Mutants & Mastermind Presents – “Astonishing Tales of Centropolis”
OOC Thread
Rogue's Gallery
[sblock=Centropolis]
Welcome to Centropolis City
A brief history of Centropolis…
Founded in 1848 by prospectors looking for gold and silver in western Nebraska, they settled on the southern banks of the Platte River to explore into the hills of the surrounding area. Enough deposits were found that the city grew rapidly. By the 1880’s it was also a major destination for cattle drives and a number of small and mid-sized slaughterhouse plants were formed.
Centropolis would have remained a small frontier boom town has it not be for the discovery of Unobtanium around the turn of the 19th century. In fact it is one of the few places in the continental US where this rare mineral is found in anything but minute quantities. Due to the refinement and processions of this precious mineral, the industry to meet that needs were located here.
The Centralist Canal was build to connect the ore mines and the Platte River during the 1930’s.
Centropolis bills itself as a clean, safe and modern city of 8 million, but scratch the surface and one can find a great deal of corruption and crime.
Take a Quick Tour of Centropolis City…
Random Info about the city…
Some of the City’s Major Corporations
Daedalus Robotics – headed by Allen James Callaway, this manufacturing company is the city’s premier group in robotic technology. Most of the robots are for manufacturing but Allen is looking into law-enforcement and para-military applications.
Drake Industries – run by the young Gary Drake, this corporation is involved with heavy industry and manufacturing. Unknown to all, Gary Drake uses the wealth and resources of his parents company to support his various charities and is considered the most eligible young bachelor of Centropololis. Drake is secretly the thrill-criminal Shrieking Moonbat, and uses his wealth to support his criminal enterprises. He is not really evil, nor does he need the money, he just commits high stakes crimes for the thrill of it.
Cross World Industries – headed by Bernadette Wellington Cross, this corporation is one of Human Inc.’s main competitors. While publicly Raymond and Bernadette appear to have a friendly rivalry, they really hate each other with a passion and Cross would love nothing more than to wipe Human Inc. out of existence.
Glass-Mikhail Financial Group – headed by Rebecca Glass and Sergei Mikhail, this group is the city’s main banking and financial organization.
Human Inc. – headed by Raymond Shawe, one of the richest men in the world and the most prominent corporation within the city. The corporation is involved in hundreds of fields of scientific research, and is one of the US Militaries major supplies of everything from combat planes to body armor. Raymond himself does not really trust metahumanity and works to help “normal everyday” people live in a world where super beings shot lasers out of the eyes, fly without any known outside source, etc. The EXO Man-of-War Powered Walker System is one such project that Raymond believes will one day be the great equalizer allowing anyone to stand up to these inhuman costumed threats.
Marrs Military Industries – headed by Maximillian Marrs, a young technical genius, the corporation is a world leader in small arms and military software technologies.
Pandora Inc. – is a worldwide corporations with enclaves around the world. This think tank and research group is world renowned in the fields of medicine and genetics, but is secretly a front for Victor Helios (aka Doctor Frankenstein) and his FleshWorks factory. It is locally run by Walther Black (Mr. Black) and while rumors abound that they might be involved with some illegal actives they are vigorous denied by the corporation’s team of highly paid lawyers.
Sigil Works Group – headed by Doctor Sigil (no other known aliases or names known). This group does not really produce anything; instead they do pure research and have made a number of important scientific breakthroughs. Doctor Sigil himself is a metahuman with super-human levels of intelligence and is working on hundreds (if not thousands) of different theories at any one times. He has created repluser-fields (near anti-gravity), fission and anti-matter energy technology, teleportation/worm-hole accelerators, to name only a few of the most famous works. Most of these do not completely work yet, but he is confident that within a few years, humanity will make a huge leap.
Other Neighborhoods and Incorporated Townships of Centropolis
Blue Bluffs – located north of Upper MainTown, Blue Bluff is mostly where the ‘old money’ of Centropolis is located (i.e. the Robber and Train Barons). As Centropolis has changed and moved towards high tech industry and Unobtanium production many of the older families lost a lot of wealth and influence. Today many of the old mansions are abandoned or in ill repair as most of the wealth of the city (and the family’s that control it) moved into Ridgeway and Sunny Newark.
Chinatown – located between the lower-east side of Wellington Heights and Ridgeway neighborhoods, as the name implies it is where much of the cities Chinese immigrants settled.
Fairview – to the north east of Upper MainTown, Fairview is a mostly suburban enclave of Victorian style homes, parks and malls. Nothing much happens in this small neighborhood.
Hillsdale –to the east of MainTown on the northern side of the Platte River, Hillsdale is a mixed neighborhood of suburban homes and high-tech industrial parks. Daedalus Robotics has a major domestic robotic manufacturing center here and is one of the largest employers in the area. The Raven Academy of Exceptional Students is located here and the ‘unusual’ student here often sneak off campus to do a little “patrolling” in the surrounding areas.
Little Russia – on the eastern boarder of the Red District, this city is made up mostly of large tenement housing units and is dominated by the Medved Koroli. Drugs and gambling are rampant here, but also some of the best ethnic restaurants are also located here.
