Loving all the locales!  Great stuff everyone :)  Here’s my location pitch, which could be counted for either Old Town or the Starlings:

On the border where Old Town becomes the Starlings is a sprawling shopping complex called Glamour Hills Mall.  This shining monument to commerce is home to a diverse conglomeration of department stores, food courts, acres of parking lots, movie theaters, fashion boutiques, arcades, and anything else that one might wish to spend money on.  The youth of Halcyon City know it simply as ‘the Mall’ and have long treated it as a popular hangout spot and social hub after school and on weekends.  Its popularity has dropped somewhat in recent years with the rise of online shopping, which has led management to try a number of special events to attract consumers, with mixed success.  Big top circus tents and concerts in the summer, ice skating and an artificial holiday village in winter, and employees suited up as cartoon animal mascots and popular super-heroes all year round.


I didn’t really specify this so much, but I was imagining that both the port and Wharftown are near sea level and the Arnault bridge passes over both of them.  On one side of the bridge is the Marina and on the other side is a different district, maybe Marblewood Heights?  A grandiose bridge that allows citizens to pass above the grimy infrastructure and the workers that make the city function, if you didn’t notice the super-subtle metaphor ;P  Also, I’m thinking that the railways that give the Railway District its name would feed into the port, with freight trains carrying shipping containers to and fro!


This may still be TBD, but this leads me to wonder how much of a “big deal” our hero team is as of game-start?  Having our own branded super-HQ feels like we’re a bit more than a scrappy gang of kids operating out of mom’s basement and are established with decent backing of some sort.  Figuring out where we are on that scale would help to decide what kind of location is appropriate.

Krypt, Ah!  More Upper class and Working class in close proximity vying for land space and water space, while the bridge is just a conduit over, as well as in and out of, the area.  On/Off Ramps like vines creeping into Wharftown.

And I'll take this opportunity to use the vague image in my mind to make a place in that area.

The Offices of the Harbour Master:

With such a diverse population of people that may need to seek out the Harbour Master, the Offices of the Harbour Master needed to accommodate more than just a few scrappy sailors needing to know where to park their cargo.  Also, there has been an occasional water based super hero who had to make up for the destruction of the prior offices.  Today, the Offices of the Harbour Master are a large impressive set of 7 buildings rising up out of the land and water.  The main offices and where the officials conduct business are on the water's edge and partially in the water, reinforced metal construction to withstand far more damage, thanks to Dr. Kelp in the 1980's.  Several of the former offices, that is a few of the other buildings, became additional warehouse space for various goods and purposes, some for the city and some not.  These buildings are fenced in with access to the main offices being the best way in and out.  The Offices includes one other building outside the fence for everyone to get to, a combination of bar and grill in the back and fancier restaurant up top, where the bouncers are paid quite well.  "Below Deck" the bar and grill is a place for drinking, darts, and pool.  "The Mast" is for aged wine, soft music, and moonlight views over the harbour.  In both places, cash is often paid under the table.

In reply to Krypt (msg # 10):



That's a really good question! Are we scrappy underdogs, trying to make our city safer, or are we an offshoot from a larger superhero team?

I think it's worth holding off on this (and related "how do we fit into the superhero scene" concerns) until we do the "how the team came together" questions. Those often give a pretty good idea of where the team is coming from and where they're going. My tabletop group, for example, had an "office" in a run-down shopping mall because we were on probation after our initial encounter led to somebody getting killed when a giant robot fell on them.

---

In the Railway District stands the small, gnarled Ash Cat Park. At the tail end of the 19th Century, it was little more than a hangout for firemen (in the "manages the fire in a locomotive" sense). It became a steady enough thing that some of the ash cats planted trees and, most particularly, a hardy species of wild rose. Charmed by the initiative of his employees, the railroad baron Anthony Markham bought the land and donated it to Halcyon City in 1907. Over the long years, it's developed a reputation as both a make-out spot for young lovers and a place for quarrels to be settled violently. Some of the neighborhood residents are convinced it's haunted, which makes it more attractive for both kinds of activity. The wild roses have grown into towering, blooming brambles peppered with unexpected open spaces.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:48, Mon 02 Aug 2021.

