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Shadow Angelus


Edsel

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I designed it in a vector based program - Adobe Illustrator so it should scale as much as we want.

I am tempted to have it shot onto vinyl like I did the big Hudson City map or perhaps laminated so we could use overhead markers on it.

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Since we are play testing, I'm reconsidering my player choice. I was playing a strait gun-bunny with a bit of mysterious power in the form of enhanced senses and gun-fu. That doesn't do much for fiddling with the power parts.

 

So, I am tinkering with a concept for an Esper.

 

“Once we were few; hunted as witches or freaks. Once we were legends or frauds; now we are studied in laboratories. True Espers, people in whom the power surges, must not forget the lessons of the past lest we also suffer the folly of history.”

 

Tianna Locke & Tara Locke were photo negatives. Where Tianna was gifted and charming, Tara was cunning and seductive. Both women wanted one thing more than any other – to please their stern father. In all things there was little joy, only the competition of becoming the best. They had the finest education that could be bought as well as tutors, advisers, and personal assistants. They had everything but that one thing which they desired the most.

 

The two women spent their youth upstaging each other.

 

The Sisters both minimal talents for Esper powers much to the disappointment to their father. The barest flicker of the Power. That didn’t stop them from training with monks, martial artists, and gurus looking for a way to activate something more substantial. They both studied science, genetic alteration, pharmacology and other fields related to Esper powers and that is where my story starts.

 

I am subject N7997. I’ve always had the Power. I’ve known it all my life – what little of this gift that I’ve had. I was taken from my parents as a child – bought like a piece of property. Experimented on with less restraint than one might show a laboratory rat. I’ve been pumped full of pharmaceuticals and spent days on life support while my body failed under the chemical onslaught but each time I’ve gotten better. I've undergone genetic alterations that crippled my immune system or enhanced the secretion of dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline, until my body must be sedated to avoid a catecholimine rush that would trow my heart into lethal arrhythmias. Now, I have given them the final experiment.

 

It was Tianna who thought of it first – winning by proxy. She didn’t need to become a powerful Esper, she just needed absolute control over one. She needed to give birth to one. I didn’t really know any better then – I knew nothing really save for laboratories, needles, and how to kill with the barest of thoughts. She did it the old fashioned way. That was her mistake. In those few moments I took all of her in and filtered through her whole pathetic life. I looked forward and backward. I could see what she would do with all that remained of me. I could see the horror she would create. But I didn’t just learn of her and her plans. I also learned of the outside world. I found hope in her demented mind.

 

I know I will never escape alive. I will never watch my son grow into a man. Yet, I will not let them take him and forge an unfeeling weapon. When they think I am sleeping I’ve reached out to touch his mind. Once we have reached the temple I will give him my only gift, the only thing I’ve ever owned – that shimmering thing that some call a soul. It is a pathetic gift - shriveled and underdeveloped. I can see that now. I can see how I was used. Children do not thrive in laboratories. They should see the sun and play. They should know love and companionship. I know that I will never have these things. Still, this life was a gift. Now it is time for me to return it.

 

****************

 

Mirko Locke was brought to the shrine when he was less than 2 years old by a haunted and injured man who claimed to be his father. The monks intended to turn him over to the authorities but there was something about the fathers eyes that kept them from doing it. Instead, they raised the Mirko. They taught him as one of their own. Each man in the temple was his father and brother. Mirko grew up with a large and loving family but there was always something sad in the young mans eyes, a weight that seemed to heavy for a child to bear.

 

His mother came for him on his 14th Birthday. Police and corporate officials made sure that the monks remained quiet about his presence. They were compensated for their assistance but it was spelled out in no uncertain terms that things could go much worse if they were to create trouble.

 

Tianna found that despite her efforts the boy had been molded into a man by the monks. Still, she found approval in her fathers eyes. Mirko was indeed a powerful Esper. Grandfather had the boy taken to facilities where he would learn to become a weapon, a family tool. The school was hard and cruel but Mirko endured and emerged unbroken.

 

As a young man, Mirko studied Esper Science and genetics alongside his mother. He studied corporate politics at the foot of his Grandfather. And in the quiet moments, he communed with the slivers of his father buried deep inside his mind. He learned compassion and forgiveness from a man who had nothing and he also learned that he was snared only so long as he refused to free himself.

 

When Alice Cadbury from XSWAT approached him Mirko knew it was time to leave the family. It was time to break the shackles that he allowed to bind him. The family would be displeased.

