Post by Karenza on Mar 21, 2016 23:19:37 GMT
Note: Some of you may remember my passing references to Game of Thrones. That was the vision I had for Mystic War oh so long ago. That is where we start now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How did I survive apocalyptic fire? I simply refused to feel the flames." - Emma Frost
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Emma, are you familiar with the phrase, 'Visions come to prepared spirits'?"
"Of course..."
"Well then, little spirit. Prepare." - Jean Grey to Emma Frost, Sisterhood arc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The time is six months after the game was paused.
Jean Grey has returned to the X-Men from her stay in the White Hot Room, but that is not the moment that defines the current state of the Marvel Universe.
Magic is afoot, and with it has come a time of change for the MU.
The attacks on Avengers Tower and the Mystic Council are the harbingers of darker times for the heroes of our version the 616 MU.
The Mystic Council lies in ruins, but the group of mutants and mystics that surrounded Jack Sparrow, Craig Dragotti and Mira Mcgowan survived the slaughter thanks to quick thinking on Mira's part that lead to their escape.
Preternatural beings of all types have started to make incursions across the globe from the nether realms, and one of the epicenters is New Orleans where Selene holds court with her coven. She has been stoking the flames of war between the three groups that have had control of that city for centuries--vampires, werewolves and witches. The air of death seems to feed her as she sets her sights on her true enemies--the Hellfire Club and the X-Men. The combined Thieves and Assassins Guilds have stepped up to help Gambit, Rogue and a small group of mutants who are trying to keep disaster at bay.
But the Diable Blanc and his Southern Belle are not the only heroes that stalk the night in the Crescent City. The Punisher and Elektra are still on the hunt for those who seem to be Roxxon-funded fiends that are trying to build chemically and genetically-enhanced armies with futuristic weaponry.
Buckland Academy has become a safe haven for the mystic community in the UK, much to the consternation of Severus Snape and the extended Macleod family. A portal under the school has become a hotbed of controversy, and Pete Wisdom's MI-13 have now set up base there. To be exact, there are at least three portals. One leads to the Arda, the home of the elven and dwarf communities. Another leads to Avalon, and that has caused a great amount of concern for the British government. The third portal leads to an alternate dimension that seems to be a haven for magic users, but that may not actually be the sanctuary it is believed to be.
Avengers Tower is being rebuilt, but a very uneasy Tony Stark has been tweaking things as he goes along, and even Stephen Strange is not certain that Stark's "magic protection protocols" are indeed sound measures in these uncertain times. Strange has tried to be a buffer between the mystic world at large and The Avengers, but his efforts have not always been met with widespread support from either side.
The fact that the Red Skull and his newly formed reich took credit for the attack on Avengers Tower six months ago has caused internal debate among Earth's Mightiest Heroes as well. But that is not all the German fanatic has been doing since his re-emergence on the battlefields of the MU.
Alleged mobster Antonio Estacado and his unlikely ally, NYPD Detective Kate Kinsella, are watching as stolen mystical arms supposedly tracked by S.H.I.E.L.D. are turning up on the down-worlder black market. Phil Coulson will be visiting them soon because he has heard about the weapon the detective wields and is wondering how it ties into this whole scenario.
The X-Men, outside the issues with Selene and her coven, have been holding the line in San Francisco as preternatural attacks have been on the rise. They have also heard more from a newly empowered Purifiers group based in the Pacific Northwest. They have taken the teachings of William Stryker and amplified them through the rhetoric of a man who simply calls himself The Cardinal. Mutants and mystics alike are in their sights, and rumors of witch burnings are on the uptake.
Cyclops and Wolverine have been at loggerheads about the whole mystic versus mutant issue that seems to be stoked on a daily basis by their female counterparts. Emma Frost has set her cap on getting the mystics, except Magik and Pixie, out of the X-Men's San Francisco base, but Karenza has been a brick wall about the issue, fending off the White Queen in all ways short of physical altercation. Seeing what Iron Man has been doing in New York has not made this issue any easier for the mystics that call the X-Men family. For the moment, there is an uneasy quiet amongst Xavier's Children. There have been rumblings of sending some of the team back to New York, but that is still a glimmer of hope in this contentious time.
And there have been rumors of an army of augmented beings training on a small island near the Savage Lands. They may have crossed through one of the portals that have been popping up across the globe, and they may be tied to Spiral and Mister Sinister.
Asgard, no longer tied to this Earth, rests in the heavens once more. Odin sleeps, but his sons and daughter guard their kingdom well.
This new tableau is a lot to take in, but what of the event that has changed the MU? Was it a birth or death, the fall of a nation or the ascension of a god or goddess?
No.
As much as the Kabal, a loosely-affiliated group of villains, tried to push Karenza and Phoenix into a test of wills, that potentially disasterous altercation was thwarted when Jessie Grey stepped in. Using her own connection to the Phoenix and to the line of wielders of the Fiach Dubh, she was able to stop what could have been the fall of mutant and mystic alike.
And only now can we circle back to Johann Shmidt. The Red Skull was the one villain who was not invited to the Kabal's table, and he, slowly and methodically, outed magic for the world to see. No one is truly clear on what his agenda is at the moment, but all agree it can't be good. With the Mystic Council down for the count, no one came riding to the rescue to hide the magic away.
While the UK might be able to embrace their magic heritage now, the US is a far different place for the Children of the Fae. At the moment a tense detente is in place, but those who do not trust the mystics look for any chance to prove them rogues and chaos bringers. The coming US elections are likely a staging ground for the next chapter in the intertwined story of human, mutant and mystic alike.
Some look to kill them all, while others look to weaponize them in a quest for power.
