The Big Villains Thread

That is terrifying, well done. D:

Villain of the Day: January 13. (Entropos)

All things end. Entropos aches to make the end come faster.

Once a phenomenally powerful alien being, claiming to be a deity of death and carnage, a team of ancient cosmic warriors managed to fight Entropos to a standstill, then fling him within the event horizon of two colliding black holes. Entropos was torn apart by immeasurable gravitic forces, his screams echoing across the universe.

But, an ancient cosmic being of destruction thrown into an all-consuming mass? Much akin to throwing Brer Rabbit into the briar patch.

Entropos has only grown in both size and power. The colliding black holes are now his to control, and the universe will quake with fear as the last few atoms vibrate out of existence.

Villain of the Day:  January 14th (Max Justice)

Maximilian Juszkiewicz has always been a self-aggrandizing, self-promoting punk.  In high-school, he was an all-star, double-lettered athlete (foot ball and basketball), who could have easily had his choice of college athletic scholarships.  But that wasn't enough for him; Max wanted more.  His selfish personality came off as a major negative with his would-be coaches, and he ended up at a local community college, lacking any options.

If anything, that seemed to make Max even more arrogant--taking classes with adult students looking to enhance their lives and part-time students hoping to complete a degree, Max simply thought of himself as "better" than his classmates, often skipping group projects and presentations and, as one might predict, failing out.  Even as he met with the dean, his attitude of arrogance and entitlement meant that the college skipped over its usual probationary and rehabilitation period in favor of simply letting Max out on his own.

That was the last straw for Max's parents.  They kicked him out of the house, leaving him to juggle part-time jobs in order to make ends meet in a studio apartment on the outskirts of Megalopolis.  Max could hardly keep even these jobs, with his glory-hogging arrogance causing more than one firing.

Not long after?  A mysterious stranger appeared on Max's doorstep.  Claiming to be a fan of his high-school athletics, it quickly became apparent that this benefactor had something of an offer:  "How would you like to be a superhero?"  

With a new super-suit granting him flight, energy projection, strength, and durability, Max was one of the first entrants into the Sentinels of Freedom program under the name Max Justice.  And, as you might predict, he was the first (and only) individual kicked out of the program.  The Freedom Five and their fellow trainers simply had no patience for his attitude, his unwillingness to help his compatriots, and his tendency to showboat.  Since that day, Max has sworn that he'll be "a better hero than they ever were!"  While he has yet to actually do much heroic, he continually provides interference and aggravation for any new heroes as part of the Sentinels of Freedom program.

First Nimbus, and now Max Justice. Someone is passing out super-tech to those unfit to weild it...

:stuck_out_tongue:  

Hmmm…it's almost like I'm building up a series of campaign seeds right there… 

On July 23rd, 2018, an enormous monster rampaged through Megalopolis, utterly destroying a diner, a jewerly store, and a post office and severely damaging several other buildings.  The heroes converged rapidly and managed to prevent any loss of life, but the monster managed to elude capture and disappeared into the nearby wilderness.  The fight carried the heroes away from the destroyed jewerly store, and when order was restored several valuable pieces were missing, including a ring set with a small brilliantly blue sapphire.

The beast was nearly 10 ft tall at the shoulder, with 3 pairs of legs (all different, none matching Earth animals), enormous feathered wings, a triply forked tail covered with poison spines, and a face best described as a combination of a cat and a snake.  Which breathed fire.  The media dubbed it The Manticore

 

The Manticore reappeared three weeks later, this time destroying a theater, several office buildings, and the Megalopolis Natural History Museum.  The MNHM was a particular tragedy as many priceless artifacts were utterly destroyed, including a diadem with a small dazzlingly red ruby.

 

Two weeks after that The Manticore struck again, terrorizing the Freedom Plaza.  This time no buildings were destroyed, but a young man was hospitalized in critical condition.  He has been accepting his boyfriend's proposal when the monster appeared and was greviously injured while protecting his fiance.  The ring, a silver band with a small luminously green emerald, was not recovered.  Once again, the Manticore escaped almost entirely unscathed.

