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I get the feeling the mysterious John Doe is part of TALOS...
The Big Villains Thread
Mister Doe? Who knows for sure...?
Even if he is (and I'm not saying he is), he wouldn't be the only TALOS affiliated villain on this list...
Villain of the Day: January 31 (Adrian Moriarty Dover, aka The Second Moriarty)
It is April 18th, in the Year of Our Lord 1204. Constantinople burns.
The misguided Crusaders from France and Italy have been excommunicated for the second time by Pope Innocent III. Ancient relics of art, literature, and history are destroyed. Treasures are looted. The great bronze horses of the Hippodrome are torn from their moorings, set to be sent to Rome. Adrianus Akropolites watches from afar; a pack-horse loaded with treasures awaits him, grazing at a tree nearby. An opened lock, a misdirected guard patrol, and the Crusading army takes the best-fortified city in the western world.
Within the city walls, the invading army revels; a French prostitute dances upon the throne of the Byzantine Empire. But well before the music ends, Adrianus Akropolites has vanished.
It is late February, in the Year of Our Lord 1778. Philadelphia freezes.
Garrison Commander Arnold has been relieved of his field duties, taking the winter to heal his wounded leg. The revolution has weighed heavy on his mind for months--so much carnage, so many lives lost, and for what? His doctor peels back the bandages and replaces the split. "If only," the doctor says, "this war could come to a swift end. We could save so many and get back to normality. Commander, you will be in a unique position upon your return to the Continental Army..." Arnold contemplates this as Doctor Adrian re-wraps his leg; perhaps he could make a difference.
It is October, in the Year of Our Lord 1958. London shivers.
Felix Stone contemplates his new office, in Britain's Attache for Foreign Affairs. Never one for much decoration, most of what covered his deck were paper clips, staplers, and other office supplies. A cup of black pens sat at the ready, within easy reach of his dayplanner. A head popped into his doorway, "Mister Stone, I presume?" Felix nods. "My name is Adrian Dover. It appears we'll be working in tandem for the foreseeable future...shall we pop out for a drink?"
The man known as Adrian Dover would never catch your attention on the street. A head of dark hair, high cheekbones, and a dark suit allow him to blend into a crowd with ease. And, over the centuries, he has done just that. Over and over, Adrian has placed himself in positions to give history a 'nudge', pushing it in a direction that spirals it towards chaos and annihilation. Each time, he emerges all the stronger, gaining wealth, influence, and material power, even as the world rends itself in twain. In this end, he has come to view himself as something of a nefarious mastermind, sitting at the center of a vast web of interconnections, deceit, and conspiracy. Jokingly, he has more than once referred to himself as The Second Moriarty, after the classic mastermind of literature.
It is unknown as to whether Adrian Dover has any powers beyond his incredibly long life span. He does not age, nor does he ever seem to suffer any physical ailment. His uncanny influence over notable individuals might suggest some degree of mental manipulation, though he exhibits no other psychic powers, such as telepathy or telekinesis. It may well be that century upon century of education, diplomacy, and machinations have simply crafted him into a master manipulator. In any case, tracking Dover's subtle influence might only be in the hands of the most diligent investigators, leading to major figures the world around. And should someone step too close to this secret? Such a brash individual might find the world itself allied against them, as The Second Moriarty stacks the deck of fate.
Hah, well. :D You did say things were pointing to a mastermind!
So, Adrian Dover rounds out my last villain for January.
Can I ask the general consensus of what they thought of this? Is this useful? Entertaining? Too cliche?
Big question, I guess, is *do you want to see more?*
I'm kind of on the fence right now -- I like writing these, but I've got a ton of other stuff to write, both personally and professionally, so if there's not an audience, I'll move apace. If there's desire for more though, I'll gladly keep going.
My thoughts for the coming months would likely be themed: a month of street level villains, another of occult/arcane threats, another of alien/cosmic threats, another of teams/organizations, etc. Is this an interesting direction for people?
Although Rook City avoided the calamity seen in other worlds, it still did not fair well. Signs of the carnage that OblivAeon and his minions caused can be found on every street of the city. Except for Peaks Way, a small suburban neighborhood hidden away inside an industrial park. On Peaks Way flowers bloom, birds chirp, and there are no signs of the wreckage and rubble that can be found everywhere else in the city. Visitors to the street are greeted by smiling residents, who inform them that yes, the neighborhood is doing perfectly fine. Disaster? We didn't notice a disaster over here. Our neighboorhood has always been perfectly safe. It's been very lovely to meet you, but the children are napping right now, and it wouldn't do to wake them up early. Things are always less pleasent when the children aren't well rested. Problems? No, we don't have any problems here. Don't worry about us, today is a good day.
"Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?"
- Terry Pratchett, Going Postal
I have enjoyed reading your daily villain PlatinumWarlock. They will undoubtedly be pulled apart and reassembled by my brain at some point and I will go AH I have found the perfect foil in an RPG campaign thinking I am so novel and fresh and then realize I just stole one of yours.
One day I may even try and add to this list but my brain still keeps cycling back to the silly hero name of Element of Justice
It was all good stuff, Warlock. :D You've earned yourself a break, though. Come back and give us more when you feel the need to and have the time!
Yeah, these have been awesome and I would definitely love to see more, but I don't think anyone would blame you if you can't keep up the pace of one per day. It would probably take me a week to come up with one of these and it still wouldn't be as good.
Demiher0's said it pretty perfectly, so I'll just add to what he said.
I have enjoyed reading your daily villain PlatinumWarlock. They will undoubtedly be pulled apart and reassembled by my brain at some point and I will go and steal one of yours but at least give you credit for it. Those were fantastic. One day I may even try and add to this list but my brain still keeps being unoriginal. Also only coming up with heroes
So yeah, if you find life becomes too much to handle, then I won't be offended if you don't continue. I really apprecoate it though, and would be thrilled if you do more.
" Ever had those days where you have amazing luck,
everything goes right, and you feel like the king of the world...
....And then you wake up?"
-Someone special, 2012
All right, then. We forge on! February will focus on Foreign Threats: threats not originating in the United States.
Villain of the Day: February 1 (Jimmy Fish-Eyes)
Jiichirou "Jimmy" Nobuto had a case of the wandering eyes. No matter how good he had it, he always wanted something different, something new, something more. If he just got a new car? He'd find himself back on the car lots, eyeing up the newer models. In a restaurant? He'd scope out what someone else had ordered, wondering when he should change his own order. In a relationship with a gorgeous girlfriend? He'd scope the dating sites on the down-low, looking for someone cuter. Within his circle of friends, his tendency to gape and stare earned him the nickname Jimmy Fish-Eyes, as he scoped out what might be out there.
However, Jimmy's eye for the finer things did have its perks. As a low-level extortionist with the Kokuru-kai yakuza group, he could always tell when someone was holding out on him, able to sniff out hidden cash, weapons, or other valuables with ease. After a particularly lucrative score, in which Jimmy located a cache of conflict diamonds, his oyabun decided to reward him with something most unique.
Jimmy's surgery lasted for nearly 16 hours. With Jimmy on the table, the Afrikaans surgeon was nothing short of a maestro, removing his eyes and attaching new ones directly into his optic nerves.
He emerged from his recovery with powers true to his name. Mechanical cybernetic eyes bulged from his sockets: he could now see into alternate spectrums of light, see through thin objects, and see at incredible distances or with power magnification. Further, Jimmy's enhanced vision granted him phenomenal skill at marksmanship, turning what was an average shot into a shootist that could out-duel even the best of Olympic marksmen and archers. To keep a lower profile, Jimmy's become ubiquitous for his large, jet black sunglasses which cover all but the barest trace of his cybernetics.
Fish-Eyes continues to work for the Kokuru-kai, but as per usual, he has his eyes on bigger scores. Perhaps those individuals who gave him his new eyes might be hiring...
Villain of the Day: February 2 (Vabanque)
Gregoire D'Alembert loved the thrill of the dice. The flip of a card enthralled him. That tension between dealer and player, the shifty eyes, the decision to stay or hit, the bluff and patter at the gambling table. Gregoire himself was a good enough player--typically favoring baccarat, blackjack, and craps--but the atmosphere of a casino was intoxicating to him. Growing up in Luxembourg, he quickly moved to Monte Carlo, taking a position as a croupier at a small casino.
Over time, Gregoire rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a baccarat ladderman in a notable coastline casino. Unfortunately for Gregoire, that casino did not take kindly to thieves--while Gregoire himself took nothing, a nefarious co-worker shunted the blame onto him--and worse, that casino happened to be mob-affiliated. Rather than turn Gregoire in to the authorities, a few burly men took him into the kitchen walk-in after hours and proceeded to teach him a proper lesson.
