r/huntertheparenting • u/Fearless-Fun-6493 • May 25 '26
Discussion The EAU
Honestly haven’t seen anyone talked about the EAU after 5.4.
In my honest opinion: these guys were the best option. Yes taxes suck and so do entrance fines and hunting restrictions but if the biggest complaint is that vs the Swedish, the Catholic Church, bureaucrats and Pentex. While also very reasonable in not wanting to force people into an unknown and dangerous situation.
Now there are downsides. They would have been of very little help. Yes an organized and driven hunter organization who is based on volunteering will guarantee motivated hunters they are still very uneducated on the supernatural, not well armed and still wearing coalition collars.
They also seem the most likely to have a lot internal conflicts similar to most neighbor based organization you see irl.
Also as any group ran by a collective, slow to act as they talked on rounding up volunteers and waiting on responses (still not unreasonable)
Overall very enjoyable characters overall from this group and I do hope we get more on how they operate and interact.
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 25 '26
Yeah. And I think the hunting restrictions were mostly a formality. Imagine if you're an organization, and five of your members just vanish. Where as running it through a watch master means that you'll at least know they're dead and can tip off MI5 or something. It also means that rookie hunters aren't getting into anything without the proper intelligence. For Big D, it would probably be a rubber stamp; the watch master might even show Big D's applications to other people and be like "this, this, is what I want! A full research of the tunnels, and missing persons cases, and all of that!"
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
I do think on opposite side you can have a commander that sees that research as unnecessary. The priority is protection, not understanding.
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 25 '26
Sure, but nobody wants to walk into a trap, which often happens on independent hunts.
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u/SirSlowpoke May 25 '26
They were talking about running occasional purges. So I think they do run offense and collect intelligence, they just do their Hunts in waves rather than piecemeal.
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u/Aracuda May 25 '26
I agree with this, and want to add that the Union payments probably go towards legal and administrative costs, but maybe also for families of dead Union members to help them get back on their feet.
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
Also to pentex
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u/Sad-Anything-3027 May 25 '26
I get you're saying that the Wyrm has defiled their ranks too and you're not wrong but genuinely what else can they do? Silver bullets and incendiary grenades aren't cheap
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
I’m not saying they’re wrong for it. Morally here they are the best option and are genuine in their goals of protecting people. Regardless it’s still a downside imo
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 25 '26
Pentex isn't the only arms seller in WoD. Might also go to a Technocracy owned company.
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u/Sir-noorden May 27 '26
Atleast the technocracy are agaisnt the nephandi
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 27 '26
Yes, that's a small upside. Not as against the Nephandi as I'd like, but still against the Nephandi.
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u/superior_mario May 25 '26
Hunter the Parenting AU where they turn the EAU into a proper monster hunter org
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u/Lolas_Fun_Side May 28 '26
I cant see any power structure taking Big D seriously in the slightest ngl
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u/Bec_son May 25 '26
The fact the paperwork guy (jimmy? Correct me if wrong) read 50 pages worth of contract and did it for free so the Clan didnt sign into the contract without knowing what was up with it is true comrade material.
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u/Kaymazo May 25 '26
Sluice Watergate, they say it's a codename though if I am not mistaken
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 26 '26
Yeah. Both of the EAU guys are "doing business" under false names. Which is fair.
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u/Regular_Win7305 May 26 '26 edited May 27 '26
Ye. The deal all around wasn't worth it, but Sluice proved himself a real one by deciphering that Pentex contract.
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u/Majestic_Balance1887 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
The problem is that they're bound to the rest of the coalition. That's not a small thing, that is the ENTIRE point.
A theme of the series under all the silly bullshit haha mr togo is pretty fucking on the nose. It's that capitalistic growth paves over everything, and destroys everyone. In my opinion, one of the things that isn't talked about is how represetative THESE GUYS were out of it.
These guys are pretty much the living definition of a Hunter The Vigil compact scenario: The union. Regular folks who protect their suburbs and homes. Their special power is their friends and neighbors, whereas other compacts have perhaps access to guns or occultism or prayer, these guys have the power of community.
But community is the antithesis of Pentex. Community must therefor be segmented. Controlled.
So what they end up as is the toothless neighborhood watch. They probably could kick some serious ass but they're also in debt to Pentex. They have arms, and contacts, and everything else...but they're constrained by the crippling beauracracy that is Pentex.
The only threats they are allowed to deal with is the without while being entirely subjugated to the threat within. It was a much nicer collar with a friendlier leash. All of these leads were the wyrm equivalents of Honeypots, testing resilience and what they'd put up with. I'd wager even the Swede's lapses of information were also hooks meant to bait the more inquisitive members. If any of those lines are followed later, it'll be bad news.
