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Circe -> =ED= The Storyline (12/4/2009 18:38:06)
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Bounty Hunters
Some of the finest and most adept soldiers on Delta V found themselves under the employ of Baelius' military during the years when the collection of Varium was in full swing. After all, order must be kept and indigenous life must be held in check when a company's labor force is off mining in the wilds of an alien planet.
The Special Police, who eventually became the Shadow Guard and Baelius' Shock Battalion during the War, consisted of some very skilled and disciplined men and women who clearly had an aptitude for combat and field command. As time marched onward through the bloody fields of war, these soldiers and police saw a change in their role and a fork in their road.
The War was demanding in so many ways, and the Shadow Guard and Shock Battalion found themselves having to make a fateful decision for whom they stood and fought. It was nearly a clear-cut slash down the center of the two organization, though there were some outliers who found themselves switching horses mid-stream. The Shadow Guard, for the most part, chose to fight for The Legion and Baelius. The Shock Battalion, on the other hand, tended almost entirely toward The Uprising.
When these two factions pitted themselves against each other they found themselves locked in bitter warfare, hatred coloring their every meeting in battle.
Of course, like every combatant who rose to the occasion on Delta V, these soldiers were banished. When they returned, some took up their charge once again as Shadow Guardsmen and women. Most others selected a lifestyle more appropriate to the dystopia to which they had returned. Their new chosen profession: bounty hunting. Their affiliation: whoever is footing the bill.
Some Bounty Hunters have become skilled assassins. Others pirates. Even more have simply opened their minds to the idea that they will have to fight for the right to live freely on Delta V. Whether Exile or Legion, the Bounty Hunters are worthy adversaries with shattered pasts who either look to a brighter future or revel in the dark and violent present.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Cyber Hunters
These bounty hunters started experimenting by infusing themselves with more technology, becoming a powerful amalgamation of flesh and metal...
The Cyber Hunter is a technologically advanced hunter. Some members of Baelius’s Shadow Guard started experimenting with the advanced technology available on the main continent, integrating some of that technology into their battle repertoire. As a Cyber Hunter, you will be able to use the Plasma Grenade, which explodes on contact- injuring your enemy with a 30% chance to stun! Cyber Hunters are able to wear Bounty Hunter armor and use swords or wristblades.
Character Bio: Alydriah Descarl
One of Baelius’ Shadow Guard before the war, Descarl spearheaded a campaign to incinerate a number of mining camps in the districts south of Jumerna, one of the more prosperous cities to the east of Central Station. Brutal tactics like these and some even more creatively vicious ones made up her heinous disciplinary regimen. She kept order amongst even the most unruly and frequently riot-prone sectors of the “ Varium Ring” and she did so with acts of such indescribable cruelty that they forced obedience. Her means of maintaining control over her precincts were terrifying even to fellow Guardsmen, who quietly objected to her means but followed orders nonetheless out of abject fear.
Tall, elegant, and intense, it is impossible not to stare, but her ferocious nature makes it difficult to maintain proper composure in her presence. The loyal officers under her command fear and adore her as though she were a dark angel sent to deliver them. She considered herself Baelius’ right hand and worked tirelessly to maintain the order and efficiency that he so desired. As time drew the forces of the Uprising and the Legion closer to war, it became clear that disciplinary action would need to take a back seat to capital punishment. Administrative repercussions for dissent were limited to public flagellation and days spent in the stocks, at first, and executions followed soon thereafter. These horribly antiquated means of crime deterrence put extraordinary pressure on the districts that found themselves under Alydriah Descarl’s metal boot. Some say that her districts in the “Varium Ring” were the first to openly rebel in direct response to the morally devoid governess and her “death squads”.
After the banishment and the end of the War, Alydriah found her command decimated and her position at Baelius’ table compromised. In an attempt to cement her station she collected the remainder of her loyal forces and put them in control of different precincts inside Fortune City, founding the offices of the Administrators and recruiting regular troops as Shadow Guard to refill her ranks as quickly as possible. The new Shadow Guard doesn’t share the brutality of Alydriah’s previous battalions, but they still lay down the law with cruel prejudice and the Administrators who organize the Guard are some truly ruthless governors in their own right.
When the exiles began to show up on Delta V, many of her old Shadow Guardsmen and women came with them, and their return heralded the reinvigoration of the old ways of brutality and amoral judgment. Now, the ranks of the Shadow Guard are at full strength and mobilized like never before throughout Old Fortune City and across Delta V.
At this point it is clear that Alydriah has abandoned the modicum established by Baelius. She has begun a crusade the likes of which humanity will never forget once the hammer falls upon the warring Factions of Delta V. She is unbridled vengeance manifest. Her word is law and her resolve is unwavering. She will crush the Exiles and disband the Legion, for whom her distaste is not hidden. The world she seeks to create is one of order by fear, and it would appear she has an eye to include Caden in her plans. Who would resist her? Who can stand against the roiling storm?
Tuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: BigTuna
Isla Grier’s (that’s BigTuna to you) arrival on Delta V, or “The Dive” as she so affectionately refers to it, was met with a blistering torrent of camera flashes and some bold headlines in the tabloid rags that seem to have their place in any human society since the dawn of journalism. An aquatic daredevil, her roots grow deep in the sands of some of the most exotic and dangerous oceanic planets ever explored. A professional Wavecarver driver and accomplished surfer, BigTuna made a name for herself across space as a fearless seeker of the biggest and most dangerous oceans in the universe. When she heard about Delta V’s Marlena Trench, a deep rent down the center of the South Sea where two abutting tectonic plates created some of the most impressive waves known to mankind, she hopped the first jumpship insystem, surfboard waxed and Wavecarver’s power cells topped off.
Her search for the Mother of All Waves would be cut violently short by Baelius’ Shadow Guard. For hundreds of artists and athletes on Delta V, once The Uprising began its coup it was made clear that neutrality was as much rebellion as taking up arms and murdering Guards in the mines. Isla was threatened with imprisonment in the gulags if she didn’t join Baelius’ army and help stay the hand of The Uprising.
She refused allegiance, and the day the Shadow Guard came to apprehend her, she took to the South Sea on her Wavecarver with a thrall of black-clad soldiers in her wake. They chased her for hours as she crested each wave in a spray of sea-foam, their open cockpit VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) cruisers struggling to keep pace with the skilled racer. As she reached the Marlena Trench, a one-hundred-and-thirty foot swell rose and swallowed her pursuers, but Isla nosed into it and rode down the face of the tube like an osprey diving after its prey.
It took her nearly twenty-four hours but she returned to shore and to a home that had been completely burned to the ground by the Shadow Guardsmen who had stayed behind during the chase. She knew she would never be safe on Delta V if she stayed, so she tried in vain to book passage off the planet. Baelius had already stationed a blockade in orbit around Delta V, and no shuttles were allowed in or out of the planet’s atmosphere. Trapped on a world bent for war, Isla made a decision that would change her life forever. She sought out Oz, the leader of The Uprising, and offered whatever assistance she could provide. He simply said “I just need you to be awesome.”
BigTuna responded, “I’m breathing, aren’t I?”