 

Hooks

  1. Mother & Aunt
  2. Grandfather
  3. Monks
  4. Dad's Spirit

 

Mirko is starting off as a strait TK Esper but he has the potential to go anywhere. Mom & Dad were both Espers and dad had just about every type of experiment performed on him - so there can be all sorts of weird effects. There is also the second soul residing in him that can be another source for "power stunts."

 

Finally, I got the whole monk thing in there because of the multiple references to Shinto stuff both this thread and on Silent Mobius. I figured that would be a cool family to have but I left it non-specific in case I need to alter it for plot reasonings - such as Edsel saying, "Oh, I want a way to bring these guys into the story."

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

It is a well written thumbnail of a background. It also makes me wonder what the attitudes towards Espers ought to be in Angelus?

 

In the world of Kazei 5 the term "Esper Weapon" is coined. It is a world in which the mega-corps have their own Espers and programs designed to recruit and/or develop more, often at any cost. I get the impression of lots of cut throat industrial espionage. It is a world where mega-corps has as much power as most governments; really gritty stuff.

 

In Shadows Angelus you have Sorcerers and Espers. The background material I have read leaves me thinking that perhaps the realities for Espers are not quite as harsh in that setting. After all you have a competing class of characters (Sorcerers) and you have a real big bad to worry about (Entities).

 

I had just decided to tone down the grittiness of the Esper world in my background document for my Shadows Angelus campaign and now based on Eosin’s background I am uncertain if I ought to do that.

 

To those of you who participated in the original Shadows Angelus campaigns, how do the public and private lives of Espers differ in the two settings? Is there a noticeable growth of the Esper population in the Shadows Angelus setting? Are various groups experimenting to produce and develop new Espers just like in Kazei 5?

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

The Kazei stuff didn't inspire the idea so much as Silent Mobius where Yuki(?) escapes from the Esper facility with the other two girls. I channeled that episode while flipping through Masterminds and Madmen looking for cool stories... I didn't find one for me but I liked Feng Shen and his daughters. I jumped off the boat there.

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

It is a well written thumbnail of a background. It also makes me wonder what the attitudes towards Espers ought to be in Angelus?

 

In the world of Kazei 5 the term "Esper Weapon" is coined. It is a world in which the mega-corps have their own Espers and programs designed to recruit and/or develop more, often at any cost. I get the impression of lots of cut throat industrial espionage. It is a world where mega-corps has as much power as most governments; really gritty stuff.

 

In Shadows Angelus you have Sorcerers and Espers. The background material I have read leaves me thinking that perhaps the realities for Espers are not quite as harsh in that setting. After all you have a competing class of characters (Sorcerers) and you have a real big bad to worry about (Entities).

 

I had just decided to tone down the grittiness of the Esper world in my background document for my Shadows Angelus campaign and now based on Eosin’s background I am uncertain if I ought to do that.

 

To those of you who participated in the original Shadows Angelus campaigns, how do the public and private lives of Espers differ in the two settings? Is there a noticeable growth of the Esper population in the Shadows Angelus setting? Are various groups experimenting to produce and develop new Espers just like in Kazei 5?

 

Espers are looked on with suspicion due to the impression they are out there reading your mind and/or messing with your thoughts and emotions.

 

Sorcerers are well respected due to the idea that magic skill requires knowledge and training. Oh. and magic looks "cool."

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

The Kazei stuff didn't inspire the idea so much as Silent Mobius where Yuki(?) escapes from the Esper facility with the other two girls. I channeled that episode while flipping through Masterminds and Madmen looking for cool stories... I didn't find one for me but I liked Feng Shen and his daughters. I jumped off the boat there.

 

It's Yuki. She's a "ylper" which is the SM term for espers.

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

History, At First Blush

 

The history of How Angelus came to be...

 

The big quake. It finally happened but not the way they expected it to happen. California was lost, and the numbers of the dead did not stop with the folks who fell into the Pacific ocean. Millions more died in the aftermath that was as widespread as building collapses in Texas and volcanic outgassing in Montana.

 

America the beautiful was in shambles. The mighty giant slain in one fell blow; however, like the death-throes of of a rattler there was still some venom in the teeth. Numerous "hush-hush" projects had disappeared in the quake including some experimental weapons that still seem like science fiction sixty years later. In a way, these weapons were the impetus for the development of Angelus.

