Halt Evil Doer! 3.0 - Even more Zaziness!

[Charles Phipps]

So we have Scooby Doo and did Professor Peabody wear glasses?

I imagine the John Smith Society had a paranormal removal unit whose adventures were somewhat satired in two movies starring Bill Murray in the 80s.....

Peabody didn't need glasses and they sort of gave away he was a talking dog even when he was anxious NOT to be found out. However, he often wore them during lectures.

i also think you're absolutely right about the Ghostbusters.

[Charles Phipps]

Okay, so I found some inspiration I think after being stuck for a couple days. So, here we go.

Ciudad de los Cesares

The City of the Caesars. It is also known as Pahitti or the City of Z. No one is quite sure of the exact origins of the city. Supposedly, it was founded by wrecked Spanish sailors as they were trying to pass through the straits of Magellan.

oooo, sounds interesting already.

Talking with those sailors, yes they are still alive, reveals that they found the city already built or maybe the city found them. Later others came: various explorers, refugees from the fall of the Incan empire, still more explorers, ghosts, and of course the giants. The geography of the city is distinctly Andean and the city lies between two mountains: one of gold and silver and one of platinum. The city itself seems to be thriving despite the lack of actual farming or farms surrounding it. Visitors describe items just appearing when they are needed and the inhabitants don't seem to acknowledge it as strange.

It reminds me a bit of a Marvel city that had the character of Magma came from.

Though the city appears on Earth it doesn't seem to stay in one place though from the point of the view in the city it doesn't seem like it moves. Persons have encountered it in several locations throughout the Andes but never in the same spot. The city also appears in the Otherworld from time to time as well but again doesn't seem fixed to one location though always appearing in a mountainous region. Its as if the city itself is somehow in between the two planes.

I like the Brigadoon element, very interesting. Floating cities are actually far from uncommon in legend.

The function of the city is unknown but it seems to appear to those in need. It has collected a variety of peoples from around South America both native and non native. Inside the city everybody seems to speak the same language and that language is the native language of the person hearing it. When someone encounters the city they are first given help by the citizens of the city and eventually asked if they would stay. If they accept they seem to be unable to later leave the city. Those who choose not to leave the city in peace but are never able to find it again. GPS does work in the city remarkably but tends to give wildly different longitude and latitude readings as one goes through the city.

I like this concept, a lot.

There are a few famous residents of the city. First is Inakri, the legendary last ruler of the Inca who is said to return some day and re-establish the Incan Empire. British explorers Col. Percival Fawcett, his son Jack, and friend Raleigh Rimell have been sighted as alive in the city. They were thought to be dead as they explored for the city in the Amazon. Another feature of the city is the Patagonian Giants that live there. Possibly a group from Otherworld they are 12-15 foot humans who other then their height and the lack of physiological problems due to height are completely normal. There are many ghosts in the city though they do not interact with the living. It seems the city collects the wandering dead as well as the living. Time doesn't seem to move inside the city and no one seems to die or age within its limits. The first residents of the city are still alive and young as they were the day they crossed the cities limits. Though it they are much healthier then one would expect from 16th century sailors.

A great collection of characters. The Patagonian Giants part really intrigues me as the fact it's a "dead city" as well as a live city.

[greycrusader]

Charles;

I very much like the job you and a few of the others have done on expanding the 1970s characters. The era's overlooked, as the Bronze Age is overshadowed by other time periods in comics-but the years gave us some characters, storylines, and concepts unlikely to have ever emerged at another time.

I especially enjoyed the Never Man. My take is the same experimental star-drive that caused his radical mutation also released the Unnameable Host into the earthly dimension. Never Man suffered recurring flashes of the Host's actions (abductions, experiments, mutilations) though he could never discern their motives. In truth, though they looked like angels and demons, they were mentalities far removed from human experience. Never Man repeatedly interfered with their sinister activities, but also thwarted other extraterrestrial incursions. The failed Tsavong invasion had aroused interest in Earth among other star-faring cultures, including many Confederacy worlds which had broken away from the usurping Emperor's rule. NASA and the Air Force covered up these incidents, as many would be quite frightening to the general public-this added to the Never Man's reputation as an urban legend. His most public appearance was a flashy battle with the Host and their subjugated minions in the skies of Washington State.

