Enemies of the New Class & SRI
Jerome Newton, The Hierophant
A media mogul with fingers in pies all over the world, Newton served as the Guild's King of Cups and later Hierophant, before striking out on his own.Possessed of an unmatched hatred for not just Parahumans, but Parahuman children, Newton was certainly the main reoccurring nemesis of both the New & RSI classes.
A lean, tall blond with a chiselled face, cheekbones that could cut glass, Newton was easily recognisable by his heterochromia; mismatched coloured eyes.
During his time as the King of Cups, Newton was shrewd and humourless, quick to blame Parahumans for the world's ills. His extreme, cruel suggestions often clashing with the larger, big-picture views of the rest of the Guild. Newton had lost both hands in a car accident caused by the Collective, and had them replaced with extra strong, near-realistic cybernetics (as long as he wore his trademark white leather gloves).
During the fight with the Lost Class, Newton's cybernetics, and the rest of his arms, were torn from his body. Made paranoid from the pain of permanent nervous damage, the now-Hierophant became more and more hateful and irrational, pouring his millions into both anti-Parahuman research and cybernetic prosthetics, now equipped with a set of incredibly strong bladed arms, and the spinal attachments needed to use them. Newton assembled a team of Parahuman-attack survivors equipped with nightmarish cybernetic enhancements, named the Ever Circling Skeletal Family, and began hunting down the New Class… until Acting Principal Otkid tore his body apart with gravitational powers. Ashamed and angered of his actions, the Guild disowned Newton, even as he recovered in a private hospital...
As the Ever Circling Skeletal Family attacked and killed Parahumans around Britain, their leader remained hidden, even considered dead at times. Newton reappeared as the organiser of the Twilight incident, uniting his team with Perry Botch and his Paratroopers, and a number of hijacked ACTAEON Units in a monstrous attack on the Surrey Royal Institute and its children, a personal attack against the Guild that had spurned him. His new cybernetics comprised his entire body except his skull, having become hateful of the limits of his natural body: his Swiss-army-knife-like arms equipped with electrified blades and other cruel weapons. The incident is still seen as a monstrous massacre, Newton leading his enhanced killers against untrained, unarmed children. Newton was ultimately killed by the uniting of the New & SRI Classes, his resilient body torn to pieces before being destroyed by the collateral damage he had caused.
Newton's head was never reclaimed, but was considered dead for years, before a facsimile of Jerome reappeared as the surprise “Prime Personality” of The Code: it is unknown how his personality became part of the Code, or why of all people a hateful, unhinged bigot like Newton was chosen. Newton's personality tortured that of The Nerd inside The Code, helping to motivate the Nerd to escape and seek help from the Academy. His dominating personality was ultimately destroyed when the Code was deleted and disarmed by The Nerd sacrificing themself; Newton's attempt at revenge was cut short by the Hayden Peters personality restraining him before they were all deleted.
Newton is considered dead, though ultimately Newton's physical head has never been located.
The Ever Circling Skeletal Family
Newton's handpicked bodyguard and lethal killers, the strangely named troupe were all united by the fact they had been badly wounded, or almost killed, during conflicts with The Academy. As such, all members personally believed they were vindicated in their actions against Parahumans, given a second chance by Newton's bionics. Many were of an advanced age, their bodies phenomenally enhanced by Newton's bionics.It should be noted that with the exception of the Guild Guards, none of the ECSF were previously trained in weapon use. Newton paid for them to receive basic firearm training, enhanced by their cybernetics… And the fact their targets were mostly untrained children.
Each had kill marks cut or smeared onto their bionics. The numbers noted below are the numbers observed during the Surrey Royal Institute incident.
Newton's bionics were state of the art 30 years ago, and thus have a decidedly grotesque, inhuman profile to them. Each member had a respirator system built into their throats, allowing them to ignore harmful atmospheres.
Each wore a simplified Guild mask, white and charred at the bottom to resemble a skull, and decrepit old black and white formal wear.
No. 2, Brother
A Guild Guard who lost a large portion of his left side fighting Eroder during To Crown A Peasant's Head. Equipped with bionic arm, leg, and eye. A sharpshooter.Killed by Tommy.
Kills: 6
No. 3, Son
A Guild Guard severely burnt by La Bete Noir's wings during To Crown A Peasant's Head and left on life support. Equipped with a flame thrower and flame retardant artificial skin.Killed by Tuppence.
