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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Davies" data-source="post: 8432440" data-attributes="member: 30538">The Underworld<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-GmkG4Mq/0/f3831a93/M/underworld-M.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Whether there is an existence for an individual's consciousness after their biological existence ends remains an unanswered question. The existence of hauntings suggests that something might endure, but not perhaps the whole of a person's identity. All these uncertainties are not made a bit clearer by the existence of the reality known as the Underworld, which just raises even more questions. The Underworld exists within a computer complex located beneath the continent now known as Antarctica. Created thousands of years ago, during the height of the Olympian era, it was intended as both a reward for individuals whom the Olympians favored and an additional punishment for those whom they felt deserved such matters. The computer, monitoring the minds of every human being on Earth, would record those minds at the moment of their death, and introduce these recorded consciousnesses into a virtual reality program -- the Underworld. And it has continued to do so long after the Olympians who created it have ceased to exist.The Underworld is generally a fairly grim and uncomfortable place, though there are pleasant regions as well, designed to make 'deserving' humans feel at home. (However, even these regions were designed with Stone Age humans in mind, not contemporary ones.) Whether comfortable or uncomfortable, however, the existence of a human consciousness within the Underworld is relatively brief. It is rare for these entities to exist for more than about a decade before they dissolve into nothingness, with a few rare persons of great willpower enduring for up to two centuries before that happens. Even in the Underworld, nothing ever lasts forever.With one exception. The virtual realm is managed by the recorded consciousness of the Olympian known as Irkalla, known as its queen. (She remembers having volunteered for the position. Whether that memory is authentic is open to question.) She seems to be a very mercurial entity, sometimes acting as a cruel tyrant to the souls here, inflicting tortures for the slightest perceived transgression, sometimes as a much more benevolent ruler, offering care and consolation. Regardless of how she might acts, she always answers threats to herself with terrible force, but there are indications that she can be and has been beaten. However, she is always restored to the system from backups within a day, though the backups will be of a version of Irkalla who likely does not remember her most recent demise.It is only in recent years that serious challenges have been made to Irkalla's rule over the Underworld, by the recordings of noteworthy superheroes and supervillains. These include many of the members of the Institute, who have endured since their physical deaths. Currently led Doctor Freeze and his father, and in an uneasy alliance with a group of villains led by Diavolus, these champions intend to liberate all the souls held in bondage in this place and somehow escape back to their former reality. They are certain that Irkalla curses their names nightly.She has completely fooled them. The truth of Irkalla is that she is a profoundly lonely entity, who mourns the departure of each soul from her kingdom, and whose actions -- whether cruel or kind -- are always chosen to extend the time that someone exists within the Underworld before dissolving. Her duty is to protect the Underworld; caring for its inhabitants, seeing that they receive what she thinks they need, is her voluntary choice. She is amazed at the strength of will and the courage that these heroes (and even the villains) demonstrate, and considers the fact that they oppose her to be the greatest honor she has ever been granted. Irkalla will oppose them, because she must, but she loves them, and will go down fighting, again and again, always with a smile on her face.The computer complex that creates this virtual reality is empowered by one of the Cosmic Gems of interstellar legend. If the Mind Gem were to be removed from its circuitry, it would no longer be able to capture additional consciousnesses, and would enter a sleep state when all those within it finally fade. (Irkalla has vague memories that this happened at some point in the past, but can't remember any details.) It would be also be theoretically possible to use that facility to download a consciousness from within the Underworld to a new body -- whether organic or otherwise -- but getting to the complex, covered by tons of ice and rock and never intended to be accessed in this manner, is no easy task.Irkalla -- PL 14<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-BV569Hb/0/fc7072e7/S/__arcueid_brunestud_tsukihime_drawn_by_gogatsu_fukuin__sample-4ba5e099cf65067abe42ef7448bdd194-S.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Abilities:STR 10 | STA 14 | AGL 5 | DEX 4 | FGT 12 | INT 5 | AWE 7 | PRE 6Powers:Ancient and Eternal: Comprehend Languages 4; Immortality 5 (1 day); Immunity 11 (aging, life support); Impervious Toughness 12 - 45 pointsAuthority of the Underworld's Queen: Array (44 points) <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Chains You Forged In Life: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 14 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Damage; Hindered & Vulnerable, Defenseless & Immobilized), Extra Condition, Limited Degree - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Flames of Perdition: Linked Ranged Damage 12; Linked Ranged Burst Area Damage 6 - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Gaze of Doom: Perception Ranged Cumulative Affliction 14 (Resisted and Overcome by Will; Impaired, Stunned, Paralyzed), Vision Dependent - 1 points</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Knows All: Cumulative Mind Reading 14, Subtle 2 - 44 points</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Sees All: Remote Sensing 7 (120 miles; all senses, Simultaneous), Subtle 2 - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> To Dream of Heaven: Perception Ranged Affliction 14 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated) - 1 points</li> </ul>Advantages:All-out Attack, Evasion, Fearless 2, Power Attack, Seize Initiative, Skill Mastery (Intimidation), Startle Skills:Expertise: History 8 (+13), Expertise: Magic 6 (+12), Insight 8 (+15), Intimidation 8 (+14), Perception 4 (+11), Persuasion 6 (+12), Ranged Combat: Authority 10 (+14), Stealth 8 (+13).Offense:Initiative +5Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 11)Flames +14 (Ranged Damage 12 and Ranged Burst Area Damage 6)Chains +14 (Ranged Affliction 14, Resisted by Dodge)Gaze -- (Perception Range Will 14)Dream -- (Perception Range Will 14)Defense:Dodge 14, Parry 12, Fortitude 14, Toughness 14, Will 11Totals:Abilities 126 + Powers 84 + Advantages 8 + Skills 29 + Defenses 13 = 260 pointsOffensive PL: 14Defensive PL: 14Resistance PL: 13Skill PL: 10Complications:Duty--Motivation. Lonely. Sense of Duty (the dead.) Virtual Entity (cannot leave the Underworld.)The Mind Gem<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-PTkzqZ7/0/1bef3df9/M/Mind-M.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Actual sizeMind Gem: Removable (-23 points)Cosmic Knowledge: Mental Communication 5; Comprehend Languages 4; Enhanced Advantages 3 (Jack-of-all-trades, Speed of Thought, Well-Informed) - 35 pointsShielded Mind: Enhanced Will 14, Impervious Limited to Mental Effects - 21 pointsTelepathic Powers: Array (58 points) <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Mind Burn: Perception Range Damage 14, Resisted by Will, Subtle 2 - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Mind Cloud: Continuous Concealment 10, Passive, Resisted by Will; Illusion 11 (all but mental) - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Mind Freeze: Cumulative Perception Range Affliction 14 (Resisted by Will; Vulnerable, Defenseless, Paralyzed), Subtle 2 - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Mind Mastery: Cumulative Perception Range Affliction 14 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Compelled, Controlled), Subtle 2 - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Mind Mold: Cumulative Perception Range Affliction 14 (Dazed, Stunned, Transformed [memories altered]), Subtle 2 - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Mind Probe: Cumulative Effortless Mind Reading 14, Subtle 2 - 58 points</li> </ul></blockquote>

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