The World In The Aftermath (Formerly A World Less Magical)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Commander Titan
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Commander Titan »

Davies wrote: Thu May 26, 2022 4:02 am Recently, Action Figure heard rumors that suggested that Minuteman had been forced into semi-retirement after some Argus stooge, posing as his girlfriend, betrayed him. She found herself somewhat surprised to feel sympathy for her long-time adversary; dating back to her own feelings of betrayal, Martell has always felt nothing but contempt for people who engage in double-crosses and has never descended to those sorts of tactics herself. Somewhat hesitantly, she sought out John Wright, claiming to want a truce, and had a surprisingly pleasant time drinking and talking about old times with him.
I was curious how that storyline would play out, glad to hear Minuteman didn't end up as badly as I was afraid he might!

Does this mean we may eventually get other updates on how some of the earlier posted characters have wound up?
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 9:31 pm
I was curious how that storyline would play out, glad to hear Minuteman didn't end up as badly as I was afraid he might!

Does this mean we may eventually get other updates on how some of the earlier posted characters have wound up?
I have actually posted a LOT of updates for the characters on the Google Docs page. I think I'll repost them here, just give me a minute to get the whole thing organized.
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Commander Titan
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Commander Titan »

Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:28 pm
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 9:31 pm
I was curious how that storyline would play out, glad to hear Minuteman didn't end up as badly as I was afraid he might!

Does this mean we may eventually get other updates on how some of the earlier posted characters have wound up?
I have actually posted a LOT of updates for the characters on the Google Docs page. I think I'll repost them here, just give me a minute to get the whole thing organized.
Good to know! Your mention of Abraxas' secrets being visible there should have tipped me off as well. Looking forward to it - I appreciate how you've dived deeper into various corners of the setting but its nice to know the "core" or "big names" haven't been sitting around idle!
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

I'm sorry, there is too much. The timeline entry for 2021 is the most detailed section of the whole thing, so I'll just repost that, instead.

