Summary:
This is the homepage for my Superhero campaign, which has now spanned three different RPG systems. It is inspired by Indiana Jones, Cthulhu, the Mummy, and the Justice Society of America. You'll notice that the chapters in the campaign start at 34-year intervals.. no particular numerological significance I know of, but for purposes of the campaign, it's probably important. You may assume that the history of this world is almost identical to that of our own, until 1900. (There is an exception or three, but nothing major, at least, as far as known history goes.)
Prologue : 1900 - Atlas Asleep
The first catalogued 'metahuman' appears in February 1900, a circus strongman with the stage-name 'Atlas.' He suddenly discovered his strength had magnified greatly, as demonstrated by his ability to lift a fallen elephant off a fellow circus performer. Scientists sent to record the man's remarkable strength declared it to be 'beyond the limits of human capability.' They had (and will for many years have) wild theories about the source of these abilities, but it soon no longer mattered .. more and more people began to surface with powers wholly different from Atlas. Some attributed the powers to God, the Devil, and any number of other sources, but most just admitted they had no idea what was happening.
Now that the boundaries of human capability were shattering, scientists began looking more closely into remarkable claims of ages past, with a more forgiving eye. Greek and Roman myths began to hold a grain of truth for some. The great mental capacity of individuals such as Socrates, DaVinci, and Sherlock Holmes were theorized to have been 'metahuman' in nature. One thing was for certain .. the early days of the twentieth century had far more of these exceptional individuals than any other era.
The role that these new, improved humans were to play in society was uncertain. In 1904, one such enhanced individual defined a new idea that many others since have emulated: the masked vigilante. 'The Wraith' appeared on the London scene in late 1904, apparently drawn to act by the resurfacing of London's most notorious killer .. Jack the Ripper. The Ripper had been unseen since his murders in 1891 (year changed for my convenience), but he was quickly brought to justice by the mysterious Wraith. The Ripper's identity was never revealed to the public, but since he has been locked in the Tower of London, Whitechapel has remained free of serial killers.
Chapter One : 1934 - Atlas Stirs
April 15th, 1934. The League of Nations, in conjunction with the United States Bureau of Investigation, went into action. Their mission was to recruit a team of metahuman and elite agents, with the purpose of preventing Hitler from following through on his obsession with magical artifacts. While the governments of the world do not believe in the power of objects like the Spear of Longinus (AKA the Spear of Destiny), they wish to take no chances. Additionally, they believe fueling Hitler's obsession with success would be inadvisable.
Direct control of this elite team rests in the hands of Special Agent Daniel Martin of the USBI. While they are headquartered in Washington D.C., they have facilities available in many countries around the world, including England, Spain, France, Egypt, and others.
Mayan, all Mayan.. - April 15th, 1934 - The events, as pieced together from the reports of all involved, went something as follows: Operative Reginald Spencer engaged the party's host, Ulysses Simpson Stillman, in conversation for much of the evening, both keeping him distracted and learning the location of the Mayan meteoric Dagger that the team was to recover, before it could be sold to a Nazi agent later that evening. [ Nazi Agent : Wilhelm Von Braun ] Operative William McKay went undercover as a serving-boy, using the anonymity of the position to keep eyes peeled for suspicious events. Operative Arthur Terlington [ Cross-Ref : The Zephyr ] performed the actual acquisition of the dagger, despite interference of two of Stillman's guards, who then had to be liquidated. Operative Samuel Sterling [ Cross-Ref : Ace ] was responsible for the distraction and ultimate capture of the Nazi Agent, providing a nice bonus for the mission. I think things might work out after all. - Agent Martin
Spear of Influence - May 1-5, 1934 - Having proven themselves in the field, the group's next mission was more significant. I assigned them two tasks regarded as essential by the United States - League of Nations Coalition. First, they were to recover the Spear of Longinus from an Austrian Museum, where it resided on public display(!). Secondly, they were to gather information regarding one Heinrich Himmler, head of Hitler's SS, and who had been reportedly killed in Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch. A few years after his supposed demise, he'd turned up, joined the Nazi Party, and we wanted to know why. The team was gathered once more, and flown to London, to await the completion of the fake Spearhead they were to substitute for the genuine article. We arranged for them to meet Britain's most visible superheroes : The Blue Knight and Cyanne. It is also believed that the vigilante identified as the Wraith contacted them, but as always, we are unsure of his movements.
The first objective proceeded smoothly, with Spencer taking advantage of his credentials to get a close look at the Spear with only a few scientists to monitor him. With a bit of distraction and deception, the team was able to switch the Spear's head for the fake and make their way quickly to Switzerland. They landed near Reichenbach Falls, where 'M' of British Intelligence verified the Spear's authenticity and took it into his care so that it would not be risked when the team entered Germany. He informed them that a fifth member would join them at Wewelsburg Castle, an Irishwoman who was an expert on the Occult. They then took their gear and a car and proceeded across the border.
