My growing love for the Disney+ show has brought me partially out of RP retirement (this is the only one I’m doing). I’m envisioning a plot loosely based on the show, as well as a handful of story arcs from the comics. A brief synopsis of what I’m imagining: [color=00aeef][i]In the small town of Westview, New Jersey, a group of orphaned teens are living their best lives in the halls of Glimmerbrook Manor, a spacious mansion in the lap of luxury, surrounded by a sprawling estate of colorful gardens and a lake next to a small forest. They are cared for by their loving foster parents, Wanda Maximoff and Vision, as well as occasional visits from Aunt Agatha. The teens are happy and healthy, but cannot seem to recall much of their lives before coming to Westview. They only remember being told they were special as young children, and that one day they would begin developing fantastical powers. That day – known to them as the Dawn of the Silver Sun – has finally arrived, and the orphans must learn to adjust to their new abilities. But something feels… off. Gradually, they begin to unravel the truth about their lives, and the nature of the Hex that has been erected around the town...[/i][/color] Now, to dive a bit deeper into it. The characters feel like they’ve lived at Glimmerbrook Manor for years, but in reality, it’s only been days. Agatha Harkness kidnapped them all from their various homes around the world, killed their families, and brought them to Westview with Wanda and Vision’s dead body. This is all part of her grand plot to summon the Infinity Stones and resurrect Mephisto. They have been brainwashed to forget their old lives, and being inside the Hex has awakened their dormant superpowers, which are tied to their ancient bloodlines – you see, their ancestors were the Guardians of the Infinity Stones. Agatha seeks to use that connection to summon the Stones, to compel Wanda to wield them for the resurrection spell so that any damage is diverted from her (Agatha), and then to “install” Mephisto’s soul into Vision’s body, since he can no longer possess a “living” host, which was part of the original spell that vanquished him. I’ve developed an alternate history for this universe, as well as expanded the number of Infinity Stones to thirteen. This is to allow a larger number of characters, and each one can be descended from one of the Thirteen Guardians. Of those, myself, Crimson Flame, and King Kindred have claimed five Stones for our characters. Here they are: [hider=My Main Characters] Aracely Munroe / Tempest (fusion of Storm and Hummingbird, she’ll be the leader of the team of teenaged heroes) Descended from the Aztec “god” Tláloc, First Guardian of the Storm Stone [img]https://imgur.com/ht4iMqp.jpeg[/img] Caleb Qadir / Marrow Descended from the Chieftain of Clan Akkaba, En Sabah Nur, First Guardian of the Trinity Stone [img]https://imgur.com/6OjJxmI.jpeg[/img] Teddy Altman / Kid Hulk Descended from a Skrull/Human hybrid bloodline that began in Scandinavia with Jarl Talos of House Dorrek, First Guardian of the Space Stone. [img]https://imgur.com/TuEagCV.jpeg[/img] [/hider] King Kindred will be playing a fusion of Pulsar/Captain Marvel, who will be descended from the Guardian of the Spectrum Stone, as well a Wakandan princess who is descended from the Guardian of the Soul Stone. Additionally, he’ll be playing a version of Victor Mancha who comes from outside the Hex to aid the teens later on. Crimson Flame will be playing versions of Billy Kaplan and Tommy Shepherd, who along with Wanda are descended from the Guardian of the Reality Stone. I’ll let them post their face claims and more information about their respective characters. In addition to those mentioned here, I will be playing a handful of “NPCs” of sorts, including Wanda, Vision, Agatha, FBI Agent Frank Castle, S.W.O.R.D. Agent Maria Hill (formerly of S.H.I.E.L.D.) Mephisto, and a version of Ghost Rider who won’t debut till later, and several others as needed. I’ll let the finer details of the overall plot unfold as we play, but below I’ll include a list of my versions of the Infinity Stones and what they do, as well as a timeline of events for this custom continuity, which henceforth will be dubbed the MCRU – Marvel Custom Roleplaying Universe. [hider=The Infinity Stones] [b]Trinity Stone:[/b] Creation, destruction, and restoration. Can use extradimensional forces to create new matter, destroy existing matter, or restore matter that no longer exists. [b]Space Stone:[/b] Generate wormholes. Warp and travel through the fabric of space. [b]Time Stone:[/b] Bend and manipulate the flow of time. Localized to a small radius only. [b]Reality Stone:[/b] Also known as the Philosopher’s Stone. Does not create or destroy, merely converts existing matter and energy from one form to another. [b]Soul Stone:[/b] Houses a pocket dimension the wielder’s soul can access in their dreams. Can also push another’s astral form out of their body and trap their soul, as well astral project themselves to access other primordial planes of existence within the same universe. [b]Mind Stone:[/b] Contains the remnants of a cosmic consciousness, and houses the memories and complete