Kills: 11
No. 4, Wife
A Guild Maid rendered quadriplegic through collateral damage during To Crown A Peasant's Head. Limbs replaced with animalistic replacements with claws: capable of running at extreme speeds on all fours.Survived.
Kills: 7
No. 5, Aunt
A Guild Maid paralysed through collateral damage during To Crown A Peasant's Head. Spine repaired with collapsible wings. Provided air to ground heavy gun fire.Killed by -
Kills: 9
No. 6, Father
An ACTAEON operator who lost his legs during the ARGUS incident. Legs replaced by a tank-like set of caterpillar trucks and sponson mounted guns. Motivated entirely by Hatred. The group's most dangerous member.Killed by Ghost
Kills: 29
No. 7, Sister
An ACTAEON engineer left on life support following the Black November incident. Equipped with enormous cybernetic arms.Kills: 21
Survived.
No. 8, Cousin
A police officer left unable to walk following an altercation with Tempest. Torso mounted on a centaur-like body equipped with heavy munitions.Unaccounted for.
Kills: 19
No. 9, Grandmother
A trapeze artist whose pelvis was shattered during the Gug's first outburst back in 68. Equipped with a spider-like abdomen, complete with legs. Able to climb walls and deploy garottes. Incredibly good at breaking and entering. Left victims strung up like grisly trophies.Killed by -
Kills: 19
No. 10, Grandfather
A police officer whose rib cage was crushed by The Thunderchild back in 69, and forced into an iron lung. Lungs and chest rebuilt with an enormous gas projection system.Killed by The Conductor.
Kills: 13
No. 11, Daughter
A member of The Cleansing Hand of St Michael who lost her hands while threatening Eroder during the Children's Crusade. Replaced with retractable tendrils that could interact with computers. The team's saboteur.Killed by Tommy.
Kills: 2
No. 12, Mother
A TV executive blinded by Bodmin during the Crusade's Shadow incident. Eyes replaced by long range bionics, and head equipped with radio surveillance equipment. The team's surveillance expert.Killed by Sparks.
Kills: 2
Humanity League
A bigoted political party focused on the persecution and exclusion of Parahumans. Known for their skin-headed mobs, blue-black striped jumpers, and fascist tendencies. A violent nuisance in the 1980s, a problem in the 1990s as part of Purity First.Following the declaration of Purity First being an illegal organisation, HL vanished only to reappear in the early 2010s, marketing themselves as a party for those concerned with Britain's “cultural identity”, preying on the paranoid and uninformed to push their anti-Parahuman agenda under layers of cryptofacism. Their slogan, by no coincidence, is Purity First.
Following the bigoted and irreverent President Keel's rise in power, The Humanity League has increased in popularity across acceptable circles. Their leader, MP Penelope Munn, is running for Prime Minister in 2020.
Perry Botch
Botch began as The First Class’ dumpy, loyal, local friend; a lovable doofus who befriended the Class and eventually learned their secrets, keeping them close to his chest. Returning from Oxford University as a lawyer, The Professor swiftly trusted Botch with the Academy's legal matters. As a loyal ally of The Academy, Perry was beloved of The Academy, no-one expecting the sheer hatred going on behind his thick glasses.Motivated by a raw jealousy of the destructive power held by Parahumans, for at least a decade Botch had been carefully syphoning money from The Academy & First Class’ accounts as well as undermining their investments and shares, taking money for himself and investing it in heavy munitions and good relations with both foreign arms dealers and soldiers for hire. Botch was slowly building himself a paramilitary unit of his own design, a team of armoured, heavily armed Paratroopers.
When the New Class discovered the truth behind the Academy’s money troubles and Botch's involvement - and even the Guild's involvement as arms dealers, no-one believed them. Terrified by what may come, the New Class tried everything they could to expose Botch, but he was too many steps ahead; possessed of an impressive intellect, Botch had planned for this, and had alibis and proxies prepared.
After several small, violent excursions, the Paratroopers and Botch allied with Jerome Newton's Ever Circling Skeletal Family during the nightmarish Twilight incident. The Paratroopers’ heavy firearms were too much for the SRI’s security, or its unprepared students. Botch wore bullet-proof armour complete with a prototype anti-Parahuman forcefield. SRI students survived long enough for the New Class to rush to their aid, only for Botch to murder the New Class’ resident Nerd as they attempted to protect their friends. Driven mad by their friend's sacrifice, Macllynllawr's Foster Child lost any restraint, and used their powers to murder Botch, beheading him.
