Atlas of Earth Prime
Atlas of Earth Prime
Mutants & Masterminds 3e
Zombie: Duval is not averse to creating zombies, but he finds them distasteful. Baron Samedi also has various magical powers. He can animate the dead, exert some control over the minds of the living, command reptiles, and create clouds of smoke or pitch darkness. These are innate abilities for him, not just mortal sorcery. He’s never without some zombie henchmen at hand, and is always creating more.
La Cathédrale de la Douleur, The Cathedral of Pain: Throughout Quebec, particularly in times of struggle and strife, a ghostly cathedral has appeared on a hill outside various communities. Its melancholy bell strikes a note of doom, drawing visitors against their better judgment, and many who enter its beautiful stained glass doors do not return. This is la Cathédrale de la Douleur, “the Cathedral of Pain”, built in the 18th century in Quebec City. Originally just a beautiful church, it became infamous as a center of cruelty by the infamous Soeur Madeleine in the early 19th century, who used it as the center of a brutal cult. Destroyed by champions in the service of the Church in 1808, Soeur Madeleine vowed that even death would not halt her campaign to purify Upper Canada (the former name for the southern portion of what is now Ontario) of its sins, and she’s made good on that vow ever since.
La Llorona: The legend of the Weeping Woman has many versions throughout Mexico and even extending into the Latino communities in the United States. The basics of the legend speak of a woman who killed her own children, sometimes to protect them, other times out of jealousy, eventually killing herself to then haunt the streets of whatever city the tale is told, crying out for her dead children.
In Ciudad Juarez, the urban legend came true. One week after the body of Lydia Vasquez, a local factory worker, was found next to the bodies of her two young daughters, an American tourist was also found dead together with a couple of local thugs. The coroner declared that the three of them had died of cardiac arrest and severe tissue damage resembling frostbite. The rumors of La Llorona’s return spread quickly, as well as sightings and the terrifying echoes of her cry of “Ay, mis hijos!”(translation, “Oh, my children!”)
La Llorona is the ghost of Lydia Vasquez and is a very, very angry spirit. She is attracted to sites where innocents have been murdered and seeks retribution.
Count Karol Duval, Vampire: ?
Vampire Thrall: ?
Tepalcatli: A few years ago, an aging shaman went to the ruins, seeking a way to protect Palo Santo from the encroaching forces that threatened to engulf it. The rite he enacted was supposed to bring forth a champion, but he made a mistake during the ritual, and instead what he brought was a new age of darkness.
The shaman brought back from death a lowly member of one of the warring cartels as an undead creature. With one foot in the land of the living and the other on the road to Mictlan, the Nahua underworld, this man had an uncanny understanding of the power of Death.
Once named Mauricio Villa, this small time crook was accidentally brought back to life with the knowledge and power of Death magic.
Undead: It is very possible the Santa Muerte cult could create powerful undead minions or sorcerers at some point.
Chiloé seems to also be the focal point of the Caleuche, a ghost ship who sails the nearby waters and is crewed by the souls of the drowned.
Captain Blood: Jonathan “Bloody Jack” Carter was one of the most infamous pirates of the 17th century Caribbean, crossing swords with the legendary Crimson Corsair himself. The success of “Captain Blood” came to an end when he crossed a Voodoo priestess, who cursed him to know darkness, death, servitude, and to never know rest. It wasn’t long thereafter that the Black Plunder went down with all hands on board to a dark and watery grave.
It didn’t remain so, however. Baron Samedi, seeking to plague his foe Siren, used the power of the curse upon Captain Blood and his ship to raise both the vessel and its crew from the briny depths. Now a ghost ship with a ghostly crew, the Plunder was initially bound to Baron Samedi’s service, but Captain Blood eventually wormed his way free with Siren’s less-than-willing aid.
Zombie Master: Unlike his immortal foe, however, Maitre Carrefour has begun to feel the effects of his age. Although he remains healthy, time has taken its toll: his hair has gone white, his once-tall form bent. Some of the sorcerer’s more recent schemes have concerned ways to restore his lost youth or, perhaps, if left with no other means to stave off death, how to become a true “zombie master” by joining the ranks of the undead.
Ghost Pirate: Jonathan “Bloody Jack” Carter was one of the most infamous pirates of the 17th century Caribbean, crossing swords with the legendary Crimson Corsair himself. The success of “Captain Blood” came to an end when he crossed a Voodoo priestess, who cursed him to know darkness, death, servitude, and to never know rest. It wasn’t long thereafter that the Black Plunder went down with all hands on board to a dark and watery grave.
It didn’t remain so, however. Baron Samedi, seeking to plague his foe Siren, used the power of the curse upon Captain Blood and his ship to raise both the vessel and its crew from the briny depths. Now a ghost ship with a ghostly crew, the Plunder was initially bound to Baron Samedi’s service, but Captain Blood eventually wormed his way free with Siren’s less-than-willing aid.