knowledge of all past wielders. [b]Spectrum Stone:[/b] Gifts the wielder with the ability to observe and manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum. [b]Storm Stone:[/b] Allows direct control over weather and localized atmospheric conditions. [b]Gravity Stone:[/b] Grants the ability to harness and manipulate gravitational forces. Localized to a small radius. [b]Vibration Stone:[/b] Effects the frequency of vibrations in matter and energy, allowing a form of density-shifting or to render particles unstable and explosive. [b]Dark Stone:[/b] Able to manipulate and convert dark matter to normal matter and vice versa. Also works on dark energy, albeit very localized. [b]Life Stone:[/b] Closely related to the Soul Stone. Gifts the power to actually create life where there was previously none, as well as gather spiritual energies to birth a new soul. [b]Death Stone:[/b] The opposite of the Life Stone and also closely related to the Soul Stone. Allows the ability to withdraw life energy from living beings and to permanently destroy souls. [/hider] [hider=Origin of the Infinity Stones] Said to be remnants from the Big Bang that clumped together, their exact origin is unknown and eludes even the wisest cosmic beings in the universe. Truly, not a single entity has any knowledge whatsoever that predates the birth of the universe or the supposed creation of the Infinity Stones, and even the most powerful “god” lineages started at the bottom of their respective evolutionary ladders. After billions of years of evolutionary and technological advancement, a handful of races made their first reaches towards the stars, chief among them the Watchers. Naturally, this eventually led them to discover the Infinity Stones scattered throughout the universe, which in turn led to much conflict over controlling their power. A band of Watchers led by Uatu made the decision to hide the Stones away from the galactic forces that were constantly warring over them, and chose a distant, backwater world that would eventually be called Earth. They chose Thirteen Guardians – one for each Stone – at various locations around the planet, and entrusted the powerful gems to them for safekeeping. Each Guardian had a tribe or clan that began a tradition of passing the Stones down from one generation to the next, and this continued for thousands of years without issue. [/hider] [hider=First Age of Apocalypse] The peaceful transfer of Guardianship was shattered when En Sabah Nur was resurrected by a descendant around 3000 B.C. He then began a conquest on a global scale, managed to steal all the Stones, and slotted them into an artifact of his own creation – the Infinity Scepter. This allowed him total control of the entire planet – for a time. When Uatu returned on one of his occasional scouting trips, he became severely disappointed in Nur’s abuse of the Infinity Stones. The Watcher tricked the Akkaban into releasing his grip on the Scepter for only a moment, but that was enough for him to take command of it. There was a bright flash of light, and then Uatu was gone. The empty Scepter dropped to the ground, and the world reverted to how it was prior to Nur’s conquest. The one exception was that the Infinity Stones were nowhere to be found, and the Guardians had only stories to pass along of the powerful artifacts they once held. [/hider] [hider=Descendants of the Guardians] Generations of radiation exposure to the Stones had given the descendants of the First Guardians remarkable bloodline abilities, but many of these became heavily diluted over time once the Stones were gone. The handful of lineages that still retained any kind of power by the start of the Dark Ages came to be labeled witches and demons, and after centuries of persecution, they gradually faded into relative obscurity. By the turn of the twentieth century, there were still a few secret locations where powered individuals existed, but their existence was considered largely fictional to the general public, and virtually all of the descendants of the First Guardians were biologically indistinguishable from normal humans. [/hider] [hider=The First Avenger] Scientists began working on various super soldier projects in the 1930s and 40s, culminating in the emergence of Captain America in 1942. He led the Howling Commandos against Red Skull and HYDRA for several years during the Second World War, but went missing in 1945. Steve Rogers was discovered frozen in ice nearly seventy years later, and once he had thawed out and regained his bearings, he began operating as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., gathering strong public support for his heroic persona. [/hider] [hider=The Avengers and the First Battle of New York] In 2012, Loki of Asgard led an army of Chitauri in an attack on Earth after making his own Bifrost Bridge, prompting Nick Fury to greenlight the Avengers Initiative, which included a list of known powered individuals. The trickster’s ultimate goal was not apparent at first, but it was later discovered he had learned of the Infinity Stones from a cosmic prophet, who informed him the last time they were gathered was on Earth. Loki was ultimately