Lantern Hill – on the northwestern part of town, this neighborhood was settled by Irish and Russian immigrants after the Unobtanium mines were first opened. These mining families also brought their churches and with the wealth from the mines lead to a number of large cathedrals being raised here. It got its name from the tradition of hanging colored lanterns on every street corner during the holidays and their cultures traditional holidays.
Park Ridge – one of the richer suburban enclaves to the west of greater Centropolis city. More millionaires are located here then almost anywhere in the city. The Centropolis police force is supported by a large number of private security forces, all with limited legal enforcement powers within the district.
Pine Oak – This northern town was settled by a number of Vietnamese and eastern European immigrants and was mostly built to chatter to the students of the Pine Oak Technical University.
Silver Town – located ten miles north of the city and not far from the Middleton Army Base, it once served at a miner temp-town for the silver mines (before the discovery of Unobtanium). Today it has remade itself into a ‘Mecca of Gambling’ with a number of large casinos.
South Place – located south of the Smokes and Red Haven, this lower-middle class residential area is surprisingly low on much of the crime that plagues the neighborhoods north of it.
Sunnyvale – located some ten miles to the southwest of Upper MainTown, Sunnyvale is located near the Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Park. This park has been greatly expanded in the last few years with a large endowment from Pandora Inc. In fact Pandora has a secret underground facility here where they have been experimenting with new Chimera breeds and then released back into the park to see how well they survive in the wild.
The Smokes – located west of the city and running along the southern side of the Platte River, with parts of the Red District spilling over into it, this is the location of most of the city’s heavy manufacturing and industrial area. While much of these industries are ‘cleaner and greener’ then older manufacturing it is still dirty and pumping out huge columns of smoke and ash, from where it gets its name.
Important and/or Unusual Places
A.E.G.I.S. (American Elite Government Intervention Services) – US federal agency under the Department of Homeland Security with the most direct influence over meta-humans and costumed heroes and villains. There main facility in Centropolis is located in the heart of MidTown but this is most a front, with their primary base is closer to the Danver Airforce Base.
Atlas Dedication Park – one of the largest parks in Centropolis, this dedication park is heavily forested with numerous sidewalks and hiking trails. It is patrolled by the Centropolis City Police fairly heavily and is considered fairly safe day or night.
C-Train System – an incredibly advanced and modern elevated monorail system that covers most of the city. During the work week more than 80% of the city rides it to and from work.
Center Park Zoo – this large zoo and park located within Wellington Heights and spots some of the largest collection of exotic animals in North America.
Centralist Plaza – something called ‘Time-Square west of the Mississippi’, this throughway runs along Atlas Avenue and 1st Central Way. Dozens of major shopping centers and hundreds of minor ones line the Plaza on both sides of the Ave. and they are visited by thousands of people every day.
Centropolis General Hospital – located on the south side of MainTown along the river, this large and modern hospital is the envy of many major cities. Again grants and corporate sponsorship has made this hospital one of the most advanced in the world. It has over 500 beds spread over half a dozen buildings and is a world leader in the treatment of numerous cancers and various diseases.
Danver Airforce Base – north of the Middleton Army Base and west of the Unobtanium mines, this sprawling base is another line of defense for the all-important strategic mines. A full squad (12 men) of Human Inc.’s EXO Man-of-War Powered Combat suits (X-Core) is located for initial testing of the suits for military applications.
Founders Square – located in front of Human Inc. this Square is a dedication park to all the heroes of the city, including its founders and some of the metahumans that have died defending the city over the years. There is a large water fountain and a number of bronze statues scattered throughout the park.
Lakota Hospital for the Criminally Insane – located in the Little Russian (on the border with Red Haven) neighborhood this hospital facility is world famous for housing some of the most dangerous and insane criminals of the country. At present both the so-called Psycho Dragon and Kill-Joy are both housed here along with almost a hundred other inmates. Doctor Kenneth Washington is the chief psychologist and physician on staff, and is secretly also a super villain called Doctor Wraithman, head the criminal origination known as V.I.L.E.
Meadows Manor Home for Disturbed Children – located on the northern part of Wellington Heights, this medium security home of psychologically children who have no criminal records.
Middleton Army Base – located north of Centropolis, and only a few miles from the largest Unobtanium mines, is this sprawling military base. At present commander is one General Marcus Ironworth, a no-nonsense, by-the-book leader who has a deep distrust of all things to do with metahumans or costumed vigilantes.
Millionaires Pavilion – one of the world’s largest and most expensive shopping centers located in Ridgeway. This mall has a strong private security presence and does not allow ‘just’ anyone inside.
Newton Fusion Facility – located just outside Centropolis on the northwestern banks of the Platte River this is one of the most important power generation facilities in the world. Private security is provided by Human Inc. and Cross World Industries.
Platte-Rock Super-Max Penitentiary “Iron Rock” – a smaller super prison located on the west side of the Middleton Army Base, on an island on the upper Platte River. This prison is designed to house about 100 metahuman criminals (it is an important metahuman facility, but not the most important and there are at least a dozen others of equal size spread throughout the U.S.).
