding 2, 3, 4
  Awareness
  Sciomancy 2/3
  Spy
  Sciomancy 3,4 Twist Shadow [6]
  Astral Travel
  Sciomancy 4, Twist Shadow [4]
  Healing
  Sciomancy 1, Binding 2,3 Twist Shadow [2,4,8]
  Twisted Abode
  Sciomancy 3
  Double Team
  Sciomancy 3, Binding 3
  
  110
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Truth of Place
  Stress: 1,2,4
  Requires: Sciomancy 1
  Description: This basic trick lets the Magician 
  interface with his Shadow so as to see what a 
  place is “really like” on a lower Chessboard. The 
  character can choose to “look shallow” or “look deep:
  ” This involves linking to a Shadow cast on lower 
  chessboards.
  NOTE: Depending on the character’s Sciomancy level 
  they may get this information quickly or over time 
  (say, through dreams). 
  Ritual: The ritual must be performed in the place to be 
  examined.
  Chessboard
  Cost
  Notes
  One
  1
  This will give you some 
  “prevalent but under the 
  surface” information about a 
  place. It’ll let you see monsters 
  for what they really are. It’ll 
  tell you what the present 
  common “vibe” is in a place. 
  It’ll look past the “presentable” 
  appearance of a location.
  Two
  2
  The character can see if there 
  are “really bad” influences 
  on the place from lower 
  Chessboards. The caster 
  can get information about 
  likely future events or states 
  pertaining to the place (and in a 
  general sense—often a personal 
  one).
  Three
  4
  The character can get a 
  profound philosophical sense 
  of the place. This may be 
  poetic in nature or difficult 
  to understand (and it may be 
  essentially useless if there is 
  no good way to encapsulate 
  it). Usually the Magician will 
  know what values are held as 
  most important in this place. 
  They will know what levels 
  of reverence the owners of the 
  place have for their endeavors.
  Truth of Person
  Stress: 1
  Requires: Sciomancy 2
  Description: The character uses his Shadow to 
  question the subject. Subject’s Shadows are usually a 
  lot less on guard than real people and will talk about 
  things that they don’t consider important secrets. 
  For example, a target’s Shadow, asked nicely would 
  show the Magician’s Shadow a driver’s license: so 
  the Magician could learn the subject’s name “without 
  asking him.” Questioning a target’s Shadow takes 
  some time and Magicians will usually fill the time 
  with more ritual while the answers come in.
  The amount of information depends on the level 
  of skills you have and/or your Psychology levels 
  (Persuade or Entrance). 
  NOTE: If you are questioning a “hard target” (a 
  military man, for example) or are trying to get 
  information the person no-how, no-way would reveal 
  then this can be almost useless (or at least no better 
  than trying to question the person on Chessboard 
  Zero). In a boardroom of powerful, directed CEO’s 
  you wouldn’t get much secret information about secret 
  projects).
  Ritual: The caster must interact with the person. 
  Usually reading cards or palms is used to fill the time 
  up before the “reading is complete.” If the target can 
  be put at ease or gotten talking that makes the Shadow 
  Interrogation easier.
  Ability
  Notes
  None
  You can get stuff you’d get from 
  friendly conversation (name, where 
  the person lives, etc.) 
  Journalist or 
  Police Procedure 
  L3
  You get medium-level secrets 
  from people who are mostly 
  “unprepared” for being questioned 
  (they let stuff slip). You might 
  get a good impression of guilt 
  or innocence from the person. 
  You might find out if they “have 
  knowledge” of a crime or subject.
  Journalist or 
  Police Procedure 
  L4
  You can crack a subject open! You 
  can get a sense of things they’ve 
  done that they might not want to 
  speak about at all.
  Persuade or 
  Entrance at 13-
  You can get medium-level secrets 
  from the person (assuming their 
  WIL is 10 or ll)
  Persuade or 
  Entrance at 14- to 
  15-
  You can get deep secrets from the 
  person assuming their WIL is 10 
  or ll).
  
  111
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Persuade or 
  Entrance at 16- +
  You can get deep secrets from a 
  person assuming their WIL is 4pts 
  lower than your roll.
  Minor Hex
  Stress: 4
  Requires: Sciomancy 2, Binding 1-4
  Description: You send your Shadow to attack or 
  inconvenience a target! The result of this is usually 
  not actual damage but rather some related misfortune. 
  The GM will usually not run the actual attack (this is 
  far more conceptual and could involve several attacks 
  over time!).
  Ritual: The ritual is done and then the character has 
  Occult Skill x Level x 10 minutes to reach the target. 
  When the target is reached there is either a noticeable 
  gesture (Occult skill Level 2) or a subtle gesture 
  (Lvl 3), or nothing (Level 4). If the ritual involves a 
  weapon that weapon will be carried by the Shadow 
  (but not the Magician) for the duration.
  Usually an Occult Roll is made when the target is 
  sighted. 
  Magician is equal or 
  superior to the target 
  in combat
  Effects as noted. Weapons 
  can help with this although 
  at the lower Binding levels 
  they don’t make the effect 
  more severe.
  Magician is inferior to 
  the target (an unarmed 
  normal guy vs. an 
  experienced brawler)
  Effect is one binding level 
  down.
  Magician is greatly 
  inferior to the target 
  (a wimp vs. a large, 
  trained fighter)
  Roll an 8- to effect the 
  target. If the roll is a 
  12- the Magician suffers 
  an inconvenience or 
  misfortune. (GM’s choice)
  Target is “hard” 
  (bodyguards, armored 
  installation, would be 
  hard to approach or 
  assassinate)
  This hex is usually useless 
  against such targets.
  Binding Level
  Notes
  1
  The effect is inconvenience. The 
  subject will get a headache, spill 
  coffee on themselves, etc. 
  2
  The effect is misfortune. The GM 
  will determine if the Magician has 
  a decent chance to inflict damage. 
  If so, the effect will probably 
  be something less than a minor 
  wound. It may also take several 
  minutes or hours to take hold. An 
  assault on Chessboard One or Two 
  could equate to a sprained ankle 
  on Chessboard Zero. If the ritual 
  involves a weapon then the Shadow 
  will be able to use that weapon for 
  Occult Skill x 10 x Level minutes 
  after the ritual (a Level 3 14- roll 
  would get 7 hours after the ritual to 
  find their target).
  The ritual may involve a weapon 
  if necessary to give the Magician 
  the edge necessary over the target 
  (however, worse weapons won’t 
  inflict worse misfortune).
  3
  The effect is death or damage. 
  Something “plausible” will happen 
  for one attack rolled with no 
  Damage Bonus as per the weapon 
  type used. The physical effect may 
  be environmental (a car crash) or 
  biological (a heart attack).
  This may happen any time within 
  one to ten minutes after the 
  character is targeted. 
  4
  Damage is by weapon type and 
  happens directly as though with a 
  shot (this will effect hard targets if 
  the Magician can get in range).
  Mesmerize
  Stress: 2
  Requires: Sciomancy 2, Binding 3 
  Twist Shadow 4 or 8
  Description: The Magician’s Shadow uses a hypnotic 
  aura and glamour to entrance the subject’s Shadow 
  and distort its perceptions. A strong binding to the 
  target person means they can be compelled to do one’s 
  bidding.
  Ritual: This depends on the Magician’s skill level.
  Level
  Notes
  2
  The Magician must have blood or 
  hair from the subject and do the ritual 
  using that.
  
  112
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  3
  The Magician must hold the target’s 
  attention for three seconds to a higher 
  degree than simple conversation.
  4
  The Magician must simply approach 
  the target.
  Effect: Mesmerize is a Resisted Attack vs. the target’s 
  WIL where the Power is 12 (for 2pts of Twist Shadow) 
  or 15 (for 4pts of Twist Shadow).
  Effect
  Result
  Minor
  Subject is Dazed and recovers via WIL 
  rolls (note, at Occult Level 2 or 3 this is 
  hard to do in combat). The subject will 
  not remember any time passing.
  Standard
  Subject is under “hypnotic” control 
  for twenty seconds. If the order is 
  something dangerous or outrageous 
  the subject won’t do it—but fairly 
  unwise things can get by (a guy running 
  a register would empty it or let the 
  magician walk off without paying and 
  not raise an alarm). The actions will 
  seem normal afterwards (unless they are 
  brought to the subject’s attention).
  Major
  Subject is under hypnotic control for 
  5 minutes. Outrageous things will be 
  done. Dangerous things still won’t be. 
  Orders for subtle behavior can be given 
  and will be enacted within 24hrs.
  Critical
  Subject is under hypnotic control for 
  1 hour. The subject will do dangerous 
  and outrageous things. The orders for 
  overt behavior can be given and will be 
  enacted up to 10 times within a week.
  Catastrophic
  Subject is under semi-permanent 
  hypnotic control of the Magician.
  Wanton Violence
  Stress: varies
  Requires: Sciomancy 2, Binding 3,4
  Twist Shadow 2 to 10
  Description: The Magician’s Shadow is Twisted to 
  use powerful destructive abilities. The Magician only 
  pays full cost for his most expensive Twist. Each 
  additional Twist costs 1pt unless that Twist can be 
  used in the same turn as another (most attacks can 
  only be used once per turn). If a Twist can be used in 
  conjunction with another as a separate 5 REA Medium 
  action attack it costs full price.
  Ritual: This depends on the Magician’s skill level.
  Level
  Notes
  2
  The Magician must perform the 
  ritual at home and may carry the 
  trick, ready to cast as an 8 REA Long 
  action for Roll x 10 x Level minutes.
  3
  The Magician gestures at the target 
  in a meaningful fashion (but not 
  incredibly overt).
  4
  The Magician may simply look 
  intently at the target.
  Effect: There is a COR or RES based roll to hit 
  (purchased as a Combat skill) followed by a damage 
  roll. The various Shadow Twist abilities appear below. 
  The character may have one or more of them.
  Bolt of Rage [2]
  Stress: 2
  Description: The bolt is a pale red light that burns 
  from the Magician’s eyes and hands. It strikes for 8 
  IMP damage each turn. It has an ROF of 1.
  Splinter Lightning [4]
  Stress: 4
  Description: The Magician throws white-hot 
  lightning-like cracks in the fabric of Wonderland. 
  These strike for 18 PEN damage. They have an 
  ROF of 1.
  Blast of Revulsion [4]
  Stress: 4
  Description: A translucent green wave of force 
  crackles out of the Magician’s hands. It gets a +3 
  Large Weapon Bonus and can hit up to three targets 
  if they are no more than a yard apart. It strikes for 
  12 IMP damage. It will push targets back Damage / 
  [Target’s Mass] yards (they must make AGI rolls at 
  -1 per yard pushed or fall down). It has an ROF of 
  1.
  Arc-Light [6]
  Stress: 4
  Description: The caster throws a semi-solid 
  glowing bolt of light that shrieks through the air. 
  It takes a 5 REA action to summon it and a 5 REA 
  action to throw it. It hits for 22 IMP damage and can 
  be set to explode with a 2 yard RAD.
  
