- The Directorship
- High Command
- Pressure Groups
- Speculation
- M. Division
- Containment
- The Quills
- The Claws
- Weird Science
- War Threads

The CLAWS

More of a cult-of-personality than a mainstream Board pressure group, the Claws are an odd mix of tribalism and brotherhood that hide themselves behind smokescreens of Sacred Mystery and secret rites.

Rather uncannily like FLEET would later, the Claws formed partly to give the appearance of being "Boardlike" - emulating the trappings of similar groups to demonstrate their total conversion to the cause - and partly so everyone involved could have a place to be Melodramatic in peace. As an established ruler in the occult underworld (and one more than willing to let mortal sorcerers invoke her, usually to their regret), DC spent millenia gathering a court of servants, minions, feudal subjects, and general hangers-on before her sudden shift in allegiance. On decamping to Earth, she brought most of them with her (Rumours in Hell sometimes say she also left a goodly-sized contingent in place, which would explain the Board's occasional knowledge of Hell's plans...).

Adjustment to the corporeal plane in general, and the Board in particular, was not easy. While some (like Flax) took to it like Speculation to a philosophy debate, others had more trouble. As Board anarchy (and a dose of good old infernal bigotry at humanity in general and deities in particular) began to erode the network, DC moved to maintain her firm grip on power by founding an enclave where "appropriate values" would be "respected".

What was actually created was a kabbalistic social club with its own handshake and secret decoder rings, emulating the fawning, treacherous circles of Hellish politics enough to keep the more snobbish demons happy. The group rapidly shrouded itself in enough layers of faux-mysticism and occult paraphernalia to keep out the Knowlessmen. Nobody ever quite noticed the rest of the Board were having too much fun snickering to try muscling their way in.

Ironically, the allure of Forbidden Lore™ has proven a very powerful propaganda tool in the Board's arsenal. Given the usual motivations mortals have for siding with the Adversary (power, money, sex...), having a group of demons on hand who won't rend one's soul in twain can be quite helpful when weaning Dark Sorcerers away from the Enemy. It's also good for parties.

For all their Infernal trappings, the Claws seem to know which side they're on (or, as they often see it, which side is currently supporting their Queen in her schemes), dramatically pledging themselves to the Goddess's service in all manner of strange and vaguely ridiculous ceremonies. They're also one of the few Board groups who actively recruit on Earth, finding the fangs-and-metal-bodice routine very effective in acquiring minions. All this would raise more than a few eyebrows at High Command...if most Boardies didn't prefer to smile, nod, and quietly sympathise. Odd attachments and obsessive behaviour are not exactly uncommon aboard the Funky Horror.

Many of those so "ensnared" have a tendency to be brown-haired young men with green eyes.

No-one mentions this in public.