He once crossed paths with the Never Man from the Supremacy's universe, just after the latter's armor had suffered grievous damage after a battle with Frankenstein's Monster (in a particularly evil incarnation). The astronaut Never Man allowed Kor-Vel to cannabilize some of the components from Vincent Spears' own suit; these repais lasted only a few months before Kor-Vel's power garb was irreparably ruined in his final showdown with the Groop. During his short career on Earth, he fought alongside heroes as vaunted as Divinos and the original Futuremen. He even saved Divinos from an A-Zone trap laid by the Groop.

Kor-Vel got really into the 1970s party scence (embracing disco, even), especially party drugs. He had minor matter transmuting powers all his own, allowing him to fund his lifestyle by creating small amounts of silver, gold, and platinum. He turned to cocaine in the 1980s, getting meaner and more erratic. Before temporarily leaving Earth, Divinos sought him out, using Mithran science to detox Kor-Vel, and helped him back to his own Earth.

The tragedy of the Dismantler's death was that it was entirely avoidable: but Archer Goodman always felt indestructible, even before being turned into a physical dynamo. He often skipped his heart medication, or pushed beyond even his limits with too little sleep and too many stimulants, legal and otherwise. Was he a real superhero? Or could he have become one in the end, a genuine role model? Questions that will never be answered.

The final answer is Charles, but I believe Forever Eve's still living head/brain are still around somewhere, though probably not in the hands of anyone other than nefarious. Still, maybe Black Dragon might end up with it eventually...

[Phrozen]

Helike

The question was why would Poseidon drown a city that had one of the biggest temples in the Greek world? Why would he betray the city that he backed? Of course many would answer because the Olympians were jerks of the highest order. That was true. The Greeks of the time say that the citizens of Helike refused to help another city that Poseidon sponsored and that was was also true. Neither of those were the actual reason that raised the wrath of the masters of Olympus. The fact is that Helike was the center of a cult of mystics who wished to free the titan Prometheus from his punishment. In fact, their plan was to overthrow the whole Pantheon for their crimes. They first reached out to Athena as the Goddess of Wisdom but she refused them while she did not like her relatives in the Pantheon she didn't think it was a mortals place to dethrone the gods. After being rebuffed by Athena the Heliken's sought power from both Orkus and the Inferno and other less then savory sources who wanted to see the Olympians brought down for their own reasons. The Heliken's had quite a treasure trove of forbidden tomes and artifacts. As well as devising a way to free Prometheus. The Olympians caught wind of their plan through Athena and decided to wipe out the population. Poseidon took it upon himself to do the deed.

On a winter night in 373 BC the city sunk under a massive sinkhole and was covered by the sea. There were no survivors from the city's populace. The only thing above the water was the statue of Poseidon left as a warning to others to not try and do what the citizens of Helike tried. The ruins of the city could still be seen in Roman times. Believing that no one would be able to ever recover what Poseidon buried they did not recover the tomes and artifacts that the Heliken's had. As the power of the Olympians waned the city became buried with silt and forgotten except to legend.

The city was found in 1994 by ground penetrating radar. In 2001, the first trenches were dug down into the city much to Athena's trepidation. Every summer more of the sunken city is uncovered. Locals have reported twisted human shadows in the area of the excavation at night. Cries and moans have also been heard coming from the excavation site calling out in ancient Greek for Poseidon and the other gods. It seems whatever deals the Heliken's made with their benefactors keep them on Earth even if their physical bodies died leaving them for centuries of torment. Others have reported strange persons searching the site when the excavation team isn't there. Most likely the magically inclined looking for knowledge or power. Athena has not visited the site herself though but the events of history still gnaw at her and some guilt at the final fate of most of the citizens who were innocent.

[Libra]

Charles, I think the reason that I love HED! SO MUCH is that there's room for counterparts to every crazy character who looks even vaguely Superhero-friendly (even the Scooby Doo crew!).

Which might explain why I love this team so much - or it might just be because they're Crazy Awesome - who knows?

Time to start trying to catch up a bit on my commenting then!

The John Smith Society isn't just made of mad scientists.

Entirely true - there are eccentric engineers, Scrubs-crazy doctors, madcap surgeons and just bat$%^£ crazy Janitors!

For some reason, they have a 90% drop out rate within the first year.

It's not just the Madcap nature of the Aeon Institute and the by-products of it's Science! that drives away the drop-outs: there's also the fact that the Aeon Institute won't let them play in the REALLY interesting fields - like the Boundary between Life and Death - out of respect for the Laws of God, Man and Science.

Even if they do spend a good chunk of their careers thinking up ways to slide around them ...

Yes, she gave them a talking alien dog. Cynthia may have been ill-informed in this choice, since Professor Peabody was more freaked out by the supernatural than his pet-boy Maynard.