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: Caden
Caden is a malignant tumor on the surface of Delta V.
In the first days of the war, Caden was a trusted comrade to The Uprising. One of the most powerful Tech Mages alive, he was once under the employ of Baelius' himself. He fabricated a fantastic story about his escape from Baelius' tower that was so unbelievable that it seemed as though it had to be true. The leaders of The Uprising, including Lorenzo Ozimus or "Oz" as most know him, decided to trust Caden, against their better judgment, believing that the Tech Mage held the key to defeating Baelius and The Legion.
Things seemed too good to be true! One of Baelius' closest and most valued allies turns his back on him and joins The Uprising, granting the motley resistance invaluable information regarding every aspect of Baelius' defenses, and then also turns out to be a frighteningly powerful walking weapon?! To have a veritable encyclopedia of Baelius' Citadel, defense practices, and infrastructure as well as a living war-machine was, for The Uprising, like having a giant red button to press that read, in bold, white letters, "WIN!". What seemed to good to be true certainly was. Caden played on The Uprising's desperation, and succeeded.
Once the plans for the final assault on Baelius' Citadel were in place, Caden began his dark work. He had started by giving The Uprising's leaders false data regarding the stationary defenses inside the Citadel. Much to Caden's dismay, The Uprising still mowed over and through the hardened bunkers and fortifications and guns and androids as though it made no difference if the barriers blocking their path were brick and steel or stacks of fluffy pillows.
Caden realized he had grossly underestimated The Uprising and decided to take a more direct approach to its downfall.
Upon entering Baelius' tower, Caden laid a trap for Oz's assault team and waited in the "throne room" atop the face of the tower. Once the trap was sprung, its results proved devastating.
Oz's assault team was killed almost instantly but he and Calissa managed to escape thanks to the heroic and selfless bravery of Oz's best friend, Royce Armand, who used his enormous body as a shield and paid the price for this act with his life. Oz and Calissa rushed to the top of the tower, Caden's treachery still unbeknown to them; they cut through swarms of Baelius' androids and Shadow Guards until they finally reached the "throne room" where Calissa mustered the energy to blast down the door. And there stood Caden, clapping his hands in mock applause for the two would-be heroes of The Uprising.
He monologued, as most villains do, and Calissa tried, through meditation, to build the energy to take her former master's life, but when she finally struck out it was to no avail. Caden was far too powerful. He killed his student before Oz's eyes and threw her body at his feet.
The battle that took place afterwards is lost to the history of The Uprising itself, but the results would lead many to believe that Caden was losing and, in a desperate final act, he caused the banishment of all warring forces, Legion and Uprising, that existed on Delta V.
Little is known of his whereabouts today, though he is often rumored to have been spotted in the Varium mines that stretch beneath the surface of Delta V like capillaries. He is hunted now by both Legion and Exile factions who want his head for banishing them all to the realm of chaos between worlds.
Some say his powers have diminished since the War. Others say he is simply biding his time. For what? No one knows for sure, but,whatever it is, it will certainly be evil for that is all that Caden is capable of contriving.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: Mirv
Mirv is on unique fellow.
Short, awkward, and always smiling, the stumpy shopkeeper has proven time and again that underestimating one's opposition is often the last mistake one ever makes. Stronger than even the most physically gifted and traditionally sized humans, Mirv feels comfortable and perfectly safe living alone in his abandoned Capital Ship turret that is both his shop and his domicile.
He's not particularly reclusive, but he does find it difficult to fit in with normal society on Delta V. He's just too... jolly?
So he has made himself comfortable on the outskirts of the barrens, between Central Station and The Bazaar. He is often seen starting out over the shifting sands of the barrens at the hulking husk of the once proud Omirion, the Flagship of Baelius' interstellar fleet that is now spread across the desert and held aloft by Varium stilts, but no one has ever asked him why he lingers in silence over the distant silhouette.
During the war, Mirv was a mechanic for aerial fighter craft. He often spoke of a time when he would become a pilot, but most just scoffed at him as many do when they revile the lofty dreams of others that they cannot see through their own cynicism.
Though, for someone who doesn't appear to have ever achieved his mightiest of dreams, he sure is surprisingly blissful. Perhaps there is more to this diminutive man than he would let just any traveler know. Until someone finds out his story, travelers still stop by his shop from time to time and see him staring out at the Omirion and smiling at the ship that was turned into a city and a home for those who escaped exile but not the War.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: Nightwraith
You’ll often find him strolling the vice-ridden streets of Fortune City or combing the causeways in Central Station, and if you happen to bump into Nightwraith your best bet would be to run the other direction. He’ll give you a head-start, if he’s feeling generous.
During the years when Delta V’s prosperity was only matched by its unprecedented interstellar immigration rate; ships burned into the atmosphere in droves and established the Varium rich planet as “The Second Chance”. Setting foot on Delta V’s expensive soil was like pressing the reset button on your life.
Assassins, interstellar trackers, bounty hunters, galactic police organizations, even the military were all after Nightwraith when his ship docked on Delta V and his armor-clad feet touched the dusty tarmac. But here, on Delta V, he could start fresh. He strode off toward Central Station, facing the setting sun, sunglasses on and a smile across his face.
He became a cobbler and, in his free time, would paint portraits and beautiful landscapes to decorate his modest abode, putting his Hitman past behind him. But this peaceful life would not last. After all, when your enemies are searching for a needle in a haystack, one of them is bound to be smart enough to bring a magnet.
One fated morning, Nightwraith found a letter on his doorstep. It requested his very specific skills in a matter of great importance. He took the job, and began scouting his mark. His target was a man whose voice would fuel the fires of rebellion on Delta V. Nightwraith was to take down Oz before he could set in motion a War that would destroy everything Baelius had worked to create.
Nightwraith joined The Uprising to get close to his mark. He rose through the ranks like a mighty phoenix, but before he could strike the killing blow, he was betrayed by the man who had signed his contract. John St. Alban, better known as "The Lawman", was a retired Interstellar Marshall who had been tracking Nightwraith for years. It was his contract and his bold plan to catch the former hitman. But he had underestimated this most dangerous of assassins.
The stories of Nightwraith’s escape from his captors are legend. If he had been so inclined he may have taken down the resistance single-handedly. But there was no money in it. And when you’re the best at what you do, you never work for free. Naturally, the Legion heard of his exploits and they were only too eager to write a blank check.
He was one of the few spared banishment from Delta V, and in the absence of the exiles Nightwraith made a name for himself among the criminal underworld of yet another planet. Old dogs and new tricks, leopards and spots… all the old clichés. He has a few vendettas to sort out, but in the meantime he’s satisfied with lining his pockets the best way he knows how: making heads roll.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: Oz
Certainly our players have seen the grizzled veteran skulking in the shadows of Central Station. Oz, the level 10 NPC who has the best win record in the game, is, in fact, EpicDuel's protagonist! I feel as though it would be wise to let our players in on some of Lorenzo Ozimus' trials to give you a glimpse of just who this hardened soldier truly is when you ask him to retrain you or sell you a new set of claws.
