The Wanderers

The Wanderers are a group of historians and scholars who would eventually growing into one of the most important and secret operation organizations on Boreal.

## History of Operations

Starting in the year **753 A.B.** (3903 SOL) the Wanderers began as a group of elite scholars and researchers. A collection of some of the brightest minds of Boreal, they sought to protect their knowledge and history after experiencing the cycles of destruction that were an ingrained part of their home world. They also began to explore the Library, seeking unknown wisdom within its vast labyrinth of hexagonal galleries and near infinite books.

After spending several years combing through the books in proximity to their way portal, and finding very little of use or even comprehensible. They began to establish a more concrete base of operations in the Library, recruiting hundreds of members, academics and military personnel alike, to carve out a fortress in this sea of books.

### Early Operations

From 753 A.B. to the outbreak of the Pox Echo on Boreal in 905 A.B. the Library operated as primarily a research facility. Considered an exiled mecca to those seeking to escape the plague and conflicts of their world and dedicate themselves to discovery and learning.

At a time when invading races were pouring from the underground and kingdoms were splitting into warring nation-states, the scholars of the Library knew that the history of their world was vulnerable. Thanks to the fall of seventy years of chaos and darkness that struck the world every eight-hundred years much of their past had already been forgotten. They decided to organize, militarize, and save their history and their people by securing and containing the things that went bump in the night.

From powerful relics of the past to the monsters who preyed on the innocent the library would do all they could to secure these threats and protect them off-world. By 939 A.B. the library served an important role in ending the Coward's War and began to gain the trust and confidence of the powers of the world. Often working for or on behalf of these powers in an above-the-law clandestine sort of manner. They became known as Wanderers.

The massive organizational overhaul of 915 A.B. expanded the library into three major fields: Academics, Field Operations, and Administration.

## Main Operators

#### Library Staff

Members who mostly work at the main base in the Library, they are responsible for the security, containment, and protection of the creatures, relics, and other wonders kept at the facility.

#### **Caretaker (Containment Specialist)**

Caretakers have two main roles at the Library. Firstly, caretakers are called upon to respond to confirmed cases of anomalous activity to secure and establish initial containment over anomalous objects, entities, or phenomena and transport them to the nearest containment hex.

Additionally, caretakers are called upon to devise, refine, and maintain containment hexes and schemes for objects, entities, and phenomena in the facility that would otherwise be problematic to contain.

#### **Scholar (Researcher)**

Scholars are the academic branch of the Library, drawn from the ranks of the smartest and most intuitive minds from around Boreal. The have specialists in every field imaginable, from alchemy and botany to more esoteric or specialized fields suck as theoretical cleromancy or xenobiology. Their goal overall is to gain a better understanding of the unexplained anomalies and how they operate.

#### **Shepherd (Security Officers)**

On-site protectors of personnel and the assets of the Library, often referred to simply as guards. They are trained from an early age to navigate the strange labyrinthine hexagon galleries of the Library and are taught to prioritize the different ranks and values of both the personnel and the treasures within the facility.

These personnel are also responsible for information security, such as making sure that sensitive documents are not misplaced and that the facility's information networks are secure. They are often the first line of defense against hostile outside forces and are the ones the higher ranked members call upon when they need a memory erased from a compromised intern.

### Field Personnel

#### **Ranger (Field Operative)**

Rangers are the eyes and ears of the Library, they are trained to look for and investigate signs on anomalous activity, often undercover with local or regional law enforcement or embedded in local services such as emergency medical services and regulatory organizations. As undercover units, field agents are typically not equipped to deal with confirmed cases of anomalous activity; once such an incident has been confirmed and isolated, field agents will typically call for assistance from the nearest Courier team with the means to safely secure and transport such anomalies.

#### **Courier (Mobile Task Force Operative)**

Specialist units comprised of veteran field personnel drawn from all over the Library. These couriers are mobilized to deal with threats of a specific nature that can include anything from field researchers specializing in a particular type of anomaly to heavily armed combat units tasked to secure certain types of hostile entities.

