At some point you have received this welcome letter.
Are you a new student eagerly awaiting your turn to start at the first ever official school for metahumans?
Or are you a returning student eager to see what the new year has in store?
This RP will be Co-GMed with @Gittarackur.
The World
This will take place in an alternative timeline from our own.
While most world events will be the same, elements of them are altered to include the introduction of magic/metahumans. If there is a world event you would like to know our spin on, feel free to ask how it happened for our RP. Examples of such events will be covered in the History section, but for the most part we're looking at highlighting pieces of American history as this world has altered them.
As far as technology goes, there are all sorts of tech we view as futuristic that have been around since the 90s here. While fossil fuels aren't a thing of the past, it is the alternative energy source now as opposed to the main source. While flying cars still aren't a thing, electric and self-driving cars are the prolific mode of transportation for many, and technology continues to advance at an accelerated rate.
Magic, as well as meta-humans in the form of mutants and beings of lore, has been public for only a little while. While it has mixed reception in some communities still, it is - for the most part - accepted as something that is not going away, and people have learned to cope with the fact that humans really aren't the only sentient life out there; that reality itself is far more than what they previously thought.
Every day, you pass someone on the street - usually unaware there is anything more to them than what they appear. That's just as true for this universe. The barista that just made your coffee could be teaching herself how to use magic, or perhaps that "self-made millionaire" was born with the superhuman ability to see probabilities and uses it to pick just the right stocks to amass his fortune. Perhaps the guy that you always see working the night shift isn't actually as human as he appears.
Not everyone in the world can learn to use magic; some are born with innate powers, while others can study to learn it. Whether or not you can is something you are born with, or perhaps was thrust upon you by some external force. It is illegal in many countries to experiment on people, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen, and sometimes pesky extradimensional beings will leave their mark after a visit - that was how this all began, after all.
But let's stick to the basics. There are 2 major categories all meta-humans fall under:
Those with innate magical abilities, and those that have the ability to learn to use magic.
From there, magic breaks down a bit further into a few more categories:
Nature - this covers all abilities that utilize elements, beasts, plant life, and/or even summon beings of such elements to you.
Personal - this covers abilities that come from the mind (psychics, telepaths, telekinetics, etc) or augment bodies (strength, speed, endurance, invisibility, shapeshifting, etc).
Intellect - this covers not just hyperintelligence, but also those with an innate knack for building complex and advanced devices.
Void - this covers powers akin to interdimensional access, such as teleportation, summoning/communicating with things beyond this world, extradimensional travel, and even drawing on powers from a dimension called the Void (top scientists are still trying to get a firm grasp on what that exactly is, but their best explanation currently is a realm of negative energy.)
Ki - this deals with the ability to manipulate the latent tangible energy found in all living objects and manipulate it for various purposes such as energy blasts, flight, and - in a few rare cases - healing.
Mutants - while previously believed to be the proper term for those born with the innate ability to use magic, it is far beyond that; aliens, beings of supernatural lore such as vampires, and people that were experimented on into being able to use magic all fit into this category. Mutants tend to already have a handle on how to use their natural powers, but some (particularly those that experimented on) do not.
The Setting
We will be students at the Anepool Academy for the Gifted, a boarding school dedicated to teaching meta-humans not only standard school courses, but also helping them understand, control, and utilize their magic in productive ways. There are plenty of extracurricular opportunities outside of learning magic, and even their standard classes offer a wide range of interests outside of standard curriculum and magicks. They host students in 7th - 12th grade, and graduates have the same opportunities as those graduating standard schools.
The campus is enclosed and monitored, so sneaking onto and off of campus will be difficult (but not impossible, if you were to ask some alum). Students are assigned dorms based on gender, but recent years have seen some shift to that with transgendered students being offered housing in a newly constructed dormitory that is based on a gender neutral concept; students housed here will still share a dorm room with another student, but both students will be of the same gender identity.
Anepool is one of the top most prosperous cities on the east coast, and is known for it's food, diversity, and has recently become an economic center for the US. It consists of six boroughs - Lewis, Minks, Sphinx, Roldo, Polis, and Cannes.
Lewis
The largest borough, it sports a major residential section.
It is known for being ethnically diverse, while sporting a large Asian and black immigrant population.
Noted as one of the safest boroughs of the city, it's commonly said to be a great place to raise kids.
While it does sport commerce, most shops are department stores or small shops.
Minks
The most populated district, it is subject to gentrification for many years.
It is known for having an extremely active street life and lots of gang violence.
Minks, being the most populated, is known to be referred to by its two distinct sections - South Minks and North Minks.
South Minks is home to an affluent business sector and a great place for many aspiring to start large businesses to move to. It is also the home of Anepool Academy for the Gifted.
North Minks is, colloquially, a ghetto - known for its violence, as well as producing very talented drill artists.
Sphinx
Considered to be the upscale borough out of the six, it's known for its high rises and banking centers, as well as it's fashion, art, and entertainment destinations.
This is where the seat of the city's municipal government resides.
Roldo
Known to be the most violent borough, most of the city's organized crime is based here.
It has several street gangs, and almost all major criminal syndicates and organizations have roots here as well.
It's known to be the city's hub for illicit trading and black market dealings, especially for advanced weaponry and other illegal goods.
Polis
A small island off the coast of the city could be considered a town of its own - this happens to be Polis, the 5th district of Anepool.
It is known to be a fishing town, and is also known to be the quietest borough as it does not boast any real attractions aside from great fishing spots.
Many believe it to be cursed, as it is one of the many locations where otherworldly invaders first appeared.
Cannes
This borough was recently designated an experimental section created by the Anepool city council to be host exclusively to meta-humans.
Known for being the base for many major technology and manufacturing corporations, it makes start competition with North Minks for business ventures.
Like I said before, we'll be playing students at the Anepool Academy for the Gifted.
More information about character creation and further information regarding the setting and major players will be available if this garners enough interest to move into a proper OOC.