An excerpt from the Memoirs of Lorenzo Ozimus:
... Those final days weren't the War. It was a route. Somehow we had managed to not only overcome The Legion and Baelius' androids, but we spread through the streets of Fortune City like lava boiling through the planet's veins. The Shadow Guards didn't stand a chance. We were a steam-roller on a rocket engine. The chain of victories sent us into a frenzy!...
But we reached for a victory that was outside of our grasp and slipped off the ledge. We were... I was so focused on the final goal that I didn't see the knife aimed at my back.
Caden... who are you? Who were you all that time? Were you ever on our side? Or are you just evil?
... I'll find out sooner or later. The same goes for Baelius' plans. What I saw that night in his tower all but sent me over the edge.
I've lost everything, now. No, almost everything. I can still win this war and free this world; get something out of this god-awful mess.
The question is... who's with me?
Lorenzo Ozimus was a brave and brilliant tactician who had been one of Baelius' Special Police, the same organization that was eventually converted to his Shock Troop Battalion when The Uprising had only just begun to fight for its freedom. Before the darkest days, Oz was already apprehensive about the tactics used by the Special Police when they were simply a more advanced sect of Baelius' security staff. When their role changed from protection and detaining of potential threats into something bearing a frightening resemblance to The Spanish Inquisition, Oz decided that his role in Baelius' plan had reached its end. His defection from the Shock Troop Battalion was a legendary one; a story that followed him like a crackling lighting storm shocking to life to any downtrodden Varium miners that slouched under the weight of Baelius' metal boot. It was the same legend that gave him the clout to become the leader of The Uprising once it was in full swing.
A tactical genius and a brilliant speaker, Oz rallied an army of what amounted to mining employees into a frenzied hive of hornets whose combined might and numbers were enough to finally overrun their oppressors. Unfortunately, during the final assault on Baelius' tower, Oz was betrayed by Caden, who, up to that point, had been a trusted and powerful ally. Caden's treachery lead to the death of Oz's best friend, a hulking man named Royce Armand, and also the death of the love of his life, an apprentice Tech Mage named Calissa.
After the betrayal, Oz was banished along with the rest of The Uprising and The Legion. When he returned, an Exile, his desire for vengeance was just as strong as it had been the night Caden betrayed him. Now he faces a new challenge, though, and that is reuniting the Exiles and reforming The Uprising. Delta V is a world in turmoil and The Uprising is a bitter memory to most of its inhabitants, but if any man can rally the people of this planet to fight for themselves again, it's Oz.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: Selina
The Lawman's daughter is an errant young woman whose lone-wolf attitude has gotten her into some tricky situations on a number of occasions.
She scours the wasteland in search of former Uprising soldiers, communicating in secret with men and women who now consider themselves Exiles. Her age belies her extraordinary skill as a hoverbike rider and a gunfighter but she is quickly making a name for herself on Delta V and thus her pool of trusting allies grows daily, much to the chagrin of her reclusive father who frowns on her attempts to rekindle the War.
The Lawman sheltered Selina to an extreme degree growing up. Protective to a fault, his denial of her request to join The Uprising has left a sour taste in her mouth which compels her to take up an abandoned banner in an attempt to rekindle The Uprising flame. Some believe she is insane or suicidal. Others think that the fact that she has never tasted war is why she is so hungry for it, but she would disagree on the grounds that she truly believes in the ideals that The Uprising and now the Exiles have fought and still fight for.
She is brash and rebellious, but also an ingenious survivalist. Like a cat, she always lands on her feet and when she doesn't, she finds a way to make it seem as though the outcome was expected.
Now she searches, day and night, a liaison to the Exiles and a thorn in The Legion's side. What she is searching for is a mystery. Her quest appears to be more complicated than a mere rallying call. Perhaps she is searching for Oz. Or maybe just a new beginning.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: Talia
Talia is a mysterious woman. In her time on Delta V, she has found herself under the tutelage of both Baelius and Caden, though her education was never completed for obvious reasons. That being the case, she has forged a new path for the Tech Mage discipline. She has chosen to use her powers in tandem with machinery to maximize technological potential. Ever wonder why Tech Mages are so skilled with guns? Studies like the ones Talia performs are the precursor to those deadly abilities. She is a pragmatist, something not often found amongst Tech Mages, and she uses that trait to hone her abilities in ways never seen before.
But all the hypothesizing and methodical research and testing don't help to explain just who Talia truly is. She's brilliant, yes. Of that there can be no doubt. But where do her loyalties lie?
During the War, Talia was a Legion affiliate. Her duties were simple enough, most of them pertaining to the maintenance of androids and augmentation of critically wounded soldiers. She was a glorified medic, for the most part, which is all that The Legion has ever seen in her because of her unorthodox methods and motives. It is for this reason that they may not have this skilled, young, Tech Mage on their side after all.
Talia, since the war, has made many valuable connections outside of The Legion and Baelius' sphere of influence. Most of these are with ex-Uprising soldiers who have gone underground to form resistance cells geared toward sabotage and guerrilla fighting. Some even resort to kidnapping for ransom. It is these ruthless types that Talia seems to fit in well, not because she is ruthless, herself, but because her guileful and seductive nature easily manipulates the men and women who hold positions of limited power. She recognized early on that people in power want control, and she likes to take it from them.
On one hand she assists the Administrators who exorcise the law as if it were a spiked gauntlet. And on the other she works closely with the remnants of the Uprising and the now Exiles as something teetering dangerously on the edge of becoming a full-blown terrorist.
Is Talia evil? No. Misguided? Perhaps. Her intimate ties to Caden certainly warrant a CAT scan or two. The most important things to remember about her are that she is both dangerous and unpredictable. Legion and Exile alike should keep a cautious eye on this beautiful mystery.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: Thaddeus
Thaddeus is as smooth and witty as they come. It comes with the territory when you’re an expert smuggler on a planet where the fists of the law are clenched so tightly that the slippery fish swim unfettered while the masses claw for free air. Neither Legion nor Exiles, his allegiance is to himself and his current employer, though he would never deviate from his lofty principles for a payoff. He has rules he will not break and that may be the reason so many of Delta V’s criminal underbelly hate him, including the Administrators who, contrary to their station, are as dirty as the most abhorrent thugs in all of Fortune City.
Always ready for the next job, Thaddeus carries the most valuable cargo of all: Information. The secrets he wields could bring some of the most powerful players of Delta V to their knees. Because of his chosen profession, he has become a fugitive and master thief with a few contracts out on his head and a trail of vexed Bounty Hunters in his wake. Crime bosses and the heads of some of the most influential Factions on Delta V would like nothing more than to see him in an unmarked grave somewhere in the wastes. But they need him. Thaddeus’ dead body is worth less than a grain of sand in the wind when compared to his value alive. Besides, they can’t catch him, anyhow. So he wanders the wastes on his tricked-out hoverbike, stealing what he wants, smuggling what you need, and leaving nothing but a wink and a smile floating on the dust he kicks up as he makes yet another fantastic escape against impossible odds. It’s just his style.