#### **Fletcher (Research and Development)**

Part field operative, part lab researcher and inventor. Fletchers are trained to work with whatever resources they have available to them and encouraged to improvise. Their main purpose is to support Shepherds in the field and to gather information for Scholars and Curators, often tasked with secret side missions or objectives by higher ranking members of the Wanderers.

### Administration

#### **Curator (Director)**

Curators for major Library facilities are the highest-ranking personnel at that location are are responsible for the continued, safe operation of the site and all of its contained anomalies, relics, and/or projects. All major departmental heads report directly to the Curator, who in turn reports to the Twelve Verdicts.

#### **Verdicts (OV Council Members)**

The Twelve Verdicts refers to the committee consisting of the highest-ranking directors of the Wanderers. With complete access to all information regarding anomalies in containment, the Verdicts oversees all Library operations worldwide and directs its long-term strategic plans. Due to the sensitivity of their positions, the Verdicts must not come into direct contact with any anomalous object, creature, relic, or other phenomenon. Furthermore, the identities of all Twelve Verdicts is classified; all council members are referred to only by their code names. *OV1, OV5, OV12, etc*

## Modern Operations

By the around 1273 A.B. (4423 SOL) the Wanderers had evolved from a retreat for scholars and a small organization of collectors and information gatherers to the largest, most important and covert organizations in all of Boreal. They continued their focus on containment and protection of the world's anomalies (creatures, relics, wonders); However the Library expanded its base of operations to a staggering large area, mostly to house the thousands upon thousands of anomalies stored in the 750 years since the founding of the Wanderers.

### New Departments

In the late 1250's A.B. the Wanderers made an effort to both modernize and begin to dedicate themselves towards preparation against the impeding doom they alone on the surface had begun to see. The Library invested new resources in their main departments, with all the original departments being greatly expanded and many new departments being added thanks to the rise of civil engineering and industrialization:

#### **Accounting**

The Accounting Department are responsible for keeping financial accounts for damages done during operations or to the Library from exterior forces. They also are responsible for the overall economy of the Wanderers and manage the funds and spellshards allocated to each member.

#### **Archives**

The Archives Department, unlike the Scholars who add and maintain the Codex, the archives department is more about the traditional paperwork and filings that go along with running a massive undercover operation. They are responsible for documenting the surface level operations of the Wanderers.

#### **Alchemical Department**

Creates and releases the fumes and chemicals that are often used in the Wanderers rituals or experiments, responsible for major strides forward in non-magical chemistry.

#### **Communications**

Often known as the "Operators", they are responsible for connecting and establishing communications between the different departments and rankings of the Wanderers. They also act as a sort of public relations in the rare situation that they need to contact more traditional organizations on Boreal.

#### **Custodial**

Often considered the most important of the new departments, it is also said they are the most likely to know information above their pay grade. These cleaners and general workers of the Library are often hand selected by Curators on recruiting missions, seeking individuals who will be able to keep to themselves while getting their work done in areas filled with sensitive information. The screening process was brutal, but the pay was insane.

#### **Demolition**

The Demolitions Department are responsible for destroying evidence of large scale Wanderer operations and when necessary in sabotaging or staging warfare against enemies, most commonly the other wandering races of the ancient Library. Overall this is one of the smallest departments, usually employing less than a dozen workers.

#### **Engineering**

The Engineering Department is one of the newer areas that has received the largest amount of funding and recruitment. Responsible for the mechanical improvements of the Library and the new weapons carried by field operatives. They are also responsible for supplying the flow of energy throughout the facilities.

#### **Internal Affairs** (Human Resources)

Mostly existing as a facade, the nature of the work environment in the Library was that of a "anyone is disposable" attitude. It is understood by this time that the Wanderers work for a greater good and that at anytime an individual may have to be eliminated to preserve information that would otherwise fall into the wrong hands.

Despite all of this, every now and then some strange individual the Wanderers can't quite find a proper fit for will end up behind the desk of Internal Affairs. Other than gathering information about their agents, overall the Wanderers pay very little attention to Internal Affairs.

