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| Structure of the Order |
Reading the Keeper's Compendium, we find out that the Order of the Sword of St. Jerome is said to be commanded by a monk living somewhere in an Alpine monastery. If we use St. Michael here in the Susa Valley - as discussed in another document in this collection - the guy's probably a Dominican or a Rosminian, even if the structure was originally part of the Benedectine network.
All these orders are perfect for the job - their rules are based on hard work and study, they share a history of library building and preservations (Benedectines), active faith support (Dominicans) and teaching (Rosminians).
As described in another document in this collection, St. Jerome never had a sword in the proper sense.
The iconography sometimes portais him beating his breast with a stone, and the stone as a symbol of the whole Order is a suitably metaphoric icon: it's humble and unassuming, zen-like in its semplicity - the ideal monk's device - and yet it can be used as an offensive tool - it's just a matter of knowledge; it carries no signs or writings or crests of any type, and therefore it pays no allegiance to wordly powers.
It would not be surprising should it be discovered that Order members and "friendlies" carry a small river pebble - possibly of the distinctive Val Susa blue-green serpentine stone - as a charm/identification symbol.
The Order of the Sword of St. Jerome is - if we are to believe the Compendium - the Religious equivalent of Delta Green: a former legit structure, later disbanded and keeping in activity against orders.
This clandestine situation influences the structure of the Order that, countrary to lawful orders, can't keep schools and train its own, and can't get any form of funding through the official channels.
St. Jerome not having a school of its own, it has to head-hunt suitable candidates wherever they spring up. We have already discussed the fact that the hardcore of the Order should be formed by Benedctine, Dominican or Rosminian fathers.
The
Rosminian Ascetic Order was founded in the Ossola region
(Piedmont/Lombardy, on the Italian-Swiss border) in 1828 (they were approved
by the Vatican in 1839). The Rosminian Rule emphasizes "passivity", and is
also one of the few Rules that allow members a form of private propriety.
They are also bound to provide _any_ kind of service required by the local
Bishop. The Rosminian order is quite active in Italy and in England - where
it promoted a return to Christianity - and has missions in Ireland, North
America and Africa. Rosminian Schools are often seen as the thinking man's
alternative to Jesuit schools.
The
Dominican Order deserves quite a few books by itself. They
were founded in 1215, on a Rule emphasizing poverty and dedication, as a
means to fight heresy (and the Cathar heresy in particular). Later they were
given the responsibility for handling the Inquisition - their black and white
uniform becoming a distinctive sign. They spread as missionaries to the whole
known world. Their schools formed characters of the calibre of St. Thomas
Aquinas. The rule has been substantially the same this last 700-odd years.
The Benedectine order - the term is not proper, as they act as a
confederation of monasteries - is most famous for its book-preserving activity
during the Dark Ages and today for its continuous activity preserving and
restoring ancient tomes. Founded in 529, they underwent various transformations
and changes - the most recent being the one imposed by pope Leon in 1893,
that brought back to Rome the control of the structure. The order was given
a missionary characterization by Pope Pius XI and is today present worldwide
with Monasteries, Priories and Colleges.
I've been unable to trace recent data about the number of fathers in these orders.
Data from the early 70s are
Dominican - 8000 members
Rosminian - 800+ members
Considering the expansion of the orders and the contraction of the vocations, these figures are probably close to the current ones.
A 1% partecipation to the St. Jerome conspiracy would mean about 90 guys, plus all the others head-hunted in other orders.
The number is more than sufficient, considering that in my working hypothesis the Order is just the administrative head and archive of a larger setup.
The funding issue is more controversial, but here the Rosminian might come in handy, with their allowance for private propriety.
The matter should be investigated further.
The two main activities of St. Jerome - according to the scant sources available - are data gathering and the coordination of field operations.
About data gathering, all we know is
a . the Order had (has?) access to the Vatican Library Z Collection
b . the Order has a secret base in the Alps (possibly already identified) and
c . such base should hold a collection of Mythos related books (inference).
