02/01/2010 | 10:19 - 10:19 AM
Location: The Docks - Boardwalk, Brockton Bay
There were eyes on them.
"Hiding out and waiting for the end of the week is not an option." Their king said, holding unto one of the cups that came alongside the supplies that he too summoned alongside each and every single one of them: "But proudly proclaiming our goal is also not wise... Therefore, I've decided about establishing first contact with the world at large. In fact, I believe it would be wise to... pretend, play alongside the rules this world abides to, just for a little while."
He knew that they would look- His king explained it to him and his Shamans, but feeling the eyes of a hundred or more people as they walked through one of the most busy street he has ever had the opportunity to experience, seeing as he spent most of his life in the Jungles of Ashiinüdarƴ. His panther form calmly trekked through crowds of people that parted and gave way to him and his pride, a group of similar large felines- his fellow Shamans of the Untamed Wilds. As the Head Priest of the Church of the Untamed Wilds, it was his responsibility given by the emperor to know the lands surrouding his future empire, and given permission by his lord he gathered his fellow shamans and they received instructions of how to behave in this new world... For now, at least. 'But to see such hungry eyes from people I could tear apart without claws is... quite unnerving.' He thought, his black panther eyes narrowing against a curious man who got too close, warning him with a glare.
He was told he could check out the land, he was given explicit permission to bring all his fellow Shamans of the Untamed Wilds alongside him if he wished, all the thirteen Shamans that were given to him to care for and to bring up to speed- They all followed the Untamed Wilds, but they all had different Chosen Wild Forms that they coups take at will like him. Olivian, as the leader, he had the black panther form given to the most skilled hunters of the jungles! His second in command, Kenos, had taken upon the form of the mighty boar as his Chosen Form because of its endurance, concidentally he was also expressed more of his animal side even while in his base form with his rambunctious and boisterous personality. Jellokr, Jasmi, and Jezak all took upon the forms of bears, with Jellokr being a brown bear that represented the strength of his heart and body, Jasmi being a black bear representing his compassionate and merciful personality until pushed too far, and Jezak who took upon the white bear form to represent his utter ruthless and brutal nature. There were also Kazul who took upon the form of the lion for the pride he felt for his son, Azul who took upon the form of the mighty blue hawk due to his unusual affinity for the winds and the sky.
He did not frequently visit cities, but he knew that the sight of such different group of animals all walking together had to be an interesting sight to see.
"Woah- are they Biotinker creatures?"
"I don't think so?"
"That hawk is literally blue."
"...is that a green rhino?"
"It has a tree growing from its back!"
Ah, right.
The most unusal among them had to be the Old Man Bah. He had been a Shaman of the Untamed Wilds for so long that he had been rewarded differently from the rest of them due to how Old Man Bah had worshipped The Untamed Wilds. He would go through forests that had been damaged by wild fires and plant new trees, he would protect trees that had grown old enough to become Elementals, he would even go so far as to wipe out an entire city because of their crimes against nature! He was a tree man through and through, so his Chosen Form also showed such a thing as the rhino form that represented his unending (and quite stubborn) determination to follow the path he felt was right had a tree growing out of its back, roots going directly into his spine. He also had moss growing on his skin, which made him look green and give off a very particular scent of peace that put animals at ease.
That showed itself when birds landed upon his tree, only to fly away when they saw the blue hawk that was sitting there first.
"You there." Turning his face to look at the nearest person holding a strange shiny cube in their hands, he- A voice cut through his thoughts, a voice he recognized as the newest Priest that had been brought unto the services of their Emperor, a Priest that had been put in charge of speakikg directly to their minds. He paused and followed her instructions, repeating what he was hearing out loud: "Where's the nearest... fast food?"
"Uh- Did a panther just talk to me in a Nigerian accent- you know what? Not gonna question it. To answer you question, Mr. Panther, Fugly Bob's."
"Point me?"
The stranger pointed to a direction, and Olivian just turned to walk towards the direction pointed to him, uncaring for the looks they got. A squeaky voice suddenly whispered from behind his ear as Quokko, in his rat form said: "I can feel others looking at us, interested in us- its as the Emperor says, these so called heroes and villains are interested in us. They know we exist!" Quokko was the bravest man he has ever known, for his chosen form was that of a rat, the smallest and most wisest forms you could take as a Shaman of the Untamed Wilds because of the harsh trials the Untamed Wilds puts rats through thanks to their unique abilities to sense and know when danger is near them. Trials that they must face, and by the plentiful scars across Quokko's body, he overcame many trials! "They are already planning how to learn more about us, about what we can do-"
At that moment, all thirteen Shamans of the Untamed Wilds felt the voice of the Priestess of the Abyssal Mind Devourer whisper upon their minds, a flickering image within their minds that manifested before their eyes like a mirage in hot desert sands. Only they could see her, as she was using the network created by the Emperor to communicate: "Attention Wild Ones-" that was the name of their group that was composed of all Shamans of the Untamed Wilds and tasked with caring for the wilderness of the lands by the Emperor himself: "-It has come to our attention that there is a group of Heroes coming in your direction. Identified by the Emperor in his infinite wisdom, I give you their names and basic knowledge about them. The first is Armsmaster, the second is Dauntless, and the third is Velocity. You are thereby instructed to avoid confrontations unless attacked, if requested for an interview, you are to reject it." They did not react beyond the soft acknowledgement sent through the mental link that they all shared, soon packets of information about the three men who were coming to them infiltrated their minds.
