History Roleplay / TheShadowOfGreed

%%* TalkingToHimself: Ironeye doesn't even make an attempt to have different voices when playing [=NPCs=] who talk to each other

* YouGotSpunk: Used by both Dr. Bernhardt and Alan with regards to Sarah.

%%* OverprotectiveDad: Ferdinand Diamond, or so his employees assume.

%%* LargeHam: Karalora, playing Millie absolutely straight as TheChick.

%%* KnifeNut: Lilith.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Over 100 named characters appear, with another dozen or so relevant in the backstory or doing things off-screen. Over a third of the cast appears on a somewhat regular basis.

Befitting the game, the individual story arcs ("novels") are usually no more than 1-2 sessions in length. However, signs of ArcWelding are becoming evident. Due to Tropers/{{Ironeye}}'s ComplexityAddiction, the game has LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters who are all somehow related to the MythArc.

* AbsenteeActor: Due to his player's computer issues, Jack Courrier has been absent since ''Sarah the Singed and the Lost Library'' with no in-universe explanation given.

%%* BiggerBad: Doctor Methuselah.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: The game features intelligent, gun-toting apes.

%%* WomanInWhite: Angel Rose.

This RP has significant player crossover with the Roleplay/ArimnaesHappyFunTimePowerHour.

!'''Backstory Novels:'''
''Great Dane [=McCallister=] and the Grasp of the Black Talon'': '''to be completed once I hear from arim'''

''Doctor Ekk and the Sword of the Archistrategos'': Dr. Ekk teams up with Anton Korvanatz to retrieve Michael's sword from where he hid it back in 1916. When Ivan goes out in Arkhangelsk for supplies, he hears an eerie melody playing and discovers that there is a team of Soviet soldiers searching the forest outside of town for something. Later, when Anton and Ivan go out into the forest to fetch the sword, Ivan has the first of his recurring waking nightmares, which leads to the pair being pursued by Rocket Red and captured by a Russian agent in a black domino mask. Due to the timely arrival of Millie Diamond, they are able to escape, leading to Millie and Anton fighting Rocket Red and the agent in order to buy Ekk the time he needs to get the sword and return to aid them.

Sarah the Singed in . . . ''The Byberry Assault'': After helping Dana evade Ordo Corvi agents, Sarah the Singed plans an attempt to oust Dr. Egon Bernhardt from Byberry Mental Hospital in northern Philly. At the last minute, she is able to secure the aid of Anton Korvanatz, who recently returned from Arkhangelsk, and Major Sam Gears. When Anton and Sarah sneak into the assylum, with Sam waiting outside to help in a quick getaway, they discover that Bernhardt has turned many of the inmates into hulking mutants. Sarah is able to defeat Bernhardt and strand him in a cave in the middle of nowhere, but not before his associates remove most of the small mutant army to an unknown location.

''Jack Courrier and the Curious Statue'': While investigating the ''Four Deuces'' for Agent David Dodd (and to kep an eye out for evidence regarding his father's death), Jack Courrier gets his hands on a mysterious statue. Soon, gangsters from several gangs are on his tail and the statue seems to be quite good at not getting lost. In desperation, Jack turns to Millie Diamond for help, and she sends him off to meet an eccentric fellow Centurion and artifacts expert, the Great Dane. Dana is unable to identify the statue, and

Major Sam Gears in . . . ''The Descent of the Sparrowhawk'': While on a routine delivery from Marseilles to Genoa, Sam crash-lands the ''Sparrowhawk'' in the Alps due to catastrophic instrument failure. She discovers that the source of the interference is a dark ritual being performed by a secret cult to open a portal to another dimension. While investigating, she discovers Dr. Ekk, who had attempted to take on the cultists on his own, but it's not until a rescue attempt by Jack Courrier that Sam is able to defeat the cult and get the ''Sparrowhawk'' airborne to the League of Nations airfield near Genoa.

''Millie Diamond and the Mysterious Mistress of Memphis'': On the day before Millie Diamond and Dr. Maximilian Gentle are to be married, Max is kidnapped, with a note in mysterious hieroglyphics as the only clue. Dr. Rodrigo Jardim de Faria suspects that the hieroglyphics are related to those of Ancient Egypt, so Millie sets off to Memphis with Samson. On the way there, they run into Sarah at the Century Club chapter-house in Heliopolis. Once in Memphis, they are captured by a cult worshiping Ha'Tet, the mysterious and little-known Ancient Egyptian goddess of nightmares. Tausret, the leader of the cult, believes that Millie is the latest reincarnation of her goddess--an idea that was helped along by Lady Victoria Pride. Fortunately, all three Spirit Centurions are able to escape, leaving Tausret to flee to Cairo with her mysterious adviser.

