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3015 – Martial Law StoryLine and Concepts

Jon — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 12:48:11 +0000

The year is 3015. Much has changed in post-apocalyptic earth. In the midst of the 21st century man spent most of his time destroying himself. Unfortunately he was very successful. Small-scale nuclear war and worldwide battles all but toppled the governments of the day – and the world was plunged into chaos. After roughly 700 years, civilization stabilized into what it is today; a conglomeration of city-states and republics roughly allied, whose boundaries are mostly determined by geography. No longer was race or ethnicity a factor in global society – most races had become intermingled by now. No longer did countries fight over expendable natural resources; what they wanted most was food. No longer did men strive for power over each other; men sought merely to survive. And no longer was the human race the same as before.

Nuclear radiation, depletion of the ozone layer, obscure biological weapons: they left the human race scarred for the rest of time. However, their effect was one that could not have been predicted. Over the course of a millennium, the human gene pool had been scarred and mutilated, reduced to a mere shadow of what it had once been. However, new characteristics began to rise from the ashes.

Though deformities and genetic diseases became almost common place, man found he had not only lost but also gained. The human race seemed to be gifted with an unnatural, unexplainable power. When battle trained, man was now capable of insane limits of strength and power. With practice, a man could double his speed. Almost every physical attribute seemed to be able be improved upon – and some capabilities had not yet reached the limit of improvement.

Though the world at general is in a state of reluctant peace, human nature is still as it was before. There exists an unseen underground, a network of thieves, killers, and the like. They are scattered bands across the world but they are dangerous – they do as they please and few can hold them accountable. The local governments cannot combat them because they have no army with which to respond with. They are kept at bay most often by the common people binding together and chasing them out. It is a state of precarious balance between peace and the Underground.

Human nature has not lost its thirst for power completely however. There are a more than a handful of people out in this new world whose main goal is power – power over men. It is these people, mixing along with those that are noble and seek the common good, which hold office and run the local governments. It is also these types of people who drive and lead the Underground.

Enter Lomyr. He is raised in a small village by monks at a local monastery far away from most human inhabitants. There he is taught some of the ancient ways of the samurai and the long-lost secrets of the original styles of kung fu. He is a hot headed youngster, unwilling to listen to his masters teaching. His master however, drills into him the lessons of patience, perseverance and determination. He learns not only to come into peace with the world around him, but also with himself. His master and fellow teachers recognize him as one with incredibly unique talents; though they are unable to pinpoint it, they know that he will be special and important in the world to come. These hopes are dashed however after he runs away recklessly and is kidnapped my roaming marauders. None know what he went through in this stage, but one thing is for certain; it evolved him from child to man. He emerged from the underground of violence and human filth, strong, stubborn and extremely strong-willed. He becomes somewhat the equivalent of a wandering ronin. Masterless, but with skills unmatched (those taught to him in his youth and those learned through pain in the underground), Lomyr travels from city to city, from state to state, searching for meaning, and searching for destiny.

Lomyr is at his core, good-hearted. Nothing will ever be able to change that in him. However, his edges have been roughened considerably in his lifetime and he is no stranger to violence. He enjoys seeing good triumph over evil, but most often sees the opposite. He intervenes when acceptable. He watches when it is not. He has kept a fairly low profile whilst living amongst the underground and in the world in general. Few know him by name, and fewer know of his strength. He is skilled with every sort of known weapon, and his hands are more often than not the deadliest weapon he carries. His mind is attuned to be able to react at lightning speed and he is sure and light-footed. He has been known to run across a forest bed of leaves and not disturb a single one of them. He is unconcerned with physical appearance and only worries about efficiency. That and his next meal.

The main antagonist is a man known as Cyrondul. Little is known of him, but most know not to tangle with him. He is said to have many ties to various organizations across the world. He is said to be capable of enormous strength though he rarely exhibits it. He presents himself as one seeking good, yet one cannot help but feel uneasy about him. He is somewhat of a giant among men, standing 6 feet 6 inches, where the average man is 5 foot 11. He is an intimidating presence not only physically but intellectually. He attended and eventually ended up teaching at one of the few universities around on earth. He is also said to have led his own school of martial arts (though it is said that his style a strong yet limited version, not on par with the original lost styles or martial art). He is a force to be reckoned with on any level.

Proteus – Chapter 1 Draft

Jon — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 12:34:35 +0000

J had them spotted though his scopes. They were notoriously easy to track down. In the silent morning in these quiet woods, the two made so much noise a deaf man would cover his ears in pain. Both Gaston and Haynes were wide in the open, beside a stream. Somewhat disappointed, J decided to waste no time. He fired 3 shots in quick succession at the taller of the two men (presumably Gaston). His rifle kicked back into his shoulders, but his expert hand kept the shots true.

To his surprise, the man still stood upright in his scope. In fact, he seemed completely unharmed. He also seemed completely ticked off. He turned and looked directly and where J was hiding. J being a decisive man, immediately figured that his projectile weapons weren’t going to do the job. He was going to have to take it into his own hands. J was moving before Gaston got off a shot.

J circled quickly in the brush when it registered with him. First shot? They didn’t have any weapons. The flashing of J’s cloths through the brush caught Gaston’s senses. Gaston sure was an aware little bugger; J moved more silent than any man could. Few could track him in the brush, but Gaston seemed to be having little difficulty. Gaston fired off another shot. J noted that he fired a plasma type energy blast from his hand. Peculiar. But not anything he could not handle. J stopped in his tracks. The moving air behind his body continued to travel though, making it seem as if he had continued to run in that direction. It was a trick he often used. A trick Gaston fell for also. He lost track of J again in the woods. Haynes, beside Gaston did not seem to be concious. He layed sprawled beside a stream. It seemed that Gaston had brought them there for sustenance. J decided that this was his chance. Gaston knew J was out there; but not who he was and not where he was.

This was just such an occasion that J brought his sword for. It was a specially crafted sword; it had the sharpness of a Japanese katana, the good handling of a Chinese straight sword, and was combined with the strength and power of a European sword. His baby.

He lunged silently into the open, unsheathing his sword – covering the distance of 30 feet in a second and a half. However, it wasn’t quite fast enough. Gaston heard him 10 feet away and in a blur of motion let loose with a succession of hammering blasts. When the smoke cleared J lay sprawled, motionless, 10 feet away from Gaston.

Gaston laughed. Who was this pathetic weakling who dared to consider the thought of opposing him? It had hardly taken any energy or effort to dispose of the little man. Is this the best they could do? Surely the road ahead must not be too hard then. Unfortunately, Gaston thought, ‘the other’ was still unconcious. It was alive most definitely, but it – or more accurately, he – could not be awakened. Oh wait, he was beginning to stir. Excellent Gaston thought, my job is done. He took one more long drag from the stream and continued trekking forward into the forest.