Not much is known about Thaddeus' affairs during the War. No one knows where he came from or what he did before the Legion and Uprising were banished, or if he was one of the exiles himself. There are rumors, certainly, and Thaddeus has heard them all. Of course, like any rumor, there is no value until there is truth and the truth is no one knows the truth about the escape-artist smuggler.
Some speculate that he may have been like some of the exiles who returned amnesiacs, completely unaware of whom they were or what had happened on Delta V. Others think he may have been a member of Baelius’ Shadow Guard, trying to run from his dark past. The list goes on and on, but only one thing is for certain and that is that Thaddeus is an expert at what he does, and if he ever gets caught it will be because he got tired of running.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: The Lawman
An expectedly shrewd business man, John St. Alban, who goes by the moniker "The Lawman", has been selling stolen arms merchandise since the end of the War. From his lofty mine-tower office, he has carved a healthy groove in the trafficking industry on Delta V through his many connections and ties to important decision makers since the end of the great conflict. Guilt rides heavy on his shoulders with every credit earned, though. Once he lead men and women into battle for justice and freedom. Now he fattens his wallet off the misbegotten exiles, both Legion and former Uprising, in an attempt to survive in a world where order has fallen by the wayside.
When the war was in full-swing, The Lawman was a respected commander of whole regiments of Uprising soldiers, including its limited airborne forces. He was a brilliant tactician, second only to Oz, and a master outfitter. His motto "There's a tool for every job" served his loyal troops well. When the War ended, he was one of the few men and women warriors who managed, by sheer chance, not to be banished from Delta V.
He is reluctant to begin the fighting again as he has mustered a lucrative little niche in the new economy of Delta V's warring factions. Just like any commander, though, he is empty without a people to lead. His one and only true ally, his daughter, Selina, is also losing touch with her father. She has always resented him for keeping her from joining the fighting when the War was at its apex, but now matters are worse because he does not appear to share her convictions, whatsoever. His war is fought on the marketing battlefield, now. It's a lonely battle and the toll may be worse than death.
His daughter's distance linked with the guilt over what was essentially profiteering have led him to a vice-ridden and somewhat reclusive lifestyle. Will The Lawman ever rejoin the fight? Perhaps...
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: Titan
High atop the tallest mountain on Delta V, Titan stands abreast two mighty pillars made of the quieted husks of once grand machines, and ponders the fate of the squabbling masses below. Every day he walks through gardens of living automatons; intricate appendages fashioned of the purest Varium reach out to absorb his overflowing power like a mob grasping for Caesar’s robes. He has attained the perfect electro-spiritual bond between man and machine without becoming a machine, himself, and in doing so has become more powerful than any Tech Mage after him. Rumors abound that speak of Titan eating lightning bolts to power his body and drawing Varium ore from the planet’s surface as one may pull thread through the eye of a needle, with the wave of his hand.
If there is any truth to these rumors, the question then becomes: Why doesn’t he destroy Baelius, himself?
Anyone who has read their Greek mythology knows the horrors that come when a god interferes with the lesser beings of the mortal world below. Titan is no god, certainly, but the power he wields at his electrified finger tips could very well annihilate life on Delta V. So he stays his hand and offers peace and teachings that help young Tech Mages learn to harness their power and focus it to better their world. To his great credit he has taught some of the finest and most brilliant Tech Mages on all of Delta V.
Unfortunately, he has also lent his teachings to one of the darkest, most power-hungry Tech Mages ever to stride across the surface of the Varium rich planet…
Caden.
Caden heeded Titan’s word but not his wisdom. He learned to bond psychically with machines and master the art of magnetic field manipulation, but he did not learn restraint. Now Titan laments on his one and only failure, high atop Mt. Edo, among his mechanical gardens and through the halls of his monastery. He descends from time to time to visit the world below, but he is sickened by the puny brawling Factions who seek nothing but to further their own names on a planet wrought with chaos. He would see Delta V return to its former glory, but Caden must be destroyed before that future may ever be made manifest… before he becomes too powerful for even Titan to stand fast against him.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: Ulysses
Ulysses is a sad story.
Not much is known about his beginnings on Delta V other than the fact that he was a renown artist and engineer from wherever it was he migrated to the Varium rich planet.
A Legion Affiliate during the war, Ulysses was charged with designing an Advanced Android Weapons Platform for the purpose of bolstering Baelius' already intimidating robotic military. Unfortunately, Ulysses designs were considered gaudy and wasteful by Baelius, whose love of the efficiency of all things mechanical was well-known. The idea of an artful machine was appalling to the planet's industrious dictator, thus the project was scrapped and Ulysses was reduced to mere maintenance duties.
Ulysses bore a seething hatred for Baelius after his demotion but kept it buried, biding his time until the moment arose when he would punish the boss of Delta V for scorning a master artisan.
The match that lit the fire is unknown but some say that Ulysses discovered something truly evil about Baelius' intentions; something to this day that is rumored to be known only by he and Oz, and he decided to wait no longer to act on his feelings of revenge. The beginning of the War had postponed the destruction of Ulysses' beautiful android battalion, and the artist reactivated his sleeping warriors for a final charge against the man that would have them wiped from Delta V without ever an admiring eye settling on their graceful forms.
With the help of his robot army, Ulysses fought floor by floor, trying to reach the "throne room" at the top of Baelius' tower. He managed to mount a devastating assault, but his forces were simply too little and with the War at its peak, Baelius' defenses were on full alert. The most powerful Tech Mages under Baelius' command resided inside the tower and they worked in tandem to bring down Ulysses' majestic army. They kept Ulysses alive, though. Baelius had other plans for him.
They tortured him nearly to death, severed his dominant arm, and removed his eyes so that he could never create art or see beauty again.
Ulysses' mind and body were strong, though. He crawled through the wasteland where he was picked up by a benefactor who would become one of his closest friends. Together they would repair Ulysses' body and restore some semblance of vision to his empty eyes, and greater still, they founded the Bazaar in the barrens, which would be a safe haven for those who fought in the War and wanted to live outside the iron grip of Baelius' and his Administrators.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Delta V Locations: Central Station
Before the War, Central Station stretched for several miles in all directions, a massive transit hub that served both travelers and Varium shipping. The station consisted of both Maglev locomotives and airstrips for all manner of airborne means of travel, shipping, and mobilization of armed forces and labor groups.
Central Station was a commercial epicenter. The middle section was essentially an enormous mall of sorts, like many major train stations on Earth had become during the 20th century. At the apex of Delta V’s economic boom, many of the major gathering places resembled Earth in an almost indiscernible fashion. The outer circuit of the Central Station was a sea of concrete landings and causeways with trains screaming by and gliding to gentle stops next to hundreds of anxious travelers and wary laborers heading home after twelve hours working in the Varium mines.
Then the War began.
Central Station went through a disquieting transmogrification. Baelius’ Shadow Guard and Shock Troopers utilized the rails and airstrips to mobilize for battles that spanned the rapidly dying surface of a once beautiful planet. As the war dragged on, more and more automated forces—androids and robotic war-machines—traveled via the rails as well. Central Station was no longer the commercial attraction it had once been. When terrorist’s bombs erupted through the channels allowing travel from one section to another, sealing off many of the different zones, Central Station emptied and became little more than a glorified stop on the way from warzone to warzone.