#### **Internal Logistics**

The Internal Logistics Department are responsible for transporting resources of all types all over the Library. Though most of their time is spent transporting building materials to the ever expending territory of hexagonal chambers, they also assist other departments in the transport of supplies needed to continue operatations.

#### **Kitchen Staff**

Originally the Library had provided enough nourishment and energy between the magical energy of its endless books but also with small chambers connected to the hallways between galleries. However, as the Library expanded and many hexagon chambers were reworked to house several different purposes the importance of more traditional mess halls and cafeteria systems became clear. Kitchen staff members are kept mostly isolated from members of other departments and are discouraged from interacting with other members.

#### **Maintenance**

The Maintenance Department works alongside Custodial in making sure everything from the light bulbs to the lodestones are in tip-top shape. They are often seen making their rounds daily in the same cluster of hexagons and become familiar with the workers in those departments.

#### **Medical**

One of three major departments focused on the condition and care of members of the Wanderers, the Medical Department employs some of the greatest traditional doctors and Cleromancers in all of Boreal. If this department has been commanded by the Verdicts to keep an agent alive, they will find a way to do so, one way or another.

#### **Quarantine**

The second of the condition departments, the Quarantine Department works alongside the Medical and Psychology departments to ensure that agents do not pose danger to themselves or others while dealing with the many high risk anomalies held at the Library. Due to the number of chambers required to properly quarantine a large variety of anomalies or afflicted agents the Quarantine is the largest new department.

#### **Psychology**

The third and final of the condition departments, the Psychology Department exist to try and soothe the fragile minds of those dealing with numerous horrors stored within the Library and to extract information from the experiences of these broken agents. They also acted as arbiters of if lower ranking members should be quarantined, eliminated, or allowed to resume their post.

#### **Research and Development**

Serving as a main operations for the Fletchers who formerly spent most of their time on the road alongside other field operatives. Many of these Fletchers have become too old to continue operating in the field, yet still have much to create and give to the Library. R&D also housed a large series of containment chambers for conducting dangerous experiments or testing new weapons or technologies.

#### **Menagerie**

Acting as a zoology research center for the many bizarre creatures found on Boreal that are rapidly going extinct on the dying world, the menagerie also serves as a temporary containment center for newly capture entities from around the Library and beyond. These entities occupy an ever expanding cone of hexagons that are constantly being remodeled to occupy the many strange creatures that are being housed within. Giving the entity the most ideal environment, given the circumstances.

## Operation Departments

Embracing the architecture of the hexagonal galleries that made up this dimension the early engineers of the Wanderers built their Library in six major department. This six-directional model was expanded upon forming the massive modern structure today.

* **Security (Library)** - Spread throughout the entire facility they serve as security and maintenance for all operations.
	+ Internal Logistics
	+ Custodial
	+ Maintenance
* **Containment (Library)** - Mostly comprised of a vast network of containment hexes eighteen floors deep.
	+ Quarantine
	+ Menageries
* **Storage (Library)** - Narrower than its Containment neighbor, this area houses inert anomalies and ancient relics.
	+ Expansion Bay A
	+ Expansion Bay B
* **Barracks (Library)** - The largest accessible section, contains living quarters as well as training and medical facilities.
	+ Demolitions
	+ Kitchen Staff
	+ Medical
	+ Psychology
* **Research (Library)** - Secluded storage of secret knowledge and new research developments.
	+ Archives
	+ Alchemical Department
	+ Engineering
	+ Research & Development
* **Administration (Library)** - Thought to be the tallest section of the facility, extremely restricted beyond first floors.
	+ Accounting
	+ Communications
	+ Internal Affairs

## Security and Protocol

With the introduction of so many new members of staff and a huge expansion to the work space of the Library new protocols were introduced following the introduction of these new departments. Levels of security clearance were added, with entire sections of the Library being closed off to those who lacked the property clearance level. Furthermore, personnel received certain classifications designating their importance to the Wanderers and their overall role in their cause. The personnel's classification would play a major role in how they were treated by the Shepherds and others during times of emergency.