The way this world categorized their powers was quite interesting- He and all his fellow shamans would be categorized as Changers, with other categorizations such as Blaster and Shaker for Azul, Thinker and Stranger for Quokko, Brute and Breaker for Old Man Bah, and he himself would be also categorized as Stranger due to his ability to hide in the shadows. By this world's culture and categorization of powers, they would be considered something called a Cluster Trigger, mostly due to the similar "Changer" power they had. The story behind their powers, or the reasoning for them, was that they were all from this Africa continent, having escaped some sort of Parahuman Warlord- which their Emperor would also be considered such.
Also, they now knew what "fast food" was, and every single one of them was disgusted by it- how could you take the remains of an animal and create such greasy abominations? That's a crime against both health and nature. But they did imply they'd go there by asking for directions... Better have that inevitable confrontation with the heroes in a public place, so as to not risk excessive retaliation by a group of people whose job is to protect the common folk.
And if confrontation is inevitable, he knows the Emperor will send reinforcements in the form of the newly created army of Dragons.
02/01/2010 | 11:19 - 11:19 AM
Location: Merchant's Drug Den, Trainyard, Northern Brockton Bay Area.
Finding a drug den was easier than he thought.
His first steps of conquering Brockton Bay to start his empire was simple: Establish a territory and protect it, but first he needed to hold his base for a week before he can upgrade his Cauldron of Monsters to the next rank and unlock new monsters and new sigils he could use- he hopes the next upgrade gives him something good enough, because he already has planned for how to establish himself and keep his territory without being seen as too much of a threat by everyone else. Especially the Triumvirate and their pet Thinker who can see the paths to every single outcome and chose the ones that lead to her victory. Or the Thinker they have that can see through multiple earths, or the Mover that can open portals to said parallel earths, or even the many capes that owe them favors.
Which is why he isn't going to use the Goblins for now.
Ellisburg has put the fear of goblins in the heart of people, with Nillbog being declared the Goblin King by the PRT and the entire world as a result- but, as it turns out, it was much worse in this world. The changes in Brockton Bay were quite prevalent from what Damien knew for certain due to the book, so he threw away that certainty and decided to do his own research.
Amelia Bloodworth, also originally known as Ami Dallon or Panacea by Damien, is actually the Red Queen that leads the Honored Ones after her father the Marquis and her mother Iron Rain were killed by Brandish also known as Carol Dallon, which caused her very public trigger event. Brandish tried to spin the story around as retaliation attack after her sister Fleur was killed by a member of the Empire Eighty-eight due to them foolishly unmasking themselves... This whole debacle led to the New Wave movement being condemned as an excuse to unmask capes, Brandish and all of the New Wave to be heavily disliked by Heroes and Villains alike, and having caused both the Red Queen's unmasking and trigger event Brandish was sent to the Birdcage due to public outrage. This led to Victoria Dallon triggering as well, and New Wave becoming a rather close-knit independent hero group. The Red Queen was raised by one of Marquis' surviving gang members, taught to lead and use her powers, becoming the only gang in Brockton Bay that was proudly LGBTQ friendly.
PHO seemed to quite like her even though it was known that she was a Biokinetic, mostly because of her work on Endbringer fights, leading to the mortality rate of Endbringer fights going down by 87% ever since she triggered. The Honored Ones have a large territory that cover most of Brockton Bay's commercial areas, leading to most minorities to living there under the protection of the gang. As far as the internet could tell him, Amelia Bloodworth was the most peaceful gang leader, because she only defended the territory she had, never going on the attacking side of the ever present gang war of Brockton Bay. She is also responsible for being one of the few people who can take the Butcher out without killing them.