* The group of Lasters, now calling themselves the Vagabonds, arrive on Earth.
* Civil war erupts in Hespera for the first time in centuries; in the aftermath, Sharana resigns her position as Queen and passes the name of Basilea to Nzarde, who is sent into exile; given her mother's shield, she takes the alias of Exile in her new superheroic career.
* A series of riots break out in Portland, and the identity and activities of Spectra is exposed to Songbird and her allies, as well as the Powerhouse.
* Exelion and the True Believer reach an agreement to help found and oversee a school for young adolescent superpowers, dubbed the Bethany Ryan School for Accelerated Studies.
* Logan Stormstrider, Shaitan Topaz, Khezar Lansam, Tarmund the Hunter and Sister Night have a massive clash in Thimpu, Bhutan. The fight attracts the attention of Thunder Dragon, who takes Shaitan under his ‘protection’ and informs the bounty hunters that they can claim her for victory in the tournament to be held in four months.
* Pedro Blanco debuts as a replacement for O Homen de Oro, and quickly gets in over his head.
* Blakestone and Snowfall are compelled to step down as the leaders of the Ultra Girls in favor of Magnolia, and Blakestone quits the group in response.
* With the effective end of democratic government in Hong Kong, Dú Láng and Láng Zai are formally outlawed by the People’s Republic of China.
* La Donna Universale joins the Powerhouse.
* Baron Khan seizes control of the time machine that brought la Belle et la Bête to the present (inadvertently restoring their knowledge of their true natures) and attempts to transform Earth’s history. He succeeds only in bringing about his own origin.
* While helping the Vagabonds adjust to life on Earth, Blakestone has a confrontation with Jodie Crowley in Chicago that nearly ends in the latter’s death. Ultimately, Blakestone chooses to be a superhero rather than a sorcerer; Crowley is imprisoned. For his actions and behavior, Wissen earns the personal enmity of Jodie Crowley.
* Jaana Auringvalo and Rose Madder join forces to hand the Ultra Girls their first serious defeat under Magnolia’s leadership. Soon after, the two of them also defeat Karsa Hur-ul with ease, leading her to start training seriously with the assistance of Paragon.
* The Vagabonds and Minuteman travel inside the Praxis and meet many of its crew. In the process, with the assistance of la Donna Universale and Warpwitch, a method of returning the Praxis to her native dimension is discovered, but held in reserve. For his actions and behavior, Wissen earns the personal enmity of Science Officer Blurt.
* The Red Archer travels to the United Kingdom and meets with Robin Hood, convincing him to come back to Portland with her, bringing Maid Marian with him.
* While visiting Bhutan on other business, Baron Khan makes the acquaintance of Tarmund the Hunter and Sister Night, and begins to develop an ambitious scheme.
* The Minor League thwart Melania Domina’s scheme to frame them and expose her extreme cybernetization to her colleagues in Billie Zane’s organization, putting her on the run from the latter.
* Accompanying her students on a mission to Rigidat, Captain Mystic meets Treu. Reality runs up her spine and the pieces finally fit, which is a serious distraction from some rather dangerous situations.
* Baron Khan frees Pantagruel from captivity, and places him under his control.
* With the assistance of Robin Hood, Maid Marian and the Vagabonds, the Red Archer and Songbird are able to publicly expose Spectra as a superpower criminal, prompting her to flee the country. For his actions and behavior, Wissen earns the personal enmity of Spectra.
* The Slough and a group of supervillains (Toxic among them) attempt to seize control of Phoenix in imitation of the Combination, but are thwarted by local superheroes and Argus personnel. The Slough escapes capture; Toxic does not, but is soon freed by Baron Khan and Pantagruel.
* While under attack by Saturn-sponsored militants, Chantress develops the power to call into being a physical representation of the fictional character 'Superman'.
* The Strongest Under Heaven Martial Arts Tournament (Daikessoshen) begins in Thimpu, Bhutan. Trouble and Sun Wukong emerge as joint victors of the tournament, defeating Thunder Dragon as a pair, then ‘persuading’ him to renounce the throne and accept self-exile from Earth.
* During the tournament, the Vagabonds accompany Virginia Jones on an expedition to the Andes that reveals, at last, the fate of Penelope Jones. For his actions and behavior, Wissen earns the personal enmity of … actually nobody, this time.
* Edeth meets and takes Pedro Blanco under her wing, and is startled to learn of Victor Furtado's creation of "backup" Power Prisms.
* Spectra is taken into custody by Argus following her capture by Songbird and her allies in Bhutan. Her husband escapes with their children, taking shelter with Corentin van Damme.
* Lonnie Lawson and the Avatar part ways for a time, with the former returning to Portland with the Red Archer and considering a new superheroic identity, and the latter reportedly traveling to the Empire of Korea, along with Talante and Bravo, becoming the founding members of the Emperor's Hwarang along with the Purple Haze and Tritonic.
* A new group of Agents of Destruction forms, led by Baron Khan and including Pantagruel, Sister Night, Tarmund the Hunter and Toxic.
* In order to prevent major bloodshed in the wake of Thunder Dragon’s self-exile, diplomatic conferences between Bhutanese resistance movements and factions (as well as their respective external backers) begin. Argus and other interested parties also start looking into the possibility of making a modified version of the Daikessoshen into a recurring event.
* Resolving matters on Rigidat, Captain Mystic, Treu, Bahbrom and the Captain’s students make an emergency expedition to assist Earth’s defense against the coming Konan invasion. It remains unclear if they will arrive in time.
* Warpwitch, the current class of the Futurian Academy, and several members of the Ghost Hunters travel to the World More Sorcerous and become involved in the struggle against Mhaim Ashenputtel, alongside the Princesses of the Universe and other heroes of that world. They soon return with a greatly changed Ariel, and with the individual who will become Jack B. Nimble.