It is reasonable to imagine that at least part of the Z Collection material was duplicated by the Order in its heyday, chiefly for security purposes - the Z Coll books can't be checked out, and yet Order operatives needed a handy reference in their activities.
Part of the work of the order this last 100 years might as well have been the painstaking reconstruction of the no-longer accessible Z Collection tomes by collation and cross-referencing of notes, partial copies and such.
No wonder the guys are supposed to be half mad (more on book-handling later).
To this patchy but fascinating collection, we can add any other book or artefact recovered since the official disbanding of the Order.
The coordination of field operations will be covered more extensively when I'll touch upon the Executive arm (the Knights) and the Friendlies (the Longa Manus).
Here we can postulate a central decision-making organism - based in the Monastery - and local area administrators, probably attached to legit institutions in administrative or teaching positions.
Considering the level of hazard that comes mantaining and studying a Mythos library, a way must be devised to (relatively) protect the sanity of the students while keeping study a practical activity.
This is not the Miskatonic Library we are dealing with, ot the Z Coll, where the lone student of uncanny stuff goes once in his lifetime to have his mind messed up big time, but where otherwise the books rest in the lonely darkness of their shelves. We are dealing with the foundamental tool of the Order: a knowledge database. Having the researchers go mental all of a sudden is bad for business (and Delta Green should know - read the history book).
| The
Father Librarian
Skills:
|
Monastic tradition offers a handy tactic, at least where Major Tomes - the real Sanity Blockbusters - are concerned. By comparison with the Necronomicon, the scribblings of Edward Derby are lightweight and can be handled by the lower ranks.
A single father adopts a single tome, devoting his life to the study, transcription or translation or research of the same, and to the training of his successors.
When facing the Mythos, the Fathers Librarians can simply gather around a table and brainstorm over the latest field report, passing the photos and the pretzels around the table as they talk it over.
While sitting in on one of these sessions would surely be an experience worth remembering, the overall loss of SAN of this practice is probably gentler than the one suffered by a single researcher cross-referencing a handful of major tomes.
Sure, the old boys are pretty rattled, but still have a relative grip on reality.
Their Faith possibly shields them from the worst losses.
Each Father Librarian will most likely be around 60 - this is a logical assumption considering the time spent as a religious and/or as a friendly before being recruited, the training time, and the time spent to achieve a good knowledge of the Tome he has been given. The study has to be slow to dilute as much as possible the shocking value of the text.
Also, any friar worth his salt would spend in prayer about twice the time spent reading the Necronomicon, after each sitting.
The FL are probably residents of the Secret Base and do not see any active fieldwork.
Each father librarian is assisted by two trainees, the senior and the junior - the former being the proper pupil, while the later works more as a common assistant and possibly being shared among two or more Librarians.
The trainees have the double duty of assisting the father while learning from him, and keeping an eye on the old bird should he start babbling about summoning great Shub-Wankalot.
| Gaming
Notes
|
The athmosphere of veiled distrust is a taste of what's to come, and the guys develop quite a bit of experience at judging character (hence the psichology rating of the Librarian).
In some instances, trainees can be former friendlies that proved their worth and knowledge on the field. The practice of promoting field operatives to the post of Librarian is probably frowned upon by the hard-liners, as a field operative has probably seen enough not to stay focused on a single tome/subject.
The trainees reside at the Monastery for periods of time, and are granted a certain mobility that the Librarian lacks. In this sense they can be useful appendages of the father in his data gathering activity - even if friendlies should be employed in this function.
When the Librarian joins the Good Sheperd, the senior trainee is given the position, while with time the junior, after a thorough debriefing, will be sent back in the world as area coordinator or given a job as a consultant to the Knights. Two new trainees are appointed.
The systems therefore grants a continuous study of the Mythos, and sees also to the technical training of both specialist librarians and generic members of the order.
| What
about the Stage?
