I better not be the only one surprised.
Vulpesnet/Nolan Trace

As you should already know if you've been keeping track of my articles, Nikolai Brandon, dictator of the Central Custody of Dominion (now there's a proper title) is coming to the United States to attempt to woo the American people. Darth Brandon never gives up trying to turn us to the dark side, after all. None of that's new news, but what I've got to tell you now better surprise you all more than it surprised me.

When I got in to work this morning, my secretary told me that the Ascendancy, yes that Ascendancy, has requested for me to interview him at the power summit next week. Now, I'm sure you're all expecting me to disappear after entering the room, never to be seen again. Fear not, I'm... pretty sure that won't happen. But if my next article is broadcast from a gulag, don't tell me "I told you so."

I can only wonder at why Brandon would request that I of all people interview him. The most obvious reasons are to attempt to discredit me somehow, or to improve his image on Vulpesnet which I'm proud to say has a near-unanimous negative opinion of him. Or hey, maybe the continent-conquering dictator just has a sense of humor and wants to see what will happen if he's in the same room as his biggest enemy in the media. Don't worry, most likely there won't be any fist fights breaking out.

Brandon has been something of an enigma since gaining power in Russia some 20 years ago. Reporters were able to trace his origins back to America, but aside from that next to nothing is known. Assuming that the questions pass his censors, I'm hoping to get a bit more information on where he's from and how he's managed to conquer half the world. Him being from Massachusetts sure would explain a lot, at least on the policy side of things.

Of course, the censors are going to be fairly strict, as they always are with dictators. Remember the last time someone asked Kim Jong Un  about how he plans to deal with the corruption and starvation in his country? Of course you don't, because it didn't happen. Incidentally, Kim's unwillingness to field questions of that nature may have been part of the reason his people revolted. Not that anything of the sort could occur within the CCD.

Nevertheless, I'll try to get as much of the good stuff as I can. Alongside the release of the interview, I'll be publishing a list of questions that were denied by the censors. There's usually just as much to read in what's not said as in what is.

In any case, there are a lot of questions that I and by extension the American people want answered. In support of Democracy, leave a comment with a question; maybe it will make it onto the list I bring to interview the dictator.

<em>Published by Vulpesnet, 2045. U.S.A</em>

Comments are: <strong>OPEN</strong>

<small>((Comments are anonymous unless you state your character's name in the time tag: Comment: "NAME" (TIME TIMEZONE) ))</small>

((From: Scoping for Ink

Rune said goodbye to Thalia after making contact arrangements. The tattoo was going to be amazing, she thought. Thalia's style was right up her alley, and she couldn't wait to see what it was going to look like. But there was time to daydream about the image and what her mom would think of it and what the symbol meant, all of that stuff later. Right now, Rune was walking alongside someone she was willing to bet was an Atharim, and not a newly official Atharim like Rune was. She may have been born into the life, but it wasn't official until visiting an elder and going through the rites, at least that's what Uncle Seth said. But there was one thing that always bugged Rune about that. Oh well, it wasn't Rune's place to figure stuff like that out. She had a job to do.

"Let's take the metro," she suggested and pointed out a set of stairs leading underground. "Have you been on the metro here yet? It's pretty incredible actually."

The blue line was three levels down, which meant a lot of stairs. But it wasn't dingy and dank. The Moscow metro system was like walking through a museum. There were enormous pillars holding up the lofty tiled ceilings. There was marble and gilding. Yet there was something about being underground that made Rune feel confined. Like there was nowhere to run if something went wrong, but she chalked it up to being used to big skies and open road. She certainly wasn't claustrophobic, and it was hard to be homesick when you really didn't have a single place you called home. Just Uncle Seth.

She swiped a metro fare card and passed through the X-ray scanner without incident. She pistol in her bag registered, but carrying was perfectly legal in the CCD, so she was cleared without incident. She handed the card back through to Aria to use and follow. They drew a lot of annoyed looks, almost as many as there were curious looks. Seriously, between Rune's pink fuzzed scalp and Aria's swords, they must look like a couple of conventioneers.


((I kind of moded us along, I hope that's cool!))

<big>Power</big>

<big>Reborn Gods:25</big>

Nolan Trace (29/40) <small>Expert</small> - Prometheus (Greek)
Nikolai Brandon (42/42) <small>Master</small> - Hades (Greek)
Thalia Milton (9/15) <small>New</small>- Lethe (Greek) [Dreamwalker]

Michael Vellas (40/41) <small>Expert</small>  - Pallas (Greek)
Jaxen Marveet (18/37) <small>Adept</small> - Loki (Norse)
Manix Lir (40/40) <small>Expert</small> - Manannaan Mac Lir (Irish)
Nadia Sokolov (17/20) <small>New</small> - Hathor (Egyptian)
Jon Little Bird (30/40) <small>Expert</small> - Coyote (Apache Indian) [Dreamwalker]

Aeva Morgan (3/15) <small>New</small> - Merlin (Celtic)
Giovanni Cavelli (36/38) <small>Adept</small> - Set (Egyptian)
Oriena Rusayev (19/37) <small>Adept</small> - Eris (Greek)
Claire Novak (14/34) <small>Adept</small> - Atropos (Greek) [Foretelling]

Alric Xavier Rainer (17/24) <small>Adept</small> - Mars (Roman)
Spectra Lin (15/29) <small>Adept</small> - Maleficent (Fairy Tale)
Panteni Saladin (4/14) <small>Adept</small> - Lunara, God of Balance (Atlantean. Apparently.) [Dreamwalker]