I'm not certain exactly where the mission went sour, but sour it went. The team's interactions with Himmler and his associates was laden with tension, particularly in the case of Spencer and Himmler's hired archaeologist, Rene Belloq. They did display remarkable teamwork in investigating Himmler and in framing Belloq for the murder of one of the Castle's guards, but I will be giving a stern reprimand to Spencer for killing Belloq and the guard in any case. From what I can gather, they had had a few verbal sparring matches, but the murder of Belloq was entirely in cold blood. I'm also worried about the descriptions of Himmler's associates. If these are the German metahumans we've heard rumors about, then our little group might be compromised. On the positive side, 'Sam' finally felt enough trust with his associates to give them his true background. Additional Note: New agent Moira O'Connell seems to actually wield some sort of mystical power. - Agent Martin
Strangers und Der Nacht - June 1, 1934 - I'm sending the lads and the lass to California. Our operatives have heard rumors placing a very old book in a private collector's library. According to occultists, this book has so much power that we can't risk Nazis stealing it first, so we will be sending our agents as soon as the old man that owns the book leaves the country. I've got a feeling that this one's important. They wasted no time getting into the collector's fairly-secure home, but were unfortunately preceded by some Nazi gunmen, and one of their meta-agents, Der Nacht. From what I gather, he was one of the Germans present at the castle in Wewelsburg. I've also been informed that Marie Belloq had tagged along with the Nazis to avenge her father's death, but spared Spencer for reasons that escape me. They acquitted themselves well in the scuffle with Der Nacht, and McKay actually managed to finish the Nazi agent with a desk. The book's now been remanded to our vault for safekeeping. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to provide their down-time as promised, thanks to a telegram I had forwarded to them out there courtesty of our branch office. Some costumed kook in boston was holding a part of debutantes hostage, and demanding the Zephyr in person. I understand that our boys were helping the local PD apprehend a murderer when the telegram arrived. - Agent Martin
Pyrrhic Victory - June 2, 1934 - A quick response was demanded, as the S.O.D.'s experiences with costumed 'supervillains' has indicated time and again that they're notoriously unstable. Pyre's irrational demand to face the Zephyr only furthered the notion. [Cross-Ref : File : 'Pyre', Top Secret] The boys flew straight to Boston at top speed. Upon arrival, I'm told they had a brief meeting with the Wraith, who is becoming suspiciously nosy in my view. [Cross-Ref : File : 'Wraith', Top Secret] Billy managed to chase off 'Pyre' .. the Zephyr was gunned down and nearly killed by Pyre's well-armed thugs. We are considering some sort of padded, bullet-resistant armor for the boys as a result. The Zephyr did make a full recovery, thanks to the ministrations of Moira. Shortly thereafter, the boys took me up on the offer of downtime. We believe they're taking their vacation in Louisiana. - Agent Martin
Ifitzokee Bayou - June 4, 1934 - (unbeknownst to Agent Martin) Acting on the recommendation of myself, the USBI's prized agents are headed to Louisiana, to crawl through the muck and mire, and to locate and shut down a cabal of cultists. It is my personal belief that these cultists are part of a world-wide conspiracy to bring about the end of the world. While I have been able to ascertain that they have Sumerian connections, I have not been able to uncover the identity of their leaders in the twenty-one years I have suspected their existence. Whether or not they can actually destroy the world is a matter of some conjecture, but their access to information causes me to hypothesize that they have a well-placed double agent inside the USBI. I do hope the team's investigations are never discovered, because if they were, the consequences would be dire. - The Wraith
Black Magic, White Lies - June 4-6, 1934 - The team ran into a spot of trouble in Louisiana.. apparently the cultists raised a small contingent of 'zombies' to cover the escape of their leadership, as well as a truly gargantuan alligator. They slipped through, not too much the worse for wear, and I contacted them again, redirecting them to the cult's remaining American branch in New York. Several interesting discoveries were made :
The Mayor of New York was involved - The Team killed him in the scuffle before they knew who he was, unfortunately. I took the responsibility of making it appear he had been assassinated in his own home.. it's too soon for us to be stirring up serious trouble.
The Cult has strange allies - Examples of completely unidentifiable technology have been discovered, and I intend to direct the team to a specialist in matters technical.
The Leaders of the Cult - Thanks to the fortunate discovery of correspondence from one of the leaders of the cult (the female), I can ascertain from her handwriting that her first name begins with an 'A', she's in her early thirties, and not of American extraction.
Strange things at the Apartment Building - In their explorations, my allies discovered a pair of seven-year-old-children that spoke oddly and seemed to possess supernatural power. I will be doing some follow-up investigation into the children and their parents.
- The Wraith
Wraith to the Finish - June 7, 1934 - I and my companions made a hasty departure from New York, heading upstate to the home of my scientist-friend, Nikola Tesla. Unfortunately, we were followed. After a few tricks and an inconclusive confrontation, the pursuers drove off. A few hours later, we managed to arrive at Tesla's manor-house. His grandson Thomas has grown quite a bit since last I was here. Nikola seemed fairly certain in identifying the technology as Atlantean, the implications of which are too staggering to consider. I informed my allies to return to their USBI, and try to locate the security leak I suspect. Meanwhile, I have a bit of digging to do. - The Wraith
Holy Unnecessary - June 16, 1934 - My USBI friends have made a deal with the bloody devil, himself! I had no idea that the most scheming and clever criminal to ever plague London survived his jaunt with Holmes over Reichenbach Falls. Fortunately, they had the insight to tell me about his request that they find and recover the Holy Grail for him from inside Britain. One drink from the cup to give him youth and repair his broken body, in exchange for a smattering of personal favors and a collection of information on the Cult we face, as well as German military secrets. My conscience was sorely plagued in this matter, but M and I eventually came to the conclusion that it was worth it. As bad as Moriarty ever was, destroying the world was not his goal. - The Wraith
Cayce at the Bat - Late June - Early July, 1934 - My allies at the esteemed USBI have launched an investigation into the identity of the leak; to their advantage, they have an Atlantean Trance-inducing device of some kind whose operation was explained to them by Mr. Edgar Cayce of Florida, a renowned but somewhat unbelievable man professing to have psychic ability. They inform me he was quite certain of the world's doom, and barely agreed to help at all. It might have been better for them had he not, for the device enabled them to get at events that cast doubt on their entire knowledge of existence. Apparently, a telepath or person with a mind control device had made small edits in their memory, and even compulsed their USBI mechanic to plant homing devices on their aeroplane. A consultation with myself and Tesla soon put them to rights, however.. after all, why would someone bother leaving in small blank spots, if they were falsifying the group's entire collection of perceptions? I'm sure my friends will continue their investigation in the coming months. - The Wraith
