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-A Cell
"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
- George Orwell
The purpose of government is to organize the collective resources of a citizen body to do things that individuals are incapable of or unwilling to do. These tasks can range from awe-inspiring feats of infrastructure and architecture to the mundane, boring detail-focused jobs that the average citizen has neither the time or the inclination to do themselves. The tasks that fall onto governments include the distasteful and disgusting to the unprofitable and the thankless. The average citizen does not want to know the details of how these tasks are accomplished, only that they never face the consequences of those tasks not being done.
This is especially true for the defense of the nation. Government's are all keenly aware that the international arena is a ruthless one, where morality and hesitation are not rewarded and cruelty often goes unpunished. Nations face ruthless enemies who are unafraid to pursue every possible means of inflicting harm on their citizens, including those that the average person would be repelled by. The average citizen doesn't want to know how the government stops those that would harm them. They only want them stopped, preferably without having to know that they were ever in danger to begin with. Whatever it takes.
This is only magnified in dealing with the unnatural, as the very existence of the unnatural is a closely held secret amongst the few agencies and groups that know about it. By its very nature knowledge of the unnatural is dangerous to both the person who knows it and wider society, and so all measures are justified in ensuring that the public never learns of the true scale of the unnatural threat.
These organizations that deal with the unnatural, especially the ones that fight it, often have close connections with or may legally be a subcomponent of a more conventional government agency, with their hosts unaware of the true purpose of the organization.
Authors Note[]
The canon of Delta Green is one that is deliberately vague and often misleading. When running a game of Delta Green these organisations can exist, or not exist, or be changed and modified however the Handler wishes. Not all of these groups necessarily exist within your Delta Green universe and not all of them should. If every single country has their own hyper-covert counter-occult conspiracy then it strains credulity that the truth hasn't been leaked by one group or another.
This list includes both canon organisations as well as fan-made ones of a high enough quality to include. The fan entries will be marked as such on their main pages.
The Threat[]
The typical human is entirely unaware of the existence of the unnatural threat, blissfully conducting their business as if humanity was the unchallenged master of the Earth. Some, however, have glimpsed the truth and had their eyes opened to the enemies at the gates. To organise themselves for the desperate battle against the forces of the unnatural some have formed groups dedicated to fighting back. These groups come in every stripe and shade ranging from official, though very discreet, organs of government to loosely-associated networks of friends and colleagues to ruthless businesses, and even to those who have surrendered entirely to the power of the unnatural.
The crushing necessity to keep knowledge of the unnatural out of the hands of the public, where it could cause untold damage, has left these groups more often than not highly insular and suspicious towards outsiders. Without official censure or oversight only their principles keep them from abandoning their morals entirely and becoming just as cruel as the entities they face.
They might not be enough.
National Groups[]
United States of America[]
- Delta Green - Born out of Operation PUZZLEBOX (formerly Operation COVENANT) and the Innsmouth Raids of 1927, Delta Green attempts to destroy unnatural threats to the United States, wherever they can be found. At first a part of the Office of Naval Intelligence, during WWII it became a part of the OSS before finally becoming an independent agency. A disastrous mission during the Vietnam War lead to the organisation being formally dissolved, but its agents continued on as an illegal network within the US government. Reformed into a conspiracy fighting Majestic and the unnatural alike, it ultimately merged with the remains of Majestic to form the modern Program.
- MAJESTIC-12 - Formed in 1947 to investigate and cover up the existence of an alien spacecraft that crashed just outside Roswell, New Mexico. Made an alliance with the crafts Alien controllers for advanced technology in exchange for covering up the alien's existence from the world. Insularity and paranoia gradually made the group more extreme in its covering up all existence of the aliens, triggering a war with Delta Green. While victorious against Delta Green the organisation tore itself apart and the shattered remains of the organisation merged with the now-triumphant Delta Green to form the Program.
- The Starkweather Foundation - A charitable and research institution founded in the late 1930s to further the cause of polar exploration. The foundation officially promotes the scientific exploration of the polar regions, giving financial aid to students wishing to work at the ends of the earth. In truth the Foundation serves the Elder Things by providing them with the human sacrifices needed to keep an ancient Great Old One weapon contained in Antarctica, preventing the extinction of all life on Earth. Connected closely with the Outlaw Delta Green.
