The Greatest Game

What is there to gain when you have it all?

For most people, wealth and political success is the goal of a lifetime. The few who manage to reach this grand objective suddenly feel empty, stripped of their purpose. Here at the summit, the world looks so small, like a globe on a string so easily cut off. It is only then that they notice the others, standing alongside them, or even further above. Hundreds, thousands of equally successful men and women. They had to compete against fierce opponents to get there, did things that they feel monstrous for.

And yet, they can't forget this taste. The one they felt when they finally got rid of a tough foe, ruined a competitor or won an election against all odds. This was the moment they truly felt alive, with their lives on the line. But now, none of the riff-raff below would dare to challenge them.

Not by need, but for the addicting thrill of it, they turn their gaze to their peers, eyes throwing daggers as they make their first steps into the Greatest Game of them all.

Origins

The first players of the Greatest Game have never been unveiled as such. Some guess they were simply billionaires at the top of their game looking for a new thrill, others that they are the arbiters of the Game, untouchable overseers laughing at the puppets playing in their hands. This is unlikely to be true, as history showed that no one, not even the most powerful, are safe from a lethal loss.

Last one standing

The objective of the Game is obscure even to the most seasoned players. With no clear win condition, one can only speculate. The commonly accepted hypothesis is that once the Game is reduced to a single player, then they would have nobody to stand against them and thus inherit the world. And then? Rebuild it in their image, retire comfortably or instigate a new Game? Either way, it is very unlikely that it will ever happen, considering the carefulness of most players and their renewal. If anything, the number of people involved grows faster than it dwindles.

The Law is absolute

There is only one unbreakable law in the Game: secrecy is paramount. Nobody must ever know that a player is playing, or that the Game exist at all. Even worse, having their faction leaked is synonym of a swift but not painless death. As the core principle of the Game is to unveil the other participant's affiliations, this secret must be treasured and kept even from trusted friends.

Woe betide the fool who tries to voluntarily disclose the secrets of the Game to the public. Then, everyone would be out for their neck, even their own faction. It isn't unheard of, but never ended well for the whistleblower. The Game, however, endures.

Keep the change

Rules of the Game

The Greatest Game may have only one law, but it has countless rules, some unspoken, most temporary. The strong gets to make them, and the meek and feeble have no choice but to abide by them. However, the battlefield is ever-changing and no rule is set in stone. As the players are all among the most influential, rich and powerful people in the world, the demise of any one ripples far enough to transform the Game entirely.

What's more, the cards are drawn again with every new player and, paradoxically, an accidental death causes more turmoil than an assassination. When everyone's plans are disturbed at once, there is no one ready to reap the benefits. To an outsider, the Game may seem stale, but the oldest players have seen the meta change so many times they stopped keeping track and go along whatever earthquake shake up the high spheres of influence.

Spoils of war

This is a game. The players don't stand to gain money or even influence. They play to win, to vanquish their enemies and survive the thrill of assassination. Furthermore, it would be thoughtless to seize the public asset of a rival just after their unfortunate sailing accident. Way to expose yourself to their friends and faction who would swiftly put a target on your head.

Rather, the seasoned player will try to take over their networks and undercover activities. The lesser known, the better. This hardly go public, and a few targeted gifts are often worth more than billions. Some hedonists only take solace in the sight of their adversary being destroyed, without caring about the material gains in the slightest.

Notable factions

The Owl Syndicate

An elusive organisation, the Syndicate became known for mass recruiting newcomers to the game. While the extent of its resources are a mystery, as is often the case in the Game, it possesses more than enough to sustain the loss of dozens of players. It is believed that a tight core of players are behind the whole faction, but their real goal is unknown.

47

Considered as a real threat to the Game, 47 is not like any faction. This group of world-class hackers, presumably 47, invited itself and took down several figures just to make a name for themselves. No one knows how they got to know the greatest secret of the elites, but they are willing to play by the rules, for now.

Eminence

At the cutting edge of innovation, Eminence is a top group when it comes to research and technology. Attracting like-minded scientists and progressivists, they are almost always the first to make the breakthroughs in these fields. While the identity of many of their players is suspected, they are in a relative safety as the group is mostly neutral, and many of Eminence's gadgets end up in the hands of others, voluntarily or not.

Notorious player

As players have to stay discreet to even live, any name appearing here will swiftly be crossed off.