Hroa Storm

The Hroa Storm are one of the Psiball teams of Hroa, owned by House Serpens. The Storm are also the oldest recorded Psiball team in history, having evolved from one of a handful of student psiball clubs that was founded in the months following the invention of the sport. The Storm are also, statistically, the worst Psiball team in Acheron Rho, and have a slight history of scandals involving espionage and other dubious legal acts off the court.

## History

The Hroa Storm were originally a team of student psiballers from the Imperial Academy of Psionic Learning and Wellness’ Telekinesis program, The Storm having allegedly been founded by a trio of telekinetics who helped invent the original rules. Academy records show the club was not officially founded until a year later. The early history of the Storm is relatively well documented, winning nearly 20% of student organized tournaments and were well known for their ‘Psiball Storm’ technique, in which the three fielded team members created a small scale artificial hurricane with psiballs being loosed from it, a move that was sadly banned once the league was ratified.

The year prior to the Psiball League's founding, a House Serpens funded tournament was launched to determine which of the many Hroan Psiball clubs would come to represent the House and the planet on the sector stage. The Storm came out on top by a narrow margin, and soon became integrated into the ongoing activities of the house. During the decade that followed the Hroan storm went on to great success in the League, setting the bar for quality for all other Psiballer teams to come, having won three Emperox cups, and making it to the playoffs each year. However, as the League's popularity boomed and Psiball’s place as a cultural force expanded things rapidly began to change for the Storm.

Year after year, season after season, players for the Storm began having their contracts bought out by rival teams the moment they came up for renewal. In addition league Psiball team managers began to hire scouts among House Serpens and their own general population who’s only duty was to attend and catalogue the fertile ground of the Academy student league from which the Storm recruited. These agents would then outbid and buy out the contracts of talented serfs, and bribe young nobles onto their teams.

Ever since the Storm have been a paradoxically plucky underdog team, with a pattern of going several seasons with only a handful of victories. This pattern has, on nearly a dozen occasions, been interrupted by the graduation of some plucky ace Psiballer (These players are often colloquially referred to as ‘Vipers’ by psiballer fans)\* from the academy with die hard loyalty to Hroa and Serpens to rally the team to reach the finals of the Emperox cup. Sadly, none of these sudden breakout stars have ever been able to push their team to the final victory at the tournament, and usually have their contracts to the team immediately bought out at a premium.

### Scandal and Speculation

The Hroa Storm and their former team members have been linked to the occasional political scandal over the years. This includes the theft of classified information from corporate organizations, several non lethal poisonings of political figures, and in one case the sabotage of a public transit facility and assassination of an extremely wealthy freeman who was later revealed to have anti-imperial sentiments.

There has also been a long running conspiracy theory around the Storm since their historic losing streak began. The theory claims that Serpens Executors use the team to infiltrate non-Serpens organizations through the implantation and snap acquisition of so called “viper” players, and that the main roster of the team actively holds back and fails on purpose each year to facilitate these infiltrations. While most dismissed these ideas as the grounds of crackpots and die hard fans believing that the Hroa Storm are a better team than they seem to be on the surface, The Talon Herald, a PRISM owned news outlet, ran an Exposé on the history of the Hroa Storm in 3172 which provided scraps of written evidence and anonymous confessions that pointed to the validity of these claims, promoting the first public response from the Executor service on the matter, with a public denial of the conspiracy.

*“Look, we all love Psiball, the action, the drama, the struggle each player puts into the sport to make it all it can be. Some of us love it so much that we watch it unfold off the court as well as on it! But, there comes a point where such fandom goes too far, and the untrained mind begins to spot patterns where there are none, and dig for any proof to validate the dramatic tale they’ve formed in their minds because it’s too good not to be true. In cases like that, the narrative can become strong enough to even impede on the reality of the game, and harm the lives of the players and those around them.*

*So, let's put this one to rest before a real person gets hurt. No, the Executor service has no official involvement in the Professional Psiball League. No, the Executor service has no official involvement with the Hroa Storm beyond occasional attachments to security teams. And finally Yes, several members of the Storm have joined the Executor service after retiring from the team, though they and the Fang often recruit former Psiballers as they have a unique blend of psychic skill and physical capabilities. We hope this has put your concerns to rest, so we can all get back to this, the greatest sport in the sector, and we can all rout for our favorite team of intrepid players in some good, clean, Psiball. Oh, and, Go Storm!”*

- Seer Serpens Mordax, speaking at the request of an anonymous High Executor in response to “The Hroa Storm, Psiballers, or Serpens Spy program?”, 3172

## Players

With the acception of the team’s most recent acquisition, the Hroa Storm are primarily made of seasoned veteran players, with each member having participated in at least twelve season on the team.

### Seer Serpens Patel Bjorn

Seer Seprens Patel Bjorn graduated from the Imperial Academy of Psionic Learning and Wellness with top marks in telekinetic output and control, with commendations for their physical athleticism and leadership skills after leading the Academy league club ‘The Lightning Callers’ to the championships for three years in a row. Despite ludicrously high offers for their initial pro-contract Bjorn opted to join the Hroa Storm for a fraction of the cost, saying; “The Storm helped invent this sport. It's about time we won it again!”

### Seer Serpens Werner Ueda

Seer Serpens Werner Ueda has been the unofficial leader of the Hroa Storm for two decades. Werner is a telekinetic and telepathic of moderate skill, who’s position on the team was earned more through his athletic capabilities, strategic mind, and ability to link minds with her telepathy.

### Serpens Gantulga Orion

Serpens Gangtula Orion is a potent precog and well trained athlete. Unlike many members of the Storm, Gantulga did not join the team immediately after graduation from the Academy, nor did they participate as a psiballer at all during their time in the Academy. Gantulga instead joined the Hroa Storm after five years in a posting as a Jr Fang, trying out for the Storm after being released from a hospital stay caused by an on the job accident. Gantulga has worked their way up to a starter position on the Constrictors after several years of hard work. Rumours have it that Gantulga is looking to retire soon, and has been courting several of the sector’s corporations as a Seer.

### Quang Yolanda

Quang is one of only a few non noble Psiballers in Hroa Storm history who has yet to have their contracts bought out from under the team. This is most likely due to Quang being the responsibility of the team’s current manager, Serpens Ministrar Andrey Kleeft, who took the burden of her wellbeing onto his house early on in her education at the Academy and his Career running the Storm. Quang is an outstanding player, limited only by an unknown chronic condition that causes painful migraines, that often causes them to miss cruital game for the Storm.

Some have accused Serpens Ministrar Andrey Kleeft because of this illness, claiming they could handle such a valuable serf far more efficiently if given the chance, but the Andrey family has not budged from their position ok keeping Quang Yolanda under their protection. Quang is a monster on the field at her top condition, some comparing her to an Aquilan commando in terms of physical conditioning, and having a mastery of metapsionics.

### Serpens Nainoa Atamu

Serpens Nainoa Atamu comes from a long line of Fangs, and initially did not want to play psiball at all, however, a prophecy from the Oracular council itself, and the subtle threads of destiny pushed the young Serpens onto the Academy’s student Storm team through a cavalcade of shenanigans and seemingly random events akin to that of a PRISM vid. Ever since the young Serpens has found himself as one of the best Psiballers in the league. Serpens Nainoa Atamu is a talented teleporter, and criticised by some as a ball hog, though his attitude and demeanor has thus far held him back on the pro league.