To be fair Professor Peabody does keep an admirably clear head in a crisis and can be relied upon to head AWAY from trouble, rather than deeper into it; on the other hand his sense of direction isn't the most acute so he often heads up heading that way in any case.

Besides, the beloved subjects of his Pet Project WILL keep meddling and his loyalty to them will always outweigh his keen self-interest in survival ... eventually, at least.

Unusually, they ended up thwarting at least a hundred of Johnny Vice's minor schemes due to that crime lord's oddball habit of disguising his minion's crimes as the work of supernatural entities.

To be fair the idea of using local superstitions to intimidate the opposition has a lot of currency in psychological warfare (besides the fact that generations of pranks mean local police departments usualy heard 'Wolf' when people tried to report some urban legend going about nefarious business)- the problems only start when the opposition considers a gruesome local legend FASCINATING rather than stomach-churningly terrfiying.

There's also the fact that the guys in the costumes weren't exactly the smartest - or most ruthless - goons in Johnny's stable. Well if they were they'd be out running numbers, gunning down his enemies or selling drugs, rather than working the sticks, wouldn't they?

Things got a bit more troublesome when the Flower Power Crew got caught up in the affairs of The Hierophant ... of all people.

Amusingly The Hierophant still remembers the Flower Power Crew somewhat fondly - they may have meddled, they might well have been Hippies and at least two of them possessed a wearisome tendency to RUN rather than listen to his instructions on how they coul fix whatever problem their meddling had wrought, but at least there was none of the SNARK so alarmingly omnipresent in todays occult-obsessed youth.

Besides, they were reasonably responsible youths, with fine enquiring minds and those biscuits they kept around to bribe the Hound were just delicious!

Lucien Drake, who they would berate themselves FOR YEARS thereafter for not realizing was the Headless Horseman.

He DID seem to be in possession of a head whenver they met him, so the mistake is quite understandable; they just never checked to see if it was actually attached!

Oh, as for proving the existence of the supernatural? They did, in 1981.

Thankfully that Ghost-child was in a remarkably friendly state of mind for one of the unquiet dead ...

Frank Salsberry

I imagine the John Smith Society had a paranormal removal unit whose adventures were somewhat satired in two movies starring Bill Murray in the 80s.....

After the Flower Power crew disbanded in the 80s, Frank was lucky enough to be abale to make his passion his life's work, with help from a few new friends; Ghoul-B-Gone (PLC) became the World's best (and Freehold's only) paranormal pest control service thanks to their sterling efforts, shiny new science and a slightly skeezy interest in accumulating moolah.

The team consisted of Frank ('The Heart'), Abe ('The Mouth' AND a slightly self-centred yuppie descendant of a Victorian miser-turned-philanthropist, who received his own visit from a Yuletide institution and decided to make money by getting his own back ... that's HIS story at least), E.R. Cooper esquire ('The Brain', the only surviving member of his class - he went to Curwen U, 'nuff said - and the descendant of a rather notorious 1920s occultist who kept having peculiar out-of-body experiences, possibly drug induced. E.R.keeps having peculiar in-body experiences, but only due to being High on the sheer power of his intellect) and Del (AKA FDR Apone 'The Only Sane Man' a former Marine who wound up working with the guys because the pay was good and kept working with them because he was pretty sure they'd destroy the World if he wasn't around to help them work through any trouble they got into).

Dana Hunter

A Bostonian socialite and distant relation of Jacob Hunter

Given that 'Jacob Hunter' hasn't been a real name of that particular agent for a Looooong while, it seems likely that 'distant relation' is a polite euphemism for 'Love Child.'

Which probably explains why she got along so well with Penny, now I come to think of it - sharing certain extra-societal circles as it were (Penny's Father had had a long and interesting career even before the 'accident' which saw him turned into a walking accumulation of gadgets).

Despite the difference in their ages, she chased after George Timons quite passionately during the time she was determined to expose Black Wing's true identity. A chance encounter with a vampire ended up switching her focus and she has spent the past two decades hunting the undead instead.

Amusingly she basically adopted the Morris Brothers as her nephews during this time period and keeps insisting on visiting them - Maynard does his best to keep adventure from ensuing, but admits that he's fighting an uphill battle which makes Mount Everest look like a molehill in that respect.

Dana and Laura the Demon Slayer keep arguing about who was more of an inspiration to a certain Mr. Whedon - both keep losing narrowly to Cynthia Van Helsing, amusingly enough.

Penny Gizmo

She is also "cyber-dating" Noah Stein despite the ten year difference in their ages.