 

 

Over the next several months, the Manticore struck at a number of different cities, causing destruction and escaping with only minor wounds.  The heroes have observed no intelligence greater than that of a clever animal, and no pattern has been found to the attacks.  But just because the heroes have not observed these things does not mean that they are not there…

 

Villains of the Day:  January 15th (Vortigern of Kent)

In the annals of Arthurian lore, figures like Lancelot, Galahad, and Guinevere have echoed through the centuries through legend and story.  Alongside Arthur himself, these figures have been ushered into the cultural landscape.  Vortigern, in the meanwhile?  Little more than a bit player, notable only for medieval scholars and literature professors.

In the early Middle Ages, Vortigern was a warlord in what is now modern-day Wales, who led native Welsh, Picts, and Celts against Arthur's rising court at Camelot.  The scholar William of Malmesbury described Vortigern as "a man calculated neither for the field nor the council, but wholly given up to the lusts of the flesh, the slave of every vice:  a character of insatiable avarice, ungovernable pride, and polluted by his lusts..."  and was added to William's "damnatio memoriae", being noted as a "superbus tyrannus".

However, one of his gradiose 'conquests' proved to be Vortigern's downfall.  After the attempted abduction of Sevira, the daughter of a powerful arcanist known only as Maxiumus Magnus, Arthur and his knights confronted Vortigern in a place of great power:  the Pillar of Eliseg.  There, Magnus wrought a great enchantment upon Vortigern, casting the knave into a an abyssal portal and purging him from the land...

For what seemed like ages--and yet no time at all--Vortigern plunged through time, his body awash with cosmic energy and eldritch sorcery.  Finally, at long last, the portal deposited him just outside of Megalopolis.

Vortigern has taken to this brave new world with abandon and, while still slow to adjust to modern sensibilities, he sees the area as ripe for the picking.  His greed, his lust, and his desires know no bounds.  His ensorcelled armor and battle-axe--permeated with power from his temporal displacement--grant him a phenomenal strength and durability, as well as a blade capable of slicing through steel girders.  While he has little in the way of grandiose plots or villainous schemes short of taking the things he desires, Vortigern has become a force to be reckoned with in this modern era.

Villain of the Day:  January 16th  (Heist)

Nathan Whitaker stole his first item at age 5.  Mind you, it was only a candy bar and his mother caught him almost immediately, but the thrill he got--the look on the convenience store owner's face, the reaction from his mother--had him hooked from the very outset.

Throughout his childhood and teenage years, items simply seemed to disappear whenever Nathan was around.  Sometimes he was caught, though most times, Nathan absconded with his prizes scot-free, leaving him with his ill-gotten gains and a knowing smirk.  Wallets full of cash, the occasional bracelet or necklace, lab equipment from his high school; the actual item never seemed to matter to Nathan, simply the thrill of the theft.

It was the lab equipment--sold at a local pawn shop--that got Nathan sent to juvenile detention.  He spent most of his sophomore year in high school in juvie, after which he elected to go to a local career/technology center to finish his diploma, rather than return to a more traditional school.  From that day, Nathan swore:  no one would ever catch him again...he'd start with a mask.

While not a technological savant by any stretch, Nathan graduated with high marks and attended a technical school, focusing on security and audio-visual systems.  By day, he works at for Padlock Home Security systems as a hardware analyst.  In his spare time, though, Nathan's knowledge went to use under his masked identity, Heist.  Nathan's expertise allowed him access to high-security vaults, aided him in disabling cameras and security systems, and provided him the greatest thrill of his life.

Now, Heist provides infiltration and theft services to the highest bidders.  He continues to work at his day job as a cover, though his skill in thievery and tresspassing has made him notably wealthy.  Ever prudent, Heist has reinvested these funds into new technologies to aid him in his thefts, allowing him to take on bigger, more secure targets with ease.  The money's a nice perk, but it pales before the thrill of the Heist.

Villain of the Day: January 17th. (The Leech)

Denny Maroni was a low-level thug in The Organization for years, shaking down store owners and restaraunteurs for protection money. While loyal to his compatriots, he gained something of a reputation for always being short on cash when buying food, going out for drinks, or otherwise sharing the tab. His friends somewhat good-naturedly started calling him The Leech, as a not so subtle reminder for him to stop mooching.