* The Agents of Destruction launch an attack on the Powerhouse, with the assistance of corrupt Argus agent Anna Rothery, whose betrayal results in serious injuries to Minuteman, and less serious ones to several other members of the group. Sun Wukong joins the Powerhouse soon after to fill in for Minuteman while the latter recuperates.
* A group of Russian operatives accompany Baba Yaga on a mission to the Sprawl, discovering the presence of the alien entity known as Nephren-Ka, there. They ally with several local heroes to defeat the Black Pharaoh, who flees into an interdimensional void.
* Forcibly repatriated from the Sprawl, Makabre 2400 begins a career of supervillainy on the World Less Magical.
* The first students of the Bethany Ryan School, dubbed Kids Unlimited, assemble and have their first adventures together.
* A Konan armada drops out of hyperspace and attacks Station X-11, devastating it. A handful of survivors (led by Commander Spica Arakete) escape in lifepods, and a radio message is sent to Earth, providing Argus with two days advance notice about the imminent alien invasion.
* John Wright and Jeanne Martell begin to develop an odd friendship.
* Karsa Hur-ul makes her debut as Jewel.
* Warned by Argus, the Powerhouse, Ultra Girls, Heroic Enterprises, Discovery Company and other heroic agencies make preparations to repel the invasion. National governments, particularly those of the United States, United Kingdom and Russia, are slower to react, despite confirmation from SkyWatch.
* The Konan armada arrives in cislunar orbit and begins its assault, several hours earlier than the most pessimistic estimate. The small number of space-worthy superpowers, led by Paragon, intercept them before they begin mass driver launches, but mechanized infantry divisions are able to make planetfall in North America, Europe and Eastern Asia. The Discovery Company prevents the invaders from reaching Australia, but ends up missing in the aftermath. Paragon is seriously injured by a theonite-based weapon early on, drawing out the battle into its second day. La Dame Bleu is killed in that same battle.
* After rescuing the survivors of Station X-11, the TSV Adventure arrives to assist in the defense of Earth, as does a large force of Martians. The Konan armada is destroyed, and the Martians return to their own world after sending a message to Moon Base Alpha: "All debts are paid."
* During the invasion, Argus agents commanded by Michael Faulks assist Cogs Cosgrave in disarming seven of the bombs set up by the Combination in St. Louis. The eighth remains undiscovered and active for the time being.
* Also during the invasion, the Hwarang make their public debut, leading Korean super-soldiers against the Konan forces in and above Asia. It is rumored that they captured a starship intact and returned it to Korea for study.
* By the end of the invasion, more than one and a half million people have died, and at least ten times that number are unhoused.
* The damaged TSV Adventure makes an emergency landing at Moon Base Alpha, and the two Prism wielders of Earth assist in her repairs.
* The Agents of Destruction depart Earth in a stolen starship, on a heading that should see them arriving in the Crimson Imperium in 2022.
* The Hwarang and the Powerhouse have a confrontation in Ecuador when the former attempts to recruit El Diablo Rojo for their team; it ends without violence, but with the promise of future conflict. El Diablo Rojo remains independent.
* The Vagabonds join forces with the Gray Seal in an attack on Pythagolem's Seattle base, apparently destroying the ASI. The Vagabonds choose to keep the secret of the Gray Seal from the Powerhouse and Argus. For his actions and behavior, Wissen earns the personal enmity of Axiom, Humpty Dumpty and Savitor.
* Exile, Talante and Nocticula fight a threeway battle at the Fortin estate outside Matane, Quebec; Nocticula is forced to flee without taking her vengeance on Lucrezia Fortin, and Talante and Exile choose to end their struggle without reaching a decisive conclusion.
* Liz Leeds and Gemerald expose Alan Prince's financial mismanagement and bring about his arrest. In the aftermath, Edvard Preston acquires a substantial stake in Heroic Enterprises.
* Beretta Staunton and Genevieve Benyamina join forces, referring to each other as Tommy and Gina. The beat of defiance goes on.
* Cerebron returns to the Sol system and attacks Moon Base Alpha; the crew of the TSV Adventure and Exelion assist in the defense of the station, with Captain Mystic and her students arriving to relieve them. Cerebron is captured in the aftermath, and the legal and diplomatic wrangle of his captivity begins.
* Billie Zane leads an army of "Saturn" operatives on an attack on St. Louis, forcing the Powerhouse and the Combination into an uneasy alliance against her. They fail. Dancer and Dr. Rupert Maxwell implement their own anti-Zane strategy, time-trawling versions of Doctor Saturn and Janey Quantum forward from 1982 to confront Zane with the truth about herself, driving her into a psychological collapse.
* Michael Faulks is seriously wounded in the foregoing battle; before returning to the past and her imminent death, Janey Quantum somehow transfers some of her power into him, awakening him as Jack Neutron, the Metamorphic Man. He joins the Powerhouse immediately afterward.
* Captain Mystic meets the Powerhouse and is inducted as an honorary member.
* First Martian raid in nearly thirty years, against West Point, Mississippi, is opposed by Union.
* While exploring caves in the mountains of Maine, the Vagabonds discover a portal to Daath, and pass through. After some adventures, they pass through a different portal that takes them to the planet Peshkera, where they meet Callixa Tall.
* Over the protests of the Powerhouse, Argus and Skywatch, Billie Zane is imprisoned in the same lunar holding facility that currently holds Cerebron.
* El Dorado arrives at Aperion. Initially greeted warmly, he is imprisoned after revealing his ability to create new power prisms, threatening the Lightsmiths' monopoly. He is freed by Deleh Massovy, and the two of them escape Aperion with the assistance of the Amothat.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by pathfinderq1 »

Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm
* During the tournament, the Vagabonds accompany Virginia Jones on an expedition to the Andes that reveals, at last, the fate of Penelope Jones. For his actions and behavior, Wissen earns the personal enmity of … actually nobody, this time.
Hey now, that can't be quite right- he gets on EVERYBODY's nerves somehow- it is, like, his superpower...

;)
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

pathfinderq1 wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:06 pm
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm
* During the tournament, the Vagabonds accompany Virginia Jones on an expedition to the Andes that reveals, at last, the fate of Penelope Jones. For his actions and behavior, Wissen earns the personal enmity of … actually nobody, this time.
Hey now, that can't be quite right- he gets on EVERYBODY's nerves somehow- it is, like, his superpower...

;)
Well, neither Penelope nor Virginia like him all that much, but not to the extent of other people he's annoyed. :lol:
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Commander Titan
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Commander Titan »

Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm I'm sorry, there is too much. The timeline entry for 2021 is the most detailed section of the whole thing, so I'll just repost that, instead.
No worries, thanks for including what you did and now I know where to look for more!
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * Civil war erupts in Hespera for the first time in centuries; in the aftermath, Sharana resigns her position as Queen and passes the name of Basilea to Nzarde, who is sent into exile; given her mother's shield, she takes the alias of Exile in her new superheroic career.
So while Nzarde has the title Basilea in Hesperan society, she chooses to use the superheroic title Exile instead, do I have that right?
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * Baron Khan seizes control of the time machine that brought la Belle et la Bête to the present (inadvertently restoring their knowledge of their true natures) and attempts to transform Earth’s history. He succeeds only in bringing about his own origin.
An all too-often result of messing with time travel.
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * The Minor League thwart Melania Domina’s scheme to frame them and expose her extreme cybernetization to her colleagues in Billie Zane’s organization, putting her on the run from the latter.
I mean, that's the risk you run when you play with bigots - they're never far from turning on you too.
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * With the assistance of Robin Hood, Maid Marian and the Vagabonds, the Red Archer and Songbird are able to publicly expose Spectra as a superpower criminal, prompting her to flee the country. For his actions and behavior, Wissen earns the personal enmity of Spectra.
This is deeply satisfying to see (Spectra's fate, not Wissen's).
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * The Slough and a group of supervillains (Toxic among them) attempt to seize control of Phoenix in imitation of the Combination, but are thwarted by local superheroes and Argus personnel. The Slough escapes capture; Toxic does not, but is soon freed by Baron Khan and Pantagruel.
I mean, it was bound to happen. But clearly the Slough is no Kingfisher, thankfully.
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * The Strongest Under Heaven Martial Arts Tournament (Daikessoshen) begins in Thimpu, Bhutan. Trouble and Sun Wukong emerge as joint victors of the tournament, defeating Thunder Dragon as a pair, then ‘persuading’ him to renounce the throne and accept self-exile from Earth.
I read the story! And enjoyed it!
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * Lonnie Lawson and the Avatar part ways for a time, with the former returning to Portland with the Red Archer and considering a new superheroic identity, and the latter reportedly traveling to the Empire of Korea, along with Talante and Bravo, becoming the founding members of the Emperor's Hwarang along with the Purple Haze and Tritonic.
File that in the "this can't go anywhere good" folder...
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * A new group of Agents of Destruction forms, led by Baron Khan and including Pantagruel, Sister Night, Tarmund the Hunter and Toxic.
Another entry for the above folder...
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * In order to prevent major bloodshed in the wake of Thunder Dragon’s self-exile, diplomatic conferences between Bhutanese resistance movements and factions (as well as their respective external backers) begin. Argus and other interested parties also start looking into the possibility of making a modified version of the Daikessoshen into a recurring event.
Is there still to be a grand prize, in lieu of Thunder Dragon's promises? I'm sure money would be a strong motivator, but is it quite the same?
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * The Agents of Destruction launch an attack on the Powerhouse, with the assistance of corrupt Argus agent Anna Rothery, whose betrayal results in serious injuries to Minuteman, and less serious ones to several other members of the group. Sun Wukong joins the Powerhouse soon after to fill in for Minuteman while the latter recuperates.
She must have been paid quite a pretty penny to burn her cover like that! Glad that it didn't seem to entirely payoff, at least.
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * The Konan armada arrives in cislunar orbit and begins its assault, several hours earlier than the most pessimistic estimate. The small number of space-worthy superpowers, led by Paragon, intercept them before they begin mass driver launches, but mechanized infantry divisions are able to make planetfall in North America, Europe and Eastern Asia. The Discovery Company prevents the invaders from reaching Australia, but ends up missing in the aftermath. Paragon is seriously injured by a theonite-based weapon early on, drawing out the battle into its second day. La Dame Bleu is killed in that same battle.
In war, there are always losses, sadly...
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * During the invasion, Argus agents commanded by Michael Faulks assist Cogs Cosgrave in disarming seven of the bombs set up by the Combination in St. Louis. The eighth remains undiscovered and active for the time being.
...but gains, as well! Good to see some real wins for a man who chose to take the hard and honest path over shortcuts.
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * The Agents of Destruction depart Earth in a stolen starship, on a heading that should see them arriving in the Crimson Imperium in 2022.
Hm... now was their earlier attempt on the Powerhouse a genuine attempt to take them out? Or just to prevent them from being able to follow them into space? Curious...
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * Cerebron returns to the Sol system and attacks Moon Base Alpha; the crew of the TSV Adventure and Exelion assist in the defense of the station, with Captain Mystic and her students arriving to relieve them. Cerebron is captured in the aftermath, and the legal and diplomatic wrangle of his captivity begins.
Man, that must have caused a lot of global trauma flashbacks, even if he never touched down on Earth itself...
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * Billie Zane leads an army of "Saturn" operatives on an attack on St. Louis, forcing the Powerhouse and the Combination into an uneasy alliance against her. They fail. Dancer and Dr. Rupert Maxwell implement their own anti-Zane strategy, time-trawling versions of Doctor Saturn and Janey Quantum forward from 1982 to confront Zane with the truth about herself, driving her into a psychological collapse.
Wow, all the heavy hitters made a play this year, didn't they? And hell of a way to shut her down, even if it is sadly fully justified.
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * Michael Faulks is seriously wounded in the foregoing battle; before returning to the past and her imminent death, Janey Quantum somehow transfers some of her power into him, awakening him as Jack Neutron, the Metamorphic Man. He joins the Powerhouse immediately afterward.
Well, not a bad next stage. The powers are in good hands!
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * Over the protests of the Powerhouse, Argus and Skywatch, Billie Zane is imprisoned in the same lunar holding facility that currently holds Cerebron.
...that "bad omens" folder yawns open again, I see...
Davies wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:46 pm * El Dorado arrives at Aperion. Initially greeted warmly, he is imprisoned after revealing his ability to create new power prisms, threatening the Lightsmiths' monopoly. He is freed by Deleh Massovy, and the two of them escape Aperion with the assistance of the Amothat.
Hm, monopolists always going to monopolize, huh?
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Commander Titan wrote: Sat May 28, 2022 1:15 am So while Nzarde has the title Basilea in Hesperan society, she chooses to use the superheroic title Exile instead, do I have that right?
Yes. When her exile is rescinded, probably after Hespera has had a few decades to recover, she'll be welcomed back as Basilea. If she wants to come back, that is ...
Commander Titan wrote: Sat May 28, 2022 1:15 am Is there still to be a grand prize, in lieu of Thunder Dragon's promises? I'm sure money would be a strong motivator, but is it quite the same?
They're still working that out, but the idea that's emerging will be that whoever is supervising the next tournament will grant any wish of the victor, with the various sponsors paying the way for that. How well that will work out remains to be seen.
Commander Titan wrote: Sat May 28, 2022 1:15 am Hm... now was their earlier attempt on the Powerhouse a genuine attempt to take them out? Or just to prevent them from being able to follow them into space? Curious...
Pretty much the latter, but if they had managed to take more than one of the Powerhouse off the board, or do so more permanently, it would have been gravy.
Commander Titan wrote: Sat May 28, 2022 1:15 am ...that "bad omens" folder yawns open again, I see...
Quite widely.

Thanks for this!
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Jessica Drummond
Image

She does not really resemble her older brother. (She never uses the term "half-brother". No individual is half-anything.) In part, this is because he favors their father, while she is closer in appearance to her mother. The mixed Russian-Manchurian heritage she inherited, combined with her own mastery of disguise, allows her to pose as an individual of pretty much any Asian background. There is also the fact that he has allowed himself to age naturally, where she has employed age-retarding (possibly even age-reversing) techniques to keep herself looking as she did when they first met, in their late teens. (However, her skills with disguise have also allowed her to seem much older from time to time.)

After battling him for decades, and coming to terms with the fact that she could not kill him without destroying herself as well, Jessica Drummond found herself somewhat at loose ends. (After all, a universe without her? Scarcely bore thinking about.) She was recovering from a drinking binge when the world ended, Tanelorn was born, and she found herself involuntarily empowered by the enigmatic force which created the other guardians. To her senses, it was like staring up at an imaginably complex yet fundamentally ordered being, or examining an all-encompassing master plan for all of creation. Naturally, she responded to this by smirking at it and saying, "I'm going to mess you up."

