Precursors

Ancient humans uplifted by the advanced technology of Atlantis, a process that granted them biological immortality and immensely strong individual powers. Many have carved their names into the annals of history as gods and heroes of old, but nearly all of them were killed during the events of Ragnarok, and most of the survivors were forced to go into hiding to recover. Having publicly reemerged in the eighteenth century, they have once again become renowned and feared across the world.

*Note: Precursors are exclusively story and event NPCs, and cannot be created by players. However, a player character can be descended from a Precursor's lineage.*

## **Notable Precursors**

### **Prometheus**

The original usurper, who sought to overthrown Atlantis itself in his lust for power. His actions would lead to the disastrous events of Ragnarok, and the downfall of his kind. Since his attempted rebellion, nothing has been heard of him, and most researchers assume that he died in the conflict.

### **Sekhmet**

The Goddess of the Sun and War. In ancient times she led Egypt to prosperity before ultimately abandoning her people after a betrayal among her closest friends. She vanished along with most of the other Precursors for most of the next millenium, but according to more recent interviews was present in 1066 at the battle of Stamford Bridge, and helped unify Japan in the 1500s under the alias of Oda Nobunaga.

The most modern incarnation of Sekhmet first made her presence known during the Second Great War, joining the Allied side and opposing the very nation she brought together in the past. Now, she's known far and wide as **Firebreak**, the top-ranked superhero in the world. Though her career has been marred by controversy, she's unquestionably one of humanity's best bets against the looming Desolate threat.

Firebreak is the host of pure light and flame, unparalleled in her control and mastery of both elements. As if that weren't enough, her physical parameters are off the charts, high enough to slug it out with the strongest, fastest, and toughest beings on earth. However, rumors circulate in shrouded circles of a weakness to her abilities, one that can leave her crippled if properly exploited.

### **Baba Yaga**

An ancient witch, who has taken dozens of names across the centuries. Even among the Precursors, she's particularly reticent about her past, and her true age and origins remain unknown to the general public. After emerging under her current name in the eighteenth century, she took on a peacekeeping role among her kind, working alongside Hades to curb the ambitions of those who sought to conquer the world for themselves. After the god of death fell in battle, Baba Yaga would prove instrumental in founding and commanding the IPTO.

Research into her history reveals sporadic appearances all across the world, usually as a merchant or sorceress trading spells and 'magical' items for fragments of recovered Atlantean technology. Supposedly, she's one of the only people on the planet who can understand it to a degree, and even restore some of its ancient functions. Combined with her own formidable Shaper-class abilities, this expertise has allowed her to face a Desolate alone and win, a feat no other being has been known to match.

### **Susanoo-no-Mikoto**

The impetuous god of sea and storm, known for his historic metamorphosis from a vandal and trickster to the honored warrior and protector of Japan. Tales from a bygone age recount his mischievous and often destructive behavior as he roamed around Asia he pleased, which gave birth to the outlandish physical descriptions of other deities associated with storms and seas like China’s Leishen and Dianmu. Susanoo’s reckless nature came to a head once Ragnarok began, as his naivety led him to believe in the sureness of his fellow Precursors and their victory. After losing an eye and narrowly avoiding death, the battered god returned to Japan on unsteady legs. Without the ability to freely rush around the Eastern Hemisphere, he was forced to settle down for a time while he recovered.

Ample exposure to humans and their simple way of life spoke to him, as he let the circumstance of his temporary frailty bring him closer together with the people he’d been too quick to overlook. While he recovered, Susanoo vowed to atone by devoting himself and his abilities to the protection of Japan. Time and time again he’s made good on his promise, stopping Mongol invasions and leading the fight against any Desolate that would assail his homeland. In the modern era he’s known to redirect or stall typhoons in the open ocean before they can make landfall on Japan, but otherwise keeps to himself and lives a quiet life.