The explosion of energy in the kitchen nearly demolished the east wing of the casino. Bleeding from his pummelling, Gregoire flared with power in all directions, slaying his assailants and decimating the kitchen. Not understanding what had happened to him, Gregoire fled the casino, packed a swift bag, and ran for his life.
Since that day, Gregoire has started to gain a handle on his energy-expulsion abilities. Styling himself as the rakish Vabanque, he can project energy missiles after the four card suits, while his costume resembles nothing so much as the Jack of Diamonds, replete with pale-faced mask.
In his civilian guise, Gregoire travels from casino to casino, bilking casinos--particularly mob-affiliated ones--out of thousands of dollars. However, while dressed as Vabanque, he revels in theft and derring-do, his actions leaving gambling houses smoking and penniless in his wake.
Villain of the Day: February 3 (The Polong)
The villagers in Tanha Rata, Malaysia always managed to keep the beast at bay. For centuries upon end, a villager would leave their village, venturing deep into the jungle and entering the forbidden cave. Torch in hand, the altar lay before them, the same two objects always in place: a small stone knife and a black-quartz bottle. Each day, at noon, a villager would prick their index finger with the stone blade and ooze a single drop of blood into the bottle. Each time, the creature in the bottle rose to feed, but each time it simply fed on the blood and returned to the bottle. Few knew why this ritual was performed; fewer still knew what actually lurked within the bottle. But all knew: each day, one drop of blood kept the bottle satisfied.
But, as with all things during the OblivAeon event, the routine mundane rituals of life were flung aside in favor of pure survival.
The islands of Malaysia were struck by a massive typhoon as OblivAeon arrived, with massive storms and crashing waves slamming against the shore. Tanha Rata was submerged, the villagers clinging to debris and clambering to their roofs to simply survive. As rescue boats and helicopters scoured the village, Tanha Rata's wise woman could only consider one dire fate: "The bottle. It is gone."
Along the northern coast of Australia, little Genevieve Wallace loved picking up shells along the beach. When she found a black quartz bottle, she was quick to rush home to show her auntie. Auntie Gertrude smiled and told her niece, "It's beautiful; why don't we clean it up before we put it in your collection?"
Their mutilated bodies were found in Gertrude's backyard, their entrails streaming down the sidewalk and their livers outright missing.
Since then, The Polong has roamed free across Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of southeast Asia. In most cases, it appears just as little Genevieve did in life, her having been its first true victim in centuries. However, as it engages foes, The Polong morphs into a swirling oval of teeth, claws, suckers, and amorphous flesh. It exists only to feed, to sow carnage, and to create more of its own kind. It greatly prefers the liver tissue of humans, as the increased iron content in the liver more easily feeds it, bringing it closer towards replication. And, after just a few more victims, there may be more than one Polong menacing Malaysia.
Villain of the Day: February 4 (Erudite)
Professor Jonathon Lew-Hansfield was the very definition of an ivory tower academic. Born to an Ivy League household, he attended Oxford and Cambridge, before taking a full professorship at the Universitat Heidelberg in Germany. A professor of philosophy, Lew-Hansfield was well-read, better-spoken, and always eager to find ways to expand his sizable intellect.
What he couldn't stand, though? His students.
Even as a full professor, Lew-Hansfield found himself forced into providing classes for (*scoff*) undergraduates, as they shambled from class to class, wearing their t-shirts and yoga pants, worried only about their next night at the bar or their next late-night conquest. He loathed them. He loathed everything they stood for: their commercialism, their lack of insight, their pedantic acceptance of mediocrity. He couldn't stand it. Not one more minute.
Now, Lew-Hansfield was no scientist, but he surely knew enough of them from his countless years in academica. He just didn't bank on his contact in the Manchester University physics department being affiliated with some organization called TALOS.
The villain now known as Erudite made his first appearance at a Hamburg football match against Manchester United. Manchester was up 2-0 when a figure in silver armor descended from the rafters of the Volksparkstadion, his voice booming over the loudspeakers. "Simpletons!" he bellowed, "This paltry display of primitive amusement is at an end. Feel now, the raw might of the human mind, unfurled!"
Waves of psionic energy washed over the crowd. Pylons and support structures tore themselves free of their moorings slamming into the field. Erudite's first appearance brought a death toll in the hundreds as fans fled the stadium in horror. A massive manhunt ensued, with clever investigators quickly realizing that the demure, arrogant philosophy professor had turned into a full-fledged villain.
Erudite is still at large, with his crimes neatly balanced between thefts of high-end art and historical objects (for his private collection) and attacks on what he believes to be "vulgar" activities that dumb down the masses. Recent targets have included the red-carpet release of a major blockbuster film, a large video game convention, and the Black Friday sales at the Mall of America. Erudite has traveled the world, deludedly attempting to eradicate all those things he believes to be unnecessary, as he prepares a grander plan for a more selective, enlightened world...
Villain of the Day: February 5 (Baba Yaga)
Katja Lukyarenko was living the high life. The dilettante daughter of old money in Kiev, Ukraine, she cavorted across Europe throughout her early 20s, nominally 'studying' at university, but often spending more time in the nightclubs of The Netherlands or along the sun-drenched beaches of Cyprus. Katja was a beautiful person doing beautiful-person-things, living an idyllic life.
That is, until one fateful night in St. Petersburg.
Katja and several of her girlfriends were out late one evening, on their way home from some drunken revelry in a Russian nightclub. Roaming through the streets that icy winter's day, Katja and her crew cut down an alley, eager to find an all-night restaurant where they could cap off their evening. As Katja stepped gingerly through the alley--her stiletto heels clacking along the cobblestones--a cry rang out. Katja stumbled into a heap of snow and trash as a figure pushed her aside, crying out in pain: Katja had stepped on a decrepit old homeless woman, who had taken up refuge in the alley.
More than a little inebriated and now angry at having been shoved into the muck, Katja berated the old woman, kicking at her and cursing profusely. The old woman cowered in fear and shame before extending one long-nailed finger, "You! You have everything! I have nothing, but you still curse at me! By Koschkei's deathless egg, you will know the sorrow I have felt!"
Katja's friends pulled her along, but the woman continued to stare at her, the transient's eyes glinting in the St. Petersburg snow. That next day, the woman was found in the alley, having died of hypothermia.
That next night, the first transformation occured. As she primped for another night out in front of her hotel room mirror, Katja's face withered. Her hands gnarled and her back curled into a hunch. There in her four-star room, Katja had transformed into a hideous hag! In horror, she fled into the night, utterly terrifying anyone she passed as she went.
Over the months and years since then, Katja's curse has provided her a significant degree of power. Able to channel discordian magics, she refers to herself with the name of the ancient Russian witch, Baba Yaga, even flying through the air in a conjured mortar and pestle. Katja can, in fact, use her magics to resume her prior, youthful form, though doing so takes such concentration and focus that she cannot perform any other magics and, if distracted, will return to her crone form.
Baba Yaga will stop at nothing to break her curse and, as such, has taken to all manner of foul sorceries, hoping that some long forgotten branch of discordian magic might free her from this fate. Most notably, Katja completed a daring raid upon the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, stealing one of the few known full translations of De Vermiis Mysteriis, a powerful spellbook once held by the noted sorcerer Ludwig Prinn. What Baba Yaga may unleash from this tome, though, may not be worth the price of her reclaimed youth...
Villain of the Day: February 6 (The Half Man)
Yusuf Ishan was a child of war. Growing up along the Uzbekistan/Afghanistan border, his parents farm was the site of marauding warlords, Soviet tanks, British paramilitary forces, and invading Americans throughout his entire life. His father, a wheat farmer, was crippled by a land mine when Yusuf was merely 8, leaving his mother to care for the whole household and maintain th efarm itself.
Yusuf could never understand, for the life of him, what drove all these people to such violence. Surely, there must be a way for them to see reason. Despite his family's trials and travails, Yusuf was still able to attend a local school, eventually even making it to university in India. However, while there, tragedy struck. Yusuf's family were caught in the crossfire during a firefight in a nearby marketplace--his mother and three of his siblings were gunned down by acciental fire.
Both Yusuf and his father took this loss heavily, mourning for weeks on end. That is, until Yusuf found something of note. While out on a contemplative walk, he literally fell into a bunker he had never seen before. Inside were technological wonders beyond his own imagining: weapons, armor, computers, and more. Yusuf could read English well enough--after some brief investigation, he came to realize the truth of this bunker: it belonged to an organization known as TALOS.
But, within the bunker was a prize beyond measure: a series of vials quite clearly labeled as a drug regimen, capable of altering the imbiber's genetics and providing them with a degree of metahuman abilitiy. Full of loss and still raging at the senseless violence that decimated his family, Yusuf injected himself with the serum and, sealing the bunker behind him, headed back home. He never made it that far.