Raven Academy for Exceptional Students – located in the Hillsdale neighborhood this private school is run by the eccentric Profession Farley Whiteraven, who also secretly houses and trains young metahumans to use and control their powers.
Silver City Residential Arcology – a first for the world, this Acology is run by Daedalus Robotics where almost 70% of their entire work force and their families live and work. Taking up four city blocks in eastern MainTown and just over 80 stories tall, it is a modern marvel of engineering and planning. The idea is that a person can be born here and never have to leave. The Acology includes its own schools, hospital, private police force, malls, parks, and of course business located within its’ walls. There are numerous shops and malls open to the public located on the first four levels and extensive underground parking.
Unobtanium Mines – there are hundreds of mines located to the north of Centropolis, the most important controlled by Human Inc. and Cross World Industries. Security at these sites are extremely tight as this is one of the only locations of the mineral in the USA territories.
The United States Federal Platte Penitentiary – located to the east of Centropolis, this maximum security prison is where most of the state’s federal non-metahuman prisoners are located.
Yellow Brick Row Farmers Market – originally, Centropolis’s farmers market was on both sides of the Platte River, but in the 1950’s most of the southern side was abandoned or sold over for warehouse construction. The north side farmer’s market was also threatened when the owner got the bright idea of painting the brick road that ran through the market yellow and remain it ‘Yellow Brick Row’. Today it is an extremely popular destination for both locals and tourist and runs almost a full mile along the eastern riverfront.
Major Criminal Organizations
Diamond Family – run by Don Virginia ‘Diamond Lady’ Diamond, the youngest daughter of Tony Diamonds, she has reorganizing and regroup the last remains of her father’s mod organization after his assassination and is determined to not only hold on to the last bit of crime that they still control (mostly extortion and gambling within Ridgeway and Upper MainTown) but she plans on somehow destroying the Medved’s and retake control of the city’s crime.
Doctor Destroyer – arguably the most powerful super villain on the planet, the doctor does not have a direct hand in the affairs of the city or its super-villains, but a number of his proxy followers (such as Iron Mask and Fear Monger) have bases in the area seeking to exploit the city’s technology and mineral wealth.
FleshWorks – founded by Victor Helios to provide various criminal enterprises pre-built mooks, such as Skin-Jobs (realistic looking androids), Golems (Frankenstein monster type reanimated corpses) and Chimera (animal human hybrid creations). Doctor Frankenstein has numerous secret facilities throughout the area and around the world.
F.O.E. (Fraternal Order of Evil) – this secretive villainous group of metahumans, under the leadership of the mad inventor, the Atomic Brain (a brain in the jar), controls most of the super and metahuman crime within the city. They have been thwarted multiple times by various heroes over the years but never destroyed and their secret lair within the city has never been discovered.
Feral Underground – made up mostly of outcasts and degraded mutants and escaped Chimera, they live in many of the city’s old abandoned subway system south of MainTown (these tunnels were supposedly sealed off after the earthquake of 1979 and replaced by the C-Train system). They are involved in mostly petty crimes of thief, smuggling and some exertion. The mysterious leader of the Feral Underground is known only as ‘Red Rags’ and always appears wearing a full body ragged red cloak. The supervillain known as the Rat King has strong ties to the gang and often helps them against the police or pesky superheroes.
H.A.R.M. (Humans Against Real Monsters) – a splinter group of various anti-metahuman organization groups that believe that all metahuman, costumed individuals and mutants are too dangerous to be allowed to exist and must be stopped before they expose themselves as the “demons” they truly are. They have some unusually rich secret patrons that fund and support their activities around the US and the world.
The Medved Koroli (the ‘Bear Kings’ in Russian) – the Russian Mafia is one of the strongest crime families within Centropolis. Headed by Dmitri ‘the Crime Tsar’ Alexandroy, a ruthless and greedy man who surrounds himself by only most cutthroat knee-breakers, they control most of the crime in Red Haven and much of the drug trade within all of Centropolis. They destroyed most of the Old Italian mafia ten years ago with the assassination of Capo Tony ‘Pooki’ Diamonds and took over most of his old organization and crime infrastructure (although some escaped and are trying to make a comeback, see above). Dmitri has a core of ‘Chimera’ bear and wolf bodyguards provided to him by FleshWorks.
S.H.A.D.O.W. (the Secret Hierarchy of Agents for Domination Over the World) – while not a major force within Centropolis, the secretive overlord of this villainous organization, Overshadow, has agents and resources here due to his interest in the various high tech industries and the Unobtanium mines.
V.I.L.E. (Villains In Larcenous Enterprises) – formed for the express purpose of providing metahuman muscles for criminal enterprises that lack them. The group is run by a meta-villain known as Doctor Wraithman, who in his secret identity is also one Doctor Kenneth Washington, head doctor of the Lakota Hospital for the Criminally Insane (and their base is actually under the hospital). Note though that the group almost never takes any jobs within Centropolis itself as not to draw attention to their location.
