So we can have a plot that someone is suspected to be a secret Revenant. We'll need to do some hand-waving about why they believe this, but it's a fine chance to introduce a pure red-herring plot. (For instance, it would make perfectly good sense for Gil to suspect the Circus, since they lied to him about Agatha for some reason.) If we do this, though, the Wulfenbach party may need to have a Weasel in order to test it out.
LATER: Having thought about this a bit, I think it's worthwhile, and the people to apply it to are Von Pinn and Theo. The story goes like this:
Over the past year, a number of little things have been going wrong in Castle Wulfenbach. We need to work out exactly what, but they've all been small things that seem to indicate a spy in their midst. (In reality, this is correct, and the spy is Wooster, but he's been subtle enough that Gil hasn't been sure it was him. Note that this cross-links to the Spies plot, and should be co-ordinated with it, as well as to Runaways.)
Von Pinn knew about the possible saboteur (being one of Klaus' closer confidants), but didn't really think much about it -- until a couple of weeks ago, when she found out about the fact that the Castle contained at least a few Revenant spies. (At this point, they don't know how many: they've detected, say, three so far, but don't have enough Weasel?s yet to canvass the whole place.) At that point, a horrible thought occurred to her: what if Theo is one of the Revenants? It makes a horrible sort of sense: as Head Boy, he had relatively free access to much of the Castle; he's a mildly talented Spark; and he ran off just when everything went to hell. Worse, he's related to Lucrezia, and she's always been just a little nervous about him, as a consequence.
So she has a long-term goal of finding him and investigating this matter. She really needs to know: she is torn up with guilt about the idea of one of her children actually being a servant of the Other. If it's true, she'll just have to kill him. (And if he isn't, she damned well wants to know why he ran off.)
Darker: Three thoughts: (1) I dimly recall that normal slaver wasps don't work on Sparks? I can't remember how commonly this is known. If Von Pinn (or whoever) would know it, they also ought to be concerned that these new wasps can affect Sparks (assuming the notional target is a Spark, as Theo is). (2) If you want a complication (which would help avoid having this plot resolved very quickly), the weasel could have escaped shortly pre-game. Perhaps it's roaming around the castle. Von Pinn is undoubtedly fast enough to catch it if she sees it, but it might be in small areas that only Dingbot Prime or other Dingbots could get to, at least for the first hour or two of game...after which the Replicators might flush it out, regardless. (Giving a failsafe to this plot moving forward, effectively.) (3) Do we have / can we get a prop weasel?
Justin: (1) Hmm. I don't remember anything about wasps not affecting Sparks. Certainly, there are many reasons to believe otherwise. When Agatha and Gil are cornered at the Hive in volume 3, they clearly expect to be infected. The fictional stories claim that Klaus was once a Revenant -- not necessarily true, but clearly considered non-ridiculous. And at the beginning of the recent confrontation, Lucrezia is downright astonished that Klaus is not infected. So I think you're misremembering. (2) Not a bad idea -- worth thinking about, to slow this plot down a bit. (Although, that said, since it's mainly a red herring, I don't want to overdo it.) (3) I don't, but it's worth looking for.
LATER: Adding to this plot, and tying it across: it now relates to the reasons why Beetle has suspected Klaus for so long.
Two weeks before GG begins, Beetle's people found a Hive Engine out in the woods. This engine was suspicious for two principal reasons. First, it was relatively new. Second, after he dug deeply into it, he found Wulfenbach technology used in it, technology that Klaus assured him was only used on the Castle. So he came to suspect the most obvious conclusion -- that Klaus was behind the new Engines, for his own reasons. Combined with the fact that Barry had implicated Klaus as a servant of the Other (for reasons that are unknown, and outside the scope of this game), it seemed likely that he was a Revenant.
In fact, Wooster had been quietly dealing with the Geisterdamen behind the scenes, arranging an alliance between them and Britain should the need arise. He was providing them with various Castle technology, smuggling it off-ship during routine shipments. He knew nothing of what it was being used for, and didn't much care: it seemed reasonably innocuous, and while the Geisters were a bit creepy, there was nothing obviously dangerous about them.
When Beetle was apparently killed, Klaus brought his equipment and notes to the Castle, and pored over them during his spare time. He eventually discovered that Beetle suspected him of working on the Engine. He knew that was ridiculous, but it raised a new question: who was doing so? Combined with the activation of the Engine, this made Klaus realize that there must be revenants aboard, and that led to the creation of the Weasels. (Of course, Klaus was incorrect that the equipment had been arranged by the revenants; however, as it happened, several of them had been acting as Wooster's go-betweens with the Geisters.)
Gil and Von Pinn both know about the issue, and are aware that there may be Revenants among them.
Characters In Game: Beetle Gil Theo Von Pinn Wooster
All Characters: Beetle Gil Theo Von Pinn Wooster