The Crinoverse 2 (End of Part 2)

[Yeoman]

Huntsman of the Black Forest: One of the most well known and feared of the winter lords, The Huntsman often comes to Earth seeking new prey along with his demonic hounds. His victims who are torn to shreds are the lucky ones, as unlucky ones are taken back to Faerie to become his Changeling slaves. So far no hero in Europe has been able to stop him once he goes on the hunt.

It is worth noting that Chicago based Wizard Harry Dresden has both angered and impressed the Huntsman after an encounter on Halloween some years ago. Angered, because he actually managed to imprison him for a short time, and impressed him when he created a zombie T-Rex and rode it through downtown Chicago, briefly reviving one of nature's most fearsome predators.

Dresden is not looking forward to any future encounters.

((And I should note that the Crinoverse hasn't caught up to their second encounter yet)).

[Crinos]

Heh, yeah. That was actually the last book I read (First one on Kindle, keep meaning to get the next book but between LOL and getting new rpg books I haven't had the cash or the inclination.)

[Crinos]

If I do a sendup of the Zodiac, I'd probably use the Marvel incarnation (I was actually thinking about that today, considering that team is also led by a Taurus), and when I wrote up Taurus I did mention he occasionally goes out disguised as a dumb muscle villain in order to fight heroes, because the great thing is even the most deranged fringe based conspiracy nuts, who whole heartedly believe the Labyrinth is real, don't think that its run by an actual mythical creature.

actualy to me given what youve described in the Crinoverse so far there are 2 zodiacs.

the first Zodiac is the Marvel one.

the second Zodiac is the champions one.

Why two?

easy here why.

The Champions Zodiac is the real one. A group of very powerful villains lead by the cyberized Taurus who fund the Labrynth as its inner circle and so on and so forth.

the second ((marv el)) Zodiac? they are the distraction. a group of LMDs, or guadily clad mooks who are regularly sent out to make noise and play the big bad world conquerers. The consistency of the costumes and genders of the various members means that Taurus can control the illusion of a group of immortal conquerers who use the power of the Zodiac key ((a minor Techno-magical artifact that Gemini created --looks fancy but isnt all its cracked up to be)) to try and rule the world.

heros constantly thwart the Jobber Zodiac never realizing their true purpose. Misdirection.

Taurus is brillaint and has used the cocnept of street mages from the beginning to disguis the Labrynth and by proxy the True Zodiacs powers and involvement in world affairs.

Only a few indivduals has actively discovered the ruse or have even guessed at it. Dr Sin, Overshadow, and a few others. Few Heros ((Foreshadow, Eldritch, Doc Steele)) have also guessed or deduced it but have little proof.

the genius of the scheme is that the jobber zodiac is made to look over the top and ridiculous absurd costumes and ridicuous powers and concepts all designed to make them appear very silver age and over the top. Their schemes border on the ridiculous and over the top though they cross perilously close to the reality and dangerous because they ahve to be a credible threat to keep peoples eyes on them.

And all the while Taurus and the True Zodiac carry out their true plans in relative obscurity only rarely opposed by heros untill its almost to late.

I like it, except for the idea of Taurus getting cybernetics. To me, Taurus might be the kind of guy who considers Cybernetics a risk that overshadows the reward (After all, cybernetics notoriously screw with magic, and that could make him weaker. Plus they can be hacked or exploited by Technopaths and are vulnerable to EMPS and the like.)

[catsi563]

true enough I grant you, it could be the same basic idea except switch Tauruses. the cyborg one is a robot or a DNascent moreau given cyborg enhancements to lead the faux zodiac.

[Kreuzritter]

there's also the twins idea i mentioned

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Or maybe a half-brother by the same bull.

[kenseido]

Or a clone. A clone made with lesser qualities, so that there is no doubt who the original is.

[EnigmaticOne]

I'm glad to see Crinos took my advice... poor Elasto.

[kenseido]

Yeah, I am thinking Troy got off easy as far as "evil girlfriends" go.

[Crinos]

Creatures of the Night: Horror enemies

Not gonna lie, this one is kind of near and dear to me. I got it at a gaming convention at my college (along with Underworld enemies), and its always been a personal favorite of mine.