Now it is a neutral zone for the returned exiles. A safe area, if you will, that is controlled neither by Baelius’ forces nor the sparse alliances that once comprised the now fractured Uprising. Androids work to repair the mighty transit hub day and night, but it is slow work even for machines. The damage was catastrophic during the worst days of the fighting. The fact that some trains can still travel through Central Station unhindered is a miracle. The inhabitants of Delta V still use the limited access decks to board trains to various locations like Fortune City and some of the major Mine Towers, but the impressive web of Maglev railways that once spread across Delta V like an intricate web are no longer in working order. At least not all of them. Some are so heavily damaged that they’re irreparable, even by the deft work of Baelius’ construction androids.
Like dozens of other once magnificent architectural wonders on Delta V, Central Station has become a shadow of its former glory. It is now home only to drifters, returned exiles, and the roaming members of warring Factions.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Delta V Locations: Fortune City
Fortune City’s history is one as legendary as ancient Greece on Earth. A vast and magnificent metropolis, it was once a beacon of commerce and luxurious living for the people of Delta V. The most successful businessmen and women had suites within the city and even labor foremen and management crews for Baelius’ mining operations could afford housing in Fortune City. For a time, it was good, and people lived in prosperity and comfort without fear of their world collapsing in around them.
Ironically, that’s exactly what happened.
Before the War, it was not evident to any of those working for Baelius and Interstellar Benchmarks that there were dark plots unfolding beneath their noses. When Baelius’ “Efficiency Solution” entered its first phases, many of the most prosperous heads of mining operations and all the board members living within the city limits (which was all of them, as per the contract Baelius conned them into signing) mysteriously disappeared in one night. What happened next no one ever would have expected and the results were devastating.
In preparation for the The Uprising—a contingency that Baelius had prepared for—a wall had been built around Fortune City and also within to cordon off the area that would become Baelius’ Citadel. These walls were fashioned out of a Varium alloy and combined with complex machinery that could be manipulated by Baelius’ finest Tech Mages. The catch? They were built beneath the very city they were meant to protect, right under the feet of the citizens of that vast burg. When the time came, these walls erupted from beneath the soil and concrete and surged skyward, destroying whole sections of the city as they rose. Ingenious machines beneath the sprawling streets lowered whole city blocks beneath surface level, killing thousands of innocent people and creating a subterranean slum in the process. Within days the Tech Mages had manipulated the Varium alloy and machines to construct a shelf over top of the ruined city below. In no time, Baelius had destroyed the inner sanctum of Fortune City and created a fortress around his Tower.
The sections that dropped beneath the surface were home to many hulking skyscrapers before the transformation of the city took place. Though some toppled or crumpled in on themselves during the transformation, many remained standing as giant, subterranean struts that shouldered the new city above.
What was once a burgeoning hub of commerce and the epicenter of Delta V’s brief golden age, was now a bleak slum filled with slighted survivors trying desperately to make it beneath the dark, metal sky Baelius had wrought on them.
Meanwhile, on the surface, Fortune City’s transformation was complete. Though the outer sections still remained intact, the wall that had sprung up around its perimeter reduced the glam of the once beautiful city substantially. It now had the appearance of a prison or a fortress, which, in truth, was exactly what it had become.
During the War, Fortune City was the last location on the map to be invaded by The Uprising. Oz, The Lawman, and London Kajiura, the commander who led the Hoverbike divisions, worked in tandem to assault the city from all sides. In the meantime, another army was preparing a devastating strike from within.
The subterranean sectors now known as Old Fortune City yielded a fierce amalgam of saboteurs and computer hackers coming from backgrounds like demolition, engineering, and software development. These vengeful people rose up from their underground world and wreaked havoc on Baelius’ city defenses. While Oz and The Uprising attacked from without, the downtrodden denizens of Old Fortune City drove the knife deep from within. It was this unexpected resistance that made it possible to overrun The Citadel’s defenses in mere days.
When the warring forces were banished, many of the insurgents from Old Fortune City were exiled but some remained and slinked back beneath to their underground homes in hopes of avoiding reprisal. Many of them did escape punishment, hiding in safe-houses from Baelius’ Shadow Guard who now act to prevent outsiders from entering Old Fortune City and also to keep its unruly inhabitants beneath the surface.
In the time after the War, much development has taken place in Old Fortune City. A railway spirals up the outer sections of the fallen metropolis and there is an ingenious artificial lighting system designed to replicate the passing of day and night. Individual homes have the means to grow their own produce in special arboretums; water treatment happens on a very efficient scale, as well, preventing the spread of disease in the dank underworld. Nevertheless, it is still a dark and sorrowful prison and the Citadel above clatters with the steady beat of androids marching in terrible unison, on patrol in Baelius’ mighty fortress.
On the surface, post-War Fortune City is desperately trying to return to the days when it was a beacon of prosperity for the people of Delta V. Those days are over, though, and attempts to bring them back are wasted. It is now a vice-ridden, clotted circulatory system through which flows a cold mix of malice and greed with a touch of abject fear. Muggers, murderers, and crime lords run the city now and Baelius’ Administrators and Shadow Guard aren’t far removed from any of these groups. To go to Fortune City is asking for trouble. Of course, for some, trouble is their favorite meal on the menu. Bon apetit.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Delta V Locations: Jumerna
Jumerna was once an impressive metropolis complete with some of the finest schools and academies on Delta V. Before the War, it was a beacon of intellectual growth and a seemingly perfect balance of spiritual and philosophical interaction. Some of the most productive Varium mines on Delta V skirted the city and served to maintain Jumerna’s healthy economy and impressive infrastructure. Jumerna’s public transit system was even superior to Fortune City's in efficiency and coverage.
In the first days of the resistance, before The Uprising was established, Alydriah Descarl managed to turn Jumerna from a majestic and brilliant city to a hostile police state, rolling the streets with tanks and power armor and bleeding into the veins of Jumerna’s “Varium Ring” like poison. The towers and schools turned to prisons and interrogation centers. The trains ran prisoners instead of students and miners. A dark cloud hung over Jumerna and it became clear that the coming years would be the most harrowing anyone had ever seen.
Jumerna was eventually surrendered when Alydriah’s Shadow Guard returned to Fortune City to assist in the final defense. There wasn’t much left of its former glory by that point. The tomes and tomes of gathered knowledge had been destroyed by the Shadow Guard. Schools were burned, homes demolished. Jumerna had become the picked over husk of a giant organism ravaged by vicious and ignorant monsters.
Now, after the War and the return of the exiles, there is almost no reason to return to Jumerna other than to lament on the past. It is a sad and broken place where some truly unsavory characters lurk. To venture there is to risk life and limb for nothing but a glimpse at the wasted effort of hundreds of thousands of people who once greeted every day with the hope of a grand legacy for the coming generations of Delta V. The fall of Jumerna is one of the true tragedies of the War.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Delta V Locations: The BioDome
The Biological Preserve or "BioDome" is one of the last remaining zones on Delta V that retain its original natural beauty. Before Baelius' corporation, Interstellar Benchmarks, finally established an industrial presence on the planet's surface, Delta V was a lush, densely forested planet with several indigenous species who lived in harmony within the diverse ecosystem and worked to maintain and preserve the beauty of their green world.