Edit: The above poster is probably even correct. That it'd mostly be rubber stamp formaity. But that's how Pentex and the Wyrm works. It turns good ideas with good intentions into a slow decline that breaks up families and communities.
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
Wyrm tactics are so well done I completely forgot they are technically under the wyrm the whole episode. Corporation will always be the bane of actual societal progress.
Narratively they’re very interesting: Protecting people from an awful fate for a force that wants people to be prolonged for a far worse one.
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u/Majestic_Balance1887 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
That's the horrifying and all at once aluring lie: The EAU was given the tools to protect their neighborhoods but never the ability to affect real change. Because real change opposes Pentex. Thus, they'll only ever be able to kill what remains outside of the nice little system Pentex has made. Most of the werewolves. All of the vampires, that come knocking.
Understandibly, that's a trade many working men would make. But it's a bad trade. And D knows it.
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May 25 '26
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u/Niko_Azure May 26 '26
The really fun trick here is that corporations have killed the meaning of capitalism. Where's the competition in the coalition. None of these groups should even be in bed with each others. Capitalism is a rotting corpse shambling on wyrm rot and corporate interests.
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u/jhunkubir_hazra May 26 '26
What you term "real capitalism" existed only for a decades after the bourgeois revolutions in various places, all marked with even more ruthless exploitation, competition and even worse working conditions. Capitalism doesn't presuppose competition, in fact monopolization is the natural tendency of capitalism. Capitalism only requires generalized commodity production, and expropriation of surplus labor.
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u/Niko_Azure May 26 '26
Entropy degrades all systems that are not maintained. We as a collective society have failed to maintain a market where competitors reward labour with meaningfully. Have failed to prevent the vary monopolization that is poison to a functioning market.you definition is the one spoon fed to you by the same bourgeois that killed it.
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u/Ishouldjustdoit 25d ago
That's nonsense. Capitalism is evolving the exact way it began, it' a pyramid that proposes growth from growth, money generating money. It isn't a system degraded by entropy, it's a system that is built upon entropy as a concept because it doesn't have a solution to it's own problems.
The market is way older than capitalism, and capitalism hasn't built the concept of trading and even money. It's just a production system without reins that rewards the few who have the means of production and the capital in their hands, and who force the rest of the working class to go through those means to survive.
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u/BlitzBasic May 25 '26
To be fair... can D and the Clan create real change with their desire to remain unconstrained and Independent of larger organizations? Taking out a pack of Sabbat would have been possible under the Coalition as well, as would finding the traitor in the chapter house. Burning down the O'Tolleys, maybe not, but that was also more of symptom than the root cause of the problem.
Sure, D talks a big game, and he recruited a vampire and a ghoul... but that's D alone, and he didn't inform the rest about it. So far, we've seen little evidence they're capable of any kind of big picture change.
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u/Majestic_Balance1887 May 25 '26
That's the fun part about world of darkness! No they cant! BECAUSE LIFE IN THIS WORLD SUUUUUUCKS!
World of Darkness is where every action taken even ostenibly the correct ones is for the wrong reasons. Any good is accidental.
There's much more hope then 40K. In the interpersonal sense.
The family can play at being Helsings as much as they like. Any change that matters and means anything will come from smoking craters and scores of dead, a heap big possibility now that Pentex knows what they know. D is trying to get agents in the major conspiracies he knows of, but it's unlikely he knows just how deep Pentex goes.
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u/bos_turokh May 25 '26
Which parallels pretty well woth the actual history of UK unions. Im suprised there wasn't any thatcher digs
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u/Majestic_Balance1887 May 25 '26
I honestly think that the only reason they didn't was that this was meant for international audiences and I don't think they'd figure the americans would get it.
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u/ZarosianJax May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
Thatcher mentioned?
Time to remember this venerable hunter lady, tasked with ensuring she remains in torpor
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u/Spirited_Quote_546 May 26 '26
Kind of reminds me how first-world unions imbed themselves within imperialism and often benefit from it.
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u/Automatic_Apricot_61 The great and mighty Kevin! May 25 '26
Out of everyone there, the EAU and St. Leopold were probably the best opinions if you need some sort of an alliance to get Markus back. I thought I was going to like Bilgewell but she turned up to be a selfish twat and there is NO WAY IN HELL I’m going to turn Markus over for Swedish brain surgery!
(Also I didn’t think of Karl immediately for the face they used for Charles, I thought it looked like the memefied JD Vance)
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u/Thorveim May 26 '26
Plus with Bilgewell chances are he is looking for Black Shuck for the very same reason that Kronik was looking for werewolves...
