Project Veilbreak

Start-class article · First seen: s04 · Last seen: s17

Project Veilbreak is the experiment that made Hugo what he is, and the wiki treats it as a programme of The Ascendancy, the organisation he works for. It is known from one recording, played to Hugo in session 4 by The Black Mask and signed Dr Flem Josenge: 140,000 candidates, a redacted injection that killed half within a day, a cellular rewrite of the survivors, and arena fights that left “a mere total of 7 candidates” [2]. Hugo’s old name was Corvin [5], and Bella is the only other survivor named in play, by Hugo alone [4]. The project has been Hugo’s backstory, the premise of his pact and the source of his handler The Wraith and his “leash”, but it has produced no scene of its own.

Overview

Project Veilbreak is the in-fiction name of the experiment that rewrote Hugo’s body, and the wiki treats it as a programme of The Ascendancy, the organisation he works for. It predates the campaign and is known from a single artefact: a recording, narrated in the clinical voice of a scientist who signs off as Dr Flem Josenge, played to Hugo in session 4 by The Black Mask while they negotiated the pact that gave him the Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks [18]. Nothing in play has shown the project itself.

In the campaign it works as Hugo’s backstory and as the premise of his pact, of his handler The Wraith, and of the “leash” that holds him. Its signature has been recognised, without being told, by Maelis Dirn and, it seems, by The Titan. The Ascendancy treats the surviving subjects as operational assets.

Known traits

  • The recording. The Black Mask handed Hugo an altered sending stone as proof that what she told him about his past was true, and he pressed its button [19]. Her proof is worth something: she says devils “cannot lie” [20]. It opens “Log 1. The first trial. The Arena of Calling. Project Veilbreak is underway.” [21], and then runs through four stages:
    • Induction. 140,000 candidates from “range of backgrounds” were collected and injected with a redacted compound, and about half died within 24 hours [2].
    • Rewrite. The survivors “glow with a shimmering light coming from the viscous fluid that has replaced their blood” and “have had their biology rewritten at a cellular level” [2].
    • Arena trials. The survivors were put into arenas with 100 other candidates and told that only one would emerge alive; “This was repeated twice, leaving a mere total of 7 candidates” [2].
    • Review. The seven went back to their enclosure while the narrator and colleagues reviewed arena footage “to scout promising candidates” [2].
  • The survivors. Seven, of whom two are named in play: Hugo, whose old name the Black Mask used in passing, Corvin [5], and Bella, whom Hugo names once as the other one “who also went through the showers with me” [4]. The DM has revealed nothing of the other five, and the wiki does not guess.
  • What it left in Hugo. Hugo does not need to breathe, has glowing veins and eyes and luminous blue blood (see Voidforged). He is also “conditioned to achieve your goal at any means necessary within reason” [22]; the Wraith can trigger the conditioning with the words “Teddy Bear. Lamp.” [23], and a flash of the word “comply” showed in a vision of his blood [16].
  • Recognition by others. Maelis Dirn told Hugo “those cowards of Project Veilbreak sent you” [24] and that she could see the project’s work on him [25], and the Titan looked at him “like he knows you” before it disappeared [26]. The Wraith addresses him as “Subject” and the DM says he gets “a vibe that this is from the project” [27]. Maelis’s relationship to the Ascendancy is unconfirmed, and the Titan’s full origin remains uncertain.
  • The chamber. A vision from Hugo’s blood showed “iron restraints, dark glass and a chamber with no clean air” [15]; the DM said it lines up with what the Black Mask told Hugo and “a little bit” with the environment of the Titan fight [17]. Where the place is has not been said.
  • Not known. The arena’s rules and any other arena in the project; what the compound is; who the lead doctor is (the Black Mask speaks of a “lead doctor” at the Ascendancy’s “very secret headquarters” [28], presumed to be Dr Flem Josenge); where Hugo’s family is, which the Black Mask offered to tell him if he finished the egg quest [29]; and how the surviving subjects are deployed.

