ErsatzEmpress

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Stranger in a Strange Land

Character Concept

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Once a brilliant neurosurgeon, Stephen Strange's arrogance proved to be his undoing in an untimely automobile accident that rendered his hands damaged beyond repair. Spending an obscene amount of his wealth on searching a cure, Stephen resorted to traversing to the far reaches of the Himalayas in search of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, a collective of individuals who supposedly could cure any ailment with sorcery. Under the tutelage of the Ancient One, Stephen Strange devoted himself to the study of the supernatural and arcane and became a fellow defender of the

During a routine inspection of the Wundagore Mountains alongside his teacher and fellow friend, Baron Karl Mordo, a resulting series of unfortunate events led to the death of the Ancient One. Out of guilt and shame for his self-perceived role in the death of his master, Stephen declined the post of Sorcerer Supreme, leaving Mordo to shoulder the mantle of becoming Earth's mightiest mortal. As adversaries of the Masters, supernatural foes, and otherworldy dangers seek to take advantage of the Order's vulnerability, Stephen must now become the newest steward of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum.

Wiz-biz. Wiz-biz. Wizards gonna bizards. This is mostly a worldbuilding exercise in magic featuring Stephen as the main character. He's not a neophyte hedge wizard nor is he the vincent price looking god-fucking motherfucker yet. He's what I call a 'Year Two' Strange. I'm primarily drawing from the old Kirby runs, a lil bit of MCU, a lil bit of Dresden Files, a lil bit of Hellboy and every piece of urban fantasy out there alongside Jed McKay's newest run to create an updated version of Marvel's Sorceror Supreme.

Key Notes

Tenants of the Sanctum Sanctorum

Doctor Stephen Strange M.D - A relatively young (40 is considered to be a teenager in wizard years) master of the mystic arts who was considered by many in the council to be the natural successor for the post of Sorceror Supreme should the Ancient One face an untimely death. He has become somewhat of a black sheep in the wake of the chaos that followed his master's death as many practitioners and disciples viewed his rejection of the post as a deliberate insult to their entire order. Considered by many masters to be a loose cannon with a penchant for breaking magical law to suit their own needs.

Wong - Chef, chemist, assassin, thamaturgist, butler, cleaner, Wong is what Wong is. Having served as an archivist for over two centuries in the Order of the Mystic Arts, he is Strange’s sole confidant.

Bats - The spectre of an NYPD basset hound who died under Strange’s care after saving his former master’s life from a bullet. Now, he has made the New York Sanctum Sanctorum his haunt and assists Strange with matters of mortal law enforcement.

Jericho Drumm - An young Haitian magician who specializes in the voodoo arts and is currently the disciple of Doctor Strange. His brother, Daniel Drumm, serves on the Council of Masters as a senior member.

Zelma Stanton - A college dropout with a burgeoning talent in the mystic arts who trains to be the next archivist of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum and an intern in the New York Public Library.

Masters of the Mystic Arts

Baron Karl Mordo, Sorcerer Supreme - Once Strange’s closest friend, they have become estranged in the wake of the Ancient One’s demise as Mordo struggles to bear the burden of the mantle of their former master.

The Council of Masters - A collection of 5 democratically voted Masters who delegate the affairs of the Order of the Mystic Arts and serve a check on the authority of the Sorceror Supreme. The current members of the 445th Council of Masters includes:

Clea - A 400 year old Faltine refugee from the Dark Dimension who is the niece of Dormammu and Umar. She originally held the post of Sorceror Supreme in the Dark Dimension before another eventual war between the Faltine warlords forced her to flee to Earth. Was romantically involved with Strange during his years as an initiate before circumstances concerning her parentage forced her to break up with him. In spite of this, she still harbors affection for Stephen.

Daniel Drumm - A Jamaican sorceror who specializes in Voodoo Magic. He is the youngest member of the Council and is considered the most inexperienced in matters of sorcery. Still, he has accomplished much for his age, establishing the first Sanctum Sanctorum in New Orleans and being the Council's primary delegate and contact with the Loa Pantheon. He is also the elder brother of Jericho Drumm and has entrusted Strange with tuition of his brother in the mystical arts.