Haynes sat up disoriented. Where was he? He barely remembered the break out. He had been semi-conscious then. He was in the forest evidently, because he was surrounded by trees and sat by a small brook. He then thought of a more important question. Who was he? Haynes did not know. He remembered that his name was Haynes. But that seemed to be all. It was then that he noticed a charred body laying somewhat close to him. He also noticed that the body had begun to stir.

J was down but he certainly was not dead. He had not expected Gaston of having that kind of power. He wouldn’t make that mistake a second time. Within a couple of seconds J was strong enough to rise. He could feel his body returning to full strength as he stood. He unconsciously flexed as his skin began to instantly heal. No more mister nice guy.

Where had Gaston gone? Well, it wouldn’t matter, J could track him easily. ‘Perhaps I should take care of Haynes first’, J thought, because it seemed that Haynes had woken up.

Haynes stood up and saw the man do so also. ‘Amazing!’ Haynes though. The man’s burns who stood before him seemed to be healing before his eyes. Haynes spoke up, “Excuse me! Who are you? Do you know where we are?” The man straightened and turned to look at him. His eyes glinted underneath his furrowed eyebrows. Before Haynes knew what was happening, J was upon him with a flurry of fists too fast for the eye to see. A hammer blow sent Haynes across the woods and into a large oak tree 20 feet away. Dazed and frightened Haynes gathered himself. Haynes didn’t seem to be injured, but the man seemed to be coming in for a second round. Anger started to boil up within Haynes. What had he done? What crime had he committed?

Haynes hesitated a little too long. Though Haynes managed to counter some of the blows (he didn’t know how since he didn’t remember learning hand to hand combat), J landed more than Haynes cared to count. A double fisted blow to the stomach again launched Haynes across the glade. Breaking through a couple of trees Haynes came to a stop. He was hurting this time. But J was not letting him catch his breath; J was across the opening in an eye blink ready to land some finishing blows into Haynes.

Haynes fist slammed into J’s abdomen before J was across the glade. J flew, eyes open in disbelief, back across the glade, digging a small trench into the ground where he landed. Haynes stood eyes blazing. It had been a devastating punch – delivered more from instinct than conscious thought. J got up, eyes blazing. He walked slowly toward Haynes; and Haynes waited for him. They stood about 5 feet from one another. J could tell Haynes was ready. It didn’t matter – he was itching for a good fight anyhow.

They both went at it at the same instant. The blows were too fast to follow – and they got faster. However, neither one was landing a hit on the other. They were either countered or dodged. J started to break out in a sweat – he was close to 100% speed while fighting and the guy was keeping up right along with him! J had never fought anyone at this speed. The reason however had nothing to do with fear; the fact was that no one was fast enough for J! The thought of finding an equal did not sit well with J.

The opportunity blazed in front of him – J saw an opening and landed a blow to Haynes’ face. However, Haynes recovered almost instantaneously, landing a hammer blow to J’s chest. J was launched back a couple of yards but landed on his feet unharmed. He looked up just in time to see Haynes’ face glow with anger – and pain? – and J heard Haynes unleash an unearthly yell that shook the forest. J had enough time to pull his trench coat around him before the shockwave knocked him of his feet and into unconsciousness.

When he woke up – it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two later – Haynes and Gaston were gone. It seemed that Haynes had generated some sort of energy blast that had radiated from him on all sides – because the forest within a radius of 10 yards around where Haynes had been standing was burned to a crisp. J however was not that easy to kill. This was his first mission he had failed on the first attempt. But no matter. He would finish up the job. J was gone into the woods in a blur, back on the trail of the two fugitives. The woods – slightly smoking now – were once again silent.

Protues – The Prelude

Jon — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 12:26:47 +0000

Brian Grant looked at his instruments in satisfaction. It was all proceeding according to his calculations. The most extreme sort of genetic therapy (could it be called therapy?) was the guiding force behind his experiments. If these series of experiments worked, his research would rock the foundations of both the scientific community and the general public. He could see it already, splashed across the newspapers; “Scientist determines how to manipulate Human Genes” or “Science Improving the Human Genome”, or his favorite, “Genius makes next Evolutionary step for Humans”.

He chuckled to himself. It was time to stop daydreaming. Soon enough the glory would come. Soon enough his genius would be realized. But he must first finish the task in front of him.

As the leading scientist behind the CyberBionics, Grant was the one of main reasons for the success of the company. His genius in the field of genetics was unparalleled in the scientific community. CyberBionics also owed its success to two other men; Harold Meltzner, the leading researcher in the field of Articicial Intelligence, and Michael Savinsky, the up and coming scientist in the newly named field of science that combined machine and man, cyber bionics. The combination of these three intellects, and a host of lab technicians at their beck and call, produced revolution after revolution, forcing scientists to rethink the way they viewed biology. It also provided many millions of dollars for CyberBionics. The founder of the company, Morrison Davies had a very large vision; he wanted to be in the Microsoft to the biological community. When they wanted the newest therapy equipment and techniques, they would come to him. When they wanted the best researchers in any given biological field, they would come to him. When they wanted cutting edge technology, they came to him. When they wanted experiments done that pushed the edge of science and morals…they would come to him.

Obviously Morrison was not content with his enormous success. He still wanted more. And he pushed his company to produce more. No matter what it took.

It was this newest research that Grant was working on now. He and his colleagues had possibly stumbled upon the greatest discovery of all time. Using supercomputers and the latest genetic algorithms, they fed the human genome sequence through their programs, hoping for some sort of useful thing to emerge. To their amazement, making a few assumptions at certain key points produced a solid mathematical pattern that seemed to be wrapped up in the complex helix structure of human DNA. They had begun to decode it, to try to understand what it meant. They were beginning to have some success. With this pattern, this DNA Rosetta stone, who knows what they could accomplish? Grant relished that idea. This could be the next step in evolution, he had thought. Imagine, genetically enhanced super people – people who wouldn’t bleed when cut because their skin had was as tough as steel. Imagine people who could lift trucks because their muscles strength had been tweaked by geneticists or soldiers who could see at night because their range of vision was increased to detect infrared light as well as normal light. The possibilities were endless!

And their first human trial was sitting directly in front of him. It floated in a large translucent tube filled with all the nutrients the human body needs. Plus a couple of stimulants and steroids, of course. Innumerable wires and instruments fed into the tube, monitoring all his life signs and biological responses. If the subject needed to go to the bathroom, Grant would know. If it was a little hot, grant would know. If it had an itch on the back of its leg, Grant would know.

This experiment was top secret of course. No one was to know about it, and no one would ever know about it. Involuntary human experimentation has always been illegal. Except during the Nazi regime. But Grant and Davies alike were willing to step over and on any sort of moral or ethical line in the name of science (or money). You do what needs to be done.