Despite this, he began to make more public appearances after Fujin’s abduction by Nightfall, warning other nations to prepare for the worst. During this period of time he became more involved with his family’s global relief efforts, offering apologies on behalf of his nation in the aftermath of every attack Nightfall launched while controlling Fujin. Susanoo’s last recorded public appearance was after the aforementioned Desolate was pushed back from Lellorium, where he publicly shared his sympathy for the lives lost, and expressed admiration for those directly involved in the island’s defense. He requested that the nation return any remnants of Fujin to his homeland so Japan could finally put him to rest, begin mourning, and move on.

Susanoo’s power gives him the ability to move his body beyond the speed of sound, with near-total control over his acceleration, deceleration, and turning. In addition to this, he possesses a field that extends to cover a wide area around him which can temporarily suspend matter and energy that it comes into contact with. While he moves, anything caught in the field begins to swirl around at his speed until he relinquishes the field’s suspension.

### **Dracula von Zalthial**

Blight of the night, master of intrigue, and sire of not just the Zalthial family but the fabled vampires that have sunk their teeth into countless human throats. All that's within reach of shadows is within Dracula's grasp as well, but though his name has been burned into the minds of all those who've heard it, little is truly known of the ever elusive Precursor. He's shrouded in myth and legend, and his appearances though spectacular are few and far between in the modern day. Even within his inner circle, there are few who can truly understand his intentions, his desires, his vindications. But all know the extreme lengths to which he'll go to achieve them, something the Precursor has made strikingly clear.

The night's Precursor carries many titles, and is oft described as a showman, someone who relishes a spectacular performance or shows great promise in their aspirations. Though distant he may be, Dracula carries a charismatic aura, one which keeps others on their toes yet yearning to know more. It's this curiosity which he instills in others that Dracula shares himself, for though he himself is ancient, he has never lost his sense of wonder for the world around him. He takes pleasure in learning, or reaping the many pleasures that life has to offer. But above all, Dracula is a collector of a great many things... Such as people.

In Dracula's service are the vampires whom he's handpicked to join him at his side, and his own expansive family, who convene in great clans from across the world. Each of these have carved a dominion from the shadows, and live to serve the "Dread Father's" ambitions while assisting individual members in pursuing their own. Though separate Zalthial Clans are known to compete with one another for power, influence, and favor with Dracula, they're more often than not willing to put their differences aside for a greater purpose. For a clan to host Dracula, or a member of his inner circle, is a sign of great prestige among the other clans.

### **Oya**

The first Precursor to announce herself to the world following Ragnarok, and one who remains a major world power to this very day. Uniting the Yoruba peoples behind her, and absorbing or subjugating every other tribe and nation in her path, she singlehandedly drove the Europeans out of her home continent and established a vast and enduring empire. Though her reign has been prosperous, and her raw strength sufficient to deter or defeat most threats, Oya does not tolerate dissent or rebellion, and keeps her people united in absolute worship of and subservience to herself and her progeny.
Though stubborn and at times coldhearted, Oya is not an unreasonable goddess, and has proven herself a capable negotiator on the international stage. Her Breaker-class power transforms her into a massive living storm, which can bring gentle rains and favorable winds or the raw destructive power to flatten cities.

### **The Morrigan**

A mysterious Precursor known to foresee and signal doom, death, or victory. Throughout the ages, she’s taken on different forms and whispered in the ears of European and Mediterranean nations through their prophets, oracles, sibyls, and sages. She seems to have gone quiet after revealing herself as The Morrígan to the public about seventy years ago, though rumors circulate of her modern influence on national leaders, global movements, and other major organizations.

The Morrígan's power gives the opportunity to direct destiny, through illusionary shape-changing and by glimpsing into the timelines of alternate realities. Her sight can glimpse far into the future, locking onto cataclysmic events alongside the death-riddled incidents that chain towards them, or simply focus on her own imminent future. Since being uplifted by the Atlanteans, her sight has only been wrong on one occasion: **Ragnarok**.