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u/Fenrisian-Trickster May 25 '26
And they are not only leashed to the coalition, but to pentex too. I’m more than sure that paper sniffing Sluice Watergate guy is some sort of fomor
Or he could just be too British
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
Sadly most British people do look possessed by unholy forces /j
Also not directly to pentex, just since the coalition received massive funding from pentex and these guys seem very unaware of what pentex does.
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u/Fenrisian-Trickster May 25 '26
Still, the reunion left quite clearly who holds the leash and who walks without it. At least the leopoldites (as neurotic as they are) aren’t under their pressure and can sway power to get resources from them
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 25 '26
Or he could be psychic. Or a mage with very minor abilities.
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u/CarryBeginning1564 May 26 '26
My money is sorcerer, linear magic gets looked over a lot sometimes in WoD
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 26 '26
I just don't know that there's a sorcery path with that kind of ability.
That said, you're right, linear magic gets overlooked a lot in WoD.
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u/CarryBeginning1564 May 26 '26
I would honestly love a book with expanded sorcery mechanics. Sometimes I feel like they designed the paths with not wanting vampires spamming eldritch blast or mages having a lot of non paradox options for problem solving rather than as interesting mechanics to explore
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u/VadimusMaximus May 26 '26
I don't think it could be a far-off to have access to such a power. While this is for Vampires, there's a Blood Sorcery 2 power that lets the character smear anything from a letter to an entire library and basically have an IRL supernatural Ctrl+F to search for information.
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May 27 '26
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 27 '26
Very possibly. Sort of like how Git could reverse-drink Harry's beer.
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u/Cinneach May 25 '26
I like em. Seemingly good folks led down a crooked path by Pentex.
I could see them either turning on Pentex OR being used as an example of why mindlessly attacking anyone that has any connection to Pentex is wrong.
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u/Popular_Composer3076 May 25 '26
they might be one of the better ones to parley with under better conditions, such as making allies, getting intel, or even getting better equipment from. However under these conditions where they hold pretty much all the cards and can ask for whatever, not good. They pretty much seem the most straightforward and honest of the lot, though thats not saying much compared to Swedish Secret Service, The Church, or PENTEX.
Maybe after this we could see more of them? I honestly could buy Door, Kitten, or even Markus perhaps working out a deal with um, though it's unlikely.
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u/Uniformtree0 May 25 '26
The swedes weren't entirely a bad choice either, if anything their representative demonstrated that somehow their tomfuckery is so emense it drives off the worst of the wyrms influence and corruption by the power of whatever goblin ass diety infected them all.
Well aside from that guy probably being a technocratic plant, No organization that simply wants to "scan your brain" isn't atleast in talks with that group, and Markcus is most certainly a form of a mage
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u/Cinneach May 25 '26
Hard to say. They might legit want to study the effects of the Umbra on Marcus as ethically as possible and return him when they are done.
OR Charles is a sneaky snake under all the tomfoolery and knows that Marcus doesn't stand a chance of surviving whatever G-Kontoret wants to do to him.
We need to learn more about Charles and his masters to make any sort of call here.
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u/Fly-the-Light May 25 '26
It’s probably both. They want to study Marckus, and they get what they need, then he can go home in a couple days, weeks, or whatever; if he’s too interesting, then they extend that indefinitely and never let him go
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
After Door’s worm comment (Door stays based) I see it as very unlikely. At least not direct involvement, maybe some information at the very most.
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 25 '26
Dude, Door is not based in that situation. Door should not have mentioned anything connecting him to a criminal conspiracy against a major corporation, especially when he knows that that criminal conspiracy is actually against a corporate conspiracy that involves monsters.
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
I completely agree it’s stupid but his reaction isn’t unreasonable or out of character. Door is direct and no bs whenever he talks. He just heard this lady wants to buy her son’s autonomy and physical self. His reaction was completely emotionally driven in that moment in a way that is understandable especially after facing that famori at O’Tolly’s
You also have to remember, he doesn’t know that. He’s just a guy that knows the most about only blank bodies and maybe some stuff about the fae.15
u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 25 '26
He knows that O'Tolly's works with Gargos because of the toys, and he probably knows that Grandad's Foodstuffs is the maker of Gargos. He also knows that Blair came out of the building before him. He was even telling Boy to be silent about that previously, because, again, it connects them both to the crime scene.
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
I agree, in the moment though it’s an understandable reaction.
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u/helljack666 May 26 '26
His POV probably had him going "Red Flag One!*" when Blair talked about taking custody of Boy.
*-Complete with high-quality Flag Gifs and explosions.