Over the next four days, Yusuf wandered through the wilderness, in abject pain and horrific hallucination. Wandering across a sun-scorched mountaintop, he collapsed, ready to die. But die he did not. His skin facing the sun darkened to the point of becoming jet black, appearing to divide him almost exactly in half vertically. But, as he rose onn that fifth day, he found himself invigorated. He was stronger, faster, and resistant to harm of all sorts. His reflexes and senses were heightened. He was reborn.
Since that day, a mysterious divided figure has waged an outright war upon any forces who might interlope in the Afghan states. The Half Man and an ever-expanding cadre of followers waged a guerilla war against the Taliban, the American forces, and the Afghan government itself, using strange, scientifically advanced weaponry pulled from that TALOS bunker. Yusuf has no more patience to give. His people will no longer bleed; only his enemies will.
Villain of the Day: February 7 (Squall)
Alvin Sigurlinni's parents lived in the most remote parts of Greenland; once a month, his father took their boat out for supplies. Beyond that, Alvin had little contact with the outside world, beyond that of his parents and his siblings. Alvin was home schooled, primarily by his eldest sister Ingva, though he always craved more. He yearned to go with his father into Maniitsoq to see new people and to see the sights beyond his family's homestead. His parents were adamant, though: he must stay home.
But, of course, after you tell a child 'no' for so long, eventually they'll start to look for a way for that 'no' to become a 'yes'. For Alvin, this meant sneaking aboard his father's boat and, when father went shopping for food and other supplies, Alvin could explore the town.
Snow in Greenland is omnipresent. However, as Alvin slipped out of the ship's hold, the wind began to swirl much more strongly. The snowflakes, slowly drifting down along the whole trip, began to fall in earnest, thick and whipping through the icy wind. As Alvin stepped onto the sidewalk, he felt a strange power surge through him. His eyes flared brilliant blue and, falliing to his knees, he cried out in alarm and pain.
Alvin was, of course, an Omega. His powers of atmokinetic control could manifest intensely powerful winter storms, disrupting temperatures and causing massive precipitation in a several-mile radius around him. And worse, his powers were entirely beyond his control.
By the time that the Sentinels of Freedom managed to reach Alvin, the entire village of Maniitsoq was under 5 feet of snow. Eventually, Alvin's role in the sudden storm was discovered; the boy was sedated and taken into custody, though his family has vehemently protested. The Greenland government has taken up the issue of Alvin's undue incarceration in international court, though the Sentinels of Freedom claim that his continued sedation is necessary for the safety of all those around him.
To this day, the public believs that the metahuman referred to as Squall remains unconscious in a stasis chamber in Freedom Plaza. However, with a new session of the International Court of Justice set to begin, it may only be a matter of time until the truth is exposed: the still-sedated body of Alvin Sigurlinni has been stolen by parties unknown. The living snowstorm may yet walk the earth again.
Villain of the Day: February 8 (Jericho)
During the Ennead's takeover of Egypt, the remaining states in the Middle East were thrown into a panic. With nine ultra-powerful would-be gods having walled off Egypt, many of the Levant states began to actively recruit identified metahumans into their own military special ops corps, setting off a chain reaction of metahuman arms proliferation. Syria, Libya, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and several other countries offered multi-million dollar contracts to assorted metahumans to act as "military consultants" within their own military forces.
Israel, however, had a different idea.
Recruited by Lieutenant Colonel Uri Felsenthal of the Israeli Special Forces, fourteen volunteers were folded into Project: Jericho. Deep within the bowels of a skunkworks beneath Tel Aviv, Project Jericho represented the summation of global arms technology meant to replicate and surpass that of the United States' "Bunker" suit. Jericho-assigned scientists brought in power sources and capacitors from Mordengrad, armor plating based on the original Omnitron designs, state of the art weapons and targeting systems from Blackstock-McCalley, and a from-scratch, in-house built user interface, built for ease of piloting.
The fourteen Jericho suits were first deployed as crowd-control units during the OblivAeon crisis, but quickly found themselves pressed into rescue and reconnaisance roles, in addition to facing down seeming legions of Aeon men. Unsurprisingly, the suits proved to be formidable military tools, with near impenetrable armor and a bevy of modular armament options. Felsenthal's project was hailed as a rousing success and were folded into the Israeli military structure with great fanfare.
...which, of course, led to greater destablilization. The Jericho suits were deployed to patrols along the Gaza Strip, leading directly to a firefight with PLO affiliated insurgents. No less than 64 individuals were killed during this mission, with the Jericho suits standing as monoliths of destruction in the midst of the battlefield flames. Palestinian officials immediately filed a grievance with the United Natiosn war crimes tribunal, citing the use of "weapons of mass destruction" in the field, intending to have the international community put the kibosh on the use of armored suits on the battlefield. In a stunning reversal of fortune, the tribunal found that, since the armament of the Jericho suit was no different than that of a modern tank or other armored cavalry units, no such sanctions would be made.
To this day, the 14 members of Project Jericho have done much to benefit the Israeli state, which has only earned them the ire of their neighbors. Rumors swirl of an alliance of Arab states, set to invade Israel with the singular intent of dismantling the threat posed by the Israeli military and Project Jericho. And, should this happen, the Jericho suits will undoubtedly be on the front lines, facing off against metahuman mercenaries. But where, then, will the Sentinels of Freedom stand when the superhumans of the world go to war?
Villain of the Day: February 9 (Iyo)
In the midst of the Middle Eastern arms proliferation in the wake of Israel's Project: Jericho, the various countries along the Arabian peninsula have begun active recruitment efforts into their own militaries. One of the cornerstones of those recruitment efforts has come from Iyo, the Crystalline Man.
Born Amanuel Mebrahtu in Eritrea, Iyo's abilities first manifested during the Somali conflicts during the early 2000s, while he worked with a minor mercenary group. Believed to be a latent Omega, Amanuel is able to crystallize his own body, turning himself into something akin to a walking salt crystal. His abilities, naturally, provided him significant resistance to damage, a degree of enhanced strength, and an ability to blast out a blinding spray of salt crystals, which deals little damage, but can easily blind or disorient unsuspecting foes.
However, with the establishment of a coalition government in Somalia in 2009, Iyo decided to embark on a different opportunity. Contacted by a military minister in Yemen, Iyo was offered a princely sum--all held in offshore accounts--to aid the Yemeni government in both special operations and spec-ops recruitment efforts, as they sought to supplement their own military with metahumans. In this role, Iyo became a core member of Yemen's "Rubama" initiative, whereupon he recruited no less than 20 powered individuals into the Yemeni military.
Since that time, Iyo has embraced his role as a freelancer, moving from country to country within the various Arab states in the Middle East. The United Nations has declared Mebrahtu to be a 'person of interest' in a number of terrorism-associated cases throughout the African and Asian continents, while the European Union has outright declared Mebrahtu to be a persona-non-grata. Mind you, this has not stopped Iyo from making this way through the European continent--rather, he utilizes various diplomatic liasons and proxies to negotiate on his behalf.
Most recently, Iyo has been sighted in Lebanon, whereupon he met with one Dr. Emershan Laurent, a South African geneticist believed to be linked to the development of biological and chemical armaments in Iran. The results of their meeting are currently unknown, though both have been 'off the grid' for months since their meeting...
Wow, we're getting into some pretty deep stuff now.
Also, Blackstock-McCalley is just a thing you made up, right? It's not some obscure part of sentinel comics I don't know about.
Yes, Blackstock-McCalley is my own creation. To my knowledge, it does not exist in the official SC canon.
And yes, deep stuff impending. I've kind of taken up the idea of having each "Month" from here on out be not only a different Theme, but also a different Campaign Style. The previous one sets up TALOS as a HYDRA/HIVE/AIM-style organization built into the world's military and political infrastructure. This one, obviously, will deal with the concept of an international armed conflict which directly involves superhumans as government-sponsored combatants. Not every Villain-of-the-Day will fit directly into that Campaign Style directly, though enough of them will have at least tangential relation for a GM to easily craft an ongoing plot arc.
Villain of the Day: February 10 (La Segador)
Francisca Veronica Mendiza knew she wanted to be a superhero from the first time she saw one. Watching Legacy fly across the sky during the Voss invasion from her home in the Jalisco province of Mexico, she dreamt of doing the same. Her parents often dismissed her towel-across-the-shoulders antics as the play of a girl who just wouldn't grow up.
That is, until she took off.
Even as a child, Mendiza's powers were potent--she could fly, project waves of kinetic energy, and had heightened reflexes and agility. Her parents, unsure of what to do, sought advice from the Mexican government. Not long before the OblivAeon event, Mendiza began her training as part of a special division for superhero training within the Mexican military. At the top of Veronica's to-do list? Taking the fight to human traffickers throughout western Mexico. Her early successes in this venue earned her the nickname La Segador, "The Reaper".