Annika Mikhalka (5/14) <small>Adept</small> - Ananke (Greek)
Ayden Hayes (20/30) <small>Adept</small> - Itzapapalotl (Aztec)
Sören Lindgren (9/18) <small>Adept</small> - Odin [Dreamwalker]
(Norse)
Zoya Bocharov (5/36) <small>New</small> - Amana (South American)
Ivan Sarkozy (12/29) <small>Adept</small> - Viracocha (Incan)
Jared Vanders (20/38) <small>Expert</small> - Osiris (Egyptian)
Serena Morrigan (6/21) <small>New</small> - Morrigan (Wiccan?)
Antonia Perez (14/28) <small>New</small> - Nike (Greek)
Katchina Makawee (15/32) <small>Adept</small> - Nokomis (Algonquin)
Aurora Durante (12/26) - <small>Adept</small> - Nut
Nox Durante (19/30) - <small>Expert</small> - Ged
Sun Li (30/41) - <small>Adept</small> - Sun WuKong

<big>Channelers (Non-god): 19</big>

Joseph Sinclair (14/21) <small>Adept</small>
Tehya Alisdelisgi (20/35) <small>Adept</small>
Tony Soloyov (26/26) <small>Expert</small>
Vladimir Igorovich Perov (32/37) <small>Expert</small>
Yuri Obrechennyy (37/37) <small>Adept</small>
Katya Ivanova Chadova (0/19) <small>New</small>
Jensen James - (30/36) <small>Expert</small>
Muhammad Al-Hasan Al-Mahdi - (12/14) <small>Expert</small>
Dane Gregory - (22/22) <small>Adept</small>
Andrew Koehler - (18/27) <small>Adept</small>
Damien Oakland (25/39) <small>Expert</small>
Elias Donovan (18/38) <small>New</small>
Jay "Hollywood" Carpenter (3/27) <small>Unlearned</small>
Natalie Northbrook-Grey (4/30) <small>New</small>
Marcus Dubois (36/40) <small>Expert</small>
Pyotr Grigory (2/10) <small>New</small>
Carolyne Weber (5/31) <small>New</small>
Sebastian (12/21) <small>Adept</small>

<big>Wolfkin: 6</big>

Krasivolkya Constantine
John "Doulou" Smith
Silas Kole
Sierra Lupita
Calvin Johnson
Tenzin Dolma

<big>Furia: 1</big>

Rune Marx

<big>Sentient: 2</big>

Alessandra "Alex" Pirozzi
Aria Piccolo


<big>Standard Human:13</big>

John 'Hood' White
Drayson Mccullough
Victoria Weston
Regus Armande Nicodemus
Takeo Onada [Dreamwalker]

Seth Marx
Julie Reed
Jacques Danjou
John Carlyle [Dreamwalker]

Connor Kent
Daiyu Song [Dreamwalker]

Gwendolyn Petersen
SynJyn Quick
Beto Trujillo
Lucas Andreeff


<big>Naga: 2</big>

Sora Ryuu
Akantha

<big>Prohet: 2</big>

Noah Crow's Eye
Camila Yoselin Garcia Muñoz


<big>Loyalty</big>
<small><small>DISCLAIMER: The character descriptions that go along with the loyalties in this section are MOST LIKELY inaccurate as fuck.
</small></small>

<big>Atharim: 11</big>

John 'Hood' White - <small>Tentative asset and official badass.</small> Lawful Neutral
Aria Piccolo - <small>Furia and monster hunter. Kinda hot... and kinda crazy. EDIT: HOLY SHIT NOW SHE'S A SERIAL KILLER</small> - Chaotic Evil
Rune Marx - <small>Furia and monster hunter. Kinda crazy... and kinda hot.</small> - Chaotic Good
Tehya Alisdelisgi - <small>She's a channeler, but she's part of the Atharim. This is gonna be awkward.</small> - Lawful Neutral
Armande Nicodemus - <small>Vicar of Iscariot? Someone likes Hellsing. UPDATE: He's also a little bitch.</small> - Lawful Evil
Seth Marx - <small>When Hood is sick or otherwise off duty, he's the alternate official badass. Otherwise he does good work as the unofficial badass. Could TOTALLY kick the shit out of Reggie.</small> - Chaotic Neutral
Enzo Dolan - <small>Holy shit, man. This bio is too sad. You need to stop.</small> - Lawful Good
Aurora Durante  - <small>Her brother's named Nox, a bunch of stuff happened while I was gone and now she's dead. Can we talk about how she's fuckin' Nut reborn? What kind of goddess gets a name like that? That's hilarious!</small> - Who cares, she's dead.
Nox Durante - <small>His sister's named Aurora, a bunch of stuff happened while I was gone and now she's dead. He has feminist hair.</small> - Chaotic Good
Tenzin Dolma - <small>At least her brand of Atharim aren't as crazy as the standard.</small> - Neutral Good
Sun Li - <small>Basically Jet Li with magic.</small> - Neutral Good

