[DL] The Business

[James Knevitt <jknevitt@yahoo.com>]

Hey,

I know that this is a long shot, but ...

I was recently thinking about -The Business-, a
fantastic novel by an equally fantastic author, Iain
M. Banks. The premise is beyond the scope of this
short email, but the gist of it is that it is about a
secret organisation known only as The Business, one
that has existed in one form or another since before
the Roman Empire, with fiscal interests in everything
from standard industry to the Roman Catholic Church
(which it actually owned once for a period of
sixty-six days). It is most likely the largest and
most secretive commercial organisation on the planet,
and its sole interest is to Make Money (think nine
parts Gnomes of Zurich mixed with one part
Freemasons).

Now, for all those who have actually read -The
Business-, what do you think an organisation like this
would be like in the DL world? I'm not sure exactly
how far along the concept of corporations are in the
grand scheme of things, and I was wondering what other
people thought on the topic. In my game, the part of
The Business that the posse sees is The Underwriters -
the black-clad attorney-types that are underwriting
the joint Collegium/Explorer's Society expedition to
find Atlantis.

For those who haven't read -The Business-, or any of
Banks' other works, especially his 'Culture' series of
novels, what's wrong with you? Don't just sit there
and read this, go out and buy an Iain M. Banks book!
Go! Shoo! Don't come back until you've got a copy!
Git!

Any thoughts?

James

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