Are these Knights of St. Jerome the same featured there? More data are available in the Miscellaneous Page. |
The iconiography of St. Jerome includes a tamed lion, as a symbol of restrained, or controlled strenght. The Lion is an apt crest for the Knights of St. Jerome, those that face the Mythos in the wide world. It must not be confused with St. Mark's Lion, which is winged and often found in the Mediterranean area as it was the symbol of Venice.
| The
Bull of Pope Pius V
An important document in the history of the Order and of the Knights in particular is the Bull written (or at least signed) by Pope Pius V (later St. Pius) and dated Winter 1571. This document grants a complete absolution to Order members that, having committed mortal sins in what we'd call "the line of duty" are slain by the opposition or otherwise die without the confort of a confessor. A copy of the Bull (known as Diiudicata controversia from the first line in the document), together with a few other embarassing documents, is held in the Vatican Library Z Collection. Another copy is certainly conserved in the Monastery. |
The Knights are those full-time members of the order that operate in the world to collect data and to react - or coordinate reaction - wherever the Mythos surfaces.
The term "Knights", therefore, must not give any false impression: while it is true that this branch of the Order does include military trained personnel (see later), this is not an exclusively fighting entity.
For the Order, an old tome secured in the Monastery (and no longer at large with the power of corrupting human souls) is a battle won against the forces of darkness.
Some thought must also go to the Mythos/Satan connection.
The Order is clearly informing the Mythos into Christian orthodoxy, and therefore its members place much more stock in the power of prayer than the average Mythos investigator. While this somehow makes the members of the Order more resilient to SAN loss, it can lead to extremely unpleasant consequences.
No data are available at the moment about the original Knights of Our Lord, the original noble guard charged with the security of the Pope and disbanded in 1801
Currently, the Vatican employs two military units for its security purposes.
the Pope's Honour Guard - created by pope Pius VII in 1801 as a
replacement
for the aforementioned Knights, this military unit has also operated under
the denomination of Guardia Nobile del Corpo di Nostro Signore
(Our Lord's
Noble Bodyguard), and Noble Pontifical Guards. The first duty of the Honour
Guard is the protection of the Pope in all circumstances (religious ceremonies
excepted). No accurate number is available for this unit, but it is traditionally
composed by the cadet sons of the first noble families in Rome.
The Honour Guard does not supply the Order with manpower - the members are generally considered too unreliable. It is on the other hand possible that the Order infiltrated the unit as a way to keep an eye on the Pope.
The Pontifical Swiss Guard - officially formed in 1505 by pope Giulio
II (but the practice of employing Swiss mercenaries dates from the early
14th century), the corp counted a fer hundreds of men till the reformation
of the service in 1914, and later reductions in 1959. Their duty includes
the guarding of the gates of the vatican City and the security service in
the Pope's antechambers.
The official setup of the force is: 4 commanding officers, 23 non-commissioned officers, 2 drummers and 70 guards.
Pope Paul VI further unofficially reduced the force in the late 60s of an unaccounted-for 25 units - 25 trained men (one commanding officer, 4 noncommissioned officers and 20 troopers) that are still in the official regulations of the force but do not serve in the Vatican City.
This brings us to
The Missing 25
| Twentyfiver
Skills
The basic equipment when on Guard duty at the Monastery includes a Beretta 92 Centurion, a Steir SC-70 and a straight bladed, cross-hilted fighting knife (doubles as a bayonet). No uniform or insigna are allowed. Twentifivers acting as bodyguards carry a sidearm of choice and possibly a backup weapon. Field Units are provided disposable weapons through local channels for high profile operations. Note that Field Units are the ultimate resort of the Order, and are deployed in exceptional cases in which the menace is extreme and the survival margin minimum. |
Actually recorded as "reserve" for administrative purposes - the Twentyfivers act as the armed force of the Order of St. Jerome. In the last 30 years the effective number of men thus employed has fluctuated freely over and under 25. While normally recruited through the same channels that bring the Swiss Guard in Rome, the Missing 25 are doing without all of the ritualistic elements of their legit counterparts, opting for a profile that is as low as possible.
