--Anno Domini 2020--
Meta-Humans, they have gone by many names over the millennia that humanity has existed, not all of them good. Tales of superhumans and individuals with godly powers reach as far back as antiquity, in folk tales, mythology and even scripture, these tales were circulated and put through the telephone game of oral history, some remained somewhat truthful to their origins, while other became wild bastardizations. It wasn't until the witch hunts of the middle ages, and the subsequent enlightenment that such stories were fully discounted by mankind at large. It wasn't until the turn of the 20th Century when they started to arise again, as 'first hand' accounts, starting in the Boxer Rebellion, Phillipine-American and Boer Wars, culminating in the most part with paranormal and supernatural encounters during the Great War. It wasn't until the Second World War where anyone took such tales seriously, with Adolf Hitler's Germany creating a specially assigned SS Division tasked with investigating and utilizing the so called supernatural, Allied spies and informants started to funnel information they could to both the Soviets and British governments, it wasn't long before clandestine activities started with the attempts to either stop the SS' activities, or start their own programs.
When the War ended, the United States managed to get the lion's share with Operation: Paper Clip. The USSR slowly catching up due to the number of facilities and personnel captured during their advance across the Eastern Front. With the Cold War now looming, a clandestine war between the two world powers came to include those of a paranormal or supernatural nature, hidden from the public. These operations culminated in the mid 80s, with several incidents close to shattering the perception of mankind on such individuals. These activities hit an all time low in the early 90s with the collapse of Soviet Union.
On December 31st 2005, known as the Night of the Broken Mask took place in New York City, humanity became suddenly and acutely aware of Meta-Human activity on a mass scale. A battle between two teams of Meta-Humans was televised almost globally, live to billions. With no way to cover it up with such a small broadcast delay between several dozen news sources, there was no way for the US to cover it up like they had in years prior.
The hero known as Mastermind made several public appearances after that, mostly in an effort to promote a sense of calm among a panicked world population, a resounding speech at the UN HQ to the general assembly started to be the turning point in public opinion, that things weren't likely to change much. In 2010, nearly five years after Time's Square took the brunt of a fight between two Metas, Mastermind and his team, known as "The Cabal" publicly announced their retirement. Things that were previously somewhat calm started to pick up, with the major public figure head keeping crime in check by presence alone having moved on with his life, crime rates started to climb. The Government of the last remaining super-power drew up plans to prevent a 'rising Meta-Human menace', from clandestine groups with very little oversight, to public displays of a benevolent overwatch.
It is now the year 2020, five years since words like "Super-Hero" and "Super-Villain" lost much of their worth, now becoming exceedingly more common than they were before. A recently founded NGO known as "The International Association of Meta-Human Affairs" has started publicly sponsoring upstart heroes and funding academies for youths with recently discovered powers, it's with them, the new generation of heroes rises.
On March 27th 2020, America was struck by a series of terror attacks that resulted in mass casualties, and the whole of the US congress and Supreme Court present in DC being taken hostage. An event that was squarely and finally pinned on the rash actions of the TIAMA sponsored hero 'Patriot' resulted in the deaths of over 300 deaths of the nation's elected representatives, with him directly responsible for the Vice-President's death. His actions largely overshadowed incidents elsewhere, including a TIAMA folly up in a research site in New Hampshire, and another gaff on an offshore platform near Bermuda.
The result on TIAMA was almost catastrophic, their reputation largely damaged, many of it's personnel dropped their colours and found other ways to utilise their powers, full nations withdrew from supporting the organisation leaving vacuums to be filled by corporations or independent entities. TIAMA itself underwent a massive restructuring towards their operating policies and their staff training.
It has been less than a month since the trials and litigation finally ended, and just like every other job, the work doesn't just stop.
Lore Excerpts
As characters are created and subsequently accepted, the background and mythology around certain creatures will be built up. For example, if an individual decided to apply as a Gorgon, and they happened to write the background, nature and status of Gorgon's in detail, the information regarding the Gorgon will be cobbled together and put down below in relatively small excerpts. So while others may app as the same thing, there's at least consistency. As expected, there are going to be creative differences between individual interpretations. If there is room for multiple 'types' of a creature it's acceptable.
As of current, most of the lore entries we have are in the discord server, but slowly they'll be added below.