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  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Death Web [6]
  Stress: 6
  Description: The caster makes a “cat’s cradle” like 
  gesture with his hands and then throws out writhing, 
  crackling, brilliant blue electrical whips of energy. 
  They will strike and hold a target with a Grapple of 
  18 and burn for 12 IMP damage each turn. A held 
  target can be suspended for 4 seconds (and the cost 
  of stress will be 1pt each second thereafter). For 
  5 REA the target can be “burned again” using the 
  original Damage Mod to-hit roll. While holding a 
  target, the caster can’t move without breaking the 
  link and must spend at least 5 REA each turn to 
  burn the target (or release him).
  Occam’s Razor [8]
  Stress: 2
  Description: A black ray, razor thin and four 
  inches wide, is projected from the Magician’s 
  open hand (from the pointed fingers). It slices for 
  9 PEN damage, 27 if it hits by 4+. It takes 5 REA 
  to summon and can be used as a ranged attack or 
  a medium reach blade thereafter (it costs 2 stress 
  per second). They can block each other (and other 
  weapons). If used as a ranged weapon it acts only 
  once per turn.
  Decimate [10]
  Stress: 6
  Description: The Magician places his hands 
  together as though praying and creates a wave 
  of destruction around him. This does 24 IMP 
  damage to foes—but not friends (as defined by 
  the Magician). It expands out at a radius of 4 
  yards per second (each second the Magician does 
  nothing and gets no AGI bonus). It can go up to 16 
  yards. Anyone damaged will be knocked back 16 
  / [Target’s Mass] yards. Each second of expansion 
  costs 1 stress.
  Message
  Stress: 2
  Requires: Sciomancy 2, Binding 2,3
  Twist Shadow 0 or 2
  Description: The Magician’s Shadow is Twisted to 
  use powerful destructive abilities. The Magician only 
  pays full cost for his most expensive Twist. Each 
  additional Twist costs 1pt unless that Twist can be 
  used in the same turn as another (most attacks can 
  only be used once per turn). If a Twist can be used in 
  conjunction with another as a separate 5 REA Medium 
  action attack it costs full price.
  Ritual: This depends on the Magician’s skill level.
  Level
  Notes
  2
  The Magician must have a picture of the 
  target and know how to find them. Delivery 
  is within hours or minutes if the subject is 
  easily reached.
  3
  The Magician must know the target’s name. 
  Delivery is within minutes if the subject is 
  easily reached.
  4
  The Magician’s Shadow will invest much 
  effort in running down the person (much like 
  a private detective might). Delivery is within 
  seconds if the subject is easily reached.
  Effect: The message will be delivered to the target 
  depending on what Twists were taken and the level of 
  Binding. 
  Effect
  Result
  Binding 2, 
  Twist 0
  Impressions and Rumors. The subject 
  will have a series of sudden “thoughts” 
  of roughly 70% of the message sent. 
  Usually this will be enough to get some 
  common course of action (call me). If 
  the message is, say, a treasure map, this 
  won’t work so well (the subject might 
  have an idea that something interesting 
  might be found … somewhere). 
  Magicians familiar with this technique, 
  however, can get an entire message 
  delivered clearly this way.
  Binding 3, 
  Twist 0
  Phantom Message. The target will 
  have an odd memory of “getting a 
  phone call” or “meeting a stranger with 
  a message.” The message may lack 
  credibility—but it will be clear. The 
  target will have a pretty good idea that 
  the event of getting the message didn’t 
  actually happen and will therefore be 
  puzzled by the clarity. NOTE: the phone 
  may ring several times—but the person 
  who picks it up will hear static and 
  the phone company will show system 
  anomalies.
  
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  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Binding 2, 
  Twist 1
  Ghost Writing. The message can appear 
  in written form any place it plausibly 
  could (i.e. graffiti, an email from some 
  unlikely address, written on the target’s 
  car in the dirt on it). It cannot appear 
  inside the target’s house unless a lot of 
  people have been in and out recently.
  Binding 3, 
  Twist 1
  Phone Calls From the Other Side. The 
  phone actually rings and the Magician’s 
  voice speaks from the other end. Since 
  communication is two-way, the subject 
  can speak with the Shadow which can 
  give some more clarification. Usually 
  contact must be brief (2-4 minutes). The 
  Magician’s Shadow will seem strange 
  but not “goofy.”
  Binding 3, 
  Twist 2
  Voice of Air. The subject hears 
  eerie voices (they are being heard 
  by his Shadow, really—they 
  won’t show up on tape). Since 
  communication is two-way, 
  the subject can speak with the 
  Shadow which can give some 
  more clarification. Usually 
  contact must be brief (4 to 
  20 minutes). The Magician’s 
  Shadow will seem strange but 
  not “goofy.”
  Summon Entity
  Stress: 4
  Requires: Sciomancy 4, Binding 2,3,4
  Description: The Magician sends his Shadow down 
  to the lower Chessboards to seek an audience with 
  the entities that dwell below. This is both very risky 
  and potentially very powerful. If the Magician gets 
  good guidance about which entities to seek (the Black 
  Rose is good, so is Lim) then it can be a route to great 
  knowledge and power. If a master is not available to 
  teach Twisting or the next level of Binding then this 
  will suffice. It can also be very dangerous.
  Ritual: This depends on the Magician’s Occult skill 
  level.
  Level
  Notes
  2
  Entities met are almost at random: several 
  rituals might go past without the Magician 
  encountering one. Worse: the Magician may 
  meet Wonderland entities that are interested 
  in him.
  3
  If the Magician has proper directions (a 
  name—but not necessarily the Entity’s 
  correct name, “directions,” etc.) then the 
  Magician can reliably contact that Entity 
  (usually at Level 3, the Magician will have 
  instructions to two Entities. Their real 
  identities will be up to the GM).
  4
  The Magician can contact entities based on 
  what the Magician wishes to know (i.e. who 
  can provide the best service).
  Effect: The Magician will feel a strong presence in 
  the room and will have an (often distorted) view of the 
  thing he is communicating with. The Magician may 
  gain profound and useless insights into the nature of 
  the universe, learn more magic, get Twisted, etc. The 
  Magician may also get Damaged by these Caretakers 
  if he does not work to expertly separate himself from 
  his Shadow in the event of an attack.
  Usually dealing with an Entity is a confusing 
  exercise in quid-pro-quo. The Entity will have almost 
  incomprehensible desires dealing with Chessboard 
  One and they are not easily transmitted (even 
  with Sciomancy 4, the connection is very distant). 
  The Magician will want things (specific Twists, 
  information, assistance with his own Descents if he is 
  Infected, etc.) 
  Historically there has been a lot of confusion resulting 
  in sacrifices that didn’t really please the Caretakers 
  or the imparting of wisdom that the Magician 
  couldn’t use (“The universe is composed of nouns 
  and verbs divided into sub-atomic and fundamental 
  force bestiaries …”). Some Magicians have opted to 
  subvert themselves to the Entities in order for better 
  communication. This results in power—but also 
  abominations (see Hunger Disciples).
  Binding 
  Level
  Notes
  2
  The Magician makes an Occult Roll during the 
  casting at a random negative determined by the 
  GM of -1 to -6 (roll one die and keep it secret). If 
  the Entity makes a WIL or RES roll by more than 
  the Magician’s roll the Entity can inflict Damage 
  equal to half the difference (this effect goes away 
  in a few days usually—but may be permanent).
  3
  As above, but the Magician ignores -3 points of 
  the negative modifier.
  4
  As above, but the Magician ignores -6 points of 
  the negative modifier.
  
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  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Protection
  Stress: varies
  Requires: Sciomancy 1, Binding 2
  Twist Shadow 2-12
  Description: The Magician modifies his Shadow to 
  withstand attacks and can bind to it in order to gain 
  protection on Chessboard Zero.
  Ritual: This depends on the Magician’s skill level.
  Level
  Notes
  2
  The Shadow is normal unless the ritual is 
  performed. The modifications last 10 x Roll x 
  Skill Level minutes.
  3
  As above. Note: the ritual can be cast quickly.
  4
  The effects are permanent.
  Effect: The effects are determined by the specific 
  twists.  The Level of Binding determines the effect on 
  attacks against the Magician’s person.
  Level
  Notes
  2
  The effect only works against attacks from 
  lower Chessboards.
  3
  Works as listed against all attacks.
  Purity Sphere [2]
  Stress: 1
  Description: The Shadow is surrounded by a 
  Sphere of pure white protective light. This sphere 
  has Damage Points equal to 12pts. Any damage 
  done comes off this first. It does not effect grapples.
  Golden Net [4]
  Stress: 2
  Description: The Shadow creates a glowing golden 
  mesh cylinder around itself going up into the sky 
  and down into the ground. It will absorb negative 
  energy and direct it into the ground. This is a Force 
  Field of 12 Power. When hit it will degrade: if any 
  damage gets through it is reduced by 1/5th the total 
  damage of the attack. If the damage is stopped but 
  the amount is more than half the current value of the 
  Field, the Field is reduced by 1/10th the total damage  
  done (minimum 1pt). If the Magician spends 5 REA 
  and 1 Stress it may be reinforced for 3pts (up to its 
  maximum). It has 24 points of Penetration Defense 
  until totally knocked down.
  Orb of Indifference [8]
  Stress: 4
  Description: The visible effect is of an occluded 
  sphere around the character This is a Force Field of 
  24 Power. When hit it will degrade: if any damage 
  gets through it is reduced by 1/5th the total damage 
  of the attack. If the damage is stopped but the 
  amount is more than half the current value of the 
  Field, the Field is reduced by 1/10th the total damage  
  done (minimum 1pt). If the Magician spends 5 REA 
  and 1 Stress it may be reinforced for 4pts (up to its 
  maximum). It has 48 points of Penetration Defense 
  until totally knocked down.
  Shadow Armor [12]
  Stress: 5
  Description: The visible effect is of an occluded 
  sphere around the character This is a Force Field of 
  36 Power. When hit it will degrade: if any damage 
  gets through it is reduced by 1/5th the total damage 
  of the attack. If the damage is stopped but the 
  amount is more than half the current value of the 
  Field, the Field is reduced by 1/10th the total damage  
  done (minimum 1pt). If the Magician spends 5 REA 
  and 1 Stress it may be reinforced for 5pts (up to its 
  maximum). It has 72 points of Penetration Defense 
  until totally knocked down.
  Levitate
  Stress: 4
  Requires: Sciomancy 2, Binding 3
  Twist Shadow 0,4,8
  Description: The Magician can actually float in the air 
  or make other objects float. In the most basic case this 
  is because the Magician’s Shadow is lifting or pushing 
  a small object. In the more advanced case it is because 
  the Magician’s Shadow is Twisted with the power to 
  make things float.
  Ritual: The Magician’s skill level will determine how 
  useful the spell is: a Level 2 Magician can levitate an 
  object for an audience. A Level 4 Magician can fly on 
  demand. The amount of time the effect lasts depends 
  on the character’s level.
  Level
  Notes
  2
  The trick lasts 4 seconds for an object the 
  Magician would have trouble lifting or WIL 
  minutes for a small object. This may be 
  extended for each additional stress.
  