During Oblivaeon, however, Denny found the biggest score of his life: fleeing from the destruction in central Rook City, he found a tiny oblivaeon shard lodged in his suv tire. Picking it out, he was flooded with power... and hunger.

Denny no longer eats in the traditional sense. Rather, he steals away the life essence of anyone he touches, draining them away like a leech. He has an especial fondness for superhumans, whose powers he can temporarily commandeer after snacking on them. And now, Denny is rising through the ranks of the organization, swiftly becoming one of Chairman Pike's favored lieutenants...

Villain of the Day:  January 18th  (Shard)

Naomi Zechmann didn't ask for powers.  On a spring-break beach trip with friends near San Alonzo, Naomi's powers first manifested, swirling the gorgeous beach sand into stinging siroccos that she was absolutely unable to control.  While law enforcement officers--with a timely assist from Benchmark--managed to take Naomi into custody, it quickly became apparant that she was out of her league.  Sixteen people were injured--none killed, surprisingly--though two of Naomi's sorority sisters suffered severe injuries.

That's when her lawyer arrived.  At least, he claimed to be her lawyer.  The sallow, middle-aged man smiled in a manner that seemed almost predatory.  "Let me be clear, I'm not an attorney.  At least, not anymore.  However, I do still represent certain governmental interests which hire exclusively metahuman candidates."

Mister Doe--John Doe, as it turned out--left with Naomi that very night, driving her to a helipad which flew to a distant facility full of armed guards, military hardware, and many scowling faces.  At this point, Naomi knew she was in over her head:  "Look, sir, I don't think this is a job I really want...  But, by then, it was all too late.  A swift injection and several months of mental manipulation and brainwashing later, the job was hers.

Eight months after Naomi Zechmann disappeared, Shard made her first appearance.  Able to mentally control silicates--most notably sand and glass--Shard was reported as having been sighted in the Middle Eastern dictatorship known as Kerplachistan.  The Kerplechistani dictator, Colonel Qadir al-Awkil, was found deceased in a stream near the border with Turkmenistan, his body and the bodies of his entourage impaled by numerous shards of glass, presumably from the windows of al-Awkil's state car.  She has been suspected in the assassination of several notable targets--university professors, political dissidents, and other "undesirables", however none have been able to catch or detain the elusive elementalist.  IN all cases, her methods are beyond lethal and she has proven to be a capable combatant in numerous methods of combat, especially in unarmed melee, to say nothing of her metahuman abilities.

There is no more Naomi Zechmann.  Or, at least, if there is, she's so far buried within her own subconsciousno one will ever find her again.  For now, all that remains is a Shard.

Villain of the Day:  January 19th (The Conquerer Worm)

The evolution of life is a fickle thing:  while hominids sprouted up, evolvinng from austolopithicus to homo sapiens in a mere 3 million years, certain fish and reptile species have effectively halted any changes, existing in relatively the same state for tens of millions of years.  Among those 'static' species are the various annelids:  earthworms, leeches, ragworms, and their ilk.  

Entomologist Thomas Streed spent his life examining these curious creatures, exploring their evolutionary roots and their unique regenerative properties, in the hopes to unlock the genetic mysteries found within.  He never made it that far.

You see, in addition to his research labs at Connecticut State University--Megalopolis, Thomas also held a massive worm farm in the basement below his house.  Originally a dirt-floored root cellar, Thomas transformed his basement into a makeshift lab and breeding facility, often selling batches of worms to farmers and arborists to help aerate soil and aid in fertilization.  All told, the number of annelids found in Thomas' house likely tallied into the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.

When authorities found Thomas' body, it lay in the midst of his shattered breeding tanks, his bones stripped of all flesh and tissue.  Immediately, police began investigating this strange murder, but no weapon, suspect, or motive was found.  The only clue?  Nearly every worm in Thomas' breeding program had disappeared.

Several months later, the creature known as The Conquerer Worm first appeared.  A rag-clad figure, made up entirely of writhing, dripping annelids, menaced amusement park-goers at the Seven Pennants over Megalopolis, injuring several individuals and destroying several attractions at the park.  Heroes arrived on scene and engaged the creature briefly, only for the creature to discorporate into a mass of worms, burrowing away into the earth and effectively vanishing.  Witnesses to a Conquerer Worm incident claim that the creature has demonstrated higher intelligence, even speaking to certain individuals.  It claims that it has come to "rectify the genetic aberration that is homo sapiens" and return this marble Earth to its primal, prehistoric roots.  

