Living Legends
Rogue Jaguar - The Great Voice
Tenec Alyn
Alien Overlord?
Description:
Tenec Alyn is best known as being the longest-lived and most successful CEO in the entire Age of Corporations. He appeared quite early and remained the CEO of his Corporation, Trans-Di, Inc., until a time very near the end of the AoC, where he and the entire company withdrew from this realm. Alyn is a Trans-Dimensional being, coming from a different universe entirely. Few know this, but Alyn is a celestial being, a combination of divine and profane. The child of an unwitting demon and an angel spy from a universe of celestial spawn, Alyn and his company took place in the quelling of an uprising of his world's Hell (led by his own father) and was, in gratitude, appointed the ambassador between Heaven and Hell. Having two high-profile jobs, Alyn is a very busy man and Trans-Di is mainly subsidiary-run. It would not be unheard of, however, for PCs to meet Alyn if they perform especially noteworthy duties for Trans-Di or for NW in general (a city for which Alyn has a particularly soft spot in his bi-colored heart).
Appearance and Personality:
Tenec Alyn is a very handsome man of average stature and build but severe features. He has jet-black hair and pale skin, and wears a 20th century-style business suit. He almost always wears his weapons prominently, which are a light angelic rapier and a heavy demon handgun. After they are invented, Alyn wears a bulletshield. Alyn is a reserved but friendly man, and is very fair. Being an ambassador, he does not like to offend and will be very accommodating until he has nothing more to gain in a situation. When in combat, Alyn is unerringly expressionless and registers neither satisfaction nor desperation.
Timeline:
Alyn is a permanent fixture of the AoC. He is present for its inception and leaves just before its demise.
Stat Notes: Legendary Power, remarkable network, inhuman social attr., incredible physical attr., inhuman skill- melee combat (sword/gun), Inhuman magic- Reflexive Celestial (holy/unholy), remarkable magic- Prayer/Infernal Incantation
John Doxen
Everyman Gambler and CEO
Description:
John Doxen is one of the few people to achive Legend status mostly through luck and business acumen. His megacorporation, Ace Eight, is the major manufacturer of non-combat, non-electronic consumer goods in New Washington, from furniture to cleaning supplies to office products to durable goods like cars. Legend has it that the eight different corporations that initially formed Ace Eight were won by Doxen in a poker game with a hand consisting of two aces and two eights (all black cards), with the nine of diamonds as the last card. (Accordingly, Ace Eight has that poker hand as its symbol in formal circumstances, or, in a more casual setting, the company is symbolized by a black spade with a red number 8 on it.)
This luck has characterized Doxen's life. Showing no special magickal or martial abilities, and by all accounts a normal human being in every way, he has shown a knack for capitalizing on current trends, and in many cases has been saved from disaster and/or corporate takeover by amazing luck, usually bad luck on the part of those who would oppose him. (One especially notable incident involved a would-be assassin literally tripping over his own bootlaces and impaling himself on his poisoned blade.) It is also rumored that this bad luck haunts his companions; while he gets richer and richer, his inner circle seems to change on a nearly weekly bases due to constant disasters and personal tragedies that seem to haunt anyone who associates too closely with him.
Doxen's luck still holds; he runs a private invite-only casino that people are literally dying to get into, and the house NEVER loses at the end of the day.
Appearance and Personality:
Doxen looks like the everyman on the street, favoring durable but cheap suits right off the rack, and displaying the sort of dusky-skinned racial mix that characterizes Washingtonian humanity. He is often mistaken for just another corporate drone, and likes it that way. He is polite but personable, and very generous with his money, often giving extravagant gifts to his low-level employees or people he bumps into on the street. On the other hand, he becomes oddly cold and calculating whenever he gets involved in a game of chance, and never shows any mercy when gambling is involved.
Timeline:
Doxen survives nearly as long as Alyn, mostly due to the medical magick and technology he can afford.
Stat Notes: Legendary luck, legendary business prowess, legendary financial resources. Jinx for his closest companions and anyone who would oppose him. Otherwise normal in every way.