Samson, the World's Smartest Savage, in . . . ''Journey for the Jewels of Justinian!'': Samson is sent to Istanbul to open the Door of Belisarius and retrieve the Crown of Justinian. While seeking the location of the Door, he tangles with Abin al'Jirayah and agents of the Society of Gemsetters. With Dana to delay the leader of the Gemsetter team and Sam to fly him to ruins that hold the necessary clues, Samson is able to get ahead of his enemies, only for the crown to be stolen at the last minute by Abin. With the Gemsetters vowing revenge on him, Samson sets off to Moscow to chase after his rival.

Anton Korvanatz in . . . ''The Midnight Train to Moscow'': While disembarking a train to Moscow to visit his extended family, Anton is captured by Cheka agents under the command of Yakov Mikhaylovich Yurovsky. Fortunately for him, others in his prison are informants for the crime lord Valentin Dmitrovich Popov, who is negotiations with Jack Courrier to aid American agents. Valentin helps Jack break Anton out before he is transferred to a camp in Siberia, and the two team up with Samson (in Moscow hunting for Abin) to escape to Zurich in time for the Ziggenheim Symposium. As they flee, they are pursued by a Russian agent in a black domino mask, but "Black Mask" fails to capture them before they can escape.

!!!'''Session Novels'''

The Spirit Centurions in . . . ''The Nether Menace!'': After Anton, Jack, and Samson evade "Black Mask", they join the others in Zurich before heading to a hotel in the Alps for the Ziggenheim Symposium, a conference to award a prize to the most unusual scientific discovery of the past year. This year, the monetary prize has been matched by Dr. Garrison Grayson, an old associate of Millie's and archaeologist before he became a patron of the sciences. The symposium is overseen by the Ziggenheim Committee: Drs. Albu, Blanc, Baek, De Witt, Weiss, Gwyn, and Bianchi, and featured such entrants as Drs. Zeram, Brown (Grayson's protégé), Hibberton, Gerald, Rox, and Knichte, as well as Anton himself. Soon the Centurions face several troubles: Dr. Bernhardt was rescued by an unknown accomplice, a Russian composer named Maxim Petrovich Komorov isn't too fond of either Anton or Ivan despite neither of them recognizing them, and someone is killing off the guests with the help of mysterious Grey Men made from gray dust. Beyond that, Dr. Methuselah made a late appearance and didn't apprehend the killer despite solving the mystery. The Centurions narrow it down to Dr. Grayson, but not before Drs. Zeram, Gerald, Albu, and Knichte are killed. He reveals his plan to ensure that Brown wins so that he can discredit the scientific community by revealing that Brown didn't personally make any of the critical breakthroughs. The process of creating Grey Men via a mineral called nethercite has turned him quite insane, and the Spirit Centurions defeat him and turn him over to the Swiss authorities. As a result, Anton is left with Roger Rox and Dr. Methuselah as his only serious competition, and surges to victory on the swell of gratitude for apprehending the murderer.

''Millie Diamond and the Ring of Te-Kas'': While waiting for her friends to arrive in London for a Valentine's Day party, Millie gets word from Dr. de Faria that he has manged to translate some of the note left behind when Max was kidnapped. She and Ivan (the first guest to arrive) join de Faria, who suggests that they examine Max's notes (kept by de Faria) for further clues. Before they can retrieve the notes, they are stolen by a masked cultist, which leads Millie to join up with Sam, Samson, and Sarah for a chase to the wharf, where Anton and Jack have been observing cult activities. In a surprise attack on the warehouse where the masked cultist (later referred to as "The Weaver") is going through the papers he stole, the team is able to recover all but a few sheets from the collection of Max's, Grayson's, and Rochester's notes. The trail of clues leads back to Egypt, in search of a ring worn by Tausret's mysterious adviser. Asking around turns up a young Copt trying to sell the ring, as well as a rather distraught Tausret trying to recover it. Before the team can get the ring from the Copt, Abdul-Aziz, it is taken from him by Ifrit, the Gemsetter who lead the team that raced Samson to Justinian's crown. Abdul-Aziz leads the team to Ifrit's favorite bar, where a bar fight involving Rocket Red ends with Ifrit defeated, the ring in the team's possession, and Tausret as baggage urging Millie to return the ring to her master. After a fight with Rocket Red on top of the ''Sparrowhawk'' in Heliopolis and a fight with a team of bird-men after an improvised landing just outside of Baghdad, Tausret takes Millie to her [[strike:mysterious adviser]] master, an AffablyEvil man named Te-Kas. He allows Millie to speak with Max in exchange for the ring, and promises to release and pay Max after Max finishes with the task Te-Kas set for him. As Millie leaves with a map slipped to her by Max, Te-Kas tells her she could help him along by fulfilling any request that is delivered with Te-Kas' ring.