Ever since then, she has sought to manufacture an all-encompassing dimensional crisis that will affect the entire continuum. (Why? Tell you later.) Her first breakthrough came when she obtained an implement that allowed her to freely along the temporal axis of any world that permits any form of time travel. It takes a different appearance in each reality she visits; in the World Less Magical, it resembles a ceramic coin stamped with an unfamiliar profile, the representation of a star, and a date in the thirtieth century of the common era. While time traveling in unfamiliar histories exposes her to the danger of destruction by paradox, she has so far avoided it, possibly by demonstrating much greater caution than those who know her well would expect.

Soon after acquiring that device, her second major advantage came into her hands when her path crossed with an unimaginably powerful but dying entity from a destroyed reality. Learning what that entity sought, Jessica persuaded her that she might find it on the World Less Magical, since it was the reality furthest removed from her original one ... then headed there herself along a more direct route, spending years under a variety of identities shaping two lives so that they would closely resemble what the entity was seeking. And it worked, with the entity bestowing its dimensional manipulation abilities on Aya Nagase, who has since unwittingly used them to slowly but surely draw a number of significant realities closer together. Just as planned.

Her schemes are all like that, complicated and baroque ... and successful to a frightening degree. And all directed towards one end -- during the great dimensional crisis that she has envisioned, her brother will be faced with the impossible choice of sacrificing all that he loves or an impossibly vast number of innocent lives in the ultimate trolley problem. Of course, he will take a third option, but the thing about third options is that you usually have to pick one in a hurry; also, someone who expects you to do that can arrange for you to pick a third option that suits them. A lover of chaos who wants him to love it too, Jessica will ensure that the third option he chooses will cause nothing but chaos. She expects that realizing this will break him in interesting ways, so that they can start having real fun together.

There is only one thing that worries her. (Well, there are actually a lot of them, but only one that she has no plan to exploit in some way.) The entity, or force, or whatever-it-was that she saw, the all-encompassing master plan ... central to her personal philosophy is that when it bestowed this enhancement on the other guardians, it demonstrated its fundamental incompetence when it also granted it to her by accident, thanks to her connection to her brother. (She also never thinks of him by his name, by the way.) But what if that is not the case? What if all her schemes have served some greater purpose, some grander order, that she cannot divine? What if she, the weed who chokes the garden of reality, is actually a beautiful and beneficial dandelion?

What a horrible thought!

Jessica Drummond -- PL 15

Abilities:
STR
9/4 | STA 9/4 | AGL 12/7 | DEX 10/5 | FGT 13/8 | INT 10/5 | AWE 8/3 | PRE 9/4

Powers:
Age-Defying: Immunity 1 (aging) - 1 point
Guardian: Enhanced Agility 5; Enhanced Awareness 5; Enhanced Dexterity 5; Enhanced Fighting 5; Enhanced Intellect 5; Enhanced Presence 5; Enhanced Stamina 5; Enhanced Strength 5 - 80 points
Lifelink: Immortality 14 (4 minutes), Quirk (only as long as Kent Wildman is alive) - 27 points
Sneak Attack: Strength-based Damage 4, Limited to vulnerable or defenseless targets - 2 points

Advantages:
Attractive, Daze (Deception), Defensive Roll, Equipment 5, Fearless 2, Hide in Plain Sight, Fascinate (Deception), Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 5, Taunt.

Equipment:
Time-displacement device (Movement 6 [dimensional travel 3, time travel 3]), and 13 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+16/+11), Athletics 6 (+15/+10), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+17/+12), Deception 9 (+18/+13), Expertise: Criminal 6 (+16/+11), Expertise: Dimensional 4 (+14/+9), Insight 8 (+16/+11), Perception 6 (+14/+9), Sleight of Hand 5 (+15/+10), Stealth 4 (+16/+11), Technology 6 (+16/+11).

Offense:
Initiative +16/+11
Unarmed +17/+12 (Unarmed 9/4)
Sneak Attack +17/+12 (Unarmed 13/8)

Defense:
Dodge 19/14, Parry 17/12, Fortitude 12/7, Toughness 11/9/6/4, Will 13/8

Totals:
Abilities 80 + Powers 110 + Advantages 19 + Skills 31 + Defenses 19 = 259 points

Offensive PL: 15
Defensive PL: 15
Resistance PL: 13
Skill PL: 13

Complications:
Chaos--Motivation. Obsession (Kent Wildman.) Power Loss (Guardian, outside of dimensional crises.)

In all chaos there is a cosmos; in all disorder, a secret order.
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Shānyáng/山羊
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No house of the Shēngxiào has seen so much turnover as the house of the Goat. The first occupant lasted barely a month before an ill-considered scheme revealed the existence of the group to the newly-founded Ghost Sweepers, resulting in his demise in battle. Two others followed him, both pursuing more subtle schemes focused on gaining control of the vice trade in their respective bases of operation, only to fall in their turn to rivals within and without the group. And then, in 2016, the man who would become the current occupant was chosen, and quietly signaled his intentions by adopting the alias Shānyáng in mockery of Shēng Lóng. Despite that, he has held on to his position for slightly longer than his predecessor, and seems likely to endure for a while.

Suzushiro Yagi never wanted to be a teacher. Raised by a stern grandmother and told that both of his deceased parents had been teachers -- which does not seem to have been the case, incidentally -- he was not given any real choice in his profession. So he spent his life studying, never making any friends during his days in high school or college, and finally emerged from it as a student teacher shortly after his grandmother passed away. Finding the entire situation miserable, he vowed to do the bare minimum to keep his job and nothing more. When he suspected that one of his students was being bullied by her classmates, Yagi chose to ignore it, since he was just an educator, not some sort of caregiver. Even when she asked him for help, he told her to just avoid the bullies and they would eventually leave her alone.