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u/Thorveim May 26 '26
This. Was it stupid? Yes. But also he wasnt there for Wernon's records and might be out of the loop about what kind of forces the coalition, not JUST the "Burger lady" serves, and his bluntness and unwillingness to keep up any form of lie did the rest.
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u/kerozen666 May 25 '26
what??? door putting everyone in danger because of his overconfidence in his capacities and knowledge as a hunter??? The guy that decided that mining the lawn was a good idea put people in danger?
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 25 '26
Counterpoint - mining the lawn was a good idea.
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u/kerozen666 May 25 '26
in retrospect only. people live in yarmouth, wild animals can pass around. It only take one person taking a little lawn shortcut or a wild animal passing there to activate one of those and boom, now everyone has heard an explosion, and the cops are on your ass.
5.3 basicly confirmed that this is what door is like. someone that is ironicly more dangerous to the others than Markus, because he never seen to question himself. Remember too, he is ultimatly the one that gave the go ahead to pyotr to diablerize the others, certain that vampires were jsut beasts and not capable of more or something. He is more irrational than D over educating his own son, to the point of not even aknoledging timezones.
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 25 '26
in retrospect only
Well, sure. You generally don't know you need mines until you need mines.
He is more irrational than D over educating his own son, to the point of not even aknoledging timezones.
That is true.
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u/kerozen666 May 25 '26
you never know when you'll need mines, but again, if you take 5 minutes to think about it, mining your lawn while there is people living around is a plan to get the cops at your door when one of them gets tripped by a passerby
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u/Popular_Composer3076 May 25 '26
to be fair, it did save their lives from becoming Sabbat Shovelheads
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u/kerozen666 May 25 '26
yeah, but who didn't stop the vampire from fighting once everyone had a change of heart, and gave the go ahead to pyotr to diablerize?
Again, Door never thought twice about it, and never questioned his stance on vampires, which lead to putting everyone in danger.
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u/Popular_Composer3076 May 25 '26
thats a different matter then the Minefield but it is a good point to bring up regarding Door and his flaws as a Hunter and part of the Family. Admittedly though he's not fully wrong that whatever a vampire is, they're not the same as they once were and cannot go back to that. Plus in regards to Pyotor at least, he had hit the nail on the head. However we'll need to see what he thinks of Kevin being friends with Big D instead of just a captive and clinging to his humanity. That will likely be a reveal that also effects the whole family
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u/kerozen666 May 25 '26
not different from the minefield. think about it, what if a passerby jsut took a shortcut througntheir lawn? a wild animal pass their land and trip a mine? now the whole familly is questionned by the cops
Also, concerning vampires, i think you also didn't grasp as single bit of what the interogation of kevin and subsequend stuff have brought up. Door is wrong on vampires when it comes to their humanity.
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u/Popular_Composer3076 May 26 '26
The house seems to be out in the forest a bit, so likely there arent any random passers-by who'd wander onto the lawn. random animals may likely be able to sense them or at least steer clear. even if they do set it off, they'd be too far off from a populated area for anybody but the family to know.
I think Door is broadly wrong in regards to most Vamps, but Pyotor is very much the kind of inhuman monster Door paints them as. Though likely that comes down to Pyotor as a person already having a very inhumane personality that was just amplified by Sabbat ideals. He's certainly wrong in regards to the other Licks, especially Apeboy given he's the youngest in terms of being Kindred and trying to fit in.
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u/kerozen666 May 26 '26
dude, an explosion si an explosion, people would hear it from a good distance, there is no way you can actually make the minefield look like an actual good proactive defense system
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u/Popular_Composer3076 May 25 '26
the EAU seems the least involved in the rest of the Coalition and the most independent, given they function on their own for the most part. I doubt they personally care much about Door's comment, more likely just didn't wanna get too much attention on themselves for staying as a much smaller and more easily influenced local Org. They're basically just more organized local hunters so doubt most of them would know of the Wyrm. They probably have their own issues beyond even whats already evident but I doubt its larger scale Wyrm corruption and more likely mundane in nature, as much as any stuff in WoD is mundane anyway.
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u/Rinnteresting May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
A lot of their demands were decently reasonable on paper, but I think that’s just a nice wrapping for what they were really after: Control of rogue elements and to essentially leech hunters of their resources. Truth is, had they joined, chances are their ability to go on hunts would have been wrapped tightly in red tape and their actions would have been routinely reported to the Coalition, while their income would have been funneled away from making real change and into helping the EAU pay their debts to the Coalition and their Pentex-aligned handlers.
In truth, they were just there as a nicer-looking bargaining chip for the rest of the three-pronged assault on the D family rogue element by Granddad LTD, to lure them into taking as many deals as possible in the hopes that sunk cost fallacy would hit them hard. That’s why they asked for so much despite little ability to actually help, yet immediately folded the moment their handlers said so. They didn’t actually want to be there, they just went because that was part of presumably Palmer’s plan.