The statue of Mighty Midas was supposed to be at the doorway to Marblewood Heights. It should have stood, smiling, hand raised in warm greeting to those entering from the street toward one of the Palasaides in the Park that were the primary construction project of the Marblewood Heights district. A bronze cast of the would-be world saver in full costume, at the height of his powers. Life-sized at nearly eight feet tall, cape and color on, and his golden Ring of Midas gleaming. All stood on a granite pedestal with a plaque dedicating this project to "The working people of Halcyon City, whom we must strive to defend."

Unfortunately, a later planning department decision re-routed traffic to a highway that now hugs that edge of Marblewood, leaving Mighty Midas waving at the back of an onramp and some concrete pillars in what locals call the 'back' of the neighborhood. Walking paths terminate into guard rails and it's so far from heavy truck access that the Department of Sanitation's union contract states the workers don't have to empty the garbage bins. While the city keeps replacing lampposts and lights, neighborhood gangs tear them down with much greater efficiency. The buildings surrounding the park are covered in street art.

Today, the statue of Mighty Midas is well known as a prime spot for locals to settle disputes. That includes local gangs as well as some of the lower rung of supervillains. It's not closely watched by law enforcement and is large enough that most fights can go down without inflicting much in the way of civilian casualties- which is important in that it prevents law enforcement from watching closely. It's also a great spot for well connect people to go if they're looking for information on what's going on in the local supervillain community.

---

I agree about waiting on our potential base until the city is fully fleshed out and we're doing character creation things. I think characters stem from the setting and base stems from the character.

Communities of any variety are a microcosm of society as a whole, where the best and the worst habits of people can come to light.  The innermost neighborhood of The Starlings housing has secluded itself as a gated community called "The Nest"; an even more exclusionary hideaway in an already exclusionary environment.  High walls, tight security, invitation-only housing, and a reputation for being the place in Halcyon City for the wealthy and famous to have a little slice of paradise.  Homes within The Nest are lavish to excess, but never used to flaunt wealth for the world or host extravagant parties; that would only raise the ire of the Home Owner's Association.  The Nest is where the rich and powerful try to find, to their wildly skewed financial perspective, a quaint piece of domestic tranquility away from paparazzi and their business lives.

At the very heart of The Nest is yet another smaller gated community; the proverbial sealed locket within a locked jewelry box within an iron safe.  In this tiny bastion lay only five houses - a tiny neighborhood in and of itself owned by secretive and powerful individuals.  They form a nefarious team who covet property, influence, and expanding their own wealth throughout Halcyon City and beyond; some through purely mundane and frustratingly legal corporate means that follow the letter of the law while spitting on the spirit, some through gangs and mafia ties, others through outright Super Villainy.  These five neighbors see themselves collectively as a villainous organization working together to shape Halcyon City to their whims, though individually dislike and undermine one another in bids for their own power that they rarely manage anything too bad.  If they could ever get their act together and start behaving more like a proper shadowy criminal organization and less like a self-enclosed soap opera, they might pose a genuine threat.  But, for now at least, they hold power over The Starlings with an iron fist.

---

Regarding where our team has their base, it really depends a lot on the nature of the team itself and our individual members.  I was planning on having my character be a part of an already well-established "superhero family" who has their own base of operations, but she'll not be part of it by choice.  So she'd be split between locations.  The same might be the case for others if we have any Proteges or Transformed characters, who might rely on mentors or support for housing.

As always, there's a big difference between whether the team's base is a genuine HQ where they live and work from, or if it's just a place where they commonly meet to congregate.  Like the difference between Titans Tower - https://teentitans.fandom.com/wiki/Titans_Tower and the Youth Center/Juice Bar - https://powerrangers.fandom.co...l_Grove_Youth_Center .
This message was last edited by the player at 22:23, Mon 02 Aug 2021.