That did not happen, and the bullies ended up killing her. The fact that her teacher had known about the situation and done nothing about it became a huge scandal. Yagi found himself suspended, which was not so bad given that he hated being a teacher. But he was also summoned to a meeting with the head of the family to which his late student had belonged, and he suspected that they would not be interested in listening to his excuses about how he had thought it was not his job to protect his students. He was right ... but not in the way that he thought.
Expecting to find the family head, older sister to his student, to be angry, he was startled and failed to consider the implications of the calm reception he received instead.

When he finally offered up a half-hearted apology for the situation, Yagi was not at all prepared to be told that, far from being upset at him for his role in the death of her sister, she was quite grateful for what he had done -- as it had made it that much easier for the bullies, whose services she had purchased, to get her sister alone and murder her, so that she was now the sole heir to their family fortune. Stunned at this confession, Yagi stammered out a vague threat to go to the police with what he had learned. The family head smiled and explained this would be hearsay testimony and invalid; she had already arranged for the actual killers to escape any punishment, and wondered if he really thought she could not protect herself.

When he attempted to leave -- to flee, really -- he found himself held in his chair by a force he could not perceive. Heedless of his increasing panic, the family head explained to him that the time had come to discuss the reward for his services to her. Since he was going to lose his position because of this, it was only just that she arrange for one to replace it. He was going to be joining the staff of a private school that her family owned. "And no matter what happens," she told him with a terribly cruel smile, "you will always be a teacher there, for the rest of your life." Whatever guilt his shallow, selfish nature had allowed Yagi to feel was instantly erased by the despair of being caught in a profession that he had come to hate, and his mind broke. It reformed a moment later when Diorite, observing this experiment by the second occupant of the house of the Rooster, granted him the power he now possesses.

It is one of the more subtle powers in the employ of the Shēngxiào, secretly warping minds so that the victims experience confusion, depression and misfortune without ever being able to associate these symptoms with their source. For the most part, Yagi uses his power on whichever of his students manages to attract his interest, whether for good or bad behavior. However, he has also unleashed its full effects in public areas as a distraction for other members of the Shēngxiào, and has become accomplished at pretending to be affected by whatever strange phenomena is at work. Recognizing that he has next to no combat ability without his powers, Shānyáng will seek to escape from any conflict with someone who seems able to resist them.

Ironically, Shānyáng has a very poor relationship with Haha Niwatori, who brought him into the Shēngxiào on the assumption that he would support her in its power struggles. His fractured mind makes it difficult for her to exercise her mind control powers over him, and any social threats that she might make have no meaning to him. She could end his employment, but that would be a reward to him. He cares nothing for money or social status, and could probably incapacitate most of the minions in her employ quite easily. On the other hand, she is immune to his powers as well. So they confine themselves to verbal sniping, ironically convincing most of their fellows that they are strongly allied.

Perhaps the central tragedy of Suzushiro Yagi is that he is, in fact, a good teacher, able to keep the attention of his students and convey the lesson plans set by the school board so that students understand them, and possessing a great memory for names, faces and personal information. He only lacks the empathy required to use these skills effectively. If not for the fact that he was forced into the profession, he might have come to it naturally, or found some other way to employ these talents that benefited humanity. But he was a nail that stood up and was then ... not hammered down, but pulled out from the board in a way that twisted it into a disturbing shape.

Shānyáng -- PL 9

Abilities:
STR
0 | STA 3 | AGL 1 | DEX 0 | FGT 2 | INT 2 | AWE 2 | PRE 4

Powers:
Aura of Despair:
Progressive Selective Burst Area Affliction 9 (Resisted by Will; Dazed & Vulnerable, Defenseless & Stunned, Incapacitated), Extra Condition, Insidious, Subtle - 56 points
Such Misfortune: Selective Burst Area Luck Control 2 (forced reroll, negate), Insidious, Luck 5, Subtle - 17 points
Utterly Unfazeable: Immunity 5 (interaction skills); Immunity 20 (mental effects), Limited to half effect - 15 points

Advantages:
Assessment, Connected, Daze (Teacher), Eidetic Memory, Hide in Plain Sight.

Skills:
Deception 8 (+12), Expertise: Current Events 8 (+10), Expertise: Popular Culture 7 (+9), Expertise: Teacher 7 (+11), Insight 10 (+12), Perception 8 (+10), Persuasion 6 (+10), Stealth 8 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +1
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 0)
Aura of Despair -- (Burst Area Will 9)

Defense:
Dodge 4, Parry 5, Fortitude 4, Toughness 3, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 28 + Powers 79 + Advantages 5 + Skills 31 + Defenses 12 = 164 points

Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 4
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 7

Complications:
Bitterness--Motivation. Near-sighted. Secret Identity. Subject to Orders.