''The Spirit Centurions on the Trail of "On the Trial of the Lost Continent"'': Embroiled in researching Atlantis, Millie asks her fellow Centurions to go visit an old friend of hers and borrow a rare book called "On the Trail of the Lost Continent". However, he had moved in the many years since she had last seen him, so they wind up on a wild-goose chase that took them all the way to Casablanca before they were able to find Henry Gerp, Millie's old acquaintance. Before he can give them the book, it is stolen by Abin al Jirayah, who turns it over to Dr. De Witt and his gorilla minions. Samson, Sam, and Sarah are able to recover the book, but Abin and De Witt escape. Other characters returning or introduced in this novel include Dorthy "Boots", Garrison Grayson, Abram Brown, and Adam.

''The Spirit Centurions and Aura's Breath'': On their way to a Century Club party in upstate New York, the Centurions save Ian Cook from an assassination attempt by Nazi stormtroopers. In gratitude, he invtes them on board his airship, the ''New Atlantis'' for the unveiling of a weather-control device called Aura, which had been created by Dr. Baek with funding from Cook Enterprises. During the demonstration, the device was stolen by men wearing the uniforms of security guards for the League of Nations Applied Sciences Division. While her companions attempted to stop the sabotage, Millie witnessed the theft of an Atlantean artifact in Ian's collection by Mandeep Singh, Victoria Pride, and Walter Steele. It's unclear whether the Aura device was on a plane shot down by Sam or if it was hidden somewhere else before that plane took off--hopefully the Russian-speaking thief captured by Sam, Samson, and Lilith will be able to reveal something. Other characters introduced or returning in this novel include Lilith, Paul Wagner, Chester Finney, Oswalt Gwyn, Rodrigo Jardim de Faria, and Baroness Maria Velgin.

''Jack Courrier and the Bargain for "Faust"'': Jack's government contact, David Dodd, approaches him with an assignment: a rare annotated manuscript of ''Faust'' is due to be auctioned off on the black market, in the backstage area of the New York Metropolitan Opera House during a concert. Jack's mission is to sneak in and photograph the potential buyers, as well as the seller (from a group of art thieves calling themselves the Black Hand) if possible. But he is hardly the type to blend in at an opera house by himself, so he calls up Millie, Samson, and Sarah to accompany him as camouflage. When they arrive, a woman approaches and asks Millie and Sarah if they would like to join Ian Cook in his private box. They accept, and the group splits. When Millie and Sarah find the box empty, Ian's assistant says that he is attending to some business and will arrive in time for the second set. That is only the start of the unusual occurrences at the performance, which include a heart-rending violin solo by Maxim Komorov, which is raptly admired by none other than Dr. Methuselah, attending in the box across from Sarah and Millie. The buyers turn out to be Paul Wagner, "Black Mask", and Frankie Yale, all with accompanying {{Mook}}s, and the seller is the woman claiming to be Ian's assistant. Shortly after Ian and Lilith arrive, they reveal that they thought they were meeting Millie in her box, and an assassin takes a shot a the people in the box, leading to a shoot-out backstage. The buyers are all able to escape in the confusion, but not before Jack photographs them, and Komorov is shot by a masked woman in white he is speaking to the woman claiming to be Cook's aide. She leaves a white rose on his body, but due to quick medical attention by Ivan, he is able to recover.

