Tether · Active · Campaign 01
LODESTAR
The Hargrove Meridian Foundation. The Meridian Institute. Project HELIOS. An external threat called COSSACK. A near-future corporate thriller where the stakes are larger than anyone in the building is cleared to know.
The Campaign
LODESTAR is a near-future corporate thriller played in Tether. Players take roles within the Meridian Institute — employees of the Hargrove Meridian Foundation working in positions ranging from engineering to security to administration. The Institute is conducting research under Project HELIOS. Something called COSSACK is attempting to compromise it.
The tone is professional and careful. The Institute is a real institution — people have jobs, schedules, colleagues, and performance reviews. It is also something stranger than it presents. As clearance levels increase, the picture changes. Most players begin not knowing how much they don't know.
The Hargrove Meridian Foundation
A private research organization established several decades ago. The Foundation's stated mission is the advancement of fundamental physics research and the development of clean energy solutions. Its actual footprint is larger than its public profile suggests.
The Foundation operates through several institutional arms. The Meridian Institute is its primary research facility — the one the players know. There are others. Players are not authorized to know about the others.
Type
Private Research Foundation
Classification
Restricted
Public Mission
Clean Energy Research
Actual Scope
Classified
Project HELIOS
Restricted · Need to KnowThe primary research initiative of the Meridian Institute. Specifics are available to personnel at appropriate clearance levels. What is known at general Institute clearance:
- HELIOS is a long-term research program, not a single project or device
- It is the reason the Meridian Institute exists
- It is the reason COSSACK exists
- Understanding what HELIOS actually is will take time, access, and decisions
Full briefing available to cleared personnel as the campaign progresses.
The Threat — COSSACK
An external actor — organization, operation, or something harder to categorize — attempting to access, compromise, or acquire Project HELIOS and its associated assets. COSSACK is not a new presence. The Institute's Security division has been tracking indicators for some time.
What COSSACK wants, whether it is a single organization or a coalition of interests, and how far it has already penetrated the Institute are open questions at campaign start. Security & Operations personnel have the most visibility into these questions. Everyone else has the appropriate amount of paranoia.
Your Role in the Institute
Players are employees of the Hargrove Meridian Foundation working within the Meridian Institute. Each player chooses a department at character creation, which shapes their skills, their access, and what they are permitted to know.
Infrastructure, nuclear systems, materials science. The people who keep the building running and know what runs beneath it.
Character Concepts
- Facilities Engineer
- Nuclear Systems Tech
- Materials Scientist
- Infrastructure IT
Access
Maintenance corridors, utility networks, restricted plant areas. Physical access across most of the Institute's infrastructure layers — sometimes further than the paperwork explains.
Starting Knowledge
You know the Institute's floor plans, power systems, cooling loops, and load tolerances. You also know which rooms aren't on the official schematics.
Role in the Story
The people who keep things running are also the first to notice when something in the infrastructure doesn't match the blueprints. That gap between what's on file and what's actually down there is where your story starts.
Theoretical physics, anomalous materials, applied anomalistics. Working closest to HELIOS. What they know, they are careful about saying.
Character Concepts
- Theoretical Physicist
- Anomalous Materials Specialist
- Computational Scientist
- Research Technician
Access
Research wings A through C, laboratory complexes, restricted data terminals. What you can access depends heavily on your clearance tier — and your clearance tier is a moving target.
Starting Knowledge
Surface-level HELIOS project data, anomalous material properties, the gap between what the instruments read and what you're told those readings mean.
Role in the Story
You work closest to HELIOS. The distance between your observations and the sanctioned interpretation of those observations is the most interesting thing about this job. As clearance increases, the picture either clarifies or gets stranger.
Active threat response, intelligence, COSSACK assessment. The people responsible for keeping the Institute contained — and keeping what is outside, outside.
Character Concepts
- Threat Analyst
- Field Operative
- Intelligence Officer
- Incident Commander
Access
Security Operations Center, armory, all-areas emergency override. You also have access to personnel anomaly files — which include more names than most people would expect.
Starting Knowledge
COSSACK indicators currently on file. Current threat level (elevated). The names of personnel under passive observation. The difference between what you're reporting up and what you actually think.
Role in the Story
You know the threat is real. You also have the most visibility into how far it's already gotten — and the most to lose if that information spreads before you know who to trust.
Trauma, research medicine, experimental pharmacology. Responsible for managing the human consequences of working this close to whatever HELIOS actually is.
Character Concepts
- Trauma Physician
- Research Medicine Specialist
- Experimental Pharmacologist
- Psychological Assessor
Access
Medical wing, restricted patient records, quarantine facility (Level 3 authorization required). You are sometimes the last person to see certain patients.
Starting Knowledge
Anomalous physiological presentations on file — more than have been formally reported. The long-term exposure profile for personnel in proximity to HELIOS. What the research medicine protocols are actually for.
Role in the Story
The human cost of the Institute runs through your department. What you know about the effects of extended proximity to HELIOS is classified above most of your colleagues' clearance. So far you've complied with that classification.
Logistics, clearance management, the connective tissue of the Institute. Everyone needs something. They know where everything is and who approved it.
Character Concepts
- Project Coordinator
- Clearance Officer
- Logistics Manager
- Records Administrator
Access
Administrative systems, personnel files, clearance approval terminal. You don't go anywhere — everything comes to you.
Starting Knowledge
Who has access to what. Anomalies in the approval chain. The gap between the official org structure and where authority actually sits. You have also seen things in the records that no one explicitly cleared you to see — because clearance is paperwork, and you do the paperwork.
Role in the Story
Everyone needs something from admin. That means you see patterns across departments that no single person in any other role can see. Your job is to be invisible and thorough. Both of those things are now extremely useful.
Before Session One
All players read the Campaign Primer and the Organization & Facility document. Then read only your assigned role document. The primers contain everything needed to build a character and arrive at session one ready to play.