The Reckoning

[Raven]

Cerbera: A city made along the Daly River between Douglas-Daly and Nauiyu - though both have been nearly destroyed in the aftermath of Calamity's rising (in Nauiyu's case, by Nightshade himself). The city is an oasis in the desert, made of plants that didn't naturally grow in Australia. In some cases, plants that don't grow naturally anywhere at all. The city's creator and ruler, Nightshade, has taken people from areas all around to bring them to his city and to increase his influence.

Life in Cerbera is far from perfect - the law in the hands of glorified gangs who protect only their own, all of them under the rule of Nightshade - however, it's far better than many alternatives. In Cerbera, there is good food, light, shelter, water, and warmth - only for a small tax taken in the form of food. The only civilians exempt are those who work directly for Nightshade - who are then paid with this tax. Leftovers, if there are any, are often used to tempt people in from the surrounding areas with promise of a better life. There is even relative safety, provided you align with a leader who can deliver a certain level of protection. Epics, of course, may do more or less what they please, but in the case of minor Epics, there are some normals on the same level as them, and Nightshade does not punish normals who harm those at their own level or lower. However, leaders who attack those currently in Nightshade's favor may find themselves wishing they hadn't. That's not to say that one gang ever has immunity for long, though. Nightshade may be called fickle, his favoritism isn't something that can be held, as often Nightshade will grow suspicious of those he gives power. The leaders who please him also get boons in the forms of influence, good favor, and people delivered to them.

Education in Cerbera is far from mandatory, and official schools do not exist, leaving any education up to the guardians of children. Certain gangs will have classes set up, but Nightshade looks down upon these as a waste of time, which means that these things don't usually last long. The only exception is training for fighting. Nightshade actively encourages this, and holds competitions with high rewards to the best individual fighter and the best team. The best fighters from each gang unit are often hired to fight for Nightshade personally, and he will send them on various missions outside of the city.

Though Nightshade doesn't have much of an iron grip on the populace, it is rare that any of the leaders under him will attempt to rise up. Anyone who does will find out just how bad an idea it is to challenge a High Epic when he can control the very city you stand in, and nearly everything inside of it. Gruesome deaths await anyone who believe they can challenge the man. Between spiked vines and poisons so powerful they can kill through skin contact alone, it is not a fight any smart person would want to pick.

Sightings of Nightshade aren't entirely uncommon, but they're almost always at a distance. It's truly rare to see him up close, and when it does happen, he almost always looks nearly indifferent.



Epics:
Name:
Original Name:
Powers:
Weakness:
Classification: (High or Lesser)
Appearance:
Residence:

Normals:
Name:
Occupation:
Appearance:
Residence:

[Raven]

Name: Recollector
Original Name: Kenny Villein
Powers: memory manipulation, super dexterity, personal healing, suggestive speech
Weakness: immediate relatives
Classification: High Epic
Appearance: black hair, blue eyes, nice clothes, dark colors
Residence: Darwin

Name: Crucifix
Original Name: Katrina Storm
Powers: personal reincarnation, advanced healing abilities, glass
Weakness: lightning
Classification: High Epic
Appearance: brown hair, green eyes, tends to wear a loose skirt and tank top
Residence: Cerbera

Name: Nightshade
Original Name: Frederick de Vymont
Powers: plants, poison, force redirection
Weakness: blood
Classification: High epic
Appearance: brown hair that curls slightly, Hazel eyes, dark clothing and a cape
Residence: Cerbera

Name: Babydoll
Original Name: Emily Smith (AKA Samantha Cole AKA Emma Hale AKA Theresa Oliver AKA Riley Barnes)
Powers: future sight, puppetteering (mind control, but people have full consciousness and can communicate while she is controlling them)
Weakness: Dolls
Classification: Minor epic (technically)
Appearance: Small and pale with a generous number of freckles, and wavy red hair.
Residence: Cerbera

Name: Adam Clark
Occupation: Reckoner
Appearance: black hair, blue eyes, blue t-shirt and jeans
Residence: Cerbera

Name: Kailen Belacqua
Occupation: professional nerd (bus driver)
Appearance: black hair, green eyes, geek t-shirts, tends to blend in
Residence: Darwin

Name: Ryan Villein
Occupation: ??
Appearance: blond hair, purple eyes, dark clothes
Residence: Cerbera

Name: Mercy Coup
Occupation: Reckoner & ex-enforcer - in hiding
Appearance: Short, with black hair that has been cropped short. Has several ear piercings, and dresses a bit like a punk.
Residence: Darwin

Name: Cyrus Bane
Occupation: Reckoner leader
Appearance: Light brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin. Wears clothing to blend into the background, except when in the Reckoner's hide out.
Residence: Darwin

[Gifted]

