Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business The Legion of Arcane Champions!

Imagine an Earth where sorcery is dominant, and science has been all-but dismissed. The world is very different, but there will always be room for a Legion!

The Founders Three;

Garth Ryan and his twin sister Ellie were dragged by their older brother Mark to the Sgurr Dearg, a reputedly ‘unclimbable’ mountain in their native Skye, avoided due to it’s frequent and unseasonable storms. Mark had been bullied at school, and came to the conclusion that he could craft a fearsome blasting wand from the lightning-touched wood and stone to be gathered at this treacherous place, and when his siblings threatened to tell on him, grudgingly allowed them to ‘tag along’ on his dangerous expedition. Reaching the peak, as only stubborn children could, they encountered the storm giantess Angorabord, who had spent centuries guarding this peak and it’s innate mystical connection to the forces of the storm. Lonely and more than a little daft, Angorabord took a fancy to young Mark, and told him in no uncertain terms that she desired his companionship. Understandably unswayed by her blandishments, Mark attempted to flee, provoking her into such a rage that she hurled bolts of thunder and lightning at them, attempting to blast the source of her frustrations from the face of her mountain. Mark, Garth and Ellie had already gathered assorted components for their ‘blasting wands,’ and by some strange fluke, the storm-touched magical components, combined with the strange magics of this unique place, cause the power of the storm giantesses thunderbolts to pass harmlessly into the children and be absorbed, filling their young bodies with the power of the storm. Taken aback by this development, and regarding it as an omen, Angorabord sent great winds to sweep the children from her presence, depositing them as gently as down at the bottom of the mountain. Mark has gone on to use his new mastery of lightning to become a greater thug than any who had terrorized him in school, while young Garth found himself using his new talents to protect a powerful man during an unusual situation, and recruited into a newly formed Legion of Arcane Champions. As of yet, Ellie remains home, assisting her family in running the family farm, yet she also chafes to flee the nest and stretch her wings. For her part, Angorabord has come to think of the lightning-empowered Ryan children as her own children, in some bizarre sense, and listens to whispers on the wind of their accomplishments, being as proud in her own way by Marks acts of rebellion as Garths acts of heroism. Ellie, as of yet, has been a disappointment to this ‘step mother,’ but the day is coming that she too will make her mark, and Angorabord will have reason to be proud of her as well.

The unique mystical lightning hisses and coils around the young Ryans, behaving much like serpents of energy, slithering through the air to deliver a devastating 'bite.'

Emma Arden was born to proud parents in Sweden, her mother a seithr mind-witch, part of a powerful all-female police force in her native lands, who used their mastery of the minds of others to keep their formerly warlike male populace comfortably engaged in less belligerent pursuits, their aggressions safely channeled in various competitive sports and games of chance. Emma showed the potential to be the most powerful mind-witch seen in a generation, and she was taken from her parents at the tender age of four to begin her training. (Her own mother, a mind-witch of some skill, hadn’t begun training until the traditional teen years.) Emma wore her uniform with pride, but was quite bored with her duties, as the menfolk of the northern lands had been conditioned over generations, and rarely required someone of her talents to keep them under control. And so, when a group of violent male separatists fled to the new colonies in America to spread their misogynistic ways, she managed to secure the assignment to fetch them home. It was on the great ship Leviathan, sailing across the Atlantic, that she ‘overheard’ a plot to kill a powerful European shipping magnate, and after foiling this act with the help of two other passengers, was able to finesse a role in this new ‘Legion of Arcane Champions.’ She managed to convince her fellow seithr that it would be in the best interests of her people to keep an eye on this collection of foreign arcanists, as a new power-group that might find its interests in conflict with those of her homeland.

The seithr training makes young Emma a powerful mind-witch, able to see the secrets all any her gaze falls upon, and twist their thoughts so that they end up doing her bidding, speaking without words into their very souls.

Rocco Carinni was a mercenary, working for whichever Italian city-state would hire his company to harry whatever other Italian city-state was competing with them this season. It was on campaign that he located a suit of enchanted armor and an enchanted blade of great power, gear that flew to his hand and adorned itself on his body with a mere act of will, and served to deflect incoming blows while striking with brutal force. Using this enchanted equipment, he carved a name for himself and rose to prominence in the city of Genoa, becoming a celebrated champion of the city. Captured by mercenaries from Pisa, who drugged him through subterfuge, knowing that they could not defeat him by force of arms, he was held in that city for ransom from the Genoans. An arcanist serving the Doge of Pisa determined that his power flowed from his enchanted armaments and had them melted down and destroyed, thinking that even after the Genoans paid handsomely for his safe return, his power would still be denied them. The plan went awry when the enchantments fled the destroyed metal and flowed into the imprisoned Rocco, imparting him with the ability to summon and manipulate any metal at range, including the mail worn by the guards of his prison, whom he trapped within their own armor, freeing himself and returning to Genoa with a hostage of his own, the smitten daughter of the Doge of Pisa! Sent to the new territories to secure lands for an Embassy, Rocco was one of the three young people who ended up foiling an assassination attempt on a man widely thought to be the richest man in all of Europe, if not the known world! Not wishing to anger such a man (and offered a staggering value in trade concessions) the Doge of Genoa agreed to ‘lend’ Rocco’s services to this man, as founder of a new ‘Legion of Arcane Champions.’

