Secret Greeting/Handshake

“Well. Hello there. I’m Ambassador Tukufu. Can I … help you?”

… What are the odds?

The secret society subforums are among the quietest corners of the Forum. Not a lot gets posted here. Too Deep and Harlequin sometimes check in. IC that would be Kavaris and Kelb….

Tukufu smiles a small smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll be happy to help anyway I can. But these are rough days for scholars in the First City. I hope you will be willing and able to help us in turn.”

“Its rough days for the Emerald Society in the First City. Tukufu repeats. The so called Master Kirnen of Plexus shot us in both feet by initiating the disaster that ultimately killed the Total Khan’s wife. Then Kirnen compounded his error with misadventure in Dar Zan Vor. I don’t usually speak ill of the dead … but that man has hurt the society badly in the First City. Our reputation is in the gutter.

“While Vitus Linos val Sheem is a deep thinker and a well regarded scholar, I believe our “leader” has failed as an administrator. He has not been hands on. And his current self imposed exile with Gen. Hector Tensen-Balin is partisan. I like and respect General Hector Tensen-Balin, but by hiding out in Fort Macha and serving the General as an ad hoc advisor, our leader is both showing a partisan interest in Coryan and ignoring the administrative duties to members of the Emerald Society in the First City.

“Fair or not, I feel we are currently adrift as an organization. I would be happier with improved leadership.

“I believe those members of the Society still active in the First City have several duties….ONE: I believe our first priority is mutual protection. We have to assume that the Jail of the Phoenix and our other rivals will try to exploit our position of weakness. I would in their shoes. The Azure Way and the Emerald Society mostly have an understanding with each other. The Jail plays more roughly. We have to be defensive minded and make sure that any members are or feel threatened are protected. TWO we need to continue efforts that are underway. Or find an orderly way to wrap up activities that are no longer viable. THREE If it can be done discretely without disrupting the first two missions, I believe we have a duty to do what we can to illuminate the Prophesies of the Coming of the Destroyer to the best of our ability and FOUR make sure that foreign lodges are kept abreast of developments here.

“Whatever you can contribute on those fronts Sigismund will be greatly appreciated…”

Sigismund, I am Kavaris, I too was present at the Vault of Larissa and thus we probably met in passing, but since I am not sure when else we may have met let me say Hello. As for your initial question about identification, obviously we try to meet at known ES locations and get to know, or know of each other without needing secret identifiers. Many people wear emerald colored jewelry of some type usually indicative of potential membership, like a brooch of a book with emeralds or a ring, but since just wearing Emerald jewelry isn’t unique to the society that is just a clue, not a confirmation of membership. There are pass phrases and responses, that can be used in such cases, but those can be tortured from people, so they are always suspect. Mostly we know of each other by work throughout the society. If you suspect someone, you might use a passcode to “confirm” but you don’t really share anything until you have a chance to cautiously share notes. When you find that they worked with professor Tarkin on his dig in Cancari, and you know your friend worked on said dig as well, you can ask him about your friend to confirm his story, and only then do you truly believe he is a member of the society. We really are more of a fraternity than a spy organization.

All that goes out the window if a contact has been arranged, of course. If someone sends the message they need help or something, then obviously when the help arrives there are arrangements made for identification that can be down right spy-like, but that isn’t the norm.

As for the state of the ES in the First City, I’ve been doing what I can to empty our warehouse here and transport it to other Society locations in the known lands where I can only imagine it will be safer than in the First City. No matter what happens, bad things are coming to the First City in the near future, and it seems a bad time to be storing our treasures here. Add to it the number of unidentified relics and the apparent desire of “the destroyer” to possess the keys of man, and I think the idea of moving everything we might have as far from this person’s (Whomever they may be) reach as possible is the wisest course.

While Vitus Linos val Sheem has failed as the appointed leader of the ES, I hesitate to call him our leader, for I don’t know many ES members in the First City who wouldn’t defer to Tukufu. Though sadly Tukufu’s wandering ways have necessitated the appointment of an… administrator like Vitos. And while Vitos has been negligent, his absence has allowed me to sponsor the removal of many object to other facilities. Obviously, though, our warehouse here is such that what I can remove and transport safely on my own is only a small portion of the whole, and it would take formal backing of the Society to truly empty our facility and relocate it and the people who study here to safer locations.

“You know, I’ve always thought you would do well chained to the leadership desk Kavaris…”

“More seriously, given my ongoing personal problems with a certain “noose wearing” weasel, I am not in a good position to take on additional responsibilities at this time. Frustratingly there was an … incident … that leads me to suspect and fear that he has Litera Scripta Manet staked out by his assassin acolytes at least some of the time. Bringing his hostile attention to the Emerald Society as a whole is a very bad idea.”

Or maybe we should bring in some of our trouble shooters and hire some murder hobos to take him out and show people they shouldn’t mess with respected members of the Emerald Society. Man, that would be a great module to write, though I doubt Henry would let us kill him that way.