Incentivos, medidas de fomento y beneficios

The world’s law enforce- ment organizations, including UNTIL and PRIMUS, know that a council leads VIPER, though reports in their files put the number of members at anywhere between nine and 50 (since the Council itself works hard to conceal information about its true size and nature). Since 1992, they have kept track of rumors and other information about the rise of the “Supreme Serpent.” While some scholars maintain the Serpent is a ruse, a figurehead concocted by the High Serpents to support their policies, the orga- nization’s increased level of activity and efficiency since 1992 makes most police agencies believe the Supreme Serpent is real.

Law enforcement’s chief theory about the Council Of Thirty is that it consists of the most powerful and influential Nest Leaders from around the world. The agencies believe the Council runs the organi- zation by majority vote or some other easily- verified method; other- wise it would become too cumbersome. Some experts suspect the truth, or have at least theorized about it, but since no one has ever come close to capturing a member of the Coun- cil (or even one of their top assistants), all these suppositions remain just that — supposition.

following at “fluent conversation” level: English, French, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Span- ish, Swahili).

50+ Disadvantages: Distinctive Features (Mark of Nama on her inner left wrist); Hunted (Watched by the Supreme Serpent); Psychological Limita- tion: Egotistical And Vain; Psychological Limita- tion: Ruthlessly Powerhungry; Social Limitation: Famous; Rivalry (Professional, other members of the Council Of Thirty), Rivalry (Professional, busi- ness competitors).

Notes: If necessary, you can equip the Duchess with just about any device or other resource she needs, though she despises combat and would almost cer- tainly surrender before fighting.

SENATOR ARTHUR BOLTON

Senator Arthur Bolton, D-NY, and one of the United States Senate’s most prominent members, also belongs to the Council Of Thirty (having been elected to it in the early 1980s to replace a member who died). He serves as the de facto leader of VIPER’s Political Division (see below).

Now in his fourth term, Senator Bolton enjoys a high popularity rating among not only his con- stituents, but the American public in general (due in part to the machinations of VIPER). Despite coming from one of the country’s wealthiest fami- lies, he seems to have a knack for knowing how to talk to everyday people and assuage their concerns even when he can’t satisfy them completely. With his telegenic, MacArthur-esque good looks, he’s become a darling of the media, and frequently appears on the evening news to speak in favor of his positions.

As a member of the Foreign Affairs and Para- normal Affairs committees of the Senate, Bolton is in an excellent position to manipulate various gov- ernments on VIPER’s behalf. He can exert influence over both PRIMUS and UNTIL, slashing their bud- gets or giving them additional responsibilities to distract them from the war on VIPER. His control of the foreign aid purse-strings has many a nation in his debt and willing to do whatever he asks to ensure that American dollars continue to flow into VIPER’s coffers.

ROGER ESSEC

Now in his seventies, Roger Essec is the son of Edgar Essec, the Supreme Serpent — though one would think it the reverse, judging by their appear- ances. Nevertheless, Roger is scarcely less evil than his father. He absorbed his father’s hateful philoso- phies and emphasis on “superiority” throughout childhood, and embraced them wholly. As the descendant of a member of the Unholy Order and the leader of a powerful family business (Transvaal Resources, Inc.), he was a natural to join the Thirty Founders.

To the world at large, Roger Essec seems noth- ing more than an extremely prosperous South African businessman with a large family (including a son, Richard, who belongs to VIPER and works in his father’s “Nest” [really more of an office]). Although he stridently opposed the ending of apart- heid, Roger has made the best of the new realities as he manages Transvaal Resources. He remains a pow- erful force in southern African business.

Roger suffers from a rare, and incurable, form of cancer. Although his doctors say he still has several years left, he’s beginning to feel the effects. He has sought VIPER’s help, but VIPER physicians have had no success devising a cure. As his time nears, Roger’s efforts to locate a cure may become more frantic.

MARCUS CHURCHWARD

Born in 1921 to a Brooklyn bricklayer and his wife, Marcus Churchward was trouble almost from day one. Although smart enough to get straight As if he wanted, he usually skipped school and was constantly in danger of flunking out. When not on the run from the truant officer, he was fleeing from the local beat cop after stealing candy from stores.

