INWO Concordance
Basic Set Plots A-L
The INWO Concordance
was originally created by Colin Roald, expanded by Alan de Smet,
and is currently
maintained and edited by Steve Brinich.
Illuminati, Illuminati: New World Order,
INWO, and Assassins are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games for its trading card game of conspiracy
theory. SubGenius is a registered
trademark of the SubGenius Foundation, Inc. This Concordance quotes a very
limited amount of material from INWO (card titles, mostly) in order to stay
within the limits of fair use.
18 1/2 Minute Gap
A reference to a critical bit of tape missing from the recordings
of discussions between ex-President Richard Nixon and his subordinates, from
the Watergate scandal. [JY,TNG]
Agent In Place
An operative who has successfully (as far as you know) taken on a
cover role within another organization. Sometimes, an agent in place will
assume such a role for years, advancing in trust and position within the
target organization, to become a deep agent. [SMB]
Air Magic
Fnord.
Albino Alligators
According to urban legend, hundreds of baby alligators were brought
to New York City from Florida as souvenirs, many of which eneded up being
flushed down the toilets. The alligators survived in the sewers by feeding
on rats, raw sewage, and the occasional sewer worker. After years in absolute
darkness, the alligators became blind and albino, and occasionally try to
wander back from where they came.....
Thomas Pynchon's novel V is the definitive record of the "albino
alligator" story.
Incidentally, at least one alligator has actually been captured by
a city official in the New York sewer system. [BB,OS]
Alternate Goals
Fnord.
And STAY Dead!
Fnord.
Angst
A sense of self-loathing, often leading to lack of will and motivation.
Some writers and their fans have
deveolped it into an art form. [SMB]
Annual Convention
A yearly gathering of some group to socialize and conduct business.
Occasionally, the events at a group's annual convention will make the news
(e.g. the scandal following the 1991 Tailhook
convention).
Are We Having Fun Yet?
First quipped by cartoon character Zippy the Pinhead; it has since
escaped control. [DV]
Assertiveness Training
A very silly idea in which the wimps of society would take classes
on being (for lack of a better word) assertive; this would either compound
the problem or turn them into survivalists.
[Th]
Atomic Monster
A B-movie creature spawned by radioactive contamination. Famous examples
are Gojira/Godzilla and Gamera. [DV,JY,SMB]
The Auditor From Hell
Fnord.
Backlash
A "backlash" is a reaction against some actual or potential social,
political, etc, change. Sometimes a backlash goes beyond reversing the original
change and pushes society further in the opposite direction. [AdS,CR,SMB]
Bank Merger
Fnord.
Benefit Concert
The 1980s saw a rash of benefit concerts for various liberal causes,
mainly world hunger. The classic original was "Live Aid" for Ethiopian hunger
relief, organised by Bob Geldof.
The performer on the left appears to have a cyberpunk-style interface
cable plugged into his neck, though it could just be a cosmetic item to give
him a touch of the punk rocker
look. [DV,RLM]
The Big Score
A slang term for a highly profitable operation. [SMB]
The Big Sellout
A possible reference reference to "selling out" (betraying) your agents,
allies, etc. to protect yourself. Note that the card, almost functionally
identical to Voodoo Economics,
allows you to sacrifice future relations with various groups for temporary
benefits.
The term "Big Sellout" is often used by stores selling out as much
of their wares as possible before being liquidated. [BB,Th]
Bimbo at Eleven
Reference to standard TV news update phrase, "Film at eleven," meaning,
"We'll have a full report in the late news programme." "Bimbo" is American
slang for a very beautiful and air-headed woman, particularly one "collected"
by a rich or powerful man. [JD]
Blitzkrieg
A German word meaning "Lightning War", referring to their WWII tank-based
strategy of rapid attack by overwhelming force. [AdS,CR]
Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat
A phrase from a famous Second World War speech by Winston Churchill.
The phrase is often shortened to "blood, sweat, and tears," possibly because
the bodily-fluids theme makes it more memorable. [GB,MD,SMB]
Bodyguard
A personal protector. The best-known job of the Secret Service is to provide
bodyguards for the President and other key government personnel. [SMB]
Botched Contact
What happens when secret agents are trying to meet at a predetermined
place and time, and the meeting fails to go through. It could be for any
number of reasons, but is not usually due to incompentence. It might be due
to a double agent. [SAC]
Bribery
A bribe can be defined as a payoff
to persuade someone to put your interests ahead of the interests that the
bribe-taker is supposed to be serving. [SMB]
Car Bomb
A smaller version of a truck
bomb. [SMB]
Celebrity Spokesman
A celebrity hired by a corporation to hawk their product. [Th]
Censorship
The best short definition of censorship is probably "forcible suppression
of information." Strictly speaking, only governments can censor, though this
criterion can be blurred when government pressure influences private decisions.
