Vanguard

“They also serve who only stand and wait” could be the unofficial motto of the Vanguard, an organization with tremendous potential and resources that has lost its way. Founded by the famous adventurer Thomas “Doc” Prophet in the post-World War II era, Vanguard original did considerable work, quietly and behind the scenes. Funded by Doc Prophet’s fortune and guided by his brilliance, they hunted escaped Nazis and dealt with the after-effects of the wartime experiments of the Axis powers. They helped to contain the threat of Communism in Asia and Eastern Europe, and began building a storehouse of valuable knowledge, priceless artifacts, and dangerous secrets.
Eventually, even Doc Prophet succumbed to mortality, leaving Vanguard run by a council of his trusted lieutenants. They recruited others and continued their work, as the world became an even more complex place, threatened by forces both from without and from within. The Vanguard Council held on to the simpler and, to their minds, purer and more essential, values of a bygone time. They also held to the idea of keeping their work secret, protecting the world from itself in many regards.
It was a desire to both give the world hope and to recapture some of what they felt was lost that led Vanguard to begin “Project: Victor” to create a genetic heir to the Prophet legacy. That succeeded in the birth of Victor Prophet. Unfortunately, while the Vanguard raised and trained Victor in secret and continued to deepen the moats safeguarding them from the outside world, time marched on and that world continued to change. The “dark age” they predicted and feared gave way to a newfound age of heroism and Vanguard found itself increasingly isolated, hesitant, and irrelevant. Because of this, Victor broke with the place and people who had been the only home, the only family, he ever knew, striking out on his own.
Now Vanguard is at a crossroads. The Vanguard Council represents decades of experience. Their field agents, while fewer, are some of the best trained and skilled in the world, their resources are considerable, and just a handful of the things stored in the secret “Area V” (or “Area Five”) warehouse, staffed by the so-called “AV Club,” could shake the foundations of the world. Whether Vanguard will ultimately be a force for good, for ill—or any sort of force at all—remains to be seen.

Type

Secret, Brotherhood