### **Odin**

Rumored to have risen to godhood through his own wit and daring, Odin was the first to harness the alien power of runes. Drawing upon their unfathomable potential, he forged a nearly eternal legacy in the far Northern reaches of Scandinavia, where he and his prolific bloodline ruled. At the height of their influence, his family's territory encompassed the entirety of the surrounding regions, bringing them all beneath his banner and raising them into a golden age.

As the years wore on, however, Odin and his fabled progeny would grow lazy and complacent in their rule. Disasters of many forms whittled away at their ranks until their hold of Scandinavia was ultimately broken and their mighty kin felled by a calamitous act of nature twenty years ago today. Those that remained after this fateful day have since slipped away into hiding, eluding the public eye and only appearing when they're needed most.

### **Tezcatlipoca**

A cruel and mighty conqueror, who has claimed all of Central America as his own and seeks to expand his rule all across the world. Though his early efforts were stymied by Baba Yaga and Hades, and later the IPTO, he remains restless within his empire, constantly pushing boundaries and seeking opportunities to go forth and wage war once more.

His nation is known as Tenochtitlan, a brutal dictatorship with a strict warrior culture. Slavery is commonplace, and the strongest children are plucked from their families to be trained as Tezcatlipoca's soldiers. Metahumans are bred with one another to produce the most powerful offspring, steadily building up a fighting force that no other single country can match. Five times have various rebellions risen up to depose the terrible god, and five times has he crushed them beneath his heel, making horrific examples of all those who sought to oppose him.

Tezcatlipoca's power is power itself: he controls the flow of vital energies into and out of his body. He can drain the strength of others to empower himself, and directly convert his own physical strength into other forms of energy, such as light, heat, sound, and even chemical bonds. Currently, he's viewed as one of the greatest threats to the stability of human civilization, second only to the Desolates.

### **Newton Gripe**

A mysterious elderly gentleman with a fondness for tea, and a penchant for appearing wherever he pleases. During the months before Nightfall's attack on Lellorium, he would regularly appear to harass the nation's top heroes and villains, leaving them with odd gifts that somehow helped them grow as individuals. When the Desolate finally arrived, Gripe would serve a vital role in coordinating the defense against it, and even in engaging it directly.

Since the attack, there have been no public sightings of Gripe, though he's presumed to still be alive and in hiding somewhere. As to who he really is, and what he really wants, one can only guess...

### **Hades**

The ancient Greek god of the underworld, and Baba Yaga's former ally in keeping the peace amongst his kind. On top of being one of the more powerful Precursors to survive Ragnarok, his iron will and cool judgement earned him a grudging respect from his peers. When the first and most powerful Desolate-class entity appeared, it was Hades who went forth to face it, sacrificing his life to buy a few vital hours for his people to flee to safety.

### **Fujin**

A Precursor who controlled the wind, using his abilities to protect Japan alongside Susanoo-no-Mikoto. During a battle against the Desolate-class entity Nightfall, Fujin was killed, and his body morphed and corrupted by the alien creature into a puppet of horrific power. Fortunately for the world, he was killed by the villain Energize during the battle for Lellorium, ending his threat for good.

### **Lu Bu**

Renowned as a great warrior of ancient China, Lu-Bu appeared intermittently throughout ancient history, with gargantuan gaps in between sightings. He is publicly known as the progenitor of the Julong lineage, a major name in the world of business and Meta-related insurance. His first recorded appearance was during the three Kingdoms Era of China, which his namesake originates from. Back then he was an undeniable beast on the battlefield, a one man army that no human could compare to. However, he would ultimately meet his defeat thanks to the monumental cunning of Cao Cao, a normal human, proving that even a mere man could best a Precursor if given the right opportunity.

In modern times, he showed up to assist the United States against Tezcatlipoca's incursions from the south. Usually this served as a deterrent, and helped protect the nation’s heavily fortified border. He mysteriously left his post in 2013, traveling to a celebratory banquet held in Lellorium, only to be suddenly assassinated behind closed doors with no trace of any culprit. Nobody can even say for sure just how the Precursor was killed, though internal trauma to the brain seems to have been involved.