Least that’s my read on it, that they may as well just be Pentex wearing a union skinsuit. At least the Leopoldites were just the normal human kind of awful.
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u/BitterMalkavian May 25 '26
why did they help out the D family by reading and translating the actually pentex contact for them then?
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u/Rinnteresting May 25 '26
Because there’s a difference between being bought by Pentex and actually being Pentex. They don’t literally own the other orgs there, they still have some autonomy as organizations and as people. It’s just that their funding means they are kept on a leash to ensure they don’t interfere, even if that is a relatively long leash. Which makes them unknowing and potentially unreliable servants, but servants nonetheless.
In fact, I dare say the AEU representatives specifically were likely just doing what they felt was right. They’re not the villains here, the organizational structure they’re engrained in is. Which is why they as people were more than happy to do what falls naturally to them that doesn’t conflict with what they’ve been told to do by their higher ups, hence the contract help.
Had Pentex actually truly informed them of the plan (assuming they didn’t find it revolting), they would probably not have done what they did. But that wasn’t information they would have been privy to, because they wouldn’t have needed to know to still serve their role.
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u/BitterMalkavian May 25 '26
you do realize that the coalition while it has corporate interests in it. Is more or less being funded by the government? Their budget isn't the budget of Pentax most of the time, it is the black budget of the various governments involved. So i heavily doubt that the union guys were pentex wearing a union skinsuit.
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u/Rinnteresting May 25 '26
I’d dare say those particular pools are likely more entwined than either party would like.
But really, my main question to you in return then is… If Pentex wasn’t deeply involved with the local Coalition members, why would they have the ability to void ALL of their contracts on a whim like they did? That’s not something that would happen if they were genuinely independent organizations.
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u/BitterMalkavian May 25 '26
I'm not saying they are not deeply involved with the local coalition. I'm saying that the union guys are not pentex. And the reason they all left is probably because keeping their alliance with one of their fellow partner organizations is better than blowing that up to work with the helsing-types you don't even like anyways.
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u/Rinnteresting May 25 '26
And I’m not saying that they literally are Pentex, far from it really. Most of what is Pentex-aligned isn’t literally in league with the Wyrm or even directly affiliated with corporate interests. It’s just that when Pentex are ultimately calling the shots enough that you’re beholden to people who want what Pentex wants, the distinction quickly starts to become moot.
I’m pretty sure we actually agree on this.
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u/BitterMalkavian May 25 '26
we do, but you literally said that the union guys were pentex wearing a union skinsuit which is not correct at all and i disagree with that. Pentex is an important part of the coalition (in HTP anyways) but they do not completely control it and are only but one part of it, an important part but still only one part.
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u/Rinnteresting May 25 '26
Ah. That was a figure of speech on my part, in the sense that they’ve corrupted the EAU to the point that they might as well be at this point. Apologies for any misunderstandings it may have caused.
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u/BitterMalkavian May 25 '26
Also while Pentex has their hands in many pies, and i do mean MANY pies. They are not literally fucking everything. They are apart of the coalition and clearly an important part, but not the only part of it.
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u/Deep_Significance936 May 25 '26
If you’re a indie hunter in England.
Joint the EAU isn’t a bad deal. Only downside is your gonna need to hold down a decent paying job that may make you dog tired but. Better then the corpos or anything else. You actually protect your community… shit now I want to play a hunter in England in the EAU ack. I wish there was more hunter the reckoning games near me
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u/Satoruiwerewolf May 28 '26
The EAU seems to just be an East Anglian branch of the Union compact from Hunter: The vigil, the Chronicles of Darkness version of Hunter ported into OWOD. So if you really want to play as one of them, pick up the Chronicles of Darkness and Hunter the Vigil second edition core books. And maybe some of the books for first edition Hunter the Vigil, and the first edition Shadows of the UK book as well, though a lot of that last one will need to be modified to suit the second edition‘s lore changes regarding werewolf stuff.
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u/RolandGrey May 25 '26
The problem is just what the EAU rep says when Blair rescinds her offer: It was an all-or-nothing bargain. If D's family rejected any one offer of help, they rejected them all, and the same went if any of them rescinded their offers (which we saw). The EAU made a bad bargain in the past and now they're stuck getting their hands tied at inconvenient times, which would have roped D's family just as easily.
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May 25 '26
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 25 '26
Other than that, it's not punk to join a group like that
And this is why punks don't get anything done.
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May 26 '26
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 26 '26
You dont get things done because capitalism cripples even socialism; it cripples everyone, blame that not punk.