Name: Negative
Original Name: Rick Martinez
Powers: Power Negation (can be attached to people and objects), power transference, energy shields, immunity to poison
Weakness: Guilt. That "oh my god what have I done" moment will render him incapable of fighting back even if inches from death.
Classification: Lesser Epic
Appearance: Brown hair, red tshirt, hand scar
Residence: The Reckoners cell in Darwin


Name: Rook
Original name: Johnathon Len
Powers: Weak precog abilities, incredibly strong darkness, including going incorporeal, ability to make shadow pawns.
Weakness: Injection with a syringe or an IV. It doesn't materwhat is actually being injected into him, he'll lose his abilities
Classification: High Epic
Appearance:
Residence: One of the two castles of Rook, both in Darwin. One was built inside the Parliament House where the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territories used to meet, the other was built atop Channel Island power station.

Name: Flare
Original name: Flare Crockford
Powers: Complete control over water - all water (including blood and other fluids in the human body - which is 70% water).
Weakness: Garnet/Scarlett Crockford - either would feasibly work.
Classification: Lesser Epic
Appearance: Black hair with red streaks, blue eyes
Residence: Castles of Rook


Name: Bug
Original name: David Suzuki Collins
Powers: Total control over electricity, can manipulate anything run by such however he wants, can hear and see through electrical lines.
Weakness:
Classification: Lesser Epic
Appearance:
Residence: Castles of Rook

Name: Black Rose
Original Name: Rakel Meusemore
Powers: Plant Botanokinesis, pyrokinesis, weather control
Weakness: salt water
Classification: Lesser Epic
Appearance:
Residence: With Nightshade in Canbera

Name: Starlight
Original name: Abigail Winters
Powers: Absorbs force of attacks to increase her strength, speed and power. Also creates light and shoots light energy beams from her hand.
Weakness: "You're just a normal kid"
Classification: High Epic
Appearance:


Name: Joan Wenkeling
Occupation: Reckoner in Canberra
Appearance:
Residence: Reckoners cell in Canbera

Name: Willow Clark
Occupation: Orphan child (13)
Appearance:
Residence: Darwin Boarding House

Name: Liam Clark
Occupation: Orphan Child (11)
Appearance: Dark hair, blue eyes. Definitely looks like his dad
Residence: Darwin Boarding House

[Gifted]

Information on Darwin: Darwin is luxurious, at least by the standards nowadays. The Epic dictator Rook maintains power and running water to everywhere in the city, and power outages are dealt with in a prompt rush. Sure, this is just because his associate Bug is practically omniscient wherever there's electricty running through, and can have his eyes on you at all times so long as you're close to a power line, and running water allows his other associate Flare to have weapons ready to skewer you with in your house at any time, even in the dry months from May-September, but still, the amenities are nice.
Darwin is first and foremost a mining economy. While everyone has other jobs, every citizen of the city is entered into a lottery each day, and those who are drawn for the lottery are shipped off to the two mines and the oil and natural gas barges out to sea. The only people exempt are enforcement personnel, and not showing up when your name came up on the lottery is punishable by death. Children are also included on the lottery, and are considered to be of great use in mines. It is mandatory to not penalize a person for being drawn in the lottery, whether they would be at school or work otherwise. It is possible to put in a request to work in the mines, which significantly increases the odds of being drawn in the lottery, but as mine work is the lowest paying and most demanding and strict job (with the harshest consequences for screwing up) only the poor and desperate or the young and naive do so.
School is compulsory for all children between the ages of 4 and 14, after which a test is taken to determine whether the child will be required to continue. The primary function of school is indoctrination; to teach human children their place in the world, loyalty to Rook and subservience to Epics. Children, when in the same room as a known Epic, are expected to bow and be compliant towards the Epic. Children under 12 are expected to get down on their knees to bow regardless of the Epic's status, however Children over 12 may stay on their feet for Epics who are not high ranked (for characters that means Flare, Bug, Rook and Recollector). This ritual is to continue until the child is 18 regardless of whether or not they still attend school. Failure to bow in the expected manner, inside or outside of school, results in harsh discipline. Children under the age of 7 are expected to bow before their teachers as well.
In addition to the indoctrination, the required schooling teaches reading, writing, history, and arithmetic. Students found gifted in school are selected to work in Rook's upper crust with much more scrutiny but also much more knowledge. These students are taught skills typical students may not need to know, such as coding.
Computers are scarce in Darwin; only those working in government positions got to use them, and not all of those people. This is to prevent people from going on the internet and make it easier to make the people know only what Rook wants them too.
Rook has a massive military police force. It employs the vast majority of minor epics in the city, and uncountable normals. They are tasked with managing the miners, getting the miners and product to and from their destination, and enforcing Rook's law in the city. They could beat you for something as slight as showing disrespect to an Epic, or merely looking at them funny. They were every few blocks, and most serious infractions of the law could potentially carry a death sentence - depending on how merciful the police - or Flare, the head of the Police force - were feeling that day.
Children without parents live in the Darwin Boarding House, which is even more intense in indoctrination than the school. The Boarding House is set up in what used to be an Exhibition Hall. Children there are made to do some sewing of clothes and other menial work when not in school or the mines, but their primary function is as errand runners for whatever epics stop by who want one. The age and identity of the orphan the Epic gets to have work for him/her is random, with some skewing of ages based on task difficulty. However, if an Epic likes a particular kid, they can request that kid by name. It is considered a great honour to be requested by name, and children who are well liked by epics often get small rewards like a dessert at dinner every time it happens.