Censorship is supposedly prohibited in the United States by the First
Amendment to the Constitution,
but some politicians haven't gotten the word. The most (in)famous current
example is the "Communications
Decency Act" attached to the 1996 telecom bill, which was struck down
by the Supreme Court the next
year. [SMB]
Charismatic Leader
A leader with an extremely strong emotional hold over his followers.
The classic historical example is Adolf Hitler, who was noted as an
spellbinding orator. Smaller-scale examples examples include Charles Manson,
Jim Jones (of the People's Temple group, which committed mass suicide in
Guyana) and Shoko Asahara (whose followers unleashed the notorious March
1995 poison gas attack in the Tokyo subway system).
The great danger of a charismatic leader is that the worshipful attitude
of his followers may lead him into delusions of grandeur (if he doesn't have
them already). This can easily result in a group which unleashes mass hysteria,
chaos, destruction, and death. [SAC,SMB]
Citizenship Award
The man on the right bears a distinct resemblance to Tricky Dick Nixon
of 18 1/2 Minute Gap fame, possibly referring to the
rehabilitation given to his reputation by eulogy speakers after his death
in 1994. [AdS,CR]
Clone
A genetically identical copy of a biological entity. A favorite of
science-fiction tales wherein entire humans are "cloned".
The cloning of an adult sheep (announced in March 1997) has led to
a flurry of speculation about the possibility of human cloning in the near
future. [JD,OS]
Cold Fusion
Notorious scientific mistake. Chemists Pons and Fleischmann claimed
to have observed fusion in a beaker at low temperatures, which if true would
have promised almost limitless cheap energy. This claim was followed by a
flood of fame and experimental effort, but their results were never verified.
[AdS,CR]
Combined Disasters
Fnord.
Committment
Determined protestors (e.g. some antinuclear activists and antiwar activists) have been known
to chain themselves to fences as a kind of "living wall" to block activity
at a site. This unfortunately only works when the proponents of the plan
that the protesters are opposing aren't willing to use extreme measures....
[SAC]
Computer Security
Protection of one's computer system from computer
viruses, hackers, logic bombs, and other such threats. [SMB]
Computer Virus
A computer program that spreads by copying itself to other computers
via networks, floppy disks, etc. (rather like the
Internet Worm). Depending on the nature of the virus, the results vary
from whimsical practical jokes to extensive destruction of data. [SMB]
Corruption
Local corruption is a major obstacle to relief efforts in many parts
of the world. [SMB].
Counter-Revolution
A revolution to reverse the results of a previous revolution. The
best-known recent example was the Contra insurgency against the Sandinista
government in Nicaragua, with covert assistance from the US government through
an operation managed by Ollie North.
[SMB]
Counterspell
A spell to counteract the effects of another spell. [Th]
Cover of Darkness
Night is a good time for criminal or other clandestine activity, since
it is much easier to hide "under cover of darkness". [SMB]
Cover-Up
A "cover-up" is an attempt to conceal evidence of misdeeds. If the
cover-up fails, it's likely to get the perpetrators in more trouble than
the original misbehavior (Watergate is the classic example). [SMB]
Crop Circles
Sometimes more, sometimes less elaborate patterns found stamped into
grainfields, frequently but not exclusively in southern England. Attributed
either to UFO landings or bored college students.
"Ley lines" refers to a theory of magic holding that occult power
is confined to a tracery of of "lines" embracing the Earth; crossings of
lines then are places of great power. Stonehenge is often held to be
one such. [AdS,CR]
Currency Speculation
A method of making money by exchanging currency between various national
units; essentially, playing the stock market with entire nations instead of
corporations. [BB]
Deasil Engine
A pun on "diesel engine" (a type of internal combustion engine using
compression ignition rather than spark plugs).
"Deasil" is from the Gaelic meaning clockwise. Its opposite is "widdershins",
meaning anticlockwise, or "in a reversed way" -- in other words, this card
is a triumph of pun over scholastic accuracy.
A particularly Illuminated reference for INWO, in which play moves
anticlockwise. [GB]
Deep Agent
An agent planted deep within an organization, often playing his cover
role for years before being "activated" by his real masters. [SMB]
Dictatorship
The dictator in the card art is the Maximum Leader from Steve Jackson Games' 1992 game Coup.
[SMB,Th]
Dollars for Decency
Fnord.