Melchior Emmerich
Archmage Teacher
Description:
Melchior Emmerich, more than any other man, earned his title as Legend. He was one of the seven great archmages of the snowfall, and is arguably the most powerful and influential as well. Archmage Emmerich is one of the rare humans whose magic alone kept him alive for centuries, and he used those centuries to better effect than any of his fellows. In 2073, Emmerich and his fellows attempted to found an old-fashioned Wizard's Enclave, but the attempt was defeated by the progressive and diverse nature of modern magic. The archmages parted ways and several died, but Emmerich was determined to continue his efforts to aid the world in learning this new and dangerous art. Near the founding of New Washington and the later beginning of the official Age of Corporations, Emmerich founded a small magic college and made plans for its expansion. Due to expert handling by its founder (unlike most esteemed mages, Emmerich was not above enrolling in management courses) and superb professors, the little school grew quickly and soon evolved into the establishment later known as Ethertech University. Emmerich held his position as headmaster at Ethertech for centuries, only abdicating his role when he had trained a capable apprentice, Laurelle Lee, late in the middle of the AoC. He died almost immediately after.
Appearance and Personality:
Melchior Emmerich very much has the look of the classic archmage about him; he typically wears dark blue robes and a wizard's hat when he is going out. He radiates “friendly old man", and although he makes no effort to follow technological trends, he has a healthy respect for technology and tends to find some gadget every decade or so that delights him. In all of his long life, Emmerich claims to have found no device as innovative as the nano-shower. Emmerich is infuriatingly wise and even more infuriatingly casual concerning his wisdom, and he seems to be quite happy to appear the doddering old fool to anyone whom he realizes will not listen to him. Those he does business with call him “Archmage Emmerich", students call him “Headmaster Melchior", his associates merely call him “Melchior", and he insists that anyone he likes call him “Mel". Having this honor is considered as distinguished (if not more so) as having an Ethertech degree.
Timeline:
From the Snowfall to the Middle of the AoC did Archmage Emmerich live.
Stat Notes: Legendary magic- Wizardry (component magic), Legendary magic- Rituals, Incredible magic- Elven Rune and Elven Incantation, Remarkable magic- most other types, Inhuman Power, Incredible mental attr.
Nathan Gerson
Genius Monkey
Description:
Dr. Nathan Gerson, though not human, is credited with the discovery and cataloguing of the 'magic' known as Technomancy. The bizarre ability that humans cultivated in themselves to transfer their sentience into the technology they create had baffled scientists to this point in history, and it was not until the monkey Zoomorph named Nathan Gerson began his comparative studies between the Morph birthright magic of natural attunement and the strange human ability he dubbed “Technomancy” that this ability was even thought of as magic. Even by the end of the AoC, Technomancy remained so far removed from other magic that Ethertech University did not bother trying to teach it. It seemed as though those who actively sought to learn technomancy would undoubtedly be the least successful; it was only those who sought to delve into technology of their own accord who developed it. Indeed, after studying it through research and example for many years, Dr. Gerson became the first non-human ever to achieve adept level at Technomancy, and proceeded to reach the highest level of the magic ever attained by a nonhuman. Dr. Gerson died at the ripe old age of 134, still puttering about with his inventions and research when heart failure finally took his life.
Appearance and Personality:
Dr. Gerson's genes favored his monkey side, and the doctor truly looked much more monkey than man. His face, however, was quite humanlike in expression, and those who worked with him were unfailingly victim to what they referred to as his “Death Glare". Dr. Gerson resented working with closed-minded people, and The Glare was most often given to lab assistants who would try in vain to assert what might and might not be possible. Such assertions were seldom raised twice, and those that were generally brought rampant changes of staff with them. Other than this failing, Dr. Gerson was agreeable, and quick-minded enough that he was capable of carrying on full conversations while working on projects with all four limbs (hanging, of course, from his tail).
Timeline:
Dr. Gerson lived in the early AoC.
Stat Notes: Incredible mental attr., inhuman magic- attunement, inhuman magic- technomancy, unusual physical attr.