  116
  Book of Knots - Magicians
  3
  The trick lasts WIL x 4 minutes.
  4
  The trick lasts WIL x 10 minutes.
  Effect: The effect is based on the level of Twist.
  Level
  Notes
  Twist 0
  Small objects can be levitated within 
  4 yards of the Magician’s body. 
  Twist 4
  Movement speed is 4 / Mass yards 
  per second.
  Twist 8
  The Magician can levitate at 16 / 
  Mass yards per second.
  Vanish
  Stress: 5
  Requires: Sciomancy 2, Binding 2,3,4
  Twist Shadow 8
  Description: The Magician’s Shadow turns invisible 
  and that makes the Magician hard to see. NOTE: the 
  character really is invisible on Chessboard One but is 
  purely visible on Chessboard Zero. Cameras and other 
  security devices will tend to show the character … or 
  fail.
  Ritual: This depends on the Magician’s skill level. 
  The ritual may be enacted and then “carried” for WIL 
  x Skill Roll x Level minutes (activated as an 8 REA 
  action).
  Level
  Notes
  2
  The “Invisibility” works so long as the 
  character does not interact (touch, attack, 
  make a loud noise, etc.) with anyone or 
  anything. Hearing perception rolls will 
  suddenly get the character noticed if he is 
  making noise (use Stealth). The effect last 
  WIL x 10 seconds.
  3
  The Invisibility works for WIL minutes. 
  4
  The Invisibility works for WIL x 5 minutes.
  Effect: Depending on the level of Binding the effect to 
  other people will be as follows:
  Binding
  Notes
  2
  People still “see” the character but do 
  not notice him. A guard will stop the 
  character but in a crowded area the 
  magician will be unmolested. 
  3
  Characters searching for the 
  character must make Perception rolls 
  at -3 to see the character in “plain 
  sight.” If the character is concealed 
  or using Stealth, add that negative 
  modifier. If missed, the character will 
  be unnoticed. If seen (and someone 
  makes a fuss) the effect is ended. 
  4
  People respond to the character as 
  a blind spot. A Perception roll at -6 
  will let people know “something is 
  strange” but they won’t see him.
  Artifact
  Stress: 12
  Requires: Sciomancy 4, Binding 4
  Description: The Magician can create a short-lived 
  bleed and actually bring things up from the lower 
  Chessboards to Chessboard Zero. This is considered 
  one of the most dangerous magics possible (often 
  above summoning). The risk of Infection is very high.
  This is not good for taking up objects from 
  Chessboards One and Two: Shadows of real objects 
  can be brought back but they tend to quickly decay 
  and break down (after all, they only existed because 
  the real object existed). They usually last 1-6 days.
  Objects (or beings) native to Chessboards Three and 
  below can be recovered, however. The item will be 
  permanent until its presence Infects too many people 
  and the Normalization functions of the universe 
  removes it to a lower Chessboard.
  Ritual: The ritual is only a small part of the time 
  necessary to perform this spell. There is a search time 
  for the Magician’s Shadow to find the object to be 
  recovered. The Magician’s experience is crucial here.
  Objects usually “appear” on Chessboard Zero out 
  of sight of even the Magician. There are ceremonial 
  boxes (now called Schrödinger Boxes) that are used 
  to hold the object during its elevation to Chessboard 
  Zero).
  
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  Book of Knots - Magicians
  The Quest time is based on the Magician’s level and 
  the rarity or value of the object.
  Rarity
  Negative
  Example
  Common
  -0
  A Chessboard One item 
  (remember, it’ll decay 
  quickly).
  Uncommon
  -6
  A magic knife from 
  Chessboard Three.
  Rare
  -9
  Inspiration mined from 
  Chessboard Four.
  Very Rare
  -12
  A vorpral blade. A magic 
  box full of horrific fates. 
  NOTE: If the Magician knows where something is 
  because he has been there (and is Infected) that’s a roll 
  at -0. Additionally, if the Magician is simply “fishing” 
  and doesn’t have something in mind, almost anything 
  can be brought up. A roll can be made at -4 to see if 
  “something is found.”
  A ritual gives one roll. The Magician then continues 
  extending the search if it wasn’t found. 
  Level
  Notes
  2
  Extensions (one additional roll) cost 
  4 Stress and take 2 hours.
  3
  Extensions (one additional roll) cost 
  2 Stress and take 1 hour.
  4
  Extensions (one additional roll) cost 
  1 Stress and take 30 minutes.
  Effect: The object appears in the container.
  Sleight
  Stress: 2
  Requires: Sciomancy 2, Binding 2,3,4
  Description: The Magician has his Shadow do things 
  to assist him “as though by magic.” A Magician might 
  touch a doorknob while his Shadow picks the lock, for 
  example. 
  NOTE:  The Stress for Sleight is so low because the 
  manipulation is done sight unseen. If someone or 
  some recording device would show the manipulation it 
  will fail.
  Ritual: The ritual must be done but the Shadow can 
  be “ready” for Skill x Level x 10 minutes after it is 
  performed to do two tasks per Level of Occult.
  Effect: This depends on the character’s level of 
  Binding. If the character wishes to pick locks or some 
  such, the Shadow must be capable of doing it. Usually 
  the Stress doubles for each point of Mass—but it’s 
  said someone found a way to Vanish an elephant so 
  who knows if there’s a shortcut?
  Binding Level
  Notes
  2
  Objects can only be moved and 
  arranged. 
  3
  Objects can be “teleported” 
  around within 4 yards of the 
  Magician’s body.
  4
  Objects can be “vanished” down 
  to Chessboard One and their 
  Reflection vanished. This means 
  the object can be recalled at any 
  time to the Magician’s area.
  Awareness
  Stress: 2
  Requires: Sciomancy 2,3,4
  Description: The Magician’s Shadow “stands guard” 
  and performs tasks like answering the telephone 
  or getting the door before the Magician. It’ll also 
  walk ahead of him (when possible) and may even 
  discorporate and reappear at various locations around 
  the Magician. The Magician receives a steady stream 
  of data about what is going on around him.
  Ritual: When the ritual is performed the effects last 
  for Occult Skill Roll x Level x 10 minutes.
  Effect: This is based on the Magician’s level of 
  Sciomancy.
  Sciomancy Level
  Notes
  2
  The Magician gets +2 to Perception 
  rolls. A Perception roll will give 
  general information about things 
  in nearby (accessible) rooms. If 
  the Magician concentrates on 
  something he gets roughly 70% 
  of the relevant data about it. The 
  Magician’s Shadow will get the 
  door and the phone but usually only 
  a vague sense of who is calling will 
  be transmitted.
  
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  Book of Knots - Magicians
  3
  As above but with 80% of the data 
  and the Magician essentially has 
  3 or 4 “pairs of eyes” around him. 
  The Shadow will give information 
  about people who are announced 
  as coming to see the Magician 
  and may have a second or two of 
  conversation of which the general 
  gist is transmitted. Perception rolls 
  are at +3.
  4
  The Magician will get very exacting 
  information about subjects (a few 
  seconds of actual conversation 
  that is a very likely course of 
  conversation since the Shadows 
  are talking to each other first). 
  Perception rolls are at +4.
  Spy
  Stress: 6
  Requires: Sciomancy 3,4 Twist Shadow 6
  Description: The Magician’s Shadow is sent to follow 
  and observe a target. The Magician’s Shadow is 
  Twisted so as to be able to “fuse” with the subject for 
  a period of time.
  NOTE: Any Magician with Sciomancy of 1 or better 
  will know this has been done. Any Magician with 
  Binding of 2 or better can undo it for 1 Stress.
  Ritual: When the ritual is performed the effects last 
  for Occult Skill Roll x Level x 10 minutes. If the 
  Magician is Level 2 he will need some of the subject’s 
  blood or hair.
  Effect: The Magician gets an information feed from 
  the subject.
  Sciomancy Level
  Notes
  3
  The Magician will get about 70% 
  of the data the subject is getting 
  (this is a 13- Perception roll to get 
  specific facts).
  4
  The Magician gets about 90% of 
  the data the subject is getting (a 15- 
  Perception roll).
  Astral Travel
  Stress: 6
  Requires: Sciomancy 4 Binding 0,4
  Twist Shadow 4
  Description: The Magician is capable of “inhabiting” 
  his Shadow to send it places where he cannot go. He is 
  able to materialize and dematerialize it at will.
  Ritual: When the ritual is performed the effects last 
  for Occult Skill Roll x Level x 10 minutes. While the 
  Magician is maneuvering his Shadow he remains in 
  meditation.
  Effect: The Effect is based on the Binding Level the 
  Magician has. 
  Binding Level
  Notes
  0
  The Shadow must be inhabited where the 
  Magician begins and moves normally.
  4
  The Magician can teleport by moving 
  his Shadow and then binding his body 
  to it so that the actual physical form of it 
  relocates on Chessboard Zero! This costs 
  +3 Stress. The Shadow can be relocated 
  within WIL yards of the Magician (it 
  cannot keep teleporting through walls). 
  Also: the disappearance of the Magician’s 
  body is an 8 REA Long action (as is its 
  appearance).
  Healing
  Stress: varies
  Requires: Sciomancy 1, Binding 2,3,4
  Twist Shadow2,4,8
  Description: The Magician’s Shadow can let its own 
  life energy flow into something else (at higher levels 
  of mutation it can generate energy itself as well, 
  without draining its own life-force).
  Ritual: This depends on the Magician’s skill level.
  Level
  Notes
  2
  The ritual takes time to perform (several minutes 
  similar to first aid).
  3
  The ritual may be done with the laying of hands.
  Effect: On Chessboard Zero, healing acts like 
  anesthetic (the subject feels better but the damage 
  remains) unless the character has Binding 4. It works 
  normally at lower Chessboards.
  
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  Book of Knots - Magicians
  Vampiric Healing [2]
  Stress: 1
  Description: The Shadow pours some of its 
  glowing blood into you and you heal damage. Each 
  point of damage transferred heals 2 points in the 
  target.
  Healing Touch [4]
  Stress: 3
  Description: The Shadow’s hands glow with a 
  white radiance and the subject’s skin and bones 
  mend. The Magician can heal 12 DP per time this is 
  done (each use is a 5 REA Medium action).
  Healing Light [8]
  Stress: 5
  Description: The Shadow can spend 5 REA to 
  throw healing light from his hand. This heals for 
  24 DP per casting and does not miss (if the target 
  wishes to be hit).
  Twisted Abode
  Stress: zero
  Requires: Sciomancy 3
  Description: A Magician with Sciomancy 3 or 
  better can spend a portion of his normal waking life 
  “inhabiting his Shadow.” Magicians who do this 
  often begin to lead lives that at least partially exist on 
  Chessboard One. When they do this they may often 
  accrue a variety of strange artifacts whose reflections 
  on Chessboard Zero are not (usually) Impossible--but 
  are often very strange. The reason is that these items 
  are useful on Chessboard One. 
  Ritual: None needed. The Magician must have Occult 
  Level 3, however to be able to spend a substantial 
  amount of time on Chessboard One.
  Double Team
  Stress: 4
  Requires: Sciomancy 3, Binding 3
  Description: The Magician orders his Shadow to 
  attack a target at the same time he, himself does. The 
  Shadow will not use Twisted attacks but may use 
  any gear or skills the Magician has. The Magician, 
  however, will suffer double damage from any hit while 
  this is happening (the results last about 1 fight).
  Ritual: None needed.
  
