R Archie

Regan / Russel Archie

The Decameron company (and Cameron family) lawyer

Gender: Female Current Quality: Good

In Game

Bluesheets: Decameron Enterprises, Board and Stock

Character Hint

GM NOTE: this Character has evolved significantly since the original hint, to make it more interesting.

You are Regan Archie. You have been Roger Cameron's personal lawyer since you were all young, and the lead lawyer for Decameron Enterprises from the beginning. He's mostly been a good client, but you always knew that excessive bravado would get him in trouble one day. You just didn't expect it would get him shot.

Today promises to be "interesting" in the most unpleasantly Chinese way you can imagine. The investors in Decameron are getting cold feet, so a high-stakes Board meeting is in the offing. You have to deal with Roger's will post-haste, since it plays into all of this. And you are surrounded by politicians and media types (some of whom are also clients of yours), just to muck it all up more...

Character Sheet

You are Regan Archie, the top lawyer in Violet City, serving a number of companies as well as personally working for several of the city's best and brightest.

And of course, you are the Don's right hand. That's where the real power and money is.

Don Marco Signoretti runs pretty much all of the organized crime in Vermillion. As these things go, he's a pretty benign figure: unlike some of the violent crazies on the coasts, he wants his crime organized, and he loathes anything that brings unnecessary visibility. That is part of his formula for making law-enforcement insane -- while they've known for decades that he was at the center of the web, they've never been able to touch him because he keeps everything at arm's length, and he keeps things peaceable enough that they don't have an awful lot of incentive to dig deeply. Everyone knows that they could do a lot worse.

You are part of the "arm's length" side of that equation. Very few people know that your father used to work for the Don's father, or that he paid for your fancy law degree. You've known the quid pro quo your entire life: be your absolute best, serve the Don faithfully and well, and he would see to it that you had a good life. You've both been faithful to that -- you are one of the few people in the organization who has never suffered his wrath, and he has supplemented your already-considerable income by a lot.

Working for the Don has dovetailed nicely with your official career. He helped make the initial connections, but you've gone on to become the lawyer to many of the powerful people in town. They pay you quite a bit, and don't suspect that you pass anything interesting and relevant on to him.

Indeed, it was your connections that led to the Greyrock project, which has been one of the organization's best new money-spinners. Six or seven years ago, the Don was grousing about the difficulties that the post-9/11 legal climate has imposed on the organization: in particular, the new money-laundering laws, while mainly aimed at terrorism, were making traditional cleaning of illegal operations rather difficult. Your mind drifted over to one of the startups that you were advising, that was looking for venture funding, and you suddenly realized that you could kill two birds with one stone. Everyone keeps their eyes on bank transactions nowadays, but they don't even blink at enormous amounts passing through these venture and private equity companies. Better yet, investor secrecy has become a near-religious tenet among conservatives in Washington.

It took a while to work out the details, but it gelled when you found Brian Truman, a dissolute rags-to-riches-to-rags techie, who had made a fortune and then blown it on floozies and stupid gambling. He already owed the organization a fortune in gambling debt, so you had plenty of leverage when you approached him and told him that he would now be working for you, and through you, the Don.

The deal was straightforward: the Don would provide him with funding, some of which could be used to support a lifestyle that was modest but looked rich enough on the surface. The rest of the money would be used to set up what would become Greyrock Investments, a new venture company specializing in helping to grow high-tech companies. The Don invited one or two of his associates to join him, backing similar puppets, and together they had the makings of a solid fund.

Of course, like any venture fund, there is some risk to Greyrock -- not every investment pans out, and everyone involved knows that. But the organization's resources have a way of tilting the playing field. For example, several months ago, another Greyrock-backed company (some pharma thing, if you recall correctly) in Violet City was having trouble with a local competitor. So the competitor suffered a robbery, in which a number of their critical machines got stolen. And just to add insult to injury, you had Bjorn Ari, a CSI in the VCPD on your payroll, leak word about the robbery to the press, which caused a massive loss of confidence in the company and caused their investors to pull out. Poof, no more competitor.

And of course, Greyrock has the advantage of having a much more focused Board than usual. Most of these venture funds are run by poor little rich boys looking for ways to spend all their money, and they just don't care enough about success. Everyone at Greyrock knows that things are much more serious there. Yes, there is some risk, and some losses will happen. But the Don does not look kindly on people who treat his money frivolously or carelessly.

Some of Greyrock's clients have come to them organically, naively seeking money and looking like good enough prospects. Several have come through you, though: you have plenty of companies using your firm's services, and some have been well-suited to this project. One of the best of those was Decameron Enterprises.