He still wears metal of armor, and usually carries a few weapons of metal as well, but is likely to seize weapons from all who face him with his mastery of metals.

Other Legionnaires (I haven't come up with names for all of them yet, so many just use their Legion names);

Blok – envoy from Gaia, peaceful, thoughtful, ponderous earth elemental.

Star of the Dawn – said to be the angel who guides travelers to that which they seek, although she appears to be one of the natives of these lands across the sea.

Wildfire – fire elemental, confined within a set of mystical armor that allows him to walk as a man.

Brainiac the Fifth – from hidden Atlantis, this green skinned youth is a 12th rank arcanist (the most prominent arcanists of the rest of the world are only 5th rank!) and is not afraid to let others know how primitive and superstitious their rites and practices truly are. Fortunately for the rest of the world, Atlanteans are pacifists and (mostly) recluses, so while Brainiac can call up the strongest warding spell known, able to stymie rampaging dragons, or even the scion of the Sun God himself, he does not generally use offensive magic. He is known to have created the Orichalum bands that allow the Arcane Champions to soar through the skies, as well as being associated with the Translation Elixers and Adaptive Potions used by his teammates as well (despite not having crafted those last two items...).

Ferrous – an Iron Golem, who has outlived his creator by centuries.

The Philosopher – young man, or at least in appearance, with the ability to transmute elements at a touch, like a living Philosopher’s Stone, he and Ferrous know each other from some unspecified past history, and do not often spend time in each others company willingly.

The Colossus – a Grecian of giantish blood, able to stand as a (large) man, or awaken the blood of his ancestors to grow tall as a keep tower, with the strength of a titan.

Ka – El – the only son of the God of the Sun himself, able to gaze upon someone with the fires of the sun, fly high in the noon-day sky, and possessing the strength and endurance one would expect of a demigod.

Umbra – an unseelie fae of dubious morality, sent by the Queen of Air and Darkness for her own unfathomable reasons, able to call up darkness from the Night Courts of the unseelie realm. Strange things are said to occur within her areas of darkness, and none escape unchanged...

Dreamer – a gypsy possessed of ‘the sight’ she is mistress of all forms of divination, and also a talented dancer and taker-of-things-that-do-not-belong-to-her.

Phantasm – the restless spirit of a maiden who died before her time, yet retains an unnatural connection to the living world.

Emerald Dragon – a young man who miraculously slew a dragon, gaining great fame in the process, and also great power, as the blood of beast soaked into his skin and allows him to tap the strength of it’s limbs, it’s scaly hide, it’s great wings, it’s keen senses or it’s fiery breath, although only one at a time. The only thing he does better than 'adventuring,' is boasting later in taverns of his exploits.

Lone Wolf – a lycanthrope, Bairn Lond has learned to control (just) the feral beast that rages within him. Avoid him on nights when the moon is full.

Chameleon – a doppelganger, using his morphic form to live openly, unlike the rest of his furtive and secretive people (who hate him for proving that they exist!). While a natural actor and master of disguise, Chameleon has something of a 'chip on his shoulder,' and retains an inhuman face when not using his disguise abilities in Legion service, challenging others with his frightening 'true face.'

Shrinking Violet – a miniscule fae, with strength and durability all out of proportion to her speed, she also has wings and can move quite swiftly and stealthily when she wishes.

Karate Kid – a rival mercenary recruited by Rocco after much debate, possessed of no arcane might, but skilled in all sorts of weaponry and unarmed combat techniques, the ultimate warrior, prone to using weapons and techniques that his foes don’t even recognize, and are ill-prepared to face, often from far-away lands indeed.

Princess Projectra – touched by fae as a child, this royal child has taken on fae features (which she conceals with her magics) and has mastered many magics related to illusions and glamour, making her tied with Emma Arden for second-most potent arcanist in the Legion (with Brainiac the Fifth taking the lead, obviously).

Tyroc – son of a human fisherman and a dread siren of the seas, this young man can utter soothing melodies that calm the savage beast, or keens that sunder stone.

Invisible Kid – one of the middling mages in the Legion of Arcane Champions, Lyle crafted a unique spell that allows him to go unnoticed by any form of sensation, mundane or mystical. He currently curries favor with Atlantean Brainiac, hoping to learn skills far in advance of his own rudimentary teachings. As he is entirely self-taught, he is finding it easier to adapt to the alien Atlantean magical workings, much to Brainiac's surprise... He will quickly join the ranks of the team's top arcanists, perhaps even surpassing Emma and the Princess, if they do not step up their studies!