Orelyn-Neimuth
Archmage Master
Description:
Orelyn-Neimuth was one of the seven great Archmages of the snowfall, and is a high-elf. A severe traditionalist, Neimuth was highly resentful of the Enclave's failure, and took it very personally. Although for all intents and purposes a good man, Neimuth hated technology and could not stand to see the rebuilding of the United States' civilization in the face of what he regarded as a lesson from Varius itself. Although not openly racist, Neimuth also resented the extent to which the modern world was populated by humans and so decided to remove himself from it. He selected leaders from the elven population of the ruined USA and western europe, and moved into the barren monster-laden landscapes of Canada. He did not rule, but merely watched, taught, and oversaw as the elven civilizations there flourished. He died at the inception of the late AoC, but the circumstances are muddy.
Appearance and Personality:
As most high-elves, Orelyn-Neimuth is tall, thin, and fair-skinned. His hair is white, and he has sharp, severe eyebrows and a pointed chin. He wears Archmage's robes, usually well-adorned with indications of his power and prestige. Orelyn-Neimuth is proud, but only within reason; he is not arrogant or hypocritical. He is simply not humble, nor willing to downplay his immense power, skill, or knowledge. He is not overly fond of humans and loathes anything with orcish stock (which he can smell). In the early AoC, he is disdainful of the Morph races, but gains respect for them as he learns of the civilization they build and defend in the American midwest.
Timeline:
Orelyn-Neimuth was present at the snowfall, and lived through to the middle of the AoC. It is believed that he was murdered.
Stat Notes: Legendary mental attr., legendary magic- All Elven (incantation, runic, reflexive, ritual)
Blue Steel
The Beast
Description:
Blue Steel is, many believe, one of the major forces of the apocalypse. This is correct. The end times, however, are quite a ways off, and in the meantime Blue Steel is one of the most feared forces of nature on Varius. He had been quiet during the Magicless Ages, but has returned with a vengeance in these modern days. Vengeance is an appropriate word, too; little else drives the mad beast. He slays according to a perverse personal moral code, and may be fair one moment and insanely unfair the next. He is indestructible and best left alone. It is said that at any time, a few mortals on Varius are granted immunity and a measure of respect from Blue Steel, but this has never been confirmed.
Appearance and Personality:
Blue Steel appears how it wishes, but seems to favor the form of a male of indiscriminate race in a suit of blue metal armor. Blue Steel is vindictive, judgmental, and deadly, not to mention completely insane. If he becomes involved in a story, PCs are urged to curb any pejorative behavior in his presence-- hypocrisy is not a sin Blue Steel is capable of seeing in himself.
Timeline:
There is no timeline for an apocalyptic legend.
Stat Notes: Legendary physical attr., legendary magic- bluesteel, unmitigated madness and torment, absolute invulnerability
Legends Past
Alec Gainsborough
Shadowflame
Description:
Generally described as the first superhero of the modern age, Alec Gainsborough is perhaps the most revered and respected post-snowfall legend of any. Though Alec was not directly involved with many of the major occurrences of the Age of Corporations, he set a good many into motion, such as the Guardian project, modern law enforcement and the Shadowflame organization. In addition, his exploits are quite well-recorded, and are truly the stuff of legend. Gainsborough's disappearances are shrouded in mystery and the stories of them are yet to be uncovered.
Appearance and Personality:
Alec always had a very young look about him, as his adventures took place when he was between the ages of 18-25. He had brown hair dyed blond, and a muscular but relatively small build. Alec typically wore a tan trenchcoat and fedora to match (which he lost frequently) over a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. His blade, which is now on display in the lobby of the Shadowflame headquarters, is a bastard sword of considerable heft and is simple but elegant.
Timeline:
Alec Gainsborough was a snowfall hero.