The Spirit Centurions in . . . ''The Case of the Missing Boats'': This adventure began with Jack receiving another assignment from Dodd: find out who had attacked federal patrol boats on Lake Michigan and stolen the machine they were transporting. The only clue to the former was some strange hair found on one of the boats, which Anton analyzed and found to be ape hair. Unfortunately, at that point Jack's preference for secrecy kicked in and he wandered off to investigate more on his own, and Anton was too busy with his own projects to care much. Luckily, though, Millie was in town and not about to let Jack get away with hiding his purpose from his friends a second time. She not only gave Jack an earful, but called Sarah in to the city to provide gun backup. Working off a hot tip from Adrian Newell, a cub reporter at the ''Baltimore Press-Agent,'' the group went down to the docks, only to find Gorilla Khan's minions in a pitched battle with someone in a boathouse. This proved to be [[PsychoElectro Der Blitzmann]], who was apparently trying to make off in a boat with a crate labeled CASED. After a confusing battle in which the North Side Gang also got involved, Der Blitzmann was knocked into the drink, Millie had convinced one of the gorillas to speak to the Khan on her behalf concerning Atlantis, and the Centurions were in possession of the crate, which contained a device about the size of a gallon jug. Anton identified it as a powerful capacitor...but when Jack tried to return it to Dodd, he was informed that it was the wrong thing. Not only that, but in the meantime, more boats were not only being attacked but going missing altogether. The Centurions did some more poking around with various Mob connections, but ultimately wound up back at the waterfront, where they rented a boat to investigate the lake themselves. By trailing a suspicious speedboat, they discovered Der Blitzmann perched on a large buoy to which he had attached a strange device which converted the buoy into a lightning gun powered by more of the same capacitors as the one they had picked up. He immediately started firing on their boat, disabling the engine twice, although Anton managed to fix it both times. At that point, Millie was all for heading back to shore to regroup, but Jack realized that the device attached to the buoy must be the missing government machine, and this might be their only chance to get it back. They fired off a distress flare which attracted a patrol boat, dividing Blitzmann's attention so that they could move in closer again. He damaged the patrol boat enough that it was slowly sinking, but Jack used the crane on the Centurions' boat to knock him off the buoy, upon which he sank [[ShapedLikeItself like a guy wearing an iron suit.]] On top of that, Anton turned his own lightning gun on him as he sank. [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat No way he's ever coming back, no sir!]] Then they rescued the crew of the patrol boat and detached the buoy's cable so that they could tow it back to land behind them. As a reward for retrieving the machine, Jack was given a dossier on the Black Hand. Millie learned from her parents that Newell had been promoted to field reporter. Then she returned to her London townhome to find a package from Gorilla Khan containing a mocking, threatening note...and the stuffed body of the gorilla she had befriended, just to prove he wasn't [[IncrediblyLamePun monkeying around]].

''The Spirit Centurions and the Seekers of Tomorrow'': Anton gets a call from Dr. Tesla, who, over a lunch and a leisurely stroll in London, filled Anton in on the world of science: Der Blitzmann was actually a lab assistant who had been driven insane by one of Tesla's experiments gone wrong, Dr. Hibberton is nearing completion on his harmonizer, and Dr. Rox has found some funding and is beginning drilling in the Congo. At Tesla's request, Anton, Sam, and Samson visited Rox, who revealed that his funding came from Belgian business interests. Additionally, Rox had figured out Dr. Knichte's research, and utilized it to make a solvent that would dramatically increase the speed of the drilling. Back in London, Ian Cook pays a visit to Millie to let her know that he has found a business associate who will be able to help Millie and her friends investigate Dr. Bianchi's possible involvement in the theft of the Aura device--he just needs a science adviser and some bodyguards. Millie assembles her team on board the ''New Atlantis'': Sarah, Sam, Samson, and Anton. There they meet Ian's man: Brandon Gray, an old friend of Sam. In a flashback, Brandon gives Sam the ''Sparrowhawk'' as a gift to thank her for helping him look for his grandfather, makes a dinner date, then abruptly drops out of her life. In the present, he implies that he had to make some not entirely welcome deals with the US government in order to get the ''Sparrowhawk'', and got pulled away to fulfill his obligations. When the team reaches Dr. Bianchi's League of Nations facility in Italy, Brandon is able to talk them past security and to Dr. Bianchi, who knows nothing about the theft aboard the ''New Atlantis'' and is interested in looking into it himself. While matters are being discussed, Sam notices Dr. Bernhardt and chases him down. Before Samson and Sarah are able to arrive to help, Sam is beaten so hard that she gets a broken leg and calls a truce. Though Samson and Sarah are able to take down most of the mutants, Bernhardt manages to escape with the Project Hero research. This novel also featured a cameo by Dr. Henri Babin in the flashback.

