Historical Events and People/Oligarch Espionage

This is of historical significance in BattleMaster
Rubber Ducky and the WCC
Where	Oligarch, Old Rancagua
When	March, 1006
Who	Hireshmont, Lalakis, Paul, Lysander, Fuinur, Grig, Ragnell, Charger
Topics	Espionage, East Island History

Summary

• In Character summary by Hireshmont

Since I was the primary organizer of "Rubber Ducky", I figure I'm probably the best one to write a summary of it. Truth be told, you have to go all the way back to January of 1006 to understand Rubber Ducky, when I first arrived in Oligarch after being sent into exile from the Far East Island for religious reasons. I arrived in Oligarch during Oligarch's brief period of tyranny, when Oligarch controlled Ashforth, Westmoor, Oligarch City, and many of the rurals around there. I was very vocal about ways I thought Oligarch could be improved, strategies I though should be implemented, etc, etc. Within two or three weeks I was on the Ministry of War and the Ministry of State. Within five weeks a new message group and branch of government was created with me at it's head: the Worst Case Council (WCC). Our job was to predict and prepare for any eventuality: to plan for different future possibilities. Well, to do this we needed information. What was most probable to happen in the future? So we needed spies. Well, we got'em! Around the same time, Avamar was destroyed, and dozens of Avamarians arrived in Oligarch. Much of the Avamarian spy network connected with the new WCC, and I also sent some Avamarians to other realms. I recruited new agents, and also convinced a few Sirionites and Fontanese to turn traitor. I was a vile person. I can't take total credit, of course, I had huge help. The four biggest helpers were a man codenamed "Calendar" to protect him and his family, Lalakis (former Avamarian Prime Minister: brilliant politician, general, and expert at espionage), Lysander (Prime Minister of Oligarch who had faith in a crazy new youngster), and Paul Keithson (banker of Oligarch who was always supportive and helpful).

So then, where was I? Ah, yes, the spy network. Well, it got big. By early march we had dozens of agents, some of them region lords and council members. We had agents of varying loyalties: some were diehard Oligarchians, some it was more of a marketplace; we gave a little, they gave a little. In those days, large-scale espionage was still being pioneered to some degree, and East Island had a thriving underbelly of crime, villainy, self-interest, and roguery. We were all out for our own organizations in those days. No, the WCC wasn't the only organization: just the most public one, and probably one of the bigger ones.

Then came Charger. He was one of four proteges of mine. I can't say who the others were for security reasons even to this day, but he's one I can confess. With each student I focused on a different aspect. With one I focused on how to hunt out a spy, with one I focused on how to organize and set up a spy network, with one I did a broad course. With Charger, I focused on teaching how to organize an underground movement, control a rebel faction, win a rebellion, and, if necessary, a secession. Then, when Charger was trained and had his family account well padded, I sent him to Old Rancagua. Once there, he got to work. Over a few weeks he found three fellow rebels there: homegrown rebels, not agents of mine. My agents stood back and watched: I didn't want to risk them. Meanwhile, of course, Charger fed us orders and line settings.

Lalakis led a daring raiding party through southern Old Rancagua, looting and pillaging. OR's army marched south, and the stage was set. But let's back up a little. I organized a staged rebellion in Oligarch in which five or six of my agents faked a rebellion to give them credence when they joined Old Rancagua. Well, it backfired some. Old Rancagua's judge was too honorable, and respected the request of her neighboring Oligarchian judge. Two of our nobles were deported, one of them, who was going to be tortured, committed suicide rather than be forced to tell about Rubber Ducky. But three made it in, so Charger had 6 or 7 nobles counting himself. It would have to be enough. When OR's main army was in the south, Charger launched the rebellion. When he took control, he banned all loyal nobles and made the government a tyranny. Ashforth went rogue and Oligarch retook it. Lalakis successfully took a region, and Old Rancagua fell into chaos. Old Rancagua's economy did not fully recover until about June or July, it's culture never fully recovered. Why was Charger not still in power in June and July?