The experiment was coming along nicely so far. It had started roughly 2 years ago. How they had acquired their current subject Grant did not know, and did not want to know. It was less to feel guilty about. Grant and his team had decided to try a number of controlled genetic changes. First off, their subject would have increased strength (roughly a 300% increase), skin that was elastic yet near impenetrable (a combination of human skin and a new material that was out on the market), and some significant changes in his brain. The brain has never been much understood – it did not cease to be that way in Grant’s experiment. Yet he wanted to try a couple of things – things such as an increased number of synapses – and see what effect they produced. If the subject were retarded it would be no matter; it was never allowed to be conscious anyway. The only thing Grant cared about was that its brain continued operating its normal bodily functions, which it seemed to be doing, and anything else was merely something to be explored and researched.

As far as they could tell the subject did in fact show increased strength. It also showed a high degree of impenetrability – a normal sharp butcher knife did not pierce its skin. As far as intelligence or any other sort of related thing goes, that remained to be seen. Grant was still debating if he should let it ever be conscious. Currently it was under 24 hour sedation. It remained in a kind of coma state – there was no brain activity whatsoever. If for some conceivable reason it did have brain activity about 67 different alarms would sound.

Grant looked around his lab and smiled to himself for the umpteenth time. Floodlights illuminated the subject and all the computer monitors focused on either the subject or its readings. Any instrument he wanted he could find in that room. It was all under his control. There was no feeling quite like that. And oh, did he love it.

He went back to doing his calculations.

* * *

Grant hung his head in desperation. He saw no one cause for it all. He never quite understood it either. Somehow, somehow there must have been an error in their theory. Maybe it was in one of the others’ calculations. Hmm, certainly not his, but maybe theirs. It was inconsequential now. He knew what he would probably have to do, but it made him sick to merely think about.

Somehow during the last year the experiment had gone horribly wrong. Out of the blue, on a perfectly normal day the subject’s r
eadings had started to go haywire. Before they figured out how to stabilize him they came upon a horrific realization – the subject’s genome was no longer stable either; it had begun to mutate in random, unpredictable ways. Some of the things that had happened had been horrible – he didn’t want to think about the inhuman shape the subject had started to take, but he and the others managed to fix most of it. But soon enough all the mutations got out of hand and they couldn’t keep up. It still looked human, but the researchers knew that the second you sliced it open nothing would look familiar. It was amazing that it was still alive. They had given up trying to figure out how it was still living and functioning. No one even dared to start hypothesizing which of its new organs were doing what. It was a horrible failure. Grant thought that he should have taken the advice given to him from comics and science fiction stories; when you try to play God, things always go wrong.

They had tried a couple last ditch efforts during the last months. A couple of organs and limbs had started to fail. After determining they could do no more with its biology, they had gotten the latest biomechanical organs and limbs that were in the testing stage in other parts of the company. At first it had seemed to work – the flesh had molded to the mechanical. It even had begun to grow over and around it, with skin covering his new metallic limbs. But it had stopped there – it seemed that the subject could no longer use its limbs and that the organs were barely working in conjunction with its biology. Its lifesigns plummeted, then stabilized at a level that was barely above the line that marked the difference between life and death.

‘How dare you fail!’ Grant screamed in his mind at the translucent tube. 5 years of his life, thrown away! His changes to the brain wouldn’t even be able to be researched. It was going to happen. He was going to have to terminate the experiment. Perhaps he would start anew. Maybe he would scrap it all together. Grant sat seething at his computer terminal in his darkened laboratory. Anger began boiling into rage, and rage transformed into fury. He took his computer mouse and hurled it at the tube. It clinked off the 5 inch thick material.

He stalked up to the tube and screamed.

“Why!?” was all he could get out as he sputtered. Surely it was laughing at him. If it could laugh. Surely it was mocking his failure. He’d always felt that the subject knew what was happening to it somehow and it was secretly mad at him. It was a silly idea, and he knew it, but he couldn’t shake it. But now it seemed as if it was revolting against him, taking revenge on him for what Grant had done to it. “You think it’s funny don’t you!” Grant yelled at it, his focus placed squarely on the tube. “Stop laughing at me. Stop laughing at me!” He picked up a small table next to him. “Stop laughing at me!!” He hurled the table at the tube.

The table splintered into a million pieces onto the concrete floor. Oxygen bubbles rose lazily through the nutrient rich liquid inside the tube.

“S-stop…I t-told you to sto-o-op- it…” Grant was shaking and began to yell out gibberish now. He grabbed the leg of the broken table. “You’ll pay for this! Stop!” Grant screamed, “Laughing! At! Me!” He slammed the leg into the tube each time he said it. Look at it! He screamed in his mind. It’s smiling at me! It’s laughing!

The subject remained as it always was. It floated nonchalantly in its ooze.

This infuriated Grant. He jumped onto the large tube, beating it with his hands. “We’ll see who has the last laugh!” He yelled incoherently. He could see its face now; it seemed to be leering at him, its eyes mocking his every failure. Its eyes…those horrible eyes! Looking at him, mocking him. How dare it look at him that way! Those eyes! Its eyes were open.

Grant jumped off the tube, shock rippling through his body. Was he imagining things? Were its eyes really open? It couldn’t be. For that to happen it would have had to be conscious. If it was conscious a billion alarms would go off immediately. He started to come back to reality and his common sense began to return. Perhaps he’d only imagined it in his enraged stupor. He took a step toward the tube.

At the same time the tube exploded in a devastating blast of plastic and liquid. Grant was picked up off his feet and slammed into the concrete wall. Sparks flew in all directions and fires caught immediately. Smoke began to pour out from the broken conduits while a couple more explosions rocked the laboratory.

Grant, lightly bruised but otherwise unhurt, pushed a pile of debris off himself. He was visibly shaken, and leaned into the smoke to try to see what had happened. To his horror, he saw the figure of a large man step out of the smoke and out of the debris of what had previously been the holding tube. His eyes appeared to glow in the darkness as they turned slowly, locking onto his.

“No…no…impossible, impossible.” Grant said as he lay there, half standing, staring frozen into the eyes of the monster he had created.

It did not take its eyes off of him. Alarms were beginning to sound and the labs built in defenses were kicking in. Yet it did not break its gaze into Grant’s eyes.

Two defense lasers dropped down from there perches and targeted it immediately. They both fired round after round of fiery pulses at the subject’s position. Grant’s head whipped back towards the subject – but it was no longer there. Grant did not understand what was happening; he saw a couple of bursts from the smoke, a couple of explosions and then silence. He hoped to whatever God was up there that the lasers had done their job. Wait…he could make out something in the smoke. It was the subject…walking towards him, eyes glowing.