V’sorri Infiltrators: there remains remnants of the vicious V’sorri invasion from five years ago, especially in Centropolis. These aliens live in disguise (though various technological or psychic illusions) and still stow dissent and disaster in and around the Unobtanium industry. It is unknown why the remained for when Atlas sacrificed his life to stop the invasion, their leader the Star Khan, promised never to invade the world again.
W.R.A.I.T.H. (World Renegade Anti-Industrial Terrorist Headquarters) – this villainous organization operations throughout the world, but due to the importance of the various corporate enterprises and the mining of Unobtanium in Centropolis, has made a major focus of their criminal enterprises here. Their goals are unknown but it seems to involve the destruction of most of the world’s industrial infrastructure and governments.
The Yellow Hand – the most powerful of Centropolis’s Triad gangs, whose’ mysterious leader they call the ‘Emperor in Yellow’. They control almost all crime within Centropolis’s Chinatown located in the lower-east side of Wellington Heights and Ridgeway, and also most of the prostitution and some gambling within the Red Haven. They are also involved with human trafficking and smuggling on the riverfront.
Brief Super-hero History
Centropolis never had much metahuman activity until after the Perfect Human Project produced the city’s first major hero – Atlas. He, along with sponsorship by Raymond Shawe and Human Inc., formed the city’s first super team called the Centurions. Human Inc. helped build the Centurion Towers (across Centropolis Plaza from the Monolith Tower), a state of the art, 20-story ‘C’ shaped office tower built to withstand insane amounts of damage.
The Centurions battled F.O.E. and various other villains, including such world threats Doctor Destroyer and Firebird (presently imprisoned at Iron Rock).
Atlas was killed five years ago during the V’sorri Invasion, but his sacrifice saved the world. Most of the other Centurions were injured, killed or retired after this. Two years ago the Centurions were briefly reformed by a small team of heroes. Led by Freeze Police (a retired Centropolis police officer injured in the line of duty who was giving a cyborg body and ice/cold generating gloves by Marrs Military Industries as a promotion for their new weapons line), Hard Water (the ‘Old Man River’ river spirit of the Platt River), and Traveller (an extremely powerful teleporter). The group battled F.O.E., Medved Koroli and the Yellow Hand extensively but then disappeared about a month ago for no apparent reason. The Centurion Towers have remained closed sense then and crime is on the rise throughout the city.[/sblock]
OOC Thread
Rogue's Gallery
[sblock=Centropolis]
Welcome to Centropolis City
Centropolis has been called the “city of the future today” and with good reason. Thanks to the generous endowments from such amazing entrepreneur as Raymond Shawe of Human Inc. and Bernadette Wellington Cross, of Cross Worlds Industries, the city of Centropolis enjoys some of world’s first, great technological innovations. To name only two of some of these amazing wonders there is the extremely affordable, hyper-fast, super-clean, and always on time C-Train Monorail, and low-cost, near-infinity, clean and abundant power for all of its citizens from the Newton Fusion Facility. Centropolis truly is the greatest city in America, if not the world... |
Founded in 1848 by prospectors looking for gold and silver in western Nebraska, they settled on the southern banks of the Platte River to explore into the hills of the surrounding area. Enough deposits were found that the city grew rapidly. By the 1880’s it was also a major destination for cattle drives and a number of small and mid-sized slaughterhouse plants were formed.
Centropolis would have remained a small frontier boom town has it not be for the discovery of Unobtanium around the turn of the 19th century. In fact it is one of the few places in the continental US where this rare mineral is found in anything but minute quantities. Due to the refinement and processions of this precious mineral, the industry to meet that needs were located here.
The Centralist Canal was build to connect the ore mines and the Platte River during the 1930’s.
Centropolis bills itself as a clean, safe and modern city of 8 million, but scratch the surface and one can find a great deal of corruption and crime.