Bait and Witch - December 9-11, 1934 -I got to the Air Force Base just in time. Martin was about to send the team out on a wild goose chase, no doubt influenced by the telepath I had suspected. Still, Moriarty's information had provided a solid lead, and the boys didn't seem to be devoid of suspicion. They've come a long way. Thinking that the infiltrator was preparing to make a move, I accompanied them onto their plane in the guise of the Zephyr, and we left him behind to observe whatever came to pass. Curse me for a fool, that's when I finally saw the last piece of the puzzle.. and minutes too late. Upon entering the cockpit of their plane, I noticed that Sterling had hung a picture (of the USBI secretary, he informed me) for good luck. Of course, they wouldn't recognize her, but I did, especially knowing as I did about Rasputin's involvement with the cult.. their beloved secretary Anna was in fact the Princess Anastasia Romanov, a telepath and occultist, and had replaced the *actual* Anna some time previously. She'd gotten away with the black book in the second plane by the time we circled back for the Zephyr. Once he was on board, I instructed them to head to the Vatican to view the *other* copy of the book, while I proceeded to Paris to follow up on Moriarty's tip on Rasputin's whereabouts. - The Wraith
Help Us, You're Our Only Pope - December 11-14, 1934 -While I began a journey on the delightful Orient Express, my compatriots were negotiating with the Vatican. The Pope himself had to authorize access to the book in question, and did so upon his return on the 14th. Ordinarily I would have risked the actual reading of the cursed tome myself, but I knew it would take quite a while to catch up with Rasputin, because of his extreme deviousness as much as his madness. - The Wraith
Weather 'Tis Nobler in the Mind.. - December 15-21, 1934 - When they told me of the extraordinary events that preceded their arrival at the tomb, I scarcely believed them at first, though I was aware of the man in question. Calling himself 'Blackout', a certain American soldier had been exposed to and changed by (it is believed) one of Nikola Tesla's experiments. [Cross-Ref: MagnoCannon, Tunguska] He had become deranged, and an extreme threat to American security, able to 'transmit' himself for short distances between metal objects, and longer ones from items designed for such a purpose, such as Radio Antennas. After a brief, lucrative career as a spy, we believe the U.S. Government implemented sufficient security measures to detect and potentially trap him [Cross-Ref: FCC] so he fled the country. That was the last we'd seen of him, until the fellows reported his somewhat palatial Arabian estate, replete with French guards, and designed so that he might engage in the hunting of man. My associates were shot out of the skies after a long flight by bolts of lightning, apparently under his control, and became his prey. They escaped in sufficient time to make it to the tomb as the rite was beginning, fortunately. - The Wraith
Three Rites then a Left - December 21-22, 1934 - The final moment. Midnight between December 21st and 22nd. At this peak of power, Anna would begin her three-fold spell to unleash God-knows-what upon the Earth. I arrived just before my associates, disguised in the likeness of Rasputin, hoping both that Anna would let me get close enough to stop her, and that Spencer wouldn't suddenly start shooting at me. The latter gamble paid off, and we proceeded into the ritual chamber.. she had completed the first bit of the spell, but recognized me in an instant. Apparently, my exceptional mental resistance stood out like a battleship in a desert. Fortunately, I had the foresight to wear an armored vest, which spared me the worst of the bullet. That's when the real fesivities began, her guards engaging the lot of us in combat. Both Sterling and the Zephyr tried to break through the line of guards before she could unleash magick upon us, or proceed with the spell, but Sterling was the one that got through first. Just as we finished the guards, he ran up the narrow stone stairs and flung himself bodily at her, kncking the pair of them over the precipice, into the waiting lava below. Or so it would have been, had Captain Sterling not been possessed of exceptional reflexes, allowing him to find purchase on the edge of the precipice, sparing him the villainess's fate. - The Wraith
To Coin a Phrase - March 10-12, 1935 - The boys are all in a tizzy after an unidentified person broke into the base and into Billy's room, lifting some souvenir coins. I've given them free reign to handle this one, and I hope I don't regret it. They have the idea that the coins might be tied in with Judas's thirty pieces of silver. I have my suspicions as well, but they each have different opinions as to the culprit. They're planning to head north to U.S. Steel's place again; I think I'll have them look up a new potential recruit while there. - Martin.
Potential trouble afoot - it seems Steel might be on to the earlier mission at his mansion. I'll have to do some investigating of my own. It appears he's working with the former German agent 'Der Hund'. They do seem to have convinced Ms. O'Malley to tag along on a trial basis, however. For now, I've arranged for the group to get a little publicity. I think they'll provide a strong, uplifting influence on the nation. - Martin.
Serial Killer - March 14-16, 1935 - A little inspiring film propaganda never hurt anyone, or so I thought; while on assignment to assist in the production of some action-adventure films based on their own exploits, the Special Operations Squadron was confronted with the apparent murder of Rex Guiness, popular star who'd been pegged to play Sir Reginald. They found him shot through the head, the victim of a bookie's enforcer.. or so they thought. As it turns out, Mr. Guiness bears the unique ability to mold flesh. They called in my assistance and advice, and I immediately hurried out when I put two and two together. Mr. Guiness was tracked down, and is now being prepared to join our organization. - Martin.
Spade and Neutered - March 18-21, 1935 - The S.O.S. group has informed me that they've ran afoul of the Knights Templar, a secretive organization descended from the Knights of the Temple of Solomon dating back to the Crusades. The Knights are apparently spying on the squad because they desire to recover a small statue of a falcon, a statue whose outer layer of black enamel reportedly conceals a golden, jewel-encrusted interior. (Update) Apparently, the Agents had some contact with a man who claimed to have some power within the Templar organization. He denounced the Falcon they had as a fake, apparently sent as a set-up to Reginald by a none-too-friendly associate of his. Still, I'm sure the Falcon and the replica Spencer had fabricated will make interesting souvenirs... I'm thinking a team museum may be appropriate. We also learned about certain rings, associated with the twelve Apostles, that may tie in with the Judas matter. Three others are possessed by M, the Pope, and the Templar William.
Armorgeddon - March 22, 1935 - I'm giving the S.O.S. a short break to attend to their personal lives after the hectic events of this day. Some American Nazi agents broke into the base just before our plane arrived form California, resulting in the theft of the "Tin Soldier" project functional prototype and the incapacitation of the chief engineer, Terry Wilson. The suit was recovered before it made it out to sea on a Germany-based Liner, the Wilhelm, bound for Italy. The bulk of the crew appear to be unaware of the plot, but the captain has been taken into custody on espionage charges, as well as the thieves. Terry, meanwhile, has been deemed 'comatose' by the military medical staff.. it remains to be seen whether he will recover.
Snow News is Good News - May 1, 1935 - Today the team was made public. It will either be the peak of my career or the end of it. Coldsnap decided to rear his head during the proceedings, providing a nice diversion to keep the press from recording anything Reginald had to say. Remind me to thank Coldsnap. He locked downtown D.C. in a blanket of snow, apparently just to test the capabilities of the team. Thanks to some forethought and accomplices apparently packing a bomb, he did convince them to let him go on his merry way.
When in Coma.. - May 4, 1935 - On the advice of Mr. Cayce, I recalled the team from an investigation abroad. Terry's condition had begun to slip, and Mr. Cayce thought some sort of mental block to blame. He somehow projected them all into Terry's mind.. I'm told they encountered shadows of themselves, some of Terry's memories, and the mental block itself, personified by dear old Anna, my ex-secretary. She'd apparently put Terry's subconscious to work assembling some design, probably intending to later return and pick the schematics out of his brain. Since she'd fallen facefirst into lava, and he'd taken the bump on the head, his conscious mind got trapped inside there too. She seemed to have the upper hand on them, intent on trapping them all inside, but Reggie slipped right through her fingers, consulted with Cayce, and dove back in. Terry's recovering nicely. The device in Terry's head, however, makes Cayce very nervous. He's got that apocalyptic look in his eyes again.