The operation to claim Delta V was devastating to the native cultures inhabiting the Varium rich planet. Most were wiped out; others went into hiding but were quickly flushed out and exterminated. This was genocide on a global scale.
After the initial purge, some of Baelius’ constituents asked, out of guilt, that they preserve some of Delta V’s forested regions in case reconstitution of the ecology of the planet was made difficult because of strip-mining. In an attempt to appease the board members of Interstellar Benchmarks, Baelius cordoned off three zones on different continents to be kept intact with as little mining as possible. He even went so far as to erect enormous domes to protect specific areas within these preserved zones.
The domes were known as Biological Preserves and were heavily guarded to prevent independent strip-mining operations from and stripping them of life. On the surface, it would appear that Baelius’ intentions were benevolent and environmentally conscious. In truth, the purpose for these domes was much more devious.
One of the strange occurrences during the initial scouting and invasion of Delta V could only be described as a bizarre form of mind control which turned many of Baelius’ soldiers and researchers into zealots whose new agenda was to defend the planet at all costs. Questions arose as to how these human men and women were being turned against Baelius and his organization but no one of merit uncovered any reasonable answers. The final decision was to bombard the key hubs of insurrection from space. The damage was catastrophic but it appeared to wipe out the turncoat conspirators and whatever force was controlling their minds.
After the incident, Baelius became very interested in discovering what had caused his people to turn against him. Convinced that some species of plant or animal secreted a spore or bacteria that caused some type of bizarre cerebral mutation, he went to great lengths to reproduce the spectrum of life that grew in the areas he had previously bombarded. He even went so far as to place some of the last remaining intelligent, indigenous species in charge of maintaining the Biological Preserves where his research would be done.
Over time, the Preserves became overrun with nature and the guards he had posted there started to exhibit the same symptoms of mind control that Baelius had witnessed during the invasion of Delta V. They became aggressive and untrusting, protecting the Preserves with vigorous tenacity against anyone, no matter their reasoning for approaching. It was clear that these secret research locations had been retaken by the bizarre forces of life bound to the planet.
Eventually, Bealius lost all interest in organic life and gave up on the Biological Preserves. When he began the first phases of his “Efficiency Solution” it was his intent to destroy the Preserves. Then the War broke out and Baelius’ forces had to be focused on defending the Citadel, but not before he managed to demolish two of the three Preserves with charges similar to those used during the bombardment of the planet.
Still, the final Preserve in the north remained. Dubbed “The BioDome”, it stood all through the War and appeared to suffer no ill effects as a result of the fighting. In fact, life in and around that zone has spread almost out of control since no one dares to disturb the forest out of fear. Strange creatures now live there, possibly the result of Baelius’ research and the BioGuards who protect the dome are less aggressive now than they were before the War. They appear to be more concerned with maintaining the ecological balance within the BioDome than with any travelers who wish to sate their curiosity by visiting the lush forests there.
One of the last living indigenous inhabitants of Delta V resides there, as well. Xraal, an unusual quadruped, still operates in the BioDome, working with the BioGuards to maintain the natural order of Delta V’s best chance for renewal. It is said that Xraal is more than just a custodian but also something of an archivist. Some travelers have spun stories about a stairwell in the forest that leads down beneath the fern covered ground into dark hollows pulsing with dull blue light. Whether or not this is a drunken rumor is up for discussion, but if there is such a stairwell then one must wonder what secrets are beneath the BioDome and is Xraal the last living being with the answers to these mysteries?
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Mercenaries
Delta V was once a beacon for prosperity in the uncharted galaxies of space. During this brief and bright "golden age", space-faring peoples flocked from the stars to work for a man who promised a future of wealth and well-being. It was an interstellar gold-rush and travelers with dollar signs glistening in their eyes arrived in the thousands, daily, to work in Baelius' mines.
The labor force on Delta V grew at an alarming rate, and maintaining order was a difficult task. As strikes and riots occurred more and more frequently due to the poor treatment of the Varium miners and freighter crews, Baelius closed his fist tighter to regain control. Instead of shepherding his flock, instead he scattered them.
When the War finally exploded across the surface of Delta V, the laborers chose their sides and became an unlikely army of organized colonists. Utilizing the magnificent array of re-appropriated equipment at their disposal, these workers found themselves in control of trillions of dollars worth of machinery that served just as well in the role of war as it had in the role of excavation.
The War was disastrous for Baelius. His armada of invaluable mining machinery was pitted against itself on the field of battle, each machine facing off against another. The destruction was catastrophic. Thus, the banishment put a stop to the melee and an end to the bright and prosperous future of the laborers of Delta V's Varium mining industry.
When they finally returned from exile, the War had not ended for the slighted ex-miners. These people had families, friends, goals... no more. The world had changed in their absence and they had lost everything but their will to fight and the keys to the machines they had refitted for the battlefield.
Mercenaries all, they do the jobs that come their way. Sure, they still use the skills for which they were most valued before the war, but now it would seem, in a post-War Delta V, fighting is what pays the bills. Is that a mining laser, or an anatomy rearranger? Just ask a Mercenary.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Tactical Mercenary
Truly skilled warriors are able to learn from their opponents, and nowhere is this better exemplified than by the War Masters. Utilizing the brute strength, cunning, and technological prowess of their enemies, this player is truly the War Master...
A Tactical Mercenary is an intellectual and crafty mercenary who uses tricks to defeat the enemy. When Baelius took over the planet, some of the more intellectual citizens were forced to work in the mines, and were able to create tactical weaponry from the mining tools- such as the Toxic Grenade which has an unblockable Damage Over Time effect. Tactical Mercenaries are able to wear Mercenary armor and use swords or mauls.
Cinderella
Tech Mages
Wreathed in mystery, Tech Mages are an anomaly found only on the post-apocalyptic world of Delta V.
It was discovered early in the initial stages of colonization that some humans were affected in curious ways by direct contact with Varium under certain circumstances. They began to take on bizarre characteristics and even accumulate the unusual faculties necessary to work with and even "communicate" with machines in a seemingly fraternal way. Before long, they even developed the means to absorb electricity and maintain a substantial store of energy in their bodies, charged and ready, to unleash in a torrent that could power a failing generator back to life or send a crew of mining androids into overdrive.
Tech Mages are, essentially, living batteries.
Before The War, these powerful men and women were neutrally aligned, for the most part. They created organizations like churches, the hierarchy that of a religious group, and elected to remove themselves from the politics of Delta V. Of course, as War drew near, their valued neutrality found itself falling by the wayside. These Tech Mages were human before they were anything else (though some considered themselves to be gods, like Caden) and chose to use their powers to benefit the factions whom they associated the most.
At one point, you must remember, these Tech Mages were a godsend amongst labor crews. They walked among fields of machinery performing an unusual kind of maintenance that only they could muster. Attuned to the voices of the machines, Tech Mages kept them running and kept the miners working smoothly, day in and day out. Their friendships were ironclad with the miners and freighter pilots of Delta V. When these people turned their machines on one another, the Tech Mages were there to protect their friends, and, some say, even more-so to protect the machines that they had helped to maintain for so long.