Ernesto Che Guevara, Ghost: Three years later, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, one of the two major figures in the Cuban revolution, who had gone to Bolivia to mount a guerrilla movement, was killed with help from America’s C.I.A. It’s said his ghost still wanders the place where he was executed, and time-traveling heroes identify his death as a focal point in history from which many alternate timelines branch away.
Ghost: In the windswept wastes of Iceland stands the Helka Volcano, active since the 1100s and even as recently as 2000, it is again on the verge of eruption. If the fear of this imminent disaster wasn’t already enough for the people of Iceland to contemplate, folklore has long said that the volcano is guarded by a coven of witches and somewhere in its fiery depths lies a gateway to hell. The tales refer to an original group of witches, long since dead, that guarded the volcano and its gateway for fear of what was on the other side. All of them had been brought to the volcano by visions that had plagued their dreams for years before. They lived in that desolate wasteland until old age and illness took them. With every eruption, they feared the arrival of something dark and evil, but it never came to pass while they lived.
After they passed, the site lay unguarded for centuries, it’s hidden dangers long forgotten, but recently the secret of the volcano was finally rediscovered by cultists of the Eightfold Web and they’ve moved to Helka. The portal wasn’t a gateway to hell, it took travellers anywhere they wished if they knew the way. The cultists used it to open a way to Verecia, the parallel Earth containing Freedoms Reach so they could unite two aspects of the spider god, Raknis, from Earth, and Rakna, from Verecia). With its mind on both sides of the dimensional divide working towards the same goal it was easy for spider god to send agents to Helka volcano and Hell’s Forge in anticipation of the next eruption—which is when the link between the two worlds was weakest. That time is imminent and Raknis’ scheme to swarm first Earth-prime with his monstrous followers, and then Freedom Reach with technologically superior ones is on the verge of fruition. Unfortunately for Raknis, something it didn’t prepare for may disrupt the plan. Ghostly apparitions have been spotted in the area, described by all who have seen them to be the witches of legend, each one calling for help to combat a foe they can no longer overcome in their weakened state.
Near the meeting of the Tsavo and Athi Rivers in western Kenya, there is a site in the Tsavo region the history of which is drenched in blood. Once along the old slave trade pathways, it eventually became the site of British efforts to build a railroad across Africa. In 1898, a pair of man-eating lions attacked and killed over a hundred workers and other victims in the region before they were killed by Col. John Paterson, the Irish engineer tasked with building a bridge for the railroad. Some locals believed these two lions, unmated males who hunted in pairs and often didn’t even bother to eat their kills, were evil spirits or demons. Paterson and his fellow Europeans laughed off these claims. They really should have listened too the legends.
The Tsavo man-eaters were physically lions, but the beasts were spirits driven to madness and murder. They were instilled with a love of endless slaughter by the violence and suffering of the people suffering due to slavery, imperialism, inter-tribal conflicts, and other tragedies. Whether the spirits were once ghosts of mortals, animal, nature spirits, or something else entirely, is unknown. However, by the time they began their reign of terror in 19th century Kenya, they were powerful and relentlessly malevolent ghosts.
New Knight of Malta: In truth, the Knight is not any one person, but a kind of supernatural energy or presence that occupies different Maltese citizens as hosts, granting them particular powers and an innate sense of what needs to be done with them. Thus far, the Knight has always chosen well (assuming it is a choice at all): Everyone who has wielded its power has proven worthy, and it has been a lifechanging experience for many of them.
Esmeralda: An intelligent robot created by Lemurian science and powered by alchemical magic,
Crimson Mask, Vampire: Eventually Báthory was betrayed and killed by Alexandru Movila, a minor sorcerer who served Báthory. Dracula rewarded Movila as a traitor deserves, but using his mystical powers and sheer willpower, Movila managed to stave off death, and now roams the world as a vile magician called Crimson Mask.
Dracula, Vampire Lord: Dracula was transformed not by a mere Romani, but by an Urma (a “gypsy fairy,” one obsessed with power and night). Vlad, betrayed by his own brother and corrupt Hungarians, willingly rejected all that is good and holy for dominion over blood and darkness. He became not just a vampire, but a vampire lord.
Nosferatu: ?
Hansel, Hannes Hendrik, Vampire: In retaliation, the vampire turned Hendrik’s young siblings Hannes and Gerda into the undead monsters later known as Hansel and Gretel of the Fable Gang.
Gretel, Gerda Hendrik, Vampire: In retaliation, the vampire turned Hendrik’s young siblings Hannes and Gerda into the undead monsters later known as Hansel and Gretel of the Fable Gang.
