Archon

25 Mar

Acknowledged expert in just about everything, Archon is a peak physical and mental specimen in just about every measurable way. His blue eyes blaze with confidence, and his selfless courage and quickness of action make him the poster boy for human potential. He is usually dressed for action in a white jacket that seems to physically repel dirt, dark-blue pants, and deep red, banded collar top. His compact multi-tool and hand-held computer are all he needs to supplement an impressive roster of skills.

INSIDER INFO: Archon could walk into any lab in the world tomorrow and be hired on the spot. He could walk into a chaotic bar fight and end it without mussing his hair. He could, and has, driven a car on two wheels through rush-hour traffic while being shot at by blaster bolts without scratching his car. It seems that the only weak spot in his roster of skills are of the social kind. He tends to be a bit socially naive, or at the very least, oblivious. This may be a result of having a difficult time connecting with ordinary people.

He has traveled the world honing his skills and knowledge, and worked for a period of time as a freelance detective and problem solver with his friend Gallows before joining the Protectorate. It is entirely likely that once the Protectorate ceases to be a challenge, he may move on again.

By the numbers

Identity: David Wenders (public)

Height: 6’3″

Birth Year: 1972

First Appearance: Cobalt City Blues

Nationality: USA (Chicago, IL)

Powers: Archon has world-class martial arts and fencing prowess, and superior strength, reflexes, and intellect. He knows over forty languages and dialects, a stunning array of physical skills from pottery to climbing, and holds advanced degrees in medicine, chemistry, physics, literature, engineering, and meteorology, and is well versed in dozens of other academic disciplines. He carries a powerful hand-held computer that he can use to hack even the most sophisticated computer systems in a hip pouch. He has a multi-tool kit that allows him to create or modify existing items to his needs. His jacket is a smart-fabric that repels dirt and stains, and can shift colors to pre-programmed patterns or color choice, or can run a camouflage routine to mask his location with a simple press of a control switch on his cuff.

Personal base of operations: Efficiency apartment, downtown Cobalt City

Team Affiliations: The Protectorate

Snowflake

24 Mar

The panda driving that armored towncar isn’t an illusion – it’s Snowflake, the hyper-evolved mechanic, pilot, and driver for The Protectorate. Having long worked around the fringes of the superhero community, he is not an uncommon sight around town. He is partial to cargo shorts and vintage band shirts–and is not known for his cheerful demeanor.

INSIDER INFO: Developed as part of an experimental program in China designed to prevent the extinction of pandas, Snowflake is thought to be the only one of his kind. His surly attitude is often cited as the reason the experiments stopped. He found his way to the US as part of a circus of crime, but turned the ringleader in to Golden Eagle when the circus hit Cobalt City. He has been attached to the local superhero community in a support capacity ever since. His fondness for firearms and his poor decision-making skills has led to a prohibition on gun ownership of any panda kind. He shares a bunk area with other support staff on the top floor of the Keep.

By the numbers

Identity: Snowflake (public)

Height: 5’2″

Birth Year: 1998

First Appearance: Chanson Noir

Nationality: China

Powers: Snowflake has no powers, but has been imprinted with advanced driving, piloting, and mechanical repair skills. He has a watch designed by Kara Sparx which can generate an illusion that makes him appear as a middle aged Caucasian male–convincing provided no one makes physical contact with him.

Personal base of operations: The Keep, downtown Cobalt City

Team Affiliations: Employee of The Protectorate

Gato Loco

23 Mar

The cycle-riding vigilante known as Gato Loco is considered an urban legend by much of Cobalt City, but the crime syndicates know to fear him. Racing through the streets clad in black leather with yowling cat symbol on the back, and a helmet shaped like a cat’s head, it is said that bullets cannot touch him, and his inhuman stare can strip your soul clean.