You've been involved with Decameron since way back, when you were an up-and-coming lawyer and they were a precious little company making model rockets. You got to know Roger Cameron, the CEO, his partner Fred Ronit, his wife Millie, and the rest of their crew. Really, you quite liked them: they were a scrappy little company, and for a while they did quite well for themselves. But the whole "model rocket" thing was largely done by the late 1990s, and the company was struggling, on the verge of bankruptcy.

At which point, their warehouse conveniently burned down, one summer night. Oh, Roger never admitted to you that it was deliberate arson for the insurance, but really -- you have a lot more experience than he does, and it was awfully obvious. Less amateurish than you might have expected, but there were certainly loose ends.

So you had a bit of a crisis of conscience. You actually liked these folks, and they were showing real chutzpah. Your instincts said that they might be useful to save. So you approached the Don, and got permission to deal with those loose ends. (Including finding the actual arsonist and shipping him off to Miami -- he clearly had some talent, but needed to be away from Violet City.) The insurance agency complained, of course -- it was pretty obvious insurance fraud -- but with no actual evidence, and a bit of pressure from your contacts, you arranged for them to pay up reasonably fast.

Of course, Greyrock was many years away at that point, but the insurance company kept Decameron afloat, and they took the opportunity to turn the firm around, turning it into a government contractor, specializing in fancy uses of rockets, and they began to slowly regrow.

Finally, three years ago, the pieces were all in place. Decameron was growing, but needed a cash infusion to hire more people to grow faster. By this point, you had been both Decameron's lawyer and Roger's personal one for many years, so when you suggested that he approach Greyrock for his needs, he didn't blink an eye. They invested several million dollars, and so far the investment has gone rather well.

Things have been looking up even more over the past couple of years. Fred heard about the contract that would become Project Sureshot from him defense contacts, and the Don's people arranged for it to fall quite easily into Decameron's lap. The idea is to build "smart rockets"; if they can pull it off, it promises to be a money-spinner, funneling cash in a firehose from the Pentagon into the Don's accounts. Your understanding is that they have a working prototype; if so, that's big.

Assuming that today doesn't prove to be a truly epic snafu. You don't know any details about what happened, but you've heard that there was some kind of shooting, and Roger has been killed. Bloody hell -- you liked Roger. Worse, he was the company's strong leader; without him, you aren't at all sure that Decameron can right itself. Oh, the Don isn't going to take this out of your hide -- he knows perfectly well that this isn't your fault -- but this was going to be a major feather in your cap, and you will be deeply cranky if it all falls apart.

And then there is the whole damned Senatorial election. The Don hates Mayor Ferdinand with a burning passion: she has been rather too effective at shutting down his business pursuits in town and she is letting in a bunch of Latino mobs that are competing with him. As for Fred Ronit -- well, that's just a rich irony. He was good with Decameron, and still thinks that Project Sureshot was all him idea and string-pulling. All of which is fine, but he is a political idealist, which makes him dangerous. As a State Representative he can't do much damage, but a Senator? No, loose cannons are bad for business.

Besides, the Don already owns Senator Newbold, and has no intention of losing that influence. You weren't playing at that level when he invested in the good Senator's first run, but you gather that it was the usual game: give some money anonymously to an up-and-coming politician, and only reveal yourself once it is too late. The Don has been smart, using him judiciously and occasionally over the years, and keeping his powder dry in case it ever becomes important. So you worked with some of the Don's accounts people to set up the "Modern American Freedom PAC" (that sort of content-free name seems to be de rigeur), and using it to anonymously funnel campaign contributions and outside advertising to his campaign.

So: time for game face. The sincere personal lawyer goes to where his client fell, to pay his respects and help everyone through this difficult time. In the moments when you aren't doing so, support Truman in trying to figure out whether this mess is salvageable. Make sure that Newbold doesn't do anything stupid, and see if you can do anything to help him election chances.