- Tiger Transit - A former CIA shell company hijacked and taken over by the Tcho-Tcho it once armed, now serving as a their conduit for the smuggling of humans and unnatural artefacts around the world.
- The Skoptsi - A hardline Eastern Orthodox sect transplanted from the mountains of the Caucasus to the bay of the Chesapeake. The Skoptsi perform rituals of mutilation of the genitals of their initiates in worship of their dark mother god Shub-Niggurath, kidnapping and adopting orphan children to replace their number and expand the cult. Long in search of the Black Icons that tell the story of the foundation of their cult and fanatical in their desire to recover them.
- Saucerwatch - A well-funded and serious organisation devoted to investigating reports of UFOs and alien abductions in a rigorous, scientific manner. Publishes the magazine Semper Vigilus ("Always Vigilant") to a small but devoted community of fans across the world. Maintains a stock of hundreds of hours of recorded abductee testimony and vast numbers of photoes of landing sights. Developed a reputation serious enough that Majestic attempted to smear them in the early 1980s. While not having encountered any credible physical evidence of Alien existence, their investigations have dug up repressed memories from abductees - memories of disturbing experiments conducted for unknown reasons. Detailed in Delta Green (1997) and the upcoming Delta Green: The Conspiracy.
- Phenomen-X - A late-night cable show 'investigating' UFOs for cheap thrills with the bare minimum production value that accidentally stumbled onto more than it bargained for. Despite pressure on them to resume their schlocky programming, the show's producer found himself unable to go back and continues to investigate UFOs in a serious manner. Phenomen-X was often used as a proxy by both Majestic and Delta Green to investigate potential unnatural occurrences, using them as a 'canary in the coal mine'.
- March Technologies - A private corporation comprised of ex-Majestic personnel that were opposed to the merger with Delta Green and so broke away to continue operating as they had before. Without government support and protection this plan swiftly proved unworkable and the organization pivoted into a ruthless business, perfectly willing to employ stolen unnatural technologies and techniques in the pursuit of power and profit.
- Critical Mass Theologians - A New York-based, New Age religious group founded by Arthur Praxis, which invented the 'longevity diet' amongst countless other fads. The group developed a routine for its members involving breathing and visualisation techniques, self-hypnosis and tantric sex to achieve enlightenment. Whilst experimenting with adding spirit-channeling to the routine, Praxis inadvertently contacted an alien entity that spoke to him. The voice told him about the ethereal city of Carcosa and of the Court of the Yellow King, a place where all souls are welcomed. Praxis since gained the ability to 'channel' the voice into new members, indoctrinating them into the cult. The cult believes that evil entities called 'Xothians' will destroy the Earth unless a 'critical mass' of worshippers of 'Xastur' is reached that will allow the Court of the Yellow King to be manifested on Earth.
- The Esoteric Order of Dagon - Founded by Captain Obed Marsh in the Massachusetts town of Innsmouth, the Esoteric Order of Dagon blended Holy Scripture, Middle-Eastern fertility worship and Polynesian rites in worship of the Deep Ones that resided beneath the sea off the coast of Innsmouth. The Order maintained complete control over Innsmouth until their destruction at the hands of the federal government, forcing the inhabitants of the town to interbreed with the Deep Ones in order to create monstrous half-human hybrid creatures. Similar cults were discovered in other locations that worshipped the Deep Ones and are often referred to as 'Dagon Worshippers', though this is not technically true.