Double-Cross
A "double-cross" is a betrayal, particularly a pre-planned refusal
to keep your end of a bargain after the other side has delivered on its promises.
This is a concept that will be familiar to most INWO players....
The card art suggests one highly effective technique for insuring
that the victim of a double-cross will not retaliate. [SMB]
Early Warning
A warning of an imminent threat (dangerously bad weather, military
attack, etc) in time to take appropriate precautions to minimize damage and
injury. (See also This Was Only a
Test.) [SMB]
Earth Magic
Some hold that the power of the Earth (through Gaea, the Earth Goddess)
is the strongest magic around. Others point to underground nuclear testing
as an indication that Gaea is not terribly effective at self-defense. [SAC]
Earthquake
A shaking of the ground due to the sudden release of built-up tensions
in the earth. Earthquakes range from the barely detectable to the catastrophic.
[SMB]
Eat the Rich!
A slogan of radical opponents of the wealthy and powerful. A humorous
play on the slogan appends the rationale: "...the poor are tough and stringy".
[SAC,SMB]
Embezzlement
Theft of business assets by a person entrusted with their management
and safekeeping. [SMB]
Emergency Powers
Powers above and beyond those normally permitted to government agents
(especially the police and military) during a crisis. The emergency powers
are supposed to be relinquished when things return to normal, though the
people in power have an obvious temptation to avoid doing so....
It is sometimes claimed that the United States has been kept in a
continuous legal
state of emergency since 1933, thus making the Constitution a dead letter
and giving the President dictatorial powers. [SMB].
Epidemic
A widespread outbreak of disease. Famous examples include the bubonic
plague that swept Eurasia in the mid-fourteenth century (the "Black Death")
and the influenza epidemic that swept the world just after World War One.
[SMB]
Exposed!
Secret plans by some group are often subjected to exposure by journalists
looking for a story or by opponents hoping to generate a public backlash against the plan. [SMB]
Faction Fight
An internal conflict within an organization. See also Fratricide. [SMB]
First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All
The Lawyers
From a passage in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part II:
Cade: There shall be in England
seven halfpenny loaves sold for a penny; the three-hooped pot shall have
ten hoops; and I will make it a felony to drink small beer. All the realm
shall be in common, and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to pass. And when
I am king -- as king I will be -- there shall be no money; all shall eat
and drink on my score; and I will apparel them all in one livery, that they
may agree like brothers, and worship me their lord.
Dick: The first thing we do, let's kill all
the lawyers.
As this passage shows, the intent of the original speaker of this
line (to kill all the lawyers as part of a plan to replace the rule of law
with the rule of personal whim) is quite dissimilar to the usual modern use
of this line (to express frustration with the complexities and perversities
of the legal system). [GG,SMB]
Flower Power
A slogan of 1960s antiwar activists,
who would sometimes place flowers in gun barrels as a political statement.
[SMB]
Fnord!
A word which is supposed to appear throughout newspapers and magazines,
but which we do not consciously fnord notice. Being faced with the omnipresence
of an "invisible" fnord non-word creates a sense of permanent unease in the
populace. From Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus!, though originated
in the Principia Discordia,
which says: "FNORD => fnord, fnord, fnord, fnord, fnord, fnord, fnord,
fnord, fnord..." [JW]
Foiled!
"Curses -- foiled again!" is the stock cry of the melodrama villain
when his evil schemes are scotched. [SMB,Th]
Forgery
Many supposed works of art and historical documents have turned out
to be forgeries, much to the chagrin of their owners and the experts who
mistakenly pronounced them genuine. For example, the Adolf Hitler diaries
"discovered" in April 1983 turned out to be a major embarassment to some
authorities (including Time magazine) when they were exposed as a
hoax in May 1983. [SMB]
Freaking the Mundanes
A fannish expression for behaving
in a particularly outrageous manner to get a reaction from ("freak") the non-fans
("mundanes"). Generally considered to be rude and juvenile behavior. [SMB]
Full Moon
Folklore holds that the full moon causes madness (luna-cy), but statistical
analysis shows there's no more oddness at the full moon than any other night.
Of course, They might control the statisticians. [DV]
Fundie Money
"Fundie" is common American slang for religious fundamentalists. The
overall implication is that the target is being bought off by Religious Right interests.
Also a pun on "funny money" (counterfeit). [AdS,CR]
Gang War
Concrete galoshes are a traditional mob assassination method, at least
in the movies. [AdS,CR]
George the Janitor
Dumpster-diving is a common information-gathering tactic, which is
often effective against careless targets.