  120
  Book of Knots - Chessboard Seven
  End Game
  We see a long-running Wonderland Game as a series of discoveries 
  about the true, hidden nature of the universe, humanity’s role in it, and 
  ultimately (perhaps) humanity’s fate. Chessboard Seven is where the 
  buck stops and where all the mysteries are resolved and the questions 
  answered—it’s where the ultimate truths and final secrets lie.
  This section describes what you’ve heard about Chessboard Seven, what 
  it’s like to visit and what you might find there. The next section describes 
  what it means in the game.
  Caveat Lector
  What follows are our answers. They don’t have to be your answers, in 
  your game; they’re what we used and there’s some consistency built 
  into them, but ultimately these are our designer notes and campaign 
  descriptions. Now that you’ve read JAGS Wonderland, it’s yours. Take 
  what you like from here and leave the rest of it.
  Chessboard Seven
  You typically won’t even hear of Chessboard Seven until you’ve been 
  in Wonderland for awhile, and you’ll probably hear about it long before 
  you ever go there. Even for Wonderland it’s remote: you have to go past 
  a lot of dangerous things to get there, and although they won’t openly 
  discuss it, a lot of the things between you and Chessboard Seven don’t 
  want you arriving.
  We’ll get to actually going there in a minute: learning the basics about 
  Chessboard Seven is tough. Asking questions or evening bringing it up 
  in the wrong circles can get you killed.
  Not in Polite Conversation (who knows what)
  This section describes what you might have heard and where you 
  might have heard it. It also gives you the “conventional” wisdom about 
  Chessboard Seven as held by the Wonderland power-elite.
  Finally, there is a good deal of knowledge to be had in books and files. 
  The Caretakers won’t talk about it (at least not publicly, and certainly not 
  with humans) but they are (and have been) interested in the Department 
  of Works for a long time. The Liebrary may have the whole story there 
  (including truths the Caretakers are unwilling to face) but it’s so hard to 
  parse the truth from the fiction, that secondary sources are often more 
  accessible.
  The Caretakers 
  They almost never discuss Chessboard Seven or the Department of 
  Works. Anyone bringing it up is likely to be considered vulgar and rude. 
  Maybe even criminally rude. In many of the best households discussing 
  the “lower geographies” is a killing offense. They won’t cop to this, but 
  Chessboard Seven and the Department of Works makes them intensely 
  uncomfortable – partially because of their history with it (the automated 
  
  121
  Book of Knots - Chessboard Seven
  defenses of the Department of Works killed a lot of Caretakers in the 
  not-entirely-distant past) and because it represents unpleasant truths 
  that challenge their ideas about what they are and what they stand for. 
  Humans who show an interest in Chessboard Seven and appear to be 
  capable of reaching it will usually be targeted for annihilation by the 
  Caretakers; they take this very seriously. Of course because Chessboard 
  Seven is a forbidden, uncomfortable thing many of the Caretakers are 
  closet Department of Works fetishists. Some of the best information is 
  found in their locked closets and in the books hidden under their beds.
  The Deconstructionists
  The Deconstructionists delight in violating taboos and showing off how 
  edgy and radical they are, are happy to honestly discuss what they know 
  about Chessboard Seven with those they respect and trust. They know a 
  lot (everything listed in “Common Sense”), but they need to know more: 
  their ‘master plan’ involves harnessing the power of the machines for 
  their own ends, and to make that work, they will have to untangle the 
  remaining mysteries.
  Other travelers 
  Random people may be a good source of information, but the depth of 
  their knowledge, its accuracy, and their honesty should be considered 
  highly variable.  Long-lived, well-traveled Infecteds or very advanced 
  renegade magicians (a lot of magicians don’t even properly understand 
  Wonderland’s nature or existence!) are likely to have uncovered a 
  reasonable amount of “common knowledge.”
  Caretaker personal journals and private studies are the best references. A 
  good deal of Deconstructionist plots involve attempts to “liberate” (steal) 
  these records. Both Caretakers and Deconstructionists privately sponsor 
  “expeditions” to Chessboard Seven for the purpose of further study 
  (and… prurient gratification). The explorers are usually executed upon 
  return, but the logs and records remain.
  Native inhabitants 
  Those who live onf Chessboards Four and deeper will have some 
  experience with and understanding of the Department of Works; they’ll 
  have heard the term and associate it with ancient and secret things. Those 
  that are intimate with and aware of the Caretakers will know a good deal 
  of what their masters know.
  Common Sense
  This is the story of Chessboard Seven that’s commonly known to well-
  informed, well-traveled denizens of Wonderland. Many creatures (even 
  on Chessboard Four) will know nothing of this. Some will know bits of 
  it, and a few will know all of it. It’s not uncommon for any given source 
  to have some of it wrong.
  
  122
  Book of Knots - Chessboard Seven
  Chessboard Seven (Common Sense Part I)
  First the basics: humans on Chessboard Seven do not cast reflections up; 
  once you have made it all the way down, you disappear from the real 
  world.
  At the bottom of the universe is Chessboard Seven. It is not generally 
  considered reachable through ordinary Descent. Reports on what resides 
  there vary greatly: many people report vast, dead ruins and massive, 
  impossible castles. Great machines dominate the terrain: huge domes 
  trapping apocalyptic, primordial lightning storms, entire stars held in 
  cages, and pump systems that could drain oceans. Many of these are 
  stopped or damaged but many more continue to run by themselves, 
  perhaps eternally.
  Chessboard Seven is barren but not entirely deserted. There are sketchy 
  reports of tall, impassive things whose features are hidden by sheets 
  and who communicate telepathically. Even stranger, are stories of 
  the villages of fluid things that disperse, reform, and change at will 
  – things that shed more than just their physical being, but their identity, 
  personality, age, and skills. Are there races of mechanics that service 
  these vast machines? Are these lost survivors of the original builders? 
  Do the cyclopean towers that exist on the horizons contain the architects 
  of creation?
  No one is sure. But we do know a few things. 
  We Know It is Called The Department of Works
  We know this because its name is stamped on the artifacts and ruins 
  found there: The Seal of the Department of Works. The lettering 
  appears to be in whatever language the person to find it is most fluent in 
  (although they are engraved plates and of quite solid construction). The 
  machines are believed to be those that create the universe. 
  Within the great industrial complexes there are control centers, catwalks, 
  power-plants, and other facilities, all slumbering, their analog dials 
  hovering at quarter power. No one can say for sure if the physical form 
  the apparatus take is tied to some base-level human archetype of what 
  they should look like—or if this is somehow their “true form.” 
  Maybe there’s no difference.
  We Know It Was Damaged
  Those who traffic in the history of the Caretakers learn that at some point 
  in the distant past they mounted an assault, traversing the Linear Maze 
  to find the machines and smash them down. They believed that if they 
  could either commandeer or destroy the Department of Works they could 
  snuff-out Chessboard Zero (and mankind) like a candle flame.
  
  123
  Book of Knots - Chessboard Seven
  They did damage. There are magnificent toxic deserts with semi-
  permanent whirlwinds, bubbling pools, and mighty, rolling 
  thunderstorms. There are scarred and burnt installations where every 
  corridor is lit with red lights and steam vents from pressure valves.
  There are craters and rubble and charred towers. 
  It Hit Back
  The Caretakers abandoned their plans in panic. The nature of the 
  response is murky: it isn’t a topic for much discussion—but whatever the 
  effects were precisely they were absolutely convincing. The Department 
  of Works could defend itself. It is speculated that amongst the rubble 
  there are the graveyards of whatever is left of a Caretaker when it dies
  The Purpose of the Machines (Com-
  mon Sense Part II)
  Those who have studied the machines and what is known of them 
  have learned that there are mysteries deeper and more primal than the 
  Caretakers. And maybe mysteries beyond those. Perhaps its mysteries 
  all the way down. The Department of Works runs and maintains the 
  universe; the Caretakers in their offices affect the way the Universe feels 
  and behaves but not its existence.
  At the hart of the department of works, in the most remote regions of 
  Chessboard Seven are the great Canons; almost no one alive has seen 
  them and even those who have find that the memory of them fades as 
  though they were a dream.
  To understand Chessboard Seven, one must understand the Canons and 
  their implications.
  The Canons
  Magicians who have voyaged in their minds as far as they can go 
  and Infecteds who have fallen all the way down into the universe’s 
  foundations have reported vast fields – mile, upon mile – of mighty 
  transmitters, aimed into the universe above.
  These are at the heart of the network of pipes and tunnels and wires that 
  lead all the way from the hundreds of powers stations, pump houses, and 
  processing centers of the Department of Works. The Canons are what it’s 
  all about.
  What comes out of them cannot be seen, but it can be heard and felt. It 
  may be what eastern religions would call the Tao. These are beaming out 
  the signal that is everything—beaming it up into the sky to filter upwards 
  and construct the chessboards “above” Chessboard Seven.
  Those who have visited the continent-sized array have said they could 
  hear and feel something like an anthem—like a chorus—or like the 
  rumble of an active volcano. Those who have experienced it say that 
  
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  Book of Knots - Chessboard Seven
  each note is a universe, each chord a law of nature, every melody a 
  meaning for something’s life.
  This is flowery language but no one has come up with anything more 
  fitting. The transmitters are called the Canons because they are seen as 
  the defining source for, well, everything else: the objective reality at the 
  bottom of the universe.
  Implications: Cracks In The Universe
  Some people say that the walls that protect Chessboard Zero are 
  crumbling—that as more people become Infected the “real world” gets 
  weaker and weaker. Some say that the Caretakers are “chipping away” 
  and eventually will take it down. They may be right: no one, not even the 
  Caretakers themselves, are sure.
  But there’s some other options. It is theorized that if someone could 
  understand and control the Department of Works and harness the 
  symphony of the great array of Canons… or even repair it—they could 
  reinstate the walls of reality. Perhaps they could erase the Caretakers or 
  even remake them in their own images.
  Some people believe that the secrets to Chessboard Seven reside in the 
  Liebrary and that the knots of truth and lies exist to protect that terrible 
  reality. Some people believe that the reason the Department of Works 
  manifests itself to humans as human-built machines is because mankind 
  can, eventually master it. Perhaps the Caretakers know this—and maybe 
  that’s why they are afraid of it.
  Getting There and Getting Back
  Getting to Chessboard Seven requires traveling extensively in the Linear 
  Maze. From the lowest levels of Wonderland (Chessboards 5 and 6) 
  this takes about a week of walking. It can take months; and the way is 
  dangerous (most of the “well known paths” are guarded or trapped by 
  the Caretakers who don’t want anyone poking around).
  There are secret trails known to only a very few people and since the 
  Linear Maze shifts constantly, there are always pathways and portals 
  opening and closing; spend enough time looking (a lifetime?) and you 
  might get lucky.
  Getting back means finding a random opening to the Linear Maze on 
  Chessboard Seven or going through one of the seven well known Gates 
  – semi-permanent gateways that are controlled by the Caretakers and are 
  constantly under threat of assault from the Deconstructionists. Think of 
  these as remote outposts at the edge of the Roman Empire – the things 
  dispatched there are all but cut-off from their masters, in a very strange 
  world, indeed, and in terrible peril.
  