Mayan Over Matter - May 12-18, 1935 - A change will do anyone good, especially with thoughts of an undead apostle and some arcane Copernican Device looming large in one's thoughts. I, eager to boost relations with Mexico, thought that the team should accompany Ms. Marie Belloq on an expedition to her father's discovered city in Campeche. People had been disappearing, and the locals were talking of supernatural causes. The Mexican government seemed pleased at the cessation of the abductions, and the team brought back a few nice jade mask specimens, some for the team museum and some for actual archaelogical study. As it turns out, however, the kidnappers, though 'ordinary' folk, had been sacrificing the abductees to some minor serpant-deity spirit, which awoke a bit crankily when the Zephyr inadvertantly got the shaman's blood on the sacrificial altar. The S.O.S. and a local metahuman calling himself Yaguara were able to put the spirit back to a deep slumber, however.
Belloq of the Ball - May 21, 1935 - A little soiree was held at U.S. Steel's place commemorating the unveiling of the world's first metahuman team, as well as the recent Mayan expedition. Almost predictably, three would-be assassins broke into the party, intent on proving their worth to their employers by taking on the S.O.S. Steel was hit by a stray bullet in the scuffle, but is expected to recover fully. I must remember to scold them for discharging their weapons in such a manner as to endanger the crowd, but the villains were chased off. Coldsnap also put in an appearance at the party, helping to chill some wounds, probably saving a few bystanders' lives. After the mission, I made it clear to the team that Coldsnap was, in fact, working on our side.
Der Hund of God - May 24, 1935 - June 6, 1935 An anonymous letter arrived, indicating someone had captured the lunatic calling himself 'Judas'.. it was obviously a trap, but the silver coin sent along indicated that there was some truth in it. The Fighting Irish, the Zephyr, and Ace went to Switzerland to follow up the lead, prepared for the worst. The remote location required them to parachute in, as any other way would've taken at least a week and a half. Their report indicates Judas was there, and upon receiving the last coins from the team, he collapsed. That's when the penny dropped.. Der Hund was waiting there, apparently intent on luring them to the remote location and killing them. Following a short scuffle, Der Hund took what should have been a fatal plunge off the side of the ledge .. a quick follow-up check by Ace revealed his 'corpse' was in fact a man of straw. Der Hund is assumed alive.
Flight Club - June 17-18, 1935 The Germans tried to slip one by us today. Following the revelation of Ace's true identity to the press a few weeks ago, the Germans insisted that the Red Baron was in fact alive, well, and still loyal to them. They finally sent over their 'Baron' for proof, as a goodwill ambassador. The truth of the matter is that Himmler, using spells that should be beyond his or anyone's ability, had temporarily revived the real Samuel Sterling, and trained him to impersonate the Baron. Thanks to Sinder, our trusty psion, the truth was uncovered. We also discovered that the revived Sterling was doomed to crumble to dust in the very near future; we could think of no way to preserve his life, so I allowed the team access to Methuselah.
Fear of Committee - June 21, 1935 Today I introduced the team to the President's Secret Advisory Committee. It is composed of known team allies Nikola Tesla and Edgar Cayce; quirky physicist Albert Einstein; and the supposedly deceased Harry Houdini and Madame Marie Curie. Topics of discussion included Methuselah, the Copernicus Device, Der Hund and his sword, among other things. The day wrapped with a brief excursion to investigate a mysterious sinking that occurred off of the Jersey coast a few days ago; we've lost several ships over the last few years in the area, and the team was able to confirm my suspicions of unusual activity, though no culprit was identified.
A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moscow - July 1-3, 1935 On June 29, we received word from one of our agents inside Russia that a strange, green, glowing meteorite had crashed in the Siberian steppes, near a weather station. With what little is known about the forced induction of metahuman ability through radiation, we didn't want 'Uncle Joe' to have access to exotic spaceborne radiation to start up a breeder program. The team reached an impasse, however, as the rumors of a superior Russian metahuman were confirmed : the White Russian is real. Stronger, tougher, faster than any previously identified metahuman; he can also fly. I suspect a Tunguska connection.
Ready, Aim, Pyre! - August 10, 1935 Pyre decided to stir up trouble by threatening to destroy all of Boston unless the Zephyr and his teammates presented themselves for a surrender. Naturally, I sent them in at once.. not to surrender, but to try and reason with the man. After all, he was a loyal American citizen, and his psychological profile indicated an excellent chance for recovery. As fate would have it, the quiet warehouse Pyre had chosen for the rendezvous turned out to contain the Neptune segments of the Copernicus Device, which instinctively summoned forth water elementals for their protection. The team, along with Pyre and Coldsnap (who I'd sent in in case Pyre needed to be contained), managed to curtail the magical beasts and bring in the Neptune segments safe and sound.
Malay Combat - September 2-5, 1935 Based on one of Cayce's visions, I dispatched the SOS to British-controlled Malay, after Spencer provided a helpful identification of the architecture from the vision. Several interesting items turned up as a result of the trip.. the Venus segment of the Copernicus device was recovered, and the team encountered an Italian archaeologist, apparently hired to keep the Venus segment from us. He employed an apparently Atlantean Gauntlet to attempt this, but was put down when the sentient glove was convinced to abandon him. The segments of the Copernicus Device seem fully aware now, and more intelligent than previously indicated. Some members of the team have indicated a desire to find a way to nullify the device without destroying the spirits bound within, a course of action that will likely require persuading the Vatican to grant Methuselah access to their secret library.
Veni, Vidi, Vigil! - September 23-24, 1935 I sent the team to New York, to try and recruit some local vigilante talent to the cause; I think we'd benefit greatly if we had the capability to send out two or more fully staffed teams. Contact with the first pair, Nocturne and Titan, went normally, aside from the Zephyr muttering about some strange children. I expect Nocturne and Titan will be joining soon. The third vigilante turned out, by all appearances, to be a psychic construct; a figment of a young boy's imagination, but a figment real enough to gun down local gangster Vincent Virelli. It turns out Virelli and his boys had been particularly paranoid and agitated over the last few weeks.. and as we discovered, this had to do with the presence of Copernicus Device fragment Mars.