- The Fate - A New York based organized criminal group, the Fate have been described as the 'Mozarts of Crime'. The Fate had their hands in every kind of criminal activity that went on in New York and ties with criminal groups around the globe, all at the behest of their mysterious leader Stephen Alzis - a man who has been reported dead so many times that Delta Green agents were under standing orders to not even try to kill him anymore. The Fate had a part in criminal activities ranging from drugs, prostitution, racketeering, arms smuggling, drugs smuggling, human trafficking, smuggling of antiques and dealing in unnatural materials, keeping the police off their backs through judicious use of violence, intimidation and sorcery. Following the disappearance of Stephen Alzis in the early 2000s the Fate quickly splintered and the reborn Delta Green swooped in to destroy whatever remained of their organization. Detailed in the original Delta Green (1997) and in the upcoming Delta Green: The Conspiracy
- Mund-Caprice Family - A family-cult that worship Nyarlathotep based in North Dakota. The family commit ritualistic homicides to worship an avatar of Nyarlathotep they call the 'Skinless Man', who accepts the corpses of the family's victims and consumes them, leaving only the victims skin behind.
- Miskatonic University - Ensuring that Things That Man Was Not Meant To Know are correctly filed since 1922.
- The Orne Library - The prestigious library of Miskatonic University. Has a working relationship with Delta Green (Program or Group).
- The Arkham Group - A group that rejected the Delta Green Conspiracy's continued usage of their old name and quietly split away to wage their own war on the unnatural.
Canada[]
- M-EPIC - The Canadian answer to freak weather patterns in the north.
United Kingdom[]
- PISCES - The British answer to the unnatural, originating from World War II-era efforts to employ the unnatural as an intelligence asset against the Germans. PISCES investigated and destroyed unnatural threats to the realm and the empire unswervingly until an accidental encounter with alien creatures capable of hijacking bodies and minds resulted in the organisation being taken over by alien interests. Now PISCES wars against the unnatural to maintain the cover of their alien puppeteers, at least the aliens are capable of restoring their spacecraft into a condition capable of leaving the Earth. Or possibly conquering it.
- The Army of the Third Eye - A group of terrorists aware of the alien infestation controlling PISCES and dedicated to fighting back against them. Named for their founders act of self-trepanation that liberated him from the control of the alien parasite living in his skull. The Army locates infested individuals within British society, kidnaps them and subjects them to the same trepanning procedure that freed their founder. With the hated alien controlling them destroyed and their eyes open to the threat hiding in plain sight, the Army's 'victims' become its new recruits.
- The Daughters of the Black Man - A Witch Cult devoted to the worship of Azathoth, spared from the Shan-controlled PISCES' ruthless suppression of the unnatural thanks only to their shared worship of the Daemon Sultan.
- The Barrow Gang - A gang of thugs and fighters that worship the corpse of a Bronze-age warrior mummified in a Barrow. When entering battle their 'god' can possess them at will, turning them into a powerhouse warrior with millennia of fighting experience. The corpse of their god was excavated by the Shan-controlled PISCES and used as leverage over the gang, turning them into the proxies of the Daughters of the Black Man.
- The Stone Sisters - A Witch Cult that worships the nameless Horned God of the woods. Long-suppressed by PISCES, both before and after the Shan takeover, the Sisters lie in wait for the day they can strike back against their hated oppressors and return mankind to a state of nature where all shall worship their Horned God.
- Group 13 - A conspiracy of ex-military personnel who became aware of the unnatural during the Irish Troubles. The 'Silent 13' fight their own war against the unnatural within the UK without anyone's permission or anyone's support. The longer they have fought the more enemies they have discovered, some of them seeming to have protection from very high up in the UK government.
Germany[]
- The Thule Society - An occult society founded in 1918 by Rudolf von Sebottendorff to research German antiquity, believing Germans to be descended from an ancient 'master race'. Whilst it never dealt with the unnatural directly, the Thule Society was the foundation on future occult organisations within Nazi Germany and one of the early sponsors of the Nazi Party.
- The Ahnenerbe-SS - A group founded by Heinrich Himmler to investigate the 'ancestral history' of the 'Nordic Race'. While its work amounted to generating propaganda justifying Nazi racial policy, the group had grand ambitions to completely rebuild German culture from the ground up into a pure 'Germanic' form. The organisation launched expeditions around the world in search for ancient ruins of 'Atlanteans' and 'Hyperboreans'. While not explicitly occultist in nature, one of these expeditions proved the existence of the unnatural to the leadership of the SS and of Nazi Germany. A sub-group of the Ahnenerbe was established to exploit these new discoveries: Karotechia.
