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Eberstark Unions

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Hennie looked back to the corpse, studied it, and then turned her attention back to Charlie.
"I'm sorry," she said, blinking and shaking her head before continuing, "A what, now?"
"A Draugr, Hennie. They are undead, brought back after dying at sea." Charlie replied, rubbing his temples at whatever response she could muster this time. At first she squinted, as if some realization had sparked in her mind, then she simply smiled.
"You have a gift of imagination." she said in a cheerful, almost demeaning tone. She shook her head and laughed, taking a look at the corpse and laughing harder.

" I think we should be serious, someone is dead after all." Charlie began with a sigh, "I'll notify a union immediately."
   
In Chicago you will find an office building. It's not the tallest structure in the city, but it's worth as much as they are. The side of the building has a built-in electronic screen marquee rolling a script with kind friendly letters in a column: "Eberstark Law."

The inside of the building is sleek, modern, and beyond expensive. No expense was spared when choosing the building materials used and anything that was placed inside. The building hides many secrets, some of them are hidden even from its owner.

Eberstark Law firm began as a humble operation of Hennie Eberstark, who quickly grew to become one of the most successful lawyers in the nation. The woman appears in Forbes Magazine numerous times out of the year, she has done so well she has to hire others just to keep track of her "legal Empire" and she is unknowingly the head of the youngest organization in The Web.

Unity

The Unity Division of Eberstark Law is responsible for compiling teams that handle various operations throughout The Web. These teams are gathered by hand selecting members of other organizations, flying them to Chicago to meet one another, and are given missions until their contract is up.

It is the belief of Eberstark Law that the only way to properly handle any operation in The Web with the least amount of damage possible is to divide resources among the organizations involved and not be separate in the first place. They negotiate contracts with other organizations, usually paying a handsome sum of money to the organization to hire their members.

Any and all organizations classified as parts of the web can be hired, and through their shared resources they have been able to do things with a smaller number of members than an organization has had trouble doing with their entire membership.


Fun Fact: The Woman In Yellow

Hennie Eberstark is in her thirties, smart, and oblivious. Regardless of her outfit, there is always something that is an alarming shade of yellow. It could be a hat, an undershirt, or maybe a wristwatch. She runs the secretive side of the organization without even realizing she is doing so, leaving most elements of her business to her assistant, Charlie. Charlie is the true head of the organization as far as The Web is concerned. Hennie is someone who is resistant to The Candlelight. She is neither curious about the truth nor does she even realize there is a truth to be curious about.

The woman has been in many encounters with monsters as well as The Web's many members, and every time an incident happens, she compartmentalizes it. She does this so well, she may as well have forgotten the incident ever occurred. It is astounding just how far the mind is willing to go to remain ignorant. She remembers events differently, if she remembers them at all. Hennie maintains great skepticism of the occult and conspiracy theories, despite coming face to face with the truth constantly.

How are the teams chosen?

Teams are chosen based on personality profiles and their skill sets, though the latter is often more important. There is consideration given to how well the members of each union will adapt and work together, and it is rare for a team to have members with conflicting ethics, personalities, and quirks.

They are given no call sign nor do they have any other way of identifying individual teams. They are simply referred to as "union" if they have a handler at Eberstark Law working with them. The goal of Eberstark is to create a well-rounded team that accounts for physical strength, martial prowess, arcane talent, guile, and knowledge.

Eberstark does all it can to maintain this balance, and in doing so, creates a team that can tackle any problem they encounter on their many operations.

The Contract


To join a union, a potential member, is brought to Chicago where they will undergo various screenings including psychological evaluations, physical examinations, and stress tests. If these screenings are passed, they will attend a meeting with other potential members of their union. If the members who attend this meeting find that working with one another is acceptable, a contract will be written up with the following parameters:


  • Each member of the Union must remain with the union for 6 months, after which they may either extend their contract on a month-by-month basis or return to their original organization.
 
  • Each member of the Union must be in good standing with their parent organization and other organizations in the web. This particular section of the contract is lengthy and discusses various things that are and are not allowed. It is often referred to as the "No Black Sheep" clause. Anyone who wants to join must go through an extensive background check that dips into The Web in its entirety.
 
  • All members of all unions are required to participate. Over the course of their contract, each member must take part in "The Practical Minimum" number of operations, meaning that each member must constantly work unless otherwise detained by reasonable activities including long operations or recovery if injured during an operation.

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Comments

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Dec 17, 2019 01:56 by Grace Gittel Lewis

I love the idea of Hennie unknowingly running this group, and even pushing encounters from her memory. Also the yellow is a nice touch— almost makes me want to start doing something similar with my outfits...

Dec 17, 2019 07:31 by R. Dylon Elder

Hennie is loosely based on the only RPG character I remember perfectly. It was the player's first RPG and she nailed it, plus every time she had to make a check for insanity, she passed... and this went on for months. So I made it a super power and hilarity ensued. She was solving Lovecraftian story lines without even acknowledging she saw something scary. I decided to create a character based on that idea, and every character needs a quirk, though yellow is not a favorite of mine XD Thanks for the like and comment. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Dec 18, 2019 14:54 by Ava S. Jones

It’s interesting how she’s able to encounter something and just forget about it, it must be awkward to work with her, and it must be awkward for her to work with the group

Dec 18, 2019 16:58 by R. Dylon Elder

Oooo thanks for comment! Generally, hennie doesn't work with the unions. I mean how often do you see your ceo at your job? On the few occasions where she does, yes... It's extremely awkward. She lives in a perpetual state of denial. Something that's not listed here that I have saved for her actual character article is how many people in the Weber kind of jealous of her cuz she can operate in it without even knowing it. It's kind of a weird feeling wondering whether or not it's better to know or not.

Dec 18, 2019 17:47 by Ava S. Jones

Ah, fair enough.

Feb 12, 2020 16:33

Maybe just pretend you're trying to plan out a theoretical DnD problem whenever she stumbles into one of your meetings. She might even be helpful!   As a side note, it might be interesting to have an eldritch creature plant a parasite or electronic device on her person so they can spy on the organization...

Feb 12, 2020 16:35

So it's basically an excuse to build an adventuring party from various different factions.   Does Eberstark law ever take actual legal cases?

Feb 12, 2020 17:59 by R. Dylon Elder

That's their function in game, definitely, but it also has a world function as well. The unions were an idea that came about as people noticed changes in what they hunt. Imagine a monster that has a weakness, culture is full of them. Imagine that you encountered many and killed them, then suddenly one doesn't die from a silver bullet to the brain. The unions allow for organization to band together resources.   Yupppp, Hennie takes cases all the time. Most of what is connected to The Web is hidden from Hennie. She barely understands what is really going on if at all. So yeah, they also assist in cases involving web members, they will step in for Legal Counsel if needed

Feb 22, 2020 03:37 by Morgan Biscup

Would I be correct in assuming they are part of the Chiron Group? ;)   Hennie sounds like she will be tons of fun to write about.

Lead Author of Vazdimet.
Necromancy is a Wholesome Science.
Feb 22, 2020 08:03 by R. Dylon Elder

They are! Arguably the most impactful of the Chiron group, in fact.   Also, Hennie is such fun to write with/about. Coming up with just how someone can ratiknalize and twist what they see is something I don't see often, and the results can sometimes be hilarious.

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