Chroniclers

The **Chroniclers** were an ancient and secretive order of mortal humans dedicated to observing and recording the activities of Immortals, particularly those participating in the Game. They are fully aware of the rules of the Game, but are sworn never to interfere. Once the Game has been won, after which they believe there will be no more Immortals, they intend to reveal the secret history of the competition to the world.

Members of the organization all bear a tattoo of the order's emblem on the inside of their wrist. However, they keep the existence of their organization a secret even to the Immortals they observe. Only a handful of Immortals have ever learned of their existence.

## History

The first Chronicler was Ammaletu the Akkadian, who had witnessed the Immortal Gilgamesh return to life after being felled in battle in roughly 2,000 BCE -- centuries after his reign over Uruk. However, even as others began chronicling the activities of other Immortals, it would not become a formal order for many centuries.

In 904 BCE, Methos overheard a conversation concerning other Immortals with whom he was aware. He infiltrated the fledgling organization, and became largely responsible for its evolution from that point on. During this time he met and married one of the Chroniclers, a woman named Ruth.

Because Methos was hiding his identity as an Immortal from the Chroniclers, he often had to depart from the organization. However, in the 16th century, he met and befriended his own Chronicler -- something very much forbidden by the order. However, as Methos was the only Immortal who had identified his own Chronicler and since he was innately familiar with the organization, it was quite simple to keep the matter secret.

During the 1980's, James Horton had been assigned to observe the Kurgan. Afterwards, he formed the opinion that Immortals were monsters and abominations that needed to be eradicated. He formed a cabal of hunters within the Chroniclers dedicated to hunting and killing Immortals.

## Structure

The Chroniclers were led by a council which was known as the Tribunal. Members of the Tribunal were selected for the length of time they had served and their dedication to the cause. They were not elected. Below the Tribunal, there were regional leaders who acted as the command structure for Chroniclers in the field.

Outside of the organization's leadership, the organization assigned field operatives to observe known Immortals. Traditionally, one Chronicler would be assigned to one Immortal. These assignments would be based on both the skill and ability of the Chronicler to remain hidden and keep secrets, as well as the "difficulty" of the assignment -- determined by the Immortals morality and how peaceful they may or may not generally be. Within the field there were also Special Operatives who were on call to assist with any difficult situations that might arise.

Other Chroniclers, those not necessarily cut out for field work but with an aptitude for linguistics or digging into history would be given Research tasks. The purpose of this was to dig into archives and records and attempt to fill in any history of Immortals that may not yet have been recorded. Particularly ancient Immortals required a lot of additional research -- though these assignments were considered non-urgent and one researcher may have been assigned to multiple Immortals. Methos, under his guise as Adam Pierson, managed to be assigned the job of researching himself which allowed him to further manipulate and confuse his record.

## Source

The Chroniclers are derived from *Highlander*.