Loving all the locations!  I can already see stories coming out of these places and the implied characters that come from them.

Athenry, your writeup on the Nest just gave me a mental image of our teen heroes saving the Starlings from a nefarious HOA that rules the neighborhood with an iron fist, hahaha.  That's probably a bit more jokey than we're going for, but as someone with IRL experience with HOAs it made me laugh :)

Definitely agree that discussions about HQ should wait on discussions of characters and the team, and that eases my worries about getting ahead of ourselves, hehe.  Options will probably present themselves organically once we get a feel for our team and where we all come from :)

I deeply, DEEPLY, want to turn this into a Runaways-style Scion.

I... Might actually do that.

Damnit.

The HoA of the damned? There'd be fun stuff with some of the 2e aspects/destinies to play with, for sure.

Honestly, depending on the scope of the game and its perspective, it could always be a sort of "Codename: Kids Next Door"/"Courage the Cowardly Dog" scenario where the heroes are actually just kids misinterpreting mundane elements of adult life as villainous schemes.  ^^  HOA rules and restrictions can be pretty genuinely tyrannical to begin with.

I kid though.  That might be a fun novelty concept, but this is more about actual superheroics.  But the machinations of various HOA members focusing on their own neighborhood control through elaborate and evil means (ultimately for petty reasons, because that's funny to me) does make for some potential lighthearted sub-plots to enjoy in between major city/country/world saving events.

I was sort of picturing it as a Legion of Doom sort of group; a bunch of various tiers and flavors of villains cooperating for shared interests and convenience rather than genuine loyalty.  Lots of chances for sabotage and internal strife, like if one of the members is the nemesis of one of our Heroes (if not the entire team), but nobody else in the HOA cares and likes making fun of that villain for getting foiled all the time.  ^^


I mean, I'm going for the kid of a superhero family, so someone else on the team being the kid of a supervillain family would make for a pretty interesting dynamic to play around with.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:28, Mon 02 Aug 2021.

I'll put my neck on the line again.  Picking out a line or two from the descriptions as my shorthand notes.

OLD TOWN => Glamour Hills Mall - popular hangout spot and social hub after school and on weekends
PORT HALCYON => The Offices of the Harbour Master - Actual Offices, some warehouses and a restaurant "Below Deck" the bar and grill AND "The Mast" is for aged wine and soft music
MARBLEWOOD HEIGHTS => Statue of Mighty Midas - well known as a prime spot for locals to settle disputes, and information on what's going on in the local supervillain community
THE RAILWAY DISTRICT => Ash Cat Park - a make-out spot for young lovers and a place for quarrels to be settled violently, The wild roses have grown into towering, blooming brambles
THE STARLINGS => The Nest -  a gated community where the rich and powerful try to find a quaint piece of domestic tranquility, and yet another smaller gated community, five neighbors [that] see themselves collectively as a villainous organization

The next step is picking someone else's location, and adding an NPC to it! Ideally, pick a different player to the person who made the neighbourhood you specified. An NPC could be an adult hero, a villain, or... anyone else that might be involved in our teenage characters' lives!

So, I'm an over-achiever I looked back over each of the neighborhood and locations (everything is so rich).  Then I made a slot for each neighborhood location on the order of Heroic.Big, Heroic.Small, Neutral.Big, Neutral.Small, Villainous.Big, and Villainous.Small.  Filling in each slot, I couldn't resist making an extra for Old Town/Glamour Hills Mall.  However, if we want a different tone, I have plenty else to choose from.

