Joe Kool's campaign is over for the time being, and quite a bit happened to our intrepid team of super beings. Lord Balefire explains, starting with this bit taken from the Campaign Page. The Palladium Megaverse will pass to Sir Smythe, who will be taking us to Faerun for a short jaunt! Keep your eyes peeled for an update to the Palladium Megaverse page!
In 1985, the world changed in the span of a single day. It all started when an apparently alien being arrived at planet Earth in a very large craft that defied conventional physics and even went beyond human description, seemingly made of light and power. He was so spectacular in his radiance that we people couldn't even look at him. He performed miracles, amazing things...and called himself "God". Yeah, the biblical sort.
Shortly after "God"'s arrival, he began to get agitated and seemed, well...frightened. Then, a similar craft appeared, only it was ten times as large and spectacular as "God"'s. It was...unreal. He left, making sure we all knew he'd be back shortly. He turned toward the other ship, and as "God"'s sky carriage lifted into the sky, it was vaporized by a blast of incandescent energy whose light was brighter than the sun.
The victorious newcomer...ascended slowly. We thought it was leaving. They later told me it simply went inside the highest layer of the atmosphere to begin it's attack. At the apex of the world, it bombarded the planet with a kind of chemical agent that was completely unknown to us. No remnants of this chemical exists for us to test or study - it was all lost soon after the attack as it was quickly dispersed in the atmosphere.
Global panic ensued after the apparent destruction of "God", and almost instantly the dying started. The alien ship simply left after the attack, and it is guessed that their purposes had been served since they did not even wait to see the results that their weapon would have on the planet. They have not returned.
People began to contort, reshape, dissolve, desiccate, inflate and die. All sorts of horrid manners and modes of death were visited upon folk, and we don't know why at all. In days, over thirty percent of the entire population was dead. Scientists later speculated there were some sorts of biological or chemical agents in the weapon system the alien ship deployed in the atmosphere, and these agents somehow began to work on our biology. It was posited that this systematic attack had been carried out in the past, and it was only due to some peculiar evolution on the part of homo sapiens that such a large portion of the populace lived at all.
It wasn't just the deaths that make this new world so different from the last. It isn't even the knowledge that we're not alone in the universe. Of the surviving humans, everyone had been ill during the attack with various maladies, but about ten percent had physically changed. These individuals experienced expression of superhuman, paranormal or supernatural abilities and in many cases had dramatic physical transformations occur.
Of that sizable portion of the population, almost two percent expressed abilities or transformations that are considered threats to national security. The world's powers tremble and desperately scramble to consolidate what's left of the world, new powers arrive in the vacuum left by the near collapse of world civilization. These "Alpha-Level" humans are at the forefront of what will become a new battle for survival amidst the changes wrought by the "Outsiders" attack, which weigh heavy on the minds of all.
Nigel S. Clooney, A.K.A. Lord Balefire
21 September, 1985
I'll now elaborate on what I have started affectionately calling "The Agency". The United States Department of Extra Biological Affairs was formed earlier this year as a commission to investigate and control citizens who have changed due to the unknown alien agent. They are calling this phenomena "Genesis Syndrome" to account for the fact that the changes are sudden, and that the alien agent progresses without a pathology we can isolate or understand.
They have put me in a team with several other "super-beings", even though I repeatedly tell them that I am no super being. I am a man of magic. I call forth the balefire from the center of the universe, channeling it's power through and directing it's course through the force of my soul and will. That's all.
I'm not so convinced about the others either. In fact, it seems even though they say we have been "displaying" effects of the Genesis Syndrome - I have my doubts. Perhaps all the alien agent actually did was increase the tendencies that were already apparent within our beings. Perhaps it is metaphysical in nature, for if it was meant to destroy us and instead made certain specimens into "superbeings" with strange powers...how could that happen, biologically? Certainly, the alien civilization could make a chemical weapon that could kill humans - we ourselves are capable of that.
Take Metalhead. He's a cyborg from North Korea. Aside from being state of the art (except for the defunct IB-BNGN) there's nothing supernatural about him.
Psyren is clearly a master psionic. This is familiar area for me, as the occult areas of my expertise so often overlap. I have a theory that the Genesis Syndrome enhances her powers, as they do mine. However...the ley lines are always near, so that could be affecting us in subtle ways as well.
Dr. Darko has a mystical power over darkness. It's better than my own magic...he can see through the unnatural magical blackness, and can create far more of it than I can. His control over it is better as well, though his techniques are not arcane or psionic in nature. Perhaps he is the closest to what they call a "superbeing".
The Master has spent many years in some sort of training. There's no magic or superpowers, simply trained techniques. Though he is a paragon athlete of olympic level...his hubris will likely get him killed. If not by accident, perhaps through intent.
Overgrowth is another strange case like Darko. No magic, or psionics that I can tell...but he seems to have a mystical connection to plants. They grow at incredible speed, and behave like extensions of his body to batter and crush. Never before have I witnessed so devastating a use for acorns. Overgrowth, like Darko...might be "superbeings".
For lack of a better explanation.
Nigel S. Clooney, A.K.A. Lord Balefire
26 September, 1985
It's now post-op. We interrogated the ratman we managed to drag up from under the pier. Psyren and I interrogated him using what I'm sure will become a staple technique, a combination of her telepathic powers and mind magic. It was quite fruitful.
I was able to locate the celestial event and draw the mystical line between the heavens and the earth, specifically the universal alignment and the San Andreas fault line. It took a few hours to arrive at this conclusion, but with information taken from the ratman I was able to figure out what was happening...the mystical energy at San Andreas could be used to create an earthquake of immeasurable intensity.
We went to a rent in the fault under the constellations that were aligning, using mystical triangulation. There we found a wizard (who escaped me) and his minions, including a superbeing calling herself Backlash and a horde of the ratmen. They decided to give battle, and we obliterated them in honourable combat. The wizard, however...escaped.
The ground began to quake, and I felt the tactical situation was dire if we remained in the canyon. A strange light was coming our way down the canyon, and we hurried the retreat back up the trail to the top of the ridge. As we withdrew, Overgrowth remained behind to cover our escape. A portion of the canyon collapsed, and the rocks seemed to crush our companion underneath a cascade of deadly stones.
We were helpless to intercede because of the continuous quaking, but at that moment - what was apparently a glowing, floating, alien craft appeared. It was disc shaped, just like they tell you. It was emitting an intense light, and alien beings emerged from the craft.
They appeared as - robots...not sure if that's their real form or an environmental suit, but they seemed robotic. They retrieved the mystic platform the wizard was using in conjunction with the drill to create the quake...and they found Overgrowth. Unable to mount an effective attack, we were forced to watch as they returned with him and the dais to the craft...which then abruptly left.
This matter is far from over. I'll stop at nothing to understand what's happened. I can't let an honorable and powerful ally like Overgrowth to be taken by those who would see themselves as my masters, and force their will upon my species.
I am Lord Balefire, you know.
Nigel S. Clooney, A.K.A. Lord Balefire
29 September, 1985
Great game by Joe Kool, who's now the de-facto GM for heroic comic book action! Stay tuned for more stories in the Genesis Syndrome series, and some other cool news.
For now, take a look at Mutants & Masterminds, a D20 game of super-action! The next Genesis Syndrome game will be using that ruleset!
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