While most of the city under Rook still functions somewhat like it did before Calamity, huge portions of the massive city and suburbs have been destroyed. About half of what used to be Larrakeyah is gone, from the coast to the edge of Cullen Bay completely submerged underwater. The airport and Air force base are rubble, as are any government offices Rook didn't take over. It isn't uncommon to find blocks and blocks reduced to shells of buildings, ruins and rubble that Rook never bothered having built over. These ruins are the only places in the city not guaranteed to be watched by Bug's constant, prying eyes. Even in these though, there will occasionally be a single lightbulb that still works, or a hidden camera set up somewhere inside. YOu can't ever know for sure, so no rebels ever feel truly safe.

Public transportation still works and is allotted a certain amount of gasoline, although cars are not the norm. Gas and oil are resources strictly controlled and hoarded by Rook. The city also has something of a homeless problem, with people unable to afford even a low income apartment or what used to be a hotel room (now considered more cheap housing with communal kitchens) littering the streets, but those who can afford some sort of roof over their head are almost never stuck without basic amenities.

The people of Darwin are led to believe they live their whole lives in service ofthe Epics. They are an inferior species, serving the next phase of human evolution with due reverance until the line dies out. Nevertheless, if you are looking for somewhere to live a life in any way similar to what was had before Calamity, Darwin might just be the best you're going to get.

[Gifted]

Rick sat in the remains of some sort of office chair left in the ruins of the old building. He considered himself lucky to even have a chair; these building had been looted of any and all things useful a long, long time ago.He was, not for the first time, questioning his place here. Not to mention questioning himself for questioning his place here.
He was here with two Reckoners, two goddamn heroes who could fight and kill Epics and save who knew how many lives in the process. Rick had spent years looking for this exact sort of thing, when he'd heard they existed and were in the area he thought it was some sort of miracle. He'd begged them to join them, and yet...
"Have we decided which one is our next target yet?" He asked, looking at the leader. Rick wasn't entirely sure about that man. He led the Reckoner cell. Rick had called him boss for two weeks now. He was the one who had ultimately made the call that Rick was to be allowed in the cell. But Rick hadn't liked the man from the moment he set eyes on him.
The way he held himself. The way he talked about the vacancies on the team. The friendly, good natured chatter and grin. Rick pinpointed this mans type immediately, and he didn't believe this man should be a leader. He would drop his people without blinking if it was beneficial, and the goal, the kill was the most important thing. Rick had spent two weeks as a part of the only organization in Australia that could take down Epics and really do some good in the world, yet if this was all that could do any good, was it really worth it?
It didn't help that most of the rest of this particular cell was dead. He was the only one 'officially' in the city, and the one other person here couldn't even be seen on the street for her own safety. So it was very hard for him to have someone to talk to. He sighed.

[Raven]

Kailen waved as one of the regulars, Sarah, got off. He liked her - a lot, if he were being totally honest. Sarah was one of the few people who had made a point to learn his name. They chatted every so often, and she was a really sweet girl, plus she was good looking. She had the most vivid blue eyes he'd ever seen, plus red hair and freckles. He watched her for a second as she walked away, then turned his eyes forward, checking right for any incoming cars, reaching for the-

What was that? Kailen's eyes flicked back around before landing on a figure in black pants and a nice, white shirt, topped by more black in the form of hair. The bus driver didn't realize he was staring until the piercing blue eyes looked right at him. Kailen quickly turned his eyes forward, his heart pounding in his ears.

Recollector. He'd never seen him so close - the Epic was right outside the bus. What was he supposed to do? He should probably open the door, perhaps the Epic was looking for a ride. He really didn't want to be punished for not letting Recollector in. Hell, he was pretty sure the Epic could have the entire bus if he wanted it, but his hand wouldn't move to open the door. Why the hell wouldn't his hand move? He was so focused on a point ahead of him and on dreading what Recollector would do when he pried the doors open, he didn't notice that the head of education had already left. At least not until he heard the scream.