Old Town/Glamour Hills Mall => Villainous.Big

Lulu the Orangutan, Criminal Mastermind better known as "Big Orange".  During one of the many ape capers in the history of early Halcyon, Lulu escaped the long arm of the law and somehow gained citizen status.  She'd somehow also avoided jail time for her affiliation with Kolonel Kaiser.  Now she operates out of the top floor of an old office building near the Mercury Building with the help of her pet/assistant/secretary the blonde bombshell Brittany Chalk.  Orange and White Industries (OWI) has their fingers in many pies throughout the city, but the most well known is also one of the least avoided; OWI runs the FYE in Glamour Hills Mall.  "Can I sign you up for membership?  Let's get your information into my computer."

<quote Artexercise>
So, I'm an over-achiever I looked back over each of the neighborhood and locations (everything is so rich).  Then I made a slot for each neighborhood location on the order of Heroic.Big, Heroic.Small, Neutral.Big, Neutral.Small, Villainous.Big, and Villainous.Small.  Filling in each slot, I couldn't resist making an extra for Old Town/Glamour Hills Mall.  However, if we want a different tone, I have plenty else to choose from.

I'd love to see that grid!

Ooh, does this mean we have a budget of 6 NPCs per district? ;D  Speaking of, a lot of the location descriptions reference a bunch of fantastic NPC names that I want to hear more about :)

Using Artexercise's format, here's one from The Starlings/The Nest => Villainous.Small, a small-time antagonist for the youth of today!

Miss Informative is the online alias of popular social media influencer and Hildebrandt H.S. cheerleader, Susan Collins.  She unironically fancies herself Halcyon City's "voice of the community" and is well-known for sharing hot takes on the latest trends, headlines, memes, rumors and anything else that happens to catch her fancy.  Miss Collins is by all accounts not the brightest crayon in the box, but her earnest, feel-good charisma appeals to multitudes of followers who take her proclamations as gospel.  On the surface Miss Informative's content seems innocuous, but it carries an undercurrent of rumor-mongering and misinformation that has led to community unrest and threats against detractors.  A less widely-known fact to which Collins owes her fame, is her supernatural ability to sow confusion and self-doubt in those who hear her voice, which can be used to gain sway over people and cow opposition.  Though Miss Informative herself lacks the shrewdness to use her influence for much more than collecting likes, one shudders to consider what she might accomplish with the guidance of a truly malicious villain!

First aside: I think we can cut the "quarrel settling" from Ash Cat Park. The Midas statue's got that covered (and better), and I think a possibly-haunted park with giant rose brambles that's a romantic spot for the audacious has enough going for it already.

Second aside: I'm a little indifferent to categories for these NPCs, though I am definitely in favor of having things organized.

Now...an NPC! Hero/small for The Harbourmaster's Office

Kyle Wellington puts in long, diligent hours as the Deputy Harbourmaster for Halcyon City. While the Harbourmaster proper makes many of the executive decisions, Mr. Wellington has the dubious responsibility of putting those decisions into action. Fortunately, he's possessed of a good sense for when to be accommodating and when to be as hard nosed as any longshoreman. It helps that he's faced much more dire challenges than the placement of shipping containers in his capacity as Captain Dauntless. Though not necessarily the most famous "captain" in the history of Halcyon City, Dauntless has spent more than two decades keeping the waterfront clear of the worst threats and responding to disasters both natural and villain-made. His iconic costume blends the blue of the old British Royal Navy with more organic fins and flukes. Dauntless's descent from tritons allows him to breathe water, swim swiftly, and operate with greatly increased physical prowess. (Kyle Wellington, meanwhile, is a regular at Halcyon City triathlons.)

The good captain is aging gracefully, but still aging. There's salt in the pepper of his neatly trimmed sideburns and mustache, and he's much more likely to address problems in the Harbour through the power of his office than by punching them.

The Nest - Mid Villain

Hamlin Ellison-Bryce (A.K.A. The Lawyer)
Hamlin Ellison-Bryce doesn't have superpowers. Well, not in the traditional sense. He was inducted into the Book & Bone Society, perhaps the most prestigious secret society within Myskhatonic Law. That's like a superpower. He also graduated near the top of his class, before entering the law firm of Bryce, Ellison & Pierce (some relation). And despite the name, that's not how Hamlin made a name for himself.