Veronica has always been nothing if not outspoken, which has made her a number of enemies throughout both Mexico and the United States. Most notable among these has been the United States government itself--Veronica has strong views regarding the administration's ongoing actions regarding immigration and deportation. Veronica has gone so far as to actively pursue and menace American border patrol agents, leading to an increase in international tensions. While Mendiza was disciplined by her government handlers for these actions, she has made her intentions quite clear: she intends to help the Mexican people, even if that help means leaving Mexico.
Veronica has been sighted numerous times across the US/MExico border, sighted in El Paso, San Antonio, southern New Mexico and Arizona, and in the San Jose area of California. Currently, she has an outstanding warrant in the United States and is wanted for questioning in regards to the mysterious deaths of four ICE agents along the Arizona/Mexico border. The Mexican government has refused to extradite Mendiza, however, claiming that he comprises too valuable a portion of their domestic law enforcement capability. As it stands, however, La Segador continues her crusade for the rights of all Mexicans.
Villain of the Day: February 11 (The Dead Men of Tonga)
Island nations have not fared well in recent years. Between the cataclysmic changes brought about during Deadline's attack on Earth and the massive energies unleashed by OblivAeon and his Scions, ask reaches of the globe have been struck by immeasurable climatic shifts and unparalleled devastation. Those on the tiny island nation of Tonga knew this best.
Today, everyone on that island is dead.
The same typhoon which later devastated Malaysia struck Tonga with a power not before realized. Between the flooding there and the seismic activity caused by Deadline, the entire island sunk beneath the waves of the Pacific. By the time the world could react, every man, woman, and child on Tonga had drowned.
Not long after, though, the dead began to appear. Their bodies, having washed up on the relatively nearby Bikini Atoll, were infused with the ambient radiation of countless nuclear tests... and became animate. Ravenous, radioactive rotting corpses now took to the seas.
The first appearance of the Tongan dead came in an attack on a New Zealand shipping vessel-- the ship's crew were tour apart and, in some cases, covered in acute radiation burns. A Pacific cruise came next, though a team of Japanese heroes managed to fend off the blighted hordes. It was this team that first made the realization that these were, in fact, the corpses from Tonga's destruction.
None know what they want, save revenge.
None know how they travel, save their region of the Pacific.
None will ever forget the price of a hero's failure...
Villain of the Day: February 12 (Mehit)
In the wake of the Ennead's fall, numerous parties were quick to take advantage of the lack of governmental power and authority in Egypt. While the international community did their best to help establish infrastructure and relative law and order, the new Egypt's elections were rife with extremist parties and divisive politicians eager to grab power.
One of the the foremost of these were the various candidates of the new Altaqlid (or, "Traditions") party. A highly conservative, religiously-affiliated group, the Altaqlid party won several district elections and held a significant portion of the new Egyptian parliament. Notable among these was Iskandar Nabhani, an American-educated lawyer who returned to the Middle East after completing his law degree and was elected to Egypt's parliament following the re-establishment of the state. Among Nabhani's platforms were a retreat from international politics--"Egypt for Egyptians"--and a return to traditional values and gender politics.
Unsurprisingly, the women of Egypt in the 21st Century were not necessarily about to go back upon years of progress and equality. Marches were made, demonstrations were held, and speeches were televised.
While not a national protest leader, Taina Zidane worked on the local level to help organize protests and march logistics. Ironically enough, she attended the same American university as Nabhani, knowing him from there, rather than from their home country. On September 4th, Zidane was at the head of a march through Damietta, set to protest a stump speech by Nabhani. Many believed that Nabhani had intended to declare his candidacy for Prime Minister of Egypt that day...his speech was never made.
During the womens' march, a counter-protestor and supporter of Nabhani's began throwing rocks and other items at the marchers. Zidane, holding up a large banner, was struck in the side of the head.
As she slammed into the pavement, her eyes flared. When she rose again, she stood easily 10 feet fall, her body having transformed into black basalt. In a fit of rage, she dashed into the crowd of counter-protestors. By the time that her friends had talked her down, sixteen of Nabhani's supporters lay bleeding and broken across the pavement. Nabhani himself was escorted from the premises under armed guards, while Zidane outright fled.
Taking up the name of Mehit, a Nubian protector-goddess, Zidane has continued to appear at various pro-equality protests, advocating for women's rights throughout the Middle East. Nabhani envisions Zidane as a natural adversary and regularly views her as some political mastermind, serving as his arch-nemesis, while simultaneously spurring his followers on to greater and greater acts of defiance and violence. And, despite her general views on non-violence, Mehit is increasingly likely to oblige them...
Dang, Platinum, a few of these people are starting to sound more like heroes than villains (in particular: La Segador and Mehit), and a few others sound like they belong in the Miststorm timeline (in particular: the Dead Men of Toga and everything relating to TALOS). You're really putting a lot of work into this.
Every good villain is the hero of their own story, and the road to hell is still paved in good intentions...
Yeah, but I'm saying they look more like heroes to me. Less villains, and more just enemies of another country's (or in one case their own) government, and I'm having a hard time understanding why most heroes would want to fight them at all. For non-patriotic reasons, I mean.
I totally agree with you. Both La Segador and Mehit are absolutely sympathetic, and on a personal level I actually align strongly with both in terms of political philosophy.
But yes, when their own or another government labels them as villains... what is a would be hero to do? It's that conflict that I find interesting and engaging.
Case in point, to what length is Mehit going to go if Nabhani takes up a political position to oppose Project Jericho? Would she assassinate him? What if he became Prime Minister? What should a group of government sponsored heroes do if they run across La Segador in Texas? She's wanted, after all...
Every good villain is the hero of their own story, and the road to hell is still paved in good intentions...
And Human Flesh if the Preacherbot is to be believed, but I will be shamelessly stealing many of these once the core book comes out.
I also really love the ambiguity to a lot of the international rivals this last month. Because they are villains, but a couple of them, or members of some organizations could be allies or sources of intel with the right motivations or concientious pressures, and I love it
Alright, thanks for clearing that up. :)
I think I'm just too used to the silver age that Sotm takes place in where there's a clearer line between "good" and "evil", but this is meant to take place in the modern age of comics, or maybe even past that, so this makes sense.
Very much meant to have modern sensibilities, these. And, of course, you're talking to the guy who literally wrote the book on Iron Age comics... http://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/133245
Oh, that's pretty cool! Although I gotta say, that book seems to be more focused on the dystopian side of modern comics, which is what I was kinda getting at when I said some of these look like they belong in the Miststorm timeline, which I think is meant to represent a different era from the Sc timeline.
Also, I'm not much of a comic buff outside of Sotm, so I don't even know what the iron age is.
Within the context of CSW, we define the Iron Age as starting in 1983 (with the first major crossover event comics like Secret Wars and Contest of Champions) up through the Marvel bankruptcy in 1996.
This is not to say that every comic published in this time frame is an Iron Age style book -- just that they were more prevalent during this time. Iron Age books are still being published today, in what many call the Modern Age of Comics (and what I like to think of as the Celluloid Age).
Iron Age comics tended to be more grounded, with a greater focus on realism and are often rooted in deeper social issues of the time. Powers are downplayed somewhat in favor of heavy investigation and inter- character conflict, with echoes of comics' roots in the noir and pulp tradition. Costumes became less colorful and more functional, with Sam increasing number of heroes wielding guns and other weapons. Target readership age increased, which came with a commensurate increase in 'mature' content, though the worst Iron Age books saw this as nothing more than an opportunity to pander to readers with over-the-top sex and violence.
Most notably, both art and writing took a great leap forward in the Iron Age. Denny O'Neil, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, Greg Rucka, and Mark Millar all are noted Iron Age writers, with artists like Todd McFarlane, Dave McKean, and Mike Mignola providing the pictures.
The most notable Iron Age book is undoubtedly Watchmen, followed by The Dark Knight Returns and Frank Miller's run on Daredevil. Probably my favorite Iron Age book, though, is Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth by Grant Morrison, which takes many off its beats from Morrison's experience with the Egyptian tarot. I'm also quite fond of Denny O'Neil's run on The Question, which is a full reimagining of the character from its roots in Objectivism.
Ah, I see. Then what's the age after/before that?
Prior to? The Bronze Age--About 1970 until 1983. A relaxed viewpoint on the comics code (particularly in terms of horror comics), an interest in racial and social issues (Denny O'Neil's Green Lantern/Green Arrow run is seminal Bronze Age reading), and an increased focus on topical/timely elements. Chris Claremont's run on X-Men is something of the bridge between Bronze and Iron Age comics.
Afterwards? Most people call it the Modern Age, for lack of something better. I've heard the "Electrum" Age, as it's a blending of metals--we have books now that are very heavily Silver-Age influenced and, right next to it on the shelf, a gritty-crime-drama Iron Age title. I'm pretty much alone in calling this the "Celluloid" Age: comics being used as properties for the purpose of creating, publicising, and expanding upon tentpole films and TV series.
