The Esoteric & Occult Branch

Throughout history, the people of Albion have contended with supernatural threats. Monsters, cultists, and other esoteric forces linger in the shadows and sometimes emerge to wreak havoc across both city and countryside. Since the end of the Dragon Wars, these attacks have grown more frequent, with phenomena such as the Eldritch Moon and infiltration by subversive agents from Beyond seeking to exploit the divisions between the upper and lower classes.

Although the Metropolitan Police have operated since Parliament passed the Police Act in 1789, threats of this kind remained the domain of bounty hunters, vigilantes, and religiously affiliated militias such as the Knight of the North. These groups pursued dangers in the dark but gave little regard to public safety or the sanctity of the law in their operations.

In 1821, as eldritch incidents increased, the Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis of Lundeinjon, Sir Marcus Varnham, sought to harness and regularize these responses by establishing the Esoteric & Occult Branch of the Lundeinjon Metropolitan Police Force. More often known as Special Branch, this unit was created to take over the task of confronting monsters and other arcane threats from the chaotic hands of freelance operatives.

Many of Special Branch's current members were once bounty hunters or vigilantes themselves. Those who refused to join and continue operating independently are now considered illegitimate and are sometimes targeted by Special Branch operations.

Eight years into the project, the Branch still functions more as an adjunct to the police than as a fully integrated part of it. But most of the time, they get the job done.

Structure

The Esoteric & Occult Branch is the smallest department within the Metropolitan Police, with fewer than one hundred members in total. Its personnel are organized into squads of four to seven individuals, largely self-directed and each equipped with specialized skills and equipment.

Technically, squads are assembled by the Branch Director, who reviews each operative's abilities, background, and temperament before assigning them to a team. In practice, however, the process is far less formal. When a group works well together, the Director rarely intervenes. When they don't - and they frequently don't - the team tends to fail spectacularly in the field. In such cases, the surviving members are quietly reassigned or allowed to seek out new colleagues on their own. In general, teams choose their own members, and the Director simply approves their decisions.

A typical squad includes several combat specialists, a scout or infiltrator, a combat thaumaturge, and a construct operator. Less common - but still present within the branch - are exorcists, telepaths, soothsayers, and those with more obscure talents.

Impact and Public Perception

Since its formation, the Special Branch has captured the public imagination - for good or ill. The Albion Mirror reports on their activities regularly, ensuring that both their successes and failures are widely known. Penny novels dramatize the exploits of the most popular squads, and many agents have become recognizable figures in the streets of Lundeinjon. Some operatives relish the attention; others go to great lengths to avoid it. But public perception can change rapidly. Today's hero can be tomorrow's failure - and next week's villain.

That said, the Special Branch has proven effective overall. They usually succeed in capturing - or killing - their targets, and they have caused far less collateral damage than the freelance forces that preceded them. Their versatility, especially when compared to the regular constabulary, enables them to undertake a wide range of missions, from infiltrating underground cults to confronting rampaging monsters and mad magicians.