<strong><big>CCD: 9</big>

Nikolai Brandon - <small>His Oppressionhood, himself. He's so DARK and so BROODING! He's basically a younger, older Edward Cullen if that makes any sense. But now that I mention it, isn't it kinda creepy how that 90 year old Edward Cullen was trying to smash, like, 17 year old Bella? Like, seriously, that's some extreme pedophilia right there. Oh, wait, fuck, this was supposed to be about Brandon. Oh well.</small> - Lawful Evil
Drayson Mcculough - <small>Chief Inspector for CDPS. If he gets in a Jaeger again it'll kill him.</small> -  Lawful Good
Victoria Weston - <small>Army Doctor. Doesn't like me for some reason. She should work on it.</small> -  Lawful  Good
Krasivolkya Constantine - <small>Chief Liaison for the Custody of State. Also can smell emotions. Doesn't like me for some reason. She should work on it, too, but she hasn't been here to write in like two years.</small> -  Lawful Neutral
Nadia Sokolov - <small>She sells oil or something.</small> -  Neutral Good
Takeo Onada - <small>Privilege of Dominance IV. Enemy of FREEDOM. Has a lot of sidekicks.</small> -  Lawful Neutral
Alric Xavier Rainer - <small>He's really pretty. Also he got kidnapped and thrown in Ascendancy's personal rape dungeon.</small> - Lawful Evil
Alessandra "Alex" Pirozzi - <small>A Sentient who was actually raised right! She might not turn into a serial killer. I... I think that's progress. And she hunts criminals! Which - on second thought - might just mean she's Dexter.</small> - Neutral Good
Ivan Sarkozy - <small>He's a cop who can channel. Part of the Domovoi program. He overcame his teenage nihilism after daddy got shot because people in his neighborhood were nice to him. He doesn't know he's working for the bad guys.</small> - Lawful Good
Marcus Dubois - <small>He's such a prick, god damn. I get it, dude, you had a shitty childhood. But be more like your brother instead of falling in love with Nikky frickin' B. Now you're his Sigma and shit, because the Custody likes to have douchey words for things like 'intern.'</small> - Lawful Evil

<big>American: 12</big>

Nolan Trace - <small>Political demagogue and future presidential candidate. Also, like, the coolest character ever. He's Prometheus now because I said so, even though Gods are usually for nerds. It works because Prometheus's whole job was telling Gods to go screw themselves. Murica.</small>  - Neutral Good
Spectra Lin - <small> Jaxen's future wife. Works for American agents on occasion but still only very slightly American leaning.</small> -  Neutral Evil
Julie Reed - <small>She's kind of a bitch. I mean that in a nice way. But seriously. Kind of a bitch. </small> - Lawful Neutral
Jon Little Bird - <small>Indian trickster god reborn. Doesn't really trick people often. Wait! He tricked somebody! Bros for life with Trace.</small> Chaotic  Good
John Carlyle - <small>Tony Stark or John Rockefeller, take your pick. He's either. And he can invade your dreams so... yeah.</small> - Lawful Neutral
Andrew Koehler - <small>He's moved up from the mean streets of 2040's Springfield, MA to become a United States SEAL. Coming soon to a middle eastern country near you!</small> - Lawful Evil
Antonia Perez - <small>Too much FUCKING hooah. Like, Christ, woman. Calm that shit way the hell down. Also, she makes Ayden look like a pussy.</small> - Lawful Neutral
Carolyne Weber - <small>Watch out boys, this lady's packing something extra. Something extra called fuckin' SAIDIN! Oh, and she's a field reporter.</small> - Neutral Good
Noah Crow's Eye - <small>He's an old Native American dude who knows WAY too much and won't stop hinting at it. Jon Little Bird has a weird hatred for the guy, even though without Noah Jon would be deader than a doornail. Seriously, Jon. Noah's a pretty cool guy. And did you fucking SEE how cool he was in Vietnam?</small> - Neutral Good
Katchina Makawee - <small>She works for this super douchey colonel who's running the CDC now. But wait, now she's working for a sociopath lawyyer to help develop channeling legislation!</small> - Neutral Good
Gwendolyn Petersen- <small>God, I hate this woman. She's a CNN host and super frickin' evil.</small> - Neutral Evil
Beto Trujillo - <small>He's a sociopath, but the benign kind. He has this weird emo disdain for religion but still harbors hope that there is a God, because he can't just man up and be a full on atheist. His dead mommy probably never loved him.</small> - True Neutral

<big>Islamic: 1</big>

Muhammad Al-Hasan Al-Mahdi - <small>Get out yer broadswords, kids, it's time for a good ol' fashioned crusade! Or... well, it WAS - but things happened. </small> - Lawful Good

<big>Legion Premiere: 3</big>

Jacques Danjou - <small>Totally nothing like Mat. He's a Frenchman who runs a highly skilled, organized army of Africans under the Foreign Legion banner. WHY DIDN'T YOU START PUNCHING DUDES BEFORE THEY CUT YOUR FUCKING HAND OFF?! CHRIST.</small> - Chaotic Good.
Jay "Hollywood" Carpenter - <small>Murica! Fuck yeah! He's a badass Marine Raider who got discharged under questionable circumstances after disobeying orders to save a little girl. Now he works for the Legion Premiere. Has a thing for cats and British women.</small> - Chaotic Good
Jared Vanders - <small>He was a Marine Raider. Somehow, when he started channeling he managed to run into the ONE sergeant who could both channel and was experienced enough to teach Jared the basics. Now he's with the Legion Premiere. <small>Note to self: Grab that fucking sergeant for Camp Hoover</small></small>

<big>Naga: 2</big>

Sora Ryuu - <small>She's a snake person. Used to be all playful and shit but now she's serious. Jaxen's future wife. Also a midget.</small> - Snake?
Akantha - <small>Look at this bitch! She thinks snakes are better than people! And she's all stuck up and high and mighty and shit about it. I hope her snake friend's dead.</small>  - Neutral Good