Joel keeps asking if they've Cyber-done it yet. He remains unrepentant, for he is a Birds of Prey fanboy!

The teenage daughter of Cyborg Policeman

Would he be a former secret agent of high eccentricity and fair repute, almost fatally-injured and rebuilt into a gadget that walks like a man?

If so, would he also be the Robotic Superhero (Rent-a-Cop?) mentioned in the opening fiction to HED! (2nd edition)?

Maynard Gilbert

Many believe the only reason Maynard was accepted at the John Smith Society was because it was the only college which would take him. A beatnik twenty years out of date, he was justifiably afraid of being killed but always bounced back when things were got rough.

In truth he was less 'twenty years out of date' and more 'Up to date, but time-line troubled' due to an accident with a de-aging ray (he was born in the 1930s, you know!). That sort of thing happens a lot around the John Smith Society, which can best be described as being his extended family and which rather explains his excellent footspeed and keen survival instincts.

Maynard was always smarter than he looked, he simply rebelled against his nerdy upbringing.

Less 'rebelled against' and more 'ignored' - Maynard was far too laid-back to rebel against anyone!

Peabody

Passing himself off as a talking dog for reasons unknown to anyone but him

When people see a strange person they go "Aargh!" - when they see a strange dog they go "Aaaaah."

You'd be amazed how much leeway that gives a savvy pseduo-canine.

Besides, four legs means twice the footspeed, which makes running away MUCH easier!

How was he supposed to know it would prove to be so dangerous?

It involved an experiment approved of by the John Smith Society AND Teenagers - you'd think he would have taken warning from that last part alone, even before he found out about their mission in education!

perpetually stuck in the form of a golden retriever

While Peabody WAS stuck in the form of a canine, he was at least able to change his apparent breed (helpful when dealing with the questions arising from the short life-span of the terran canine vis a vis his own much longer one). It should also be noted that he preferred the form of a bloodhound when diving into mysteries alongside the Flower-Power Crew, since Golden Retrievers are too darn CUTE to show any kind of serious reservation about enthusiastic pursuit of mystery.

On the other hand it's a form wonderfully-suited to making friends with an approaching mob, since an air of innocence coupled with all that fluffy hair is the finest means of averting wrath known to Humankind.

Just ask every puppy and kitten ever born.

No, Scrappy never existed.

True enough, but an alarming-courageous young pup did become attached to the Flower-Power crew at one point, just before the Silver Age - thankfully he couldn't speak Human AND he went away with this really nice team of Metamen he happened to meet in the course of one of his escapades with the gang.

Peabody was quite relieved, but was somewhat surprised to find that missed that little Wonder Dog when he was gone with the Future-Men, despite his better inclinations.

[Charles Phipps]

I very much like the job you and a few of the others have done on expanding the 1970s characters. The era's overlooked, as the Bronze Age is overshadowed by other time periods in comics-but the years gave us some characters, storylines, and concepts unlikely to have ever emerged at another time.

I agree, the 70s are an overlooked time and you really added to them. I hope to continue filling in the details and hope you'll be a part of them from the beginning to the end.

I love all your little comments on my creations too.

Thanks!

[Charles Phipps]

Helike

The question was why would Poseidon drown a city that had one of the biggest temples in the Greek world? Why would he betray the city that he backed? Of course many would answer because the Olympians were jerks of the highest order. That was true.

Such a simple, elegant statement.

I really like Helike, which nicely has an Atlantean-esque origin story and a wonderful potential for story hooks.

Bravo.

[Charles Phipps]

Charles, I think the reason that I love HED! SO MUCH is that there's room for counterparts to every crazy character who looks even vaguely Superhero-friendly (even the Scooby Doo crew!).

Thanks!

I wanted to insert the Scooby Gang for a long time but I could never find the proper introduction.

Time to start trying to catch up a bit on my commenting then!

Excellent!

Entirely true - there are eccentric engineers, Scrubs-crazy doctors, madcap surgeons and just bat$%^£ crazy Janitors!

It produces no end of science adventurers, support staff, and just plain kooky high school teachers. One would be surprised at how this has improved the United States' education standards.

Even if they do spend a good chunk of their careers thinking up ways to slide around them ...

Not ALL supervillainous scientists are drop outs from the John Smith Society - just the best ones!

To be fair Professor Peabody does keep an admirably clear head in a crisis and can be relied upon to head AWAY from trouble, rather than deeper into it; on the other hand his sense of direction isn't the most acute so he often heads up heading that way in any case.