Who will live? Who will die? Who will wield ultimate power?
Don't you want to be a part of it?
“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”--Cersei Lannister
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"How did I survive apocalyptic fire? I simply refused to feel the flames." - Emma Frost
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Emma, are you familiar with the phrase, 'Visions come to prepared spirits'?"
"Of course..."
"Well then, little spirit. Prepare." - Jean Grey to Emma Frost, Sisterhood arc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The time is six months after the game was paused.
Jean Grey has returned to the X-Men from her stay in the White Hot Room, but that is not the moment that defines the current state of the Marvel Universe.
Magic is afoot, and with it has come a time of change for the MU.
The attacks on Avengers Tower and the Mystic Council are the harbingers of darker times for the heroes of our version the 616 MU.
The Mystic Council lies in ruins, but the group of mutants and mystics that surrounded Jack Sparrow, Craig Dragotti and Mira Mcgowan survived the slaughter thanks to quick thinking on Mira's part that lead to their escape.
Preternatural beings of all types have started to make incursions across the globe from the nether realms, and one of the epicenters is New Orleans where Selene holds court with her coven. She has been stoking the flames of war between the three groups that have had control of that city for centuries--vampires, werewolves and witches. The air of death seems to feed her as she sets her sights on her true enemies--the Hellfire Club and the X-Men. The combined Thieves and Assassins Guilds have stepped up to help Gambit, Rogue and a small group of mutants who are trying to keep disaster at bay.
But the Diable Blanc and his Southern Belle are not the only heroes that stalk the night in the Crescent City. The Punisher and Elektra are still on the hunt for those who seem to be Roxxon-funded fiends that are trying to build chemically and genetically-enhanced armies with futuristic weaponry.
Buckland Academy has become a safe haven for the mystic community in the UK, much to the consternation of Severus Snape and the extended Macleod family. A portal under the school has become a hotbed of controversy, and Pete Wisdom's MI-13 have now set up base there. To be exact, there are at least three portals. One leads to the Arda, the home of the elven and dwarf communities. Another leads to Avalon, and that has caused a great amount of concern for the British government. The third portal leads to an alternate dimension that seems to be a haven for magic users, but that may not actually be the sanctuary it is believed to be.
Avengers Tower is being rebuilt, but a very uneasy Tony Stark has been tweaking things as he goes along, and even Stephen Strange is not certain that Stark's "magic protection protocols" are indeed sound measures in these uncertain times. Strange has tried to be a buffer between the mystic world at large and The Avengers, but his efforts have not always been met with widespread support from either side.
The fact that the Red Skull and his newly formed reich took credit for the attack on Avengers Tower six months ago has caused internal debate among Earth's Mightiest Heroes as well. But that is not all the German fanatic has been doing since his re-emergence on the battlefields of the MU.
Alleged mobster Antonio Estacado and his unlikely ally, NYPD Detective Kate Kinsella, are watching as stolen mystical arms supposedly tracked by S.H.I.E.L.D. are turning up on the down-worlder black market. Phil Coulson will be visiting them soon because he has heard about the weapon the detective wields and is wondering how it ties into this whole scenario.
The X-Men, outside the issues with Selene and her coven, have been holding the line in San Francisco as preternatural attacks have been on the rise. They have also heard more from a newly empowered Purifiers group based in the Pacific Northwest. They have taken the teachings of William Stryker and amplified them through the rhetoric of a man who simply calls himself The Cardinal. Mutants and mystics alike are in their sights, and rumors of witch burnings are on the uptake.
Cyclops and Wolverine have been at loggerheads about the whole mystic versus mutant issue that seems to be stoked on a daily basis by their female counterparts. Emma Frost has set her cap on getting the mystics, except Magik and Pixie, out of the X-Men's San Francisco base, but Karenza has been a brick wall about the issue, fending off the White Queen in all ways short of physical altercation. Seeing what Iron Man has been doing in New York has not made this issue any easier for the mystics that call the X-Men family. For the moment, there is an uneasy quiet amongst Xavier's Children. There have been rumblings of sending some of the team back to New York, but that is still a glimmer of hope in this contentious time.
And there have been rumors of an army of augmented beings training on a small island near the Savage Lands. They may have crossed through one of the portals that have been popping up across the globe, and they may be tied to Spiral and Mister Sinister.
Asgard, no longer tied to this Earth, rests in the heavens once more. Odin sleeps, but his sons and daughter guard their kingdom well.
This new tableau is a lot to take in, but what of the event that has changed the MU? Was it a birth or death, the fall of a nation or the ascension of a god or goddess?
No.
As much as the Kabal, a loosely-affiliated group of villains, tried to push Karenza and Phoenix into a test of wills, that potentially disasterous altercation was thwarted when Jessie Grey stepped in. Using her own connection to the Phoenix and to the line of wielders of the Fiach Dubh, she was able to stop what could have been the fall of mutant and mystic alike.
And only now can we circle back to Johann Shmidt. The Red Skull was the one villain who was not invited to the Kabal's table, and he, slowly and methodically, outed magic for the world to see. No one is truly clear on what his agenda is at the moment, but all agree it can't be good. With the Mystic Council down for the count, no one came riding to the rescue to hide the magic away.
While the UK might be able to embrace their magic heritage now, the US is a far different place for the Children of the Fae. At the moment a tense detente is in place, but those who do not trust the mystics look for any chance to prove them rogues and chaos bringers. The coming US elections are likely a staging ground for the next chapter in the intertwined story of human, mutant and mystic alike.
Some look to kill them all, while others look to weaponize them in a quest for power.
Who will live? Who will die? Who will wield ultimate power?
Don't you want to be a part of it?
“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”--Cersei Lannister