Botch reappeared years later as the anti-Parahuman core-personality inside The Code, a counterpoint to Hayden Peters’ pro-human ideals. The Botch facsimile inside the Code was frightfully effective, infecting Parahumans in order to use them against other Parahumans, with no consideration for their survival. Botch's personality was the first to be destroyed, deleted in cathartic fashion by The Nerd's second sacrifice to end The Code.
Unless something mysterious occurred behind the scenes, Perry Botch is very dead.
The Paratroopers
A paramilitary organisation led and organised by Perry Botch, the Paratroopers were Parahuman hunting soldiers armed with heavy machine-gun installed in jetpack equipped armoured suits. Every Paratrooper was a trained killer, killing either for money or the thrill of the hunt.After a small number of violent excursions in the late 1980s, including Botch's death at the SRI, the Paratroopers continued operating, now sponsored by Purity First throughout the 1990s. The team continued as a particularly Ansty mercenary unit until the 2010s, where every member was hunted down and every suit (except one) was destroyed by a team of proactive Academy Alumni, who took the Paratrooper name for themselves.
There were exactly twelve suits of Paratrooper armour, carefully maintained from their 1980s debut to their 2010s disolution. Each suit had been customizer by its pilots with unique designs and kill markings. They were remarkable for their domed helmets and shoulder-mounted heavy machine-guns.
The Barghest
A shadowy… Thing, that exited the Cairn during the Fear Party incident. Named due to its resemblance to a giant ghostly dog or cat, with pale fingers for teeth, the monster caused unfathomable chaos across Britain, not just on the Academy grounds. Able to make people act without inhibitions, or appear as someone's greatest fear, trapping them in a nightmare mindscape of their own design. It's presence caused weather across the UK to act bizarrely, and sleepers were hounded by restless nights filled with nightmares.Sent back to the Cairn through the efforts of the New Class, the Cairn Child and the SRI.
Returned during D's Rodin's Gate incident. Scarily, seemingly only one of many. Was completely aware of who had defeated it and hunted them down, its presence enhancing the demonic transformations the Students were suffering. Pulled back into the Cairn for good by the Cairn Child.
Not seen since… Except in nightmares.
Lillian Eves, The High Priestess
The mysterious Lillian Eves made many claims as to her nature. First encountered by the New Class as an untouchable business woman heading an antiquities-smuggling-racket, it was apparent Eves had an interest in “magic” and Esoteric power, much like the Magician. More questions were raised when, seemingly in response to her previous defeat, Eves initiated a hostile takeover of Guild-operated businesses, securing herself a place in the Guild's Chosen...and reigniting a seemingly ancient animosity with D.Eves involved herself in matters regarding the New & SRI classes, setting herself up as a nemesis equal to Jerome Newton. She inserted herself into the governing of the Surrey Institute, butting heads with The Empress, whose care for her students was genuine. She forced herself into the lives of the students, tutoring members in “private lessons” of her own design, never discussed outside of her boudoir office in the Guild mansion.
Even as a Guild Chosen, Eves continued to source and collect items of ancient value from across the world, often illegally. The SRI and New Class would continue to intercept her attempts, eventually realising that they all contained references to Female Progenitor or Goddess Figures...and a large number resembled Eves herself. Always delighted to hold a secret, Eves never explained herself, even in the face of defeat, or when one of the New Class recognised her as a the spitting image of their great, great, great grandmother.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the High Priestess continued operating as a valuable member of the Chosen, seemingly never aging. In 2016, The Guild warned the Academy that The High Priestess had gone rogue, having gathered a collection of occult relics over the decades and stolen the Guild's own collection.On Anglesey, amidst an enormous sigil painted out in thousands of relics across miles, Eves confronted the Paratroopers, claiming that she was in fact “the first woman, born of screaming flesh a thousand stars from here”. In her own words, Eves claimed she was the first Parhauman, something inhuman from far beyond the solar system, an eternal mother mistaken for both the myths of Eve and Lilith, her genetic seed spread amongst every living thing on Earth.