Duo Damsel – changeling child who can summon up her doppelganger ‘twin’ for mischief, as they remain aware of all that happens, the Damsels tend to spend their time split between European and New World branches, being a most effective coordinator for the team. She can pull herself through the fae realms in an instant (she is not welcome to stay there, however!) and either of her forms can summon the other in the blink of an eye, in time of need. (She will need to resort to more mundane means to get her selves back on seperate continents.)

Tellus – aquakinetic and telepathic dolpin, empowered by atlantean sorcery, thought at first to be a servant or pet of Brainiac the Fifth, but later found to be as intelligent as any man, and quite free-willed!

Alchemical King – able to create acids and explosives and healing elixirs with a touch, also seems to have some sort of relationship with the ageless Philosopher, but not nearly so adversarial as the one with Ferrous.

So would Dreamer have a sister known as the White Scientist?

Silver Scientist (just to be alliterative), from New Salem, originally a 'ghetto' like community for those with no magical talent, often expatriates from Old Europe. There they use strange 'machines' for everything, pumping water up from the ground and using wind-powered mills to grind grains, as well as more advanced machines involving steam and combustion. The Silver Scientist wears a sleek (armored) trench-coat and carries a pair of steel six-shooters on her hips.

I must've forgotten to post that one.

Gates - Considered the Insectoid familiar of Brainiac the Fifth. Every Atlantean familiar has a unique magical property. Gates' magical property is one of transportation. In addition to insectoid familiars, there are mammialian, avian, aquatic, and protean familiars. All familiars possess the ability to speak, but because there are non-familiar versions of their species, familiars are not considered sentient. Gates has started a political movement to recognize the sentience of familiars and grant them basic civil rights.

Neat twist for Gates, I hadn't even considered the idea of Familiars!

Which will create a reason why the Emerald Empress might have a Tizzles...

Emerald Empress – Sarah Ventner wanted to be a powerful sorceress, and her dad had a lot of magical talent, but she seemed to be a ‘mundane.’ He alternately condescended to and pampered his ‘special girl’ (special as in ‘short bus,’ a magically impotent person being considered effectively crippled in their society), and dismissed her mundane accomplishments in athletics and scholarship (which, in both cases, lacking magical talent, had her competing in the equivalent of the ‘special Olympics’), showering all of his attention on other children from other families (one of which, she later learned, was his illegitimate child by an old flame). And so when her father fell to arcane espionage from a bitter rival, and was left bed-ridden at home, unable to tap his own once-great powers, he found his lovely daughter to be an unsympathetic nursemaid, at best. His medical advisors were at a loss as to why his own power was not restoring, as they had fought off the curse, and he should be up and casting spells with the best of them, but he just seemed to continue to deteriorate. Sarah blossomed in this time, having learned how to siphon her fathers arcane might through alchemical means that she had uncovered in her studies, and when his end finally came, she denied him even that final escape, secreting away his head, face frozen in a grimace of anguish, lacquered forever in a green salve of her design that allowed her to keep ‘daddy’ around forever, his power and arcane training available for her own use.

She managed to keep it secret for over a year, with many young suitors smitten with the enchanting young heiress of a great magical tradition, now blossomed apparently into an arcanist suitable of wooing, that they might add her bloodline to their own family’s strengths. But she encouraged some of her suitors to come by night, in secret, and not tell their families of their forbidden liaisons, and some of those young men had power that impressed her sufficiently that she slipped them an alchemical tea, and while they lay paralyzed, sawed off their heads and added them to her collection, carefully hiding the bodies away in the cellars of her estate.

Caught out by a young suitor who escaped before the tea fully incapacitated him, she fled before a squad of authorities arrived, taking only her collection of severed heads, which now orbited her person like spectral advisors, each unwillingly lending their power and skills to her service. Denied her family estate, she grew bitter, and with the power of a half-dozen arcanists, and most potently, her father, she struck back at the society that had scorned her for being born powerless, and held her back. In her paranoia, she had come to the conclusion that her own father had somehow bound her powers away, to fuel his own so-called mastery of magic, and that she was only taking back what was hers by birthright. She began to stalk the night, seeking other arcanists to add to her collection, but found that there was a practical limit of five heads that she could coordinate at once. And so she seeks out only the most powerful arcanists, hoping to add their heads to her collection, replacing one of her lovestruck suitors of old.

And if she succeeds in her wildest ambitions, to take the head of Brainiac the Fifth, she will just as readily replace ‘daddy’s’ head as well…

The Devourer - Tenzil Kem was a happy-go-lucky kid of only minor magical abilities. Tenzil was also known for his voracious appetite and willingness to eat anything on a dare. Tenzil was well liked by all the neighborhood kids, except for the new kid, Mano from Angtu. Mano was jealous of Tenzil's popularity. Mano dared Tenzil to eat 13 pies in 15 minutes. The pies had been enchanted by Mano with an old Angtuian spell normally used for trash disposal. Mano hoped that the spell would dispose of Tenzil. Instead the spell transferred into Tenzil's mouth. Now anything Tenzil puts into his mouth is disintergrated and the energy is absorbed into his body.

Tenzil would like to have this power taken away because now he can no longer taste his food. But so far all attempts to remove the spell have been unsuccessful.