Finally life sprang into Grant’s being. He stumbled over himself and dashed towards his half-destroyed desk. The thing merely continued to draw closer to him. He reached into his drawer and pulled out his personal Beretta handgun. He swung it around and aimed the gun at it…only to find it was now less than 6 feet away from him.

It stopped and continued to stare at him. It was huge – 6 feet and 5 inches, yet 300 pounds of genetically enhanced muscle were packed onto its frame. Grant ran behind the desk. It took a couple steps forward as Grant fumbled with his gun. It picked up his desk with one arm, held it for a moment, then with a flick of his wrist, the desk flew across the room, splintering into millions of pieces on the opposite wall.

Grant brought down his read
y pistol and this time did not hesitate as he blew 6 straight rounds into the subject. It stood there apparently unfazed. Grant, horrified, could see the ooze that was pouring from its wounds. He also saw the wounds close up and heal before his eyes. He could not kill this, this…thing. There was only one thing he could do.

Grant ran as fast as his stubby legs could possibly carry him. The subject watched him a moment or two, then it reached its arm into the air, as if summoning some sort of magic. The hair started to stand up on his head as Grant ran. He barely noticed as he was trying to keep from falling. It wouldn’t have mattered. The last thing he heard was the crackling of static electricity, and the CRACK-KOW as the bolt of lightning seared through his body, boiling his blood, and charring his flesh. His body crashed forward, lifeless, to the ground.

The subject realized that others would come for it. It was no matter. It was now free. It could do what it wanted – and what it wanted was revenge. The thing made some sort of unearthly sound. In some odd way, it reminded one of laughter.

Proteus – StoryLine & Character Concepts

Jon — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 12:23:24 +0000

This is a true superhero comic book. However, it is more of a X-Files meets Iron Man meets Batman meets Superman meets Star Wars type comic. There is are a couple clear-cut good and bad guys, but the rest have the freedom to go either way or even stay in the middle.

Setting: not too distant future, perhaps 20 to 50 years from now. Most things are pretty much the same though we are a bit more technologically advanced. The government has a bit more control over things than it does today because of the Homeland Security Act and the new department that it created coming into its own.

Background: There is an extra-terrestial race, called the Kurylliins, more technologically advanced than us, who is dealing with a rebellion among its empire. An extremist rebel faction steals the Kurylliin’s new secret weapon – an engineered virus that transforms a normal being into something of a super-being or super-soldier that will fight, single-mindedly for victory for the Kurylliins. (Though the Kurylliins use spaceships for travel, as do most other species in the known surrounding space (there are only a few races), hardly anyone has developed effective long-range space weapons. So an effective soldier is definitely still needed). This rebel faction takes a junk-heap of a ship and travels to earth as a getaway and crash-lands on the planet. All the aliens onboard are supposedly dead and the government finds the remains. The government also finds the virus and analyzes it – and though not fully understanding it, they try to adapt it to their own purposes. After much experimentation and tweaking, they introduce it into two humans. These humans gain supernatural-like powers. In a coincidental series of events, the two escape from the government facility they were held in. Word of this new method of ‘improving’ humans leaks out, and soon underground organizations have hold of the pirated, watered down version of the original virus (the original virus accidently was destroyed). Selling on the black market, key people in the world have the ability to become metahumans. The Kurylliins do not know the virus is on earth, but eventually they will find out. And they will want their stolen property.

Jake Haynes: He is Proteus. He is the protagonists of the story. His powers are energy based; he can fly, he can generate lightning, plasma and energy fields. His skin has the ability to transform into a flexible metallic armor suit that covers his entire body. The metallic armor is as strong as titanium but as flexible as plastic. He is not as powerful as his counterpart Morrisson right now, but he has vast untapped powers that no one completely understands (the virus was never meant for humans, but it turns out they are best fitted for it). As he learns to control his powers and investigates his past, his mind unlocks more and more of his inner power. Occasionally his emotions get the better of him (he is somewhat head-strong) and you get a quick glimpse of the power he is truly capable of. He does not remember anything of his past – the government stole that from him. At his core his has a pure heart, but he has a lot of demons to deal with in his struggle to be both human and superhuman.

Grant Morrison: He is Prometheus and is the main antagonist. He was the other man infected with the same virus as Haynes. However, Morrison was infected with the original virus, untampered with. When the scientists learned what the virus actually did, it was then they tampered and tweaked it, taking out unwanted parts. That was the virus Haynes got. Morrison however, getting the original untampered virus, became vastly powerful – much more so than Haynes did. As mentioned before, the virus was meant to make one dwell single-mindedly on victory for the Kurylliins. But since it was never designed for humans it did not work correctly on Morrison. It instead drove him completely insane. Morrison’s memory was also stolen from him also but he does remember some of it – he remembers that he had a wife and a daughter. They are both now dead; they died in a car crash while he was being experimented upon. In his insanity, to avenge their death, all on the earth must also die. This is his single minded mission and drive for living. He is a patient man, very intelligent, yet very prideful. He stands a head taller than Haynes and outweighs him by 50 lbs. He has the same basic powers as Haynes (the armor, energy based powers, etc), though his powers seem to be more based on direct powerful attacks, where as Haynes has more of a renassaince range of powers (as an example, Morrison can fire a more powerful plasma blast but Haynes can fly faster). Ultimtely, he is the most dangerous man on the planet, as ready to kill one million people as he is one person (he has a soft spot for children though).

J: J is a tall muscular black man, who was a former military agent and special ops agent. However, after a personal tragedy he pulls a 180-degree turn and goes underground as a professional assassin. He is one of the best at his job. He manages, by having the right underground connections, to obtain a version of the leaked watered-down virus sold on the black market. On the black market each virus strain is a little bit different (kind of like drugs) resulting in slightly different powers for each individual. J takes it and becomes incredibly fast – fast even on par with Haynes himself, which is remarkable because J’s virus strain is a tainted one. It is near this point that he again does another 180 turn, after he must murder a woman who bears a striking resemblance to his mother and he is forced to look deep into himself. Instead of an assassin he becomes somewhat of a batman-like vigilante – now that he knows all the ins and outs of the underworld. It is after J is in this for a while that he encounters and befriends Haynes. J acts like a mentor for Haynes, helping him to develop his powers.

Prototype #2: She is an android built by the government to try to bring down Haynes and Morrison. She eventually turns into more of a weapon sent to deal with any super powered problems that the government needs to handle. She is extremely powerful, and using some of the technology gathered at the original alien crash site, right now she is more than a match for both Haynes and Morrison. She is a no nonsense, cold, heartless artificial intelligence whose only goal is to accomplish her mission. She is stunningly attractive – which serves to disarm her targets. And it often works. However, as she evolves as a sentient entity, she develops a personality of her own. And emotions of her own. She is definitely a very multi-faceted, interesting character. (It is my intention that long down the story line, she eventually comes to Haynes’ side, where she will fall in love with him).