Take a Quick Tour of Centropolis City…
| MainTown (the Downtown Core) MainTown is the wonderful downtown core of Centropolis and it is where all the great buildings and modern services are located. You can find anything and everything here, in our modern, safe and clean streets. There are well over hundred buildings are fifty stories or higher here in this district alone, and it also boosts some of the tallest buildings in the world. It is also the home of the Central Park Zoo, the Centralist Plaza, Founders Square and the Atlas Dedication Park. MainTown is dominated by the awe-inspiring Monolith Tower, the location and world-wide headquarters of Raymond Shawe's Human Inc. This skyscraper is one of the tallest buildings in the United States and the World.  Human Inc. is a world leader in applied technologies for the betterment of all humankind… advanced computers, robots and exo-skeleton systems, skycars and state of the art fusion power plants are only a few of the listed projects of this corporation. Mr. Shawe’s motto has always been that the human mind is the greatest tool in the world if not the universe and that by applying our fullest capacities to the betterment of our planet and our people will result in the greatest works even seen anywhere. The Atlas Statue strides at the very top of the Monolith Tower is a shinning tribute to our city’s fallen son and greatest hero, Atlas. He meet his heroic end in battle to protect our fair city from the alien V’sorri invaders only five short years ago, it is a testament to his legacy that we can all look up to. A shining example of the tribute of the human spirit in face of overwhelming odds and hardship. Atlas was only one of the first and only humans to undergo the so-called Perfect Human Project proceeded, developed by Raymond Shawe 20 years ago. After many other failed attempts at repeating the success of the procedure has been dropped by Human Inc. to pursue the EXO Man-of-War Powered Combat systems instead. As Shawe has explained, these suits are operated my brave men and women without the benefit of superpowers. And yet they exemplify all that humans can do when the set their minds to the task at hand. There are many publically available luxury living suite located on the 90th through 100th floor of the Monolith Building, offers a balcony with some of the most exciting views of the downtown core. Of course, it does not compare to the view offered to Raymond Shawe in his penthouse CEO Office at the 150th floor, but for us ‘mere’ morals it is about as close as we can get (if you can afford the rent that is) to those lofty extremes. The Atlas Dedication Park is one of the most beautiful and large parks in a major US city and is just off of Founders Square. Feed by the Central Canal waterway to create a number of manmade lakes and mini rivers along with the many status and walk-ways only enhance this peaceful piece of nature within our urban landscape. The Mercury Tower, located at Central Ave and 1st Street, and across from the Monolith Tower, this skyscraper is home of city's world famous Centralist Daily newspaper and WCBZ TV headquarters. This area of course is also home to our wonderful Centralist Plaza and Founders Square, where millions of tourists come to see each year. The Cross Building is the world headquarters for Cross World Industry. Cross World Industries is a major competitor of Human Inc. within the city, and around the world. They specialize in heavy industrial produces and transportation industries. The twin Lake Towers are Centropolis's newest skyscrapers. Headquarters for the world renowned meta-genius Doctor Sigil and his Sigil Works Group, their stylized design are an exciting addition to our fair city. At the top of each tower is a pair of dragon statues. These Welsh Dragon statues were brought to the US at great expense and placed atop the Lake Towers by Doctor Sigil for some unknown reason but what can one say, they are truly beautiful to behold and are wonderful addition to our city’s skyline. Upper MainTown, located north of MainTown, is the financial center of Centropolis. This district is dominated by densely packed skyscrapers and is the living, beating heart of the city’s vast wealth and financial strength. The Centropolis City Police have a strong presence here to assure that the area is safe.  Separated from Upper MainTown by the Central Canal, Wellington Heights is middle-class neighborhood. There are hundreds of clean, wonderful high-rise apartment complexes here, most famous of them the Silver City Residential Arcology where almost 5,000 people live and work without ever having to leave the building.  South of Wellington Heights the neighborhood of Ridgeway is where most of the city’s’ wealthy live and play. Many of the city’s greatest mansions are located here along with Millionaires Pavilion, one of the world’s largest and most expensive shopping centers.  The Red Haven (or District) is one of the worst areas of Centropolis, on the south of the Platt River across from MainTown. This was where the original red-light brothels and the cattle slaughterhouses warehouses were concentrated around the turn of the 19th century. Then back in the 1960’s while the city was being modernized and re-building, it was renamed South Haven but no one ever calls it that, even today. It is still the bad part of town with all the seedy gambling houses and drug dealing deals dot almost every street corner. But this is where most of the working class of the city lives and the present mayor and police commissioner has plans to push the mob out and clean up its soiled streets, so fear not citizens, soon it will be as clean as the rest of the city!  The C-Train connects the whole city of Centropolis and it many districts and outlying residential and industrial regions. It is fast, cheap (free for many) and on time, 24 hours a day. Human Inc. and Cross World Industries are the two many corporate sponsors of the line, along with generous federal grants. It is just one of the many a marvels and points of pride for our city. |
Some of the City’s Major Corporations
Daedalus Robotics – headed by Allen James Callaway, this manufacturing company is the city’s premier group in robotic technology. Most of the robots are for manufacturing but Allen is looking into law-enforcement and para-military applications.
Drake Industries – run by the young Gary Drake, this corporation is involved with heavy industry and manufacturing. Unknown to all, Gary Drake uses the wealth and resources of his parents company to support his various charities and is considered the most eligible young bachelor of Centropololis. Drake is secretly the thrill-criminal Shrieking Moonbat, and uses his wealth to support his criminal enterprises. He is not really evil, nor does he need the money, he just commits high stakes crimes for the thrill of it.
Cross World Industries – headed by Bernadette Wellington Cross, this corporation is one of Human Inc.’s main competitors. While publicly Raymond and Bernadette appear to have a friendly rivalry, they really hate each other with a passion and Cross would love nothing more than to wipe Human Inc. out of existence.
Glass-Mikhail Financial Group – headed by Rebecca Glass and Sergei Mikhail, this group is the city’s main banking and financial organization.