PlatnumWarlock giving me low key comic recommendations without meaning to... Also, I to am really enjoying the superpowered soldier is the enemy vibes. For one can see how from there upbringing and viewpoint the others are wrong
Villain of the Day: February 13 (General Cordillera)
Diego Gaston Dorrego did not set out to become the ruler of Uruguay. But when circumstance and opportunity rose their twin heads, he certainly did not hesitate.
Uruguay's government was already instable when Dorrego came of age, though he was a firm believer in law and order. The son of a minor military official, Dorrego attended military academy in Montevideo and rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant through hardwork, skulduggery, and a few greased palms. Both a capable tactician and a canny politician, Dorrego knew that the prior ruler--President Jose Mujica--hung to his power with tenuous fingers and was entirely reliant upon the military for backing.
What few knew, though, was the Dorrego was a potent metahuman, in addition to a noted military leader. Able to manipulate and shape rock, Dorrego could also propel himself along stone and rock surfaces at an extreme rate, pulling the earth along behind him in a massive wake of destruction, effectively becoming a living avalanche. Where his powers come from, however, is anyone's guess. Some believe that he may have effectively paid some nefarious party for his powers; others believe him to be a latent Omega.
Regardless of his powers' source, Dorrego, now calling himself General Cordillera, declared a coup on the Uruguayan government less than a year before the OblivAeon crisis. Despite the brutality of his military followers--over 400 people died as Cordillera moved on the palace in Montevideo--the new military-led governement was recognized by the United Nations not four month later. The United States has moved towards sanctions on Uruguay, citing Cordillera's status as the dictator of a rogue state, though these have been hung up in political entanglements.
To this day, General Cordillera rules Uruguay with a stone fist. His state has become known as the only nation to harbor rogue or wanted metahumans, who are often given positions of power within Cordillera's government. Cordillera has discussed joint military maneuvers with Iran and North Korea at various points, leading to further strain with the United States and its allies. Arms trafficking, biomedical experimentation, and worse have become staples of the Uruguayan economy, which benefits only Cordillera's ruling class. And, given the current political rhetoric, how will the supers of the world react to a second full-on supervillain as its leader...particularly one willing to work with terrorist states?
PlatnumWarlock giving me low key comic recommendations without meaning to... Also, I to am really enjoying the superpowered soldier is the enemy vibes. For one can see how from there upbringing and viewpoint the others are wrong
"...you wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle of nations! I have seen the future, Captain! There are no flags!"
Villain of the Day: February 14 (Calvin Davies and the Sommerland Collective)
In amidst the hubbub of Brexit and the movement towards Scottish independence, another movement has gone nearly unnoticed. However, the events transpiring at Conwy Castle in Wales may be of greater import than any other in the United Kingdom.
Calvin Davies was a data entry specialist at a firm outside of Manchester. Generally speaking, he was unfulfilled, mildly depressed, and walked through life in a relative malaise. When Netflix and curry failed to amuse, he actively began to search online for a new hobby. His search led him to a community center for the Sommerland Community Collective, a group operating out a former resort building in Llandudno.
Without mincing words, the Sommerland Community Collective was nothing short of a cult. Their leader, one Jeremy MacGruder, grew up in a New Age household and believed he could share his message of peace, non-violent resistance, and chemical transcendance with the community at large. His success in this arena was fairly limited, until Calvin arrived at his door.
After Calvin's third "experience" with MacGruder's psychotropics, something within him emerged. A latent Omega (as he later discovered), Calvin was able to exude an aura of calm and passivity, influencing the emotions of all those around him. MacGruder quickly rose Calvin through the ranks in the Collective, with Calvin swiftly becoming his second-in-command. Were these powers restricted to the Collective, this would be one thing. However, such was not the case.
Calvin's continual use of his power allowed him to expand his range, covering the vast majority of Conwy County. Citizens throughout the province began falling into docility, with the Collective's recruiting efforts kicking into hyperdrive. Work went abandoned, public services evaporated, and the citizens of Conwy began to gather at Conwy Castle to listen to MacGruder's message of peace. Within weeks, much of the county was under the complete and total sway of Jeremy, Calvin, and the Sommerland Collective.
The British government has responded to the Sommerland Collective with great alarm, declaring the group a domestic terrorist organization. Efforts to recover Conwy have only resulted in more individuals--highly trained SAS agents, no less--joining the Collective. Calvin's power aura continues to spread, though, carving an ever-larger swath out of Wales. And with his aura, so grows the Collective...
Villain of the Day: February 15 (Secutarus)
"Rome will exist as long as the Coliseum does; when the Coliseum falls, so will Rome; when Rome falls, so will the world." --Venerable Bede, Saint
Arturo Amalio could have been the pride of Italy; instead, he chose wealth. A born metahuman, Arturo exhibited a phenomenal degree of strength and endurance, coupled with a preternatural aptitude for armed combat. As a child, he idolized the stories of Ancient Rome, particularly those of the gladiators in the great Coliseum.
As a teenager and adult, though, his metahuman abilities began to lead him down a path of greed and petulance. His abilities caught the eye of a local Camorra mafioso, spending a few weeks on the mainland from Sicily. Arturo's natural strength and intimidating demeanor made him an excellent leg-breaker, though Arturo himself wasn't satisfied with just the scraps handed down to him from the consigliere. Rather, he knew he could join the top of the heap.
As such, he proposed a meeting with the capo with a new idea. Underground fighting rings were no new concept, but one that catered specifically to high rollers? One that featured metahuman-only fights? Now, Arturo was on to something.
Today, Arturo runs the single largest underground metahuman fighting league this side of the Bloodsworn Coliseum. His persona as manager is one straight out of his childhood fantasies--he dresses in a toga and loincloth, wielding gladiatorial weapons, and is referred to only as Secutarus. Bets on various metahuman fights typically range in the tens of thousands of dollars, and numerous high-rollers spend entire evenings, alternating back-room deals with bone-crunching cage matches. On occasion, Secutarus enters the ring himself, though usually only in the style of Vince McMahon in the WWE--done only to continue the drama and theatrics of the arena. On the few times where Secutarus fought "for real", the ease with which he dispatched his foes was an act of blood-spattered beauty.
Secutarus' Coliseum currently brings in tens of millions of dollars each year, providing funding for numerous Camorra operations throughout the world. And, of course, if you need to find someone of note, Secutarus probably has had them in-house.
After reading that one, my immediate thought was "I wish this was real", and I don't know if I meant in Sentinels lore or in the real world. c.c;
Villain of the Day: February 16 (The Wall)
It's said that old buildings have a power to them, a spirit bestowed upon them by decades of persons within.
If this is the case, the entity known as The Wall may be one of the most powerful to ever walk the Earth.
The People's Republic of China has been ominously silent during the rise of the American metahumans. Many have surmised that China's military had been secretly recruiting, creating, or otherwise developing their own metahuman security contingencies. However, throughout the past twenty years, China has become one of the biggest detractors of metahumans on the UN Security Council. Lieutenant General Jian Hung Zhao has spearheaded this efforts, continually encouraging sanctions or peacekeeping actions against nations that incorporate metahumans into their existing military or law enforcement hierarchies.
Needless to say, General Zhao's efforts have placed him into the minority, with so many other nations taking up the exact viewpoint that Zhao would see removed. And, as OblivAeon descended upon the world, even Zhao and his mainland commanders were left wondering what direction the PRC should take--conventional arms seemed ineffective in the face of Aeon Men, and not even China's world-leading air force could stand against even a single scion.
That's when The Wall emerged. Literally stepping forth from the tower known as Old Dragon's Head in Shanhaiguan Pass, a gigantic colossus of stone and mortar strode towards besieged Beijing, sweeping aside Aeon Men like leaves tossed in a storm. The PRC's military leaders were stunned. As OblivAeon's forces withdrew from China--presumably to attack some other part of the world--The Wall strode among the crowded city, holding up crumbling skyscrapers and even serving as a living bridge while citizens fled from a fire.
Attempts to communicate with The Wall have been fairly unsuccessful to date, though a few things are clear: The Wall seems to be animated by the spiritual essence of each person to ever have walked along its stones. Because of this, it has an almost intuitive feel for where it might be needed, always seeming to show up alongside the Chinese military when attempting to put down a metahuman threat or any aggression from a rival nation. The Wall regenerates almost as fast as it can be damaged, making it nigh invulnerable. Further, The Wall has a decided antipathy against any creatures associated with or harboring powers derived from OblivAeon. This has led to several international incidents as latent metahumans--some not even knowing they *had* powers--being attacked as their plane landed or their boat arrived in port. These attacks have even included Chinese scientists attempting to study a fragment of an OblivAeon shard, which utterly devastated a military base outside of Shanghai.
Regardless of its reasoning or motives, The Wall has become the titan of China, defending against all interlopers as it has for thousands of years prior.