Anthony Druid - An Celtic druid who traces back his history to the time of Avalon, when King Arthur ruled and enough magic suffused the air that even a peasant could pray and shit gold from his back.

Agatha Harkness - The First Witch and the only member of the council who has managed to read the Darkhold with their mind intact. They were the inspiration of folktales concerning witches worldwide and indulged in a few massacres during her first few centuries before becoming tired of it.

Kaecilius Orlo - A German railroad engineer who immigrated to Canada in the late 1800s. His family died in the Halifax explosion and his second family died yet again due to the Spanish Flu. He is the second-most youngest member of the council and is a close ally to Karl Mordo, being almost akin to a yes-man.

The Vishanti - A trio of elder cosmic deities consisting of Agamotto The Wise, Hoggoth the Hoary and Osthur the Lawful who have traditionally served as patron principalities of the Masters of the Mystic Arts. As of late, they have become mysteriously silent.

Otherwordly Forces

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Dormammu, the Dread Lord - Ruler of the Dark Dimension and arch-enemy of the Order of the Mystic Arts. He first stepped on our plane in the Neolithic Era and was beaten back by the First Wizard, Agamotto the Wise. Since then, he has considered Earth more trouble than it's worth but make no mistake, he is merely preparing to mount one grand invasion that will remove any hint of his former defeat by those pesky mortals.

Nightmare - Freddy Kreuger, eat your heart out. Every nightmare, every bad dream, every chill in the night is the fault of one singular individual. The underlord of the Dream Dimension who hopes to breach the barriers of the Astral Plane and enter the material realm to wreak eternal horror.

Chthon - The source of all Darkness on the mortal plane. Even though he is sealed away in the deepest, darkest world, the legacy of his work has left a festering scar on Earth since the dawn of the first morning. He is the author of the Darkhold, the scribe of Chaos Magic, the primogenitor of Black magic and has spawned unholy beings from Earth’s first virgin soil.

Mephisto - Though he has only held the post for 959 years since he tore out the heart of his predecessor, Beezlebub, Mephisto's vileness is no less cruel than any Arch-Lord of Hell. His greatest asset is not the legions of demons he commands but his quicksliver tongue and ability to make any deal fall in his favor.

Shuma-Gorath - He/She/It/They is known by many/multiple/hundreds of names, the Many-Angled One, the Never-Ending, The All-Growing. The ruler of a hundred dimensions/realms/realities, Shuma-Gorath has attempted multiple incursions/invasions/conquests of Earth and has been beaten back at terrible cost by the Masters of the Mystic Arts. It has been 9/nearly a decade/4 cosmic solstices since his last invasion and he only grows stronger each time.

@Bork Lazer

Seeing as this has long since passed the 48 hour competition period without challenge, Doctor Strange is



...and also accepted.

Feel free to move your CS to the char tab and post in the IC when your ready. Sorry for missing it under everything

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

@ErsatzEmpress

update on approval for Dr Strange?

@Bork Lazer

Heya, sorry I was just waiting on a completed sheet to be able to judge it. If I've missed it can you link and I'll have a look :)

Edit: found it now, all good

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

@ErsatzEmpress I don't know exactly what your plans for Senator Kelly are, but i was thinking of maybe Norman working with him behind the scenes. Alternatively, i'm good with Norman just playing to the masses in an attempt to garner votes and their Anti-Mutant rhetoric's being unrelated.

@mattmanganon

Kelly is actually gearing up ready for a second shot at the republican nomination for the 2024 election so there'd definitely be at least an unspoken sense of rivalry there. In the meantime though could definitely see him making use of Osborn as long as their interests are alignned.

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

Edit: double post

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

@ErsatzEmpress

Ok. I did just come up with another idea, since the FF building is in New York, they might interact with New York heroes quite often. That being the case, Luke Cage has a power set similar to The Thing, so I think it might be a good fit to recruit him as an FF member. Let me know if this is acceptable, if not I'll go back to looking for an Inhuman to fill the spot.