"Heroes ride ... goats walk."
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EternalPhoenix
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Davies wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 5:05 am Ironically, Shānyáng has a very poor relationship with Haha Niwatori, who brought him into the Shēngxiào on the assumption that he would support her in its power struggles. His fractured mind makes it difficult for her to exercise her mind control powers over him, and any social threats that she might make have no meaning to him. She could end his employment, but that would be a reward to him. He cares nothing for money or social status, and could probably incapacitate most of the minions in her employ quite easily. On the other hand, she is immune to his powers as well. So they confine themselves to verbal sniping, ironically convincing most of their fellows that they are strongly allied.
Ma'am...Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? :mrgreen:
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

EternalPhoenix wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 5:32 am
Davies wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 5:05 am Ironically, Shānyáng has a very poor relationship with Haha Niwatori, who brought him into the Shēngxiào on the assumption that he would support her in its power struggles. His fractured mind makes it difficult for her to exercise her mind control powers over him, and any social threats that she might make have no meaning to him. She could end his employment, but that would be a reward to him. He cares nothing for money or social status, and could probably incapacitate most of the minions in her employ quite easily. On the other hand, she is immune to his powers as well. So they confine themselves to verbal sniping, ironically convincing most of their fellows that they are strongly allied.
Ma'am...Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? :mrgreen:
Because she's in Japan. Also, she's too proud to admit that he's enough of a problem to require that step, instead of just being an annoyance. (If she were being really honest, she would also admit that while the idea that the two of them are allies who only pretend to be at each other's throats is frustrating, it also has its useful aspects.)
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

The Dreamdancer
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She is the youngest of the four native immortal guardians of the World More Grim, and yet by some metrics the most powerful. This has never been properly tested, for though she is frequently opposed to Merlin (and just as often to the Erlkonig and the Mnajimu) they prefer to settle their disputes without direct confrontation, and all of them have joined forces to oppose Mephistopheles when needs must. But the others are well aware that without her, they would still be sleeping, and that she might return them to that sleep if she were sorely vexed.

Her story began in 1859, when a certain young girl asked a certain mathematician to tell her a story, and he obliged. Now, there can be no question that the mathematician and storyteller had no magical talents whatsoever, for magic had faded from the world long before, when an enchanter broke his staff and burned his book before departing from his exile in Bermuda. Yet somehow, the story that he told her sparked something in the mind of his young pupil. When she slept that night, the story she had been told continued in her dreams, growing stranger and stranger and remaining vivid in her mind when she awoke in the morning. And it would continue to do so through many nights to come.

This went on for years, and she described some of the events that she witnessed in these dreams to her tutor, who would incorporate them into his own stories that he would one day set down as a book. Eventually, the friendship between these two suffered a rupture, for reasons that have no relevance to her story, and the young lady valiantly sought to stop having these dreams. In due time, she succeeded and lived happily -- if quietly and mundanely -- thereafter. But there was more to the story than she ever after knew.

In trying to break away from her adventures in what she believed to be dreams, she broke away a piece of herself that still wanted to continue having them. That piece, left behind in the regions she had visited, somehow grew into a fully realized person who promptly set about continuing her explorations of these lands. Ever young, she eventually ventured beyond the lands of chessboards and puns into other regions, to pirate-haunted islands and places even more uncivilized, to lands of eternal winter and realms of sulfur and brimstone, confronting all manner of strangeness with poise and patience. And though she never sought an explanation, she eventually found one all the same.

The Dreamer, as she was called then, eventually came to the workshop of the being who had created the structure in which all these realms existed. (The identity and origins of this earlier oneiromancer are unanswered questions, ones that she would like answered.) Within that place, she discovered a device that could awaken certain entities who were locked in dreams of their own, which would in turn awaken much else. Having met many beings imprisoned in these dream lands against their will, she found her heart moved to pity. And besides, it would be such a sight to see. So she awakened the other immortals, and won her own immortality in the process.

The Dreamdancer, as she is called now, is able to perceive the thoughts of any dreaming being on Earth, and can shape their mental landscape as it suits her, inflicting pleasures or pains. By and large, she simply watches, rarely acting to help or to harm, taking note of interesting ideas or concepts that she might replicate in the lands she now rules. Sometimes, she witnesses matters which disturb her -- though this takes a great deal of doing -- and in such instances she will normally seek help from mortals to resolve the problems faced by other mortals.

However, it is unwise to impute too much benevolence to the queen of the land where dreams have substance. While her immortal form requires less sleep than it once did, she must still let her conscious mind know rest on occasion -- and the sleep of her reason often breeds monsters. Her powers are unleashed when she herself dreams, and what dreams may come from this can be terrible indeed, especially if she found herself in a bad mood before surrendering to sleep. Yet the longer she resists the urge to sleep, the worse her moods might become. It is no easy thing to endure the stress of her regard ...

The Dreamdancer -- PL 14

Abilities:
STR
0 | STA 8 | AGL 6 | DEX 3 | FGT 8 | INT 4 | AWE 8 | PRE 6

Powers:
Dreamdance: Array (43 points)
  • Shape Dream: Illusion 14 (all senses), Dimensional, Independent, Limited to One Subject, Limited to sleeping targets, Resistible by Will, Dynamic - 44 points
  • Shape Trauma: Perception Range Damage 14, Dimensional, Resisted by Will, Limited to sleeping targets - 2 points
  • Witness Dream: Cumulative Effortless Mind Reading 14, Dimensional, Limited to sleeping targets - 2 points
Dreamsight: Remote Sensing 13 (8000 miles; all senses), Dimensional, Medium (unshielded dreaming mind) - 53 points
Dreamspeech: Mental Communication 4 (planetary), Dimensional, Subtle - 18 points
Immortal: Immortality 5 (one day), Only When On Home Plane; Immunity 1 (aging); Movement 1 (dimensional travel to home plane), Reaction (death); Movement 2 (dimensional travel to mystical dimensions), Standard Action - 10 points
Shielded Mind: Impervious Will 14, Limited to mental effects - 7 points

Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Roll 2, Equipment 3, Evasion, Fascinate (Performance), Improved Defense, Improved Defense, Multilingual.