The Spirit Centurions in . . . ''Dark Deals!'': Jack visits Ivan for dinner, only to find that men under the command of Frank Nitti are holding Ivan hostage in order to convince Jack to make a deal with Al Capone. At the Four Deuces, Al Capone agrees to give truthful answers to two of Jack's questions in exchange for the curious statue. After hearing the identity of the man who killed his father (Aaron Fell), Jack tries to hand over the statue, but cannot. The Capone brothers give him a week to change his mind about backing out on the deal, threatening to harm Jack's friends if he doesn't do what they want. Out back behind the Four Deuces, Jack finds "White Mask", who has rescued Ivan. Jack tells Ivan that he'll need to skip town for a while. In London, Millie gets a letter from Te-Kas requesting that she join him at the circus with ''On the Trail of the Lost Continent'' and someone who knows their way around Russia. At that moment, Jack calls Millie to request her help finding someone who can figure out what was going on with the statue. In response to Millie's request, Jack and Ivan come to London on board the ''Sparrowhawk'' with Samson and Sam, and join her at the circus. Millie and Ivan go to meet Te-Kas, who has one of his cultists take them to the clown tent. There he asks them to deliver a box to one of his subordinates in Russia. While Te-Kas is showing Ivan where they need to go, the other cultist runs out of the tent. Over by the elephants, Sam and Samson are approached by the Grey Ghost, who tells them that circus isn't safe. At that point, the cultist runs past, chasing another man. Samson and Sam recognize the cultist as the one they left tied up in Millie's basement in ''Millie Diamond and the Ring of Te-Kas'', and Samson delays the cultist (who Te-Kas later calls Spiro), who is then unable to catch the man he was chasing. The Grey Ghost, at Sam's request, warns Millie of the danger as well, so she leaves with Ivan and Te-Kas to fetch the book from Jack, who waited with it in the car. After leaving the circus, Millie calls Dana, who comes to talk to Jack. Though he is unable to identify the statue, he can say that artifacts that prevent the holder from giving them away are very powerful and important indeed. Anton arrives and joins the team on their trip to the designated location, on the coast near St. Petersburg. There they meet "Black Mask" and two dangerously beautiful woman, and deliver the box. "Black Mask", who Millie believes is not always the same person in every appearance, gives them twenty minutes to get back to their plane before he will attempt to arrest them as enemies of the state. On their way through the village they landed at, the team notices that Ivan is having another waking nightmare in response to a tune being played on a violin by a street musician. They are discovered by a woman claiming to be Izolda Ekk, Ivan's mother. After helping Ivan recover, she joins the team on their run back to the plane, where Jack notices that Ivan is missing his sword. Ivan, Anton, and Jack rush back to retrieve it, only to discover a raven feather in its place. At that point, the Soviet soldiers arrive, but "White Mask" provides a distraction, giving them time to escape. At the last moment, "White Mask" joins them, and offers to help them retrieve the sword (stolen by Ordo Corvi, according to Dana) in exchange for helping her assassinate Yakov Yurovsky. The team declines, and lets out "White Mask" in London, where she tells Ekk to call her "Angel Rose".

''Jack Courrier and the Blackened Hands'':

The Spirit Centurions in . . . ''The Wages of Pride!'': Te-Kas contacts Millie again, asking that she acquire for him a certain Atlantean tablet...the same one last seen as Lady Victoria Pride was stealing it from the ''New Atlantis.'' After conferring with Ian, Millie decides to confront Cousin Vicky at her home, accompanied by Lilith. All she learns about the whereabouts of the tablet is that it's being kept "in the only place that's real" (WTF, Vicky?), but she does notice something else of interest: a marble statue (the only genuine art object remaining in Vicky's collection) depicting Phobetor and Epiales, two minor characters from Greek mythology who are associated with nightmares. Also, Vicky claims that the true owner of the tablet is a "Mr. Carlisle." Millie returns to Ian and shares the info. He says that the Atlantean tablet definitely ''is'' his because he funded the dig where it was found. He also promises to look into the sale of the rest of Vicky's art pieces. Millie returns home and apprises Te-Kas of these developments. Later, Rickhard Fisk calls to tell her that there is no record of the sale of said pieces through legitimate channels, and also that there was a Mr. Carlisle working on the dig where the tablet was found, a war veteran with extensive burn injuries. Millie decides to confront her cousin again, this time bringing Samson and Sarah along. They find the house apparently empty, Victoria and Mandeep having left on a trip. The neighbor lets Millie and Sarah in while Samson waits in the car. The two immediately realize that they are not alone in the house, and Millie recognizes Tausret's voice. Quickly disguising herself with a coat and hat from the hall closet, she uses a hammy fake voice to throw the crazy priestess off the scent. While searching for the tablet (in case Vicky was lying about it not being there), she discovers that the marble statue is missing and the plaster ones have all been destroyed. The two of them head upstairs to continue the search, only to run right into the Weaver and his minions! The most entertaining fight of the campaign so far ensues--it starts with Samson ''driving Millie's car through the front window'' and only gets funnier from there. Ultimately the Weaver escapes (doing some auxiliary damage to the car in the process), but the Centurions manage to capture Tausret. Questioning both her and the neighbor, they deduce that Victoria has gone to Greece and take the next flight out themselves. Asking around at the airport, Millie learns that Vicky and Mandeep have gone to visit a rather obscure set of ruins. They rent a car from a well-built set of identical twins who introduce themselves as Epialatos and Phobetatos and offer to drive them to the ruins themselves. When they arrive, however, the group is attacked by the Society of Gemsetters, including Ifrit and the Pelican-man. The twins assist in the battle, but then more foes arrive--Vicky, Mandeep, and the Weaver (and more minions)...and suddenly the tables turn yet further when it emerges that the twins are taking orders from Vicky! The Centurions fight valiantly, but the odds are badly against them. The battle ends with Sarah captured by the Gemsetters, Samson badly wounded, and he and Millie both at the mercy of the Children of the Night.