Art Attack - October 2-3, 1935 Cayce's visions pinpointed some trouble in the Louvre just before our French associates called to ask for help. Edgar seemed to think that one of the device fragments was involved, so we dispatched the team quickly. I almost wish I'd been there to see it all, but apparently the spirits of the dead had been called forth by the orb representing Pluto, to inhabit various items of art within the museum. Matters were apparently complicated when Spencer, employing the dark arts, summoned forth the shade of Caesar to order aside a spirit of a Centurion inhabiting a statue.. and afterwards, Caesar decided to stay a while longer. I'm told that a shade of Der Nacht also confronted them, before being dispatched by the Zephyr and a hastily acquired sword. They then negotiated with the fragment, persuading it to come along; it definitely has a worse attitude than most of the others. Afterwards, we made time to allow Methuselah to glance at the Vatican's copy of the Necronomicon; he indicates he should be able to spare the spirits of the orbs now, as well as effect a cure for the real Samuel Sterling sooner than expected.
Wild and Crazy Gaia - October 20, 1935 I continue to be impressed by Cayce's accuracy regarding the orbs, especially given Methuselah's indication that his magic was insufficient to the task. Another psychic vision led us to the last two, buried in a Louisiana swamp that had been the province of Anna's Armageddon cult. I decided that since most of the team had been there before, and since we were on the virge of finishing up, I'd send them in, rather than just use ordinary agents as we had for a few of the spheres. Gaia seemed more interested in preventing anyone from assembling the device than in her own personal preservation; she apparently summoned a few prehistoric alligators to slow them down, as well as projecting an aura to try and turn them primitive. She even held a pair of campers in her thrall with that aura, employing them to no avail against the squad. After her last efforts failed, she probed their intentions, and was apparently mollified enough to come along, bringing the Moon and Sun with her.
Loaner of an Oni Heart - October 30-31, 1935 Spencer received a telegram from a colleague at Stanford, requesting his assistance in recovering a Chinese jade egg, reputed to contain the heart of a demon. I had nothing for the squad here, so I let them all head out to California. The egg had been loaned to another expert, who was supposed to be researching the inscriptions; apparently this expert was also something of an occultist, and managed to create a mystical fissure in the egg, allowing the demon to manifest in the physical world. The squad dealt with the fear-eating imp with their usual jaded demeanor until Spencer was able to invoke a spell to re-bind the creature.
Cavity Search - November 26-28th, 1935 The Wraith informed us that Rasputin had been rescued from the watery grave in which he had been imprisoned. Though this boded ill for our upcoming efforts to unlock the spirits in the planets of the Copernicus Device, we proceeded anyway. I made sure lots of backup forces were on hand, trying to prepare for an assault from any direction, but when the trouble came, it was from within. Methuselah made off with the device fragments while alone in the ritual chamber; before leaving, he summoned a small quake and a number of elemental earth entities to keep us busy. (Though we had a few casualties in the agents I brought along, it didn't appear the elementals were going to attack once we were gathered in the waiting chamber; Methuselah may have wanted us alive, but delayed.) Billy was able to detroy the things fairly well, but they were able to hit him pretty hard in return. Fortunately, Pyre located us, and Titan and Coldsnap affected a new exit for us. Now we have to locate Methuselah.
Best Laid Planets - December 1935 Tesla, using an ingenious radio triangulation trick, put us on to Methuselah's whereabouts. A freshly-minted island in the Atlantic, surrounded by storms. Ace got the team in, but they were confronted by an Atlantean War Golem, something Methuselah salvaged. Fortunately, our new team members, the Phantom Flyer and the Tin Soldier, were ready to act as backup and take down the machine. At the device, while Methuselah was distracted battling another of his Atlantean brethren, Sinder was able to shortcut the earth elementals defending the Device and deactivate it telekinetically. The island promptly began to sank, and the team beat a hasty retreat. We have the device fragments in custody, and they're now even more shielded against magical detection. As a reward for a job well done, I gave the old hands of the team a few months off, while Coldsnap, Pyre and I train the newer members.
Semper Fido - Late August, 1936 Over the summer, young Billy discovered a laboratory in town, whose proprietor was selling custom designed metahuman abilities to criminal scum. I called the team back to go in for a quick smash and grab job, to get the files and shut the place down. Easier said than done.. the German Agent 'Der Hund' was on hand, apparently intent on stealing the research for the Nazis. Quickly chasing him off with generous applications of brute force, the team descended into the main laboratory, where they discovered Dr. Marchand.. now a metahuman controlling wind, and his second successful meta-animal subject. Subject #34 was a firebreathing dog the size of a bear, as I understand, and he and the doctor put up a good fight, before succumbing to, again, generous applications of brute force. His files have given us the names of most of his clients, but not his procedures.. and as it turns out, Billy's dog "Flash" was the doctor's test subject #33.
Sensei and Sensibility - September, 1936 Chinese Triad kidnappers abducted a British Admiral, Phillip Wainwright, as well as a Japanese General. MI6 asked for some assistance, as the Wraith was apparently preoccupied with some other matter. Naturally, we were happy to help. Thanks to Spencer's contacts in Hong Kong, they were able to set up a meeting with a Triad Boss known as the Little Empress, apparently a psychic. She counted among her associates an old mystic and a young martial artist fellow dubbed 'the Ghost Dragon.' With a little assistance from two Japanese metahumans, Shogun and Sensei, the boys cleaned things up in their usual fashion.. leaving three dozen ninja dead as well as the Empress and her friends.
Pyramid Scheme - November, 1936 The Zephyr, having increasingly disturbing nightmares regarding a taint he perceived in his arm, consulted our own Edgar Cayce on the matter. The consultation left Cayce injured and half-conscious, barely able to direct the Zephyr to a hidden pyramid, 30 leagues south of Cheops. Spencer and Billy decided to tag along for the trek. As I am to understand from their reports, they were confronted by strange skeletal creatures, as well as tainted duplicates of themselves, before reaching the main burial chamber. An orb there drew the taint from the Zephyr's arm.. but apparently, the mummy which had been magically bound to the tomb had been responsible for the taint in the first place. He'd taken the sword of an unlucky Roman solider that had found the tomb, enspelled it, and tossed it across the boundary that he himself could not cross. Once the spell found a host, it was to lead them to the pyramid, so that the mummy could absorb their souls and grow stronger. The ingenuity of the SOS and a generous applpication of fire proved to be a bit too much for the old fellow, however.