Kailen's blood ran cold. That was coming from the direction Sarah had gone in. He knew enough about Recollector's... hobbies, despite the lack of real accounts, to have a guess at what was going on. He felt ill. But what could he do? Even people who were crazy enough to fight Epics didn't go after big wigs like Recollector. That was a death wish. Numbly, Kailen slowly put the bus into gear and pulled out onto the road. There was a weight in his stomach. Would he see-

"Hey, Kailen. You going somewhere other than home today?"
Kailen jumped slightly and looked up towards the guy who replaced him every day - the one who was now driving, while Kailen daydreamed in the back of the bus. Looking around, Kailen quickly realized they'd reached his stop. "Oh. No, sorry, I must have dozed off a little. Thanks, Martin." He stood up and got off the bus, ruffling his hand through his messy black hair. He'd been thinking about earlier in the day, when he may have seen Sarah for the last time before she fell victim to an Epic. There was no one he could talk to about it - most people would just look at him in awe and say something stupid like "what an honor" or "what was it like to see him?" Hardly anyone would understand the pure terror he'd felt - that he wasn't supposed to feel. He should have continued in school, but Kailen had figured out quickly how to blend in in Darwin. He wasn't about to ruin it now, even for Sarah.

[Gifted]

The bus had already turned in. “No, no, no,  no!"
The black haired boy raced in a sprint down the sidewalk, the package under his arm bouncing and shifting as he ran.  There was no way the driver had seen him, he was going to miss it! He had to get there before it pulled out, or else he-
There was a thud and a skidding sound as the box fell out of his grip and skidded across the cement. “No!" The box fell open, revealing neatly folded clothing inside.
The boy looked back at the box and to the bus desperately as it began to pull away from the curb. He ran to the box, straightened the clothes and picked up the box again, but by then the bus was down the road. "Wait!" He shouted, but it was no use. "No, I'm going to be in so much trouble..."
It wasn't hard to figure out what for. The blue eyed boy wore the grubby green jacket given to all the kids from the orphanage, and anyway eleven year olds like this kid should be in school. This kid was an orphan on an errand, and missing that bus was going to make him run late to meet the epic he was working for. The innocence and anxiety on this kids face wouldn't warrant a second look - this could hardly be the first time a kid, even an orphan, missed his bus - if it weren't for the heart stopping similarity in nearly every other respect to the Epic Kailen had just seen a couple hours ago.
This boy had the same piercing blue eyes. The same black hair, though the kids was messier. The same lips and pointed face. But he was only eleven, and his expression wasn't something Kailen could imagine on the face of the powerful Epic. The kid seemed to have a very different disposition too, eyes darting in fear that he could have angered an epic and brought the thing's wrath down upon him - or maybe just that he would lose standing at home, it was hard to tell.

[Raven]

Kailen did indeed do a double take, and took a couple steps away when he immediately recognized the resemblance. Then he realized he was being stupid - this kid was just a kid, no matter who he looked like... Sure, he might have been related, but he was clearly being raised in an orphanage - he probably had no more contact with his father than any of the other kids did. He swallowed slightly, and his hand grasped the symbol hanging around his neck - the S. He wasn't going to duck away and leave a kid to deal with an Epic without help, no matter how unnerving the similarities. Besides, this kid could know something. A nod to himself, a breath to steel his nerves, and he stepped back towards the kid. "Hey, where are you headed?"

[Gifted]

The kids eyes flicked to the man who'd just gotten off the bus. He bit his lip. "I have to be on Prowler in ten minutes." He admitted, looking down. That was the same street the Recollector had grabbed Sara on. "But there's no way I'm gonna make it..."

[Raven]

Kailen debated for a moment. "Let's start heading that way. May as well get a start on it. What are you heading over there for?" he asked, starting back that way. Why was he doing this? The last thing he wanted was to go back there. He couldn't handle seeing... that.

[Gifted]

The boy followed closely behind Kailen, clinging for dear life to his box. "An errand. The... the Recollector asked me to bring him a change of clothes." He looked down. "He always requests me."
That looked wrong. Orphans were supposed to be proud of being requested by name, or at least fake being so. But this boy just looked even more anxious admitting it.

[Raven]

"Isn't that an honor or something?" Kailen asked, though his voice was dry, and he clearly wasn't chastising the kid. "I thought most kids were proud of that kind of thing..."

[Gifted]

He looked up. "No, I mean it's good I'm being requested!" He said hurriedly, knowing that it probably wasn't good to not be happy about that. "Just..." He looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice to nearly a whisper, like her was telling a desperate secret. "I just wish it was another Epic." He admitted. "Any other Epic. Flare, even. Just not him." The boy shuddered.

[Raven]

"Why's that?" Kailen asked quietly, keeping the boy's secret between the two of them.

[Gifted]

"I'm his son." He admitted. "I mean, biologically. Epic's don't do the 'parenting' thing and he killed my mum, so I'm an orphan. But he constantly requests me and my sister to check up on us, and he has to get into our heads every single time we do. Do you know how hard it is to know what's real when there's an Epic in your head every other week?" He said desperately.