<big>Neutral: 34</big>

Jaxen Marveet - <small>Rich kid, thief, and internet troll.</small> -  Chaotic Neutral
Michael Vellas - <small>Titan of war. Complains about it. So goddamn COLD. Has this weird competitiveness thing going on with Nikky B.</small> -  Chaotic Good
Panteni Saladin - <small>He's just a jerk that invades peoples' dreams and gives them nightmares. What a dick!</small> -
Aeva Morgan - <small>Merlin, but a woman. Like what they did with Watson in "Elementary."</small>  Neutral Good
Joseph Sinclair - <small>A ginger with Southern charm who accidentally killed half his family. Great counterfeiter, by the way!</small> -  No clue. Maybe if he posted.
Thalia Milton - <small>Artsy shut-in. Prophetic powers. </small>  True Neutral
Manix Lir - <small>I didn't read his bio yet. Something to do with water. UPDATE! Still haven't read his bio.</small> - Neutral Good
Giovanni Cavelli - <small>Bibbidy bobbidy boobidy! But also James Bond. CHAOS!</small> - Chaotic Neutral
Oriena Rusayev - <small>Totally not a slut. CHAOS!</small> - Chaotic  Neutral
Tony Soloyov - <small>Dude who teaches Mikey V to channel. TOTALLY not a throwaway chracter. UPDATE: Actually isn't a throwaway character.</small> - Lawful Good
Claire Novak - <small>Awww... she believes in Wiccan stuff. SO CUTE![/url]</small> - True  Neutral
Vladimir Igorovich Perov - <small>He's kind of a dick and he's got a really nice restaurant in the Red Light District. WHERE HE SELLS DRUGS. Oh, now he dead.</small> - Neutral Evil
Yuri Obrechennyy - <small>He's such a dick. Like, Jesus Christ his bio made me want to punch my monitor.</small> - Chaotic Evil
Katya Ivanova Chadova - <small>Bitch crazy, she talks to computers! Bitch even crazier! Now she dead!</small> - Chaotic Good
Jensen James - <small>It was a guy!</small> - Lawful Good
John "Doulou" - <small>Did a bunch of drugs 'n shit, now he hunts monsters like a boss.</small> - Neutral Good
Silas Kole - <small>Eh, he's kind of a dick. He's like Jaxen but super violent and with the ability to talk to wolves. So, yeah, see the first sentence of this description.</small> - Uh... Neutral Evil?
Dane Gregory - <small>Holy Christ this dude is fucking scary. Like, damn. If you run into this guy, well, if you're not dead yet you should run away. Also, SOOO FAWWWWNCEEHHHHH.</small> - Chaotic Evil
Damien Oakland - <small>He accidentally killed some Senator's daughter or something with his channeling. After an almost-rape in prison he's got this whole zen thing going on. Oh, and he decided to conquer Mexico because of reasons.</small> - Chaotic Neutral
Connor Kent - <small>He's just a pretty chill older dude. Kinda like Tam.</small> - Neutral Good
Elias Donovan - <small>He totally got bullied in high school. Just look at him.</small>
Annika Mikhalka - <small>So she's a cold hearted assassin who pretends she's just a cute, innocent young lady. Why is this so attractive?</small> - Lawful Neutral
Ayden Hayes - <small>Well, now we know that the United States managed to get women in SOF-capable infantry units. And since she's an assassin now I guess it didn't work out too well. JK she's just not as cool as Toni Perez.</small> - Neutral Evil
Natalie Northbrook-Grey - <small>Allegedly participated in her father's alleged funding of American anti-CCD terrorist groups. Allegedly. So she's a good guy. Now she works for the Red Cross or something.</small> - True Neutral
Sierra Lupita - <small>Ah hah! I get it! Because lupe means wolf! Clever. Oh, right... the character. She takes pictures of nature stuff. But she's a total cheater because she can frickin' talk to nature.</small> - True Neutral
Sören Lindgren - <small>Distant, stoic, mysterious. But in male form! You get three guesses who's writing him.</small> True Neutral
Calvin Johnson - <small>He plays a guitar and something something wolves something something dreamwalking. UPDATE: Oh, wait, holy shit. He likes me. This guy's awesome, you should read all about him!</small> - Lawful Good
Zoya Bocharov - <small>She's a hippy who can heal people. Yep, that's about it.</small> - Neutral Good
Pyotr Grigory - <small>He was homeschooled by his parents because apparently becoming a waiter for rich people requires special training. Apparently the people who work at the Kremlin are dicks to him.</small> - Neutral Good
Serena Morrigan - <small>Went from being a stripper to a homeless drug addict. WHO WOULDA SEEN THAT COMING? Oh, also she's a Wiccan. Isn't it cute? Has feminist hair.</small> -
<strong>Camila Yoselin Garcia Muñoz - <small>She's a prophet and a computer scientist. Got snatched up by the Cartels for a while and then HOLY FUCKING SHIT SHE DIDN'T STOP STABBING THE GUY HOLY SHIII - </small> -
Daiyu Song - <small>Super creepy dreamwalker who calls herself Mara. She likes to write horror novels and give people nightmares for no reason.</small> - True Neutral
<strong>SynJyn Quick - <small>SteSeg Quick, also known as Spikey Vambraces Man. He commands The Rage, the flagship of the Lir family fleets.[/small</small><small>
Lucas Andreeff - <small>He went from drug addicted boy whore to tattoo artist working on an art history degree. You decide whether that's progress. UPDATE: Oh wait, he's dead now! Progress!</small> - Neutral Good
Sebastian Volodin - <small>He was a Russian gangster and douchebag extraordinaire. Connor was apparently very proud of writing him so let's just end this now.</small> - Neutral Evil


<big><big><span style="display:block;text-align:center">Characters: Too many to bother counting.</big></big></span>

Jun1 2018, 05:22 PM.
</small></strong></strong></strong>

Continued from: Baccarat Gala


Light, he couldn't believe he got away. That first night, he was pretty much ready to be shot in the back any second, but kept pounding pavement anyway. The next day, every time he thought about it, which was pretty much every waking moment, he would shake his head and laugh at his luck. But on the third day of laying low, the adrenaline finally burned itself off and the weight of questions squeezed his head. Like, what the hell was that white room? Who were the blokes in it? And how did they know he was coming?