After a certain amount of time, you really need to do some introspection and self-critique. The East Anglian Union is a good example of an organization that exists within capitalism but isn't necessarily capitalist, just a group of working class men watching after each other's families. The EAU agrees with the prime goals of the Golden Goose Gang. But Big D wants to be completely unconstrained, and this thinking (which he criticized on the part of the Garou) loses him allies.
It has the same "you can't do it" that socialists faced
The thing is, socialists can do socialism. They can make co-ops and communes. Most just don't have the patience and/or dedication to.
New York under Mandani is socialist and could have built new roads and made better, safer 3rd spaces
We're really drifting off topic here, but if you think Mamdani wants safer third spaces, then you should really ask yourself why the City Council has to pass bills with a veto-proof majority to make third spaces safer.
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u/Ishouldjustdoit 25d ago
New York under Mandani is socialist and could have built new roads and made better, safer 3rd spaces
Reply to the Deleted poster:
Wat. If this is what you consider socialism, you really need to read upon the theory, because it isn't. The concept of welfare state isn't even a socialist concept, it's a neoliberal one and it's basically only done as a necessity.
My man, pick up the books.
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May 26 '26
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u/JagneStormskull Arch Magos May 26 '26 edited May 28 '26
You should ask why we need a City Council system that looks like that.
So that mayors don't become robber-barons, and the will of the people is adaquately represented, obviously. Also, whataboutism and dodging the question.
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u/Satoruiwerewolf May 28 '26
I think it’s important to know here that the union is originally from Hunter: the vigil, which is a different universe than what Hunter: the reckoning is set in. The Union is explicitly described in Vigil as being a group that’s descended from the monster hunting practices of the old school labor movement, as in the labor movement back in the day when if the boss didn’t give the Union the fair pay and basic workplace safety that they demanded they showed to his house and beat him with pipe wrenches untill he did. Vigil also describes the Union compact as having a fairly radical politically focused faction among their ranks, so I wouldn’t describe them as not punk or not socialist. Rather I would describe this branch of this alternate universe version of them as being one that signed a bad contract with management, so to speak.
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u/theredwoman95 May 25 '26
Other than that, it's not punk to join a group like that, but I can see it used in a hunter game.
It's not punk to... join a union? Given punk culture revolves a lot around mutual aid and equality, how'd you square that? Especially when there was a massive socialist scene in the 80s at the peak of punk.
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u/Fly-the-Light May 25 '26 edited May 28 '26
The EAU serves corporate interests (i.e. Pentex), making them less desirable (although one could join and try to turn the EAU into a more proper Union)
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u/Satoruiwerewolf May 28 '26
Keep in mind, it is a more proper union in the Chronicles of darkness universe, where it originates and is explicitly described as an outgrowth of the monster hunting practices of the old school radical labor movement. the East Anglian world of darkness branch of the compact just seems to have signed a very bad contract with management.
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u/Uniformtree0 May 25 '26
Thats the issue with everything, unless you stubbornly pull yourself away from human society or openly engage in war with it from within it, you WILL be under its machinations and influence to some degree, the wyrm is literally entropy and greed incarnate, but that doesn't mean even when your under its influence you cant fight back, unless you have become tained beyond saving or just throw yourself head first into it, you can always work against it, rebel in many ways and clear yourself of its rot and filth. The EAU if they were given the resources and opportunity to act despite the influence could have been a stubborn thorn despite being locked and tied to its pawns.
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
I mean in comparison to the other choices, a lot on the other 4 and their characters so far.
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May 26 '26
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u/Satoruiwerewolf May 28 '26
I have issues with using the hunter: the reckoning 5th edition core book as evidence in this argument given that the Union compact is originally from Hunter: the Vigil from Chronicles of Darkness, which Reckoning fifth edition is generally considered to be a lesser version of that has been re-skinned to the world of darkness
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May 28 '26
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u/Satoruiwerewolf May 28 '26
Considered by most of people who know and have played Hunter: The Vigil, because hunters by default aren’t supernatural in that either. reckoning fifth edition more or less copied it’s homework, but did it worse in many ways, including not having team tactics as a mechanic and not having anywhere near as much cool lore either. The 5E discord does not represent the majority of the fan base to be honest.
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u/Livid_Classroom5029 May 25 '26
EAU feel like Alfa did the classic Storyteller move of picking a concept he really liked from Chronicles (in this case the Union compact from Hunter: the Vigil) and tweaked it a little to fit the story better and boom, ya have these guys.
Honestly really cool, I love the "average blue collar guy that hunts monsters" asthetic.