INSIDER INFO: Manuel de la Vega didn’t start as a hero. He was a homicide detective in Mexico City, taking part in illegal street races on his cycle in the off hours. He lived fast and dangerous, but he had too much integrity for the corruption pervading his department. While he built a case for internal affairs, he also turned his street racing gear and cycle into the frightning vissage of Gato Loco to deal with crimes outside his reach as a cop. Once the corruption case was made public, no department in Mexico was safe for him anymore. He transfered to the police department in Cobalt City instead, where he was partnered with Cobalt native Donnegal.

His trademark look is black motorcycle leathers and custom helmet with opaque faceplate. His sleek bike, Shadow, runs whisper silent and at speeds of over 200mph. Manuel de la Vega is the classic Latin playboy with an, at best, inexpert grasp of healthy romantic relationships. He is frequently linked romantically with Katherine “Wild Kat” Wilde. He wears soft leather blazers and slacks in warm earth tones, when on the job, but downtime is jeans, boots, and band t-shirts. He is a coffee fanatic, and favors Schrodinger’s Cup near the university over all other coffee houses in the city.

By the numbers

Identity: Manuel de la Vega (private)

Height: 6’2″

Birth Year: 1972

First Appearance: Masks

Nationality: Mexico (Mexico City)

Powers: Manuel himself has an uncontrolled gift of psychotelemetry which allows him to sense the past and sometimes future of objects with only a touch. Even without this gift, he is a talented detective, and adequate hand-to-hand fighter. His suit generates hundreds of tiny force-fields that absorb kinetic energy to protect him from crashes as well as bullets and other physical blows. The suit also grants him a slightly enhanced leap, doubing his normal distance. His helmet electronically masks his voice, contains low-light filters, internal gps and clock functions, and a built-in cellphone with voice dialing. He can also record what he’s seeing and hearing onto a mini-disk for evidence purposes.

Personal base of operations: Building in The Hollows with home on top floor, headquarters below on the 3rd floor, and the Kit Kat Club “gentleman’s club” on the ground floor.

Team Affiliations: Mysterious Five

Mister Grey

22 Mar

That mysterious gray figure in hat and long coat, perpetually cloaked in smoke isn’t a ghost–not exactly. The hero known as Mister Grey is a protector of the city, typically found in Karlsburg where he does everything in his power to crush the drug trade. Quick to vanish in a cloud of ash and then re-form where you least expect him, he most closely resembles the Invisible Man, wrapped in bandages beneath hat, coat, gloves, and goggles.

INSIDER INFO: At the dawn of the Jazz age in Cobalt City, Simon Floyd was a rising talent, a pianist with few equals. But when he witnessed a mob hit in 1931, he was eliminated and cremated to avoid complications. His lover, a singer as well as a voodoo practitioner, tried to bring him back from the dead, but it was too late. He was already ash, firmly contained within an urn behind the bar at the Marco Polo.

Over 70 years later, Wild Kat discovered him while converting the Marco Polo to her own headquarters. A true man out of time, he quickly bonded with the first several people to show him any kindness and connect with him, especially Wild Kat, the Tesla Twins, and Gato Loco. While he appears to wear the fedora, coat, and wraps, he is entirely a construct of ash; part ghost, part failed zombie, haunted by the past and uncertain of what the future holds. He has a small jazz combo that plays gigs around Cobalt City. He has also built a web of informants among other displaced and discarded people around Cobalt City. Called the Perdido Street Irregulars, they constantly feed him inside information about what is going on at the street level of the city, both legal and illegal.

By the numbers

Identity: Simon Floyd (public – deceased)

Height: 5’5”

Birth Year: 1894

First Appearance: Chanson Noir

Nationality: British (Dover)

Powers: As he is technically undead, Mister Grey no longer requires food, water, air, or sleep. With a body made of animated ash, most damage simply passes through him or displaces his physical shape, leaving him vulnerable only to high winds. He can dissolve into a cloud of ash for concealment, or stretch long distances for faster speed. He can condense his ash down to hit with force just beyond normal human maximum. He can invade the lungs of breathing, organic beings and force the air out, knocking them unconscious, or he can take mental possession of them. His ash particles can corrode solid materials over time, and can absorb and neutralize magic with extended exposure.