- Karotechia - An outgrowth of Nazi Germany's Ahnenerbe organisation. They were Nazi Germany's primary research arm into the nature and weaponisation of the unnatural, assembling a fearsome stockpile of unnatural materials during the course of the War. They launched numerous projects with the goal of weaponising the unnatural to turn the tides against the increasingly powerful Allies, including the SCHWARZ WASSER and Resuscitated Casualties programs. With the War on the verge of being lost Karotechia was ordered to destroy the world in Aktion GOTTERDAMMERUNG, but was defeated by Delta Green's Operation LUNACY. The Karotechia personnel not captured or killed in Operation SUMMER BREEZE fled to South America where they plotted to resurrect Nazi Germany through unnatural means, until they were destroyed in a joint Delta Green-Majestic-SV-8 operation in 2001.
- Gruppe Rubin - A network of German scholars, bankers and politicians in Germany that learned of the scale of the horrors that Karotechia had attempted to unleash upon Germany and the world. Confronted with the evidence of what their countrymen had done, the group dedicated itself to wiping out the taint of Karotechia and protecting both Germany and the world. They swore to never let anything like what Karotechia attempted to do come to pass, united by the simple promise: never again.
Soviet Union/Russia[]
- GRU SV-8 - A division of Soviet military intelligence that investigated the unnatural after the bloodshed of the Civil War led to the discovery of Ghouls by a Red Army detachment. SV-8 and SMERSH warred for influence over the Soviet occult program until SMERSH was destroyed in a bloody coup initiated by SV-8. Attempted to infiltrate Majestic during the Cold War and fought against the unnatural in the Soviet bloc. The fall of the Soviet Union gutted GRU SV-8, which became a shadow of its former self in terms of manpower and funding. In 2010 the division came to the attention of President Putin who replaced SV-8's old leadership with a new generation of officers more aligned with the ideals of restoring Russian power, and willing to tap into the unnatural to do so.
- SMERSH - An independent occult program of the Soviet state. Attempted to experiment with captured Ghouls in pursuit of immortality, the promise of which to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin gave them immense influence within the Soviet state. The destruction of their immortality project in Operation SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS caused them to lose influence and after Stalin's death the organisation was destroyed in a bloody coup launched by their rivals in GRU SV-8.
People's Republic of China[]
- The Acquisitions Group - A division of Chinese military intelligence that stumbled onto a report on the operations of Majestic-12, delivered by an unknown benefactor. Conscious of the advantage the Accord gave to the United States, the group seeks to emulate and infiltrate Majestic-12. Their goal is to close the technology gap between China and the US, even if it means poking around Majestic's dirty secrets.
- Xiangfeng - Chinese anti-Mythos organization with roots during the Chinese Civil War.
Japan[]
- Kurotokage - A covert group within the Japanese government that traces its origin back to the 16th century, when a Samurai fought and killed a Byakhee. The Samurai continued to fight against the 'devils' and their worshippers infesting Japan, attracting followers to his cause in enough number to attract the attention of future Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. With the Shogun's support the group came to prominence as Japan's counter-occult division. Since then the group has attempted to purge Japan of occult influences, coming into conflict with the Black Ocean Society as Japan rose as a power and their Black Dragon Society successors. The group survived WW2 and continues to exist this day.
- The Black Ocean Society - A hardline Japanese nationalist group originating in the Meiji Restoration. The society believed entirely in Japan's need to become a great world power through imperialism, colonisation, expansionism and exploitation of the unnatural. The Society was intimately connected with the Japanese Military Government during the Second World War, acting as its unofficial occult arm. It warred against PISCES and Delta Green in the Pacific, and was ultimately destroyed in the Allied occupation of Japan.
- The Black Dragon Society - A successor organisation to the Black Ocean Society, dedicated to restoring Japanese power and prestige in the aftermath of the Second World War. The Society has members placed very highly within the keiretsu that dominate the Japanese economy, giving them enormous material resources and access to cutting-edge equipment. The Society believe that through seeking harmony with the unnatural they can assert some kind of control over it, which can be used in their campaign to restore Japan as the dominant power in the world through the spread of eastern culture and usher in the Cruel Empire of Tsan-Chan.
