Amazons in the CU?

[Peregrine]

I have long noted that there appears to be no CU analog to the DCU's Amazons. While watching the first season of the animated Justice League recently, I was struck by an inspiration - not for the DCAU, but for Champions gaming. Specifically, what if the Amazons were an offshoot of the Atlanteans?

 

There's two ways this could work. For a homebrew setting, the Amazons and the Atlanteans could have been socially (and maybe even politically) gender-segregated prior to the Great Atlantean Cataclysm. Thus, the homeland of the Amazons did not sink beneath the waves, while that of the Atlanteans did.

 

The alternative is that, instead of sociopolitical gender segregation, there were warrior societies in the late Atlantean culture, some of which were female-only. When the Great Cataclysm hit, the remote chapterhouses of the warrior sororities were located in an area that did not sink. This could be wainscotted ino the CU much more easily than the previous.

 

Either of these would produce a DCU-style Amazon race. However, both would require that both the Amazons and the Atlanteans be functionally immortal in order to avoid reproduction issues.

[bubba smith]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

i see your logic

[lemming]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

Either of these would produce a DCU-style Amazon race. However, both would require that both the Amazons and the Atlanteans be functionally immortal in order to avoid reproduction issues.

 

You could make it, that the Amazons were immortal once they were inducted into the warrior order. That way, less mucking about with the Atlanteans.

[Peregrine]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

You could make it' date=' that the Amazons were immortal once they were inducted into the warrior order. That way, less mucking about with the Atlanteans.[/quote']

 

Possible, and a valid point. Downside is, if they could grant immortality, how and why did they keep that ability to themselves?

 

Other possibilities:

 

1. The initial Amazons weren't. However, shortly after the Cataclysm, they mated with "the gods" (Empyreans?), and their offspring were immortal - the males were exiled and the females remained. A bit messy though, and opens up the question "what happened to the exiled males". OTOH, it brings in the Amazon history of "god/hero betrayed our Queen".

 

2. The Amazons gained immortality as a side effect of the Cataclysm. This is less messy, as it avoids all of the above problems.

[Steve]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

Possible' date=' and a valid point. Downside is, if they could grant immortality, how and why did they keep that ability to themselves?[/quote']

 

The Empyreans bring a few possibilities to the table.

 

1) One of the Empyreans comes across a tribe who had most or all of their men killed in battle and becomes their god/emperor. The children of matings with the Empyrean are all female for some reason, and a female warrior culture develops. Perhaps they inherit immortality as well as some physical enhancements.

 

2) An Empyrean is captured by a matriarchal tribe and his blood is used to create a serum that renders a recipient immortal. This could be a dark secret of the Amazons.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

If the kind of "DC Amazon" analogue you're looking for is a hidden land of immortal warrior-women, you're right in that there's no specific location on Champions Earth that precisely matches it. However, there is an island/ city-state in the Indian Ocean, long hidden from the rest of the world by thick perpetual mists, with an ancient culture and something of a warrior tradition: Thaar, the home of the Birdpeople. A female of the Birdpeople served as a member of the superhero team, the Fabulous Five, throughout the 1970s under the name "Kestrel."

 

Personally, if I wanted Amazons of the DCU variety in my CU game, I would make them the remnants of the Amazons of classical Greek mythology who relocated to the dimension of Faerie when magic started to decline on Earth. Conditions in Faerie would make the existence of a magical island/forest/valley etc. where its inhabitants never aged perfectly reasonable. Like other mythic remnants they could start to interact with our world again in the modern age with the return of magic to Earth. I should point out that Amazons in Faerie would not have to be a "hidden" people, which would solve the immortality/ reproduction problem; they could keep subservient men and raid their neighbors for more.

 

If you did want your Amazons to be Atlantean descendants, your suggestion for an all-female warrior society would not be unreasonable. Although Atlantean women were better treated than in many other lands of their age, they still weren't socially equal to Atlantean men. Women were very rarely soldiers, implying gender discrimination in the military, but there was no law forbidding them from serving. Atlantean soldiers were nearly superhuman in their capabilities, when you take into account their innately superior Characteristics and Longevity, the magical augmentation they were given, and their formidable enchanted weapons; so a modern-day Atlantean-style warrior would be a good template for a superhero.

 

Note that the above concept and the previous one are not incompatible, i.e. the mythic Amazons could have been Atlantean descendants themselves.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

If the kind of "DC Amazon" analogue you're looking for is a hidden land of immortal warrior-women' date=' you're right in that there's no specific location on Champions Earth that precisely matches it. However, there is an island/ city-state in the Indian Ocean, long hidden from the rest of the world by thick perpetual mists, with an ancient culture and something of a warrior tradition: [b']Thaar[/b], the home of the Birdpeople. A female of the Birdpeople served as a member of the superhero team, the Fabulous Five, throughout the 1970s under the name "Kestrel."

 

 

There's also the hidden cave of immortals, Shamballah. Maybe the Amazons are down there, a hidden order of monks. The male members of their Order were corrupted by Sharna-Gorak, and the women have ....issues.

(Except for the one who wants to have Diamond's baby.)

[Legatus]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

You could also consider creating a tribe of warrior-women built on the Norse valkyries.

 

Perhaps the survivors of Ragnarok did mate with human men and gave birth to new generation of valkyries / amazons.