#### **Clearance**

##### **Level 0 (For Official Use Only)**

Level 0 security clearances are given to non-essential personnel with no need to access information regarding anomalous objects, entities, or any recorded data the Library may contain. Level 0 access is typically held by personnel in non-secured clerical, logistic, or janitorial positions at facilities with no access to operational data. This clearance is the most common among members of the newly added departments.

##### **Level 1 (Confidential)**

Level 1 security clearances are given to personnel working in proximity to but with no direct, indirect, or informational access to anomalous objects or entities in containment. Level 1 security clearances are typically granted to personnel working in clerical, logistics, or janitorial positions at facilities with containment capability or otherwise must handle sensitive information.

##### **Level 2 (Restricted)**

Level 2 security clearances are given to security and research personnel that require direct access to information regarding anomalous objects and entities in containment. Most Scholars, Rangers, and Caretakers and Couriers hold a Level 2 security clearance.

##### **Level 3 (Secret)**

Level 3 security clearances are given to senior security and research personnel that require in-depth data regarding the source, recovery circumstances, and long-term planning for anomalous objects and entities in containment. Most senior Scholars, Curators, Shepherds, Couriers, and Rangers hold a Level 3 clearance.

##### **Level 4 (Top Secret)**

Level 4 security clearances are given to senior adminstration that requrie access to site-wide and/or regional intelligence as well as long-term strategic data regarding the Wanderers operations and research projects. Level 4 security clearances are typically only held by Curators, High Shepherds, and members being groomed to become Verdicts.

##### **Level 5 (Verdict)**

Level 5 security clearances are given to the highest-ranking administrative personnel within the Wanderers and grant effectively unlimited access to all strategic and otherwise sensitive data. Level 5 security clearances are typically only granted to the Twelve Verdicts and selected staff.

#### **Classifications**

##### **Class A**

Class A personnel are those deemed essential to the Wanderers strategic operations, and are not allowed direct access to anomalies under any circumstances. When circumstances require Class A personnel to be in direct proximity to such anomalies (such as in the case of facilities housing containment hexagons), Class A personnel are not allowed access to the areas of the facility containing such anomalies and are to be kept in secured areas at all times. In the case of an emergency, Class A personnel are to be immediately evacuated to a designated and secure off-site location. The Twelve Verdicts are always Class A personnel.

##### **Class B**

Class B personnel are those deemed essential to local Library operations, and may only be granted access to objects, entities, and anomalies that have passed quarantine and have been cleared of any potential mind-altering effects or memetic agents. In the event of a containment breach or hostile action against a Library facility, Class B personnel are to be evacuated to a designated, secure off-site location as soon as possible.

##### **Class C**

Class C personnel are personnel with direct access to most anomalies not deemed strictly hostile or dangerous. Class C personnel that have had direct contact with potentially mind-affecting or memetic properties may be subjected to mandatory quarantine and psychiatric evaluation as deemed necessary by security personnel. In the event of a containment breach or hostile action against a Library facility, non-combatant Class C personnel are to either report to secure lock-down areas or evacuated at the discretion of on-site security personnel in the case of a site-wide breach or other catastrophic event.

##### **Class D**

Class D personnel are expendable personnel used to handle extremely hazardous anomalies and are not allowed to come into contact with Class A or Class B personnel. Class D personnel are typically drawn worldwide from the ranks of prison inmates convicted of violent crimes, especially those on death row. In times of duress, Protocol 12 may be enacted, which allows recruitment from other sources — such as political prisoners, refugee populations, and other civilian sources — that can be transferred into Library custody under plausibly deniable circumstances. Class D personnel are to be given regular mandatory psychiatric evaluations and are to be administered an amnestic of at least Class B strength or terminated at the end of the month at the discretion of on-site security or medical staff. In the event of a catastrophic site event, Class D personnel are to be terminated immediately except as deemed necessary by on-site security personnel.

##### **Class E**

Class E is a provisional classification applied to field agents and containment personnel that have been exposed to potentially dangerous effects during the course of securing and establishing initial containment over a newly-designated anomalous object, entity, or phenomenon. Class E personnel are to be quarantined as soon as possible, monitored, and screened for potentially harmful changes in behavior, personality, or physiology, and may only return to duty after being fully debriefed and cleared by psychiatric and medical staff.