 

The United States was in the middle of a financial and social tsunami while the rest of the world reeled from the loss of America as a super-power. Shorelines were devastated across the world and several island nations simply disappeared. Hawaii was among those missing.

 

Naval power was decimated across the globe. There was little hope for those places where communications suddenly stopped after the mega-quake. Still, some effort had to be made. The United States formally declared a state of emergency welcoming any and all aid in the rescue of civilians. The ever tumultuous South American nations responded with gusto even though several were sufficiently antagonistic towards the US to be on watch lists.

 

It was the small nation of San Alto that got everyone's attention. They dispatched aid and food supplies accompanied by military and exploratory vessels. It quickly became apparent that they were trying to map the ocean floors in search of lost military bases - specifically the San Diego Naval station where many believed that the U.S.S. Coranado was stationed when the quake occured. The Coranado was equipped with the latest weapons system and the surface to space missile system known as Mjölner.

 

The US, like a drunken prize fighter, dispatched nearly every remaining war vessel in its power. It was enough to hold off interlopers but not enough to do anything more. Recovery efforts would have to wait.

 

The next several months were a tense stand off between the US military and canny pirates looking to cash in on Americas disaster. In New York, when it wasn't in the grip of riots, the UN heard the case of granting rights to stake claims in what were now International Waters. Over the loud protests of the US, the UN noted that by Maritime Law the United States could not enforce a no sail zone in international waters.

 

Legally handcuffed, the US turned to its own industrious people for a solution. They outsourced the recovery effort.

 

At this point, several years had passed since the quake. News agencies picked up reports of naval vessels suddenly sinking in the ocean without sufficient time to issue a distress call. At first, many accused the US of waging piracy on the high seas but when the US lost a carrier class vessel few harbored such suspicions any longer (although some still did).

 

Tidal Subsidiaries, the company charged with recovery efforts on behalf of the US, began a ocean mapping program to get an idea of where, what had shifted. Several large swathes of terrain were unimagable. Many believed the source of the interference to be leaking nuclear reactors that had been swallowed during the quake. The location of one such power station was known so an effort was undertaken to study that region by an ecologically friendly science think tank - Pacific Science. The true expedition and environmental sampling was never finished. The initial results indicated that there was no leak which seemed impossible but a closer study using deep sea gear confirmed that something truly impossible was happening - not only was there no leak but there was no radiation. None. The plant was grossly intact but all the radioactive waste was gone.

 

Tidal Subsidiaries brought in the Oil Platform Angelus to base their operation. They would be here as long as it took to figure out what happened to the radioactive waste. The scientists from Pacific Science remained on the Angelus platform as well. Little did anyone realize that they had witnessed the birth of the greatest city in mankinds history.

 

Tidal Subsidaries spent two years on the Angelus Platform researching the Corona Power Station. It wasn’t the results of the study that were what brought attention to the Angelus, it was the number of Espers that converted while on board. Thankfully, on a ship of scientists it was quickly noted that this was outside the norm and they had plenty of friends to call. Hexion Industries, Viratech, and Stain Pharmaceuticals all sent teams to investigate the phenomena. Viratech was denied residency on the Angelus platform. Instead, they brought a refitted floating hospital. The SS Clarion had been partially gutted and refitted for science research. The new corporate researchers had little interest in oceanic research, they were interested in the emergent Esper abilities. A three year study demonstrated not only increased activation of latent Espers but those Espers who remained in the area for several months began to see an increase in their ability to tap the power.

 

Suddenly, the flood gates opened.

 

Locke Securities, a private firm specializing in unique security needs, was brought in to keep the peace by Tidal. Although Locke employed some of the best trained paramilitary personnel in the world there was quite a stink raised by many of the other firms who claimed that Tidal had violated contracts. There just didn’t seem to be a better alternative. The Angelus was inundated with Esper hopefuls, with true Espers looking to increase their power, and with the simply delusional. Thomas Croft a multi-billion dollar corporate news mogul added fuel to the fire when he purchased three additional platforms and brought them to moor near the Angelus Platform.

 

Food and space were both priority issues during these year, so many Esper hopefuls had smuggled themselves on board that the malnourished dead were found daily. Others died attempting to swim to the Angelus during the dark of night. Riots broke out when food boats arrived. Angelus and her sister platforms were closer to a high tech battlefield than a city. Behind all of the civil unrest the corporations played another, far more dangerous, game. Assassination and scientific theft were common. There were more security guards than there were scientists. The situation reached a head when an armed conflict raged for two days on board the Vladokov Platform between corporate security companies. When it was over nearly 200 were dead or wounded.