  125
  Book of Knots - Chessboard Seven
  What you might find there
  Chessboard Seven is an empty place with a palpable sense of being 
  long-forgotten and almost used-up. There are great open plains, endless 
  deserts and badlands, and even a few placid seas, but rather than being 
  full of promise, it feels used up—abandoned, and deserted.
  It is not uninhabited – there are plants, animals, and strange, primitive 
  civilizations, but unlike life elsewhere (or, in the case of the Caretakers, 
  life-like things), the native flora and fauna of Chessboard Seven 
  absolutely lack ambition or curiosity. They are stolid, polite, ignorant, 
  and passive. They don’t even seem to (particularly) fear death or pain 
  – their senses of the world are dull and remote.
  The only things of any real interest are the machines – the derelict 
  factories and processing plants, the miles and miles of train track and 
  twisted train-yards, the refineries and finally (most distant) the Cannons 
  themselves.
  The Department of Works feels very much like a puzzle with many 
  (important) pieces missing; many of those who have spent lifetimes 
  studying it have quit, convinced that whatever secrets it once held, they 
  are now inaccessible. Clearly it has lasted billions of years, but it has 
  been failing for billions of years and it’s failing, still.
  There may treasures to be found and insights to be gained by exploring 
  Chessboard Seven – a properly skilled and equipped expedition might, 
  for example, be able to learn secrets about the physical universe, the 
  true cosmology of creation, or the nature of time, itself, by a careful 
  study of the machines of the Department of Works. And (perhaps), in 
  the most inaccessible places, there might be things worth stealing – but 
  overwhelmingly the study of the Department of Works raises more 
  questions than answers.
  The Secret History of the End of the 
  Universe
  In canonical JAGS Wonderland the secret at the end of the universe 
  is not that humanity is doomed – it is that humanity’s victory (and the 
  obsolescence and annihilation of the Caretakers) is inevitable.
  When someone realizes this – really understands it – they’ll know the 
  purpose of the Department of Works (and that it was obvious the whole 
  time), and they’ll do what needs to be done: they’ll turn it off. And when 
  they do that, the Universe ends.
  Here’s our explanation:
  The Awful Truth
  The awful truth that the Caretakers cannot face, and that humankind is 
  yet ignorant of, is that Creation is, indeed meant for man. The primal 
  universe – a chaotic blizzard of “all” and “nothing” was far too unstable 
  
  126
  Book of Knots - Chessboard Seven
  for the development of anything requiring continuity (for example, life) 
  so the universe we know was created – three dimensions, with rules and 
  laws to keep it sane.
  It was built with layers, each one providing a foundation (physical, 
  cosmological, metaphysical, philosophical, metaphorical, and so-on) to 
  make the Chessboard 0, the “nursery” for humanity, a rational, secure 
  place. A place where there could be an earth. A place where humankind 
  could develop language and culture and philosophy and art and religion, 
  and finally reach a pinnacle of sophistication which would allow us to 
  contemplate the deepest mysteries of our existence.
  The Caretakers are what they appear to be: the sentient counterparts 
  of the mechanized and autonomic Department of Works charged with 
  the responsibility for keeping the world together – for overseeing the 
  execution of the Great Plan.
  Their pride and arrogance prevents them from seeing this though; they 
  reject it even though they are clearly smart enough and perceptive 
  enough to have all the evidence they need before them: they exist to 
  serve man. They do so by maintaining the universe in a state that permits 
  his existence and development.
  And if they were introspective (they are not; they understand the concept 
  but find introspection a quality of lesser creatures), they would realize 
  that their own haughty fury is part of that plan as well: the force which 
  created Humanity and the Department of Works and the Caretakers 
  themselves, must have foreseen that as humankind developed the 
  Caretakers would react with envy and wrath, and filled with jealousy, 
  plot the annihilation of man.
  That plan would inevitably set in motion the following events:
  The End Game of Reality
  Move 1 (Mate in 5)
  The destruction of some of the Department of Works
  Move 2 (Mate in 4)
  The breaching of the membrane between Chessboard 0 and the lower levels of reality
  Move 3 (Mate in 3)
  The discovery of the lower Chessboards by humans
  Move 4 (Mate in 2)
  Ultimately, the discovery of the Department of Works by humankind
  Move 5 (Mate in 1)
  The understanding of the machinery of the Department of Works by man, and 
  mankind’s mastery over those machines
  Move 6 (Checkmate)
  The apocalypse – the revelation – when humankind accepts what has always been his 
  birthright: the Dominion over Creation and the decommissioning of the machines
  This will end the universe, for it will no longer be necessary: humanity 
  is now able to face the true nature of Creation – the co-existence of 
  EVERYTHING / ALL and NOTHING / VOID and enter the CHAOS 
  without fear.
  And with the shedding of the universe as we know it and the ascension 
  into the universe as it is, the Caretakers will no longer be needed all that 
  
  127
  Book of Knots - Chessboard Seven
  they have been and will be will fall away, consumed in the maelstrom of 
  the ancient poles/houses.
  This plan is inevitable and the Caretakers choose not to see it; instead 
  they choose to rage against it – to assert their superiority of humanity, to 
  claim the universe as theirs, and to attempt absolute homicide, in the face 
  of the mathematical certainty of failure.
  JAGS Wonderland: Mate in Two
  JAGS Wonderland takes place in the 4th move of End Game; some 
  humans have already journeyed to the bottom of universe and seen what 
  there is to see there. None of them have understood it yet (at least not 
  understood it in its entirety) but this is only a matter of time.
  These are the last days before the unveiling of the universal truth and the 
  outcome of the war between humankind and the Caretakers; someone 
  – some human – will journey deep enough and travel far enough, and 
  arrive with the wisdom to see what is possible.
  Playing the End Game
  The way we play, the PC’s learn about Wonderland in stages, peeling 
  away the layers of the onion – initial discoveries of the Caretakers 
  suggests a world without hope, but further exploration will identify 
  a false hope—the Deconstructionist and the coming “Civil War” in 
  Wonderland.
  Saving humanity at this point (midway into the game) seems to be a 
  matter of playing the Deconstructionists against the Caretakers – a 
  great game between alien superpowers who are both inextricably tied to 
  humanity.
  Eventually, though, the truth will emerge: the Deconstructionists 
  are nihilists at best and hypocrites at worst – they would either 
  systematically destroy everything or would overthrow the Caretakers, 
  only to become them (in spirit) and develop their own awful plans 
  for humanity. In any case, all of them are insane and overwhelmingly 
  powerful.
  Sometime during this period, the PC’s would discover that there are 
  secrets even the Caretakers don’t understand – forces they fear. The 
  foundations of the Universe hold some terrible secret and (perhaps) 
  hope.
  In the “canonical” JAGS Wonderland Game, the PC’s will probably visit 
  Chessboard Seven before they understand its true meaning – typically 
  searching for clues others have missed. These initial contacts would be 
  frustrating and disappointing. The ruins are really ruins; there are no 
  sages or sphinxes or oracles to ask for answers. The machines are all but 
  ruined and repairing them (even if they were understood, which they are 
  not) seems an impossible task… likewise, controlling them is beyond 
  
  128
  Book of Knots - Chessboard Seven
  question: in the past, there may have been settings and dials and control 
  centers. These have fallen apart beyond repair: they have undergone 
  atomic decay during the billions and billions of years that have passed 
  since the universe was forged.
  Finally, the PC’s may realize that the Deconstructionist plan (to destroy 
  the machines and bring about the end of the Universe) is unnecessary 
  – there is something humankind can do: to the Department of Works: 
  they can turn off the machines. But it’s all-or-nothing: the Caretakers 
  would like to erase the boundaries between the Chessboard (giving them 
  reign over Chessboard 0), without bringing down the outer walls of the 
  Universe. The Deconstructionists would like to reprogram the machines 
  to either erase everything within the Walls or to simply (and subtly) 
  remove the Caretakers from power without otherwise disrupting the 
  nature of things.
  Neither of these are achievable, but it is possible for seven humans to 
  simultaneously shut down everything (there are seven control stations). 
  It’s not even that hard to do. This would plunge Creation into Chaos; it 
  would remove all boundaries from everything. Matter and reality as we 
  know it would cease to exist.
  For the Caretakers and the Deconstructionists and most of the inhuman 
  Wonderland creatures this would be annihilation, but for humanity, this 
  would be enlightenment and freedom.
  Afterword
  Well, that’s that. “That,” in this case, being about 400pgs of game-world 
  that grew from what seemed like a very, very simple concept (“Hey, 
  Alice in Wonderland—I bet that could be cool”). Now it’s got monsters 
  and magicians and eight different chessboards and all kinds of stuff. 
  We hope you enjoy it. We’ve been playing in versions of this for well 
  more than a year (and if you count the source games whose material 
  found itself rolled into JAGS Wonderland way more than 10 years). In 
  that sense the effort, tremendous as it has been, has been a success.
  In another sense we keep finding new stuff we think we’ve gotta add 
  and more clarification and this and that (“Hey, Eric? I don’t think we’ve 
  really distinguished Chessboard Five from Chessboard Six enough. Want 
  to put in your notes about Caretaker domains and universal constants?”). 
  Finally, though, you end it somewhere.
  Thanks for reading. This is where we’ve decided to end it (except for 
  appendicies). Well, really here.
  
  129
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Wonderland Creatures
  Wonderland is the home to multitudes of beings. 
  Some are singular—some are common. Many 
  qualify as monsters—they hide in the darkness, 
  they stalk the defenseless, their motivations are at 
  best murky and at worst utterly plain: to generate 
  fear. Many are “people.” They may or may not 
  look like humans but they act with a recognizable 
  humanity that has all the variations we expect 
  from ourselves. Others are caricatures: they seem 
  to be the living embodiment of some idea or 
  concept and while they may be intelligent, their 
  existence is defined by rules that may seem alien 
  to man.
  Reflections
  Some creatures on Chessboard One will throw Reflections of themselves 
  up to Chessboard Zero. How they manifest there (as subtle changes 
  in the environments, appearing as semi-ordinary things that behave 
  strangely, or even appearing as themselves) is based on the presence the 
  being has. Each creature will have a Reflection rating that describes its 
  appearance on Chessboard Zero.
  Manifestation: Presence
  When a creature manifests as itself (a leering Jabberwocky with burning 
  eyes, for example) it will either Infect those who come into contact with 
  it, be reduced in its power due to appearing as something less abnormal, 
  or be repelled (or even destroyed) by the machinery of the universe that 
  works to keep Wonderland out.
  The rule of thumb is that a creature may “cloak” itself (appear as 
  something less bizarre) if dealing with an uninfected person. An Infected 
  person may see it for what it is. If a creature is presented to a group of 
  Uninfected people and shown plainly, the GM can call for a roll of 10 
  [+2 per Uninfected person watching] – [Creature’s Presence]. If the roll 
  is made, the creature’s Reflection on Chessboard Zero will become inert 
  or disintegrate and the creature itself will either be repelled down one or 
  more levels or reality. If the roll is made by 5 or more under the total, the 
  creature may be ruled destroyed.
  Encountering Creatures on Chessboard One
  Creatures are far more commonly encountered by PCs during Episodes 
  on the lower Chessboards. This is where they are most dangerous and 
  most commonly seen.
  Monsters and Infection
  Monsters are a potential vector for Infection but it’s not one that gets 
  much attention. The biggest reason for this is that even monsters that can 
  cast dangerous reflections to Chessboard Zero rarely do. A few beings 
  The Boojum, a variety of Snark 
  usually found on Chessboard 
  Three. Approach with extreme 
  caution.
  The sleep of reason 
  produces monsters.
  - Goya
  
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  Book of Knots - Creatures
  thrive on this—and they do cause Infections (or death) but they are rare.
  Secondly, it may be ruled that monster-encounters, being flooded with 
  adrenaline and fear may be less substantially imprinting on the subject’s 
  Name: Bandersnatch (Large)
  Presence 16
  PHY 14
  STR 125
  BLD 350
  CON 14
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 15
  AGI 12
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 11
  WIL 11
  DP 350
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  117
  350
  700
  Move
  24y/s
  Grapple
  219/183
  DP
  350
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  +3/+2
  Armor
  Damage
  Bite 60 PEN
  Description: Bandersnatches are horrific monsters 
  that stalk Chessboard Four, sometimes solitary, 
  sometimes in herds. They appear as massive, dirty 
  ostriches growing to the size of an elephant. Instead 
  of a bird’s head, from their necks come a single hand 
  with a vicious mouth in its palm.
  The Bandersnatch contains, under its feathers, 
  human-sized “marionettes” (which, themselves, have 
  their own intelligences and personalities). These 
  beings, attached by strings, but capable of their own 
  movement as well, serve, tend, and gather prey for the 
  Bandersnatch.
  Bandersnatches have uses for humankind. They eat 
  them, torment them for sport (often depositing them 
  in the most frightening locals they can find) and 
  selling them to the Naughts as slaves. 
  Bandersnatches also serve the Caretakers as 
  functionaries on the higher Chessboards, from time to 
  time.
  Reflection: Bandersnatches sometimes appear on 
  Chessboard Zero as large machines (trucks, for 
  instance) that move through a neighborhood and take 
  people when no one is watching.
  They also extend their hand-heads through mirrors 
  if something has happened to open the mirror maze. 
  Sometimes they will release their mannequin servants 
  into the mirror-maze and have them enter the upper 
  Chessboards on the other side of the mirrors, waiting 
  for a time when a projection can open the maze (a 
  Presence roll) and have the mannequin grab a solitary 
  target and drag them in!
  