Bob: Bob is the only alien that survived the original crash. No one found him because he left the crash site and wandered into human civilization. Bob is a shape-shifter and soon managed to vanish into society. Not much is known about him (and I haven’t figured out much about him either), but he will play a mysterious part in the story line. Eventually Bob will be the one to reveal to Haynes his true origin as half human, half Kurylliin.

Villains: villains will be people who get the virus on the black market. They could be anyone; millionaires, assassins, mercenaries, terrorists, world leaders, scientists, etc. If you are creative, a truly limitless array of villains are available.

The Queen: eventually the Kurylliins will come back. And when they do, they will want their technology back. Seeing as how the original virus was destroyed, Haynes and Morrison are their closest thing to it. The Queen of the Kurylliin race (their leader) sees the potent
ial in humans for a super-soldier army. She may either destroy the earth in her anger or enslave all its inhabitants to become her soldiers. Whatever she does, it surely isn’t in the best interests of human kind – and of course, there is only one man who can stop her.

Raamiel – The Thunder

Jon — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 08:46:56 +0000

This is a comic idea that I had, dealing with angels and demons and all that is in-between. Here’s a quick summary of the all the relevant info & groups in the comic.

Groups

Line of Melchizedek (Also known as the Order of Melchizedek or merely The Order) – an ancient sect of King-Priests that dates from before the time of Abraham. Their charge is to protect powerful and ancient sacred relics (one being the mythical Gateway to the Third Heaven). Those of the line of Melchizedek are blessed with extraordinary strength. Their greatest strength however is that they excel beyond all mortals at the art of war. This is because their purpose is to wage war against the forces of evil. None surpass their skill with the sword, with the spear, with the bow, or nearly any weapon. They are obsessed with striving to remain holy. Before the time of Abraham, their sect was the emissaries of the One True God. They hold fast to the traditions brought from that era, seeking to live blameless lives according to the Law. They also carry immense authority and power in the spiritual realm. They know the ancient utterances and tongues that invoke power and destruction. They have a very limited control over matter in the Earthly realm. They rarely use these powers though because merely their presence strikes fear into most common spirits. They are few in number and are decreasing. Yet they still have a great role to play in the future of the world.

Rephaim – in the recent past they were known as vampires, but in ancient days they were called the Nephilim or the Rephaim. When fallen angels came unto women, this abominable race was founded. When a person of the Rephaim is born they has no soul; this is because the fallen angels who started the race had no soul. Thus, in order to live they must drink the blood of the living. At first they were born as giants and they laid waste to the land wherever they went. But after near extermination by the Hebrews, and intermingling with mortals, most Rephaim have no distinguishing physical features. They do retain some amazing capabilities from their ancestors however. They are remarkably strong; strong enough that the greatest of the Rephaim have taken on angels in battle. Also they are astonishingly fast. Having the supernatural coursing through their veins, they are keenly aware of the spiritual world around them, and they know angel from demon, and mortal from those who are not of this world. Their power is great, yet following the actions of their fathers they are evil. Each goes through a Rite of Passage, once they reach a certain age, where they must choose the side that they belong too. None have ever chosen the side of Righteousness; in fact few believe that they can. It is rumored that they can turn (to the side of Good), but none can remember having seen that happen.

Seraphim – The Fiery Ones who stand in the presence of the Lord. The most powerful of all angels, most of the Seraphim have the sole duty of eternally declaring the Holiness of God before His throne. Immense in stature and terrifying in appearance, often emblazoned with Holy Fire, only a few have been delegated to the realm of Earth. Though it is their wish that the Earthly drama be ended so that they may return to once more fly and sing songs before the Throne of the Most High, they dwell in the Earthly realm (though rarely among men) to serve the purpose that God has given them. Their presence helps to balance the scale between the forces of Good and Evil; for many powerful angels fell and subsequently became great demons. No one has ever fought the Seraphim and won. Yet they have only been engaged in battle once; and that was to expel Lucifer, the head of the Seraphim from the Heavenly realm.

Cherubim – Though not nearly as powerful as the Seraphim, it is the duty of the Cherubim to guard the Holiness of the Throne of God and to shield the mortal world from its unbearable brilliance. In the ancient days when The Most High rode forth from heaven, they served as His chariot. They are the Angels of Light and their glory, when revealed, is close to unbearable. Similar to the Seraphim, all save few of these remain in the Third Heaven. Those that have come to Earth have done so because of their love for all the acts of God; particularly His creation that was made in His own image. Because of this, they serve and fight on the Earth for the betterment of mankind and against the forces of Evil. These are the most powerful of angels that one might encounter (since it is exceedingly rare – and usually fatal – to encounter a seraphim). These Angels of Light have laid waste to many strongholds; it was their principal involvement at the Battle of Babylon that brought that nation to its knees. Some of the greatest of this rank include Uriel the Great and Abaddon, a fallen cherub known as the Angel of the Abyss.

Archangel – Archangels are the overseers – commanders if you will – of the large body of angelic forces. Larger, faster, and stronger than the common angels, these leaders coordinate the Will of God through the Heavenly Host. These are the battle hardened generals who have fought Evil since the beginning. They look forward to the day when they too will stand before God’s presence again and proclaim His glory. The chief of all archangels is the High Arch Angel Michael. Over the eons through Righteous battle he has risen to the level where he can challenge even the Cherubim.

Angel – a supernatural being of immense strength and power over the earthly realm. With the ability of flight due to their wings, they fight with weapons forged from the Ancient Days. This is because hardly anything of the Earthly realm can hurt them; yet a sword forged in the Heavenly fires (or the Fires of the Abyss) is a deadly opponent. When vanquished these spirits return to the place of their origin permanently to await the Day of Judgment. Angels return the Heavenly realm (unfulfilled however because their purpose had not been accomplished) and demons are thrown into Hades to be tormented until the Last Day. Angels, good and evil, have the ability to assume any human form they wish and can render themselves invisible to the common mortal at will. However, those with seeing eyes are able to divine their presence easily.

Demons – see angels. They are fallen angels who now fight for the side of darkness. They are utterly evil and seek any opportunity to destroy man or the Forces of Light.

Mage – a person who is able to tap into the evil power of the supernatural. Whereas The Order derive their power merely from their righteousness, demons imbue power unto those who can utter the ancient words. Since fallen angels were once angels and had power over the material realm, there are ancient incantations and utterances that a mortal can use to temporarily borrow this power from the spiritual world. Opposite of The Order, those of the Order of Mages derive their power not only from their extensive memorized knowledge of the ancient words, but also by their utter wickedness. Though one need not be exceedingly evil in order to use
this power – often referred to as “magic” – the more powerful one gets, the more evil one becomes.