Human Inc. – headed by Raymond Shawe, one of the richest men in the world and the most prominent corporation within the city. The corporation is involved in hundreds of fields of scientific research, and is one of the US Militaries major supplies of everything from combat planes to body armor. Raymond himself does not really trust metahumanity and works to help “normal everyday” people live in a world where super beings shot lasers out of the eyes, fly without any known outside source, etc. The EXO Man-of-War Powered Walker System is one such project that Raymond believes will one day be the great equalizer allowing anyone to stand up to these inhuman costumed threats.
Marrs Military Industries – headed by Maximillian Marrs, a young technical genius, the corporation is a world leader in small arms and military software technologies.
Pandora Inc. – is a worldwide corporations with enclaves around the world. This think tank and research group is world renowned in the fields of medicine and genetics, but is secretly a front for Victor Helios (aka Doctor Frankenstein) and his FleshWorks factory. It is locally run by Walther Black (Mr. Black) and while rumors abound that they might be involved with some illegal actives they are vigorous denied by the corporation’s team of highly paid lawyers.
Sigil Works Group – headed by Doctor Sigil (no other known aliases or names known). This group does not really produce anything; instead they do pure research and have made a number of important scientific breakthroughs. Doctor Sigil himself is a metahuman with super-human levels of intelligence and is working on hundreds (if not thousands) of different theories at any one times. He has created repluser-fields (near anti-gravity), fission and anti-matter energy technology, teleportation/worm-hole accelerators, to name only a few of the most famous works. Most of these do not completely work yet, but he is confident that within a few years, humanity will make a huge leap.
Other Neighborhoods and Incorporated Townships of Centropolis
Blue Bluffs – located north of Upper MainTown, Blue Bluff is mostly where the ‘old money’ of Centropolis is located (i.e. the Robber and Train Barons). As Centropolis has changed and moved towards high tech industry and Unobtanium production many of the older families lost a lot of wealth and influence. Today many of the old mansions are abandoned or in ill repair as most of the wealth of the city (and the family’s that control it) moved into Ridgeway and Sunny Newark.
Chinatown – located between the lower-east side of Wellington Heights and Ridgeway neighborhoods, as the name implies it is where much of the cities Chinese immigrants settled.
Fairview – to the north east of Upper MainTown, Fairview is a mostly suburban enclave of Victorian style homes, parks and malls. Nothing much happens in this small neighborhood.
Hillsdale –to the east of MainTown on the northern side of the Platte River, Hillsdale is a mixed neighborhood of suburban homes and high-tech industrial parks. Daedalus Robotics has a major domestic robotic manufacturing center here and is one of the largest employers in the area. The Raven Academy of Exceptional Students is located here and the ‘unusual’ student here often sneak off campus to do a little “patrolling” in the surrounding areas.
Little Russia – on the eastern boarder of the Red District, this city is made up mostly of large tenement housing units and is dominated by the Medved Koroli. Drugs and gambling are rampant here, but also some of the best ethnic restaurants are also located here.
Lantern Hill – on the northwestern part of town, this neighborhood was settled by Irish and Russian immigrants after the Unobtanium mines were first opened. These mining families also brought their churches and with the wealth from the mines lead to a number of large cathedrals being raised here. It got its name from the tradition of hanging colored lanterns on every street corner during the holidays and their cultures traditional holidays.
Park Ridge – one of the richer suburban enclaves to the west of greater Centropolis city. More millionaires are located here then almost anywhere in the city. The Centropolis police force is supported by a large number of private security forces, all with limited legal enforcement powers within the district.
Pine Oak – This northern town was settled by a number of Vietnamese and eastern European immigrants and was mostly built to chatter to the students of the Pine Oak Technical University.
Silver Town – located ten miles north of the city and not far from the Middleton Army Base, it once served at a miner temp-town for the silver mines (before the discovery of Unobtanium). Today it has remade itself into a ‘Mecca of Gambling’ with a number of large casinos.
South Place – located south of the Smokes and Red Haven, this lower-middle class residential area is surprisingly low on much of the crime that plagues the neighborhoods north of it.
Sunnyvale – located some ten miles to the southwest of Upper MainTown, Sunnyvale is located near the Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Park. This park has been greatly expanded in the last few years with a large endowment from Pandora Inc. In fact Pandora has a secret underground facility here where they have been experimenting with new Chimera breeds and then released back into the park to see how well they survive in the wild.
The Smokes – located west of the city and running along the southern side of the Platte River, with parts of the Red District spilling over into it, this is the location of most of the city’s heavy manufacturing and industrial area. While much of these industries are ‘cleaner and greener’ then older manufacturing it is still dirty and pumping out huge columns of smoke and ash, from where it gets its name.
Important and/or Unusual Places
A.E.G.I.S. (American Elite Government Intervention Services) – US federal agency under the Department of Homeland Security with the most direct influence over meta-humans and costumed heroes and villains. There main facility in Centropolis is located in the heart of MidTown but this is most a front, with their primary base is closer to the Danver Airforce Base.
Atlas Dedication Park – one of the largest parks in Centropolis, this dedication park is heavily forested with numerous sidewalks and hiking trails. It is patrolled by the Centropolis City Police fairly heavily and is considered fairly safe day or night.
