Escaping from
HM Prison Dartmoor, where he had been sentenced to serve 20 years hard labour
for his attempted bombing of the Houses of Parliament, and ably assisted by his
dastardly Siamese henchmen, the Infamous Colonel Richard Deveraux sailed to
rendezvous with his anarchist associates in Brittany before taking ship to his
remote hideaway in Newfoundland. There, he will set in motion his latest venture
to wrestle any amount of power away from the might of the British Empire, and
discredit them in front of the entire World.
Rumoured to
have served in some far-flung post of the British Empire, possibly even as a
young Lieutenant during the Abyssinian Campaign in the 1860's and an
Intelligence Officer in the Ashanti the decade after, this middle-aged man has
done more to upset the rational order of statesmanship than any war of recent
times. Of Anglo-Irish parentage, and purported to be rich from his mineral
prospecting in the interior of Australia, Deveraux has sponsored more acts of
terror against the European Powers than any other individual or force. Even the
new blossoming powers of the United States and Imperial Japan have had cause to
rue his attentions.
With his
notorious 'Les Enfant Perdus' - Deveraux's own personal forces, his 'Lost
Children', unknown in number and from many varied sources - Siamese pirates,
Tong gang members, American outlaws, East European anarchists - he has a
startling ability to recruit from anywhere, which many observers put down to
his enchanting charisma. Along with renegade European officers followed
faithfully by their specially-trained cadres, Deveraux has an amazing capacity
to field effective armed forces to attempt to achieve his nefarious goals, in
all four-corners of the World.
As for his
motivation, that has been difficult for all to pin down. Some in Western
Europe, particularly the French of the Rive-Gauche, have considered him
to be a gallant Republican fighting against the despotism of Absolute Monarchy.
Others like his German Leftish associates look to him as the First Socialist
Activist fighting for the Rights of the Common Man. Many consider him an
outright Anarchist, taking on all authority of the Old Order. The British
Government label him a Fenian from his previous exploits against them, even
upon their sacred hills and vales of England itself.
Now, free again
to exercise his criminal intellect, Ministers and Generals meet in darkened
rooms discussing how best to counter-act his next Outrage. It’s soon known that
it’s not just the British who have concerns about Deveraux, and eventually Lord
Napier obtains the Prime Minister’s consent to hold a secret conference in
Craigievar Castle, Aberdeenshire. Lord Napier himself then hand delivers
invitations to certain foreign Embassies in London, and the scene is set for the Craigievar Conference.
No comments:
Post a Comment