Using the occult power of the gathered items on Anglesey, Eves resurrected what she claimed was the cage her captors had exiled her within: the Nameless City! And within it, an army of seemingly resurrected dead Parahumans from across the Earth! The Last Class, Collective, Guild & Alumni attempted to destroy the magical configuration while fighting their deceased friends, as the Paratroopers confronted Eves and her personal guard. Embracing the ritual, Eves shed her human form to take her true shape, a colossal monstrous creature that defied understanding. Wrapped in heavenly light of a strange colour, The High Priestess (speaking through numerous mouths) claimed she had attained the Godhood denied her, only to be seemingly killed by the Paratroopers burying magical weapons deep into her chest.
No body was recovered.
Not all resurrected Parahumans collapse back into corpses, many seemingly wandering off, their lives restored to them...
Lillian was a large, heavy-set, very curvy woman of uncertain race thanks to her caramel skin. Her age was never obvious, thanks to a youthful face with old, ancient amber eyes. She preferred incredibly short or bald haircuts. She possessed the Parahuman ability to tire or even drain the vitality out of someone via touch, even to the point of death, leaving her victim a husk. She posses a knowledge of the Occult only rivalled by D.
In her “true” form, Eves was an unrecognisably human mix of enormous serpentine body, many-jointed muscle-less many-fingered arms, ragged feathered wings and her own very human torso crowning a colossal, featureless horse-like head. Her eyes and mouth glowed with an unidentifiable-coloured light.
Eves was seemingly killed on Anglesey, though it is not impossible she survived in some other form.
D, The Magician
The seemingly immortal occultist known only by his signature, “D”, was a regular threat as a member of the Milliner's Guild Chosen, before going rogue when he attempted to control the Academy's mysterious Cairn during the “Devil's Night” incident. Claiming to be the Guild's founder, The Peacock's student, and creator of both La Bete Noir & PARIS, the only truths known about D were his obsession & control of the occult, and that his true allegiance was seemingly only ever to himself.According to stories told by D, he claims to have once been a Hermetic sorcerer of great renown, who entered a compact with what was left of The Peacock during the Angel's imprisonment. He has lived for hundreds of years, creating Homonculi of his own design, including what is now the PARIS virus and manipulating the Milliners Guild…
D seemed to know a lot about the Academy Mansion, and especially The Cairn, and held some long-standing feud with the High Priestess.
D always appeared as a gaunt, pale man, his veins bold against his skin. His eyes were bloodshot pink, often hidden behind dark glasses. An arcane symbol was burnt onto his chest. His hair was pale, either grey or white, and he groomed is facial hair into a long beard. An odd note was his perpetually bad teeth.
D was a genius, specialising in ancient knowledges, like hermetic magic, alchemy, astrology, lithomancy, herbology and other subjects now recognised as precursors to scientific fields. He spoke with a precise upper class English accent, though it is worth noting that when he spoke other languages, namely Latin or Greek, he also adopted a perfect accent and pronunciation.
He was able to create living facsimiles of Parahumans he called Homonculi.
“Powers” D demonstrated included:
- Enhanced toughness & strength
- Seemingly, regeneration
- Able to cast arcane rituals
- A limited control over the natural elements: earth, air, fire & water
Everyone seemed to be affected by the enormous magical vortex; inhibitions lost and demonic features growing. The Barghest that escaped the Cairn during the Fear Party returns, causing infighting and faster transformations. One SRI student was even possessed by a remnant of La Bete Noir…
Climbing the tower, the students were unable to stop D reaching a light he claimed wis “creation itself”, until the Cairn Child sacrificed themself to deny The Magician the prize they sought, throwing both of them into the rift, sealing it behind them..
D seemingly escaped or survived, haunting the Resident & Extreme Classes in the 1990s with his Homonculi. D eventually kidnapped members of each team, attempting to recreate La Bete Noir… and enslave it to his will. Instead, he and his Homonculi were seemingly destroyed by the unleashed power, and his laboratory immolated with them.
Considering D's control over “alchemy” and genetics, it is surprising that D hasn't appeared since. Perhaps he is not as obvious as previously seen...
Olympia
The mysterious Olympia resembled a living porcelain doll, complete with threaded hair (she would often change), covered in scratches and cracks - though ultimately brittle, her skin was tough enough to deflect many direct attacks. Silent but inquisitive, she acted like a child. She seemed to master any bladed weapon given to her with ease.Her origin remains unknown, only that Glammer hand picked her for her Collective.
Olympia was seemingly shattered during the fight with The Peacock's Mysteries.
Olympia showed unexplained hostility towards Alumni of the Lost Class.
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