Besides, the beloved subjects of his Pet Project WILL keep meddling and his loyalty to them will always outweigh his keen self-interest in survival ... eventually, at least.

"I also, will NOT!, NOT I say be bribed by small delectable confectionaries. No matter how... enticing or.... delicious or.... tempting they may.... ALRIGHT! I'LL GO IN! GIVE ME THE BLASTED PEABODY SNACKS!"

*ahem*

To be fair the idea of using local superstitions to intimidate the opposition has a lot of currency in psychological warfare (besides the fact that generations of pranks mean local police departments usualy heard 'Wolf' when people tried to report some urban legend going about nefarious business)- the problems only start when the opposition considers a gruesome local legend FASCINATING rather than stomach-churningly terrfiying.

There's also the fact that the guys in the costumes weren't exactly the smartest - or most ruthless - goons in Johnny's stable. Well if they were they'd be out running numbers, gunning down his enemies or selling drugs, rather than working the sticks, wouldn't they?

Much like his descendant Infamy, Johnny Vice was one of those rare supervillains with a mix of genre savvy and class. It's one of the reasons despite the gang thwarting his many plans, he became outstandingly rich and influential. The mafia, simply put, started lagging behind due to the fact they kept trying to take the world seriously.

Amusingly, the team ALMOST caught him a couple of times themselves. However, Johnny slipped away both times after imbibbing some Peabody Snack flavored brownies. The second time, it was more than a week before they found him.

Besides, they were reasonably responsible youths, with fine enquiring minds and those biscuits they kept around to bribe the Hound were just delicious!

Indeed. Part of the issue was the Heirophant likes being the craziest most overthetop person in the room. The Flower Power Crew, compared to some of his later associations, were the model of sanity.

Thankfully that Ghost-child was in a remarkably friendly state of mind for one of the unquiet dead ...

Bravo.

After the Flower Power crew disbanded in the 80s, Frank was lucky enough to be abale to make his passion his life's work, with help from a few new friends; Ghoul-B-Gone (PLC) became the World's best (and Freehold's only) paranormal pest control service thanks to their sterling efforts, shiny new science and a slightly skeezy interest in accumulating moolah.

The Foundation for World Harmony and military now handles the majority of "hostile" spirits. The Ghostbusters equivalent, after the first great big victories that lead to occult reforms, mostly now deal with ghosts that are more like pests.

Which probably explains why she got along so well with Penny, now I come to think of it - sharing certain extra-societal circles as it were (Penny's Father had had a long and interesting career even before the 'accident' which saw him turned into a walking accumulation of gadgets).

Given that 'Jacob Hunter' hasn't been a real name of that particular agent for a Looooong while, it seems likely that 'distant relation' is a polite euphemism for 'Love Child.'

Quite likely. Equally likely is they're a branch of the Holmes family who got tired of people looking at them strangely (for being possibly related to a serial killer as much as genuinely being related to the master detective).

Which probably explains why she got along so well with Penny, now I come to think of it - sharing certain extra-societal circles as it were (Penny's Father had had a long and interesting career even before the 'accident' which saw him turned into a walking accumulation of gadgets).

It helped that the 1970s were still a time when many women were working on getting respect in the world of mad science! Cynthia Van Helsing had blazed the trail but there was still a lot of work to be done!

But yes, Penny's father was an oddball anti-PHANTOM agent even BEFORE his oddball gadgets.

Joel keeps asking if they've Cyber-done it yet. He remains unrepentant, for he is a Birds of Prey fanboy!

Amazing how those comics imitate life!

If so, would he also be the Robotic Superhero (Rent-a-Cop?) mentioned in the opening fiction to HED! (2nd edition)?

Rent a Cop would be his "superhero name" after the Foundation retired him. He took up the private sector of world saving.

It involved an experiment approved of by the John Smith Society AND Teenagers - you'd think he would have taken warning from that last part alone, even before he found out about their mission in education!

Peabody finds Earth culture inherently fascinating. The fact he TOTALLY misunderstands it only makes it more humorous when he tries to apply his book learning without any similar social context.

Peabody was quite relieved, but was somewhat surprised to find that missed that little Wonder Dog when he was gone with the Future-Men, despite his better inclinations.

Bravo!