Devils Advocates: I actually already covered the Advocates a while ago, both their 4th and 5th ed incarnations. So we're moving straight on.

Mind Master Complex: The result of a foundry experiment to create a powerful psychic gestalt, the Foundry captured seven psychic sensitive people, removed their brains, and put them in a big machine together. Eventually the minds did merge into an entity, with sufficient power to escape and go independent. It decided that its intellect was great enough to allow it to conquer the world. It has numerous brainwashed agents, many of them not even realizing they are its slaves. Among them:

-Major Mind: Lt. George Sainbury was a volunteer for a government experiment to create psychics. It didn't really work, and Sainbury ended up a vegetable in a Military hospital. Found by MMC, Major Mind acts as its mouth piece and spy in the military. Major Mind has no real personality, but has been programmed by Mind Master Complex to behave like a normal person would.

-Mindwhip: A middle aged grocer, Stu Tanner was discovered to have latent psychic powers by MMC, who awakened them and uses him as a psychic interrogator and torturer. Unable to read minds, he instead uses his psychic powers to inflict pain. Stu is unaware of his psychic nature or his second life as a super villain.

-Vandal: An unsatisfied homemaker, Marge Dumweese became a new age buff and started meditating. Eventually, she began to have long black out periods during her meditations. In spite of this, she enjoys the trances, completely unaware she is the telekinetic villainess Vandal.

The Totems: A dangerous Native American themed mystical group, the Totems are a genocidal group dedicated to the destruction of the white man. All of the Totems gained their animal based powers from their leader, the undead shaman Manitou, who are mystically bound to him.

-Manitou: A Native American shaman, Clouds at Sunset was slain years ago in battle against the white man. Awoken when construction workers defiled his resting place, he became consumed with hatred and rage, animating his body, he set about a ritual to summon Grandmother Spider, giving him comrades to assist him in his crusade.

-Bear: Bob Mahto was a bouncer in a Bar on his Ontario reservation when he accidentally killed a bar patron. Fearing the RCMP, he fled to the states, eventually reaching Manitou the night of his ritual to create the totems. He was given the power to turn into a giant humanoid bear with incredible strength.

-Coyote: Fredrick Joe was a con man who made money selling bogus new age "Medicine" to the gullible. Losing his money to the IRS because of his creative bookkeeping, he happened on Manitous ritual and was turned into the avatar of the Trickster, given illusion and transmuting powers. Unlike the other Totems, Coyote is not mystically bound to Manitou, and may be playing a long game with him.

-Rattlesnake: A mercenary for Foregone conclusions, Daryl Tookenay went after Manitou for the bounty on his head, but soon came to respect the undead shamans determination. Catching up with him the night he made the totems, Daryl was turned into a humanoid snake man with increased agility and strength, coupled with his fighting skills make him a deadly fighter.

-Thunderbird: A construction worker, Jim Green literally fell out of the sky onto Manitou during a skydiving trip gone awry. Turned into a bird headed humanoid with wings and lighting manipulating powers, Thunderbird became the teams forward scout and daredevil.

The Great Beast: A former John Smith society member and college professor, Shelby Dravus wanted to create a new form of life, and eventually succeeded by mixing his own DNA with his creations, which had the side effect of mentally linking them. After accidentally turning a TA into a hideous monster after trying to save his life, Dravus went on the lam, renaming himself The Great Beast, Dravus uses his monsters to commit crimes and hires them out to criminals. He also continues his experiments to create supermen. He often works for the Foundry.

The Monad: A cybernetic equivalent to the swarm, the Monad is a bio mechanical weapon created eons ago by Aum Ra the God Slayer to act as her army against the worshipers of her enemies. Eons later, the Monad are still active, traveling to and wiping out worlds by creating bio mechanical horrors, ranging from giant flying mantas, giant centipedes, huge three eyes dinosaurs, and other horrors. Like the swarm they can also be more subtle, creating humanoid infiltrators.