As a man-sized swarm of annelids, The Conquerer Worm is particularly difficult to damage or capture.  It is capable of discorporating and recorporating at will, as well as swiftly burrowing through the earth itself.  Engaging it in melee is not advised, as its blows are capable of draining blood, leaving a would-be assailant weaker and weaker as a fight goes on.  No one knows what brought The Conquerer Worm to sentience--Akash'Thriya/Akash'Darsha claims no knowledge of such a being--but rest assured, the creature will not stop until mankind is laid low.

@PlatinumWarlock How long do you plan on keeping this Villain of the Day going?  Because I'm loving it!

As someone who knows nothing about GMing, how would you go about introducing this information to your players?

I was originally planning on one month–31 villains/teams total–though if there's demand, I'd be willing to go longer.  Much of it depends on my own writing schedule.  I've been doing these on my lunch break at work, which is a good time for it, but I'm about to start at least 3 major freelance writing gigs (including one that I'm really jazzed about, for a different game company), plus I'm prepping my own convention scenarios for Cold Steel Wardens and my currently-in-draft De Civitates Dei.  It's a lot to do, but this is a fun writing exercise and doesn't take too much time–just some creative energy.

As for introducing this within the context of a game, there are a number of different approaches you could take:

  1. Direct confrontation.  The most simple--and the most lacking nuance--you could simply have a villain show up specifically to confront the heroes.  The classic variation on this is to "interrupt" the villain in the midst of performing a crime.  The heroes get called to a strange incident, an alarm goes off directing the heroes to the local bank or science lab, or an explosion goes off across town.
  2. Investigation.  Many of these seeds are meant to foster investigation--the heroes stumble upon some crime with more questions attached to it than answers and start to piece together what's gone on over time before confronting the villain, whereupon their true identity/nature is exposed.  This can be done in a single session or stretch over an entire campaign, depending on the level of the villain.  For villains like Max Justice, Shard, and Nimbus, that means continual encounters with them, in the hopes to eventually unmask the mysterious Mr. Doe who's behind all of their doings.  
  3. Rivalry.  Characters that straddle that 'anti-hero' line are great for this, but even outright villains can work well here, as they might continually show up in adventures specifically to target various PC heroes.  Whether linked in their backstory or not, simple desires such as revenge, jealousy, and pettiness are all emotions that can serve as a villain's driving force.  In these cases, the villains go after the heroes, not the other way around, which can put the players on their heels.
  4. Conspiracy.  The most complex way to introduce these villains blends all three of these techniques, but also adds in its own complexity.  The Shattered, above, is a way to go about structuring this.  The villains all seem to have disparate goals, prompting hero investigation which, itself, is stymied by the disparate nature of the crimes.  Only as they start piecing together the overarching villainous plot can the heroes actively take the fight to their foes; much of the campaign would structure around finding out the Ws:  who, what, when, where, and why.
If you do have more questions, I'd be more than happy to keep on tossing out ideas!

Working on this one for the last few days. Apparently the day of the bug-themed villain. :P

 

Neville Norwood has always hated people. He's hated them since childhood, a rocky family life with parents that hated one another and a steady string of schoolyard bullies planting seeds that just dug deeper and deeper into him as he grew. Craving an escape he poured himself into his studies and interests, educating himself far past his current class . He enjoyed science and physics just fine, but it was namely the study of bugs that brought him the most joy and kept him sane through his youth and well into adulthood. There was just something about the world of insects that fascinated him.

After graduating college at the head of his class, the now Dr. Norwood got a job at the Eaken-Rubendall Laboratory as the head of their small yet advanced Entomology Department, studying the effects that 'extra-terrestrial energies' had on the habitats of the insect kingdom. Just as he was on the verge of a massive breakthrough after years of research, the OblivAeon attacked occurred. The resulting tremors threw Neville into the insect habitat being bombarded with a mixture of different energies...