  131
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Bleeders
  Presence 03
  PHY 11
  STR 06
  BLD 02
  CON 11
  REF 11
  COR 11
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 09
  RES 09
  MEM 10
  WIL 09
  DP 3
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  1
  3
  6
  Move
  2y/s
  Grapple
  13 [see]
  DP
  3
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  -3/-2
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  Varies
  Damage
  Claw 2 IMP
  Description: Bleeders are small 9” tall blue 
  humanoids with a thirst for human blood. They use 
  rods and nets adorned with fishhooks and, when they 
  prey, they will usually slice their victim and then 
  move in to collect the blood. They are usually found 
  on Chessboard Two.
  A successful attack will use nets and hooks. They are 
  surprisingly heavy for their size and quite strong for it 
  too. They will usually spear the victim several times 
  and then hold them for a few seconds to bleed them.
  Reflection: Bleeders usually have no Reflection on 
  Chessboard Zero. A person who suffers Bleeder attack 
  will usually return to find that their Reflection has 
  been scraped and scratched all over.
  Fishhook Nets: A Bleeder attack involves a group 
  of about six of them. Four will use their hooks and 
  nets, two will carry containers to siphon the victim’s 
  blood. This is a to-hit roll with a 13 Grapple. If it gets 
  a Minor Success the Base Damage is 1pt PEN. If a 
  Standard Success or better, 2pts PEN. The subject 
  must Break the Grapple to escape. Once netted, the 
  subject attacks at -2 to hit (and the Bleeders are not 
  all that fast so they aren’t that hard to hit—but they 
  maneuver pretty well).
  
  132
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Borogove
  Presence 05
  PHY 11
  STR 13
  BLD 09
  CON 11
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 13
  AGI 12
  INT 06
  RES 06
  MEM 10
  WIL 11
  DP 15
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  5
  15
  30
  Move
  8y/s
  9y/s (fly)
  Grapple
  15/13
  DP
  15
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  +0
  Armor
  1/3
  Damage
  Bite 3 PEN
  Damage
  Claw 2 IMP
  Description: The Borogove appears as a 1.5 yard 
  long dirty cocatrice-like being. Part bird, part lizard, 
  they extrude a stench and sense of decay. Around 
  them objects will tarnish, age, and stain. They excrete 
  garbage constantly, creating wakes of rubbish behind 
  them when they wish. 
  Borogoves are drawn to places where something 
  unsavory is happening. They are “curious” and are 
  attracted to what might be called “dirty laundry” 
  (not actual soiled linens). Some persons keep trained 
  Borogoves for the purposes of hunting for places to 
  find blackmail information. They are also sometimes 
  found in offices where fraud is being committed on a 
  significant scale.
  Reflection: Areas haunted by a Borogove will 
  become dirty, filled with disarray, and mechanical 
  breakdowns. When a Borogove does manifest, it 
  appears as a small shabby looking bird with white 
  cataract filled eyes. 
  Filth: A person struck by a Borogove will sustain 
  damage (the Bite is a Grab attack) but will also 
  become wretchedly dirty, their clothes will be 
  ruined with stains of old food and sweat, their faces 
  smudged, and so on. 
  
  133
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Doorknob People
  Presence 03
  PHY 12
  STR 06
  BLD 01
  CON 12
  REF 13
  COR 13
  REA 13
  AGI 13
  INT 10
  RES 10
  MEM 12
  WIL 10
  DP 3
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  1
  4
  8
  Move
  3y/s
  5y jump
  Grapple
  6+
  DP
  4
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -7/-6
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  Varies
  Description: Imagine a spider whose yellowish legs extend out to roughly the circumference of a basketball. The spider’s body is 
  the gnarled face of an old, leering man. They live in the twisted reflections of doorknobs.
  When they enter a house (usually attracted by some unwholesome activity on the part of the occupants) they began building 
  “nests” on the “other side” of the warped mirrors that are doorknobs. When there are enough of them, they can attack. They are not 
  powerful: they seek to prey on children or weak adults—but they also enjoy causing fear and may seek to attack a subject simply to 
  Infect them.
  Doorknob people are malevolent artists, working to warp the Chessboard Two reality of a place into a distorted version of itself (a 
  Warped Zone), changing perspective and proportion and adding their own frightening touches. When they are finished, they need 
  the final ingredient: a person or, preferably, a body. They will try to pull someone into their warped horror-show and hope it, or 
  something in it, consumes them.
  Reflection: In a house with a Doorknob People hive (visible on Chessboard Two as a large dirty looking spider-web style structure 
  attached to doors in the house) the occupants may feel watched and spied on. 
  When there are enough of them (see the rules for Hive below) they can project up, springing from the doorknob and streaming out! 
  If they can web and Infect a target, they can bring them back!
  Hive: Doorknob People can build up enough Presence to Infect a person by spawning more of themselves and increasing their 
  numbers. Each clutch of four people has the listed Presence (8). They will spawn an additional member by creating senses of 
  paranoia and fear in the household. They will work to project up and move small objects, cause electrical faults, and other things. 
  The more scared the subjects get the more Doorknob people will be able to spawn. Usually each week creates another two People. 
  Each additional 2 people adds one to the Presence of the Hive.
  Attack: Before they are ready to attack, they will spy. Perceptive people may see the small, warped, hideous faces looking at them 
  out of doorknobs. When they do attack, they will spring out in a group of four for a Grapple of 10. An additional Doorknob Person 
  will come out each turn. They usually only stay out for 3 seconds.
  If they don’t Infect the person, they will have to retreat and, in any event, won’t go more than 5 yards from a doorknob on 
  Chessboard Zero. They will try to web up a target (they vomit sticky web stuff) and, if their combined Grapple can get a Major 
  Effect, they will be able to “drag them into the Doorknob.”
  Fighting Them On Chessboard Zero: Certain rituals (Feng Shui) can alter the environment to make it unfriendly to Doorknob 
  People. Additionally, if a person sets clever traps for them, they can be prevented from breeding and will have to eventually abandon 
  their present locale.
  Finally, they are impatient. They will often attack if someone become curious or believes in them (this often happens with children).
  
  134
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Envelopers
  Presence 13
  PHY 08-12 STR 06
  BLD 01
  STC 15-
  REF 10
  COR 10
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 08
  RES 08
  MEM 10
  WIL 11
  DP 3
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  -5:1pt
  Move
  creep 4ys
  5y/s float
  Grapple
  6+
  DP
  4
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -7/-6
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  Varies
  Description: They are six-foot tall almost two-dimensional paper people (usually with two-dimensional top hats). They are often 
  found folded inside books or otherwise near areas where writing (or typing) is a common occurrence. They are physically often 
  weak, but they may strike from surprise.
  When they attack, they grapple, and if they get a Major success, the target is “Enveloped”—trapped in an addressed envelope and 
  then vanishing to appear at an address in deeper Wonderland.
  Envelopers seem to originate on Chessboard Two as some sort of manifestation of fear. They are stealthy (they make sounds like 
  paper rustling) and they can theatrically creep up on a victim, startling them before striking. 
  Reflection: Envelopers usually manifest directly if they can.
  Mailed: A character that is enveloped will be held for three seconds after which the Enveloper will vanish and the subject will 
  appear (a bit the worse for wear) at some Wonderland address (often a Caretaker who wants to talk to them) a few days or hours 
  later. The address is legible if someone is outside to see it. 
  Once a person is Enveloped, the Grapple jumps to 18! It’s hard to get out.
  Fragile: Envelopers are just paper—they are easy to rip and tear. Each pt of damage will force a roll. The first at a 10-, the second at 
  a 5-.
  
  135
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: GoatFooted Balloon Man
  Presence 12
  PHY 13
  STR 16
  BLD 09
  CON 13
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 12
  AGI 12
  INT 12
  RES 12
  MEM 11
  WIL 12
  DP 30
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  10
  30
  60
  Move
  8y/s
  Sprint 
  16y/s
  Grapple
  18/16
  DP
  30
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  +0
  Armor
  1/3
  Damage
  Strike: 6 IMP
  Damage
  Kick: 9 IMP
  Description: An old man with a stretched face and goat’s 
  feet. He often carries balloons—and if you look closely, 
  sometimes you can see the face of a screaming child in 
  each of them. 
  The Balloon Man is a Chessboard Three monster—
  dedicated to the spread of terror. When he comes to 
  Chessboard One, he’ll stalk children as best he can, 
  usually preying on runaways but sometimes on those 
  who have slipped under society’s radar or “strayed from 
  the path.”
  These creatures are very moralistic and greatly prefer 
  to take victims who have been breaking social rules 
  (although sometimes they will go after a generally good, 
  well behaved, person since “no one is truly pure of 
  heart.”)
  Reflection: The Balloon Man looks like a creepy 
  older man (often seen at a distance, sometimes moving 
  “wrong,” as with a too-fast jerky motion like speeded up 
  film). He may appear as a derelict or a janitor.
  Taking: The Balloon Man will attempt to get his subject 
  into captivity (often using an old house or cave or 
  basement for a lair). Once the subject is Infected and 
  held captive they are made to inflate a balloon (one of 
  the many the Balloon Man will have). This may take 
  several days since the breaths must come from a scream 
  of terror. These breaths are hot—and the balloons rise. 
  When the final breath is breathed (usually about 1 day 
  per 3pts of the target’s WIL) the subject will be sucked 
  inside and become a balloon. If the balloons are pierced 
  or the air is released, the terrified screams will come 
  spilling out—however, every last breath put into the 
  balloon must be emptied for the victim to be freed.
  The Balloons are often taken down to Chessboard Four 
  and sold to Naughts. Sometimes they are released in 
  the lower realms to drift until they pop, depositing the 
  hapless victim somewhere strange—and with no good 
  way to get back. While within the balloons the victims 
  exist in a state of constant terror—it is up to the GM 
  whether they are severely traumatized or may recover.
  Killings: Balloon Men will sometimes kill (usually with 
  an exotic array of knives or other interesting signature 
  methods). Often they reserve murders for those who have 
  crossed them or sought to cross them.
  
  136
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Hunger Disciple
  Presence 13
  PHY 12
  STR 14
  BLD 11
  CON 12
  REF 10
  COR 10
  REA 12
  AGI 10
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 11
  WIL 11
  DP 45-90
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  15
  45
  90
  Move
  7y/s
  Grapple
  17/14
  DP
  45-90
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  +0
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  Bite 11 PEN
  Description: People who deal directly with Caretakers outside of Dramas (such as happens when Magicians overuse Magic or 
  overreach or when people who understand only a little of Wonderland seek to curry the Caretaker’s favor) can become Hunger 
  Disciples. Their Shadows are mutated beyond all recognition and they develop fearsome appetites and disgusting habits.
  Hunger Disciples are usually all a bit different: depending on what Caretaker they decided to follow, what they were like before, and 
  their force of will they can be dangerous but pathetic things or cold, powerful serial killers. Some of the leaders of Big Pharma have 
  become Hunger Disciples. Many Magicians who have delved into deeper Wonderland seeking infernal deals as well.
  Stereotypically, they appear as human-sized flesh-colored grubs with powerful three-part beaks as their only identifiable heads and 
  tiny arms and legs. They may have many and varied goals but all of them are driven by a hunger to feed on humanity—to devour it 
  and debase it, and eventually to destroy it.
  Reflection: They appear as they usually did before their conversion, unless they manifest.
  Consuming: A Hunger Disciple may consume a person it kills with an additional 8 REA Long Action, adding their BLD to its own. 
  This gives it +1 STR (and therefore damage) per point of Mass the person had, +10 DP (for the whole person, even if they had 
  more), and +10 BLD (even if the person was larger). This equates to a total of +3 damage per person eaten. This goes away over a 
  few hours.
  Bite: The bite of a Hunger Disciple does 11 PEN damage (at first). It also acts as a 17 Grapple Grab (and the Hunger Disciple may 
  continue to bite for 5 REA keeping the original to-hit score).
  