More specifically, George the Janitor is a character from Illuminati University. [SMB]
Giant Kudzu
Kudzu is an imported species of vine with no natural predators in
the US. It thrives in parts of the South, to the point of choking trees,
telephone poles, buildings, parked cars, etc, while exterminating the native
plant life. A truly vile weed. [TNG]
Goal: The Corporate Masters
The ruling of the world by megacorps is a popular theme in cyberpunk
fiction... if it's just fiction. [Th]
Goal: Criminal Overlords
The man in the card art has the stereotypical look of a Mafia member. He's standing in front
of the White House with his hand on the Bible (presumably taking the Presidential
oath of office) -- but has his fingers crossed (meaning that, as far as he's
concerned, the oath doesn't count). A Mafiosi President would certainly fit
the card title.... [RLM.RSW]
Goal: Fratricide
"Fratricide" (literally, the killing of a brother) refers to the destruction
of a peer. The term is used to refer to various sorts of cutthroat conflicts
within organized crime, government, etc. It is also used to describe the possible
destruction of some nuclear missiles in a volley by the preceding detonation
of other nearby missiles. [SMB]
Goal: Hail Eris!
Part of the Discordian
greeting, "Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!" Image references include 'a monkey
on her back', Rosicrucian cross, numerology, Thunderbird, cave painting,
tattooing and piercing, self-referentiality (she is pointing at herself),
fractals (in the background), various astrological and mathematical symbols,
and Egyptology (the scarab on her finger). [GG]
Goal: The Hand of Madness
Fnord.
Goal: Kill for Peace
A rather philosophically inconsistent slogan used to describe the
actions of extremist antiwar activists
who engaged in violent protests (and in a few cases, outright terrorism) against
the military-industrial complex.
[SMB]
Goal: Let Them Eat Cake!
A phrase from Rousseau's Confessions, described as the response
of "a great princess" to a report that the peasants had no bread to eat, around
the time of the French Revolution. Though the line is frequently assigned
to Marie Antoinette, the date makes this unlikely. Maria Theresa has been
suggested as the "culprit". Also, the original is reportedly an injunction
to eat brioches. [WL]
Goal: Power for Its Own Sake
Fnord.
Goal: Power to the People
A common revolutionary slogan, with obvious demagogic appeal. [SMB]
Goal: Up Against The Wall
Radical revolutionaries often declare that the current rulers and
other enemies of the revolution will go "up against the wall" (to be shot)
when the revolution comes. [SMB]
Good Polls
Highly favorable poll numbers tend to create a "bandwagon effect"
which strengthens the favored person or cause even further. [SMB]
Grassroots Support
The man and woman are from "American Gothic", a famous painting of
traditional American farmlife by Grant Wood (1892-1942). [JJ,CL,MV,MS]
Gremlins
Mythical creatures said to haunt machinery (particularly airplanes),
randomly breaking machinery. The legend dates from World War Two. [AdS,CR]
Harmonica Virgins
August 16, 1986 was to be the Harmonic Convergence, when all the planets
would come into alignment and a new age of peace and good things would begin.
However (and the squeamish may not want to continue), in redneck/biker
slang a "harmonica virgin" is a girl who likes to -- mm -- "play the mouth
organ", but who is otherwise virginal. I'll never look at this card the same
way again. [DV,DF]
Hat Trick
"Hat Trick" is usually a sporting term. It originated in cricket,
where a bowler makes a hat trick when he dismisses three batsmen with consecutive
balls (an extraordinarily difficult feat). It was later adapted to hockey
and soccer (a player makes a hat trick by scoring three goals in a single
match).
The trick shown in the card art is more usually called a "shell game".
[GB]
Head In a Jar
Severed heads kept alive in the lab are a staple of some grade-B sci-fi
flicks, such as The Head That Wouldn't Die.
Also see U.S. Patent 4,666,425, "Device For Perfusing An Animal
Head" [SMB]
Hex
A "hex" is a term for a magical spell, particularly a curse ("put
a hex on..."). [SMB]
Hidden Influence
Fnord.
Hit and Run
The car license is first part Law of Fives (see Warehouse 23) and second part
Number of the Beast. [GG]
Hoax
The card being torn in half bears a picture of the Goldfish Fancier; the notation at
the bottom reads "Requires Miracle" (which is presumably even worse than
"Requires Illuminati Action and Discards"). Curiously, the picture resembles
the one on the Goldfish Fanciers card more than it resembles any of the other
appearances of this character (note the position of the character's hand
just below the tear, which is consistent with Goldfish Fanciers but not with
Nobel Peace Prize); however,
the torn card is clearly a Plot rather than a Group. Evidently, this card
is one that the Secret Masters do not choose to officially acknowledge at
this time.... [BB,SMB]
Hurricane
A type of circular storm which forms over the ocean and occasionally
moves onto land, bringing heavy rainstorms and high winds. [SMB]
I Lied
Fnord.