ArchMages – a person who has reached the upper levels of the Order of the Mages. Often persons who have reached this level partner with a specific demon of large power. With their wills combined – often through possession – in the mortal realm they have more power together than they would separate. Also at that level Archmages are cannot use incantations with immense power by pulling power just from the dark realm; they can only achieve higher power by combining their own wickedness with that of a demon. They think that they are equal partners in the matter, but in all situations it is the demon who is in control and secretly despises and will destroy the Archmage when they is no longer needed.

Necromancers – a priest of the underworld. Whereas a mage taps into the power of the underworld, a necromancer studies the dark arts of sorcery until they are at the point where they can enslave lower demons to do their beckoning. Advanced necromancers have can control demons to the point that they can animate dead bodies.

The Gideons Templar – sect of devout Christians who reside in secret locations worldwide. They are mortals; mortals who have dedicated their lives to aid in spiritual battle. They too are a society that has been around for centuries. After the death of Jesus this group was formed to play the specific role of providing mortal forces to aid in battle against the Forces of Darkness. Guided by their founder, an ancient jewish mystic named Elijah ben Sirah, they are armed not only with prayer but mystical armor that is secretly blessed by the Pope himself when they are confirmed. They can be compared to knights but of the modern age. At any given time there are 343 Gideons Templar – 7 times 7 times 7. It is a birth rite passed onto the first born son or next closest of kin. They are gifted with extended life and usually live to be at least 200 years old. Each has a hand fashioned sword – forged in the forgotten ways that are prime for killing demons – that has imbedded in its hilt a shard from the Cross of Christ. They receive their orders from Gabriel who serves as the head messenger for Michael the Archangel. Though demons often discredit and underestimate them, many a demon has been vanquished because of the Gideons Templar; they are a great force to be reckoned with.

People

Aelion – By blood, He is the last surviving member of the Line of Melchizedek. He is the firstborn of four children of his father Ailion. He had two brothers and one sister – however both brothers were slain in battle. He alone remains to carry on the blood-line; and he must not fail. He is fanatical in his passion for keeping tradition and carrying on the time-honored ways of his fore-fathers. His skill with the sword is unparalleled and he is a master tactician. He wields the original sword of Melchizedek. He is practiced in all areas of weaponry and of the forging of weapons. He knows all the Holy utterances (at least he thinks) and Words of Power. He is capable of limited control over matter – he was not able to complete full training in this before his father was murdered. He seeks with his entire being to defeat the forces of Evil. He has however an unhealthy obsession with revenge; he seeks vengeance on those who on one evil night struck down his father and raped his mother (whom died later during childbirth). Aelion, when enraged with righteous anger is nearly unstoppable for mortal (and many immortal) forces.

Yehiel – sister to Aelion, she is gifted with the rare power of great natural control of the Earthly realm – it is called the Gift of Light. Mostly through the ability to form force fields, it is called this because of the person’s unique ability to control light – the most powerful manifestation being lightning. Besides these things however, Yehiel is notably more weak in other areas. She is one however that strives for righteousness; though not always the way Aelion would wish her too. She is more unconventional and seeks to push the boundaries. Though respecting the Old Ways, she continually finds ways to improvise. She also seems to have a limited Gift of Sight; she is able to prophetically see what will happen in the future before it happens. Though often her ability only extends a few seconds or minutes into the future (which sometimes aids in battle), occasionally she will have a vision about much future times to come. Overall she is a force to be reckoned with and a valuable asset to have on the side of Good.

Earthrenders – these are 15 ft tall mystical beings made of stone. With low intelligence, they were created by a great Archmage in ancient times to destroy enemy cities. They have incredible strength and invulnerability, as well as surprising speed. After destroying much of the Egyptian countryside, they were imprisoned by rival mages in a subterranean prison under the Atlantic Ocean. The prison was created by ten great mages, and was essentially an air pocket deep in the crust of the earth. The purpose of the Earthrenders was to destroy; so after being imprisoned they immediately began to dig their way out. With all six of the Earthrenders working, it took 5000 years to dig themselves out and into the bottom of the Atlantic – which brings them to present day.

The Wind – the legendary earthbound demon, whose angelic name is Aaen. After denouncing his master Lucifer, this cherub ended up on earth through means unknown. He retains all of his angelic powers save invulnerability. Nevertheless, he is one of the most fabled and feared combatants on the face of the earth. He can move nearly at the speed of thought, his sword can shave electrons from their orbits, his strength is almost unparalleled, and his wings allow him flight. Though he is not for the Forces of Light, he neither fights for the Forces of Darkness – a renegade, the Forces of Darkness want him dead, so he lives in complete seclusion in a tall white spire. The spire, though not invisible, is secluded in such a way that no one has ever located it. Occasionally, the Wind breaks his seclusion when the opportunity for redemption – or vengeance – presents itself.

Abaddon – the Angel of the Abyss. He derives his power from darkness, and was once a cherub in Heaven. Though currently bound in Hades, he awaits the day where his minions will free him to engage in a final War against Heaven. A being of immense power in evil (which has merely grown with the passage of time), one hammer-blow from the dreaded Nakam (his war-hammer, whose name means revenge) is enough to shake the foundations of a continent. The Forces of Heaven seek to keep him imprisoned at all costs.

Xaron – the most power necromancer alive. He has mystica
l objects which increase his physical abilities (such as an enchanted skull helmet) and he is an adept fighter. His plans are unknown…but also unopposed.

Vadros – the most powerful villain in the current world. He is very secretive and subtle, but extremely powerful nonetheless. The exact nature of his abilities is unknown, but what it is known is quite frightening. He seems to have the ability to harness the life force, or soul, of an unlimited number beings (those who are not righteous) and enhance it to use as his own. In effect he drains a person of their own life energy and adds it two his own temporarily. The range of his life force drawing abilities is seemingly unlimited. Upon a few occasions Vadros has drawn upon this power so much, that hundreds of those upon whom he was drawing power died instantly. With this power he is able to generate explosive like blasts that resonate in the physical and spiritual realm. This ability makes Vadros extremely powerful and dangerous. In his last known battle against the forces of good, he generated a gigantic napalm-like explosion that turned an acre of desert into glass and took the life force of five thousand innocents.