Erszebet Báthory: Dracula was later impressed by the sadism and cruelty of young Erszebet Báthory, eventually transforming her into a vampiric queen.
Lenore, Raven's Flame, Vampire: ?
Aswang: ?
Tlaciques: ?
Upir: An upir is a regular person who wasn’t properly buried (or couldn’t have been—suicides, heretics, murderers, unbaptized children, for example), and as such was a good target for demonic possession. A dark spirit replaced the weak and frayed soul of the possessed, and it came back to life hungering for blood.
Nosferatu, literally “plague carrier,” are creepy, deformed monstrosities. They retain most of their human intellect, but few ambitions beside survival. Apart from a Weakening attack they have also an Affliction that spreads contagious disease. Some of a nosferatu’s victims might become upirs or nosferatu even without being bitten.
Ghul: An upir is a regular person who wasn’t properly buried (or couldn’t have been—suicides, heretics, murderers, unbaptized children, for example), and as such was a good target for demonic possession. A dark spirit replaced the weak and frayed soul of the possessed, and it came back to life hungering for blood. In the Middle East they’re called ghuls.
Lilim: Lilims are supposedly descendants of Lilith, the queen of demons.
Nosferatu: Nosferatu, literally “plague carrier,” are creepy, deformed monstrosities. They retain most of their human intellect, but few ambitions beside survival. Apart from a Weakening attack they have also an Affliction that spreads contagious disease. Some of a nosferatu’s victims might become upirs or nosferatu even without being bitten.
Vampire: A mortal infused with vampiric blood or a dark curse can also become a dhampir—or even a full-fledged vampire!
Hellscreamer: Murdered by a rival, death-metal musician Kgosi “King Screamer” Bamalete was offered a second chance at life by agreeing to become an agent of supernatural retribution, punishing the wicked for their crimes.
The identity of the entity that resurrected Hellscreamer and gave him superhuman abilities is currently a mystery. It could be a demon, forgotten god, or powerful mystical hero or villain.
Light Ghost: One of the mystics that owed their knowledge to Emperor Rudolf’s curiosity was Honza (John) Krisov, professor at the University of Prague, student of the occult, one of the last members of ancient Order of Light, and a minor talent in his own right. When the Nazis rose to power in Germany, Honza was visiting his close friend Helmut Shaal to inquire about the unusual talents of his children. And on the fateful Kristallnacht, the Nazi’s attacked him and his family. Their powers weren’t enough to protect them, but he gave his life in a ritual that awakened the powers of the Light-bearers within his family. Krisov still exists… in a way. Sophie sometimes claimed that she heard his wise advice. In fact, Krisov was transformed into some kind of “light ghost.” He still exists, but he needs a strong purpose to latch onto in order to grant his host powers.
Tsavo: Near the meeting of the Tsavo and Athi Rivers in western Kenya, there is a site in the Tsavo region the history of which is drenched in blood. Once along the old slave trade pathways, it eventually became the site of British efforts to build a railroad across Africa. In 1898, a pair of man-eating lions attacked and killed over a hundred workers and other victims in the region before they were killed by Col. John Paterson, the Irish engineer tasked with building a bridge for the railroad. Some locals believed these two lions, unmated males who hunted in pairs and often didn’t even bother to eat their kills, were evil spirits or demons. Paterson and his fellow Europeans laughed off these claims. They really should have listened too the legends.
The Tsavo man-eaters were physically lions, but the beasts were spirits driven to madness and murder. They were instilled with a love of endless slaughter by the violence and suffering of the people suffering due to slavery, imperialism, inter-tribal conflicts, and other tragedies. Whether the spirits were once ghosts of mortals, animal, nature spirits, or something else entirely, is unknown. However, by the time they began their reign of terror in 19th century Kenya, they were powerful and relentlessly malevolent ghosts.
When Paterson killed the lions the spirits bound to them were dispersed, but not destroyed. At times over the next century, the spirits returned to possess the living in various places, each time taking over humans whose souls were weakened by madness, greed, sin, or evil. The spirits grow in power with each possession; all the blood they spill on their rampages makes them ever stronger and shortens the time needed before they can once again possess the living. As they’ve become more powerful, they’ve learned to twist, warp, and transform their hosts into a terrifying mix of man and beast. These monsters are now known simply as the Tsavo, which means “slaughter” in the Kamba language. They don’t always appear in Kenya, or even Africa, but they are tied to the place of their “birth,” and it is likely they cannot be truly destroyed unless someone can discover a way to purify the part of the region where they first began their murderous existence.
Pizrak Smekh: ?
Maemd Hiw: The spirit known as Maemd Hiw used to live life as a teenaged girl, but she was murdered by human traffickers and her soul remained on Earth–Prime.
Aquatic Skeleton: ?
Aquatic Zombie: ?