Stat Notes: Legendary physical attr., legendary magic- physical adeptness, incredible skill- two-handed sword
Death Wing
Fallen
Description:
Death Wing is as pervasive a legend in Varius as King Arthur on Earth. Death Wing was said to be a duty-bound killer, a fallen angel from heaven whose wings had been stripped away to bone. Men sought him for wrongs long gone, and he would kill them out of some strange compulsion, creating new wrongs for which he would be hunted. A little boy, orphaned by Death Wing, followed him, somehow seeing hope in the dead soul of the fallen angel. It is said that Death Wing's compassion was rekindled by the boy, whom he raised as a son and warrior. At the end of the tragic story, Death Wing dies and the boy with him, illustrating the cruelties and unforgiving nature of humanity.
But the story is not accurate. The boy lived. His line has passed Death Wing's blade, the Angel Wing, down from generation to generation. The line ultimately ended violently during the Renaissance, and the blade was lost. Nonetheless, it exists somewhere in Varius, and could yet be found.
Appearance and Personality:
Death Wing is a haggard, gaunt man with massive wing-bones jutting from his back. He keeps his hair just short enough that it can still cover his haunted eyes, which are the color of clouds. He wears a light mail coat. The bases of his wings are still covered in a thin coat of feathers and gore. When he takes a life, they smolder a bit. If he continues to kill, the feathers will catch fire and the bones will become hot. If he is killing many at once, he will blossom wings of flame.
The Angel Wing is a beautiful sword fashioned, it is said, from the wing bone of an angel Death Wing slew. It is pearl-white and has a rounded knob near its hilt, presumably the joint of the poor angel's wing. The Angel Wing is not sharp but at the tip, but it can cut through any material like a hot knife thorough butter.
The boy he traveled with has never been described well. It is said he had black hair.
Timeline:
Death Wing's story took place in Varius's middle ages.
Sasha
The Greatest Blade who ever carried steel
Description:
The story of Swordswoman Sasha is told many times by any swordmage who is ever asked of it, and also by those who are not. Sasha is generally agreed to be the finest wielder of a blade ever to exist in Varius, and even the finest fencers and swordmages dare not compare themselves to her; those who have suffer ridicule for the rest of their lives. It is said that it was she who first thought to seek a soul in blades, and was the first to take hold of them. Sasha is an old-style hero, honorable only in her own way and taking her glory through combat. Hers is a story of adventure and justice, outlining her uncanny talent with the blade and escape from forced marriage, then subsequent defeat of her evil betrothed's army at the end of her blade and no help from her father. It is said that Sasha did not die in battle or of eld, but subsumed her spirit into her blade when she knew her adventure was over. It is said that there is a blade somewhere in the world named Sasha, and many swordmages seek to be the one who discovers it.
Appearance and Personality:
Sasha was apparently a half-elf, and an extraordinarily beautiful one at that. She had beautiful green eyes and a long braid of copper hair that went all the way down to her waist. She fought primarily with and wore a european longsword, but it is said that she could wield a blade of any type as though she had trained with it, apparently even with a Japanese katana at one point. The stories do not, unfortunately, pay much attention to her personality, so little of this is known.
Timeline:
Sasha's tale comes from the early middle ages.
Jon Ironhand and company
Epic Heroes
Description:
Possibly the most exciting legends in Varius are those of Jon Ironhand and his team of adventuring compatriots. Together with Jo Brightblade, Len Deadeye, Chiron Godsent, and Nena Onichild, around Jon Ironhand were spun the most fantastical yarns ever to be sung by the bards. No evil went unvanquished, it was said, whilst this party of heroes traversed the countryside of Europe, India, and even the Orient. Many of these legends are spun from whole cloth, but most have at least a grain of truth... and the heroes of today all aspire to the type of deeds that Jon Ironhand did every day of his life.
Appearance and Personality:
"Jon Ironhand could catch a sword and break it in his hands / and Jo Brightblade could cut down any army where she stands / Now when Len Deadeye took his aim his arrows would fly true / and Chiron Godsent sang to heaven as I sing to you / When little Nena Onichild would call the demons nigh / You'd know, no matter what you'd done, from heroes now you'd fly."
Timeline:
The story of Jon Ironhand took place in medieval years.
More to come as they are created. AoC researchers, feel free to contribute or suggest a legend to be added.