The Watchers – since the moment man fell, these angels have been entrusted with the duty of ensuring the well being of man. When Adam sinned, they were given the bodies of earthly men so that they could blend seamlessly in with them. They are called the Watchers because they have catalogued in an immense library all the works of Men since the beginning. They know the going in and the going out of men and all their ways; they perhaps are the source of the greatest wisdom to be found on Earth. Though given temporary mortal bodies, they are also gifted with amazing powers (since at core they are still angels). All of their senses are heightened to a supernatural extent – this is to give them better ability to watch over humankind. They are given strict rules not to intervene in the plight of man unless the need is dire. This has at times caused great conflict in the heavenly realm between the archangels and The Watchers. Some of the Archangels have wondered if The Watchers have indeed forgotten that they are angels since they have been human for so long. No one is sure of the exact powers of The Watchers – though it is rumored that they can hear a pin drop among a large city a mile away, that they can single-handedly take on an army of 185,000 men, and are invulnerable to magic. (Note: the 185,000 rumor is true. Isaiah records this in his book. When Jerusalem was under siege y the Assyrians – and Vadros – one of the three watchers slaughtered 185,000 men in a single night)

Uziel – an angel in the prestiged battalion of Michael the archangel. Uziel means “The Lord is my Strength” – this is evident with his fighting skill because though he is decently skilled with the sword, it is his incredible strength that makes him unique. He is gruff and sees things strictly in black and white. He is not subtle in the least and is quick to use the sword. He takes great pleasure in banishing demons and would rather lop of the head of a demon than enjoy an unhindered flight through the clouds (which most angels love more than anything).

Werewolves – in ancient times a powerful necromancer animated a corpse that he made assume the form of a wolf. Unable to control it, the wolf-man went on to create havoc for the entire country side until it was finally slain by valiant knight. Unfortunately it was after the wolf had wreaked its chaos – a child was born to an unfortunate woman whom the wolf had encountered. Such was the origin of the werewolves. Because the powerful incantation that was used to create the first wolf-man had required the light of the full moon, all werewolves (if they are in human form) cannot resist a transformation into a werewolf when a full moon rises. Otherwise they are fully capable of assuming a normal human form and can transform at will. When transformed their ferociousness is unparalleled.

The Angel of Death – his legendary name is Azrael, but in fear most simply refer to him as Acimah which means “The Lord will Judge”. Though an Angel of Heaven, Acimah is a silent and mysterious being. Though he is quick to give glory to the Almighty, rarely does this one smile; perhaps he will not do so until his job is completed. Grim and rough, extremely tall yet lanky, good yet dark in a way, there are none – save the kind hearted Michael – who seek to associate with him. When a soul dies, Acimah either brings this soul to the heavenly realm or escorts it to Hades (it is God’s will that he not be touched by the Forces of Evil while he performs his duty). Acimah is a powerful being and alone among the angels is able to be in more than one place at one time. This ability is limited however; he has unlimited ability to escort the dead to their resting place, but if many people die at the same time he is strained to maintain his presence elsewhere (in lending his hand in fighting battles for example). He is a great asset in battle however – having 3 or 4 Acimah’s fighting at the same time for the forces of Heaven is a great advantage.

Semes – one of the greatest fighters of the Gideons Templar. He is 120 years old and in the prime of his life. Personally having vanquished over 100 demons and 50 vampires (the current running record), Semes – whose name means Sun – is a head-sure fighter who does not think twice about plunging into battle. Though he is a great warrior, he is not always the wisest, and has on a handful of occasions almost gotten himself killed by being a too aggressive. Only his great skill as a warrior – and his powerful armor (which was the first forged about 2000 years ago) – saved him. He knows Aelion but does not always get along with him. He is always in search of the next minion of darkness that he can send back to the Abyss.

Gaon – one of the most dangerous vampires. Extremely smart and quick, he has eluded the grasp of Aelion and the Gideons Templar for many years. The mastermind behind many vampire ambushes and general mayhem, he is perhaps one of the most wanted vampires alive. Chillingly cold and emotionless, he cares nothing except for his own pleasure and advancement – he is evil through and through.

Natali – a human turned vampire, Natali (whose name means My Burden) has gained the strength and powers of a vampire but has also gained the rejection of the outside world. The minute a vampire shows its face publicly it is usually found and killed by someone of the Forces of Light (anyone for the side of Heaven). Because of this she resent her situation and the side of Good and in many ways has become evil. Yet at her core she may not really be evil. Perhaps one of the most skilled at martial arts among the Rephaim the future may hold much for her.

Shade – no one knows this man’s real name. No one even knows if he has a name. His history and past is unknown. What is known about him is that he is a one-man vigilante. He operates only at night; no one has ever found him during the day. He dedicates his entire life to single-handedly killing all who have any association with Evil. Be they human, werewolf, vampire, demon, etc, he will pursue them and destroy them. He is an expert bowman, acrobat and swordsman. He speaks little for he is a mute. No one knows how his blades can cut down the demons or how he seems to be impervious to magic. It is known that his body is covered in ancient angelic runes and Hebrew scripts. Perhaps it is these that gives him protection, but no one is sure. All that is known is that when Shade shows up, evil things die. The most surprising thing is that besides his imperviousness to magic, he seems to have no other powers (though his extensive array of gadgets might be counted as one). The controversy is that Shade takes all law into his own hands; he acts as judge, jury, and executioner in all cases. Some regard him as more a hindrance than a help. Regardless, at the mention of this mysterious Shade, the Forces of Darkness always tremble.

Tslmona – a dark force of terrible power. Both a necromancer and a mage (unheard of since the creation of the world) she commands many deep and dark powers. Rather than showing outright aggression, Tslmona prefers to extend her powers unbeknownst to others to all facets of mankind. A mastermind behind all kinds of evil, no one is sure just how far her influence reaches. With the authority to command demons, usher in temporary darkness at will, and to create temporary minions from the darkness, none question her evil intention is to rule the world. Elusive, few have ever been able to pin down her location long enough to engage her in direct battle. More often you find yourself fighting her many minions. A rival to Vadros, she is another one of the most powerful villains in the current world.

Lucifer – the ex-head of the Seraphim, Lucifer fell from Heaven and took one third of the angels with him; they have all subsequently become demons. Immensly powerful, it is His goal to destroy everything having to do with Heaven and God; to lay utter ruin to all who claim righteousness. He is the leader and mastermind of the Forces of Darkness in the present world. Of all created beings he is the most powerful and seeks to take the Throne of the Most High for himself. After his rebellion against Heaven, he battled the Seraphim for entrance to the Throne. However the combined might of all the Seraphim greatly weakened him. At last he was cast out of heaven, not by the Seraphim, but Michael the Archangel when in a surprise move rallied his mighty sword against the almost beaten Lucifer, throwing him out of the heavenly realm. The remaining angels also cast out the one third who had rebelled with him. Lucifer has a special hatred for Michael and seeks to bring him to ruin whenever possible.