  137
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Jabberwocky
  Presence 16
  PHY 18
  STR 18
  BLD 25
  CON 13
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 12
  AGI 12
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 12
  WIL 13
  DP 30
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  10
  30
  60
  Move
  8y/s
  9y/s (fly)
  Grapple
  25/21
  DP
  90
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  -2/-2
  Armor
  4/16
  Damage
  Bite 16 PEN
  Damage
  Claw 11 IMP
  Description: Jabberwockies are commonly a little bigger 
  than humans with long snake-like necks, tails, and wings. 
  Their claws erupt from their hands and their eyes burn 
  with inner-fire. Their mouths are forests of jagged teeth.
  Jabberwockies have some of the highest Presences of 
  any Wonderland being: when they reach Chessboard 
  One, they can often walk amongst Chessboard Zero in 
  full sight.
  Jabberwockies are sometimes feral (and these grow to 
  great size and have even more fearsome stats) but are 
  usually civil (meaning “civilized,” not “friendly”). Civil 
  Jabberwockies act as mercenaries, bounty hunters, and 
  hit men for lower Wonderland. 
  Beings that have delicate, intricate business on 
  Chessboard Zero may send a Jabberwocky if they can 
  find one and afford it. 
  Reflection: Jabberwockies reflect as cool, tough-looking 
  humans when they are not making an effort to Project up 
  to Chessboard Zero in their true form. They usually wear 
  sunglasses and almost always smoke (even in places 
  where it isn’t allowed). They have high Intimidate values 
  and may appear as bikers, gang members, or other such 
  persons.
  Eyes of Flame: Jabberwockies can project bolts of fire 
  from their eyes. These have an ROF of 4 and hit for 
  13pts IMP damage.
  
  138
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Moam Rath
  Presence 16
  PHY 12
  STR 12-22
  BLD 12-50
  CON 12
  REF 11
  COR 10
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 08
  RES 08
  MEM 12
  WIL 10
  DP 30
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  4-17
  12-51
  24-102
  Move
  8y/s
  Grapple
  14/12 to 
  24/20
  DP
  21-51
  To Hit
  12-
  To Be Hit
  0 to +2 
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  Bite 8-16 IMP
  Description: Looking something like an obese, bloated egg with red 
  lips at the top, the Moam Rath traps its prey with objects of desire hung 
  from gossamer threads. They lurk in the shadows and leave their traps 
  where people will see them: a wallet discarded by a storm drain, an 
  expensive watch left on a park-bench, one of those new PDA’s seems to 
  be laying, alone, in a stairwell.
  When you touch it, however, you are hooked—and the Rath will drag 
  you to its mouth and devour you, if it can. Moam Raths vary in size 
  and strength. Many are small and would threaten a man—but not a 
  powerful Twisted. Some get much larger and more dangerous.
  Reflection: Raths can project up to Chessboard Zero. Their fairly high 
  Presence and disguise abilities make them capable of existing fairly 
  safely in most urban environments.
  Stealth: for something so big, the Moam Rath is surprisingly stealthy. 
  It can stand on walls or ceilings. It can, when stationary, appear as 
  some ordinary object (a large trash bin, a weird looking vending 
  machine, etc.) 
  A Moam Rath usually functions with about a 15- Level 2 Stealth roll. 
  If it must be “in plain sight” it will usually take an 8 REA Long action 
  to drop the illusion around itself before it can attack or move. This does 
  not apply to hooking people, however.
  Objects of Desire: Moam Raths will pick through garbage dumps, 
  trash cans, and other areas looking for discarded objects that are similar 
  to what a person might desire. When the object is extended on the 
  end of a thread, the long, articulated joint hovering out of sight like a 
  fisherman’s rod and reel, the object will appear as a pristine, shiny, top-
  end model of whatever it roughly resembles—the exact nature designed 
  to match the subject’s preferences (a broken or scuffed digital watch 
  appears as a several-thousand dollar Patek Philippe).
  Hook, Line, and Sinker: If you look at these objects carefully, a 
  Perception roll by 4 or 5 will show a glimmer of a spider-web like 
  strand leading from the object. Indeed, it appears that one could cut 
  the strand, or simply touch the object so as to avoid the thread. This is 
  dangerous: a COR roll made at -5 is necessary to liberate the object. 
  The thread isn’t where you think it is, even if you’re looking right at it, 
  the object isn’t exactly as it appears either and is networked with the 
  strong, sticky trap.
  Furthermore, once stuck, the long, insectoid arm of the Moam Rath will 
  find you and grab you—and the thread, itself, will start reeling you in!
  The thread has a 14-24 Offensive Grapple (depending on size). When 
  stuck, it will immediately begin making one Grapple roll per turn 
  (although it can snare numerous people). Once a Major advantage is 
  scored on the subject, the Rath will begin biting for 8-16 IMP damage 
  for each 5 REA Medium action (dependant on size). A character who is 
  bitten will be subject to a Hold.
  Treasure: If a Rath is killed it may have nothing but junk—however, 
  as they last longer, and take victims, they accumulate things. On the 
  lower Chessboards, these items are usually Shadow-versions of real 
  things—and therefore tend to evaporate after the Rath is slain … 
  however: Raths will sometimes have items that have come to them 
  from Chessboard Zero and these items may actually be valuable.
  
  139
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Mocking Turtles
  Presence 07
  PHY 09
  STR 09
  BLD 1
  CON 11
  REF 09
  COR 09
  REA 11
  AGI 09
  INT 12
  RES 12
  MEM 12
  WIL 12
  DP 6
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  2
  6
  12
  Move
  1y/s
  Grapple
  13/11
  DP
  6
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -2/-1
  Armor
  4/9
  Damage
  Bite 1 IMP
  Damage
  Claw 11 IMP
  Description: Mocking Turtles appear as small sea turtles 
  with the heads of a small calf and longish necks. They 
  are about 2 feet in length. They don’t climb all that well 
  (although they can jump a whole yard) and they have 
  strong blunt jaws.
  They are nasty tempered and enjoy toying with people 
  and tormenting them. A school of Mock Turtles (usually 
  2 to 12) will find a victim having an Episode and 
  terrorize them. Mocking Turtles have keen insights into 
  the psychological weaknesses of their targets and will 
  make fun of them, harass them, and verbally bully them. 
  If they can, they will BITE them and hang on, causing 
  nasty bruises.
  Shadows who are not their targets tend to ignore them 
  or maybe treat them as minor pests (usually Shadows 
  will “not hear” their comments). The person having the 
  Episode, however, will have to go about their day (in the 
  area where the school is, anyway) jumping over them, 
  avoiding them, or finding ways to kill them. This leaves 
  their Reflection ranting about invisible Turtles!
  Reflection: Mocking Turtles don’t have much by way of 
  a reflection on Chessboard Zero. They sometimes look 
  like lumps in the rug or bits of trash on the floor.
  Mock: The Turtles are usually snide and mean. They 
  will make fun of perceived inadequacies while they 
  slowly approach and try to bite their victims. A subject 
  with any susceptibility to playground-style mockery may 
  need to make a WIL roll (usually at plusses or minuses 
  depending on the emotional fragileness of the character.
  Bite and Hold: The turtle will bite as a Grab attack and 
  will then hold as long as it can. They can inflict damage 
  for a 5 REA Bite action. They usually go for extremities 
  (-2 to hit) or even clothing. Turtles will usually do no 
  more than half the subject’s DP in an attack. They are not 
  murderous.
  Soup: The Mock Turtle makes a fine soup. Sometimes 
  cooking them up and dining on them is the best revenge!
  
  140
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Origami Master
  Presence 14
  PHY 13
  STR 16
  BLD 01
  CON 13
  REF 13
  COR 13
  REA 13
  AGI 13
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 11
  WIL 11
  DP 30
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  10
  30
  60
  Move
  7y/s float
  Grapple
  17/14
  DP
  30
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  -3
  Armor
  Special
  Damage
  Special
  Description: The Origami Master is a floating wraith 
  with green eyes and an exoskeleton made of folded 
  paper. The exist partially outside of the regular three 
  dimensions and can use their talons to twist and fold 
  space-time to turn their opponents inside out.
  They are traditionally Chessboard Three monsters who 
  often act in the service of the Caretaker Royalty. They 
  may also appear as palace guard.
  Reflection: Origami Masters sometimes appear at a 
  distance as gruesome hooded monks. Up close they 
  appear as eerie moving shadows.
  Claw: The Origami Master’s claw attack does 15 PEN 
  damage ignoring all worn armor (although it will not 
  ignore Force Fields). 
  Dhen Surgery: The term for Knot-Theory 
  manipulations, if an Origami Master grabs you, for a 
  second 5 REA Medium action, it can fold you. This is a 
  resisted attack of Power 15 vs. CON
  Result
  Effect
  Minor
  Target takes 1pt of damage.
  Standard
  Target must make a Minor Wound roll, 
  taking a Minor Wound’s worth of damage.
  Major
  Target must make a Major Wound roll, taking 
  a Major Wound’s worth of damage.
  Critical
  Target must make a Critical Wound roll, 
  taking a Critical Wound’s worth of damage.
  Catastrophic
  Target is turned inside out, wrapped in 
  impossible arcs and loops, dying horribly.
  Spectral Nature: Origami Masters can take an 8 REA 
  Long action to shift from visible and “substantial” to 
  invisible and “insubstantial” (they can pass through walls 
  and such). They can teleport as an 8 REA Long action up 
  to 100 yards. 
  Damage Reduction: Origami Masters take a -4 Damage 
  Modifier from all normal attacks (Twisted powers and 
  Magic don’t count). This is applied before checking for 
  PEN damage.
  