 

Mediation was requested by Tidal. Dozens of corporate and community interests met with UN arbiters on board the Angelus. A binding agreement was reached that established Angelus as a chartered city with rights of self governance. The office of the City Coordinator was established as well as rules for electing the City Council. A police force was commissioned that was answerable to the City Coordinator and the Council.

 

Taxes, fines, and residency fees along with corporate penalties for the war fought on the Vladakov supplied the city with its initial funding. Corporate Partnerships proved to be the most manageable source of steady income during the early years since there were few corporations that did not want a stake in Angelus. Once again, space and food were to prove to be critical factors in spurring further development.

 

Angelus hired engineers, horticulturists, oceanographers, and structural engineers to meet their growing problems. They also hired lawyers.

 

Soon, the UN recognized the sovereignty of Angelus (which had already expanded beyond the original four platforms). The United States launched a vigorous protest but was once again unable to exert the might that it had once possessed. Angelus became an independent entity with territorial rights including the rights to its’ waters. Civil Suits were launched against many of the errant corporations who had sponsored and profited from underwater recovery efforts near Angelus. Billions of dollars flowed into the City Treasury.

 

These funds were spent on a gamble. Structural Engineers had little faith that the current city could survive a major storm. The city population was nearing the 50,000 mark if you counted the Orthan Deep Sea farm (Lilypad) and most of those citizens shared sleeping space in shifts because there was nowhere on the Angelus to stay. Something had to be done [this is a bad period of about 10 years before Angelus blooms].

 

Evan Danzig had developed the anti-grav devices used in the first generation of flying cars and one of the only men in the world who understood gravatetics. His company, Dyna-Grav, was based in New Mexico at the Private Space Center built just after the turn of the century. The City Coordinator met with him in a private meeting and offered to relocate his whole company to Angelus if Danzig would help with the platform issue. The specifics of what prompted Danzig to accept the offer are considered state secrets but Dyna-Grav enjoys a near monopoly in some fields.

 

Within five years the first hydrolyzer is produced but not before Tropical Storm Claudia kills 7,000 citizens of Angelus.

 

The new Angelus platform is capable of housing buildings up to 20 stories and an auction is held for the 18 sites open to the public. These funds build the additional, more powerful hydrolyzers. The metropolis of Angelus has been born.

 

There is a ton of other stuff to cover – such as the development of the university, scientific patents/advancements, energy production and storage, ect… the sub-plots of how Angelus came to be. I just wanted to get comments from Watson and Susano about what might need to be changed or altered to make the city work. I have seen much background on the city so I am making an assumption that you guys never wrote this type of stuff up?

 

Edsel has looked over a very quick jot of this but it is no way official. This is just me ruminating on how the city came to be.

 

 

Quirks of this story...

  1. What other super weapons are out there?
  2. What was causing the naval vessels to sink?
  3. Why was there no radioactivity?
  4. What is causing the Espers to "power up?"
  5. What other kind of experiments would the corporations run in lawless waters before the institution of Angelus Authority?
  6. What was Danzig offered?

 

I'd like to find a way to add some more mysteries to this - including why the Entities are here on Angelus? Did they cause the quake? Did the Quake release them?

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I'd like to find a way to add some more mysteries to this - including why the Entities are here on Angelus? Did they cause the quake? Did the Quake release them?

 

Good stuff! You just need to add Benthic Petroleum as a company. :D.

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

In my original source material, Espers are not trusted ("After all, that chap can see what you're thinking!"), whilst Sorcerers are considered more of a celebrity status (due to the influence of stage magicians and pop culture).

 

The existence of Entities is not known to the public at large, it is the "big secret" that only those who need to know ever truly understand.

 

Keeping all of the above in mind, Espers are considered just above clades in the main public mindset: useful, creepy, barely-human. I would say that the life of an Esper is slightly better than in K5, but only very slightly. Espers tend to congregate in Angelus for a number of reasons, some known and others merely guessed at. In the "Ten Years After" timeline they ended up forming the IOTA foundation and congregated into a sector later renamed to "Psi."

 

In-game, there was definitely some prejudice and mistrust of espers, but it tended to be overshadowed by the larger concerns with the social class of clades, invasions by the Enochians and later the Entities, and other various things going on.

 

Hope all that helps!