Of course, the longer he thought about it, the firmer a grip his ignorance squeezed in his chest. He was laying low these first few days, but he wasn't idle.

Jaxen rolled off the bed to stretch. He was in a shoddy hotel room in Kitay Gorod, about a block on the other side of Moscow's Red Light district. Which meant this was the sort of place where one's privacy was respected. His room was littered with the remnants of hermit life: cans of energy drink were poorly tossed on the floor around the world's smallest trash can, a mostly empty vodka bottle swam in a bucket of melted ice, discarded boxes reeked of old take-out, and on the wall the television was flashing an infomercial. He flipped channels to one streaming all-night news but kept it muted while he made to take a shower.

Not long after midnight, he tasted fresh air. As fresh as one could find in these narrow streets. His short bike jacket covered a brand t-shirt and jeans, and kept his Wallet holstered and out of sight. Jax smirked as he zipped up the coat. He'd be rather annoyed with someone trying to slip the tech out of his possession on these dark streets. At least not without buying him a drink first.

Another door several rooms down from his opened about then and a man strolled out. They looked at one another briefly, Jaxen suspicious of the coincidental timing, but the stranger locked up behind him and went the other way. Jaxen frowned and took the opposite direction.

Two blocks over he stopped at a vending machine. He swiped a pre-loaded cash card across the dispensery's control panel then went through the mundane ritual of selecting a variety of purchases. Two small tubes eventually came tumbling down, and Jaxen pocketed one. The other, he unscrewed the cap, popped the pill, and chucked the empty container toward the nearest trash can.

He wandered back to his room after that. By way of a liquor store of course. But about twenty seconds after he shut the door, he heard another one close. By the sound of it, the door was a couple rooms down from his own. But the worse news? He forgot to get more ice.

"Screw it."
He double checked the lock behind him, unzipped the jacket and dropped back on the bed, warm bottle within arm's reach, and started flipping channels.

Name: Joseph Sinclair
Age: 2
Occupation: Professional Photographer
Origin: East Texas, United States
Current: Moscow

Personality:

Joseph is one of the few men left that retains any semblance of Southern hospitality. He is very courteous to anyone and everyone he meets, even if he has an issue with them.

He is a quiet man who is short of speech. He knows how to say what he wants in as little as possible, and he uses this ability frequently.
He is incredibly intelligent, and the move from secluded rural life into the largest urban area on the planet has allowed his intelligence to blossom far beyond what would have been possible for him.

He puts a strange amount of weight on his dreams, many of which he can account to himself weeks after the dream.

He enjoys nature. In Texas, he was the only person within several miles that had a camera, and he would walk through the fields and forests to take pictures as a getaway when he needed time alone. He came to master the art of photography in this time.


Appearance:

He has medium-length, slightly curly red hair to his ears. He is 6' 3", fit, fairly muscular, attractive enough to draw several eyes. His eyes are a chocolatey brown that go strangely well with his red hair that typically sits above lighter eyes. His face is very expressive if you can catch the emotion. He can go from bursting with laughter to void of emotion in the blink of an eye. He never wears accessories that touch his skin, as he will remove them and play with them, and typically break them.

History:

Born in a small, dying town in east Texas, Joseph was one of nine children on a farm in east Texas. With the decline in the US, many Southern families had reverted to the old ways of farming, which was particularly unfortunate for the Sinclair family, as they were all red-headed with no access to sunscreen, causing the sun to ravage their skin. His father, George, is a local from Texas, while his mother, Siobhan, hails from Ireland.

At the age of 19, Joseph began having strange dreams that very cryptically signaled for him to move east. After the repetition of these dreams, he finally confided them to his family when he was 21, and expressed his own desire to move. Unsurprisingly, his parents agreed. They were angry with the United States' refusal to annex into the CCD, and were open to the idea. After this plan was set in motion, Joseph's dreams changed. Now he was swimming blindly and endlessly for the length of the dream. He failed to interpret it.

Originally, only Joseph was going to go east, but it turned into his whole family as the crops failed. They began saving every penny they could, and eventually, when Joseph reached the age of 23 they had enough to buy passage on a ship to London and transport via train to Moscow. His father and two eldest siblings stayed home to finish the sale of their home while he, his mother, and his other siblings set sail, assured that the trio would follow after them in two months.

On the ship, the family still had to work its way east; swabbing the deck and doing other things that Joseph had thought were only tales. There ship was a small, incredibly fast trading vessel, one of the few that made the journey to the CCD.

On the sixth and last night, Joseph, the eldest traveling child, got into an arguement with his mother. She approached him as he photographed the dark ocean around him, and said she wanted to stay in London to wait for the rest of the family instead of going with the original plan to go straight to Moscow. The argument was not resolved, and Joseph stalked back to his cabin in anger, still holding his camera.

That's when it happened. He channeled the One Power for the first time. He did not know what he was doing, but a wave of Power flowed through him and the ship came apart at its seams around him in the dark. He rushed back to his mother's cabin, but all that rested inside was a pile if clothes and jewelry. The people had unraveled too, it seemed. He sank to his knees as the ship sank into the ocean. He could just see the dark shape of land, that would be London, in the distance, and he knew he would need to swim, but he could not make himself stand. Sobs wracked him as the water surrounded him and killed his camera. He was forced to begin swimming, his salty tears mixing with the salt water.