Relationships

  • The Ascendancy: the organisation Hugo calls “the group I work for” [30] and names in session 12 [31][32]. Hugo and the Black Mask speak as if it ran the project; the DM has not said so in as many words.
  • The Wraith: Hugo’s handler, who speaks “from the project” and holds the leash [33][34].
  • The Black Mask: holds the recording and Hugo’s pact, which includes her help killing the project’s doctor [35].
  • Maelis Dirn and The Titan: the two in-world recognisers (above). The mutated humans with injection ports that the party met in the Warrens [36], probably her work, are structurally adjacent but not tied to the project.
  • Voidforged: the name for Hugo’s body type, first said in session 17.

Notable named figures

  • Hugo (Corvin): the only survivor active in play.
  • Bella: named once; the DM has not said she is one of the seven.
  • Dr Flem Josenge: the recording’s narrator.

History in the campaign

Session 4: The Still Current, the Black Mask, and Hugo’s Pact

Main article: Session 4

In a black void the Black Mask gave Hugo an altered sending stone, and its recording told of the project [37][18]. A History check gave Hugo a flash of a woman and a small girl calling “daddy”, then an arena and burning blood, but not the doctor’s name [38]. Alone with the Black Mask later, he named Bella, asked for the group’s destruction and was told “you ask too much”, then asked at least for help against “the scientist”, which the Mask granted; he offered ten years of service after the egg quest [39][35].

Session 6: Maze of the Minotaur and the Titan

Main article: Session 6

In Maelis Dirn’s desk room Hugo read notes on the Titan: a failed experiment repurposed, whose original purpose had been to enhance the being before Maelis spliced its soul into the biogloom network [40]. He relayed only the Maelis part to the party and kept the original experiment and the notes to himself [41]. In the fight a vision put him among people who looked a little like him while a giant ripped an elf apart [7], and Maelis told him she could see the project’s work on him [25].

Session 7: Maelis Falls, Vasquez Captured

Main article: Session 7

When the last node fell the Titan turned on Maelis, pounded her to mist, and took one last look at Hugo, “like he knows you”, before disappearing [42]. That night a woman in a dark alley called him “Subject”, asked for a “Status report” on the Titan, and said the project had worries about “their leash weakening on you”; Hugo said his pull felt as strong as ever, and the DM ruled that true [33]. Hugo reckoned he would lose a fight with her: they were about equal, but “the project seems to put more effort into developing the Wraith” [43].

Session 12: Eldwythe and the Candy Cottage

Main article: Session 12

On watch, Hugo called the Black Mask through the ring and offered to be her eternal champion, if she would help him corrupt the Wraith and offer her the souls of the Ascendancy [44]. She declined: she takes souls through contracts, and the signer must want to sign [45]. She suggested he break into the “very secret headquarters”, find the lead doctor and learn how the mind control works [28], and said that if he got one of his allies to sign over their soul, “I’ll give you what you want”, naming Vasquez [46].

Session 17: New Hands, the Black Mask’s Renegotiation, and the Rimeclaw

Main article: Session 17

Hugo’s race was named Voidforged [12]. Mike’s Investigation saw glowing veins and eyes [13], and Hugo told him, “I am the result of some form of experiment. And that I’m one of a few survivors.” [14]. Mike’s Detect Magic on a vial of Hugo’s blood gave a vision of a chamber and a flash of “comply” [47]; the DM said it lined up with what the Black Mask had told him [48]. When Hugo reminded the Black Mask that part of the deal was help destroying the Ascendancy, she said, “Fine I’ll crush your little ascendancy” [49].

Status

As of session 23. The project is finished and off-screen. Hugo is its only survivor active in play, and the Black Mask undid the conditioning the Wraith re-applied in session 19 [50]. The project and its recording have not come up since session 19; no scene has shown the chamber, the other survivors, Bella or the doctor.