Within hours of his success, a leading Old Rancaguan named Grig started a count-rebellion. By a whisker, the battle in the capitol was won by the counter-revolutionaries. Grig became ruler of Old Rancagua. Months later, a family member of Charger, a very distant family member, returned with a cell of rebels and launched another rebellion (by this time, Oligarch was gone).

Why did we launch Rubber Ducky? Well, there are lots of reasons. Partly, Oligarch was overcrowded. Incomes were very low, we were draining our family accounts too fast. We had, basically, three realms worth of nobles: Avamar, Oligarch, and the mixed collection of Eleadorians, Coimbrans, Rancaguans, what have you. We needed to lessen the tax burden. Sending 6 nobles to overthrow Old Rancagua would slightly lessen the tax burden but, more importantly, we could ban all the nobles of Old Rancagua, and make it into a New Avamarian homeland. While that was never the 100% official stated goal, it was generall assumed that Charger would eventually turn over the reigns to Avamarians, who would assume control from Oroya. There was also talk of making Kazakh either a new realm, or giving it to Oligarch. Also, we did Rubber Ducky because we could. Just a week earlier, I had extorted a ruler for 600 gold based on some information I had. We were confident: overconfident. We were slowly losing the battles, but our spy network was growing every day. We had too much information to process sometimes. In hindsight, I should have ordered my Old Rancaguan spies to join the rebellion. I should have made it overwhelming; but I didn't. I was too confident. After Rubber Ducky, which resulted in the deaths of 3 nobles, and tarred the reputation of Oligarch, myself, and the WCC, recruitment for spies dropped off massively. Also, many of our spies abandoned us, some went double agent. Soon after Rubber Ducky, other nations tightened security. After Rubber Ducky, everything changed. The WCC never reached that height of power ever again, and it's size steadily shrank. By the fall of Oligarch, we had only about 10 active agents, three of which had to be on payroll to stay loyal.

Well, that's all I have to say about that. -Hireshmont Vellos, Former Chairman of the WCC, Last Prime Minister of Oligarch, King of Irombrozia

• In Character summery by Paul Keithson

Greetings, I am Paul Keithson. Prior to the, ah, "activities" that are chronicled here, I was a junior member of the Oligarchian Council. I served in several positions, most notably as Count and Banker. It was during my term as Banker that a certain young, brash and exceedingly intelligent man by the name of Hireshmont arrived. In the first month, he had already put forth several recommendations to the Council. At the time, I had a plan to the title of Ruler of Oligarch, however, the current Ruler, Lysander had been doing an excellent job... and there where quite a few people in the line of succession before it could get to me. So, I needed an advantage and I saw that advantage in the form of Hireshmont and his ideas. After several, exploratory meetings, I knew that with the right word in the right ear, Hireshmont would go far... and, his success could be tied to my rise.

That's not to say that Hireshmont's ideas weren't good; they where, and it was just what Oligarch needed. The mood in the realm lifted, before, it was an embattled realm, trying to survive, after Hireshmont's arrival, we became a unit, devoted to each other and liberation from Sirionite tyranny. Hireshmont was the fresh breeze we needed... and, remarkably, his plans began to get noticed! With little nudges and small deals, I arranged the introductions to Oligarch's elite, and, as they say, the rest is history.

Well, not quite. I also arranged another introduction, involving Hirshmont and my brother in the land of Beluaterra, but that's another story...

Reference Links

Oligarch/WCC - Cover organization for the perpetrators of various espionage acts

The Oligarchian Observer - Newspaper for Oligarch

6th Edition of the OO - The issue which covered Operation Rubber Ducky

The Man Behind the Madness - Hireshmont's bio

Old Rancagua's Coverage of Rubber Ducky

Bluthammer Family - Account by one Rubber Ducky agent who committed suicide rather than tell about the operation under torture