He was left alone by the marine life and reached the deserted shore quickly, where he continued to cry and grieve. He didn't understand what had happened in the slightest, it made no sense that he had survived, unless it was his fault. He vowed to not think about the event, resolving that after grieving, he would do his best to forget it.

He found a homeless shelter in the city, and watched as the reports of his sunken ship surfaced two days following the incident. The reporters were baffled as to what happened, and offered no explanation to the public. The reports claimed that no remains were found, and no record of the passengers had been saved. Joseph was too afraid of what might happen if he went to the authorities, and quietly remained in the shelter. The shelter offered a free, one-time transportation service to any CCD city of his choice, which he decided to use to travel to Moscow. His departure date was set for one week, on his birthday, of all days.

The next four days he remained in his small assigned room, incapacitated by the Sickness. He recorded the symptoms by hand, having no way to take pictures, though he held his dead camera. His block formed as he made frequent contact while holding his camera. The symptoms went away after those four days. He was one of the rarest of rare, he fended off the Sickness on the first bout, and also developed a simple block.

The next day, as he strolled through London, the Atharim attacked him for the first time. He was confronted walking back to the shelter. They backed him into an alley while he inspected his dead camera, bringing out the Power. While holding the camera, he subsequently dropped it, breaking the short-lived block he had not been aware of, and allowing him to instinctively use the Power effectively.

He incinerated the two Atharim, and ran away from the area quickly. He began to start cautiously training himself in the Power as he walked through the city the next day. He was attacked by a single Atharim that day, and after drowning him with Water, he looted the body and found a small book containing a bit of informations about the organization, which also informed him of their name and their symbol. He burned the body after pocketing the book.

The next day his train left for Moscow, where he quietly and modestly celebrated his own birthday alone. He spent most of the time remembering hs family. For the day and a half ride he practiced small things with the Power, gaining a large measure of control and strength in the process.

Upon arriving in the city, he acquired a job in a food market, where he used the strange CCD money to buy materials to make perfect counterfeit money with the Power. After making a large amount over the course of a month, he bought a camera, moved into an apartment fairly near the Kremlin, and began to launch his photography business.

Now, only two months away from from Texas, he anticipates his father and two siblings' arrival.


Edited by Joseph, Aug 7 2013, 03:07 PM.

This is a Terrible Idea
Vulpesnet/Nolan Trace

I'm sure by now you've heard that his Ascendancy, Nikolai Brandon is coming to visit the United States. The more superstitious among us would question the wisdom of inviting this man to the country at the same time as two nuclear power plants are coming online, what with the fact that disasters follow him wherever he goes.

Even if you're not superstitious, though, there are reasons to question the wisdom of allowing a man who has conquered all of Eurasia and elevated himself to the position of a god while doing so to speak in this country on even terms with the President. The man's created a cult of personality so large Ozzy Osbourne might claw his way out of the ground to offer him work as a ghost-writer.

The CCD--and by extension, Brandon--has made its goal of world domination clear since its inception, and as such it runs completely against America's interests to give him a sounding board inside the country. We've already given him an honor that we never extended to his compatriots Hitler and Stalin by allowing him to even set foot on American soil 12 years ago. Now, after he's been allowed to sit and pull strings for the past decade, we're letting him come here again.

At best, this is an attempt for him to win the hearts and minds of the American people by falsely granting his blessing (as if we needed it) to our energy programs. He's essentially treating us with the same condescension that aughts America did third world countries. The CCD gains nothing from an American nuclear revolution. In fact, they lose one of their largest oil buyers if we become energy independent.

At worst, they might try sabotage our reactors before that happens. Either way they want to convince us to hand over our souls, and the more of a stage we give to him in this country the bigger chance he has to do it. Let's just hope that he doesn't call the Minutemen down on him and cause an international incident.

Now isn't the time for us to receive embassies from foreign powers greater than our own. Right now, we need to buckle down and get back to fixing our country. We're a herd of deer, and the CCD is a pack of wolves. We can't afford distractions or underhanded threats from some near-mythological character.

<em>Published by Vulpesnet, 2045. U.S.A</em>

Comments are: <strong>OPEN</strong>

<small>((Comments are anonymous unless you state your character's name in the time tag: Comment: "NAME" (TIME TIMEZONE) ))</small>

The Ascendancy to visit USA

The CCD and USA have started a constructive dialogue toward the goal of a world without terrorism, a stronger global economy, and peace and stability in South America. To facilitate these mutual goals, the Moscow Kremlin officially confirmed today that the Ascendancy will travel to Washington DC for a three-day summit. Sources close to the Kremlin report both the Canadian Prime Minister and Mexican President will also be in attendance. The Ascendancy's last visit to USA soil was twelve years ago.

Critics state the Summit is poorly timed what with the USA's proud construction of two new nuclear power plants: one already running in Southern Georgia, while the second, near Dayton, Ohio, should become fully operational next month. Proponents state the Summit is a chance to demonstrate American independence from CCD energy, proclaim the future of cleaner energy, and celebrate American ingenuity.

However, the market predicts the relationship between the CCD domestic supply of fossil fuels with foreign marketplaces may deteriorate if the trend toward nuclear power continues. Despite safety concerns, three more nuclear reactors are set to open in the next five years in the United States. To cement the Ascendacy's support of the initiative, Moscow has proposed the Summit take place in Dayton, the heartland of America.

