CLASSIFICATION : BM DM-1982-0624-003

TOP SECRET

BUREAU 13 DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE SECTION
06-24-82, 11:21 EST
PARTIAL DISCLOSURE SECURITY LEVEL VII
FULL DISCLOSURE SECURITY LEVEL X

REFERENCES: BUREAU AGENT Thomas Henry

1. Subject
This document contains all known information on the item(s) known to the Bureau as Crowley's Deck

2. Item
The Artifact(s) collectively known as Crowley's Deck (AKA Crowley's Thoth) was originally discovered by Agent Thomas Henry. Henry was a mage assigned to Team Equinox in 1977. Team Equinox confiscated the Deck along with other miscellaneous items from the headquarters of the Peace Warriors, a group of militant hippies who had committed terrorist acts against US Army bases such as drugging the food and water supplies, setting fire to barracks, ect. Most of the items recovered were new age junk items such as glass power-stones, thought beads, and assorted minor hallucinogenic drugs. The Deck however stood out to Henry like a beacon in the night, and he immediately began researching and examining the Deck.
His examinations were cut short as his team was annihilated in the Massacre of '77 and the Deck has been lost ever since.

DESCRIPTION
Each card is made of a thick stiff cardstock material and each is 4 inches wide by 7 inches long, slightly larger than a paperback book. The colors are still bright and sharp despite the age of the deck.

The deck was wrapped in a green silk scarf and was found in an oak carrying case which has a parchment plastered to the inside of the lid with clear enamel.
On this parchment the following is written in Crowley's own handwriting:

"My predecessors have invariably said, 'My belief is right and yours is wrong; my customs are worthy, yours are ignoble; my dress is decent, yours is not; think as I think, talk as I talk, do as I do, or you will be wretched, poor, sick, disgraced and dammed; besides which, I shall cut your head off, burn you alive, starve you, imprison you, ostracize you and otherwise make you sorry you did not agree to be a good boy.' The essence of every missionary message has been to assimilate the taught to the teacher; and it has always been accompanied by bribes and threats. My message is exactly opposed to any of this. I say to each man and woman, 'You are unique and sovereign, the centre of an universe. However right I may be in thinking as I do, you may be equally right in thinking otherwise. You can only accomplish your object in life by complete disregard of the opinions of other people. You must not even take the outward signs of success as indications that the course of action which has produced them would serve your turn. For one thing, my coronet might not suit your complexion but give you a headache; for another, the measures which I took to obtain that coronet might not succeed in your case."

3. Powers
Before the Massacre, Henry discovered that the Deck acted as a magical battery and gradually absorbed energy from its environment at the rate of approximately 1 point per hour, although it seemed to "charge" faster while Agent Henry was present, leading him to believe that it was enhanced by the presence of a magically active person.
He also discovered that each of the Major Arcana cards had its own set of enchantments, including a trigger to activate those enchantments. Sadly he was not able to discover the exact nature of the enchantments nor the trigger before the Massacre claimed him and his teammates.

4. Present Owner
The Bureau is currently attempting to recover the Deck. It's present owner is unknown (and possibly the perpetrator of the Massacre of '77).

5. Recommended Action
If any field agents happen to find this deck, contact Bureau HQ to arrange transport to the Bureau R&D division.

s/ Horace Gordon, Director, Bureau 13
|The Warehouse Main Page|

If you are a Bureau 13 GM, click HERE for GM NOTES.

Source Material: William Travis