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I sent Eosin the opening part of the story which contains the actual theory. I don't want him looking at the rest of it since it contains spoilers for stuff I may want to use.

 

Remember I have told my players to stay away from the SA and SAII sites since I intend to use a lot of the plots there once I get my game going. I may even follow the original campaign as near as I can piece it together. My campaign will be an alternate version of the original SA campaign where my players will become the newly rebuilt 9th Squad.

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Very cool theory. I love the mass grave bit. I'll reflect on that and see how that changes things in the history.

 

Also, I'm torn between my two characters. There are parts of both that I like. I might see if I can merge the two but I doubt that I will have the points with witch to do that.

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

I sent Eosin the opening part of the story which contains the actual theory. I don't want him looking at the rest of it since it contains spoilers for stuff I may want to use.

 

Remember I have told my players to stay away from the SA and SAII sites since I intend to use a lot of the plots there once I get my game going. I may even follow the original campaign as near as I can piece it together. My campaign will be an alternate version of the original SA campaign where my players will become the newly rebuilt 9th Squad.

 

Oops... sorry.

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

700 Terrace Street

 

There are very few buildings as ornate or powerful as the gleaming synthetic marble edifice known to all in Angelus as simply "Seven Hundred". The rose colored building may be one of the busiest locations, day or night, in the the Alpha Sector. Sitting on the south bank of Lake Angelus, Seven Hundred is where the honored dead of Angelus rest and where friends or relatives come to pay their respects.

 

Three parks, rare in Angelus, surround the building allowing visitors a place to meet and children a place to play with real grass under their feet. Trees and gardens have been bioengineered so that a riot of color tantalizes visitors all year long. The city planners even went to the expense of building several small, rolling hills that are the marvel of many children. Additionally, there is a small rocky river that runs through the heart of the parks providing a soothing noise that can mask the sounds of the city for those looking for a sense of peace.

 

Seven Hundred is a massive building towering above its neighbors. The honored dead of Angelus are legion and even as large as it is, the building is too small to house the urns of all those who wish to reside there. The middle class citizens of Angelus often chose to be interred here at considerable expense. The super wealthy may own wings in Seven Hundred or they may be interred at a private mausoleum. The poor, well, some say the poor end up in the Peaceful Ocean. The more ghoulish say that the homeless wind up at the Great Bay Fishery, after all even the fish have to eat.

 

Inside the atrium visitors check in and are allowed to roam selected halls where fiends and relative rest. Small shrines are scattered along the halls and temples to the faiths of the world can be found on certain floors. The offices housing the padres, monks, sifus, gurus, and priests are on sublevel four. These are open during business hours and as needed on religious holidays.

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Once Edsel has confirmed which of these are canon articles' date=' you need to send them to me so I can build the SA III webpage.[/quote']

 

Yeap, that is the plan. Edsel has some personal stuff going on right now so I am not sure how much he'll be around the next few days.

 

Now for the re-write of the history section.

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Re: Shadow Angelus

 

Here is a fairly model building I am thinking. It is current design but will give Edsle something to work with in size and scope.

 

Vision, when built will be located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Rising 72 stories high, Vision will become Brisbane's tallest, Queensland's second tallest, and Australia's third tallest tower.

 

Vision will be a mixed use tower with 2 levels of retail/entertainment space, 13 floors of commercial, 376 residential apartments over 53 floors and a two story observation deck on levels 60 and 61 (205m). The observation deck is planned to also include a 5 star restaurant and an art gallery.

 

Vision's Plaza will incorporate restaurants, retail and gym facilities, and will provide a mid-block link between Mary and Margaret streets. A total of 7,390 square meters of lettable space retail space is located within the main tower and, according to development application lodged with the city council, the proposed shops include: a coffee shop, juice bar, computer shop, providore, cafe/bar, wine cellar, newsagent, duty free store and health centre. The public plaza will include water features and several commissioned works of art.

 

The 376 apartments within the residential component will comprise of 96 four-bedroom, 108 three-bedroom, 52 two-bedroom and 120 single-bedroom units.

 

An open air recreation deck on level 4 is planed to contain leisure-space for apartment residents, a pool and barbecue area.

 

The commercial space totals 37,431 square meters, comprising the first 13 levels of the main tower and the associated commercial wing extending towards Mary Street.

 

A seven-level basement car park is associated with the project, containing a total of 767 spaces. It is planned to use these facilities as a temporary car park while the rest of the building is under construction.

 

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