Note that this element can play - and in fact did play through the Order history - a significant role in the psychological makeup of the 25; to compensate the lack of visible prestige that defending the Head of the Church clearly give to his Guard, the Missing generally emphasize their role as elite force doing the Lord's bidding - a dangerous attitude indeed.
Their service is considered - rightly - stressful to say the least: it features all the restrictions and hardships of the regular Swiss Guard service, plus all the contingent problems that a delta Green operative can easily imagine.
While candidates are screened for obvious unbalances before being offered a position, the strong self-image, copled with all theother sources of stress, can bring some of these men close to the edge. While not cliched religious fanatics, fanatism can be a professional hazard for the guys.
Duties of the corp include
Guarding the Monastery - 5 men are regularly stationed at the Monastery,
rotating on three weeks tours of duty.
Escorting Field Operatives - depending on the gravity of the situation
and
mission, a maximum of three men can be detached to act as bodyguards for
externally operating Order members (see following section)
Ultimate Response - in extreme cases, a maximum of ten men can be given
carte blanche in Mythos sensitive operations (see later).
The sheer value of a small corp of dedicated, trained men that are also full fledged members of the conspiracy cannot be stressed enough - even if all Twentyfivers are ready to sacrifice their lives for their ideal, the loss of each of them is a grave loss to the Order.
A ten-men team with a support team of three or four Pilgrims plus a few assorted friendlies is the kind of strenght that the Order would put in the field facing something like Innsmouth.
It is not surprising at this point that little or no account of the Missing 25 activities are available.
With the term Pilgrim is generally indicated a full member of the order that operates outside of the Monastery.
The name comes from the fact that the guys go where the Order sends them.
The number of Pilgrims is comparatively small - less than fifty individuals is a reasonable guess.
The role of Pilgrims is generally that of area coordinators; their contact with the Mythos is not commonplace, as they can act through a wide network of (largely unknowing) friendlies.
Friendly handling and data discrimination are therefore the main duties of the Pilgrim, so that a single man can take care of a relatively large area.
Should a friendly unheart some kind of important fact, data or activity, the Pilgrim's course is generally:
assessing the situation
informing the Monastery
follow up the facts in person unless different orders are issued
The final aim is to determine the nature of the threat, cauterizing it as fast as possible (more on this later) while acquiring all the documentary material available.
The suggested
templates are for Order
Pilgrim Knights are
with the compulsory addition (or enhancement) of the following skills . R/W/S Latin and two other languages
plus the opportune Mythos rating. |
In other words, Pilgrims are not exclusively desk-bound burocrats, even if the bulk of their job is handled from behind a desk. Typical positions for St. Jerome Pilgrims are: university or seminary teachers, members of the Bishop's staff, coordinator for humanitarian organizations, consultants with publishing houses or media agencies, spiritual counselors to well placed characters.
While on field mission, Pilgrims are allowed to carry a sidearm - generally a hold-out gun handled at the basic level.
Shoukld the situation require it, Pilgrims are allowed to ask for support, in the form of more specialized researchers or troops.
Both requests are generally frowned upon: the Pilgrim should be authoritatively placed enough in the local community to be able to avail himself of local support without attracting undue suspicion.
In terms of troops, a single Twentyfiver is generally considered enough to handle normal cultist occurrences: the Order line of action in this sense is simply assessing the cult's activity, collecting data and then fixing things so that the local outhorities, once informed, will take care of the problem without coming in contact with Mythos evidence.
St. Jerome carries a skull and an hourglass in his iconography - while Longa Manus does not have any kind of symbol, both are significative tokens; for a LM operative, the outlook is grim and the hours are numbered.