Personal base of operations: The Keep in downtown Cobalt City

Team Affiliations: Mysterious Five (founding member), Protectorate.

You've already proven yourself a criminal. Do not endeavor to add "fool" to that charge as well.

Louis Malenfant

21 Mar

Madman to many and occult researcher to others, the man known as Louis Malenfant is no one’s hero. Marked at birth as a whipping boy of the fates, his lengthy study of the dark arts has left him no longer firmly tethered to our world. Of average height with thinning brown hair, weak chin, dishwater gray eyes, shoulders slouched in perpetual defeat, and a pronounced spare tire, he rarely warrants a second look. The unsettling way he casts no shadow or reflection ensures that few glances linger more than the barest of seconds.

INSIDER INFO: Louis Malenfant is the worldly anchor to the cosmic entity known as the King in Yellow. As an occultist, Malenfant is well-versed if more than a bit deranged, but his connection to the avatar of madness and mental corruption gives him significant protection. The two cannot exist on the same plane at the same time, and are best expressed as two ends of a thaumaturgic wormhole, the ends of which can be switched at will.

The King in Yellow is a humanoid figure approximately 10′ in high (though this varies), clad in wraps and robes of silk. He wears an intricately carved bone helm that sweeps backwards from the head like a tusk, and a silver chain hung with charms connects the tip of the helm to a pale yellow veil that covers much of his face. Above the veil, the eyes are white and dead. The yellow tone of his clothing is an unhealthy shade; the color of nicotine stains on a baby’s fingers, of curdled milk, of leprosy and madness.

By the numbers

Identity: Louis Malenfant (public)

Height: 5’5”

Birth Year: 1972

First Appearance: Chanson Noir

Nationality: USA (Cobalt City)

Powers: Louis Malenfant has finely honed skills as an occultist, with extensive knowledge of the extra-dimensional space known as The Coil, and denizens of those worlds. If he has any other powers, he has yet to display them. His primary power is to serve as a conduit to the King in Yellow, a god-like being of crushing, mind-bending presence, and unknown abilities.

Personal base of operations: A crumbling Georgian-style home in Karlsburg neighborhood, Cobalt City, and by extension, the lost city of Far Carcosa.

"Not right? No, nothing has been right for some time now."

 

 

Libertine

21 Feb

There have been three Libertines in Cobalt City’s history, the first in the late 1800′s, the second in the years between World Wars, and the third emerging at the dawn of the 21st century. While the first two incarnations were male, the new Libertine is decidedly female, though the costume has not changed. Wearing an ornate gold mask that obscures his (or her) entire face and a flowing crimson cloak over a variety of matching period outfits. Libertine is rumored to be able to read minds, implant desires and suggestions, and weave illusions. There is also evidence that she has crude telekinetic abilities as well.

INSIDER INFO: The current Libertine took over the costume and identity of this hero simply because no one else was using it. With the previous Libertine long gone (retired decades ago), no one has bothered to tell her she can’t use the name. She was originally brought on to join the Protectorate, the premiere superhero team in Cobalt City, but was quickly knocked unconscious when their press conference was attacked. She was put on the reserves list instead and has been frustrated by her (lack of) career growth since.

In regular life, she’s a lithe, tattooed bike messenger with short hair and a fondness for bare-midriff shirts that show off the tribal-style rhinoceros beetle tattoo around her navel. She has pale green eyes and straight, light, brown hair.

By the numbers

Identity: Rachel Czerny (private)

Height: 5’5”

Birth Year: 1987

First Appearance: Cobalt City Blues

Nationality: U.S.A. (Cleveland, OH)

Powers: Libertine is a natural mentalist, with the ability to read minds, implant desires and suggestions, and weave limited-range illusions. She also possesses rudimentary telekinesis which allows her to float, and lets her repel physical attacks, provided she can see them coming.