Aeva was born around 2015 to a drunkard mother and a Druid father. Her mother was swift to abandon her daughter and three sons to their father's care by dying during an earthquake when Aeva was 5. Their father was a lifelong Druid - influential in the small neo-Druid movement when it was at its height in around 2012-17, and had a fabulous archive of knowledge of both ancient and modern Druidic technique, which he offered freely over the internet. He never stopped adding to his sacred library. His three children were enthusiastic followers, but having had a few minor brushes with religious persecution at school, Aeva was rather quiet and dedicated more than exuberant, and didn't draw attention to her beliefs.
The global disasters of 2020, Anthony (Aeva's father) and other prominent members of the Druid community effectively pushed the entire movement into charity work in the poorer North of Britain and teaching people skills of survival as the UK population took a sharp drop when vast areas of the land were shaken by earthquakes and flooded by unprecedented tsunamis and torrential rain. Scotland was almost blown apart by the long-extinct (or thought extinct) volcano beneath Edinburgh Castle. A very long winter was created by the ash and debris in the atmosphere, making it impossible for aircraft and hazardous for any long travel. With the dust clouds, it seemed almost as though the rest of the world forgot North Britain existed. Crops failed and food sources dwindled.
By 2025, it seemed as though the Druids and other neo-Pagan groups were ready to take charge as they were the ones who had harboured old knowledge and ancient skills and were teaching them to the ragged remnants of the British. However, pagan organisation is a contradiction in terms and people settled into communities with people like the Morgans offering their services around the areas in which they could easily travel. Aeva's oldest brother even became something of a guru - not a very stable one, in ruined Scotland. Her second brother was one of those who died screaming in 2035.
Aeva herself effectively took charge of her father's archive, carefully preserving the knowledge digitally as paper became more expensive, while her younger brother, Taren, began searching for any more that could be found.
When the world finally remembered the UK had once existed and travelled to the region where it once stood, the CCD and Atharim moved in first. Nobody knows which group was responsible for the deaths of Anthony Morgan and his cohorts, though most favour the Atharim as the culprits. There were few protests when Anthony's eldest son was openly assassinated while trying to 'rally the mob'. The turning point came for Aeva when her youngest brother, Taren, went missing and CCD soldiers broke into her home and searched every square inch of it, allegedly searching for clues as to his disappearance. It is more likely they wanted evidence that Aeva had followed in her father and brothers' footsteps, but everything of even minute value had been sold by that time and nothing was left to say what she might believe.

For a long time, Aeva stood over the shattered vase of fake flowers which had sat atop natural stones that had been fashionable almost 40 years ago, shaking and forcing herself to breath quietly. Then she bent down and selected a rough stone of pale cream - the smallest of the half-dozen within the rest of the scattered mass of mixed rocks on the living-room floor where a soldier had wanted to search within the stones for evidence of... who knew what.
She put a hard asbestos tile on newspaper on the kitchen floor, then another sheet of paper, then the rock.
Without giving herself time to think of what she was doing, Aeva brought a large hammer down on the stone and the weak air-dry clay shattered across the paper. She removed the wax-and-cling-film wrapped SD card from the wreckage and carefully gathered up the fragments of air-clay and paper. It went into a plastic bag between layers of the waste from the cat's litter tray before being flung out with the general rubbish. Her old, ruined computer, the fake flowers and fragments of the vase joined it an hour or so later; she would take it to the tip on her regular weekly run - breaking routine would only arouse suspicion. The stones, she tipped into another jar, including the other phony stones made of air clay... just in case.
Were there other Druids in Europe? Her father had told her that many of their communities had once had international membership, and told her the names of places which no longer existed, although a few still did. If Taren were dead, then she was the last of her kind - perhaps the guardian of the only Druid literature still in existence, and Aeva shuddered at the mere thought. Taking out the moonstone, she turned it by the light of her poor lantern and a symbol flashed before her eye for an instant, deep in the blue iridescence of the stone.
Leave, it said. Leave.

[Note: It is believed by some that Merlin was a title amongst Druids, rather than an actual individual. There was only one Merlin at a time, but the role was fulfilled by many different people as it was handed down. He became a single deity as the Arthurian legends developed, but the title of 'Merlin' may have been held by women as well as men, and therefore the Merlin can be reborn as female.]


Edited by Aeva, Jul 28 2013, 09:53 AM.

"Constantine, Krasivolkya", she heard herself say curtly to the Security Officer.
"Access Granted, Ms. Constantine", he replied.

This was their dance. Every morning at 4:30am. She made it to the side entrance, met the man who was the most regular in her life, and entered into the building that housed her soul.

She worked in The Kremlin. That never grew tired or banal for her. All of her studies and hard work and dedication. All of her sacrifices had led her here. To this. To be at the Heart of the political beast that sat astride two continents and ruled the Earth with a benevolent, but strong hand. And she, Krasivolkya Constantine, was a part of it all. Part of a nation that proved Right meant Might, and not the other way around. Part of a governing structure that wasn't afraid to flaunt its wealth or power or its benevolence.

Krasivolkya walked to the Liaison's Office. Her security card and retina scan allowed her to Pre-empt security for those who would come later; her staff (who she allowed to come to work by 5:30 am), other officials, politicians, government staff, VIPs, officers and executives. All whom would come into this world, needing, requesting, demanding and obliging her help. Her support. Her finesse. Her involvement. This was what she was meant for. No, actually, this was a foretaste of what she was meant for. One day, she would be able to provide these services, her superior intellect and problem solving abilities, and her knack for discerning people's motives and desires, to the most important office in the world. The Ascendency of the CCD.

Just as she knew when she was assigned to the Liasion's office 5 years ago, that she would one day be running it; so she knew her destiny lay at the center of the Kremlin. She would make herself indispensable to him and his governance.