Secutarus: You know, considering both what he does and where he lives, this guy would make a perfect nemesis for my character the Penitent, who I wrote about in the Hero Ideas thread. I'm curious, though, do they kidnap metahumans and force them to fight, or do they look for volunteers? I can't imagine either would be easy.
The Wall: I'm so sorry, but the moment I heard that name my first thought was,
Re: Secutarus
A little bit of both, really. He has a network of regular fighters, but occasional enemies and captives end up as targets. Mainly scheduled, willing fighters though.
I kind of wish the Wall wasn't in the villains thread now, he sounds great. :(
It's also a barely sentient construct that will pursue and smash anyone even remotely affiliated with Oblivaeon that comes neat sovereign China...
But for all that, you have to admire its loyalty. It doesn't let a handicap like "barely being sentient" stop it from protecting what it cares about! :') What a trooper.
Villain of the Day: February 17 (Dr. Emershan Laurent)
Number three on Interpol's most wanted list, Dr. Emershan Laurent is simultaneously one of bio-engineering's foremost minds and among the most conniving, twisted minds in the world.
Born in Johannesburg, Laurent attended some of the world's foremost universities, double-majoring in Biochemistry and Biology at University of Copenhagen, before pursuing advanced degrees in Genetics, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Heidelberg, Utrecht, and Barcelona, respectively. Laurent's second doctoral thesis, "On the Advancement of the Human Condition" is simultaneously regarded as a masterwork of transhumanist concepts and reviled by most oganizations as an attempt to legitimize racist rhetoric.
Laurent's earliest job, at Polish genetics firm Genomax, was rife with ethical violations. Laurent seemed to have no compunctions in how he treated test subjects and suggested experiments that made his compatriots question his very sanity. Nevertheless, Laurent continued on, focusing primarily on creating and testing airborne retroviruses...
When the depths of his research were exposed, the Genomax board of directors immediately terminated his employment. However, Laurent already had the backing of another group: the Sicilian Camorra. Laurent was given his own private island laboratory in the middle of the Mediterranean, where he began development of numerous biological weapons...and stranger things. The wooded lands surrounding Laurent's lab soon were guarded not by mafioso, but rather by terrifying hybrid creatures, seeming more tumorous mass than men.
Even the Camorra could not abide this madness. The capo soon sent an armed force to the island...only for that force to be massacred by Laurent's genetic aberrations. By the time word reached the Camorra of what happened, Laurent and his creatures had vanished.
Laurent has been sighted throughout the world since that time, often in unstable governments ruled by oligarchs. Some have actively sought Laurent in search of longer life or cures to rare diseases, while other seek his expertise in the creation of biological weapons. One raid by Interpol agents onto a suspected lab led to the release of numerous genetic horrors onto the streets of Bern, Switzerland, which has only caused his profile to rise among criminal circles.
Rumor has it that Laurent has begun work on a new project; one which has the capability of rewriting genetic material en-masse...
Villain of the Day: February 18 (Duplex)
Born to parents from Northern Ireland in the British Virgin Isles, Brianna Donnally grew up watching heroes and villains clash on her tv and on the internet. She was utterly enthralled. Men flew through the air, women streaked through the streets with inhuman speed, and alien forces called down unfathomable forces with aplomb in both defense of earth and in usurpation of it. She couldn't get enough.
But, despite living in an island paradise, Brianna found herself wanting more. She got exactly that while at university, studying in Miami. The Prime Wardens, locked in combat against a contingency of Lieutenant Viktor's gene-bound minions, long-since marooned on Earth since the Voss invasion. Mere blocks away from the conflict, Brianna couldn't help but get a bit closer to for a better look.
As she watched the clash from behind an SUV, electrical power arced from Brianna's eyes, slamming into a nearby lightpole. As her vision cleared and she stumbled to the ground in alarm, she watched as Tempest had done nearly the exact same motion, lightning arcing into a Gene-Bound Minion. The battle continued on, though Brianna wandered the streets, lightning arcing from her palms, her eyes, and her fingertips. Within a few moments, she realized that the power was entirely under her control--the powers once held only by Tempest himself were now hers. As Captain Cosmic arced overhead, drawn by the peals of lightning emanating from Brianna, he dove towards her....only for her to throw up a shield of golden energy.
By this point, Brianna had realized the truth: she could replicate metahuman abilities. While she fled the field that day--her powers fading as she lost proximity to their source--she knew the truth. She was born for something more.
Draining her parents' bank account and taking all she had from her own paltry savings, Brianna began to travel the world, putting herself as close to the world's metahumans as possible, trying on their powers one after another. Over the next two years, she had experienced the powers of nearly every public metahuman in the world, both heroes and villains alike. Furthermore, she found that, given a degree of focus and observation, she could even replicate non-metahuman skills such as marksmanship, martial arts abilities, and athletic feats.
That was when she was approached by the Russian government. Brianna was offered an exorbitant sum of money, a palatial home, new cars and more....all to do exactly what she loved: find her way into proximity to known metahumans, skirmish with them if possible, duplicate their powers, and then report back to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. To date, codename Duplex has catalogued and duplicated over four dozen known heroes, two dozen villains, and countless other minor threats. Further, she has trained in covert operations, infiltration and exfiltration, krav maga, and marksmanship.
Few know that Duplex even exists at this point, but when she emerges, she will surely be a force to be reckoned with. ...to say nothing of what the Russians themselves are planning above Duplex's paygrade.
Villain of the Day: February 19 (The Financier)
Much has been made over the years about corporate tax shelters and the ability for persons of significant wealth to store their assets overseas, dodging taxation in their home nations. Offshore accounts have often been the realm of the proverbial 1%...but now? The assets of known supervillains are left in the hands of The Financier.
None know his true identity; The Financier works only through proxies and functionaries. After achieving a certain level of wealth and status within the global community, a villain might receive a cell phone call from an unregistered number, with its international code designated in the Cayman Islands. The call is only made once; a hang-up, a dropped call, or a refusal of service blacklists that villain in perpetuity. However, upon acceptance of the offer, a meeting is set, often outside the United States in an area known for its poor security and easily-bribable police force.
The Financier provides three primary services for his clients: 1) wealth storage/investment, 2) money laundering and fencing, and 3) financing options to villains in need of capital. Known to be a brilliant investor with a metahuman-level intellect, The Financier offers attractive rates and a method for villains to offload wealth into secured accounts that are considered to be among the worlds' most secure. In the case of non-liquid capital, such as stolen items, The Financier curates one of the most heavily guarded "freeport" warehouses on Earth, accessible only by a thrice-daily changing password and biometrically linked security measures. Finally, for those villains on the run or in need of a fresh start, the Financier offers liquid capital with most amenble terms, often based on a percentage of the villain's future take or upon the completion of specific operations necessary to maintain a certain investment.
To date the only information currently available on The Financier has come from Vabanque, following his capture (and subsequent release) during a heist at a French casino resort. Since that day, Vabanque has become even more desperate, pursuing larger and larger targets; could it be that he has been cut off by The Financier, or is the card-sharp finding himself owing a debt he can never repay?


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So you're selling livers, kidneys and daring yourself to forgo food for weeks until mid-April in order to pay for your trip to Coachella. It's understandable, really. And while the big draws, like Muse, Jay-Z, Gorillaz and MGMT, appear on this flier (not this one) in enormous typeface, the true breakouts are in such fine print that you'll likely go blind trying to read their names. But please don't! Instead, consult a handy guide to Coachella's fine print gems, after the jump.
APRIL 16 Quite good: La Roux Best bet: Kate Miller-Heidke. As demonstrated by this very capable cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic" below, Miller-Heidke may be the most welcome Australian pop import since we allowed Natalie Imbruglia an American conquest. Miller-Heidke has also earned a stamp of approval from Ben Folds already. Also her last album contained this bit of genius.
APRIL 17 Quite good: Tokyo Police Club, Corrine Bailey Rae Best bet: Sia. Known in part for her work on Christina Aguilera's Bionic and for her contributions to Six Feet Under, Sia has done the impossible: Maintaining street-cred while peddling sensitive emotronica ballads.
APRIL 18 Quite good: Miike Snow, Little Boots, Matt & Kim, Hadouken! Best bet: Florence & the Machine. Recently nominated for a Brit award, this band, comprised of lead singer Florence Welch and a host of rotating collaborators (the eponymous "Machine") may probably perform one of the best sets of the Coachella weekend.


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Dori PriceHealth Writer
Dori Price is a New York-based freelance writer, editor and consultant in the beauty, style and wellness categories. She started my career in public relations but quickly made the move to editorial where she fell in love with testing products, interviewing experts and writing about all aspects of beauty and health. She worked at Family Circle magazine for 13 years, starting as an assistant and working her way up to Beauty & Fashion Director. She has also written for elle.com and Spotlyte.