Personal base of operations: Apartment in Cannonade neighborhood, Cobalt City

Team Affiliations: Protectorate (reserves)

Doctor Shadow

15 Feb

The sorcerer known as Doctor Shadow is rumored to have existed for several thousand years under a variety of different guises and names. Dark and mysterious, he is currently considered Cobalt City’s creepiest mystery man. Silent and brooding in public, he is a master of dark magics with an aversion to sunlight. He is never seen out of his heavily hooded black cloak with a scarab clasp.

INSIDER INFO: Doctor Shadow has been returning to Cobalt City for a few years at a time every few decades since the early 1800′s, always under a different identity. He has been passing himself off as various scions of the mysterious Umbra family for 200 years, but his true name is lost to the sands of time. Trained as a priest of Set, he was caught up in a conflict between Gods during the reign of Ramses II in ancient Egypt, wherein he was cursed with his albinism and light sensitivity and made unwelcome in the Halls of the Dead. He turned this curse into a blessing, and resolved to study the arcane arts, a practice that continues to this day. He is a firm believer in minimizing the force of dark magics in the world, and will frequently travel to wherever he is called. For now, that places him in Cobalt City.

In a hooded black cloak to hide his face in perpetual shadow, with golden borders on both cloak and hood. His clothing is a dark tunic, gathered at the waist with a golden sash, and black leggings. He bears a big medallion around his neck, inlaid with symbols of an arcane nature. He uses a minor glamor to color his hair and eyes, but it does nothing to reduce the light sensitivity.

By the numbers

Identity: Seth Umbra (private, current name)

Height: 5’6”

Birth Year: 1249 BCE

First Appearance: Cobalt City Timeslip “The War at Home”

Nationality: Egypt

Powers: Doctor Shadow is a powerful sorcerer cursed with immortality and a sensitivity to sunlight. His powers are spell-based and include telekinesis (shields, blasts, and powerful strength at a distance), telepathy, flight, invisibility, the ability to see and pass through solid matter, and the ability to open gates between dimensions. He no longer needs to sleep, drink, eat, or breathe, but does so to keep up appearances.

Personal base of operations: “Family” estate in Regency Heights neighborhood, Cobalt City

Team Affiliations: Protectorate

I've see more than you can imagine in the last 3,000 years!

Knockabout

12 Feb

Rarely seen without an expensive, black 3-piece suit, Knockabout is the soft-spoken master of gravity, sound, and kinetic force. This transplant from the technologically superior African kingdom of D’habu is considered one of the most powerful heroes in Cobalt City.

INSIDER INFO: Once part of the king’s honor guard, the Ku’whinde, in D’habu, Knockabout is a man with great responsibilities and an inherent nobility that knows little equal. As Edirin Okoloko, he was exposed to an explosive dose of his country’s prized sacred metal. This material impregnated his muscle tissue, enabling him to finely sense fields of vibration, gravity, kinetic energy, and sound, controlling them with only a thought. This gives him the added ability to create force-fields that protect him, and his beloved suits, from most damage. It is unknown how many individual targets he can manipulate when concentrating, but field tests indicate that the number is huge. While not particularly strong, he is an exceptionally gifted wrestler, and is not to be underestimated in close-quarters combat.

By the numbers

Identity: Edirin Okoloko (private)

Height: 6’2”

Birth Year: 1974

First Appearance: Chanson Noir

Nationality: Shishwila Valley (D’habu)

Powers: Knockabout uses the metal embedded in his body to control gravity, sound, and kinetic force. This enables him to pin an opponent beneath their own greatly increased weight, or send them into orbit, if he so chooses. He can sap the kinetic force from a cannonball or impart the force of a freight train into a tossed coin with little more than a thought. His sound control is fine enough that he can hear anything within line of sight if he cares to, and can project a whisper with the same unerring accuracy.