Concepts

Redemption – humans have been given the special gift of being able to be redeemed. This does not extend to all beings. The rephaim, having no soul, cannot be redeemed. The ability to have a soul is passed down from father to son (or daughter), so it is thought. That is why when the fallen angels came unto women their children did not have souls. However, some think that the soul of the mother may come into play; the legend for the Rephaim is that if one chooses the Path of Righteousness during their Right of Passage, then one can be redeemed. This legend has since fallen out of common knowledge. The angels who actively took part in the rebellion with Lucifer cannot be redeemed. Angels in general are set in the ways that they currently are. However, some angels have left heaven out of their own will. These angels will be cast into the Abyss when the Day of Judgment comes unless the become redeemed. Werewolves are pretty much animals; they do not have souls and cannot be redeemed. The meaning of redemption is being accepted into heaven and/or being given a soul.

Transformation – some beings are capable of changing their form. Angels are capable of changing their outward appearance; their face remains the same but they can assume the garb of a beggar, or a millionaire of they so wish. Demons can do the same, but have had the opportunity to figure out more deceitful ways to change shape; they can also transform into a more hideous appearance which is more gargoyle like. In this form they often have more physical power. Werewolves can transform from their own human form to a wolf whenever they want. However, when a full moon rises, they must turn into their wolf form. The only transformation the vampires have is with their face – when feeding it assumes a more hideous appearance with mouth drawn back to allow the incisor teeth to better puncture a blood vessel. During feeding times their eyes are known to turn red.

Main Character

His name is Raamiel. In mystical teachings this was the name of the Angel given charge over Thunder. Here is the account of his origins.

Ancestry: His father was none other than Asmodius – the pure-blood Rephaim warrior who traced his blood line back to the leader of the angels that fell from heaven and came unto women. Asmodius serves as somewhat of a figurehead to all Rephaim, being of great heritage. Inherently evil, Asmodius serves as an example of the cruelty and abominations that the Rephaim are. He has personally slain 10 persons of great lineage in the Order – a great feat for any mortal. Long he was a bane to all who walked the Earth. Though Asmodius had a harem of women at his call, one particular night, drunk on wine, he sought to feed and have his pleasures fulfilled by a human woman; whether with her will or against it. Having seen a woman of great beauty that night, hungrily he followed her back to her house. Unbeknownst to Asmodius, that night he had stumbled into the house of the pure line of the Order of Melchizedek. Unfortunately, the father and the first born had left momentarily for unknown reasons, leaving the mother, daughter and two sons alone. The children were not yet mature and stood no chance against Asmodius. He slew the two boys readily and easily. The girl hid and Asmodius could not find her. He then took the lady for himself. As he was leaving the father, Ailion, and the son, Aelion, returned. Enraged, Ailion single-handedly battled Asmodius. Blinded by his rage however, Asmodius struck Ailion with a mortal blow. Young Aelion, unseen by Asmodius as he stumbled away wounded, was infuriated and grabbing the fabled Sword of Melchizedek from his father’s dead hands, ran Asmodius through with it, clean to the hilt. Thus Asmodius and Ailion died. The mother Ariel, following the time-honored code of the Line of Melchizedek, did not kill the baby as it grew inside her; for such was murder before the eyes of the Lord. Yet none knew what would come forth from her – for she was of the Holy Line of Melchizedek and Asmodius was of the Rephaim. Sadly, the consequences of Asmodius’ evil ran far, for Ariel died in childbirth. Yet her baby lived, and with her dieing breath she named him Raamiel
.

History: From the moment he was born, Raamiel knew he was different. This became more obvious as time progressed. He was abnormally strong – stronger than any of The Order even as a teenager. He did not require the blood of living so it seemed – for lived quite normally off of normal food. He was swift for sure, yet the best of The Order could still outmatch him. Most of the elders knew of Raamiel’s past, and for such reasons he was often viewed as an outcast. In fact, some of the Elders objected to Raamiel living among them. Yet because of the high position of Ailion and the high regard of Ariel, The Order took him in and trained him in their ways. He became at expert swordsman and forger – his blade was swift and amazed even the Elders of the Order. He had an instinctual skill in combat that was very obvious. However, what worried The Order was his inklings of his evil nature. He was not one to follow rules and received much discipline as a child. At the age of sixteen, when those of the Rephaim usually go through their Rite of Passage, Raamiel did not, but grew increasingly restless. Eventually, despite the love the Order had given him, Raamiel was tired of following orders. He ran away and soon found himself amongst a dark crowd. Not much is known about him during this time, however he came across many a dark and dangerous thing.

It was during this time that he first drank the life-blood of another; it was invigorating for him and seemed to impart renewed strength in him. However, the side effect was that it loosed his mind and his conscious and the evil in him deepened. After many a year on the streets, and being subsequently very hardened in consequence, Raamiel’s soul (and he did have one) had grown weary of the evil. There was also a good in him that would not be vanquished; thus he started in his solo wanderings across the Earth. During his solo wanderings, whenever Raamiel witnessed evil about to be accomplished, he stopped it; whenever he witnessed it done, he punished. He found that this too seemed to swell within him a renewed strength. Yet of his soul and of his destiny he did not understand. He was in many ways lost.

After his wanderings he came again to The Order. There he met Aelion, full grown, whom he had not seen since he was a boy. As a youngsters, Aelion had always been a little stand-offish towards him; for he knew the circumstances of his birth. Aelion had always been one to go by the books. Raamiel was not. Though Aelion and Raamiel never quite got along, Aelion still embraced his childhood companion upon arrival. Aelion had grown great in stature and seemed to fulfill the legends of those old warriors of the Order; built strong and tall, stocky yet flexible, with eyes of brown fervor and hair long and black, Aelion stood a head taller than the rest of his people and of Raamiel. Yehiel had blossomed in the years that had past into a tall and slender figure, with long flowing black hair and piercing and gentle eyes that seemed to be able to see straight through a person to their soul. Though a constant and friendly childhood companion to Raamiel, Raamiel was still shocked at the beauty which dwelt within her.

The Order had grown smaller since Raamiel had left, for many a valiant warrior had fallen by demon-sword or the hands of other evils. Aelion of course seemed not to have a scratch on him, and you could tell that he felt incomplete without the presence of his sword. It was then that he informed Raamiel of the present evils and that brings us to present day.

The Present

There are great forces at work in present day and ancient evils arising from times past.

Vadros, one of the most dangerous forces at times present, has again come forth and is exterting his power in parts of the world. Yehiel had forseen the imminent return of ancient forces known as Earthrenders. Their presence on the Earth could not be underestimated. The Rephaim seem to be increasing in number – faster than the forces of Good can control it. About this Raamiel is torn, for he shares a certain kinship with them. In many ways he identifies more with the side of Evil than that of Good.

Perhaps of greatest importance is that through knowledge found by the Gideons Templar, The Order has become aware of a plot to free Abaddon from the Abyss before his time, thus unleashing Armageddon upon the Earth and the rule of Evil. Tslmona seems to be the mastermind behind the plot but few are sure.

The plot unfolds as the forces of Evil begin to make inroads against the weakened and battle weary forces of Good and the choice Raamiel must make between them.