@Stern Algorithm

Again, Luke Cage is a pretty well established character in his own right so I'm going to have to veto that like She Hulk and Kamala. If the goal is just to have a character with a similar powerset to The Thing, I would think that the easiest choice would be to just use The Thing. I'm not entirely sure what these changes really bring to the story beyond power sets.

Feel free to correct me here, but from the outside looking in, it does kind of seem as though things are being changed for the sake of change, which isn't really the kind of thing I'm looking for here. Like there are a lot of very sweeping changes to the lore in this concept, which isn't bad in and of itself, but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of justification for why beyond some aesthetic factors.

I reserve judgement until a formal application's infront of me, but just food for thought.

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

<Snipped quote by ErsatzEmpress>

This is reasonable. However I would still like to keep the number of members around four, so I think I'll poach some members of the Inhuman Royal Family (House of Agon), since I don't think they're that popular, and although they were former enemies of the FF, they soon became allies afterwards and collaborated often. Let me know if this is acceptable.

@Stern Algorithm

Yeah that would be a better fit for this

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

Attention @Master EffeX @Byrd Man @Supermaxx @udonoodles @TGM @mattmanganon:
The IC is now live - feel free to start posting now!

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

A N R V N W O R L D N E W S S P E C I A L R E P O R T

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May 15th 2023
_{1 RVN Centre
Atlanta, GA}

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Good evening, RVN viewers. Today, we commemorate the 6th anniversary of the completion of The Raft, the maximum-security prison constructed to house the world's most dangerous criminals with superhuman abilities. Situated off the coast of Ryker's Island, The Raft has proven to be a critical tool in the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to keep our communities safe and free from crime. The facility faced significant opposition in its early days, with calls to prevent its construction coming from all sides of the political spectrum, chiefly from human rights watchdogs and from conservative advocates of decreased government spending. Despite this, the project went ahead and six years on, it's hard to consider it to be anything short of a resounding success. Boasting a virtually unheard-of 0% escape rate for prisoners, The Raft has ensured that our communities remain safe from super-powered criminals.

The prison currently houses approximately 600 prisoners, each possessing powers and abilities deemed too dangerous for an ordinary penitentiary. One such resident, and a prime example for the need of this facility, is Magneto, real name Erik Lehnsherr. This infamous mutant terrorist was the leader of the group known as 'The Acolytes' and possesses the mutant ability to control metal. Understandably, such abilities would prove a minefield were he to be jailed in a regular prison.

Following the devastating M-Day attack of 2018, government contractor Trask Industries got to work on a seemingly impossible feat: building a plastic prison to house the ferrokinetic Lehnsherr. Buried deep beneath The Raft's surface, his bespoke cell is a technical marvel, serving to cut off his access to his powers by replacing all metal with perfectly harmless plastic.

Magneto is just one of many dangerous individuals within The Raft's walls who pose a significant threat to society if left unchecked. With ongoing support from lawmakers such as Senator Robert Kelly, we can expect to see continued progress in the fight against superhuman crime.

Earlier today, RVN News had the opportunity to speak with Kelly, one of the early backers of the programme, and a vocal figure among the growing movement to push for stricter restrictions on the growing mutant population.

"Six years ago, The Raft was a large but necessary step in our fight against the dangerous individuals who threaten our way of life, and this is as true today as it was then," Kelly began. “The first-of-its-kind facility is a testament to American ingenuity and it has allowed us some much needed breathing room in this conflict. However, we cannot rely solely on containment to keep our communities safe. It's clear that we need to do more to be able to react to growing rates of super powered criminals and the mutant phenomenon."

The senator continued, "We need to invest in further research and technology that can help us identify and neutralize these threats before they can do us harm. This means working with experts in the field of superhuman abilities, such as the capable scientists at Trask Industries, to examine the risks we face and develop strategies to mitigate them. It also means providing resources and support for law enforcement, to better identify and respond to superhuman crime, and growing instances of mutant activity. This is why it is so important that my MRD Bill is signed into law."