C-Train System – an incredibly advanced and modern elevated monorail system that covers most of the city. During the work week more than 80% of the city rides it to and from work.
Center Park Zoo – this large zoo and park located within Wellington Heights and spots some of the largest collection of exotic animals in North America.
Centralist Plaza – something called ‘Time-Square west of the Mississippi’, this throughway runs along Atlas Avenue and 1st Central Way. Dozens of major shopping centers and hundreds of minor ones line the Plaza on both sides of the Ave. and they are visited by thousands of people every day.
Centropolis General Hospital – located on the south side of MainTown along the river, this large and modern hospital is the envy of many major cities. Again grants and corporate sponsorship has made this hospital one of the most advanced in the world. It has over 500 beds spread over half a dozen buildings and is a world leader in the treatment of numerous cancers and various diseases.
Danver Airforce Base – north of the Middleton Army Base and west of the Unobtanium mines, this sprawling base is another line of defense for the all-important strategic mines. A full squad (12 men) of Human Inc.’s EXO Man-of-War Powered Combat suits (X-Core) is located for initial testing of the suits for military applications.
Founders Square – located in front of Human Inc. this Square is a dedication park to all the heroes of the city, including its founders and some of the metahumans that have died defending the city over the years. There is a large water fountain and a number of bronze statues scattered throughout the park.
Lakota Hospital for the Criminally Insane – located in the Little Russian (on the border with Red Haven) neighborhood this hospital facility is world famous for housing some of the most dangerous and insane criminals of the country. At present both the so-called Psycho Dragon and Kill-Joy are both housed here along with almost a hundred other inmates. Doctor Kenneth Washington is the chief psychologist and physician on staff, and is secretly also a super villain called Doctor Wraithman, head the criminal origination known as V.I.L.E.
Meadows Manor Home for Disturbed Children – located on the northern part of Wellington Heights, this medium security home of psychologically children who have no criminal records.
Middleton Army Base – located north of Centropolis, and only a few miles from the largest Unobtanium mines, is this sprawling military base. At present commander is one General Marcus Ironworth, a no-nonsense, by-the-book leader who has a deep distrust of all things to do with metahumans or costumed vigilantes.
Millionaires Pavilion – one of the world’s largest and most expensive shopping centers located in Ridgeway. This mall has a strong private security presence and does not allow ‘just’ anyone inside.
Newton Fusion Facility – located just outside Centropolis on the northwestern banks of the Platte River this is one of the most important power generation facilities in the world. Private security is provided by Human Inc. and Cross World Industries.
Platte-Rock Super-Max Penitentiary “Iron Rock” – a smaller super prison located on the west side of the Middleton Army Base, on an island on the upper Platte River. This prison is designed to house about 100 metahuman criminals (it is an important metahuman facility, but not the most important and there are at least a dozen others of equal size spread throughout the U.S.).
Raven Academy for Exceptional Students – located in the Hillsdale neighborhood this private school is run by the eccentric Profession Farley Whiteraven, who also secretly houses and trains young metahumans to use and control their powers.
Silver City Residential Arcology – a first for the world, this Acology is run by Daedalus Robotics where almost 70% of their entire work force and their families live and work. Taking up four city blocks in eastern MainTown and just over 80 stories tall, it is a modern marvel of engineering and planning. The idea is that a person can be born here and never have to leave. The Acology includes its own schools, hospital, private police force, malls, parks, and of course business located within its’ walls. There are numerous shops and malls open to the public located on the first four levels and extensive underground parking.
Unobtanium Mines – there are hundreds of mines located to the north of Centropolis, the most important controlled by Human Inc. and Cross World Industries. Security at these sites are extremely tight as this is one of the only locations of the mineral in the USA territories.
The United States Federal Platte Penitentiary – located to the east of Centropolis, this maximum security prison is where most of the state’s federal non-metahuman prisoners are located.
Yellow Brick Row Farmers Market – originally, Centropolis’s farmers market was on both sides of the Platte River, but in the 1950’s most of the southern side was abandoned or sold over for warehouse construction. The north side farmer’s market was also threatened when the owner got the bright idea of painting the brick road that ran through the market yellow and remain it ‘Yellow Brick Row’. Today it is an extremely popular destination for both locals and tourist and runs almost a full mile along the eastern riverfront.
Major Criminal Organizations
Diamond Family – run by Don Virginia ‘Diamond Lady’ Diamond, the youngest daughter of Tony Diamonds, she has reorganizing and regroup the last remains of her father’s mod organization after his assassination and is determined to not only hold on to the last bit of crime that they still control (mostly extortion and gambling within Ridgeway and Upper MainTown) but she plans on somehow destroying the Medved’s and retake control of the city’s crime.
Doctor Destroyer – arguably the most powerful super villain on the planet, the doctor does not have a direct hand in the affairs of the city or its super-villains, but a number of his proxy followers (such as Iron Mask and Fear Monger) have bases in the area seeking to exploit the city’s technology and mineral wealth.