[Phrozen]

The Lost Dutchman Mine

Deep in the Supersition Mountains of Arizona lies the Lost Dutchman Mine or as Mick Drake puts it: "the most cosmically bad trip of my life in both senses of the word". Merlin simply says that the mine is lost for a reason. Suffice to say, going there is usually bad for your mental health as well as your physical. Its Merlin's task every 3 years to take a small group into the mountains and into the mine to keep whatever is entombed in the mine asleep and sealed. Not all of them come back alive. Most that do come back are changed. The sober soon start to self-medicate with drugs and/or alcohol. The mentally strong develop symptoms similar to PTSD. The mentally weak develop auditory and visual hallucinations. The legends about the bad things that happen to people who seek the mine haven't stopped treasure hunters though.

The modern legend starts with a German immigrant named Jacob Waltz. Waltz moved out to Arizona in the 1860s and spent time in the Supersition Mountains as a prospector. Waltz found the mine but soon fled and lived the rest of his life in Phoenix till the 1880s. On his deathbed Waltz revealed the location of the mine but in his fever described the interior of the mine as being laden with gold. This legend would soon of been forgotten if not for the disappereance of Adolph Ruth. Ruth was a treasure hunter in the 1930s who went missing in the Supersition Mountains looking for the now named Lost Dutchman's Mine. Ruth's remains were found with two bullet holes in the skull and the remains had been decapitated. All, of Ruth's belongings were recovered. This pattern would continue with at least six sets of remains found in the next 80s years all with two shots to the head and the skull seperated from the body. Still, treasure hunters still seek the mine.

The area around the mine is extremely surreal and each person experinces it in a different but horrific way. Its as if reality isn't just warping but melting. The effects seem to be similar to a person that is experincing hallucinations either from fever or ingestion of LSD. Survivors have noted such things as the horizon having an unnatural flatness to it. Geography seemingly moving, distorted colors and perspective, and the feeling of heavy breathing on the back of their neck.One person reported that it seemed that the surronding mountains were slowly sinking into the ground. Other distortions of perspective.Also reported is extremely vivid and realistic nightmares. Others indicate that the creepiest thing was the lack of animals. No typical sounds that come from the desert mountains not even birds in the sky or insects. Others report shadowy bipedal horned lizards with large butcher knife like claws. Some others reported that their companions looked like dead dried out rotting corpses with raspy voices.

Some things are seen by the whole group. Many who have been interviewed say the first thing that reveals the true nature of the land around the mine is the Spanish Treasure Galleon that sails the sands if they are water. Its sails are tattered but blow open as if there is full wind. Its crewed by a skeleton crew, literally. A scene usually plays where one of the crew is executed. Oddly, enough the bleached remains of an actual treasure galleon are soon found despite the fact the whole state of Arizona is landlocked. Next is usually an encounter with an entity that has been dubbed Mr. X. Mr. X appears as a gaunt and sickly old man with a rifle who will shoot at any "tresspassers". One of the reasons that Merlin usually doesn't bring a superhero like Divinos because normally invincible heroes tend to become much less so when facing Mr. X's rifle. Despite this, Mr. X can be deposed of quickly. Some groups find Mr. X's shack which has been described as "standing but it shouldn't" and 'the angles don't make sense. Too many corners. too many stairs" and "the floor is sloped but it isn't." While those two events seem to happen to every group, others have reported a hostile war band of zombie Apache, giant fire ants and scorpions, and creatures that are very similar to Shoggoths.

The mine itself is not normal. The air circulation has been described as "breath" hot and sticky. As the group travels deeper into the mine they encounter the sounds of pickaxes striking rock and fleeting glimpses of "miners". They are shaped like humans but described as "twisted and mangled as if something heavy had fallen on part of them." As the group descends an odd work song is heard whose lyrics are described as gibberish but unsettling and the song is somehow out of time. The stench of decay also seems permeate the mine at this depth. The mine finally ends at is what is describes as both a cathedral, a tomb, and a slaughterhouse. There whatever ritual is required to keep what is entombed is preformed and the group leaves the area as fast as
possible. Any left behind or who get seperated from the group are usually found months latter as just bones. Two bullet holes are found in the skull and the body has been decapitated.

[Charles Phipps]

Volcana

Volcana was a feisty, independent, and strong-willed sort. Which, honestly, was not the best thing to be when you were a Native woman in 1930s Hawaii. The victim of abandonment and all manner of harrassment, she eventually served drinks to an Englishman in a Hawaiian shirt who was having a drinking contest with a talking sentient rabbit.

Having seen odder things in her bar, After the Englishman barely won, he wasn't sure how to pay his tad so he proceeded to alter her D.N.A to be able to draw on the power of fire instead. To this day, Merlin is STILL not sure when he did this. One of the hazards of living backwards is it plays havac with one's memories.