Archimago: Arguably the most evil and powerful wizard of the twentieth century, John Fulton was a Pact mystic and student of Silas the Elder who went on to become a conventional master villain. Greedy for power, Archimago embarked on many schemes and fought many hero, he also made many deals with extradimensional evils for power, always abandoning his backers for bigger fish when they were no longer useful; Moving from demons and demon lords to Mr. Hoppy and Infamy, to the Entropic Masters and elder gods, eventually striking a deal with the Darkness beyond time itself. At the height of his power, Archimago was felled by a simple heart attack (More romantic mystics have said that Archimago's evil was so great, even his own body could not abide it.) Following his death, the most powerful mystics of both the Covenant and the Pact got together and weaved every spell and contingency they could think of to ensure Archimago would NEVER rise again. However Archimago was clever, and has left behind little "trinkets" that can still affect the world in his absence.

Black Fang: A victim of the demonologist, James Talmadge was the son of a Millennium city judge cursed with lycantropy in order to secure his fathers loyalty though magic blackmail. every month The Demonologist sends James a talisman that prevents his transformations as long as his father cooperates, but occasionally Black Fang has gotten out to wreak havoc. Unfortunately, since James has taken human life as a werewolf the curse is now impossible to remove, so he's stuck with it.

Caiman: A leg breaker for Colombian Drug lords, Gregorio Sanchez was modified into a super strong, leathery skinned monster by the International Crime League, becoming a super powered fighter and assassin. Since the ICL went other he now does freelance work for PHANTOM and SHADOW.

Decay: Gene Landry was a trust fund brat whose heroin addiciton led to him contracting AIDS. As he lay dying in agony, he ended up becoming a gestalt of disease and agony, gaining the power to destroy with a touch and restoring his strength and mobility. Now hopelessly insane, he inflicts pain on any who cross his path.

Doctor Black: Once a respected Doctor, Amos Black became obsessed with a substance which is secreted by the brain upon death. Hoping to master the secrets of life and death, Doctor Black began killing people to learn about the chemical, eventually going mad and becoming a slasher. Black still does (less than legal), medical work, and was the man who modified Caiman into a monster.

Fearmonger: A special effects guru, Oscar Tarnborg is an assassin who specializes in scaring people to death. Though he lacks super powers, he possesses tech he designed himself and bought from the Foundry that lets him trap victims in their own personal horror movies. Currently he is preparing for his biggest contract yet; Taking out Cynis Usako for the Church of Humanity.

Four Eyes: Marvin Claremont was a born Joker Meta with a second pair of eyes over his first pair. Hidden away by his parents, he eventually escaped onto the streets, using his perception warping powers to survive. He was eventually found by Duncan Summers and became a student at Claremont Academy. Unfortunately he quickly became a toady for Sloth, and jumped ship to the Shadow Academy when he did. Nowadays he's still a partner to Sloth, who has gone on to become a legbreaker for various crime cartels.

Haunt: Hezechiah Stewart was a miserly loan shark who, after death, became a vengeful ghost haunting his old mansion. Eventually enslaved by the Blood Red King, he was set free when the villain was destroyed, becoming an independent villain.

Hell Rider: William Wade lost everything when Kenneth Kane made him one of his victims. Given infernal powers by Mr. Infamy, Wade has one year to destroy Kane and the five other people responsible for destroying his life. Should he succeed, he would get back all he lost, if he failed, he would belong to hell forevermore. Hell Rider is currently three for three on that count.

Homunculus: One of Archimago's creations Homunculus is a animated wooden doll, used as a spy and assassin. Replicas are often used by the Pact and Black Hand.

Kobold:A sadistic mad scientist, Leopold Schell was mutated into a scaly skinned mutant with a paralyzing touch while wrestling with one of his test subjects. Kobold became a German super soldier, and eventually a gadgeteer supervillain after the war. Given an extended lifespan, he was eventually recruited by Kreuzritter to be the spymaster of Thule.

Lady Twilight: A member of the world Vampire councils Millennium City branch, Lady Twilight is a bored dilettante who took up super villainy as a lark and to recover some mystic artifacts that were stolen during a battle with the Champions by the Pact. She commands a small nest of Vampires of varying power and ability.