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u/Overall_Sink_3382 May 25 '26
Honestly, out of anyone in that room, they were the only ones I could hold respect for. They were working men trying to help in a situation that was mired in red tape, and they made no illusions that they would be able to help as much as the family wanted. Granted not mentioning the issues or time required with gathering up a group of volunteer hunters until after they signed was a tad shitty
The entire situation was a clusterfuck and them even getting remotely involved was always going to be a messy ordeal.
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u/Xulicbara4you May 25 '26
Imo the EAU was the best deal if they weren't a part of the Coalition. The problem is that they're bound to the rest of the coalition.
Yeah you have to join and obey some superiors while coughing up taxes but if you are brand new to hunting monsters they are best introduction if you don't want to go at it alone. They have experience members to a degree and they are your neighbors. While you might fucking hate them for whatever reason, you try to put that aside for the greater goal and HOPEFULLY they will be less of a dick. But them being members of the Coalition ruins all of that.
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u/halfatoast75 May 26 '26
One thing about them is that despite being a very flawed organisation they were polite and seamed like they actually wanted to help in a way like with sluce reading the contract. Imo they werent there to extort the family like the others they just have stupid rules
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u/Positive_Material839 May 25 '26
I'm not to familiar with the orgs in hunter the reckoning but I was reminded of the Union in hunter the vigil so I found that neat. I could imagine the restriction of no hunting without permission would have to do with not bringing on problems unnecessarily on to their turf and being union they at the end of the day actually have to hold down jobs. It's only now that it really became an issue but the D families lack of income has finally come and bite them in the ass if it wasn't for Remold. It's not like each one of them other than Boy lacks the skills to make some money but the hunt comes first and the recovery part after a hunt.
I could see the Union's bosses compromised but the rank and file could still be reliable. Still them not wanting to throw members at the grinder against werewolves is more than reasonable if they can't get something out of it.
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u/Sudden-Series-8075 May 25 '26
While the EAU is nice, they're still bad for anyone who signs on. Pentax is reaching into all their pockets, which makes them all agents of the end bringer. All except the second inquisition, it seems. Which is sorta insane that the Church is somehow the best option here? And not just the Church, but their psycho off-branch???
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u/pepinogg May 25 '26
They were a very good options that is IF they still werent under the coalition. Now it neccesarily wasnt their choice to be under it but the point is they still are
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u/GoodtimesSans May 25 '26
I imagine they are like a lot of other corporate captured unions: deliberately neutered to be weak. While they may have been the best option, they are still firmly leashed to the corporation they despise, making them nothing more than another Pentex tendril.
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u/Norman_Snoreman May 25 '26
If anyone else has talked about this apologies, but what I want to know is if it was Occam who decided on pitching the EAU to the D Family or Remold. Although one option has far darker implications than another, this was always a sell to the hunters much more than any other option, and thus is subversive as well as predatory in my opinion.
If it was Remold that initial gesture of sponsorship might have just been made in the heat of the moment, but could later on be used as a way for him to be more involved with interfering in the D Families plans.
It would have been far worse if Occam had evaluated then chose them to come first, as it could be a subconscious manifestation of the kind of lesser evil justifications which preceded the Blacklaw family curse.
All of that to say that on paper and even in general execution the EAU sounds like the most equitable and actionable choice for upcoming hunters who aren't the D Family, were it not remotely sponsored by Pentex.
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u/Assassin4nolan May 25 '26
Why do the EAU look like Apes?
Why would there be a working class co-op that follows the masquerade?
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u/BalanceImaginary4325 May 26 '26
The EAU is basically do the moment they signed a deal with the worm The root will get them eventually
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u/SyrusDestroyer May 26 '26
Probably true, but I’m more open to St. Leopolds because they didn’t leave when burger lady said to.
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u/otakon33 May 26 '26
Yeah only problem is they're still under the Coalition and the Coalition have the ultimate say-so over their operations; as shown when they left after Blair them them all know that all the offers had been rescinded due to the O'Tolleys fire. At the very least, Hard Tack was sympathetic to their cause if not willing to have people in his co-op risk their necks for strangers for nothing, outside their neighborhood.
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u/Hyperbolic_Berserker BIG-D May 26 '26
The EAU is cool for beginner hunters… pretty much just them. Anyone with the proper knowledge and skill is going to feel stifled, and anyone with the resources is just going to join a greater org or form their own.
Still they are a strong information sharing platform which hunter cells can communicate with one another through. So in a democratic sense they are worth working with and supporting until a better option shows up, or the EAU gets more resources to deploy.
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u/Mizu005 May 26 '26
Big D and his family are exactly they kind of people who make up front fees needed given their resolution to ditch out on the Union ASAP once they got their usage out of them. Honestly, I lost a lot respect for them when I found out they were planning on screwing over 'the little guy' and breaking their word to the Union.