FleshWorks – founded by Victor Helios to provide various criminal enterprises pre-built mooks, such as Skin-Jobs (realistic looking androids), Golems (Frankenstein monster type reanimated corpses) and Chimera (animal human hybrid creations). Doctor Frankenstein has numerous secret facilities throughout the area and around the world.
F.O.E. (Fraternal Order of Evil) – this secretive villainous group of metahumans, under the leadership of the mad inventor, the Atomic Brain (a brain in the jar), controls most of the super and metahuman crime within the city. They have been thwarted multiple times by various heroes over the years but never destroyed and their secret lair within the city has never been discovered.
Feral Underground – made up mostly of outcasts and degraded mutants and escaped Chimera, they live in many of the city’s old abandoned subway system south of MainTown (these tunnels were supposedly sealed off after the earthquake of 1979 and replaced by the C-Train system). They are involved in mostly petty crimes of thief, smuggling and some exertion. The mysterious leader of the Feral Underground is known only as ‘Red Rags’ and always appears wearing a full body ragged red cloak. The supervillain known as the Rat King has strong ties to the gang and often helps them against the police or pesky superheroes.
H.A.R.M. (Humans Against Real Monsters) – a splinter group of various anti-metahuman organization groups that believe that all metahuman, costumed individuals and mutants are too dangerous to be allowed to exist and must be stopped before they expose themselves as the “demons” they truly are. They have some unusually rich secret patrons that fund and support their activities around the US and the world.
The Medved Koroli (the ‘Bear Kings’ in Russian) – the Russian Mafia is one of the strongest crime families within Centropolis. Headed by Dmitri ‘the Crime Tsar’ Alexandroy, a ruthless and greedy man who surrounds himself by only most cutthroat knee-breakers, they control most of the crime in Red Haven and much of the drug trade within all of Centropolis. They destroyed most of the Old Italian mafia ten years ago with the assassination of Capo Tony ‘Pooki’ Diamonds and took over most of his old organization and crime infrastructure (although some escaped and are trying to make a comeback, see above). Dmitri has a core of ‘Chimera’ bear and wolf bodyguards provided to him by FleshWorks.
S.H.A.D.O.W. (the Secret Hierarchy of Agents for Domination Over the World) – while not a major force within Centropolis, the secretive overlord of this villainous organization, Overshadow, has agents and resources here due to his interest in the various high tech industries and the Unobtanium mines.
V.I.L.E. (Villains In Larcenous Enterprises) – formed for the express purpose of providing metahuman muscles for criminal enterprises that lack them. The group is run by a meta-villain known as Doctor Wraithman, who in his secret identity is also one Doctor Kenneth Washington, head doctor of the Lakota Hospital for the Criminally Insane (and their base is actually under the hospital). Note though that the group almost never takes any jobs within Centropolis itself as not to draw attention to their location.
V’sorri Infiltrators: there remains remnants of the vicious V’sorri invasion from five years ago, especially in Centropolis. These aliens live in disguise (though various technological or psychic illusions) and still stow dissent and disaster in and around the Unobtanium industry. It is unknown why the remained for when Atlas sacrificed his life to stop the invasion, their leader the Star Khan, promised never to invade the world again.
W.R.A.I.T.H. (World Renegade Anti-Industrial Terrorist Headquarters) – this villainous organization operations throughout the world, but due to the importance of the various corporate enterprises and the mining of Unobtanium in Centropolis, has made a major focus of their criminal enterprises here. Their goals are unknown but it seems to involve the destruction of most of the world’s industrial infrastructure and governments.
The Yellow Hand – the most powerful of Centropolis’s Triad gangs, whose’ mysterious leader they call the ‘Emperor in Yellow’. They control almost all crime within Centropolis’s Chinatown located in the lower-east side of Wellington Heights and Ridgeway, and also most of the prostitution and some gambling within the Red Haven. They are also involved with human trafficking and smuggling on the riverfront.
Brief Super-hero History
Centropolis never had much metahuman activity until after the Perfect Human Project produced the city’s first major hero – Atlas. He, along with sponsorship by Raymond Shawe and Human Inc., formed the city’s first super team called the Centurions. Human Inc. helped build the Centurion Towers (across Centropolis Plaza from the Monolith Tower), a state of the art, 20-story ‘C’ shaped office tower built to withstand insane amounts of damage.
The Centurions battled F.O.E. and various other villains, including such world threats Doctor Destroyer and Firebird (presently imprisoned at Iron Rock).
Atlas was killed five years ago during the V’sorri Invasion, but his sacrifice saved the world. Most of the other Centurions were injured, killed or retired after this. Two years ago the Centurions were briefly reformed by a small team of heroes. Led by Freeze Police (a retired Centropolis police officer injured in the line of duty who was giving a cyborg body and ice/cold generating gloves by Marrs Military Industries as a promotion for their new weapons line), Hard Water (the ‘Old Man River’ river spirit of the Platt River), and Traveller (an extremely powerful teleporter). The group battled F.O.E., Medved Koroli and the Yellow Hand extensively but then disappeared about a month ago for no apparent reason. The Centurion Towers have remained closed sense then and crime is on the rise throughout the city.[/sblock]
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