Down for the Count - December, 1936 Count Dracula, who had apparently been mystically trapped in London by magic-wielding allies of Jack the Ripper, was unleashed by some excavation work. British authorities called upon the SOS for assistance in the matter, as the Blue Knight's sidekick had already been sidelined after an encounter with the Count. After tracking down the vampire, the team discovered he was solely trying to get his revenge on the Ripper, and would then leave town. Since the Count had already killed a handful of Londoners to recover his strength, the Squad opted to attempt to end his immortal life. The Count made a clean getaway with a spell that removed the protective mystical wards around the Tower of London.. wards that kept things like vampires out, and things like the Ripper in. MI5 agents and the SOS rushed to the Ripper's cell, only to find that the Ripper was quite able to defend himself.. the Count's corpse was taken into British custody, and the SOS began the job of tracking down the Ripper.
Home Sweet Holmes - December, 1936 While researching the Ripper and his abilities, the SOS was granted some long-secret information by the Wraith.. it seems that our beloved ally is in fact Sherlock Holmes. After faking his death at Reichenbach, he had stayed in Europe for years thereafter, missing the rampage of the Ripper. It was only later, in 1904 while observing one of Tesla's temporal experiments with a close friend, that he would discover that 'Jack the Ripper' was someone he knew very well, a man driven mad by the loss of his best friend, and the murder of his wife at the hands of a ravenous vampire.. Dr. John H. Watson. They had both been given strange abilities in the wake of Tesla's failed temporal experiment.. both ageless and possessing impervious minds, for instance.. the Wraith's teleportation and the Ripper's enhanced speed. They used the Ripper's hatred of the Wraith to lure him to Big Ben.. where the Ripper was knocked off the roof and onto the clock face, only to vanish when struck by lightning.
For Tindalos More - April, 1937 Deciding to learn more about Tesla's time experiments, the SOS travelled to his upstate New York home to have an evening of casual conversation.. or so they thought. While demonstrating his 'temporal isolators', devices designed to confine things within their area to the normal flow of time, Tesla unwittingly materialized a strange, hound-like creature. It shimmered black, and had glowing red eyes and a piercing howl.. and it's skin seemed to crawl unnaturally. It burst into the house, and predictably, my SOS associates made the first violent move. It did not respond to conventional weapons, but that's not a major concern when visiting Mr. Tesla. A handy 'sonic gun' proved able to disperse the beast.. revealing that it was no beast at all, but a vessel containing a man. The silver-garbed stranger identified himself as Agent Gordon of TInDALOS (Temporal Instability, Dimensional Anomaly, and Lapse Obfuscation Squadron), an organization dedicated to preserving the timestream from large disruptions. [Apparently small disruptions are able to be contained naturally - Martin ] He'd been passing through the area on his way to New York, where a Bounty Hunter from the future was after two very dangerous targets. [Apparently those selfsame children Spencer and the Zephyr sometimes babble about - Martin] Gordon indicated the death of those children would trigger a devastating energy release, possibly causing the extermination of all life on the planet, and since his vehicle was disabled, he needed their help to stop the hunter. The SOS was able to handle the fellow with their usual finesse [lots of guns, Billy's fists - Martin] and a little help from Vigil.
Super Frequency - September, 1937 The sounding of numerous klaxons in our headquarters heralded the arrival of someone we were not entirely glad to see .. the mercenary expatriate Blackout. He'd discovered a disturbing experiment being conducted in the Arctic .. the rogue precognitive Delphus and his organization were tapping and storing large quantities of magnetic energy, to hold the world hostage. I dispatched the regulars at once, with Pyre and Coldsnap for extra muscle. Billy managed to take down The Doctor, Spencer managed to disperse the Mist, and the Zephyr and Coldsnap managed to put down Artemis. Billy and Pyre managed to hold off the White Russian, under Delphus's psychic control, while The Zephyr and Spencer took out the psychic himself. Amazingly, not one fatality. [Though the Doctor and Delphus were nearly dead.] The White Russian, once freed, managed to dispose of the magnetic device in a relatively permanent fashion.
Trident and True - October, 1938 A group of rebel Atlanteans invaded New Jersey. The local radio began to report the incident, but the information leak was covered somewhat. Our forces, led by the Tin Soldier, managed to hold back the tripods while the team infiltrated their lines to find out their purpose. It seems Atlantis is ruled by a despot, and this force was a group of freedom fighters.. they had noticed metahumans among us, and assumed we possessed the secret of orichalcum .. a substance their legends describe as a trigger for metahuman abilities. We managed to negotiate a quiet resettlement of their people, until we could provide them more concrete assistance.
My One and Oni - October 1939 (Special Flashback Episode) The Stanford Antiquities professor who had owned and loaned the heart of an Oni, resulting in a previous adventure of the S.O.S. squad, turned up dead - victim of a heart attack, but with his home ransacked. The S.O.S. were sent in to investigate, as the Oni's heart was missing. Everywhere, they find their steps dogged by Chinese Ninja-Assassins - 'Lin Kuei' - before ultimately tracing the trail to San Francisco's Chinatown. Behind a massage parlor called the 'Crimson Dragon', the S.O.S. uncovered the beginnings of a ritual - apparently, one of the Oni's brothers had come to free it from its prison. Luckily, the S.O.S. were able to defeat the "free" Oni before he could unleash his brother. Reginald Spencer then took the heart for safekeeping at his mansion near London, as he departed the S.O.S, so he might serve England in the War that had just begun.
Chapter Two : 1968 - Atlas Awakened
Spatial Education - April 30, 1968 Metahumans from across the globe were abducted suddenly, by an alien race calling themselves the X'xxiv. Conspicuously absent from the abductees were the world's premiere superteam, the Crusaders. The X'xxiv indicated the world would face a dire threat in the future, and they had to test the potential defenders of the planet, to see if they would withstand the challenge. If the overall performance was unsatisfactory, the X'xxiv would have to destroy the Earth. An unusual handful of heroes was thrown together in the last match.. the Abyss, angst-ridden grandson of Sir Reginald Spencer; Roz, a drug-addled conspiracy theorist with mystic powers; the Vituperator, a gadgeteer with a silly name; the Fuusa, mystical defender of Madagascar; and Agent Katelyn Abrams, FBI Agent and liason to the Crusaders. After the contest, Katelyn brought this group with her to Crusaders HQ to investigate the team's nonappearance - it turns out they had been demolished. Three dead, three injured, two missing.
