The Rook Chapter 15 – The Americans Are Coming

It’s nice to see Myfanwy starting to come to terms with her life as an officer of the Checquy and in this chapter she even seems to start feeling comfortable in her own skin. I suppose that happens when you are bombarded with non-stop activities that could be life threatening not just to you but to the entire country.

Read more if you’re not worried about spoilers…

Inchoate Thoughts

Summing up where things are…Myfanwy woke up a few days ago after having been attacked. Her memories were gone and she had no idea of the world her previous self (Thomas) lived in. This world was full of supernatural people and creatures that would blow the mind of most people…sort of a Lovecraftian nightmare, but one that Myfanwy seems to deal with pretty well.

Fortunately, her previous self helped out a bunch by providing letters and notes about the life she lived and some of the significant figures in that life. She left notes about the Checquy, a secret government agency of basically mutants, and the Grafters, their Belgian counterpart. She left dossiers of her coworkers and even details about her own powers.

The bottom line is she is a superhero mutant trying to prevent an invasion from a group of supernatural bad guys while at the same time trying to figure out who wiped her memory…oh yeah, it was one of the most powerful people in the Checquy who attacked her and she’s gotta work with them until she finds out who it is.

In any case, on to chapter 15…

Complacency

With all the events of the few, yes few, days that Myfanwy has been conscious, she’s come to a bit of complacency with regard to who she is. She’s no longer worried that someone will point out her inconsistencies at any moment and she’s started to feel comfortable with who she is. If someone has a question about her being different she’s been able to come up with something on the fly to assuage their concerns.

But one thing she hasn’t gotten used to is the rapidity that things happen in the Checquy. There’s always something new going on and usually she’s got to put out some kind of fire, oversee an interrogation, or write up a confidential briefing. Some of this is just thrown at her but others, like the documenting of the Grafters were things she took on herself.

With that in mind, we see a new crisis thrown at her in the form of the American Bishops.

Not recognizing the impact that her memo about the Belgians would have, Myfanwy had no idea that alarm bells would have gone off across the Atlantic and that the Croatoan would come looking for answers.

Croatoan

The Croatoan is pretty cool and of course there would be some kind of counter part in America for such a secretive and well established British organization…I mean the Masons surely came across with the pilgrims so why not a supernatural agency?

In any case, the Checquy showed up in America as soon as the first pilgrims set foot on the New World and they got off to the same fate as the rest of the country. Overseen by someone with powers we haven’t seen yet, the Croatoan had to work in utmost secrecy since they were surrounded by Puritans that would gladly brand them witches and burn them.

Richard Swansea was their primary liaison and while we’ve seen people with chemicals exuding from their skin pores, people who can dream walk, Richard exhibited chameleonic skin, body-part regeneration, and hypercontortionism. I think all those would be pretty beneficial to a spymaster.

American Revolution

And spies they turned out to be. While the each of the Colonies had their own ‘offices’ of the organization they all tried to stay outta the Revolutionary War but that did not stop they from taking significant casualties. When it was all over, they managed to get themselves set up with the new government and after negotiations with Martha Washington, they became some premium spies for General Washington who we all know was a Mason himself.

So it all makes sense that the Croatoan and the Checquy would work together throughout history to take care of supernatural threats. And the Grafters are one of those threats that show up on the ‘List’ which means when a memo is drafted that includes the Grafters, both agencies are made aware of it.

Retrospective

So here we are…the Americans are coming and now that Myfanwy has received her briefing from Thomas, she’s ready to go. Things just keep getting more and more interesting and the breakneck pace of things keeps ramping up the excitement.

Could the Americans be involved in her memory wipe? Or could they be in league with the Grafters? Who knows.

With someone on her own team having attacked her, I don’t think anything is off the table and now that we have 3 supernatural organizations involved, things are just getting more complex. Next thing I expect is somehow the church is involved…or the royal family.

Whatever it is, I’m sure the excitement will continue.

Web Chronicle | The Rook Chapter 15 – The Americans Are Coming