Lamplighter: Little is known of Lamplighter, except he is a sadistic monster who can steal men's souls and corrupt any soul. Setting himself up as an adviser to various small nations, he quickly turns them into brutal regimes. He is currently operating in the middle east, looking for the mysterious metahuman known as Peacekeeper, who he see's as his opposite and thus arch enemy.

Mrs. Meigs: I think I already covered Mrs. Meigs as a foe to the Atom Family, but I like her so here she is again. Mrs. Meigs is a servant of the lords of order, dedicated to wiping out all superhuman's on the planet. Her MO is to appear as a helpless old lady, trap victims in her home, nullify their powers and eventually turn them into children. She also has the ability to summon mirror beings which are copies of the heroes she captures. Mrs. Meigs is responsible for the disappearance of numerous heroes and villains over the years, and was eventually dispelled by the Atom Family. She recently came back and attacked the Tomorrow Society, only to be defeated once again.

Ooze: Tom Kerner was a thief who stole an experimental regeneration formula when he lost his hand in a traffic accident. The formula gave Tom the ability to turn himself into living ooze. It also affected his mind, as he has taken up eating small animals with his powers.

Joseph Otanga: Already covered Otanga extensively as one of the biggest master villains in Africa, and the partner to the Radical. Otanga has secretly been seeking an alliance with SHADOW to take on Dakana and Nestoria.

Reverend Gil Perdue: An evangelical minister in Emerald City, Perdue had led his followers into numerous riots against institutions he deems "Sinful", one such institution was a Grant Pharmaceutical research center, where Perdue was exposed to chemicals which activated his bio manipulating metapowers. Capable of healing, inflicting pain, and mutating with a touch, Perdue is convinced there are demons among them and that the end times are near. A staunch fan of Leo Barnett, Perdue believes (correctly) that Cynis Usako was somehow involved on the attack on his person, and has intensified his crusade against the Pantheon as a result.

Razor Girl: A creation of the Pact, Razor Girl is a little girl possessed with a powerful and destructive demon. A potent assassin, Razor Girl can create mystical blades which can cut anything to shreds.

Vulshoth: I don't really want to cover Vulshoth without doing the rest of the kings of Edom,so short version is he's an entropic master and elder god who was banished to the Annihilation zone and wants to come back in a big way.

Whisper: A pure gestalt of shadows, Whisper was a minion of the Blood Red King before he perished. Whisper can turn into a shadow, ursup another persons shadow, and slowly drive them insane with mind games and illusions.

Not gonna cover the demons in the Appendix cause I don't care too.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

I've been reading Eclipse Phase lately, and it occurred to me that if Hunger Games is a future created by Taurus then Eclipse Phase, with its emphasis on the TITANs, might be a similar "all records of superheroes was purged" future created by Talos, Mechanon, or some other machine-supremecist.

[Kreuzritter]

okay, i was gonna do Gramercy island, but before i get there, I realize i need to talk about somewhere else first, and that place is:

Century Station

Part 1: the state of things

Century Station is a district like Washington D.C. Since it has district status, it has different regulations and powers.

25 years ago, the city was barely surviving. Then a man named Dr. Leopold Sarhoff built a huge, highly advanced cold fusion reactor in Century Station. The power it produced was inexpensive, clean and was going to be pumped out worldwide through satellite stations. Many high tech companies swarmed Century Station, trying to piggyback on the great success of what had become known as the Daedalus Project. It was soon after the great success of Daedalus that the Station was granted district status.

Century Station prospered and many people became wealthy. Then, five years after the fusion reactor was brought on line, an alien called Alpha Prime arrived on Earth with some terrible news. Dr. Sarnhoff was actually an imposter. In reality, he was a wanted alien criminal who had broken an intergalatic law known as the Covenant. The law stated that space-capable cultures couldn't technologically aid other cultures until they had reached space travel on their own. Therefore, the great tech Daedalus brought to Century Station was confiscated, the fusion reactor shutdown and Sarnhoff taken into custody. Alpha Prime remained on Earth in the Station to ensure all technology has been confiscated. This event has led to a very anti-alien culture within the city.