Motley Crusaders - April 30 - May 1st, 1968 Inducting her erstwhile allies as honorary Crusaders, Katelyn left to Teslacorp for assistance in repairing the Headquarters's security system. Meanwhile, the team conversed with GLADIUS, the Crusader's AI computer, and were visited by Colonel Richthofen, who was following up on an earlier emergency call. Using the Crusader's jet, Katelyn and the team followed up leads around the globe, trying to determine the cause of the attack, ending their trip at the site of the Oracle of Delphi.
Apocalypso - May 1st, 1968 Leaving Delphi, the new Crusaders had to respond to an emergency call from Jamaica. On their arrival in Kingston, they discovered a haunting tune filled the air.. and everyone in the city was standing, glassy-eyed, and swaying slightly in rhythm with the music. They proceeded to the capitol, where the Crusader alarm trigger rests, and found that it had been triggered by a cat. Before they could leave, they had to deal with some rogue spirits possessing the president and his bodyguards, using their bodies to attack; the Fuusa's ability to summon small mammals and the Abyss's unwillingness to respect the sanctity of human life forced the spirits to back off. Heading back outside to find the source of the music, the Crusaders ran into Miles Barton, a man strangely unaffected by the music due to an early-morning fireworks display partially deafening him. In Miles's car, they made their way to the library, overcoming a Man in Black pretending to be affected by the music. Inside, it was discovered that a sorceress was tapping the islander's spirits for energy to open a portal, to suck the whole world into another plane. Short work was made of her and she was captured; the mystic music box she'd used to pacify the population becoming just another Crusader trophy.
Truth Decay - May 10th, 1968 Mundane objects disappearing all over town .. a mysterious eclipse creeping over the sun? Looks like a job for the Crusaders. Using the advanced detection systems built into GLADIUS and some ingenuity, the center of the dimensional instability was uncovered.. as was a mysterious connection between the intruding dimension and The Abyss. The Abyss had a strange conversation with a woman calling herself Entropi.. apparently mistaking him for her husband, in a warehouse near the docks at the center of the disturbance. The Crusaders then fought off hordes of shadow-creatures alongside Marie Belloq, who'd been drawn to the same spot after an item of hers had vanished; Reginald Spencer put in an appearance as well, sealing the dimensional rift with the effortless ease of someone intimately familiar with its workings..
Now Museum, Now You Don't - June 15th, 1968 Lorelei, member of the previous Crusaders incarnation, contacted the team, willing to negotiate an exchange of information for immunity. Negotiations broke down, however, forcing the current team to face off against Lorelei and shades she conjured.. in the image of the Special Operations Squad. After defeating the shades and Lorelei, it was reasoned that she had to have borrowed some authentic SOS costume pieces from the Crusader museum next door, so it was decided that they should have a word with the curator. Isolating the team members under the pretense of searching for more missing items, the curator attempts to kill them with the museum's security system and some choice weaponry, but is quickly defeated.
Excess Babbage - July 1st, 1968 A killer robot code-named Beta escaped from a secret government research facility in upstate New York. His exit cracked a large dam, which the Crusaders had to step in and deal with. On their return, Nico revealed to them Beta's story.. he was the second Artificial Intelligence developed by Tesla .. designed to be the ultimate War Machine. Unfortunately, he knows where Tesla hid the plans for his ultimate project.. the Death Ray .. inside a replica of Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, in the main lobby of the Teslacorp building in Chicago. In an epic battle, surrounded by innocent bystanders they had to protect, the Crusaders managed to defeat Beta, knocking him back into dormancy.
Soul Proprietor - July 26th, 1968 The Crusaders crept out to a secret meeting with a man thought dead since World War II - the metahuman-tracker known as Der Hund. Along the way, they were called out to stop a few metahuman prison escapees.. in theory, lightweights, but strangely empowered. Strange documents they carried indicated a bargain with some supernatural entity.. power in exchange for chaos. After rounding up the criminals, the meeting with Der Hund, they learned he'd figured out a few facts about the entity known as Malevolus, the one responsible for defeating the Crusader. He was, in actuality, William McKay, the man formerly known as the Fighting Irish, but from a parallel dimension. This knowledge allowed he and some mystic friends to discover how William had enhanced his powers, and deduce a vulnerability .. a mystic shillelagh, which he had already had MI6 prepare, in England. A short stop in London later, and the Crusaders were able to use the Shillelagh to delay Malevolus while Roz cast a spell to banish him from this dimension.
Know Thy Shelf - August 10th, 1968 The Crusaders were called to attend a solemn occasion, the passing of one of the heroes of yesteryear - Arthur Turlington, better known as the Zephyr. He had left directions in his will that the current Crusaders, whoever they may be, should hear certain information he had acquired. Turlington had been renowned in his later years as something of a crackpot, railing about alien infiltration into the United States government. He bequest to the Crusaders was the location of a secret government Warehouse, known only as Warehouse 34, wherein they placed all the objects that they wished to withhold from the public eye. Perhaps, there, they would find a clue to lead them to the conspiracy, he suggested. And indeed, they did..
Toyland Trouble - September 12th, 1968 Following up on clues from the mysterious Warehouse, the Crusaders paid a visit to the home of U.S. Steel .. only to find it apparently deserted. Investigating, they found a gaping portal. Most of the team hopped through to investigate, finding themselves in a strange dimension, populated by what seemed to be living toys. They joined forces with a platoon of army-men to fend off sentient car-creatures, and negotiated the release of Steel, whom the army men had taken prisoner. Steel implicated the two presidential aides that the Zephyr had suspected, but no sooner had they all returned to our dimension than Steel's brain was attacked, psionically destroyed.
A Good Day to Dynamo - October 10th, 1968 Before Steel's untimely death, he was able to confirm that while U.S. forces had sufficient strength and equipment to end the ongoing Vietnam conflict within a month, those in power were prolonging the war deliberately, to draw on the negative energy produced by the ongoing violence and death. The key to the plot was a metahuman with magnetic powers, who was being used to prevent the army's armored battlesuits from functioning. The team located the hidden base where the fellow was being kept, and went in stealthily.. unfortunately, the two Army Psychics in the camp kept the operation from going as smoothly as they would've liked. A messy fight ensued, and the Abyss blew open the containment chamber the Army had been using to keep the magnetic-man under wraps, causing a not-small explosion. Some soldiers were unfortunately killed, but 'Dynamo' survived, and was pulled out of the region.