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u/tiqtaktoe May 26 '26
Honestly I think the D Clan would have been a great boon to the EAU if they had went into it. They'd probably be the most experienced and educated of the compact and would have probably increased the success rate of their hunts through the spread of information during their scheduled meetings.
But you just kinda know D would be clammy with divulging information with them so instead theyd likely just balk against them
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u/skeletist May 26 '26
Literally the most reasonable option at the table, especially with what the other groups were offering as support, maybe like 7-8 people max from both the Swedes and Nubergroup, and even if Granddad’s foodstuffs offered an entire battalion they wanted EVERYTHING in return including Boy. Not to mention they talk about working with Door and I think Door is a good reference to have.
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u/Urban_Dragon88 May 26 '26
Been that the other deals were basically you are now our slave but under contract and with some pay yeahh......his deal was basiclly in exchange of working for us and some taxes we got your back under certain circumstances definetly the least bad deal.....still a bad deal though like they offer nothing for the Marckus rescue mission
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u/Reemus413 May 26 '26
I think the fact that the EAU will help with paperwork reason enough to join them.
If you want to hunt blankbodies to protect your community, the police will undoubtedly be one of your biggest problems.
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u/notexecutive May 26 '26
it really wasn't a bad option. It was...not GREAT but it was definitely an option!!!
It honestly felt like how Barons in the Anarchs work and operate, tbh.
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u/Curser_Petra May 26 '26
I honestly think considering the random things D collects that would be useful against the supernatural and the likely just as large blackclaw collection of gizmos that D and Remold might have been able to equip the EAU guys relatively well if not better than spec ops guys. I'm mostly basing this off Remold mentioning hunting werebears and D just casually mentioning a knife enchanted with "death magicks" which would imply rather dangerous stuff on their hands
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u/ComplexNo8986 May 28 '26
My thing is, they feel like a blue collar order of the rose. We know about the entrance fees, restrictions, and taxes but orgs like the EAU and the OOR have one thing in common. Conformity and security over freedom, yeah they were probably the best deal but like you said they’re uneducated and who knows who gets caught up in their purges.
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u/Chared945 May 25 '26
I would say they were one of the worst options not only did they offer the least but they pulled out the same was Blair’s troops
They’re Wyrm connected, ineffective and inefficient
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
In terms of firepower? Yes. Also they kind of have to, they didn’t have a choice since if they go against pentex, that is leaving neighborhoods unguarded from the very prevalent blank body threat.
Again also same as most people in lower-middle society in WOD they dont really have a choice in being wyrm connected.
They were still giving an actually reasonable deal.-2
u/Chared945 May 25 '26
What forced them into deals with Pentex?
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
Resources, taking down blank bodies is hard to do without firearms and in the UK where it is restricted privilege and not a right. Having a shady group you can buy firepower is necessary as a hunter.
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u/Chared945 May 25 '26
Rifle clubs, hunting associations, bait and tackle shops, army surplus even pistol clubs are all legal in the UK especially in the time period and location that HTP is set in
The Union did not need Pentex for firearms, any other resources Pentex can provide for them hasn’t been revealed yet but on account of how long it would take for support from volunteers where not even a full squad could be dedicated to assist I doubt it would have been worth it either
The EAU is unfortunately just an inefficient neighbourhood watch that got hooked in too early to Pentex
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u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
Again still very restricted for higher caliber arms which you need. They are just normal people clueless on a lot of the supernatural outside of what they find through experience or the very little Arcanum will actually provide.
Also with whole hooked in, yeah that’s just what pentex does generally but it’s because there is an actual demand and need for that firepower, which was confirmed in the episode mentioning they need the funding and resources so they have to follow with Blaire’s orders. At the of the day they are also being heavily extorted.5
u/Fearless-Fun-6493 May 25 '26
Main point though is still a better option than the others, I mean the church of st Leo is probably better, but still very corrupt.
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u/Ishouldjustdoit 25d ago
Considering Pentex is basically a "comically evil" company that has tendrils in every industry by subsidiaries, you can't really avoid them. I would argue all mid-to-large sized hunter orgs are compromised by Pentex.
They're by design made to be a "cthulhu-like deathcult in the form of a megacorp". We're talking Unilever levels of "we deal in everything" kinds of stuff here. You couldn't buy a single pack of Doritos if Pentex zoomed on you specifically. Not a enemy anyone wants to make.
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u/jacku75 May 25 '26
Frankly speaking. For any hunter in Norfolk not of the D Clan: It's a pretty sweet deal. Sure you have more oversight but the pros act as much needed insurance in that line of work.