Hamlin is the most prominent and successful defense attorney for supervillain activity in Halcyon City. His knowledge of the relevant case law is prolific, he maintains impeccable relationships throughout the legal community, and is generally viewed as model member of the bar. While his win/loss ratio isn't special, he defends some of the biggest names in supervillainy. His wild bill-rate makes it possible for EBP (they changed the name when Hamlin became president) lawyers to donate thousands of hours a year to pro-bono criminal defense cases. In reality, these hours are also compensated- used as a method of providing criminal defense to the stooges and low-level members of super-villain gangs.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Ellison-Bryce family lives in the Nest. There, Hamlin works with and schemes against his neighbors. He's thoroughly aware that, as far as raw power goes, his intellect, network of connections, and public wealth leave him by far the least of the group. However, he's also aware that under the right circumstance, he's critical to the schemes of each and every one of his neighbors. He just needs to engineer their capture.

Hamlin looks like a gin Gibson put on a suit.

Marblewood Heights - Major Villain(?)

Imogen Murphy; Spook
Elusive, rarely seen, and quick to disappear; Imogen Murphy is considered to be a super villain by the law and is heavily pursued by heroes, both mundane and super-powered alike, to answer for a substantial string of kidnappings committed throughout Halcyon City.  Her terror spree began centralized around Marblewood Heights but, over the years, has spread throughout all of Halycon City.  Reports of her being glimpsed around Marblewood Heights abound, indicating she may indeed haunt the area, but investigations have yet to reveal anything conclusive.  If she is there, she's exceptionally good at hiding.

Having been active for over fifteen years by this point, she was originally dubbed "Spook" by the media following the terrified ramblings of a henchman who witnessed her in action describing her as such.  Like a vengeful ghost, Imogen bears an unexplained ability to bypass even the most intense of security measures in pursuit of her target.  She has a running tally of fifty-seven victims, all of whom vanished from their home, place of business, or what they thought to be a safe haven without a trace.  No video record exists of her kidnappings; security cameras spontaneously malfunction as a matter of course at the time of her attacks, and all eyewitnesses to the events yield frightened, inconclusive, contrary explanations as to what they saw happen.

Her method of approach is clear and precise; each of her victims receives a video of her in some medium - introducing herself, revealing that she knows of the crimes and sins that they've worked to conceal, and that she has evidence to prove it to the world.  She offers them 24 hours to come clean publicly and face the consequences of their actions; if they do, she will leave them be so long as justice is carried out.  If they refuse or somehow evade justice through corrupt measures, she will come for them.  To date, nobody has escaped defying her demands no matter how they've attempted to protect themselves or flee, and all the evidence Imogen claimed to have ends up released to the public shortly thereafter to vindicate her.  Where Imogen spirits her victims away to and what fate awaits them once they've fallen into her clutches remains unknown, yet a subject of considerable gossip.

Countless studies and examinations of her actions show that Imogen focuses her efforts on the "untouchable" evils she somehow manages to uncover.  Those who hide behind banners of legality and righteousness, abusing their power and treading on the rights of others, though how she selects who to target over others has yet to be discerned.  She has toppled criminal organizations, brought down corrupt politicians, and even exposed a handful of superheroes who had skeletons in their closets too awful to remain hidden.  Officials and investigating superheroes have all been left baffled by her methods and, while some may harbor grim approval of her purging Halcyon City of some of its worst scum, her style of vigilantism can't ever be condoned.  Public opinion of her remains firmly split down the middle with some praising her as a true force of justice willing to do what superheroes can't or won't to rid the city of its worst elements.  Others see her as a dangerous, hypocritical extremist, arbitrarily targeting whoever she pleases while ignoring other major, obvious threats.  Imogen is considered to be a hated nemesis of people like Hamlin Ellison-Bryce, as she's ruined several of his higher profile cases by supplying damning evidence against villains he'd otherwise previously cleared in court, resulting in a number of his victories being overturned.