The Spirit Centurions in . . . ''Revenge of the Grey King''

''Sarah the Singed and the Lost Library''

''The Spirit Centurions and the Secrets of Atlantis''

''The Spirit Centurions and the Caverns of Thule''

''The Spirit Centurions and the Fallen Eagle''

The Spirit of Centurions in . . . ''For the Right Pryce''

''The Spirit Centurions at the Bottom of the World''

''The Spirit Centurions and the Pryce of Beauty''

''The Spirit Centurions and the Battle for Chicago''

''Anton Korvanatz and the Mask of Morpheus''

''The Spirit Centurions and the Way of Air''

''The Spirit Centurions and the Dragon's Fang''

''Samson and the Stone of the Sea''

''The Great Dane and the Greatest Murder''

''The Spirit Centurions and the Rise of Atlantis''

The Spirit Centurions in . . . ''Endgame''

The Spirit Centurions in . . . ''Daemones Finem''

''Doctor Ekk and the Final Composition''

''The Spirit Centurions and the Fall of Atlantis''

''The Spirit Centurions and the Shadow of Forever''

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!'''This work contains examples of the following tropes:'''

* AffablyEvil: Every single villain who isn't shrouded in mystery, since that's the only kind that Ironeye can do and find entertaining (according to WordOfGod).
* AGlassOfChianti: General Wulf enjoys a glass of red wine when observing torture sessions.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Samson can be mistaken for any ethnicity...except that of the person doing the mistaking. (His actual ethnicity is unknown.)

* AntiHero: Valentin Popov
* ArchangelMichael: He appeared to Dr. Ekk in a dream is responsible for him wielding a holy sword. [[UnreliableExpositor Maybe.]]
* AristocratsAreEvil: Lady Victoria Pride
* AxCrazy: Garrison Grayson, once he started creating too many grey men.
* BaddieFlattery: Bernhardt genuinely does think highly of Sarah, which only makes him creepier

* BiggerBad: Doctor Methuselah

* CoatHatMask: The "Black Masks"

* ColourfulThemeNaming: Dr. Albu, Dr. Gwyn, Dr. Weis, Dr. De Witt, Dr. Blanc, Dr. Bianchi, Dr. Baek, Dr. Grayson, both Grays, Jet Black, Rocket Red, Tia Negra, Dr. Brown, Lt. Schwartz
* CoolAirship: ''New Atlantis'', the Nazi armored zeppelins
* CoolMask: The "Black Masks", Angel Rose, and the Weaver all conceal part or all of their faces and are also on the high end of the badass scale.

* CrosscastRole: Matrix as Sarah the Singed, Ironeye as the female [=NPCs=]
* CutLexLuthorACheck: Seriously, why didn't Grayson just prove his research was sound by, oh, I don't know, ''publicly demonstrating the doppelganger-producing powers of nethercite''?
* CuttingTheKnot: Samson's favorite strategy, though it sometimes gets him into trouble.
* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster: Drake
* DirtyCommunists

* DramaticDrop: The cause of the DramaticShattering below.

* DumbMuscle: Despite his player's best efforts, Samson is probably this.

* EagleSquadron: Gray's Raptors during the Great War, with the exception of Robert Gray himself.

* [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Everything's Better With Intelligent, Gun-Toting Apes]]
* EvilBrit: Lady Victoria again
* FakeNationality: Ironeye playing most of the cast, Thnikkafan playing . . . whatever Samson is, Matrix playing Sarah
** FakeBrit: Ironeye playing the British characters
** FakeRussian: Lance and Ironeye playing Anton and every other Russian character, respectively
* FemmeFatale: Rocket Red, Lilith
* {{Flashback}}: The story of how Sam got the ''Sparrowhawk''
* FingerPokeOfDoom: How Anton disables Der Blitzmann while being tortured.

* GloriousMotherRussia
* GildedCage: Bernhardt's plan for Sarah before she punches him in the face; she even lampshades it earlier by name

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Louis "Two Gun" Alterie, UsefulNotes/AlCapone, Frank Capone, "Big Jim" Colosimo, Vincent Drucci, John Duffy, the Terrible Gennas, Hermann Göring, Jake Guzik, “Bugs” Moran, Frank Nitti, Dean O'Banion, Grigori Rasputin, Yakov Sverdlov, UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla, Johnny Torrio, Hymie Weiss, Frankie Yale, and Yakov Yurovsky
* HuskyRusskie: Anton

* InformedAbility: Samson's intellect and his ability to switch between his six minds

* TheIrishMob: The [=McBride=] family in Philly and the North Side Gang in Chicago
* ItsPersonal: For all of the things that Rocket Red has done, the reason why Sam hates her so much is that she "violated" the ''Sparrowhawk''.

