EARTH GUARD
A Strange Reunion
A Strange Reunion
When the call was made to gather the defenders of humanity, you answered. When Earth and all its peoples were in danger of oppression, subjugation, and annihilation, you were there. When the world was in peril and it seemed that all hope was lost, you restored the faith in tomorrow. You were a member of a the Earth Guard, and when the world needed you, you came. But now, you are alone, and the world needs you again.
Humanity saw a rise in superhumans since the start of the twentieth century, men and women with powers unlike any other. Their appearances dotted the globe, and though none were documented officially, people knew they existed. The first to gain prominence was Sir Iron, an Irish-born Brit who served his monarch during the Great War, crushing tanks and shattering trenches as he absorbed and reflected bullets and shells. Though he was eventually slain by the German Blitzfuhrer, the shockwaves sent by the man's coming out set the floor for future change.
Superhumans worldwide came out of their closets, usually in costume and with secret identities to protect them form those who would abuse them, from governments to villainous superhumans. Though governments for the next few decades attempted to crack down on these vigilantes, superhumans joined up with the civil rights movements of the second half of the twentieth century, campaigning for their rights to be free from discrimination or capture and even deputized status. They won these rights and more, with registered superheroes becoming official deputies and law enforcers.
Soon after the Superhuman Rights Act of 1970, the villainous community took a turn for the worse; The formation of the Pact of Villainy saw a rise in the number of supervillains and their plots, such that superheroism became a much needed job. This led directly to the formation of counter leagues, the first of which was the Alliance to Restore Hope and Faith, a union of forty members and seventy odd affiliates who combated and destroyed the Pact within five years of its foundation.
New groups followed the Alliance's eventual fragmentation in the mid nineteen eighties, from the French-based Cross of Loraine to the Korean Yi Sun-sin Honor Guard. And though all these groups could claim to be descendents of the first superhuman team, only one could claim to be its successor; the Earth Guard.
Led by the noble and mysterious Vigiles, iconic in an Romanesque uniform with a cavalry mask, the Earth Guard quickly took the place of the Alliance to Restore Hope and Faith, even if by a lesser extent, regaining much of its old property and several senior members as mentors, members and affiliates, Vigiles himself a former senior member. With stations across the seven continents and based in Chicago, the Earth Guard ruled the world for a time, as the most popular and influential people of the tail end of the twentieth century. The largest of the new groups with thirty regular members and over sixty affiliates, and the first organization to accept artificial superhumans, they became the face of superhumans over the course of their career.
But, as if the Y2K conspiracies and attempted realizations came true in some form, the Earth Guard was not meant to last. With the dawn of the new millennium, the Earth Guard began to fracture with intra-organization rivalries, and finally shattered as newer members grew tired of the somewhat dictatorial and secretive rule of Vigiles and those close to him. They split in the year two thousand and five, taking many of the new blood and potential recruits with them, forming the democratic and short lived New Earth Guard, leaving the unofficially Old Earth Guard without a new source of blood as its members, those without the power of immortality at least, aged and became weaker or dissatisfied with the life of a hero.
Eventually, the Earth Guard was no more, its members leaving to join new superhero teams, go solo or even retire from public life. Some attempts were made to reform the Guard, but never had it gained much momentum. Until now.
Last month, Vigiles, the secretive and majestic former leader of the Earth Guard, was found dead, impaled upon a chitinous spike, unmasked and branded with a shape that appears to be a violin. Despite being credited as being one of the most powerful superhumans in the world, with the powers of metal manipulation, flight and super strength, Terrence Patrick, as he was known in his civilian life, was no match for whoever, or whatever, felled him.
Other such cases have been appearing across the world, with high profile superhumans dying in apparently superhuman-influenced ways, always unmasked and left with a violin-shaped brand upon a visible location. The many superhero teams around the world have began to organize, fearing a resurgence of some of the worse supervillains or supervillain teams, despite a lack of suspects, and even evidence.
Fearing the worst, some of the more senior members of the defunct Earth Guard have called its former members and affiliates back to its base in Chicago, now a museum to their achievements. From across the world, motivated by fear, nostalgia, duty or even boredom, the old members of the Earth Guard are gathering to fight the growing storm that is plaguing the superhuman community. Many members, though, do not intend on rejoining, preferring their current lot to the days long by.
Will this new, ragtag amalgamation of has-beens and nearly-weres be enough to combat this new terror, or will they crumble under its force? The fate of this world lies in their hands.
Alright, if you didn't bother to read the above--I wouldn't blame you--let me give you a short summary. You are a former member of a now defunct superhuman organization in the year 2013. A rash of murders, the victims all high profile superheroes, have occurred, and the Earth Guard, this superhero organization, is being recalled to their headquarters in Chicago to organize a defense against this new threat.
I hope this to be the first in a new series of RP's based around the recreation of this superhero organization, and the adventures thereof. I have the idea for the first few episodes, all of which I hope to get through, activity allowing, but I will always be open to suggestions.
Some quick rules, in no particular order, before I throw up the application.
1) Please follow all NS rules and conventions, including when dealing with other NSers and when RPing. This means, no flames or trolling, no godmodding, and all other standard rules for the site and for RPing.
2) Do attempt to keep things realistic, as far as possible for a superhero RP. I will not be limiting powers or number of powers in the app, so you could say you have a dozen powers, but if I judge you to be overpowered for the sake of the plot, I will not accept you, and I will also boot you from the RP if I feel that you are being unfair and unrealistic in the IC.
3) Please be respectful and communicative in the OOC and IC threads, as far as dealing with other players goes. Do not pick fights or YELL that they are cheating. Talk it out calmly here, and get me to rule on it if I'm on.
4) Suggestions and challenges of my rulings are welcome and noted, but please do not subvert or attempt to override my powers as OP, except through legitimate NS means (ie mods, etc).
5) Be creative. I will refuse to accept copies of already-created fictional characters, even those without powers but for the sake of the RP made to have them. If you want to use the image but a (completely) different set of powers and story, feel free, but I will be keeping an eye out for intentional similarities.
Alright, that done, moving on to the application. Please remove the parentheses and all things that are in them. This will be a test to see if you've read at least part of this OP, and also, they are merely explanations of the fields.
NationStates Name: [The name of your NS nation account]
Character Name: [The birth name of your character]
Alias: [What your character is called, ie superhero name]
Age: [How old your character is]
Nationality: [Where your character is from]
Appearance: [A picture or detailed description of your character]
Powers: [The superhuman abilities your character has, ie super strength]
Biography: [The story of your character up to this point, must include A) that he was a member of the Earth Guard, B) whether he left with the New Earth Guard or remained in the Old Earth Guard and C) what he has been doing since the split]
Roleplay Sample: [A link to a past RP in which you participated, or a written example of your work]
A character list will be made below.
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