She is a skincare fanatic (hello, #selfcaresunday), nail art aficionado, fitness addict and health nut. She is also a new Mom to Benjamin, who lights up her world like nothing else.
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Nikon D750 Review
Combining the design and handling of the cheaper D610 with many of the more expensive D810's features, Nikon have clearly positioned the new full-frame D750 between the two. Do you like the compactness, handling and smaller 24-megapixel files of the D610 but want the better features (especially on the video side) of the D810? Then the D750 is an obvious choice, especially when you consider that it also offers built-in wi-fi, a tilting LCD screen, 6.5fps continuous shooting, even lower-light auto-focusing and longer battery life. Having said that, the small 15-shot RAW buffer, limited 1/200th sec flash sync speed, the inclusion of an OLPF / anti-aliasing filter, the more consumer D610 handling, the non-rotating screen, and no built-in GPS are all reasons why you might opt for the D610 or D800 instead - the choice between these three cameras certainly isn't as clear as Nikon would have you think.
Despite the surprise inclusion of an anti-aliasing filter, the Nikon D750 still captures an astonishing amount of detail, without the storage and workflow overheads of the D810's massive file sizes. You'd be hard-pushed to tell any difference between the D750 and the D610 (which doesn't have an OLPF), with the former offering lower noise at higher sensitivities than its cheaper sibling. In terms of still image quality, the Nikon D750 definitely hits the sweet spot.
In terms of the Nikon D750's main rivals, wildlife and sports enthusiasts would perhaps be better served by the equally new Canon EOS 7D Mark II, which offers much faster 10fps continuous shooting, longer reach thanks to its 1.5x APS-C sensor, and a more advanced AF system, while the venerable Canon EOS 5D Mark III is still worth considering too.
In summary, the new D750 is an excellent addition to Nikon's ever-expanding full-frame line-up. It isn't a true successor to the 6-year-old D700, or just a cheaper, less well-specified version of the D810 - instead, the D750 is a compelling camera in its own right that actually out-performs the D810 in some areas. It's fair to say that loyal Nikon owners have never been so spoilt for choice, unless you're a die-hard Nikon DX user (that's another story!)...
|Ratings (out of 5)
|Image quality
|Value for money


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All-Courant Offense
Jacob Drena, Southington, Sr.
Daron Bryden, Bloomfield, So.
Bryce Karstetter, Cromwell/Portland, Sr.
Phoenix Billings, Hand, Jr.
Running backs
Terrence Bogan, Sheehan, Jr.
Shawn Robinson, New Britain, Sr.
Ky'Juon Butler, Bloomfield, Sr.
Xzavier Reyes, Middletown, Sr.
Colin McCabe, Hand-Madison, Jr.
Nick Wright, Cromwell/Portland, Sr.
Jaquan Allen, East Hartford, Sr.
Will Downes, Southington, Sr.
Jacob Flynn, Southington, Sr.
Victor Marquez, Maloney, Sr.
Jayvon Massey, Bloomfield, Fr.
D.J Posey, Maloney, Sr.
Nygell Smikle, Middletown, Sr.
Sam McCarty, Southington, Sr.
Aiden Maher, Haddam-Killingworth, Sr.
Dohnje Cassanova, Windsor, Sr.
Macken McDonald, Hand, Sr.
Cal Redman, RHAM, Sr.
Giancarlo Tufano, Berlin, Sr.
Honorable Mention
Quarterback: Kevin Dunn, Berlin, Sr.; Elliot Good, Maloney, Jr.; Cody Stager, Enfield, Jr.; Logan Tomlinson, Manchester, Sr.; Colton Engel, Stafford/Somers/East Windsor, Sr.
Running backs: Nehemiah Brown, Vinal/Goodwin/Whitney, Sr.; Tobey Callender, Haddam-Killingworth, Jr.; Dalton Modehn, Haddam-Killingworth, Sr.; Julien Rivas, Stafford/Somers/East Windsor, Sr.; Roberto Salas, Platt, So.; Seamus Queen, RHAM, Sr.; Tanner LaRosa, Southington, Sr.; Alex Halkias, Berlin, Sr.; Natanael Barbosa Torres, Windham, Sr.; Devario Reid, Wilcox Tech, Sr.
Receivers: Jason O'Brien, Valley Regional/Old Lyme, Sr.; Jake Smith, Sheehan, Sr.; Naseim Harrison, SMSA/Classical/University, Sr.; Jake Baker, Platt, Sr.; Wyatt Raymond, Enfield, Jr.; Anthony Simpson, Bloomfield, So.
Tyler Gilbert, Stafford/Somers/East Windsor, Sr.; Cristian Colero, Platt, Sr.; Ryan Martel, Maloney, Sr.; Sr.; Luke Willette, Sheehan, Sr.; Paul D'Amore, Berlin, Jr.; Trevor Santiago, Maloney, Sr.
Larry St. Pierre, Berlin, Jr.
Matthew Aresco, Middletown, So.
Hand won its second consecutive Class L championship in dominating fashion, as the Tigers beat Maloney 54-14 to cap off a 13-0 season. Hand is 25-1 in two years under coach Dave Mastroianni, and outscored its opponents 653-106. Its varsity defense was scored on just once all season, by the Spartans in the championship.
Latest High School
Southington and New Britain battled for supremacy in the CCC Division I all season, as the Blue Knights went 10-0, while the Golden Hurricanes went 9-1 — with their only loss being to Southington, Both returned to the Class L tournament; the Blue Knights hadn't played in the postseason since 2016, while the Golden Hurricanes' last playoff trip came back in 2014.
Maloney made it to the Class L state championship for the first time since 2006, as the seventh-seeded Spartans came from behind to beat Middletown in the quarterfinals, and knocked off crosstown rival Platt in the semifinals to advance to the title game, where they lost to Hand. Maloney isn't the only Meriden team to find postseason success, as the Panthers made it to the state semifinals for the first time in program history.
Bloomfield won its first Class S state title since 2015, as the Warhawks beat Haddam-Killingworth - who made it to the championship for the first time since 1996. Bloomfield toppled old foe Ansonia in the semifinals, while the Cougars ended what had been an undefeated season for Stafford/Somers/East Windsor in a state semifinal overtime thriller.


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Hello there, I am new to this forum and am looking for some advice. I have recently moved into a property with a large number of very mature (30-40 years old) leylandii and Thuja. These are in the main in very good condition and have been regularly lightly trimmed to keep them in shape. A local gardener comes once a month and lightly prunes the new growth with hand shears. It's quite a big property so it takes a full year for him to work around the property. Given each individual hedge plant is at least 3-4m in diameter, that only hand shears are used and only the new straggly external growth is cut back, is it safe / OK to continue this regime? I ask as I have recently discovered the law re not disturbing nesting birds and am keen to comply with good practice but don't want to change a system that has worked well if it can still be used with a bit of care. Thanks in advance.
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Coming upon a mirror unexpectedly, the 35-year-old heroine of Tessa Hadley's fourth novel is startled to discover her face is not "broad and dreamy, suited to quiet work at the library, as she liked to feel it from the inside: the weight had fallen off her jaw and cheekbones, she looked questing and thwarted".
It's a moment that neatly demonstrates what's so rewarding about Hadley's fiction: how she pinpoints those unsettling moments which occur in everyday life and creates characters who outwardly appear to conform to a distinct personality type, only to twist – suddenly or subtly – against the reader's expectations.
The London Train is an unusually structured novel, which takes us on two different and distinct journeys with only one point of random intersection.
The first half tells of Paul: a writer in his forties, who is only just coming to terms with the death of his mother when his eldest daughter goes missing in London. This daughter is the child of his first marriage, less vivid than the two girls he is raising with a second wife in rural Wales, and he is rather detached from the tall, blonde girl who has resisted his passion for literature.
He thinks of her, dismissively, as "one of those girls who got through school drawing perfect margins and underlining their headings in red biro". He can't even remember the name of the university course she's on. Yet when she opts out of her middle-class existence, he finds himself cutting out of his, too, feeling himself "at a pivot in his life, swinging dangerously loose".
The second half is about 35-year-old Cora, drifting from London to Cardiff as Paul shifts in the opposite direction. She, too, is slipping the moorings of career and marriage. She, too, is redefining herself now her parents are both dead, unsentimentally gutting her childhood home, knocking down walls and chucking toys in the skip.
She has walked away from teaching and taken an undemanding job in a library. Her husband, Robert, is a senior civil servant: predictable, conventional. He is excessively diplomatic about her removal from the marital home and protective of the privacy that she might need to be shaken out of. "Love is a kind of comfortable pretence," thinks Cora, "shuffling everyone's separation from one another, which is absolute." But when Robert (like Paul's daughter) goes missing, Cora is drawn after him.