- - -

Many of the science labs in and around Megalopolis have been on high alert in recent months. Reports of a “half-human, half-bug like creature” attacking and ransacking facilities with swarms of insects has caused increased security measures, but nonthing seems to be able to stop what the media has dubbed The Hive. One fact has been taken away from these assaults: it does not like humans, and does not leave prisoners...

Villain of the Day:  January 20th (The Survivalist)

Jerome Pressler Albright was utterly sure that the world was going to end.  When Democrat Marion Thurmer announced her candidacy for president--the first black female presidential candidate and, later, president--he was livid.  "Them bleeding heart, tax-happy snowflakes are gonna be the death of us all!" he loudly proclaimed to anyone who'd listen, often shouting over the omnipresent FIXNEWS broadcast on his tv.  

Now, Jerome wasn't a particularly wealthy man, but if he knew one thing, it was certainly how to make do with what he's got.  Over his years managing a sporting goods store, he had squirrelled away thousands of dollars and had wholesale access to firearms, camping supplies, k-rations, and numerous other necessities to live off the grid.  And, that, in fact, was his very plan.

When Marion was elected president, Jerome closed his store in Megalopolis.  He liquidated the majority of his assets and set out for the farthest place he could think of:  the volcanic jungles of Insula Primalis.  While his first few weeks on Insula Primalis were somewhat difficult, Jerome managed to transform a portion of the now-ruined Citadel of the Sun into something of a home base, arming and trapping it with means both mechanical and environmental.  Over the weeks and months since then, Jerome has gone from a slightly-overweight middle-aged store owner with some extreme political views, transforming himself into a fit hunter, an expert shot, and a devious tactical mind.

When others started approaching him--usually either seeking asylum or his services--he was quick to chase them off of Insula Primalis, often with bullet wounds or velociraptor bites to show for their troubles.  Jerome started gaining notoriety as The Survivalist--the one man capable of living in the most dangerous place on earth.  However, certain villains have noted that, if you approach Jerome with the right motivations--or, perhaps, with the right-wing motivations, as the case may be--he is willing to leave his island to assist with various tasks, regardless of the legality or morality.  And, with the skills he's gained in Insula Primalis, The Survivalist has become a capable foe indeed.

Villain of the Day:  January 21 (Impound)

Jamal Regan always seemed set for good things, but luck always seemed to fall short for him.  As a senior in high school, he was a star wide receiver on his football team...only to tear his MCL during his senior year, pretty much thwarting any chance of him getting an athletic scholarship.  Instead of heading to a four-year college, he ended up at a local technical school for auto repair.  On graduation day there, his own car broke down, causing him to miss his own graduation ceremony.  As an entry level mechanic, Jamal worked for six months, doing a reasonable job...until one of the lifts used to hold up a pick-up truck collapsed.  Jamal was shoved out of the way by one of his fellow mechanics, but not before the bumper slammed into the back of his head, knocking him cold.

Jamal was discharged from the hospital several days later--he had a head contusion and a concussion, but none the worse for wear.  Unfortunately, the damage to his body shop was too much for the owner to cope with, and the shop closed for business, leaving Jamal unemployed.  Frustrated and growing angry at his position in the world, Jamal took out a loan and bought a tow truck, opening his own towing business.

On a dark night along Interstate 572, Jamal was in the midst of picking up an abandoned minivan to take to a police impound lot.  A grey Lexus, its driver distracted by some important text message, crossed the line into the rumble strip and plowed directly into rear of the minivan, thrusting the entire tow rig straight at Jamal, who raised his arms in front of his face in reflex...

....only to project a bubble of telekinetic force around the entire approaching rig.  With a grunt of effort, Jamal shoved the entire mass away from him.  The driver of the Lexus, angry and dazed, stepped out of his car and attempted to get into Jamal's face, only for Jamal to throw up another telekinetic bubble and start squeezing.  The driver backed off in a panic, eventually taking the full fault of the accident, leaving Jamal with a significant payout.

With some hospital-mandated time on his hands and no tow-rig, thanks to the accident, Jamal found himself in a rare position:  both time and money on his hands.  He began experimenting with the scope of his powers:  he could form bubbles of telekinetic force around objects, which he could then move, expand, or contract.  Each day, he grew stronger and stronger in his abilities...and began to question, "Why can't I have something better out of life?  This shows me that I could..."