Krasivolkya smiled as she padded across the lush blue carpeting. Past the fishbowl of offices that served her support staff, down the hallway and the offices of her top lieutenants and to the big, stainless steel door that led to her inner office. Cut out of the stainless steel and backlit with LED light on the door, "Office of the Chief Liaison of the Custody of State" and beneath it, a simple black enameled plaque with silver etching, "Krasivolkya Constantine".

The morning was the only time this office would see her smile. She didnt make it to this office by smiling, and she wouldn't make it out by smiling either. She coveted these early mornings. No one was in the office before her. She wouldn't allow it. Last year some newbies, up and comers, tried to get in at 4:00. Thanks to her arrangement with the Security Guard, he kept them busy in holding until she could get there. He had sent her a text, apprising her of the situation, and she had sped up her arrival as quickly as she could. She had arrived 18 minutes after 4 and had made it to her inner office, caught her breath and called Security to allow the ambitious new staff in. When they had arrived and saw that she was already there, they had reeked of surprise, and even fear. Krasivolkya could literally taste their fear and shock. Strangely, she had found herself almost salivating ...
After that, she was in the office by 3 am. It only lasted two weeks before the staff gave up trying to beat her to the office. In defeat, they returned to their 5:30 start time, and Krasivolkya resumed her morning ritual.

That reaction to the newbies fear, was one of the things Krasivolkya didn't quite understand about herself. She had a series of reactions and instincts she knew were a part of her, but didn't know why or what they were. Her father had known, she knew. He had helped her acknowledge some of them, and given her strange instructions and advice he made her promise to keep and heed. It had begun after her illness, almost 15 years ago. She had feared she was being struck with The Sickness, but she never got sick in the way usually associated with that strange affliction. Instead she had had moments where she was catatonic and unresponsive. Night after night of insomnia for a solid week. And she could almost feel voices in her head, voices or images really, from far away. So faint were they that she couldn't make them out and could easily ignore them. They were fleeting, but she knew they were there, and somehow knew they were real. He had never explained what had happened. He simply gave her firm instructions on what to do. "Krasivolkya," he had said, "Never talk back or think back to the voices. Avoid rural areas and forests. Be very wary and in control of yourself during the Full Moon. Keep your instincts and insights to yourself. Do not share them. Promise me." She did.
"And if you ever notice your eyes getting lighter, wear these." And he had given her a special pair of contacts, dyed a light brown, to match her eye color. She had not understood, but she loved her Father, and was an obedient daughter. She saw the fear and anxiety in his eyes that day, and trusted his vast intelligence. He had never led her astray, she had no reason to question. She obeyed, and had obeyed after moving to Moscow and even after he passed away two years ago. Yet she never quite understood.

She had not been aware of any voices since moving to Moscow. She still had insomnia once a month, that seemed to correspond with the full moon, her eyes only lightened on occasion, and when they did, she dutifully wore her contacts. But her sense of people had grown, increased and developed. It had helped her, she knew. Her strange talent for reading people. Sometimes she seemed more prescient of what they were thinking than they themselves were. It had helped her discern those who meant her well, and avoid those who jealously wanted to take her down. What passed for workplace "friends" were cultivated carefully based on her instincts. And more than one enemy or rival had been cowed by her before they could act against her ... All based on her insight and odd sense of "smelling" emotions. She couldn't explain it, and didn't need to. It was a tool she had, and she used it to her advantage. Just as she used every tool at her disposal: her reputation, her looks, her height, her staff; all of it. All were tools to help her get to where she wanted to go, to be who she knew she was destined to be. Tools.

Krasivolkya settled into her leather chair, placed directly in front of her door and in plain sight of the front of the office. She would watch each and every staff member come in. Making eye contact with each one, like a ritual, as they entered. No one escaped her notice. This was her domain. She was Alpha here, and they were her tools. She would hone them, whet them and use them.

The office almost received a second smile from Krasivolkya then. But that would have been out of routine, so she didn't. Instead she began to go through the papers and reports neatly displayed on her desk and credenza, and get to work, waiting for her first staff to arrive, some 45 minutes later.


Edited by Krasivolkya, Jul 28 2013, 08:50 AM.

There hadn't been time for Torri to do more than arrange for the majority of her things to be shipped to Moscow. She didn't own much in the way of personal effects, but it was more than fit in one rucksack, therefore she was lightly laden trekking through the bustling airport walkways. She was of slim build, but she was hardly the imagery of petite delicacy. Anyone to catch her stern eye stepped out of her brisk pace, and a few heads turned to watch as she passed them by, only to later realize the CCD patch on her bag.

Although just now sunset, weary lines rimmed her eyes. She felt unwashed and smothered in the stink of travel. She was hardly a hypochondriac but she was severely looking forward to a shower, fresh hair, and a bloody bed. The last few days consisted of half a night in some DPS office for shipment orders, details, arrangements, paperwork, and administrative shit. Then followed by another day scrambling to arrange for others to take over the sensitive work she was doing at the Berlin Institute for Medical and Virtual Genetics, else the last year and a half of her life would have been completely meaningless. Finally a day of travel. She liked point A and point B; but she hated taking the line in between.

Outside, she hailed a cab and made arrangements to be dropped at a hotel downtown, whatever was within short distance of the Kremlin; yes, quick metro ride would suffice; no, nothing too expensive - she was an army physician, not a bloody billionaire after all. In the meantime, orders were orders, and she had yet to know where she was to be living, which meant: hotel. She could hardly walk into the Kremlin a pale, grumpy and tired version of herself. Besides, she didn't have to report in until 0530. Four or five hours of sleep should be enough. Hopefully. It's not like there was much time to prepare for this sort of thing.