Talking about the Butcher... Well, instead of Butcher XIV, it was now Butcher XX. The Teeth was responsible for one of the second most deadly events (not counting Endbringer Fights) that have ever happened in the United States- Known as The Morning of Blood, or Red Morning, Butcher XVIII managed to use his Master/Shaker power alongside Butcher XVI tinker power to spread the rage powder they could create from their fingertips all over Brockton Bay, leading to riots, killings, and extreme violence that led to the death of hundreds of citizens of Brockton Bay. Thankfully, the rage was only effective for a few hours thanks to the diminishing power of the tinkertech created with Butcher XVI power, so the city was not lost or completely wiped off of the map. But the streets were covered in red, with parents butchering their children and heroes killing those they were meant to save.
That day was only the second deadliest event not counting Endbringer fights- with 8,000 plus people dead, with 300 people triggering -because of the sheer disaster that Ellisburg was.
It was livestreamed to the entire US to watch as an army of green humanoid monsters swarmed the streets of Ellisburg, New York, and killed the citizens. A news helicopter had been at the place because of a fight between at the time a very famous hero by the name Splitter against a Case 53 villain that was his nemesis, but as the fight progressed into yet another victory for Splitter, the ground broke as giant green skinned monstrosities of amalgamated flesh and bone with thousands of legs and arms began to tear buildings apart and pull people into their gaping, hungry mouths. Nillbog made his debut by taking over the city's PRT building and using his power on the Wards on live televison, transforming them into monsters for all to see- and worse yet, they could use their powers still. Heroes and villains of the city were captured and turned into goblins, the famous Splitter ran away in disgrace while his nemesis stayed behind and rescued many people from a fate worse than death.
That was the turning point- the Triumvirate, the army, and the entirety of the Protectorate went to the city, but it was too late. Nillbog did something that isolated the city from the outside world, apparently he had a Tinker who he had turned that specialized in pocket dimensions, because the town of Ellisburg and all its 100,000 citizens was gone in an instant, leaving behind an impenetrable dome barrier around the city made by transparent crystals, showing the inside to the outside- People are now stationed at Ellisburg, tasked with watching as Nillbog makes his creations fight and breed, increasing his ever expanding army of monsters, just waiting for the day the barrier is inevitably lowered and Nillbog starts his invasion.
Of course precautions were taken, with the new Boston Protectorate rising star Tinker known as Bakudan who had a specialty in bombs planting several bombs lethal enough to hopefully wipe out Nillbog and all his monsters.
With such a thing happening, Damien had to take his work here a lot more carefully. The Protectorate and PRT will not take another Ellisburg happening, there's even rumors of precautions having been set in motion to prevent such a thing to happen again, with nukes being the most common answer. So... He needed to take things slower, and use only the more humanoid and less monstrous monsters he has, making sure that they can't be mistaken for monsters at all- so he can only use Priests, maybe other monsters in the future.
"..." He knew what next monster he wants.
Heroes.
"My King." A voice whispered inside his mind, making him pause just as another Priest entered the room- Right, they had a mission to fulfill. "The target has been apprehended, as you requested." Finding a specific drug den with several Priestesses of the Silver Moon to hide his group with illusions alongside a smaller group of Priests of the Masked Mistress that was sent to find the target he had in mind, was easy. He turned around to see one of the druggies of Brockton Bay, someone who he knew could be useful to him if given enough incentive.
Squealer.
She was asleep in the Priest's arms, her face covered by a blank white mask. "Very well, make sure to take her to join the others... We're quietly and quickly taking over the Merchants, tell April to make sure her love spells are strong enough." Ah, April. April Morwood, Head Priestess of the Church of the Lusting Heart, a Deity of Love and Obsession. She was pulled from the Cauldron when Damien focused on Mind, Love, Obsession, and Desire, which granted her and her group of Priests the ability to make people fall in love witj one another to the point of obsession! Of course this effect didn't last very long, but continuous exposure and continuous affirmation of the strong love between the two targets makes them very addicted to such love. The Merchants, the smallest but still a gang of Brockton Bay, was being Mastered to love and adore key targets that were instructed to make them servants of the Emperor of Monsters.
Skidmark- also known as Adam Mustain -needed a whole makeover, since his body was falling apart. He was flushed out of every addiction by the Everloving Hearth people too while the Lusting Heart people did their magic, giving him a whole new addiction to serving his future king at the behest of his new and quite stubborn lover, Jamas. She was quite devoted to her Emperor and was confident in her skills of turning the enemy into the ally with her body- and by the way things were going, it seems Skidmark doesn't have enough willpower to resist such temptress.
Squealer- also known as Sherrel Bailey -was taken in by both the Masked Mistress Priests as well as Kalzo, quite the lustful Priest of the Lusting Heart. He was eager to turn her into an asset to the Emperor just as she was going to be monitored by a Priest of the Masked Mistress due to her unusual power... In this world, her specialty is Vehicles and Automobiles. Meaning she can make vehicles that can drive themselves, and she made a goddamn mecha! That greatly interested the Church of the Masked Mistress, so they decided to keep an eye on her.