Soon after, the city plunged into a depression. Businesses fled the district as everything they had worked for was attached to Daedalus. Those that could leave did. Those left behind fell into poverty. Some retained their wealth and found ways to continue, but the majority of the citizens lost everything.

before, CS was a city of the future, where hovercycles and cars could be seen flying through the skies. Now, those items have disappeared except for some of the wealthiest people in the city. Most of the tech was confiscated by Alpha Prime, while most of the remaining 'good stuff' is in the hands of CHIMERA, Century station's private high tech security forces

Crime soon became the biggest industry within the city, making it an even worse scumhole than even Bedlam City. And on top of the crime pyramid was a kingpin called Iron Mike. He was so powerful he actually claimed a section of the Station as his own personal kingdom and threatened any law enforcement officials who came to his turf. Wanting to reign in the crime and seeing this as an opportunity to take down a major figure, the city police attempted a daring raid while Iron Mike met with other criminal leaders. The meeting was supposed to be to divide up the city. But, a corrupt cop informed Iron Mike who set a trap for the police. It was terrible. The police weren't ready for the trap. But it got worse.

During the battle, Iron Mike was mortally wounded. When he died, the small nuclear device (an alien design as there was little dangerous fallout from the device) exploded. It seems Iron Mike had the device wired to his heart. Once he died, the device exploded, killing hundreds and wounding thousands. Most of the police force was killed. What followed became known as the Bloody Monday riots.

Once the insanity was reigned in, the mayor was ousted and replaced by the current mayor, Dwayne Zardona. The mayor was supposed to be the puppet of the big businesses, but the U.S. government had some stipulations. The mayor must reduce the crime rate and improve the conditions of the city within five years or the feds would move in and take control, the city would lose it's district status and the national guard would take over for the law enforcement.

Crime has dropped, but not enough. The mayor has made some headway with other programs, but one big obstacle still remains. The current kingpin of crime in the Station is called the Minotaur. No one even knows if he truly exists. He's an urban legend. Some of the residents of the maximum security prison, Gramercy Island, claim loyalty to the Minotaur, which leads investigators to conclude that he may be real.

Worse yet, while heroes have flocked to Century station, theirs is a divided house,, split between Cavaliers, Registered heroes who obey the Hero Act and work hand in glove with CHIMERA, and Legionnaires, iron age vigilantes forced to fight the worst scum of century station on their own terms, or otherwise refuse to work alongside an institution they regard as incompetant and/or corrupt. critics of the hero act point out the frequent violent conflicts between these factions as the act's future and legacy

there is another player in the stakes for century station, one who stands to win or lose: Taurus Minos, the original minotaur and Master of the Labyrinth. he is is his invisible hands that pull the strings of Century Station's megacorporations, most of which are subsidiares of his shadow empire, who had turned the district into plutocratic playground in the past ten years naturally, he's planning to win no matter which way things turn out, but would greatly prefer the district remain under his complte control than lose any influence to the government.

[Crinos]

Anyways, I'm thinking of also doing a writeup of the serpent squad/serpent society, but unsure how to portray them. Do I make them servants of King Cobra from Champions? Do I combine them with the Kobra cult from DC? Serpent people offshoot? do I combine them with the snake men from Masters of the Universe?

Heck, during work today I was entertaining an idea of making them a Christian Fundamentalist militia group that broke off from the house of serpents.

[MightyDavidson]

Make them....ALL OF THE ABOVE! Throw in Cobra from GI Joe as well! The more confusing the better!

Seriously though, I'd combine King Cobra with the Kobra cult and have the Serpent Society as part of them. The serpent folk should be their own thing, though probably quite interested in King Cobra's false snake men and possibly attempting to control them for the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign.

Cobra I'd make connected to Hydra somehow.

[Crinos]

Make them....ALL OF THE ABOVE! Throw in Cobra from GI Joe as well! The more confusing the better!

Seriously though, I'd combine King Cobra with the Kobra cult and have the Serpent Society as part of them. The serpent folk should be their own thing, though probably quite interested in King Cobra's false snake men and possibly attempting to control them for the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign.

Cobra I'd make connected to Hydra somehow.

Actually, if I do have an adventure with the Serpent society as a fundamentalist Militia, then I would have a scene where, upon realizing they're losing, they break out a Nemesis Enforcer to turn the tide of battle.