A costume was easy to piece together:  a mask, some body armor, some boots.  ATMs were easy pickings--Impound simply wrapped a bubble around the machine and tore it free of the wall, crushing it until it dispensed its greenbacks.  Armored cars came next, though Jamal did his best not to leave any lasting harm to the drivers.  His first bank vault was deceptively simple, though the second managed to get Impound on the heroes' radar.  A skirmish with two new hero recruits from the Sentinels of Freedom led him to new full identity:  that of a supervillain.  Scared and facing down both two metahuman heroes and the police, Impound grappled one of those heroes--an energy projector named Pulsar--in one of his bubbles, squeezing Pulsar until bones started snapping.  Impound fled in all haste, leaving Pulsar's partner and the police to care to the severely injured hero.

Impound may be greedy, but he has a predisposition against real violence.  While he'll do his best to defend himself, he knows the lethality of his powers and loathes to unleash his abilities unless he's truly pressed.  And if he is?  He can easily leave a string of bodies in his wake.

Villain of the Day:  January 22 (The Swarm)

If the Gene-Bound forces of Grand Warlord Voss' Thorathian military are the galaxy's most feared legion, the creatures that originated on Nibiru-IV stand right alongside Voss' forces among the most destructive species in the known Multiverse.

Many studies have been performed on the Nibiru-IV species, often referred to collectively as The Swarm, though few xenobiologists have come to consensus on exactly *what* The Swarm are.  Comparisons have been made to locusts, sea-dwelling arthropods such as mantis shrimp, and even the infamous camel spider.  Because of their rapid breeding and gestation, any individual creature in The Swarm may differ greatly:  some spew digestive enzymes onto foes, others may have barbed pincers or thrashing tails, while still others exude noxious gases and spores.  

While their individual forms differ, all Swarm creatures do have a few common traits:  they have spined, chitinous exoskeletons which shield them both against damage and against incredible pressure; they do not breathe which, in conjunction with their exoskeletons, can allow them to venture into the depths of the ocean and even into space; and they are omnivorous, eating any and all organic matter, though they actively prefer flesh.

The heroes of Earth have yet to actually directly encounter The Swarm in its full force.  Occasional refugees to the Maenarian Compound on Plavu'Col have made claims that their homeworlds have been decimated by The Swarm, and the Wagner Mars Base currently contains 4 cryogenically frozen Swarm eggs, recovered from a Swarm-annihilated ship by a former agent of FILTER.

One the thing that The Swarm has not yet demonstrated is intelligence.  While individual creatures are little more than drones, the most advanced Swarm creature barely shows more intelligence than a wild pig or a poorly trained dog.  But, with their rapid breeding and evolution, how long will it be until a hive-mind starts to emerge.

 

OblivAeon had been vanquished, too many great heroes lost their lives to save everyday people from him. Not even simply the super heroes, but anyone who stepped between danger and their fellow man. Still though, one loss was felt more keenly than a great many others. Ra! God of the sun. During these the months after OblivAeon's defeat a new presence was felt, helping rebuild, helping people to stand strong as the gods of old did their world was threatened.

This new Cult of Ra spread the word that all should be counted on to do what they could to make the world ready for the return of the Gods. Paradoxically they were not followers of old religious studies from egypt, but a new cult, spreading themselves far and wide. Due to Ra's noble sacrifice and the gentle message they openly preached they recieved more and more followers every day. However, there was something more to the cult than meets the eye.

Initially they were simply trying to live up to what they saw as their duty, repairing the world. Then with the sudden death of their founder and rise of the newest Regent, as they call their leader, the cult took a more dire turn. They began congregating the most devout followers in a western town where the Regent owned land. There in Truth or Consequences in a building overlooking the Military memroial they started building large obelisks with mirrors set on the top. Echoing chanting could be heard day and night, prompting local law enforcement to take notice of the cults increasingly erratic behavior. It was a fiasco, with high level clerics of the new cult projecting gouts of strange black and white flames at them driving people back. After setting up a cordon to keep civilians away from the Regent's home they set up remote monitoring with some help. Satilite images, telescopic observation everything pointed at some kind of massive ritual. In the chaos after oblivaeon none of the heroes could be promptly reached for help; and on the third day the ritual reached it's climax.