Equipment:
Home Plane: Size Huge; Toughness 10; Features Communications, Concealed, Defense System, Grounds, Isolated, Library, Living Space, Power System, Personnel, Security System - 15 points

Skills:
Deception 7 (+13), Expertise: History 6 (+10), Expertise: Performance 6 (+12), Insight 6 (+14), Intimidation 5 (+11), Investigation 6 (+10), Perception 4 (+12), Persuasion 6 (+12).

Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 0)
Nightmare -- (Perception Range Perception Area Damage 13, Resisted by Will)

Defense:
Dodge 11, Parry 13, Fortitude 10, Toughness 13/8, Will 14

Totals:
Abilities 86 + Powers 136 + Advantages 11 + Skills 23 + Defenses 18 = 274 points

Offensive PL: 14
Defensive PL: 13
Resistance PL: 12
Skill PL: 9

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Secret Identity. Uncontrolled Power (all Dream powers may activate without conscious control when sleeping.) Whimsical and Macabre.

Note: If the Dreamdancer ever travels to the World Less Magical, her STA, AGL, FGT, AWE and PRE drop by 2 ranks each, she suffers Power Loss for Immortal, her Impervious Will drops to 12, and her Dreamdance array drops to 34 points, with all effects dropping to 12 ranks and losing the Dimensional extra. She becomes PL 12.

"I know you/I walked with you once upon a dream."
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Ife Brown
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Making his debut just a few months before Cerebron attacked Earth, Ife Brown (then known as Duppy Jonah) was one of the most noteworthy supervillains of the early second age. Developing his elastic body when he was seventeen, he was initially content to use the talents that it permitted to engage in minor acts of mischief in his native Montego Bay. After a friend of his was arrested and imprisoned for a crime that Brown knew for a fact had been committed by someone else, however, he recruited a few old friends of theirs to break him out of jail, and then fled out into the Caribbean to begin a career of high seas piracy.

Mostly preying on cruise ships, Duppy Jonah and his crew generally avoided serious violence, drug smuggling or kidnapping for ransom. (Their only brush with the latter was a scam that the supposed victim ran on her soon-to-be-ex-husband, which they were happy to assist once they made her acquaintance.) After a 2004 clash with a United States Coast Guard vessel off the island of Saint Thomas, the crew was designated as a priority target by the recently established United Superheroes of America. Outnumbered and outgunned, Duppy Jonah and most of his men were captured and imprisoned, but were able to escape and resume their piratical exploits within a few months with the assistance of their friends who had avoided captivity.

In 2006, Duppy Jonah agreed to allow a film crew from Television Jamaica to accompany his own crew for a few days, in order to document their activities and demonstrate that they were far from the vicious pirates that other media had portrayed. By a remarkable coincidence, the film crew was thus present when the crew accidentally played a role in thwarting the coup attempt of Billie Zane by wrecking a mobile weapons factory employed by the conspiracy. The film of these activities created something of a sensation in Jamaica, where Duppy Jonah and his crew already had something of a reputation as folk heroes. Now they had actually been shown to be fighting a much more dangerous evil, that reputation grew even further.

At the demand of a vocal group in the Jamaican parliament, the governor general extended the offer of a pardon to Duppy Jonah and his associates. It is quite likely that this offer was made in the expectation that it would probably be refused, or that the pirate would probably return to his career after only a short time. To the surprise of nearly everyone, however, Ife Brown accepted the offer, returned to Jamaica, and declared an intention to live an honest life thereafter. While his activities are closely monitored by the Jamaican Constabulary Force and he has spent a few nights in jail on various charges since then, he has avoided serious wrong-doing over the last fifteen years.

At the start of his career as a pirate, Brown was driven by a great deal of anger at the injustice he perceived as being done to his friend, and was willing to do most anything that he thought might avenge it. That fury burnt out after a relatively short time, and the easy-going personality he had before that reasserted itself. Even before he stumbled into the opportunity to have his crimes pardoned, Ife was considering getting out of the racket, having started to find it boring and unpleasant. These days, he genuinely only wants to live in peace, and will only ever be roused to violence in the defense of himself or his friends. But he is still pretty darn good at it.

It should be understood that there are still a number of outstanding warrants for his arrest in the United States, and that if he ever left Jamaica for pretty much anywhere else, he would probably be arrested. That does not really trouble him much, as he is content to have his traveling days behind him. Mostly content, at least.

Ife Brown -- PL 10

Abilities:
STR
8 | STA 12 | AGL 3 | DEX 2 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 2

Powers:
Deeeeep Breath: Sustained Immunity 2 (suffocation), Quirk (cannot talk and not if surprised) - 1 point
Rubbery Body: Elongation 4 (120 feet); Immunity 40 (ballistic damage, bludgeoning damage), Limited to half effect, Reflect; Impervious Toughness 12; Leaping 8 (2000 feet) - 64 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Fearless, Improved Initiative, Interpose, Power Attack, Takedown.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+9), Athletics 2 (+10), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+12), Expertise: Streetwise 8 (+9), Intimidation 9 (+11), Perception 7 (+9), Vehicles 6 (+8).

Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 8)

Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 8, Fortitude 14, Toughness 12, Will 6

Totals:
Abilities 76 + Powers 65 + Advantages 6 + Skills 21 + Defenses 9 = 177 points

Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 10
Resistance PL: 10
Skill PL: 6

Complications:
Peace--Motivation. Big Eater. Sinks Like A Stone (or solid rubber.) Still Wanted In A Lot of Places.

Note: Inspired by the work of EternalPhoenix.
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EternalPhoenix
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Davies wrote: Fri Jun 03, 2022 5:05 am Note: Inspired by the work of EternalPhoenix.
A rubbery pirate captain, eh? I don't suppose his first mate was a swordsman? :mrgreen:

Glad to be of service, regardless.
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