"Longa manus" both means "long arm" and "cat's paw".
The Longa Manus project is part of a renovation plan brought to the Order by one of its latest and most active members - former Salesian priest and maverick father Ludovico Sabatini - and redesigns the traditional friendlies community.
The Longa Manus men and women are _not_ Order members. They are not into the details of the conspiracy, they do not know about the structure organization or background, they are not entitled to any kind of support or protection apart from those that are given to the operation - in other words, St. Jerome supports and protects _the mission_, not the operatives.
They can be employed as scouts and explorers, low-sensitivity data retrievers, observers, correspondents, baits and decoys.
Longa Manus operatives are alone.
Their part-time job does not entitle them to a symbol, a weapon or a pension plan.
Only God will look after his own.
The range of talents available to the Order is enormous: from academical staff contacted through catholic Universities to criminals scouted by prison chaplains (themselves unknowing friendlis), any kind of service can be obtained.
The group operates through a network of innocuous looking favours exchanged, University or privately-funded research projects, small cohercitions and - rarely - mercenary services.
A distinction is probably in order at this point, between plain friendlies and proper Longa Manus operatives.
For all practical purposes, with the term "friendly" will be labelled a contact or source of information of the order whose involvement with the Mythos is minimal, and whose role is chiefly passive. They are connected with the Order Area Coordinator, pass their informations along to him and act (if ever) upon his instructuions (see below).
Friendlies are the passive sensors of the Order - the ones that pick up the curious factoid, the weird news bit or the uncanny confession, and report it back (to a pen friend, to a regular chess adversary, to a direct superior, to the confessor).
Friendlies are seldom if ever required to play an active role in an Operation; they could be asked, as a small personal favour, to hold for a few days a box of hardware that two young German-accented guys will pick up, or to fix two rooms in a small hotel and a rental car for a friend of a friend that's passing through, but nothing more.
The actual number of Order friendlies cannot be guessed at, nor can be guessed their placing and position.
This is theoreticaly a low risk job.
| The
Longa Manus ambiguity
The Order Hard-liners might be right in fearing the Longa Manus as a possible danger for the Order objectives - even if they are looking at the wrong side of the matter when their criticize the father's personal involvement with his men. Sabatini's policy - while highly effective - is drawing close to the Order people that are overall too good for their own sake. A modern, independent outlook, coupled with a modern religious sensibility and with an abundant free hand when handling operations, means that for the first time the Order does not have direct control over its pawns. And should LM ops get a clear picture of the Orders ways, aims and methods, they'd probably object to the way the old monks are handling the situation. This liability as not yet been taken into account. |
To qualify for the Longa Manus tag, a friendly has to see active service and survive, and be available for another go. Note that the actual Mythos knowledge of a friendly should not be more than a smattering, a vague awareness that not all is what it seems, but little else.
Many years of trial and error have shown the Order that the ideal set-up for a first-line investigative team is a two-men unit, a character with the right academical background and another with more mundane skills, including the ability to fight back.
While Area Coordinators are constantly on the look-out for prospect Longa Manus recruits, the testing of the operatives and the final decision rests on the Monastery, and on father Sabatini in particular - the same that will impart orders on LM teams in time of need.
On some occasions, the father likes to meet and personally assess the prospect ops, an attitude that is generally seen as a liability by the Order hard-liners - an ostile force might follow the network from the LM ops, through Sabatini, up to the Order.
According to the memoranum sent to Area Coordinators, the ideal LM man (or woman) should possess the following characteristics
a
curious mind
an
open attitude towards the world in general
a varied culture independent of the academical background ("we do not
want monomaniacs")
an
active will to work for the betterment of humanity
a positive attitude towards the works of the Church
As it will be seen later, not all operatives stick to this "blue-eye" attitude - Sabatini is more than willing to forget insubordination, criticism or personal initiative when the payback is positive (and when the operatives are the only ones in line to pay should their attitude bring forth disaster).
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