It might be a rather unsophisticated thing to say about a "literary" novel, but I really enjoyed the way I struggled to work out whether or not I liked Paul and Cora; what I would make of them if I met them without access to their inner selves.
I loved the realistic way in which they became different people in different contexts – something that doesn't happen often enough in fiction. Hadley has also created an excellent (and equally foxing) supporting cast including a Polish wheeler dealer, a posh artist, an aspiring vicar and an academic dope fiend.
The elegant symmetry beneath The London Train keeps the randomness of the personalities on some kind of track. And although this is not a novel to suit those who like all their narratives to roll neatly into the buffers, it offers some first-class views on the psychological scenery of 21st-century Britain.
The London Train
by Tessa Hadley
336PP, Jonathan Cape, £12.99
Buy now for £11.99 (PLUS £1.25 p&p) from Telegraph Books


text: Tensions On The Rise Between Ko And The DPP In The Lead-Up To Taipei Mayoral Elections? Brian Hioe06/28/2018 Tensions between Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je and the DPP are on the rise, with Ko lashing out at the DPP on several recent occasions. This may not be too surprising, seeing the DPP has decided to nominate its own candidate for 2018 mayoral elections, Pasuya Yao, instead of endorsing Ko as it did in 2016 mayoral elections... EnglishJune 2018Politics6 min read


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Development & Implementation of Software
This lecture will examine several additional areas related the development and implementation of software. First of all many organizations must compare and evaluate the costs and schedule tradeoff of building an information system in house versus buying a vendor software product versus having a custom system built by contractors.
A number of organizations continue to build their own software today but usually do not spend resources developing standard administrative applications such as payroll, human resources, or accounting which can be purchased as Commercial off the Shelf software. Commercial off the shelf software is often referred to as COTS. In many instances, where an organization has a development staff, those resources will often be put to use developing information systems that can increase the profitability of the organization as well as those that which might provide a competitive advantage.
The most popular reason behind purchasing and using the COTS alternative today is that the software can be acquired and installed within a reasonably short time frame with the functionality required. As previously stated, it is often more cost effective to acquire and install an administrative information system from a vendor if it will not provide any competitive advantage to the organization.
Another reason for acquiring a COTS information system is the ability to acquire an information system that has been built by industry "experts" with expertise that doesn't exist within the organization.
The need to customize software is usually the result of unique requirements identified by the end user management. The context in which customization is being discussed here is not the same as in-house development. This context for customization is related to the use of a COTS purchased information system. A valid situation for a customization can occur when the basic functions, data capture, and information output of the COTS acquired software appears to be good but not quite adequate fit to the requirements needed by the organization. Although customization does take place, a critical element is the access to the source code for the application. While it might be possible to acquire the source code from the software vendor, it might also be cost prohibitive to do so. Additionally, the modification to the COTS source code would likely eliminate vendor support of the product.
The approach most often taken when using COTS is to develop customized interfaces from existing information systems to pass data into the COTS application as well as developing customized reports to satisfy management requirements. This approach is often a successful implementation strategy into today's information technology environment. Another aspect of customization in today's COTS environment is products that can be customized or parameter driven to meet the needs of many organizations. Leading
COTS packages such as SAP, BAAN, Lawson, and Oracle can be customized to meet
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the needs of different organizations in different industries. This form of customization does not modify the source code but utilizes organization data that is populated in the database along with operational parameters that will allow the software to operate as if it has been uniquely developed for the organization.
When implementing an information system, there are various testing activities that must take place. The basic premise of testing is to make sure the software is working properly before releasing the software into a production environment. There are testing procedures that can be used to ensure the validity of the software.
Unit testing is the typically the responsibility of the programmer. The programmer will usually create test data to make sure the program can process the test data without failure. One mistake occasionally made by the programmer is to


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France IT Company
France IT Company
The Positive Thinking Company is promoting evolution as a key element of the collaboration with you.
Over the years, this vision has been refined and integrated to create our philosophy: the Collaborative Performance.
We aim to respect the ambitions of everyone involved: our clients, consultants, and operations.
Our corporate vision is built on a human foundation: a PositiveThinking Mindset.
$100 - $149 / hr
1,000 - 9,999
? These data points are estimates provided by the Clutch team. Each data point can change at any time and is subject to the company's discretion once they claim ownership over their Clutch profile.
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Lyon, France


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I posted a photo on my history and sent it to some friends, but I forgot to save it and now it's gone. Is there any chance I could restore this photo? It's a few days ago, so it's not in my history anymore. It bugs me so much that I didn't save it. I would be more than happy if anyone could help me out. Is it maybe still on my phone somewhere? Is there a program I can download to find this photo? Or any other ideas?
No, there is no way to recover the photo once it has been viewed and opened. Snapchat doesn't allow you to keep the photos and messages. They will be opened and then deleted from your phone. If you didn't actually saved the picture, then it's long gone. The pictures you take in the software are automatically deleted, because this is the way the Snapchat application works.


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Hypnosis for Anger Management
Many of my clients lead busy stressful lives in high-pressure jobs. It can be virtually impossible to deal with such pressure day after day for long periods, and like a pressure valve, the stress is often expressed in outbursts of anger, irritability, or a silent seething rage. Other symptoms may occur too, such as insomnia, anxiety, headaches or fatigue. But for some people, anger is the key problem that most urgently needs to be solved.
Hypnotherapy can help with anger in several ways. Firstly, the deep state of relaxation helps to engage the minds natural resources in dealing with the problem, as well as giving the body a break from a near-constant state of stress. Secondly, it can help to strengthen useful ways of dealing with stress that you already know how to do but have somehow lost the ability to engage. Thirdly, hypnotherapy can layer in new and more efficient patterns of thought and feeling. This can be done in several ways e.g. by introducing suggestions around stoicism and calm in the face of aggravating situations. Furthermore, some people find it useful to develop the ability to be assertive. So even if you were assertive before, you can develop this in a way that works even better than before and will help to diffuse situations before they become vexatious.
There are sometimes situations where issues from the past might need to be examined and dealt with before treatment is effective. When such a strategy is required, it is usually relatively quickly resolved and done with relatively little need to dwell uncomfortably on the past.
It's important to know that there are other means of dealing with anger issues, such as medication. Anger management programmes in London can be expensive but useful. Some people find benefits from meditation or mindfulness practice. All of these can be excellent choices, but one of the least arduous ways of dealing with anger is using hypnotherapy.Tags: depression, medical, mind body, relaxation, stress management program


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For the latest coronavirus care instructions and resources, please call our COVID-19 hotline at 208-381-9500. Find additional information and resources here and learn more about how we're working to keep you healthy and safe.
Search by keyword or browse our list of services.
Find a provider by specialty, location, or availability.
See current studies testing new drugs, devices, and equipment to find better ways to treat and help patients.
For life-threatening emergencies, call 911 without delay.
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Receive the highest level of care from the region's leading providers.
Find a lab or imaging facility close to you.
Visit us to pay bills, ask billing questions, or request billing records.
Because of COVID-19, your birth experience may be different than what you expected. While our policies and procedures for patients continue to change and evolve as we learn more about this virus, our focus is always on keeping you safe and following your birth plan as closely as possible.
From the time you arrive at St. Luke's in labor, to the emotional moment of delivery, to your recovery and discharge, you can count on excellent care and meticulous safety precautions for you and your new baby. Here's what you need to know:
As always, please talk with your doctor or nurse-midwife about your questions or concerns—before, during and after your baby is born.
How do you define health? Physical? Mental? Social? Health goes beyond medical care. It's how we take care of ourselves, how we interact with our communities, how we take care of each other.
Let St. Luke's support your health, however you define it.


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I love screensavers. Originally designed to prevent images from burning into monitor screens, screensavers can be fun. This is good, because as monitor technology progressed, these programs are less and less necessary. Still, if you have a monitor sitting around your house or apartment, shouldn't it be doing something?
Downloading screensaver programs can be risky. They are a favored way for hackers to install software on other machines. You should only get screensavers from companies you trust.
If you are into minimalism, there is a very cool screensaver already on your computer - 3D Text!
Okay, so if you just use a regular font, it is horrifically boring. Pictures would be better. Fortunately, fonts such as Windings display images. Rotated in 3D, these images can be kind of cool.
Open your screensaver (right-click on your desktop and choose "Personalize" or "Display Properties" to find this menu), and choose "3D Text" from the drop-down. Choose "Custom Text" and type a capital A in the text box. Crank the size to "Large" and click "OK". This is what you get – except it is rotates.
You can play with the text, textures, and colors to come up with some cool screensaver variations. Here are some that I like.
Yes folks, I am definitely a geek for finding this to be a source of entertainment. But when simplicity, style, and free converge it just makes me happy.
Footnote: If you using Windows 98 or earlier, type the words "volcano" or "beer" (without quotes) into the text box. It will unlock some fun and interesting behavior.