The International Telephonist's Society

The goal of this illuminati-like secret society is to carry on one continuous game of Telephone, or Chinese Whispers, for as long as possible. Membership is extremely exclusive, by invitation only from a member of the society; and members may only invite one person in their entire lifetime.

Lord Mondegreen started the International Telephonist’s Society, or La Société du Téléphoniste International, in France in the fourteenth century. On his deathbed, he called his faithful ward, Jacques, over to his bedside. There, he whispered a phrase in Jacques's ear, and told Jacques that when his own time came, Jacques would have to whisper the phrase in someone else's ear. The phrase can only be whispered once; therefore, the phrase has been distorted and misheard many times through the centuries.

Each member of the society studies his or her successor diligently in secret; usually, the person who is being considered is not even aware of that fact. Nevertheless, they are chosen because they are deemed to be the person most likely to continue the game. Then, one day, a tottering octogenarian approaches the person on the street. This is the previous member of the Society. The previous member of the Society pulls their successor’s head down to mouth level, informs them of the Society, and then gurgles a barely comprehensible sentence in their ear. As this sentence is only murmured once, the charge must make sense of it as well as they can. Over time, they will become resolved in their mission, and choose their own successor.

Public: Society category requested.