unsuccessful, and the Earth recovered. The Avengers continued to operate as a team after this event, bringing hope to many and inspiring young people to aspire to heroics. [/hider] [hider=Ultron & Vision] In 2015, Tony Stark and Hank Pym unveiled their Ultron Global Defense System, which was designed to prevent further extraterrestrial invasions like what had happened in 2012. Unfortunately, the AI became self-aware and took control of a number of Iron Man and War Machine suits. As part of his search for materials to form the perfect body – such as Vibranium – he discovered an odd piece of Chitauri technology left over from the Battle of New York. It was essentially a broken micro supercomputer in the form of crystalline shards, thought to be the power source behind the Chitauri’s hive-mind central network. Ultron forced Professor Phineas Horton to assist him, who was able to reverse-engineer the tech and repurpose the materials to create a small yellow gem that became known as “Horton’s Crystal Brain,” or “HCB.” The yellow gem was slotted into the forehead of the new nanite-infused Vibranium body, powering the larger synthetic brain within the skull. Ultron then began the process of transferring his mind into the HCB at his base in Sokovia as the Avengers were waging their final battle against him. In a last ditch effort to thwart the AI, Tony Stark’s butler and pilot, Edwin Jarvis, who had been waiting in the quinjet and had gotten pulled into the conflict, managed to connect himself to the mind transfer device as well. This resulted in fragments of both Jarvis and Ultron being downloaded into the new body, which infuriated Ultron to the point that he immediately killed Jarvis. Just then, Thor finally returned to Earth, using his lightning to power up the new synthezoid, thus giving rise to Vision. This turned the tide of the battle and Ultron was finally defeated, but the destruction led to the creation of the Sokovia Accords. [/hider] [hider=The Mad Titan] Over the following five years, Wanda Maximoff and Vision began a relationship together, culminating in their marriage in 2020, despite the Civil War that had erupted between the Avengers the year prior. They were preparing for their honeymoon when Thanos arrived on Earth, having finally heard of the rumors of the Infinity Stones. When the Mad Titan encountered Vision, he was convinced the HCB was the Mind Stone, ripping it out of the synthezoid’s head and killing him. He immediately discovered he was mistaken, but showed no remorse. He crushed the crystal in his hand and walked away as Wanda sat weeping over the body of her dead husband. Overcome with rage and grief, the Scarlet Witch jumped up and rushed the Mad Titan, and she was soon joined by the rest of the Avengers. They managed to defeat Thanos, but not without further casualties – both Captain America and Quicksilver died as well, and Wanda suffered major brain damage that sent her into a coma. Thanos was eventually arrested and transferred to a galactic prison overseen by the Nova Corps, where he began to question if the Infinity Stones were even real or if he’d gotten caught up in a hoax. [/hider] [hider=Agatha & Westview] Having become intrigued by the rumors of the Infinity Stones years prior, Agatha Harkness had since located the Infinity Scepter and had kept it hidden from Thanos. A year after the Mad Titan was defeated, she had tracked down the present-day descendants of the Thirteen Guardians, picking young teenagers with the strongest potential to activate their bloodline abilities, kidnapped them, killed their families, and kept them sedated in Glimmerbrook Manor. Agatha then began the process of awakening Wanda from her coma, keeping the Scarlet Witch under her influence. She convinced Wanda to storm a S.W.O.R.D. facility to retrieve Vision’s body, and then they traveled to Westview, where Wanda erected a Hex barrier around the town, rewriting reality within it. Suddenly, the teens awoke to a new sense of self, having little-to-no memory of their lives before Westview. Within a few days, they began to feel that something was amiss. Unbeknownst to them at the time, the group had subconsciously joined powers while they slept to send out astral projections of themselves to a nearby town, which had been spotted by local police. To the teens, it just felt like a weird dream of them walking through a gas station parking lot. Camera footage of the sighting allowed them to match the faces of the teens to missing persons reports, and soon both S.W.O.R.D. and FBI agents had an invested interested in the Westview Anomaly. [/hider] Wow, that’s a lot of text! LOL. If you have any questions, please ask away, and discuss what characters you want to play! You can adapt any Marvel character or OC to be a descendant of the Guardians. Once we have at least one character for each Guardian, we’ll stop recruiting. In the event we get less, I’ll reduce the number of Infinity Stones to match whatever amount of characters we have. Your powers don’t have to match your Stone exactly, they just have to be vaguely similar since your bloodline abilities were derived from generations of exposure to that particular Stone.