From Russia, Yith Love - December 22nd, 1968 All information had indicated that the presidential advisors would be conducting an important ritual in the arctic on this date. It was surmised that this would be the ideal moment to attack, as all the mystical energy they'd been storing would no longer be coursing in their bodies, so no planet-cracking explosions would ensue if they were to die. The site they'd chosen was north of Russia, coincidentally near the site of a tussle between the Special Operations Squad and certain metahuman criminals year before. The twin presidential aides were revealed to be time-displaced alien creatures, shaped as massive, tentacled cones of flesh. They were killed, and the ritual disrupted, but Katelyn Abrams, the Abyss, the Technophile, and the Fuusa never returned from the Arctic. Shortly thereafter, the Crusaders were permanently disbanded.
Chapter Three : 2002 - Atlas Unveiled
Wraith Against the Machine - July 7th, 2002 Our intrepid heroes are summoned to the island ironically dubbed "Utopia" - once Japan, but transformed in the 1980's to be a haven for the unwanted Metahuman elements of society - by a mysterious e-mail. There, they meet with the leader of the metahumans, a computer-whiz calling herself 'Synch', who denies having sent the e-mail. She traces the source to a WorldGov system in mainland China - persuading our heroes to band together to investigate the anonymous message. There, they find a well-guarded prison, along with a trapped hero of yesteryear - The Wraith, kept imprisoned in a computerized virtual reality to prevent the use of his teleportation.
Supplies Party - July 29th, 2002 A supply-raid on a warehouse in California goes awry, as WorldGov forces have seemingly been tipped off to the heroes' approach. The fighting drives them to their auxiliary escape point, a helicopter pad atop a nearby hospital. The WorldGov troopers show no sign of mercy in their handling of the patients, outraging one of them enough to inspire a last show of defiance. The aged Frederick Marks summoned forth the Vigil from inside himself once more - expiring in the process and somehow bestowing enduring life to the Vigil, heretofore a psychic construct projected from Frederick's mind. The Vigil escaped with our heroes, joining them.
Kung Fuusa - August 23rd, 2002 Synch's taps inside WorldGov satellite networks detect an activation of the old OZYMANDIAS satellite surveillance system - which tracked the movements of nearly everyone on Earth at one point with microscopic bugs planted in textile supplies around the world, until being rendered obsolete with a nanotechnological 'antidote'. Apparently, the system had detected the entity its AI knew as 'The Technophile' - AKA Roger Schlock, one of the Crusaders who vanished in '68. Upon investigation, it was discovered that The Abyss and the Fuusa had returned with him - but the Fuusa, spiritual protector of Madagascar, had been driven into a feral rage by the industrialization of the island while they were gone. Our heroes were able to subdue the feral Fuusa, whose spiritual guide then appeared to restore his sanity.
Back in Blackout - September 15th, 2002 Seeking to bolster the numbers of powerful metahumans, the heroes strike at a WorldGov power plant in Australia. They are surprised when they find not one, but two of the heroes of yesteryear - the flammable Pyre, and the electric mercenary known as Blackout. With the added firepower, the team had little trouble making their getaway.
Desperately Seeking Fusion - October 2nd, 2002 In the jungles near Lima, Peru - WorldGov was close to bringing online a controlled fusion power station that would increase their power production capacity by an order of magnitude. Synch determined that shutting down this plant before it opened would help maintain the disruption caused by the rescue of Pyre and Blackout, so the team went in, and discovered that the plant had a most unusual source of coolant - the powers of the metahuman Coldsnap, coupled with a mystical gem. Coldsnap was freed and the plant was unable to open.
Heir Superiority - October 29th, 2002 The ruins of the Crusaders' headquarters had been capped with a mysterious forcefield ever since early 1969 - but it was time to investigate any clues that might have been left behind. Evidence suggested that Nightmask, of the original team, had gathered some evidence on the sorcerous conspiracy that now seemed to dominate world politics. Using Blackout's energy-manipulating powers, the field was bypass, and the evidence recovered. After a short scuffle with an advance force of WorldGov-loyal metahumans, the team beat a hasty retreat with the assistance of the current Zephyr, a zeppelin-flying descendant-in-spirit of the original.
Oni the Lonely - November 18th, 2002 The notes of the late Nightmask had indicated that the best source of information on the conspiracy was the now-ancient Reginald Spencer, founding member of the S.O.S. Despite one of Reginald's own descendants being a member of the team, the heroes were met with distrust and suspicion, as he thought they might be agents of his longtime nemesis, Marie Belloq. When it was pointed out that Marie had been dead ten long years, Reginald would have none of it; he did, however, consent to help them if they would look into the small matter of a curse that had been placed on the West wing of his mansion, no doubt by Belloq. Rather than a curse, the heroes discovered a cracked jade heart, from which emanated a tiny piece of the power of a fear demon. Further investigation suggested that the heart had been cracked deliberately, and there were monitoring devices placed in the room by someone to monitor the mischief - Marie?
Solar Survivor - December 3rd, 2002 Synch introduces the heroes to an ally of the metahumans in the fight to come - an old master mechanic kept young with the magic of the Holy Grail : Terry Wilson, formerly the Tin Soldier. His current project is an enormous suit of armor - hoping in some way to compensate for WorldGov's theft of his designs for their battle armor. The trouble is, to make it work, he needs uranium - and the heroes are the ones to get it for him.
Trench Kiss - December 21st, 2002 It is decided to battle the sorcerous conspiracy at the moment they summon their ancient evils from the world - the bonding process that is expected to occur, says Spencer, will leave them weakened and disoriented. It is, in his opinion, the only chance. Three teams are formed, based on the vague insights that Spencer's recall of the Necronomicon can provide. For the magma beast with magnetic powers, to be raised by Rasputin in Syria, site of the first of the three rituals in 1934, Blackout, Pyre, and Coldsnap. For the insectoid, bonded to Methuselah, raised in the Arctic site of the second ritual in 1968, Terry Wilson's new Apollo armor and the Wraith. For the tentacled monstrosity to arise in the Pacific, from the Marianas Trench - to be bonded to Anastasia at the site of the third ritual - our heroes.
Timeline: (Asterisks denote fabrications)