Wanted by the law and superheroes, hunted by supervillains and criminal syndicates alike; Imogen Murphy remains a looming threat for those who dread the day they receive a video contact from her.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:42, Wed 04 Aug 2021.

Old Town/Glamour Hills Mall => Villain
* Lulu the Orangutan with Brittany Chalk

The Starlings/The Nest => Villain
* Miss Informative

Port Halcyon/The Harbourmaster's Office => Hero
* Captain Dauntless

The Starlings/The Nest => Villain
* Hamlin Ellison-Bryce (A.K.A. The Lawyer)

Marblewood Heights => Villain?
* Imogen Murphy; Spook

-----
Athenry, your NPC is going to give me real life nightmares.

During the initial write-up, I actually had Spook being a straight-up serial murderer with each of her victims ending up dead rather than just vanished via kidnapping.  I changed course since I realized that adding in outright murder is a bit heavy since I don't know the mood of this game yet (we might be those 'never say die' style of heroes who's enemies always end up just going off to jail).

And, as is always the case, what you don't see is always way scarier than what you do, so simply disappearing her victims to an uncertain fate is much... well, spookier.  :3

She's one of those villains who can sort of be an anti-hero in the right situation, that serves well as a kind of background threat off doing her own thing, a plot hook for other scenarios, or even a potential enemy or ally of our team in different situations.  Who she targets and why could make for some interesting side stories for the team to deal with.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:33, Wed 04 Aug 2021.

Also...
This is what I did for those interested.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
***** Old Town => Glamour Hills Mall
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Heroic.Big => The Micronaut => Ethan Small => Retired from the super hero biz over a decade ago after defeating an evil micro entity, kept his identity a secret.  Now runs the jewelry repair kiosk just outside the food court.
Heroic.Small => Mall Santa => Heath Kilpatrick a.k.a Captain Cork.  Fully retired, he works about 30 to 40 days out of the year spreading joy, but Captain Cork still knows how to fight.

Neutral.Big => Christina Jolly, Owner of Jolly Pirates Arcade.  She controls what games come into the arcade and which go out.  She also has a permanent bouncer in her employ because sometimes the gangs of Halcyon take their disputes to the air hockey table.
Neutral.Small => Roger Smith, Mall Cop.  Mostly a nuisance and never served time as a real police officer.  But he's a fixture of the mall that hates anyone under the age of 25.  Youth!  Even though he himself is only 30.

Villainous.Big => Margaret Starling, Local Dick's Sporting Goods Owner, among other things, one of the 5 in the middle of the Nest.
Villainous.Big => Lulu, Orangutan mastermind "Big Orange" and her human pet/secretary/assistant Brittany Chalk, running business from one of the old towers in Old Town through their corporate front the FYE at The Mall
Villainous.Small => Larson Mead, School Bully from North Halcyon High


***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
***** PORT HALCYON => The Offices of the Harbour Master
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Heroic.Big => Pater Oceanum => Slumbering Sea Dragon, Under forceful Mystical Sleep in the bay... somewhere in the bay.
Heroic.Small => Captain Cork => Mary Kilpatrick, Heath's daughter and current wielder of the majestic cork and hook.

