Pressure Groups

    D&M, D&B, SMART, MANTIS...Boardies have been dichotomous and schism-happy for a very long time, endlessly forming cliques and political parties to lobby for their version of the Grand Plan to be implemented, and although the Goddess could just tell them which one She's using, She prefers to let a thousand silly minds blossom. Some suspect She takes notes.

Whatever cause they champion, from the shadowy Claws to the fanatical Margaret Defence League, they give the Boardies a political realm to play in alongside the world below...and some say, provide a valuable outlet for energies that would otherwise be played across the globe like a high-octane blowtorch. A few, such as the internal-security-oriented Quills, even attain a degree of legitimacy in the command structure...and everyone knows that even FLEET started at this level, once.

The constant infighting thus created is kept polite and in check by entites such as the Quills, although the arguments rapidly heat up when resources or equipment are at stake, and duel challenges are not unheard of to settle the occasional matter of honour. Of course, few Boardies argue such semantics when Evil is breathing down their necks...although there was at least one grudge match between two heavyweights that ignored all else, much to their cost.

The greatest argument in the history of the Board came over poor Dave's love life, of all things, and saw possibly the only time in history that a pair of political parties have become nuclear powers. D&M and D&B lobbies battled, both literally and metaphorically, in the halls of the Board for over a year before the Adversary forced the issue. The excesses of that period weigh heavily on the minds of many Boardies, and such insanity is frowned upon in this day and age. The organisations still exist, albeit in far more subdued form and under the watchful glares of their fellows...who then turn right around and join or form their own groups, but none since have ever come close to rivalling the two old giants in their heyday.