Mush- also known as Aiden Körlar -was easier to turn than Skidmark. He was, surprisingly, Bisexual! He was born quite deformed, with a face only a mother could love- and not even his mother did. Sadly, he grew up in foester care and was heavily bullied, which led to him being disgusted by his own appearance and wanting to hide- well, he did almost die too when a bunch of his bullies tried to "fix" his face with a crowbar, which made him trigger. He was very talkative when he felt the warm of the Everloving Hearth alongside the obsession he was granted to the twins Kalea and Kaelo of the Lusting Heart, which made him feel at home and overshare everything. It was pathetic, which both twins really enjoyed? Anyways, turning him into a loyal servant of his was going to be stupidly easy, seeing as having a place to belong was all he wanted.
Squirt (also known as Danny Kenotch)- yes, that was his name -was a cape Damien didn't know about before he started to research the Merchants. He was a teen that killed a PRT officer, or so people believed, by erasing him from existence. He was a All or Nothing Blaster who erased matter in a straight line up to 30 feet from him, he had no control over it besides pointing where he wanted it to go. He, as a male teen, was easy to corrupt- send in the MILF that was Erukea, and he became very docile.
Whirligig- also known as Katie Agassi - was yet another teen, but a girl this time! She was forced to join the Merchants once they found her using her powers, they got her addicted to a bunch of drugs and she gave up trying to escape- her power made things float around her in a swirling clockwise motion, anything weighting less than 10 pounds can spin really quickly, quick enough to momentarily break the sound barrier, but she needs time for that. She is classified as Shaker, her power could use a little more creativity but she was a teenager high out of her mind, so he just assigned her Kalevox of the Everloving Hearth, who was able to seduce her with friendship and therapy, since she was apparently Aroace and was not interested in sex or romance at all.
Fart Cloud (also known as Kevin Matt)- yes, that's his name and it is stupid -was a cape capable of creating this wide green smoke that made anyone inside incredibly high, like, tripping balls high. He was the Merchant's favorite boy, second in command after Skidmark and capable of a lot of destruction because anyone that gets high because of his mist is very susceptible to his orders, granting him a Shaker/Master rating of 7 due to his smoke being really fast at propagation. He was given to Moros, a big buff Priest of the Lusting Heart who promised to "train him right", much to the young man's fearful/lustful gaze. Damien was sure that he was enjoying his time with Moros right now.
Jackass- also known as Darius Dekon -was a Brute, both on his powerset and on his appearance, with a height of 7 feet and weighting about 100 pounds less than he should due to his drug addiction, Jackass was actually a very depressed man. He fell into drugs because of the way he triggered, losing everyone he loved because of Behemoth, being the only one to survive a building falling on top of his head, becoming a regenerator because of it. He also had a small Striker power that increased the amount of weight he could carry by a lot. Due to his personality, Damien assigned both a Priest of the Everloving Hearth and a Priest of the Lusting Heart, one to be a therapist and one to be a rather eager source of comfort... Let's just say that while Nova spoke to the man to help with his emotions, Wovan was a masochist who eagerly used his body to make the cape take out every single suppressed emotion on. He seemed happy with that...
Snowflame- also known as Jammie Wosh -made Damien pause and think that maybe he was connected to DC, but after a few moments of paranoia he dismissed it when he saw that the guy's power was throwing snowballs and creating a snow storm around him, a quite interesting Blaster/Shaker. Also, the snow? It was cocaine. He called himself "Snowflame" because his cocaine was highly, and i mean highly, flammable. He was assigned to Gorra, a rather big buff Priestess of the Lusting Heart. He was a big muscle mommy lover, apparently? Regardless, another one bit the dust.
Seenot- also known as Felicia Andrie -was the last cape member of the Merchants, and she was quite the potent Stranger. They almost missed her because her power is to make you think she wasn't there, but somewhere else. If you had enough evidence of her presence, you'd be able to know something was going on, but otherwise you'd never make he connection between her and the evidence itself, attributing it to other reasons. Thankfully, it only works on an area of 90 feet around her and also affects technology, Damien easily ignored her power by having other Priests see her from outside her range and communicate of her whereabouts, then he sent in a Priest of the Abyssal Mind Devourer to knock her out with a psionic mind spear. That also momentarily turned her power off, so that was a great discovery to make! Anyway, she got Lamarish as her own Priestess of the Lusting Heart, because she Seenot was a big lesbian disaster.
And, with love, Damiem conquered the Merchants while his other group of priests distracted the PRT and the other gangs.
Love wins, I guess.