Personal base of operations: Luxury condo in Parkside neighborhood, Cobalt City

Team Affiliations: Protectorate

Kara Sparx & Lumien

9 Feb

She may look like a pulp-era hero with her rocket pack, goggles, and zap guns, but Kara Sparx is a bit more pragmatic. After some shady associations with the Society of Evil Geniuses, she and her robot companion, Lumien, stick to the fringes, working as support staff for a variety of heroes and last-chance saviors to those in Cobalt City with no other choice.

INSIDER INFO: With only limited duty as a crime-fighter, Kara Sparx is primarily an inventor and engineer. Her scientific interest is optical theory and robotics, passions she combined to create her robot companion Lumien. She makes her living doing light shows for concerts and private events, but has been known to strap on her goggles, jet pack, leather aviator jacket, and twin zap guns when circumstances call for it. She keeps her dark hair cut boyishly short, and wears contacts rather than hide her warm, brown eyes behind glasses.

Kara’s all-but constant companion, the massive, lens-studded robot known as Lumien possesses limited AI capabilities to better serve his primary duties as a hologram projector. In his natural form, he is an eight-foot humanoid made of burnished brass with countless lenses of varying sizes covering his body. Most people never see his natural state, as he projects a series of illusory disguises. He has a variety of wide-area illusion programs he can access at any given time, and has used them for purposes of entertainment as well as crowd control on several occasions. He is fiercely loyal to and frequently in love with his creator, Kara.

By the numbers

Identity: Kara Sparx (public)

Height: Kara – 5’2” Lumien – 8’1″

Birth Year: 1984

First Appearance: Cobalt City Timeslip

Nationality: U.S.A. (Taos, NM)

Powers: Kara possesses no powers other than a highly inventive mind. She has a pair of zap guns that fire electrical discharges, a high-speed rocket pack, and goggles with enhanced filters keyed to her robot Lumien. Lumien has considerable strength for practical purposes, but his primary powers are the generation of complex, large-scale illusory holograms with corresponding audio cues. He can also adjust his optics to provide blinding or disorienting flashes of light.

Personal base of operations: Small rental home in Morriston neighborhood, Cobalt City

Team Affiliations: Society of Evil Geniuses (former), Mysterious Five (former)

Me, a hero? You must be desperate!

Gallows

6 Feb

The teleporter known as Gallows is a mystery – here one moment, gone the next – his body taking the appearance of a night sky full of stars as he vanishes. Capable of sending problems far away with little more than a thought, Gallows is essential not only for tactical situations, but also to remove innocents from harm’s way in the thick of battle.

INSIDER INFO: The name John Gallows is an assumed name, one he chose when his life turned sideways. While visiting a friend at college, he got drunk and went for a walk, ending up on a desolate hilltop. There, the aliens found him. The man who would become John Gallows was abducted, and a chunk of time was lost. When he awoke on the hilltop he had been given his teleportation abilities and an instinctual understanding of how to use them. He does not know the reason why he has these powers, and recalls very little of his abduction.

Gallows found himself in the company of Archon while he attempted to hone his powers. They two of them traveled internationally, working as a crime-fighting duo before going to Cobalt City to join the Protectorate. Gallows wears jeans and a t-shirt under a brown leather jacket. When he activates his powers, his torso becomes a silhouette showing a vast field of stars.

By the numbers

Identity: John Gallows (private)

Height: 6’2”

Birth Year: 1978

First Appearance: Cobalt City Blues

Nationality: U.S.A. (Lake Chelan, WA)

Powers: Gallows has the ability to teleport himself and anyone/anything he’s touching to any place he has seen. He can also teleport people and things within his line of sight to a place of his choosing.

Personal base of operations: The Keep in Downtown, Cobalt City

Team Affiliations: Protectorate

← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.