In either case, the Tech Mages were not protected during the banishment. They too found themselves floundering in chaos worlds, exiled to the spaces between time. When they returned, it was to a world full of broken machines and failing computers. Work needed to be done, so to work they would attend. Now, Tech Mages across the pitted surface of Delta V work to bring the lifeless machines of a broken planet back from the dead. For what end? Creation? Destruction? Only time will tell.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Blood Mages
This fierce class is a brawler who’s not afraid to dish out the pain. The Blood Mage is more melee-focused than previous incarnations of the Mage, and not afraid to get their hands dirty...
The Blood Mage is the more aggressive and violent version of the Tech Mage. After being hardened by battle, some of the mages developed a lust for blood, and a balance between magic and melee. As a Blood Mage, you will be able to use the devastating Plasma Cannon, which includes a 25% chance for critical strike and ignores 20% of your opponent’s resistance. Blood Mages are able to wear Tech Mage armor and use swords or staffs.
The Exiles
The term "Exile" describes anyone banished during the War when Baelius' "Efficiency Solution" went into effect. Yet, only those who fought for the Uprising wear this badge with pride.
Throughout its history, the human race has proven time and again that it will not suffer an oppressive ruler. Baelius was no exception. The Uprising formed as a direct result of his tightening grip and the cries of "This will not stand!" shook Baelius' citadel walls and echoed through the mines. Uprising fought tooth and nail against the hardened Legion forces and their endless ranks of automated reinforcements. With Oz, an ex-Shock Trooper as their leader, the Uprising scratched inch by inch to the brink of victory.
Betrayal ended the siege of Baelius' grand Citadel and stole the lives of those closest to Oz. The final nail in the coffin came when the forces colliding in battle were banished to a realm between worlds. One of chaos and without time.
But now the Uprising has returned, proudly waving the Exile banner! For them, the War never ended and new leaders have risen to the challenge of freeing Delta V's people! The challenge now lies in unifying the Exile forces against a common foe.
So, Exile, are you prepared to fight for your freedom?
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
The Legion
The Legion are those loyal to Baelius and trust in their benevolent leader to rule Delta V. Before the War, Baelius' brutal methods of maintaining order caused a split amongst his labor-force. Those that dissented joined the Uprising, a rebellious group of brigands and profiteers who sought to form a coup against Baelius. Those who believed the resistance was the cause of Baelius' ruthless punishment formed The Legion. These loyalists were essentially fighting a two-front battle: They had to put down the Uprising where they could with one hand and steel themselves against the brutality of Baelius' totalitarian reprisal with the other.
Some say The Legion's staunch devotion is folly. Others believe The Legion are the hardened defenders of a renewed future of prosperity and peace on Delta V.
For The Legion, the return to Delta V from exile was the beginning of a new era. A new war has begun for them, one which they must not lose if they wish to see order restored to a broken and divided Delta V. The Legion will stand against the chaos-mongers and fight for a final victory on a world they wish to call home once again.
Will you fight for the future of Delta V? Will you fight for Baelius' forgotten army?
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
The Prologue
Delta V did not have a name until someone put a price tag on it.
The planet was the fifth chosen for seismic scans in an effort to find valuable minerals. Baelius, a powerful interstellar travel magnate, sought, through Project Delta, to increase the galactic influence of his organization. Interstellar strip mining was yielding enormous profits for Baelius’ benefactors, and the tycoon wished to dip into the honey pot as well. Within no time at all he had organized expert geological surveyors whom he hired to look for any rich deposits of tungsten, platinum, and even gold.
What they found was Varium*.
Baelius started Project Delta with funding from many different investors, but the initial funds would never have time to accumulate interest. Baelius’ profits, even after the first few years of the project, were already far in excess of the goals set by the financial committees of each company involved. Varium was more valuable than anyone could have ever imagined. A living metal. It was the stuff of science fiction.
In waves, massive jump-ships strode across the void to be part of a space-age gold rush; interstellar 49ers with dreams as bright and bold as any star. The global population of Delta V grew exponentially in only a few years and Baelius’ work force hit staggering numbers as people from across the galaxy arrived in search of fortune. All the while, Baelius’ bottom line grew healthily, as did his consituents’.
But Baelius was not satisfied. He saw far more potential in Delta V than any of his investors, and with the discovery of a strange new gene that granted certain humans a unique simpatico with electronic and mechanical devices he sought a new project to further increase profits and, of course, power.
For Baelius, much of the workforce needed to transport Varium from mine to port was unnecessary. Plans were made for an automated train system. On the other hand, why spend money on transporting materials over land when you can bend space and time?
Tech Mages had proven capable of teleporting themselves short distances with the help of machines. Machines that they had manipulated through the use of Varium as the primary constructive element. Enormous jump-ships had this same capability but needed massive drive systems to create the kind of quantum energy needed for a “jump” through space.
On the other hand, with the use of Varium, Baelius and his Tech Mages had discovered a simpler and more practical means to teleport nearly anything from place to place on a planetwide scale. The purpose? To eliminate the need for overland shipping and the labor force needed to run it.
But, of course, there was a problem.
The investors saw Baelius’ vision for the future of Delta V as a zealot’s fanatical dream. They felt that he had become obsessed with the ways of Tech Mages and their ability to manipulate the world around them. He had even gone so far as to have Tech Mage surgeons integrate mechanical augmentations onto his body. The investors were becoming uncomfortable and the warning signs were all laid out on the table. Baelius’ mind had clearly gone somewhere that most could not follow.
But now, it was too late.
Every major investor, including the original twelve organizations that placed their trust in Baelius’ Project Delta, had signed a contract with Baelius. In that contract there was a tiny stipulation regarding the ownership of a major share of the organization: You had to have permanent residence on Delta V.
Some wonder, now, if Baelius had planned this from the start. Some wonder if he was truly that calculating, if he truly had the foresight that was clearly exhibited by the decision to keep the investors so close to their investment.
When it became clear to Baelius that his constituents were going to take their money and run, he struck.
In one night Baelius’ Elite Guard rounded up the investors and threw them into gulags where they were tortured until the information Baelius needed regarding their money and their companies was drained from them like dingy water from a sponge.
Once his constituents had been taken care of, Baelius started a campaign to “cut spending.”
The years that followed were dark ones. Baelius made it impossible to leave Delta V, cutting the work force in two and training one half as his Military to enforce newly instituted slave labor. Slaves worked day and night to mine Varium for Baelius while soldiers looked on with a mixture of brainwashed contempt and residual self-loathing. Meanwhile, Baelius’ teleportation system was working without a hitch. Nearly.
The strain on the planet was clear. The magnetic fields created by machines capable of bending time and space were taking their toll on Delta V. A once lush and beautifully forested planet was slowly becoming a dust bowl. Endless fields of Varium strip mines and wastelands that sprawled toward the horizon with Teleportation Towers at their epicenter had befouled the planet’s surface. Soon, it would be all but unlivable for the human slaves on Delta V.