Neutral.Big => Samsom Ulysses Goodman, Former Olympic Weightlifter, Bouncer for "The Mast"  He does his job very well, but tries hard not to hurt anyone.  Still maintains Olympic ideals to the best of his abilities.
Neutral.Small => Joey Nottingham, Homeless Wharf Rat, Orphan and Survivor

Villainous.Big => Mater Oceanum => Slumbering(?) Sea Dragon => In Warehouse mentally controlling the current Harbour Master
Villainous.Small => Tito Jorgez, Gang Leader for the Gutter Cutters


***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
***** MARBLEWOOD HEIGHTS => Statue of Mighty Midas
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Heroic.Big => Super Mario, Mario Hernandez, inexpensive world class plumber, no powers, but there for the people when things break.  Not Italian but has the moustache.  This all around handyman a paragon in this community.
Heroic.Small => Black Loki, Jordan Rails, Operates "Trick's Kitchen" by day

Neutral.Big => Graffiti Artist - Crying Bear, Native American transplant artist on the hunt for Laughing Raven
Neutral.Small => Ophelia Rails, Trying to be like her dad Jordan.  Moving Fast seems to run in the family.

Villainous.Big => Marble Hill Monsters Patron - Laughing Raven, A native American entity brought to life during a dark ritual.  Laughing Raven thrives on mischief and violence among men, waiting for the carnage to subside before swooping in to pick at the bones.
Villainous.Small => Gutter Cutter's Rez Mason, recently found new life the Cutters after fleeing from another city where his old gang there disappeared.


***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
***** THE RAILWAY DISTRICT => Ash Cat Park
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Heroic.Big => Firehouse Local 289 in the Renovated Firehouse of the Railway District, If you've seen the show 9-1-1:Lone Star, You've found the team, but names have been changes... to protect copywright laws.
Heroic.Small => Alyssa Quetzalcoatl, Descendent of an ancient god, but really just wants to skateboard in the park, she does what she can when she sees it.

Neutral.Big => Master Sound's Record Store, Master Sound is a retired villain.  Part of his community service expectations once he got out of jail.  Found out that selling tunes for a decent price was a lot less painful and less dangerous than fighting superheroes.  And at 71, it's good business to use past infamy to drive business just a little bit.
Neutral.Small => Spectral Cats, Among the tower roses in the park, ghostly forms of cats have been reported.  Sometimes they frighten and sometimes they act loving, but is there something more?

Villainous.Big => Mama Scry, Ruth Tallimuri runs a tarot reading and fortune telling shop just outside of the park.  She never goes in the park for fear of the ghosts.  Hardly anyone ever goes into her shop, but she's never short on cash, and a keen eye can tell she has expensive tastes.
Villainous.Small => The Thorn Gardener, a villain with a plant manipulation and poison ability.  Not sure who he is, but rumor is, he has a day job and that's why we don't hear more from the thief that operates in the area.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
***** THE STARLINGS => The Nest
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Heroic.Big => Retired Vampire Hunter Viktor Murembe
Heroic.Small => The Paper Boy, how does the kid do it?!?!?!?

Neutral.Big => Officer Marsha Biggs, Nest Patroller
Neutral.Small => Vance Marinski, Haunted Teen

Villainous.Big => Dunder Sign, Alien living at the edge of the Starlings controlling Lawrence Starling, one of the 5
Villainous.Small => Dunder Plurality, Alien living at the edge of the Starlings, has a thing for gas station food, petty thief.

OMG y'all, I so love all this juicy setting detail!

• I adore Lulu the orangutan boss and the fact that the city has a history of ape hooliganism!  Comic book nonsense of the best sort, hahaha
• Captain Dauntless the crusty old triton seaman sounds like a lovely ally.  I picture him with a corncob pipe :)
• The Lawyer is cool, because even if the game doesn't go into a courtroom this guy creates a possibility to meet villains who have been officially "cleared of wrongdoing," which could make for fun interactions where we know they're up to something but can't prove it!
• Bigtime spooky vibes from Spook, and I like how it could be arguable whether she's a villain or a hero.  Reminds me of Rorschach from Watchmen, or Kira from Death Note!  Also, Imogen is one of my favorite names ever.
• Artexercise, what a fantastic cast of characters!  Just those short blurbs are enough to make me want to know more.  Gang wars over air hockey at the mall?  Slumbering sea dragons?  Super Mario?!  Native American graffiti artist hunting monsters from folklore?  Retired vampire hunter?!  What the heck, how cool is all that! :D

Amazing work, everybody :)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:03, Wed 04 Aug 2021.