* KnifeNut: Lilith
* KudzuPlot: How did Grayson learn how to create the grey men? What is the Time of Nightmares? What does Gorilla Khan want with a copy of "On the Trail of the Lost Continent"? Why were the people who stole Aura's Breath dressed as Savio Bianchi's security even though they spoke Russian and worked Walter and Vicky? Why does everyone want the annotated copy of "Faust" so much? Why did the factions in Chicago react the way they did to Gorilla Khan's agents stealing a secret government weapon? What is Dr. Bianchi's secret project? Why are multiple people using the Black Mask identity? Which member of the Black Hand is Marius Chevalier's sister? Why is Tausret so loyal to the Weaver? How did Garrison Grayson transfer his consciousness from grey man to grey man? Why did Dr. Methuselah force the Spirit Centurions to learn more about their destinies? What item in Te-Kas' desk did Black Mask want so badly that he was willing to stage a breakout to get it? Where are the Nazis going to attack? What's with the new faction of bird-men? (That's just an example of one still-unanswered question from each novel, with most of them having many more.)
* LargeHam: Karalora, playing Millie absolutely straight as TheChick
* LaughingMad: Garrison Grayson

* MacGuffin: In most of the novels. Examples include an annotated copy of "Faust", the notes of Max Gentle, an Atlantean tablet, Jack's statue . . . thing, Te-Kas's ring, and Aura's Breath (a weather control device).

* MadScientistLaboratory: Anton's lab in a Chicago basement

* MeaningfulName: Rocket Red (a commie), Garrison Grayson (morally ambiguous before he JumpedOffTheSlipperySlope, controller of the grey men), Doctor Methuselah (very old), Dr. Bernhardt (causes internal combustion), Dr. Rox (rock expert), the Diamonds (rich), the Gears (mechanics), Walter Steele (steely resolve), Mack Silver (rich family), Lady Pride (prideful), Aaron Fell (assassin), Dr. Gentle (kind and wimpy)
* MonumentalDestruction: Big Ben.

* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Doctors Methuselah, Bernhardt, and Grayson.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Weaver, Al-Sayyid Ifrit, Lilith, Gorilla Khan, Doctor Methuselah, Dr. Egon Bernhardt, Rocket Red, Jet Black, Aaron Fell, Angel Rose
* NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters: The [=McBride=] family.
* NominalImportance: In full effect, according to WordOfGod. In some cases (Wagner, Finney, Alan the security chief), characters have been given names retroactively because they got promoted in importance.

* NonHumanSidekick: Korak has two: a parrot and a gorilla
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: All of the players except Lance (who tries), and perhaps Jinxed (since Sam's home town isn't specified), not that Samson, Millie, Jack, and Sarah have accents too far from those of Thnikka, Kara, arks, and Matrix

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Rocket Red
* OverprotectiveDad: Ferdinand Diamond . . . or so his employees assume.

* RailingKill: Komorov after getting shot by Angel Rose . . . but then subverted because his PlotArmor prevents him from dying from a single shot or a one-story fall.
* RealitySubtext: The reason for Anton's hero-worship for Dr. Tesla, as well as the HoYay between Ivan and Anton.

* RedScare: The GRU is up to something . . .
* RefugeInAudacity: What would ''you'' do if faced with a hulking misanthropic sentient gorilla armed with a Tommy gun? Millie decided to walk up to it and [[TheHeart make friends]]. Also, Dana has this as an Aspect and [[strike:ab]]uses it regularly.

* ReversePolarity: One of Anton's tactics
* TheRoaringTwenties

* SamusIsAGirl: White Mask
* SanitySlippage: Garrison Grayson becomes a bit less sane every time one of his grey men is defeated. Arguably, he wasn't all there to begin with (see DisproportionateRetribution entry above).
* SensualSlavs: Rocket Red
* ShoutOut

* StarterVillain: Garrison Grayson

* TalkingToHimself: Ironeye doesn't even make an attempt to hae different voices when playing [=NPCs=] who talk to each other
* TechnoBabble: Particularly from Anton

* ThemeNaming: The Ziggenheim Council
** Also the Gigglers

* TwoFistedTales
* UnskilledButStrong: Samson
* WackyWaysideTribe: The entire middle third of ''The Spirit Centurions and the Fallen Eagle'' between burying General Gray (Golden Eagle) and getting to the base where Gorilla Khan took Colonel Malthus (Black Eagle), including one actual wayside tribe (the Lacertilians). WordOfGod is that everything will be relevant later.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Dr. Bernhadt in ''The Spirit Centurions and the Seekers of Tomorrow''
* WeirdScience
* WhiteMaskOfDoom: Angel Rose

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Garrison Grayson
* WomanInWhite: Angel Rose
* YouGotSpunk: Used by both Dr. Bernhardt and Alan with regards to Sarah
* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: ''New Atlantis''

** Henry Gerp's name comes from the names of a ''WorldOfWarcraft'' character named Gerp (played by Scott Johnson, the host of ''The Instance'', a popular ''WorldOfWarcraft'' podcast) and Gerp's pet, Henry.