  141
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Punch
  Presence 7
  PHY 12
  STR 35
  BLD 30
  CON 12
  REF 11
  COR 11
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 11
  WIL 12
  DP 45
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  15
  45
  90
  Move
  9y/s
  Grapple
  50/41
  DP
  45
  To Hit
  14-
  To Be Hit
  +0
  Armor
  6/12
  Damage
  Mallet 38 IMP
  Description: Punches are giant, gruesome jack-in-the-boxes that carry heavy hammers. They serve the Caretakers on all levels of 
  reality. They can be aggressive, cruel, officious, and (at best, usually) stuffy. They range from malevolent to merely arrogant.
  They move by sliding on the floor or, sometimes, jumping. They are often surrounded by soft, frightening music along the lines of 
  nursery rhymes and children’s songs.
  Reflection: Punches usually don’t manifest directly on Chessboard Zero—their Presence is too low. They will often lurk on 
  Chessboard One looking for an Infected to press into service if they have some message to be sent to someone on Chessboard Zero. 
  Wherever they are there will be an increase in things like surveillance and bureaucratic cruelty and red tape.
  Sleep: A Punch can retract into its box and wait. It has a 13- Perception and, if someone comes close, they’ll hear pop goes the 
  weasel. If the Punch detects them (makes the roll) he’ll spring out (often striking).
  Capture: If a target is caught in a Major Hold, as an 8 REA Long action the Punch can vanish with them, taking them back to their 
  master’s abode.
  Name: Razor Blades
  Presence 3
  PHY 12
  STR 12
  BLD 1
  STC 15-
  REF 11
  COR --
  REA 11
  AGI 10
  INT 05
  RES 05
  MEM 12
  WIL 12
  DP 5
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  -3:1pt
  Move
  5y/s
  9y/s hurl
  Grapple
  --
  DP
  5
  To Hit
  12-
  To Be Hit
  -2/-2
  Armor
  2
  Damage
  Slice 5 PEN
  Description: Two foot long flying razor blades (like the kind that fit into old-fashioned shaving razors—not straight razors). They 
  travel in packs and often nest in filing cabinets or large electronic junction boxes. They fly through no obvious means and will slice 
  their targets. Razor Blades are most often found on Chessboard Two.
  Reflection: The Razors are sometimes found as real discarded Razor Blades in the area. Meticulously seeking them and finding 
  them and breaking them will make the Chessboard One (or Two) are safer.
  Hurl: The blades do not fly all that fast—but if they take an 8 REA Long action and reduce their chance to hit to a 9-, they can hurl 
  themselves 9 yards. They will usually hover at range and then hurl themselves in. A subject can choose to either block/dodge or 
  strike them on the way in.
  
  142
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Snark (and Boojum)
  Presence 3
  PHY 10
  STR 09
  BLD 8
  CON 12
  REF 11
  COR 11
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 14
  WIL 12
  DP 12
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  4
  12
  24
  Move
  9y/s
  Grapple
  11/9 to 
  DP
  12
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -1
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  Bite 2 PEN
  Description: There are a great many different varieties 
  of Snark (some claim the major genus are top, bottom, 
  up, down, charmed, and strange Snarks). Some have 
  feathers, some bite—all are quite edible (the flavor must 
  be tasted to be fully understood, however: it is meager 
  but crisp (like a coat too tight at the waist) and a flavor of 
  will-o-the-wisp). 
  Snarks are obsessed with verbal criticism and 
  psychological infighting. They elevate irony to an 
  artform and revel in sarcastic, ‘constructive’ criticism.
  All are fond of Victorian bathing machines (large 
  umbrella-like contraptions used to preserve modesty 
  while bathing at the sea) and most have decent manners.
  There is one kind of Snark, however, that is universally 
  feared: the boojum (described below).
  Reflection: Snarks don’t visit the upper chessboards very 
  often and when they do, they usually throw no physical 
  Reflection. However, the more litigious varieties of snark 
  will usually make their presence known by an increase 
  in contentious behavior—especially on Internet message 
  boards.
  Vanish: A Boojum is one of the most rare and feared 
  Snarks in existence. As a 3 REA Short action, they can 
  vanish a target (it disappears quickly and quietly with the 
  essence and noise of a soap bubble popping). There is no 
  roll to hit and no resistance. Boojums are rare, solitary, 
  and usually stoic and martial in their habits. They are 
  enemies of the Army of No and even the Caretakers treat 
  their preserves with deference.
  Skewer: Snarks can gain intimate insight into a target and, if they 
  choose to (if they are “on duty” or pursuing their “professional bent”) 
  make remarks that cut their target to the quick. The GM can call for 
  WIL rolls against the Snark’s skill (usually 12 to 17) to determine how 
  upsetting the conversation is. The exact results of this are left up to the 
  GM and player but a Snark who has time to talk at leisure with a victim 
  may be able to provoke some strong reactions.
  
  143
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Toves
  Presence 7
  PHY 12
  STR 21
  BLD 15
  CON 12
  REF 12
  COR 12
  REA 12
  AGI 12
  INT 08
  RES 08
  MEM 12
  WIL 12
  DP 33
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  11
  33
  66
  Move
  7y/s
  Grapple
  22/26 to 
  DP
  33
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -2/-2
  Armor
  2/8
  Damage
  Bite 13 PEN
  Damage
  Claw 9 PEN
  Description: A Tove is an alligator-sized being that’s 
  a cross between a lizard and a badger. They have only 
  front legs, their thick, muscled hind quarters slither 
  on the ground. They live in “pocket” spaces near 
  time-pieces (since they usually live outdoors, they 
  are partial to Sun Dials) and they can attack subjects, 
  “corkscrewing” out of the air to leap on them.
  When Toves are “screwed in” (in a space-time pocket 
  near a time-piece) they can sense the outside world and 
  be sensed. Beings can get Perception rolls to notice them 
  (usually at -2). A made roll will make the subject feel 
  uneasy. Wary creatures will not come within the strike 
  distance (4 yards). Sometimes the Toves will be outside, 
  sunning themselves or crawling around.
  Reflection: Toves usually only manifest on Chessboard 
  Zero under rare conditions or in areas where there are 
  bleeds. Their comparatively low Presence makes them 
  unlikely to attack unless their target is Unsane.
  When they are visible on Chessboard Zero, they are 
  spotted as small odd creatures that live in hard to find 
  burrows around sundials and near hedgerows.
  Corkscrew: A Tove Attack is an 8 REA Long action 
  wherein the Tove appears and rakes or bites. The subject, 
  if they are not surprised by the sheer fact of the Tove’s 
  appearance (non-combat characters can get WIL or REA 
  rolls to be able to respond) may choose to either block/
  dodge or attack the Tove as it strikes.
  Bite: A bite is a Grab attack that leaves the Tove at 0 AGI 
  Bonus while it is holding on to a target. When it hits, it 
  does 13 PEN damage and may bite again each turn for 5 
  REA using the same Damage Mod roll.
  Rake: The Tove will usually rake with its claws against 
  more than one opponent in order to keep its AGI bonus.
  Familiarity: Toves can be beaten or trained into 
  recognizing a person as not being a target. They will then 
  ignore that person and will not attack those identified as 
  that person’s “pack” (friends, family members). Trained 
  Toves are often used as guardians.
  
  144
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: Trials
  Presence 7
  PHY 12
  STR 45
  BLD 240
  CON 13
  REF 11
  COR 08
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 11
  RES 11
  MEM 12
  WIL 13
  DP 240
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  80
  240
  480
  Move
  18y/s
  Grapple
  61/51
  DP
  240
  To Hit
  13- (+2 Large Wpn)
  To Be Hit
  +2/+2
  Armor
  8/24
  Damage
  Punch 51 IMP
  Damage
  Hammer 80 IMP
  Description: Trials are giants with hammers where their heads should be. Their fists are blunt slabs of meat (their low COR for 
  small stubby fingers) that they usually use to catch and beat people with. They stand about 2-3 stories tall and are dense for their 
  size. They wear black judges robes.
  Trials are elementals of judgment: they prowl Chessboard Four and will find and punish those who they feel deserve it. Usually 
  everyone deserves something (a broken leg, a smashed hand, etc.—resisting judgment brings on more punishment). 
  Reflection: Trials usually don’t come up to Chessboard One (sometimes, rarely, Two). When they are around, people will notice a 
  more punitive streak in authority figures (as the Trial dispenses judgment on the Shadows of those who disobey) .
  Hammer: The Trial can Hammer an opponent for an 8 REA Long action. Usually a Step attempt on the part of the subject will give 
  the Trial a -3 to hit (the Trial rears back and then slams it down). This means that the Trial will either grab the subject or frighten 
  them into taking their punishment (standing still for it).
  Name: Tygers
  Presence 11
  PHY 13
  STR 22
  BLD 25
  CON 14
  REF 13
  COR 13
  REA 13
  AGI 13
  INT 12
  RES 12
  MEM 12
  WIL 14
  DP 45
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  15
  45
  90
  Move
  12y/s
  Grapple
  29/25
  DP
  45
  To Hit
  15-
  To Be Hit
  -1/-1
  Armor
  6/12
  Damage
  Bite 24 PEN
  Damage
  Claw 13 PEN
  Description: Tygers appear as great, stripped cats (some are black and white, most are orange and black) with molten-metal 
  glowing eyes and breath like a furnace or forge. They speak and are quite intelligent and urbane.
  Tygers are consummate stalkers and hunters. Their code of ethics requires that they both reveal themselves to their intended prey 
  and explain the terms of the game. A Tyger on Chessboard One will project to Chessboard Zero (when their subject is alone, 
  preferably) and explain to them that they are being stalked (and often when/where the Tyger will be looking for its prey!)
  If the subject is in that place, alone, while being stalked, the Tyger may attack and devour them! 
  Reflection: Tygers usually don’t throw Reflections up to Chessboard Zero unless they are Projecting up to appear themselves. A 
  Tyger stalking a copy room (its prey would be well advised not to go in there alone!) will sometimes result in an oppressive jungle 
  heat seeming to coalesce in the area.
  Throw Voice: A Tyger may appear in person to inform their prey but may also simply project their voice to Chessboard Zero.
  
  145
  Book of Knots - Creatures
  Name: White Rabbits
  Presence 09
  PHY 10
  STR 10
  BLD 11
  CON 11
  REF 11
  COR 11
  REA 11
  AGI 11
  INT 12
  RES 12
  MEM 12
  WIL 11
  DP 45
  Minor
  Major
  Critical
  Wounds
  5
  14
  28
  Move
  8y/s
  Grapple
  10/12
  DP
  14
  To Hit
  13-
  To Be Hit
  -1/-1
  Armor
  None
  Damage
  Bite 2 PEN
  Damage
  Strike 0 IMP
  Description: White Rabbits are well-dressed, human-sized rabbits. They are intelligent beings who act as agents of Infection and 
  descent. Their motives are unclear (although there is an element of the tempter about them) and they are known for making deals 
  that will result in the target following them through open bleeds.
  As they can rarely manifest directly (they can, but don’t like to) they will use their Reflection to try to lure targets to where they 
  can be led through an open bleed. Usually there is some offer or deal involved (which they are good about keeping). A person led 
  to Chessboard One might be given an interview with a Shadow of a potential employer. Since the subject actually walked through a 
  Bleed, they are casting no Reflection. The Rabbit may use its Presence to have the interview influence the subject (and Interviewing 
  with a Shadow is usually more surreal but often easier to manipulate, such as through blatant flattery, than the real person). Thus the 
  person will not be remembered but will find the real interviewer more favorably disposed towards the.
  Rabbit’s destinations are usually not especially pleasant for their subjects (they are usually taken to Caretaker’s Dramas) but the 
  Rabbits, for their part, often feel some sense of responsibility for their victims and may be around later for some advice or help.
  Reflection: The White Rabbit manifests as a person with a certain shifty air about him—usually the aspect of fallen class or ill-
  gotten money. They are mannered and watchful.
  Navigate: The Rabbits can navigate the Linear Maze expertly down to Chessboard Six. They are capable of opening doors to it and 
  taking characters safely down.
  
  www.jagsrpg.org
  Why do the eyes in paintings always follow you?
  Where does your shadow go when you’re in the dark?
  How is a raven like a writing desk?
  To be properly eccentric, does one have to know where the 
  circle is first?
  When does now happen?
  What does your reflection do when you’re not using it?
  Where do I go if I want to lose myself?
  If I lose myself, where can I be found?
  Unponderables . . .
  The Book of Knots is a companion book for 
  . . . a worldbook of absurd horror based upon the works of Lewis 
  Carroll for use with the JAGS (and JAGS2) roleplaying system.   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Jags/JAGS - Marco Chacon - Module - The Book of Knots.pdf