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 4, line 1312-1322: Project Veilbreak recording played by the Black Mask; the Project doctor named at end of recording.
  2. ^ Session 4, line 1322: Recording specifies 140,000 candidates, viscous-fluid blood replacement, biology rewritten at a cellular level, 7 surviving candidates.
  3. ^ Session 4, line 1332: Hugo's flashed memory of a woman and a small girl in pigtails saying 'daddy daddy see what I found'.
  4. ^ Session 4, line 1664: Bella named by Hugo in pact-renegotiation as "the other one with me ... who also went through the showers with me".
  5. ^ Session 4, line 1670: Black Mask names Hugo as 'Corvin'.
  6. ^ Session 6, line 1226-1231: Maelis's notes on the Titan, a failed experiment repurposed; Hugo relays only the Maelis part and keeps the original experiment and the notes to himself.
  7. ^ Session 6, line 2036: In a vision Hugo fights among people who look a little like him as a giant rips an elf apart.
  8. ^ Session 6, line 2538-2540: Maelis Dirn says she can see the project's work on Hugo.
  9. ^ Session 7, line 612-615: The Titan looks at Hugo before disappearing forever; recognition implied.
  10. ^ Session 7, line 999-1014: The Wraith's night-time visit to Hugo ("very very real", s7 L1000) as "Subject"; "leash weakening" warning.
  11. ^ Session 12, line 194-237: Hugo names 'the Ascendancy' to the Black Mask; the Mask offers ally-conversion in exchange for help with the leash.
  12. ^ Session 17, line 622: The race of the Project Veilbreak survivors is first named at the table (Voidforged).
  13. ^ Session 17, line 666: First in-fiction visual reveal of Voidforged biology (glowing veins under the skin, faintly glowing eyes, greyish-pale skin).
  14. ^ Session 17, line 1431: Hugo voluntarily confirms to Mike, "I am the result of some form of experiment. And that I'm one of a few survivors".
  15. ^ Session 17, line 1483: Detect Magic blood-vision (iron restraints, dark glass, chamber with no clean air; blood "a living conduit" storing "stress, poison, pain, violence").
  16. ^ Session 17, line 1485: "Comply" whisper observed during the blood-vision ritual. Suggests Hugo's conditioning or leash may still be active or leaving magical residue. Exact status unknown..
  17. ^ Session 17, line 1494-1496: The DM says the blood-vision lines up with what the Black Mask told Hugo and "a little bit" with the environment of the Titan fight.
  18. ^ Session 4, line 1288-1322: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 4, line 1282-1296: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 4, line 1212: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 4, line 1312: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 19, line 467: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 19, line 449: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 6, line 2412: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 6, line 2538-2539: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 7, line 615: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 7, line 1006-1008: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 12, line 207: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 4, line 1268: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 4, line 1254: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 12, line 194: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 12, line 202: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 7, line 1006-1014: Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 19, line 443-449: Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 4, line 1702: Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 6, line 181-185: Inline citation.
  37. ^ Session 4, line 1154: Inline citation.
  38. ^ Session 4, line 1332-1338: Inline citation.
  39. ^ Session 4, line 1664-1676: Inline citation.
  40. ^ Session 6, line 1226-1230: Inline citation.
  41. ^ Session 6, line 1231: Inline citation.
  42. ^ Session 7, line 610-615: Inline citation.
  43. ^ Session 7, line 1087-1088: Inline citation.
  44. ^ Session 12, line 192-194: Inline citation.
  45. ^ Session 12, line 197-201: Inline citation.
  46. ^ Session 12, line 221-223: Inline citation.
  47. ^ Session 17, line 1483-1485: Inline citation.
  48. ^ Session 17, line 1494: Inline citation.
  49. ^ Session 17, line 716-717: Inline citation.
  50. ^ Session 19, line 449-455: Inline citation.