Of course, at this point profits had been optimized. The workers were slaves, and the Soldiers were kept in line with fear, receiving just enough incentive to keep them under control and loyal to their master, lest they disobey and be forced to join the slaves. Baelius’ power was now nearly absolute.
But humanity will only stay oppressed for so long. There is something that burns deep inside our souls. Something that drives us against the bonds of those who would enslave us. The massive labor force that Baelius had accumulated over years of beckoning with money-filled hands for all to migrate to Delta V was standing on its hind-legs again. Even Baelius’ brainwashed military had returned to its senses. The time had come for an uprising. The time had come for WAR.
Unfortunately, Baelius was prepared for this. A genius such as he would have thought of all possible contingencies. The war waged on for as long as Baelius would allow it, until finally he gave the order for a mass banishment from the surface of Delta V. Every Tech Mage loyal to Baelius worked together to dismiss hundreds of millions of Miners, Soldiers, and even other Tech Mages, from the planet. Using the teleportation system they had developed for transporting Varium, Baelius’ Tech Mages exiled the Uprising into unknown dimensions between time and space. Dimensions of chaos and darkness, where things were only meant to travel, never remain.
Baelius’ teleportation system was never intended as a prison. It was a link from one point to the next. A way to move valuable Varium shipments across the planet from mine to docking bay where they would be carried across the galaxy to buyers from all points of space.
When a door was opened on one end, another became unlocked somewhere else. It was only a matter of time before the knob turned.
Now we’ve returned from exile. Hundreds of millions of slaves and soldiers! And although the planet has moved on and the war is over for Delta V, it was never over for us! We’ve returned from realms of chaos with one intention: To bring that chaos to Baelius’ front door.
It’s time to finish this war.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Varium
Varium is a unique element with the properties of a metal and the qualities of a living organism. Unlike the metals found on the periodic table, Varium “grows” in a fashion similar to plants, it’s molecular structure going through a bizarre synthesis to replicate and increase in size and volume. It would appear that heat is the catalyst for growth, but Varium’s mysteries are far from being entirely unraveled. The most that can be said for this strange and desirable metal is that it is extraordinarily versatile and thusly yields value with no foreseeable ceiling.
BigTuna
Chief Writer
Epic Inventions LLC
Character Bio: Hank
Most citizens of Fortune City have come across this jolly fellow. Long before the War, a young Harrison "Hank" Acker had a dream, to become the greatest culinary artist the galaxy had ever known. He attended the most elite culinary schools, became a master patissier, and eventually traveled to Delta V. Never one to back away from a challenge, he designed and built his own kitchen- a custom oven built from an old drill engine, a rotary saw bread slicer, a liquid nitrogen deep freeze for ice cream. He set up the front of a building as a shop, where he could sell freshly-baked bread, ice cream and candies, hot coffee or tea, and of course the most wonderful selection of expertly-crafted pastries... all at a reasonable price! Baking is, of course, not without his dangers. Hank lost his eye when a subterranean mining vehicle caused an earthquake near the shop, causing the melted sugar threads Hank was spinning to decorate a croquembouche to fly into his face. After losing his leg in a horrible baking accident involving a pain au chocolat, Bienenstitch, and a whole lot of marzipan, he hired a local girl- Anya- to take over the front of the house, and occasionally summon medical care.
After the Exile, at Anya’s insistence, Hank found himself trading in his porkpies, fairy cakes, and chocolate babkas for swords, clubs, and guns. But still, he is able to sell cakes to Exiles- which has allowed him to make some renovations to the storefront, and dreams of a day when he can brush the dust off of his whisk and choux bag.
Cinderella
Character Bio: The Armor Hazard
You may have noticed that the first 2v1 boss you’ll be able to defeat is the Armor Hazard. To celebrate her return to Fortune City, Alydriah Descarl “commissioned” a pet from Fortune City’s Biological Researchers- in particular, a promising young scientist working on insects named Ella St. Alban (better known as Cinderella). She created this abomination created by transfecting a fetal BioHazard with a virus carrying genes of her beloved Armour Beetles. Cinderella barely survived delivering the thing to Descarl, but teaming together, two seasoned warriors may be able to defeat it. Cinderella says that the only way it can be killed, however, is to remove BOTH it's hearts...
Cinderella
Character Bio: The Imperial Tech Mage
Years before the rebellion on Delta V, Baelius ordered the formation of an elite group of Tech Mages who could enforce his will across his empire. The technology used to create these psychic assassins was still fairly new, so the dangerous process caused many volunteers to die before they could even be trained. Those that survived were very unstable, violent, ruthless, and intensely loyal to the Baelius.
After the incident that banished 80% of Delta V's population to a prison between dimensions, the Imperial Mages grew restless. Without new orders from Baelius, some chose to serve his underlings, such as Alydriah and Caden. Their specialized training made them ideal templates for Blood Mages, a battle-hardened and brutal form of Tech Mage.
Cinderella
Character Bio: Cinderella
Gracing the Biological Preserve with her presence is Ella St. Alban, better known as Cinderella (a nickname earned on account of her passionate nature, dark red hair, and unusual choice in footwear). A scientist studying the unique and precious remaining life on Delta V. She has endless compassion for living things (she is adamant that the Bio Hazards aren't mean- just hungry!), even when she has to open up their heads and conduct experiments on their brains. She is rarely seen without a Squidling, a gentle arboreal octopus-like creature.
Cinderella is responsible for the monstrous Armor Hazard. While working in Fortune City, her lab was half-destroyed by Alydriah Descarl's henchman, Administrator 11, who threatened to destroy her as well if she did not create a pet for his Mistress. After creating the Armor Hazard, Ella was nearly killed when the thing attacked her. Descarl generously allowed Ella to escape with her life, as well as what little laboratory equipment she could gather, and she fled to the Biodome.
She's set up a laboratory there, and she and Xraal are usually able to remain neutral and away from the major action. She spends much of her time collecting and studying the insect life. But action is never too far from anyone's life, and she's entered into uneasy partnerships with some of Delta V's famous faces- her father was not lax in educating his daughters in the ways of battle- and she will defend her loved ones to the death.
Cinderella
Delta V Locations: Old Fortune City
It’s unsurprising that many of the planet’s inhabitants wouldn’t know about Old Fortune City. Many years ago, before the scourge of Baelius, prospectors from all over the galaxy made their way to Delta V to mine her precious varium lodes. They called their little shanty town “Fortune City” because of the promise of untold riches. They built the city up from the few ramshackle tents, however its glory was short-lived. The varium lode they’d been mining was larger than previously anticipated, and the vein continued under the city. The settlement sunk beneath the surface of the planet, and was largely forgotten. Decades later- perhaps out of a desire to romanticize the harsh lifestyle of the prospector, perhaps out of an odd sentimentality- Baelius commissioned Fortune City to be rebuilt over the ruins of the old mining town. Now known as Old Fortune City, Oz and the other exiles were able to excavate enough of the town’s structures to use them as a base for their operations.
Now Old Fortune City is home to a Mysterious Stranger. Who is he? What is his purpose? Only time will solve this mystery...
Cinderella
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