- Aum Shinrikyo - Japanese-based cult and terrorist organization.
France[]
- Section Disparu - An intelligence agency founded to advance French influence in the vacuum left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Whilst unaware of the unnatural the agency was aware of Majestic's advanced technology and sought to infiltrate Majestic in order to understand and steal said technology for use by France.
- Félicie - Founded to investigate rumours of the unnatural in the French colonies of West Africa, Félicie quickly blossomed into a general anti-occult organisation within the French Colonial Empire, and then to all France. The organisation, whilst primarily devoted to fighting the unnatural, has a close connection with the highest levels of the French government and has been a willing partner in expanding French influence, particularly over the former colonies in Africa. During the Algerian War some elements of the group lent support to the extreme-right OAS and attempted to destroy the Algerian independence movement.
Egypt[]
- The Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh are a cult that worships Nyarlathotep centered in Egypt. They refer to their god as the 'Black Pharaoh' and have a branch in London. The Brotherhood may or may not have been absorbed into The Fate.
International[]
Catholic[]
- The Congregation - A network of officials of the Catholic Church that fight against the unnatural wherever it can be found, drawing on the spiritual legacy of the Inquisition. The group draws on lay officials of the Church as well as the 'Dagger Men' of the Swiss Guard in order to beat back the 'demons' that plague the Earth. The organisation is noted for its fanatical resistance to any attempt to understand the unnatural, believing it to be little more than the tricks of the devil. This attitude has managed to keep incidence of corruption and insanity originating from learning of the unnatural, but has left the organisation's methods often outdated. Prayer beads and holy water feature as prominently in the Congregation's arsenal as rifles and stun grenades do. The Congregation has the vast resources of the Catholic Church behind them, but in an increasingly secular world their agents can find themselves out of their depths.
- Order of the Sword of St. Jerome - A Religious Order of the Catholic Church that has its origins in the early missionaries sent to Japan during the 16th century. The missionaries often faced the risk of execution for their proselytisation, in response to which the Order was founded with the goal of protecting these 'holy men'. The ruthless suppression of Christianity under the Shogunate and the country's 'closing' rendered these efforts irrelevant however. Order continued to exist throughout the centuries largely as a social group for cardinals and other high-ranking members of the Catholic Church, gradually becoming a centre for discussions regarding the reform of the Church. During the 1930s members of the Order came into conflict with Vatican leadership over policy towards Nazi Germany, as the Order called on the Pope to denounce the Nazis as heretics for their treatment of Jews. This opinion was not a popular one at the time and resulted in the Order being expelled from Rome. Members of the Order attempted to investigate concerning rumours in Catholic southern Germany, inadvertently stumbling onto a Karotechia facility. Having been made aware of the unnatural, the Order retreated to a monastery in the Alps where they secretly rallied a group of 'knights' to protect Catholics, and all humanity, from the 'Satan-worshipping' Karotechia. They quickly expanded into a broad counter-occult group operating around the world.
- Last Dawn - An extremist splinter group of the Catholic Church that believe mankind is closest to God when enduing great suffering and so to that end wish to bring about the End Times through terrorism and the deliberate spread of unnatural influence and technologies. The Dawn will assert their Catholic faith if questioned, but if their actions were to be discovered by the Holy See their excommunication would be the inevitable result. The Dawn are opposed by both the Congregation and the Order of the Sword of St. Jerome.
Islamic[]
- The Fist of Allah - A secretive and little-known terrorist organization sponsored by the former Gaddafi Regime of Libya. The group claims to be waging a 'sacred war' against the enemies of Islam, but their attacks were generally limited to discreet kidnappings and murders within Western Europe rather than highly public attacks. The group was initially a standard fundamentalist terrorist group, but during a bungled counter-terrorist raid in Manchester a Shan-infested SAS officer was killed and the Shan fled his body and attempted to possess one of the terrorists. The Shan was destroyed and the Fist became aware of the infestation in Britain and, believing the Shan desired to take over the worlds leadership and bring about a one-world-order, devoted themselves to eradicating the Shan.
