A Blended Universe

Pardon the dust. This site is still under construction.


Earth-626 isn't an easy place to live. Not for some people, anyway. For others, it's a walk in the park. It all depends on your point of view.

Throughout history, there have always been stories of those greater than ordinary men — blessed by the gods or in league with devils. Take your pick. But, myth and legend are replete with tales of gods and demons, sorcerers and witches, heroes and villains, all of them larger than life. Superstition, modern thought claims, was the cause of all of that.

Except it wasn't. Not really.

Indeed, what began as speculative research early in the 20th century has been proven as hard fact early in the 21st. That there are super-humans walking the Earth is no longer in doubt. What their intentions may be, however, is.

How it began…

The first publicly acknowledged super-hero was Captain Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, born out of a U.S. super-soldier program in World War 2. After that was the revelation of Atlantis. Over time, other heroes — and villains — stepped into the light of public scrutiny and governments scrambled to decide how to react.

The result was… mixed, at best. There are as many pictures of Presidents and politicians shaking the hands of super-human heroes in the history books as there are news reels of them decrying the super-humans' very existence. Thus, contemporary America — not to mention her allies, never mind many of her foes — is a hotbed of debate and action both in support of "affirmative super-human activities" and against the "super-human menace". The public, and many officials in government, make no distinction between metas or mutants or even aliens.1All they know is that most super-humans have powers and abilities that aren't just far beyond what the average human being can do, they're outright bizarre!

Shooting lasers out of your eyes? Flying at supersonic speeds with a thought? Reading other people's thoughts? Moving objects with your mind? These things are the things which are supposed to be impossible.

But, they're not.

To this day, super-humans aren't common. But, they're out there. And they're common enough that everyone has an opinion about them. There are organizations in the America, in both the private and public sectors, that openly support super-human involvement in public affairs from law-enforcement to search-and-rescue, and many other fields. Or, at the very least, they don't oppose them. But, there are other agencies and departments, sometimes (indeed, often) within the same organizations that actively work on contingency plans and emergency response scenarios, in case super-humans cause too much trouble. Their whole raison-d'etre is to keep track of all the super-humans in the nation (and sometimes beyond) and work out how to kill them. It's that simple.

(And that doesn't even begin to touch on the number of clandestine and not-so-clandestine organizations that want to study and dissect super-humans to find out "what makes them tick"… and perhaps duplicate it.)

Despite that, it's not a binary choice. It is not either-or. It is a continuum of responses, seen on the streets as people react to the destruction of their homes and workplaces because two super-humans are brawling even while they attempt to protect the good citizens around them, or respond to the rescue of their loved ones because a super-human heard a cry for help and offered unasked-for aid. More importantly, it's seen in the legislation and municipal regulations showing up on the law books in states across the union and in the major cities where super-humans are so often found. Nowhere, however, is it more clearly seen than in the Tri-City Corridor spanning New York, NY, Gotham, NJ, and Metropolis, DE, straight down the garden state coastline.

Metropolis

Metropolis, at the bottom of the corridor in Delaware, with its soaring skyscrapers, peaceful citizens, and futuristic architecture is the city of tomorrow. Crime is on the decline and approval ratings for superheroes are climbing higher every day. For the people of Metropolis, things couldn't be any better. Indeed, home to the JLA and its team of civic-minded heroes, the city seems to beckon those who want a better life with promises of equality, security, and peace. Many villains find it difficult to gain a foot-hold there. But for some? Challenge accepted!

Gotham

Gotham, across the bay from Metropolis, in New Jersey, couldn't be any more different. Dirty, dreary, and depressing, even the cityscape itself is stuck in the past, dominated as it is by gothic architecture and forbidding statuary. The streets are dangerous to walk even in the daylight, and only become worse as what little sun makes its way to Gotham slowly fades. Sadly, its decay is only hastened by the criminal element. There are some heroes that try to at least maintain the status-quo — a crime rate neither rising, nor, unfortunately, falling. But, if someone wishes to hide in plain sight, planning their villainy, Gotham City is the place to be. Here, too, is where super-humans displaying particularly strange or bizarre abilities find it hardest to fit in. If not met with outright hostility, the best they can expect is simmering distrust. In Gotham, some of the unbowed population (and many of the vigilante so-called heroes, too) may well take to the streets to drive off someone obviously not like them.

New York

New York City. If Metropolis is the City of Tomorrow, and Gotham is the City of Yesterday, New York is the City of Today. Towering, gleaming examples of modern architecture everywhere you turn, the days are bright and relatively safe, while the nights are dark and dangerous. Smack in the middle of the continuum of attitudes towards super-humans, the citizens of New York know life is better in Metropolis, but can see how lucky they are when they look at Gotham. Positioned at the top of the Tri-City Corridor, the city is truly a melting pot of both culture and of heroes… and villains. There, you will see things, perhaps, that Metropolis and Gotham never even dreamed of… and perhaps will be spared that which the other two must inevitably experience. Because the city council? They're ambivalent at best to the plight of the super-humans within their city bounds — until, of course, those super-humans make a name for themselves. Then?

All bets are off.

Your turn…

That is the world of CoMUX: An attempt to recreate the complex reality of popular drama against the backdrop of classic comic-book action. We want to allow players a wide range of RP opportunities within a cohesive, persistent world where the actions of their characters will make a real difference. Can Gotham ever be redeemed? Is Metropolis actually, unwittingly doomed? Will New York still be so willing to live-and-let-live if half the city is leveled tomorrow?

The answers to all these questions are found in the actions of the characters that live, work, and fight within each of these great cities.

The actions of your character.

For more in-depth information about the theme, see the following:


A Closer Look at the Tri-Cities and Beyond

More in-depth information regarding each of the three major cities, as well as some other settings provided beyond their borders.

Note: Maps of the IC grid for each city can be found here.

The Impact of Super-Humans on Society

Information regarding public opinion about supers (metas, mutants, and others), as well as organizations and factions that support or oppose them.

The Hidden Influencers and the Impact of Their Actions

Profiles of significant NPCs who can influence public opinion — for good or ill — and how they operate within society at large.

Note: Page not yet available.


Note: These pages are still under construction. Thus, you may find them a little thin, right now.


Footnotes

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License