Each of the three obelisks fired beams of collected sunlight at the memorial, striking each point of the star with radiant power while the wild chanting reverberated throughout the valley. A massive explosion of Light and Flame created a shroud of smoke and when it finally settled a figure could be seen. Tall Dark skinned the figure stood in the center of the pentagram formed by the walkways of the memorial. The regent approached and knelt before him, prooffering a staff and crown. When the Regent arose the figure turned towards the ritual site on the hill, then both men and the entire complex were engulfed and seemingly consumed by the same strange flames. Bystanders reported that the figure seemed to look a lot like the fallen hero Ra, but something was off. However, now the cult has been seen around in a more aggressive role, Destroying religeous sites of other faiths. Burning them to the ground with the same strange fires.

Emotions are still riding high, and many heroes have not truly had any time to properly mourn their friend. Even if they manage to locate this new threat, will they have the heart to fight and possibly destroy, Effigy

Villain of the Day: January 23 (Strain H572-B, aka The Superflu)

Lady Lightning was the first to contract it. A rising star in the Sentinels of Freedom, Corrin Hankinson was born with powers, able to direct, control, and manipulate electricity. Her parents were supportive, yet tried to give her as normal a life as possible, while simultaneously encouraging her to use her powers for the good of everyone. When Freedom Plaza opened its doors to new recruits, she was one of the first in line.

Three weeks later, Corrin took an excused absence from her coursework to visit the medical bay. She had been running a 102 degree fever and felt logy, tired, and out of sorts. Worse, her electricity powers were waning significantly. While typically able to generate several gigawatts of power at a moment’s notice, she found herself barely able to function at half her normal capacity.

While her first and second visit to the medbay offered only cursory advice – rest up, drink plenty of fluid, etc.–Doctor Jeremiah Melville, one of the staff physicians at Freedom Plaza was the first to make the connection between a certain antigen in Corrin’s bloodstream and her waning powers. A variation on the influenza virus, H572-B actively sought out the genetic material which provided her metahuman abilities.

Corrin was immediately put into quarantine, but the damage was done. Four other recruits were also infected, including two that were identified Omegas. The group is still in quarantine, watching their powers dwindle away to nothing as days pass. The Superflu, as the news programs called it, had struck. Was this the end of the superhero as we knew it?

Melville, however, knows something that few outside the Freedom Five are aware of: H572-B was a man-made virus. Someone has deliberately released a pathogen capable of targeting-- and potentially outright neutralizing-- anyone with metahuman abilities. And Freedom Tower was only their first target…

Villain of the Day: January 24 (Cacaphonus)

The Void has always been sensitive to harmonic vibrations. It’s why the Virtuoso of the Void has typically been – at least in our reality --an expert musician. Harmony moves through the Void more easily, shaping its energies like a conductor directing an orchestra.

But what happens to those notes out of tune? Those off-beat rhythms that don’t form a true spell effect?

For eons, they simply bounced around inside the infinite possibilities of the Void. The Void spirits there paid them no heed and we, on the material plane, were none the wiser.

That is, until a singular void spirit realized that power lay in those dissonant chords. Eagerly, hungrily, it began seeking out those energies, feasting upon them and growing stronger with each note. And then, one day, it broke free.

The Void spirit first appeared in a small town in Nebraska, inhabiting a trucker eating lunch at a diner. It lashed out with power, draining the jukebox of all its sonic power before racing off in the trucker’s rig, causing a massive traffic foul up along interstate 590.

However, it wasn’t until the heroes showed up that the true problem emerged. One of the Sentinels of Freedom recruits that showed up was BoomBox, a sound projector from Megalopolis. His powers called to the Void Spirit like a siren song and out quickly abandoned the trucker for more viable prey. To all appearances, the conflict was over, though BoomBox had an unexpected rider on his psyche.

That night, a psychic battle ensued in BoomBox’s mind. Though he put up a good fight, the Void spirit took over his body and escaped into the night. And now, Cacaphonus was free to orchestrate his own symphony of destruction…