These were obviously the springboard for the "no secret superscience" origin for the Bull. I'd like to tweak these a little--Mater Oceanum/Ibu Laut would still be sleeping, perhaps trying to manipulate the Harbourmaster through dreams. There's a cult that has/had at least one underwater base working on waking up Ibu Laut.

That maybe reduces Pater Oceanum to a rumor, and perhaps not an entirely benevolent one. People think he might be a counterbalance to Mater Oceanum, but aren't certain.

I love the idea of a cthuloid presence secretly controlling the harbourmaster!

Because the cafe Isabella works at should be established as a location, and because it may end up being a regular hangout for the team, here we go!

"Violet's Curio Cafe" - The Starlings
Located on the corner of a street that bridges the transition between the yuppy part of The Railway District and the earliest reaches of The Starlings neighborhoods, "Violet's Curio Cafe" is a three-story office building that's become a popular hangout for locals.  It's in the perfect spot to be just en route to two different high schools, ensuring it always has a steady stream of teens looking to get their caffeine and sugar fix at any given time of the day.  Naturally the ideal location is greatly coveted by corporate efforts, while the cafe itself has a lot of its appeal in thumbing its nose at them and specifically catering to locals, the unfortunate, and those in need of help with below-reasonable prices, a soup kitchen run every weekend, and hefty donations to deserving charities.

The first level of the building has been renovated into a bright and tidy coffee shop and bakery with a trendy, modern aesthetic.  Lots of open space, free floating tables and stools, flat screen televisions at every corner, pop music playing over the speakers, and free-play arcade games lining the far wall.  Naturally this is where most teens hang out or hurry through in their mornings.  Many local teens find gainful employment working at the cafe for their first jobs as they're allowed very flexible schedules, plenty of free food, and exceptional benefits for part-time work.

The second level is a more sedate, controlled environment; also a cafe, but with an older aesthetic more akin to a cross between a library and a speakeasy.  Dim, cozy, and eminently comfortable; it's loaded with overstuffed chairs and sofas, hard wood floors, and slow jazz idly playing from a vintage record player on the bar counter.  Unlike the clean modern look downstairs, this level is loaded with memorabilia of Halcyon City's greatest heroes to such a degree that it could be called "charmingly cluttered".  Despite the more exclusive feel of this level, it's open to the public and anyone can wander upstairs as they please so long as they can respect the calmer atmosphere.  The entrance to the second level is outside via a wrought iron fire escape stairwell, for the sake of style and to keep foot traffic in ground-floor cafe down.  This level is more commonly frequented by adults, especially those looking for a bit of refuge from their busy lives, and is particularly favored by members of the Halcyon City Police, quite a few low-tier Superheroes, and even the occasional low-tier Super Villain.  The cafe is widely known as being a neutral ground, though nobody is exactly certain how this is maintained; just that it is, and woe be to anyone who breaks the unspoken truce.

The third level is private and closed off under a fair amount of security.  It serves as the home of the building's owner and proprietor; Violet Maehughs, formerly Halcyon P.D. Detective Maehughs; aka "The Violet Curio".  In her heyday, The Violet Curio was a non-powered, street-level superhero who made her name as a defender of the common Joe little guy who risked getting crushed under the wheels of progress, using detective skills and a mean right-hook to mete out justice.  Presently, Violet has retired from the force and superheroics, became a mother and grandmother alike (having married a formerly villainous rival - The Black Knight - whom she had a steamy will-they-won't-they relationship with in their youth), and has opened a cafe mostly as a hobby.  Violet regularly appears on-site herself to help out and is always happy to share stories of her old adventures, gossip about Heroes and Villains, and otherwise be a doting granny to anyone who will allow her.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:33, Tue 10 Aug 2021.