* WorldWarOne: A key part of many characters' backstories

''The Shadow of Greed'' is the title of an all-Tropers SpiritOfTheCentury game conducted over Ventrilo and [=OpenRPG=]. Tropers/{{Ironeye}} is the GM, and the player list is as follows:

* WomanInBlack: Lilith

* CoolMask: The "Black Masks", Angel Rose, and the Weaver all conceal part or all of their faces and are also on the high end of the {{Badass}} scale.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Louis "Two Gun" Alterie, UsefulNotes/AlCapone, Frank Capone, "Big Jim" Colosimo, Vincent Drucci, John Duffy, the Terrible Gennas, Hermann Göring, Jake Guzik, “Bugs” Moran, Frank Nitti, Dean O'Banion, Grigori Rasputin, Yakov Sverdlov, NikolaTesla, Johnny Torrio, Hymie Weiss, Frankie Yale, and Yakov Yurovsky

** Chester Finney, the deceased engineer, was named as a ShoutOut to ''BurnNotice'', where a character uses the alias "Chuck Finley".

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Louis "Two Gun" Alterie, AlCapone, Frank Capone, "Big Jim" Colosimo, Vincent Drucci, John Duffy, the Terrible Gennas, Hermann Göring, Jake Guzik, “Bugs” Moran, Frank Nitti, Dean O'Banion, Grigori Rasputin, Yakov Sverdlov, NikolaTesla, Johnny Torrio, Hymie Weiss, Frankie Yale, and Yakov Yurovsky

** {{Lzherusskie}}: Lance and Ironeye playing Anton and every other Russian character, respectively

** There are two Alistairs in the backstory, though the less important one[[hottip:*:to the main characters--the more important one to the setting as a whole]] appeared in-game to die before the more important one became a recurring character.

* DominoMask: The black mask worn by the two or more men sharing the "Black Mask" identity

* DropWhatYouAreDoing: The cause of the DramaticShattering above.

''The Shadow of Greed'' is the title of an all-Tropers SpiritOfTheCentury game conducted over Ventrilo and [=OpenRPG=]. {{Tropers/Ironeye}} is the GM, and the player list is as follows:

* [[{{Tropers/Arks}} arks]] as Jack Courrier, a former (?) con man working for the U.S. government;

* {{Tropers/Karalora}} as Millie Diamond, a wealthy, cosmopolitan and ebulliently friendly philanthropist seeking to rescue her fiance from an Egyptian cult;
* {{Tropers/Lanceleoghauni}} as Anton Korvanatz, a HuskyRusskie scientific genius verging on MadScientist;
* {{Tropers/Matrix}} as Sarah the Singed, a mentally unstable pyromaniac from a Philadelphia crime family;
* {{Tropers/Thnikkafan}} as Samson, the World's Smartest Savage!, an imposing fellow who [[InformedAbility supposedly]] has the intellect of six men, but prefers to let his muscles speak for themselves;
* {{Tropers/arimnaes}} as Dana "Great Dane" [=McCallister=], a hypnotist, a former member of the mysterious Ordo Corvi, and the team's expert on all things that science can't explain; and
* {{Tropers/Taco}} as Drake Cob, an athletic knife fighter with ties to the mafia

Befitting the game, the individual story arcs ("novels") are usually no more than 1-2 sessions in length. However, signs of ArcWelding are becoming evident. Due to {{Tropers/Ironeye}}'s ComplexityAddiction, the game has LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters who are all somehow related to the MythArc.

''Jack Courrier and the Curious Statue'': While investigating the ''Four Deuces'' for Agent David Dodd (and to kep an eye out for evidence regarding his father's death), Jack Courrier gets his hands on a mysterious statue. Soon, gangsters from several gangs are on his tail and the statue seems to be quite good at not getting lost. In desperation, Jack turns to Millie Diamond for help, and she sends him off to meet an eccentric fellow Centurion and artifacts expert, the Great Dane. Dana is unable to identify the statue, and

* AbsenteeActor: Due to his player's computer issues, Jack Courrier has been absent since ''Sarah the Singed and the Lost Library'' with no in-universe explanation given.

** After Lance suggested the name "Miranda" for Millie's mother, her father was named Ferdinand in a ShoutOut to ''TheTempest''.

* JackAttack