The Mutant Response Division Act, as proposed, would mandate the creation of a new federal agency, the MRD, which would be responsible for responding to mutant threats. When asked about potential criticisms of these measures, Senator Kelly responded, "I understand that some may see these efforts as invasive or discriminatory towards mutants. However, our ultimate goal is to protect all members of society, human and mutant. By working together we can create a safer and more just future for all."

Following Senator Kelly's comments, RVN News was able to secure an interview with Professor Charles Xavier, mutant rights activist, and founder of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Known for his failed 1984 presidential bid, Xavier has been a vocal detractor of The Raft since its inception. He was happy to address his concerns about The Raft's legacy with us today:

"The Raft does not offer rehabilitation, nor any true path towards redemption," he explained, “This facility’s sole purpose is the incarceration of these super powered individuals. But incarceration alone does not solve the core problem."

Professor Xavier, a well-known advocate for mutant rights, was the target of what is now believed to have been a coordinated assassination attempt, in the same year as the prison’s completion, which left him reliant on the use of a wheelchair.

He emphasized that investing in prevention is crucial.

"While The Raft has been effective in containing dangerous individuals, it's a solely reactive measure. We need to focus on prevention by addressing the root causes of criminal behaviour," he stated.

When asked what measures he would favour to stem the tide of super powered violence, Professor Xavier shared his work with mutants as an example. "At the Xavier Institute, we help mutants control and understand their abilities. We teach them how to harness their powers, to use them for good, instead of resorting to violence or criminal activity," he explained. However, he emphasized that this approach requires resources and support. “It is my great wish that other such facilities such as mine be created, to give our mutant children the best chance to flourish. For this to happen there would need to be a push for greater government funding for research, education, and outreach to the mutant community," he said. “We can’t do it alone.”

“By creating a society that values and supports mutants, rather than punish them for the crime of existing, we can prevent the isolation and desperation that so often leads to criminal activity."

As RVN News commemorates The Raft's 6th anniversary, it is clear that the conversation around the facility's legacy and mutant rights is far from over.

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

<Snipped quote by ErsatzEmpress>

Okay, I just wanted to make sure the current roster I have in my mind will be acceptable.

1. Sue Richards The Invisible Woman is the leader of the FF
2. Johnny Storm The Human Torch is the second member
3. Jennifer Walters She-Hulk replaced Ben Grimm The Thing when he regained his human form and retired
4. Kamala Khan Ms. Fantastic (canonically Ms. Marvel) fills in for Reed Richards' missing stretching powerset.

In my reimagining, Reed Richards died saving the other founding members in the space accident that gave them their powers. Reed Richards also previously befriended Dr. Doom, who was inspired by Richards' death to turn a new leaf and become one of the founding members of the FF. Over the years, the size of the FF has fluctuated, and it made sense when it was the Fantastic Four or the Fantastic Five, but if it ever fell to 3 or went to 6, the alliteration didn't work, so the team eventually got renamed to the Fantastic Force. Due to Doom's increasingly socialist views, NATO labels him a threat to global peace, so he eventually officially leaves the FF to focus on running his nation of Latveria, but still continues to support the FF through finance and intelligence. So I will be including Doom as a supporting character, but will not apply for him until villainous/anti-hero slots open up.

Is this all acceptable? If so, I will start working on the application sheet proper.

@Stern Algorithm

So, I'm not going to be able to okay Jen and Kamala as members of the F4, sorry.

They're too popular in their own right to be bundled together as one "character". I know Jen has appeared in incarnations of the Fantastic Four but so have half the Marvel cast at this point.

In regards to Doom, I would be inclined to see how you put this idea forward in the application; to my tastes a heroic, socialist Doom does seem less a reimagining in keeping with the core of the character and more bordering on an OC with a shared name. However, I fully hold my hands up and say I may just be being unnecessarily precious. As long as the idea is developed well there shouldn't be a problem

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

Edit: the IC should be all ready to go live in the next few hours everyone