Kalalau proceeded to incinerate her abusive husband, rob a huge number of stores, and generally behaved as a horrible example of what to do with one's powers. Eventually, Kalalau was captured by the Liberty Men on vacation and ended up in the hands of Colonel Moriarty. Uninterested in her past behavior, he offered her cash and a pardon in exchange for her joining the war against the Japanese.

Not terribly fond of the Japanese to begin with, having lost friends in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Volcana was reimagined as a distinctly Hawaiian heroine. Irritatingly, since her powers had nothing to do with her, she was even stated to be the daughter of Pele. This would eventually annoy the goddess and lead to some of the Liberators more interesting "home base" adventures on the Hawaiian islands.

Volcana matured tremendously during her time as a member of the Liberators. Shaken by the horrific treatment of native women by Japanese troopers and other atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese, she devoted herself passionately to their destruction. In many ways, her hatred was even more intense than Ace of Spades, though it was less personalized.

Volcana was fond of Old Glory more than her other teammates, due to the fact he was simply the most admirable. She got along reasonably well with American Eagle, however. This was mostly due to the fact he was genuinely charming. John Strong and she butted heads constantly, however. Volcana had a somewhat catty relationship with Ms. Bunny, seemingly of the mind she was nowhere near as stupid as she appeared and annoyed that she continued to play the ditz.

In the end, Kalalau was gut sick of killing by the end of the war. However, she'd changed dramatically and developed a highly patriotic streak that she hoped would mean the improvement of life for Hawaiians and people of all races. Unfortunately, she was chosen to go on the fateful mission to Ruritania where she faced an opponent who knew all of her team's weaknesses.

[Charles Phipps]

Impressive write-up, Phrozen.

I love the idea of a haunted mine to begin with and the fact "invincible" superheroes are anything but makes it all the more interesting.

[Libra]

Excellent!

I hope so, but given that my dad has roped me into some spare time-devouring Home Improvement we'd probably better wait and see before we start flapping those arms of ours Kermit-style.

Well, that and see if my rather spare comments actually deserve your appreciation!

It produces no end of science adventurers, support staff, and just plain kooky high school teachers. One would be surprised at how this has improved the United States' education standards.

Doubtless "Mad Science and when to leave it alone 101" has become an extremely popular class . . .

Not ALL supervillainous scientists are drop outs from the John Smith Society - just the best ones!

Not to mention the worst ones, who kept the bright ideas but not the Aeon Morality - not even a wonky version thereof. One MUST remember Nekros, of course, since if we don't he'll probably Kane us for insolence. . .

*ahem*

I believe that it's something of a joke that he keeps referring to them as 'PB' snacks, despite the fact that he doesn't really like peanut butter or jelly.

Much like his descendant Infamy, Johnny Vice was one of those rare supervillains with a mix of genre savvy and class.

To this day Infamy has yet to decide whether Grampa Vice was more of a Scarface or a Corleone - he has therefore been persuaded by Penny to go back in time and try to make Al Pacino star in a biography.

Amusingly Alexander Timmons has already done something similar, but remains so bitter about the fact that he failed that he will CRUSH Infamy's plan. If he couldn't get the Kubrick version of Napoleon to the Big Screen, with Al Pacino as Napoleon, NOBODY else gets to fiddle with the Silver Screen!

Alexander Timmons has outmanouvered the most cunning hives of scum and villainy in the cosmos (some of them three times!), but the Hollywood sharks made him look like a piker ...

The second time, it was more than a week before they found him.

When they caught up to him he started bellowing, chewing the scenery and threatening to introduce them to "Hees leetle frend!" before threats alone having failed, he delivered upon them -

He hauled out the most adoreable puppy in the history of puppy eyes; even PB and Maynard stood their ground. To be fair this encounter still represents Johnny Vice's greatest triumph over the Flower Power Crew, since the idea for Scrappy Doo had to come from SOMEWHERE.

Bravo.

Gracias!

Indeed. Part of the issue was the Heirophant likes being the craziest most overthetop person in the room. The Flower Power Crew, compared to some of his later associations, were the model of sanity.

Amusingly The Hierophant somehow managed to become one of the most over-the-top persons in any room by dedicating himself to being the most practical, serious and generally buttoned-down Heroic Mage he could conceive of - approaching Merlin the Hero levels from the other side, as it were.

Besides, he has something of a soft spot for dogs - blame it on an early youth spent in a household which bought large, hairy dogs in lieu of carpets.

Out of curiosity Charles, just how do you characterise The Hierophant? I'm flattered that you and others have continued to use a character born out of brief blurb, so I am also interested in how your mental picture of him may differ from my own.