[clsage]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

If the kind of "DC Amazon" analogue you're looking for is a hidden land of immortal warrior-women' date=' you're right in that there's no specific location on Champions Earth that precisely matches it.....[/quote']

 

While I do not yet own a copy, there is Neos Themiscyra, African home of the last surviving Amazons listed in "Thrilling Places". While that is a Pulp Hero sourcebook, I would think that it could easily be translated to the Champions Universe with little work involved....

 

-Carl-

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

While I do not yet own a copy, there is Neos Themiscyra, African home of the last surviving Amazons listed in "Thrilling Places". While that is a Pulp Hero sourcebook, I would think that it could easily be translated to the Champions Universe with little work involved....

 

-Carl-

 

Good call!

[Peregrine]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

While I do not yet own a copy, there is Neos Themiscyra, African home of the last surviving Amazons listed in "Thrilling Places". While that is a Pulp Hero sourcebook, I would think that it could easily be translated to the Champions Universe with little work involved....

 

-Carl-

 

I do own a copy, so I will check it out.

 

However, I was mainly inspired by the possible Atlantean/Amazon connection. And I still can't shake the "Atlantean-male/Amazon-female" idea. It doesn't work for the canon CU, but for a homebrew setting or CU variant...

[Peregrine]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

If the kind of "DC Amazon" analogue you're looking for is a hidden land of immortal warrior-women' date=' you're right in that there's no specific location on Champions Earth that precisely matches it. However, there is an island/ city-state in the Indian Ocean, long hidden from the rest of the world by thick perpetual mists, with an ancient culture and something of a warrior tradition: [b']Thaar[/b], the home of the Birdpeople. A female of the Birdpeople served as a member of the superhero team, the Fabulous Five, throughout the 1970s under the name "Kestrel."

 

Personally, if I wanted Amazons of the DCU variety in my CU game, I would make them the remnants of the Amazons of classical Greek mythology who relocated to the dimension of Faerie when magic started to decline on Earth. Conditions in Faerie would make the existence of a magical island/forest/valley etc. where its inhabitants never aged perfectly reasonable. Like other mythic remnants they could start to interact with our world again in the modern age with the return of magic to Earth. I should point out that Amazons in Faerie would not have to be a "hidden" people, which would solve the immortality/ reproduction problem; they could keep subservient men and raid their neighbors for more.

 

If you did want your Amazons to be Atlantean descendants, your suggestion for an all-female warrior society would not be unreasonable. Although Atlantean women were better treated than in many other lands of their age, they still weren't socially equal to Atlantean men. Women were very rarely soldiers, implying gender discrimination in the military, but there was no law forbidding them from serving. Atlantean soldiers were nearly superhuman in their capabilities, when you take into account their innately superior Characteristics and Longevity, the magical augmentation they were given, and their formidable enchanted weapons; so a modern-day Atlantean-style warrior would be a good template for a superhero.

 

Note that the above concept and the previous one are not incompatible, i.e. the mythic Amazons could have been Atlantean descendants themselves.

 

I'd definitely have the Atlantean-descended Amazons as one and the same with the mythic Amazons. And there's something tickling in the back of my mind around "Amazons = female Atlantean\Empyrean mix", using the guidelines for such from Atlantean Age, for a canon-compatible addition of Amazons into the CU.

[Peregrine]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

The Empyreans bring a few possibilities to the table.

 

1) One of the Empyreans comes across a tribe who had most or all of their men killed in battle and becomes their god/emperor. The children of matings with the Empyrean are all female for some reason, and a female warrior culture develops. Perhaps they inherit immortality as well as some physical enhancements.

 

2) An Empyrean is captured by a matriarchal tribe and his blood is used to create a serum that renders a recipient immortal. This could be a dark secret of the Amazons.

 

Your first option puts that Empyrean in the place of Hercules in the myths (or Hades in the DCAU). For that alone, I like it.

 

The second option would work for pre-Cataclysm Amazon immortality, but I'm less inclined towards that idea overall.

[Doctor Agenda]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

In canon, Empyrean children are always either full Empyreans or moderately-gifted humans (around 10 or 15 extra points in characteristics). No half-powered Empyreans, although having such doesn't cause too many problems as long as you keep them rare (1 out of 250 children of Empyreans and humans, perhaps). Staying in canon, something like the Greek Amazons being descended from Atlanteans and having an Empyrean Queen who is the daughter of Hippolyta and an 'Empyrean Hercules' makes sense. Exceptional Amazons could be given the 'magical super soldier treatment' of the ancient Atlanteans and voila! A daughter of the Queen would be exceptionally exceptional of course, and could have the Atlantean package as well...she might be a good emissary to the world of men.

[Peregrine]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

I've been taking that aspect of Empyrean-human crosses into account. One-in-a-thousand having full Empyrean abilities does yield an empowered Amazon, while the rest could easily be slightly enhanced Atlanteans, especially given the bloodline and demigod options from pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

Despite what Hidden Lands says about human/Empyrean mating, there is one "half-Empyrean" in canon: Augur Maxwell, director of VIPER Academy (VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent p. 23), who was born in Arcadia of an Empyrean mother and human father. Maxwell inherited some of his mother's mental powers, but few of the other Empyrean physical traits.

 

Granted, the character was created before the standards for Empyreans were defined; but he could also be considered precedent for an extremely rare but still possible genetic heritage.

[Doctor Agenda]

Re: Amazons in the CU?

 

Cool, a demigod with a little boost from 'child of an Empyrean' plus Atlantean magical enhancement would be pretty formidable.