Impostor
Opportunistic impostors claiming to be deceased kings and the like
have occasionally attempted to seize power (or served as puppets for others
attempting to do so), particularly in the days before the printing press and
other modern communications methods made it possible for most people to know
what their rulers actually looked like. For instance, Suetonius mentions
several "false Neroes" in the years after that emperor's death, at least
two impostors claiming to be the last members of the House of York raised
rebellions in late fifteenth-century England, etc.
The custom of having recently deceased VIPs lie in state for public
viewing probably originated as a method of making it certainly known to as
many people as possible that the person was indeed dead. [SMB]
Infobahn
Term popularised by Wired
magazine. Sickeningly, it's caught on. See also Al Gore. [DV]
Interference
Fnord.
The Internet Worm
An experimental computer program by Robert T. Morris Jr., son of noted
computer security expert R. T. Morris Sr. (who was possibly working for the
N.S.A.), was supposedly inadvertently
set loose one day in the late 80's...it rapidly began duplicating itself,
spreading from machine to machine across the internet, and brought much of
the network to its knees. Some folks who examined the worm claim it looked
to have been written by committee. See also Computer
Virus. [JY,RB]
Jake Day
If one person does something weird, it's a shenanigan. If several
hundred strangers from all over the globe simultaneously do something weird,
it's a Jake. See newsgroups alt.discordia
or alt.shenanigans to find the plotting
for Spam Jake Day '95. [EF]
Jihad
The original meaning of the word "jihad" is "a life spent in the service
of God (Allah)". It's one of the Seven Steps of Islam, but is considered optional.
Because the Moslems first noticed by Europeans were those who served Allah
by warring against the infidel, Westerners have adopted the word as a term
for fanatical holy war (as waged by people who think that dying for the cause
is a passport directly to Heaven, do not pass Hell, do not collect $200).
Note that Jyhad [sic] was the original name of the Wizards of the Coast CCG
based on White Wolf's
World of Darkness. A new edition of this CCG has been issued
as Vampire: The
Eternal Struggle. [AdS,BB,CR,SMB]
Just Say No
A poetic Reagan Administration
anti-drug slogan, popularized by Nancy Reagan. Note carefully all
the items being tossed into the fire. [SDO]
Ketchup is a Vegetable
A policy proposed by a Reagan
Administration Agriculture Department official to save money on school lunches
while abiding by Food and Drug Administration regulations requiring two vegetables
served at each meal -- consider ketchup to be a vegetable! This plan was
dropped amid howls of derisive laughter.
In an ironic sequel, the Clinton
Administration Agriculture Department announced in June 1998 that salsa would
count as a vegetable in school lunch programs. This drew far less notice,
which lends credence to the Liberal alignment attached to Big Media in INWO.
Note the appearance of the number "23" (see Warehouse 23) in the ketchup
bottle slogan "23 Varieties" (a play on Heinz's "57 Varieties" slogan). [JY,SMB]
Kinder and Gentler
What America would become if he was elected, according to George Bush's 1988 election rhetoric.
[AdS,CR]
Let's Get Organized
A call to unify people toward some common goal. [SMB]
Let's Get REALLY Organized
Note that the artwork shows the two characters from Let's Get Organized with much nicer clothing
and surroundings. [AdS,CR]
Let's You and Him Fight
A phrase used by J. Wellington Wimpy of Elzie Segar's comic strip
Thimble Theatre (better known today by the name of one of its other
characters -- Popeye).
[SMB]
Liberal Agenda
A catchall term for the social and political goals of liberals, usually
used disdainfully by conservatives. [SMB]
Logic Bomb
A malicious "booby trap" program placed in a computer, often set to
activate after a time delay. It differs from a computer virus in that it
does not replicate itself or spread to other systems.
The best-known cases of logic bombs are those planted by recently
terminated employees, set to go off after the perpetrator has cashed his
severance pay and moved without a forwarding address. Sometimes, the perpetrator
will attempt to extort payment from the victim in exchange for information
needed to undo the damage. [SMB]
Next Section...
CREDITS
The bulk of the entries were originally written by Alan
de Smet and/or Colin Roald (Basic Set) or Steve Brinich (Assassins). Others
have provided feedback, additional facts, and occasional entire entries; these
entries are marked with the initials of the contributor(s). The full names
corresponding to these initials are listed on the credits page.
I would like to thank everyone who provided entries and
feedback.
Last Updated October 1998
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