The Foundation for World Harmony and military now handles the majority of "hostile" spirits. The Ghostbusters equivalent, after the first great big victories that lead to occult reforms, mostly now deal with ghosts that are more like pests.

They prefer to work blue-collar, rather than pointy-hat threats anyway; on the other hand 'pest' can cover anything from ants to crocodiles when we're dealing with mundane vermin - the supernatural varieties can be just as diverse and just as petrifying!

Besides, if you banish Cosmic Evil you get a parade - if you clear out the local poltergeist you get PAID.

Quite likely. Equally likely is they're a branch of the Holmes family who got tired of people looking at them strangely (for being possibly related to a serial killer as much as genuinely being related to the master detective).

Given that this IS Heroic Earth, the shade of Doctor Holmes probably petrified the Flower Power Crew at some point; it's quite possible that the Morris Brothers and Ghoul-B-Gone decided to pay it a visit as a result - if they did then that shade is DEFINATELY regretting that it's ectoplasm ever regenerated from that encounter with Gray Wing.

But yes, Penny's father was an oddball anti-PHANTOM agent even BEFORE his oddball gadgets.

Rent a Cop would be his "superhero name" after the Foundation retired him. He took up the private sector of world saving.

Amusingly Professor PB seems to have modelled his speaking voice on that of Penny's Dad, at least when he's able to speak REAL English, as opposed to 'Talking Dog trying to avoid a witch-hunter mob' English.

There's nothing like a cartoonish speaking voice to let you get away with being a Talking Dog!

Peabody finds Earth culture inherently fascinating. The fact he TOTALLY misunderstands it only makes it more humorous when he tries to apply his book learning without any similar social context.

The good Professor is somewhat embarrassed about the ample number of quirky errors that have been made due to the gap between his knowledge and common knowledge, but stoutly maintains that it's not HIS fault that common knowledge keeps getting it wrong . . .

Bravo!

Not even the trope namer deserved to be left on the Scrappy Heap!

[Libra]

By the way Charles, keep up the excellent work!

[Phrozen]

Okay, its another sunken place. Honestly, though there are only so many ways to destroy a place without totally wiping it out.

Cantre'r Gwaelod

Cantre'r Gwaelod if you couldn't guess from the name was a Welsh kingdom in Cardigan Bay. It was on reclaimed land and the bay was held back by a large dyke much like the later Netherlands. One day, a Prince of the kingdom named Seithenyn failed to discharge his duty of watching the dyke due to being completely hammered at the time. Without warning the sea breached the sea wall and flooded the kingdom below. Hoping to atone for his mistake he prayed to every sea god he could think of and made some of them up along the way to save his people. Amazingly enough all of the various sea gods answered his call and in atypical fashion decided to grant the princes request. Taking a bit of each of their domains plus some parts of Otherworld and Heaven mixed it altogether and put the people of Cantre'r Gwaelod in it. For this, they demanded that the Prince and all the people serve forever as keepers of this new place. The sea gods all decided, somehow without trying to off one another, that this place would be the final resting place for all of those whose occupation was to sail their kingdoms.

In the middle ages the land was known as Cockaigne the land of endless plenty. Later it became known as Fiddler's Green. The land itself is a fertile green valley leading to the shore. Its always spring, summer, or early fall. There is one mountain on which a solitary fiddler, the prince, resides and his music can be heard softly throughout the land. At the nexus of several domains the land has had many visitors and is quite easy to get to if you know the way. It has also lead to the land being threatened by one pantheon or the other over the years.

Wotan has tried to claim the viking souls that reside there. The Dark Undermaster has tried to use it to spread his control elsewhere. These attacks have been beaten back time and again. While everything seems peaceful there are still men of the sea very much in the wooden ships and iron men mold. Their leader in battle is Henry Morgan with others like Yi Sun-sin, Horatio Nelson, and Michiel de Ruyter to name a few. Along with dreaded pirates and privateers like Francis Drake, Jack Rackham, Edward Teach, Stede Bonnett, and Francois l'Olonnais. The last of whom has made several trips the Undermaster's court and the former author is more then a little bit frightened of on a personal level as he was expecting Blackbeard and got someone much much worse.

[Neo-Paladin]

Charles, one question...are there other sourcebooks for HED! besides the main one? I am finished with it now and I still find myseelf having a lot of questions...for example, a writeup or listing of the other Entropic Masters would be wonderful...also, did I get it right from Ymir's writeup that some of the Norse gods are actually evil (except for Loki)?