## Timeline

* **718 A.B.** (3903 SOL):
	+ Roden scholars near what would eventually become the great city Dirigidale create the Codex, ushering the world into a new era of communication and information. This surge of collective knowledge aligned Boreal with the Plane of Cognition, otherwise known as the Wanderer's Library.
	+ Quickly realizing the potential of this new plane of endless knowledge a committee of the world's scholars come together to form The Wanderers, pledging an oath to dedicate themselves to the preservation of their world's knowledge and history while pursuing new truths found in the Library.
* **753 A.B.** (3903 SOL):
	+ A few decades after its discovery the Wanderers have established a safe base of operations on both sides of the way portal. Eventually they encounter the first sign of other life in the library. At first, rats. Tons of them. But for some reason only in certain hexagons. After that they meet the small one-eyed Homunculus creatures and manage to befriend them.
* **756 A.B.** (3906 SOL):
	+ It becomes clear that the Library has an long and ancient past. As the Wanderer's begin to explore and chart thousand and thousands of hexagons, they discover entire hexagons destroyed and rebuilt for some unknown use from a long dead wanderer of the library. They also found several clusters of hexagons where the books had been burned, their ashes in a pile near the center of each gallery.
	+ For the first time since arriving in the Library conflict breaks out between the Wanderers and several cultist caught in the middle of a burning ritual. The cultists all die, with the last few taking their own life. New security measures are put in place around the Way Portal and structures are built around the Wanderers perimeter.
* **767 A.B.** (3917 SOL):
	+ Taking over sixty years of endless search by thousands of Boreal scholars, each looking through nearly a million books before they retiring, discover a book of knowledge in a sea of gibberish. Though only three of the pages were coherent to the intern scholars who found it, those few pages were enough to unlock the secrets of how to allow those within the library to travel to a different timeline.
	+ Documents indicate that this technique was only used once by the interns who discovered it, after that is was stored in an unknown containment hex somewhere in the facility, CLASSIFIED.

* **905 A.B.** (4055 SOL):
	+ By the time the Pox Echo broke out and the city of Dirigidale had fallen, the Wanderer's were all but forgotten by the common folk of Boreal.
* **939 A.B.** (4093 SOL):
	+ The Wanderers reappear to help bring an end to the Coward's War, gaining the trust of most of the world's powers.
* **1010 A.B.** (4162 SOL):
	+ A massive containment breach and the theft of secret information is experienced by the Wanderers, including information on time travel and on technology that would lead to the launching of the Fifteen Colonies two years later.
* **1261 A.B.** (4411 SOL):
	+ A roden researcher, utilizing the help of the Wanderer's Codex, finally discovers a cure to the Pox Echo after the disease has devastated the surface races for over 350 years.
* **1388 A.B.** (4423 SOL):
	+ The events of the Wanderer's Library (*campaign setting*) take place.
* **1394 A.B.** (4535 SOL):
	+ The Wanderers play a key role in the war against the Primals prior to the Sixth Balance, notably defeating the Primals Aeo and Lyrea.
* **1400 A.B.** (4550 SOL):
	+ As the world again grew dark during the Sixth Balance, the dark lords of the Great Below known as the Gargoliths rose from beneath the surface of the world. As the portal shut the scholars saw in horror a final glimpse of their home up in flames.
	+ Desperate following the rise of the gargoliths, the Wanderers decide to use the Prismatic Way for the first time since it was discovered. Sending multiple groups to new timelines, gathering information about how to best save Boreal, even if it wasn't their Boreal.
* **1500 A.B.** (4720 SOL):
	+ Within a century following the Sixth Balance and the rise of the gargoliths the Wanderer's were a broken shell of their former self. A small group of resistance fighters operated on Boreal known as The Hidden Library but the Wanderer's themselves in the Library were scattered and disorganized. By next balance the Wanderer's would no longer operate, their containment hexes pillaged or burned.