Who You Know

Roger Cameron: Founder and CEO of Decameron Enterprises. Dammit, you liked Roger, and he was charmingly naive. You are going to miss him.
Millie Cameron: Roger's wife. Lovely lady, with a better head on her shoulders than she usually lets on. You grabbed Roger's will on the way out of the office; it may prove useful today.
Ainsley Cameron: Roger and Millie's 17-year-old daughter. Smart and a bit nosey -- you'd like to encourage her as a potential future asset, but she might be a dangerous one.
Fred Ronit: The co-founder of Decameron, and its head of Sales for many years. Now a State Representative, but keeps him hand in the company from time to time. Running for Senator, but has too much of the crusader in him to trust in that role.
Carla Lennart: Ronit's replacement as VP of Sales and Marketing. Smart, sharp and ruthless, you've several times considered making use of her -- she seems like the sort who could play the game.
Brian Truman: Your puppet from Greyrock Investments who sits on Decameron's Board of Directors. He will be the public face of your interests today; make sure he stays on message, figuring out whether Decameron is still viable and pretending that this is all for himself.
Samuel Antonino: The company's long-time Office Manager. A bit weak, but very well-respected in the company. Dangerously honest and principled.
Jamie Rickie: The company's long-time accountant. Very smart, and possibly not so honest: Roger was complaining vaguely about him ripping off the company just the other week. You don't know any details, but even a hint of dishonesty can be a big lever if played properly.
Helen Derren: The original investor in Decameron, and still a Board member. Rich, but not stupid. Knows nothing about the reality of Greyrock, and should stay in the dark.
Jeri Ferdinand: The Mayor of Violet City: a bleeding-heart liberal whose dislike for the organization has proved inconvenient in recent years, and whose tolerance of illegal immigration is allowing competing gangs to get a foothold in the city. That's just bad for everyone -- it wouldn't do for Violet City to turn into a violent stew like Miami, but that's exactly what will happen if gangs like that take over.
She is running for Senator, which just won't do. As part of that, she has decided to make political hay by targeting Greyrock as heartless "vulture capitalists", which you find just plain hilarious, but sadly you can't let her in on the joke.
Simon Mercer: Ferdinand's campaign manager. He is a long-time shadowy figure lurking in the back of Vermillion politics, reportedly a highly adept political fixer. You don't know enough about him, and that's never good.
Reagan Newbold: The incumbent Senator for the past 24 years, and one of the best illustrations of the Don's talent for spotting young talent and fostering it. He has never hidden his resentment over being under the Don's thumb, but after this long he isn't going to do anything about it -- even a hint of their connection would probably put him in jail for life.
Officially, you are one of his personal lawyers. That makes a useful cover story: your firm represents many of the city's highest-profile people, so nobody questions your meetings with him.
Nika Stanimir: Newbold's campaign manager. A bit of a twit, he is mostly an NRA gun nut. As far as you know, he knows nothing about the Senator's connection to the Don.
Bjorn Ari: The Don's most useful asset in the Violet City Police, he is in the CSI unit, and quite experienced at hiding or leaking evidence as needed. You don't need to use him often, but when something goes wrong, he reports directly to you.
Senator Newbold thinks that Ari works for him, having known Ari's parents for many years. What he doesn't know is that Ari's father has always worked for the Don as a mid-level manager, and was the one who suggested recruiting Newbold in the first place. So Newbold occasionally asks favors of Ari, and so long as they don't interfere with the Don's interests, you let that be.
Maeve Caoilinn: One of the VCPD's better detectives. Really, a pretty admirable public servant, but by all accounts incorruptible, and you've never found much good leverage to use against her. Therefore, she must be considered dangerous.
Roger Forrester: One of the local reporters. You gave him an interview a couple of years ago -- he was investigating how profitable some of Violet City's top law firms were. You certainly didn't want him to find out where the bulk of your money comes from, so you blandly confesses to making money hand over fist from some of your corporate clients -- after all, your firm is the best, and people are willing to pay a premium for the best. (The really funny part was that your corporate bookings went up after that: apparently the article convinced some clients that they weren't being foolish in paying you so much. Honesty really can be the best policy, but a well-placed misdirection is even better.)

GM Notes

NOTE: pretty much all of the below has been superceded by the Money Laundering plot, which is quite a bit more fun.

Has always felt that Roger was in over his head -- a great idea man, but one who wasn't very professional in execution. Has long felt that Roger should have stepped back years ago, and brought in a professional manager. Pushed hard for the Sureshot project, as a way to grow the company. Is now very concerned about limiting liability -- both the company's and hir own.

Is also the Cameron's family lawyer, and has Roger's will. This will should make clear that Ainsley gets a chunk of the family assets in her own name, and everything else goes to Millie. This should not be a big secret, since it will factor into the Board Meeting.

Likes Millie as a person, but firmly believes she should step back and let a professional take over, rather than trying to run things herself.

Is not an investor, on general principles, but after 20 years sie has a deep emotional investment in the company, and wants to see it succeed and grow.

Is also J Ferdinand's personal lawyer. Disagrees with hir about some issues, but generally feels like sie is a more sincere than R Newbold and less crazy than F Ronit.

Realized several years ago that Jamie Rickie was embezzling money from the company. Regan was mildly disappointed but entirely unsurprised that nobody on the Board was reading the books closely enough to figure this out. So she told Jamie that he would now pay Regan a modest $2000 per month to keep quiet. This is basically petty cash, but helps establish where the power is.

Starting Items: Roger Cameron's Will