The 1938 Nazi experiments that created the first superhumans led to the awakening of latent superpowers in Churchward — but unlike Don Randall, he chose not to devote his powers to the betterment of humanity. Throughout the war years, Churchward used his powers to become a success- ful and wealthy thief and blackmailer. Tiring of the potential danger of that career, he plowed his money into investments and soon became a skilled, and even wealthier, financier.

Churchward soon discovered an interesting “side effect” of his powers. Apparently every time he teleports he somehow breaks down and re- assembles his entire atomic structure. As a result, he renews and rejuvenates all the cells in his body. Not only does this allow him to heal injuries with great

speed, it effectively makes him immortal — the cel- lular damage ordinary people accumulate through aging has never affected him. To keep anyone outside VIPER from discovering his teleportation powers, in the early 1990s he faked his death and stepped to the head of Churchward Financial Ser- vices as his “son,” Marcus Jr.

Since his grandfather had belonged to the Unholy Order, Churchward got an invitation to become one of the Thirty Founders in 1954. He joined gladly, having no scruples against criminal activities and seeing in VIPER a mechanism by which he could become ever more rich and power- ful. He maintains a Nest in the New York City area, though he conceals his identity from his underlings and does not commit crimes himself or accompany them on missions.

Churchward has carefully kept the secret of his teleportation powers from the rest of the Coun- cil — they know of his longevity, but that’s all. He figures they’re an “ace in the hole” should a rival within VIPER ever threaten his life.

MARCUS CHURCHWARD

10 STR 14 DEX 13 CON 12 BODY 18 INT 15 EGO 20 PRE 10 COM 6 PD 8 ED 4 SPD 8 REC 35 END 30 STUN

Abilities: Teleportation 10,” Defensive Teleporta- tion (+3 DCV, Costs Endurance), Healing BODY 4d6 (Regeneration, 4 BODY per Turn, limited to the number of times Churchward has used his Teleportation power in the past Turn), Life Support (Longevity: Immortality), VIPER Membership Perk, Money (Filthy Rich, owner of Churchward Financial Services), Bureaucratics 13-, Conversa- tion 13-, KS: The Business World 15-, KS: High Finance 16-, KS: Stamp Collecting 14-, Persuasion 13-, PS: Sailing 11-.

50+ Disadvantages: Distinctive Features (Mark of Nama on his inner left wrist); Hunted (Watched by the Supreme Serpent); Psychological Limitation: Greedy; Rivalry (Professional, other members of the Council Of Thirty), Rivalry (Professional, busi- ness competitors).

Notes: Marcus Churchward (or “Marcus Church- ward, Jr.” as he’s now known) is over 80 but looks like he’s in his mid-20s. He has blonde hair, blue eyes, and the build of a man who spends an hour or two exercising every day. His hobbies include yachting, skirtchasing, and stamp collecting. AKIRO YAMAMOTO

One of the newest members of the Council — he replaced a former member whom the Supreme Serpent killed for not supporting his takeover of VIPER — Akiro Yamamoto first joined VIPER as a young man in the 1970s. While seeming to all the world as nothing more than the head of the power- ful and prosperous Yamamoto Electrics, he was in fact a member of VIPER’s Financial Division.

Thanks to Yamamoto’s deft manipulation of VIPER’s financial assets in the Far East, VIPER has become much more powerful in that part of the

world over the past 25 years. Yamamoto’s successes brought him to the Council’s attention, and it put his name on the “short list” to fill the vacancy left by the death of Marjorie Holcomb. Although not pleased with the idea of elevating an Asiatic to the Thirty, the Supreme Serpent could not deny Yama- moto’s record of achievement, and chose him.

Yamamoto has thrived as he helped VIPER thrive; his own fortune, and that of Yamamoto Electrics, has increased enormously due to his involvement with the criminal organization. Many of his competitors in Japan openly suspect him of membership in VIPER, though no one can prove anything and Yamamoto won a 1999 defamation suit against a rival who dared to take his suspicions to the press.

For Yamamoto, membership in VIPER is a family affair. His son Tadataka is the Nest Leader of one of the Tokyo Nests, and his daughter Ishimaki works with him in the Financial Division. His wife, though disapproving of the whole affair, keeps quiet.

THE DIVISIONS