Academic[]
- Voelz Grant Conservatory - An 'anthropological initiative' started by Professor Henry Armitage and Dr Armand Voelz with the official goal of preserving 'important cultural texts that would otherwise be at risk'; aboriginal and first nations texts across the Americas, Oceania and Siberia not of interest to the academic world. Participating universities maintain 'Voelz Collections' of these texts, paid for by the immensely wealth Dr Voelz. In truth thee Conservatory is an attempt to keep unnatural texts and artefacts out of the hands of dangerous cultists by consolidating them deep within academic libraries protected by security guards and cameras rather than loose on the black market. Universities across the globe participate in the Conservatory program, though the ones that do often find their towns filled with strange new visitors to town, immensely interested in these otherwise unwanted texts.
- The Fraternal Order of Librarians - On the surface the Fraternal Order is a global society of librarians exchanging professional advice, hosting conferences and giving its members an opportunity to dress up. For the vast majority of its members, the 'outer order' as they are called, this is the truth of what the Order is. For those on the inside, members of the 'inner order', the Order is a group of people who are aware of the Great Race of Yith and of the future human extinction. The inner order seeks to uncover and preserve knowledge for the Yithians to record, ensuring that some small piece of humanity will live on even when the last human has died. Within the inner order an even more secretive group, who call themselves the 'Dark Brotherhood', seek to fight against the influence of Hastur and his agents.
International Worshippers of Nyarlothotep[]
- The Cult of Transcendence - A global cult that worshipped Nyarlathotep, and was dedicated to bringing about the end of days. The organisation was technically a federation of smaller cults, each comprised of their own sub-cults, and was organised into 'Sees' in a mockery of the Church. The organisation claimed an ancient lineage, telling new initiates that it had existed since the dawn of civilisation but the truth of this claim has never been proven. Delta Green attempted to disrupt the Cult's operations with mixed levels of success during its days as an Agency and as a Conspiracy. Ultimately however it was the Cult's own internal contradictions and power-struggles that caused its downfall. During the late 1990s the internal wars between the Cult's Sees were growing worse and by 2002 the Cult had ceased to exist as a coherent entity, having shattered into its component subcults.
International Worshippers of Cthulu[]
- Orthodox Cthulhu Worshipers - The miscellaneous individuals that worship the Great Old One Cthulhu around the world. Delta Green successfully eradicated the Cthulhu Cult as an organised group by the mid-1990s, but smaller entities continued to exist. The Deep Ones and their half-human hybrid creatures worship Cthulhu almost instinctively.
- The Black Brotherhood - A splinter group of the original Cthulhu Cult that split with the orthodoxy over concessions granted to the Leng Monastics. The Black Brotherhood desire to bring about the end-times, and to that end commit acts of terrorism and misconduct across Europe and the Middle East with the sole goal of causing chaos and instability. Due to their reckless, attention-grabbing behaviour the Black Brotherhood exists in a state of war with conventional intelligence services across the globe, counter-occult organisations and even rival worshippers that prefer a more subtle approach to spreading their gods influence.
International Worshippers of Hastur[]
- The Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign - The Brotherhood is the collective designation for the worshippers of Hastur on Earth. The origins of the Brotherhood have been lost to time. They have a long-standing desire to eradicate the Mi-Go, a task which their paramilitary - The Army of the Yellow Sign - goes about with fanatical fervour, though rarely with success.
- The Church of the Yellow Sign - A small cult devoted to worship of Hastur.
Fan-made and Unsorted[]
- Cult of Self
- Gang of Time
- The Hand of Sedna (originally here).
- The Sons of Yezm (originally here).
- Subvista
- The Cruel Empire of the Tsan Chan, elaborated upon from The Shadow Out of Time.
- The Secret Order
- Typical Mythos Cult
- Xians
- The Swisher Family
- Freemasons
- Yakuza
- The Hellfire Club.