Enemies of the Lost Class

The Nameless City

An enormous structure of “coral” dwelling off the North Welsh coast, The Nameless City may be the inspiration for Europe's obsession with sunken cities. However, this is no mere structure; The Nameless City is a colossal living creature, Sentient and intelligent.

The City first appeared as an outcrop encountered by the First Class, who stole a strange Mirror from inside it. It reappeared a decade later, intent on capturing the thieves and taking them… somewhere. The Lost Class ran through its halls, terrified, avoiding its death traps and its verbal abuse. The Team eventually found its heart and caused the City enough pain to free them, but not before discovering its alien origins as a vessel for “refugees” , or losing two of their team-mates…

The City reappeared as a pawn of The High Priestess Lillian Eves, not only serving her seemingly against its will, but carrying the bodies of hundreds of dead, prominent Parahumans. It identified Lillian as “The Prisoner”, but served as an enormous distraction, dragging itself onto land and fighting the United forces of the Academy and its allies. The Lost Class led an attempt to get into the monster's heart and kill it once and for all; they were successful, and the city collapsed back into the sea, screaming, finally gone forever.

The City resembled a white coral structure the size of a small town; it travelled on numerous “stumpy” tortoise like feet, backed up by turtle-like fins. It could exude beams of blinding light and force from mouth like orifices covering its frame.

The exact connection between The City, the Alpha's island, The Mirror, La Bete Noir or Lillian Eves remains unknown.

The Winding Way

A series of strange dream-like “realms” connected by metaphysical “roads”, the “Winding way” is the unexplainable world the Lost Class found themselves exploring for the best part of their first year. The Lost Class have struggled to explain what they witnessed and encountered on these adventures, only that they needed to escape.

The Winding Way has some connection to The Nameless City, the island the Alpha lived on briefly, The Mirror, & La Bete Noir.

It is believed the Lost Class were briefly summoned back to the Winding Way on the day La Bete Noir disappeared.

La Bete Noir

The nightmarish powers of La Bete Noir are a shadow that will always cast a shadow over the Academy. An alien power of unknown origin, the dark energies of La Bete Noir have burnt, torn, killed and self destructed across the history of not only the Lost Class, but every student that came after. Despite being killed, La Bete Noir's power continued to resurface again and again, never fading away into its own darkness...

Appearing as a small, nebulous black shape of crackling energy, LBN would choose a host, usually a female underdog, to channel its power through. According to the limited information gathered, LBN was either created or summoned by the Magician D, a piece of the darkness that existed before the universe.

Powers & Identifiers

• When using their abilities, La Bete Noir radiated a cloud of dark energy, crackling fragments and bubbles emerging from the mass and dissipating.
• After La Bete Noir awakened, the student's hair and lips were stained black, and their eyes turned black.
• They could throw bolts of dark energy, and fly on black wings.
• Able to discern someone's greatest fear, dark secrets, or their cause of death.
• Limited magical abilities; able to cast rituals and discern an object or person's history & purpose.
• Through excessive concentration, LBN can burn away the PARIS virus, the Parahuman gene, or even the Paracea cure.
• LBN itself would speak through its host, and at times of heightened emotion take full possession.

Lost Class Host

LBN first appears caged inside the Nameless City; desperate and panicked, the Lost Class free it, and it joins with Psion. It is unseen for years until it saves its host from death, gifting them new powers and a new confident persona. Over the next few years, LBN crushes various villains and threats to the Academy, before being led back to the Milliner's Guild & D, where The Magician unleashes LBN's full potential, dooming the Guild and leading to not only a swathe of destruction cross England, but a gravitational shift across the planet! The Class & LBN are suddenly removed from Reality, only to return without LBN or its host…

SRI Host

During the Rodin's Gate event, a piece of LBN seemingly escaped from either the Cairn or the giant glowing hole in the sky. It rampaged through each of the New Class & SRI students, at the time freed of inhibitions by the Cairn, before choosing the one SRI student least affected. LBN is able to help the Cairn Child confront D, but LBN itself attempts to take full control; the Cairn Child tears the LBN spirit from their friend's body, and dives into the Cairn, toppling D with them.

The SRI host is left with extremely weakened parts of LBN's powers, but with only remnants of the creature's control or presence.

90s Hosts

D attempts to destroy his “creation” the PARIS virus by creating two new LBN hosts, Felix and Vixen… that he can control. With LBN spread between two hosts, they both retain control, and destroy D instead.

Like the SRI host, both hosts are left with weakened parts of LBN's powers, but with only remnants of the creature's control or presence.However, joining hands they can access together LBN's full potential.

Destined Host

Scrying and precognition claims that LBN will return, possessing Fateweaver as a so-called perfect host in the Last Class.

Carmilla

Appearing as a sixteen year old dark-haired, pale European girl in a porcelain mask, Carmilla is the same ancient vampire that inspired the short story of the same name. Surrounded by her army of centuries worth of ghoulish female lovers, Carmilla was “summoned’ from a deep sleep by the “stench of power” (probably the metaphysical aura of La Bete Noir possessing Psion), hungering for the incredible potency of Parahuman blood. What followed was a terrifying siege on the Academy; the ghouls assaulted the doors and windows, while the monstrous Orlock smashed his way in, bullying the students into giving Carmilla permission to enter the school.

The vampire’s hypnotic powers turned the students against each other, only leaving a handful to fight back; eventually, it came down to Flamet, empowered by their strong faith and hope. With the ghouls scared off by running water, Polidori trapped and Orlock destroyed, Carmilla transformed into a monstrous feline form to claim what she had sought, but was ultimately killed when her mask was removed and a broken silver trophy plunged into her chest. Rotting on the spot, Carmilla staggered away from the grounds, believed to have made it no further than the edge of the woods before crumbling into offal.

Her mask is still on the wall of the Academy to this day.

Powers and Weaknesses

Carmilla possessed vampiric powers:

• Above average toughness, stamina, strength and dexterity.
• Able to convert others into “ghouls” by drinking their blood.
• Able to convert others into full Vampires by feeding them her blood.
• Take on animalistic features.
• Eye-contact hypnosis.

As a vampire, she possessed a number of ritualistic aversions:

• Garlic.
• Running water.
• Sunlight.
• Roses.
• Deadly weakness to sharpened wood.
• Deadly weakness to sharpened silver.

Orlock

Carmilla’s “muscle”, the antediluvian Orlock was more a malevolent nature spirit than the elegant predator many think of when they hear Vampire, an ancient creature older than life on Earth itself. Bald, tall, hunched, and with the huge eyes and razor teeth of a bat, the mute Orlock possessed a number of unnatural abilities; impossible strength, travelling as a shadow, able to summon rats and beetles, and an Immunity to pain. Orlock was the main physical threat in the siege on the Mansion, strong enough to kill any of the students if he wished to; luckily, Polidori betrayed his masters by divulging that Orlock's weakness was the only thing older than he was, a shadow cast by humanity's light. Clued in, the Class tricked the monster into exposing himself to the sun; untouched by decades, or, perhaps, millions of years, he crumbled to dust immediately.

Dr. Polidori

Supposedly the same Polidori who wrote The Vampyre, the doctor was Carmilla's impish attendant, carrying enormous glass & brass syringes of “good stuff” for his queen. The rat-like top-hatted Polidori was captured during the siege on the school, and threatened with a cross into divulging the vampires’ weaknesses; he was the only major vampire unaccounted for the next morning...

Cairn Thing

A Creature that “escaped” from the Cairn and invaded the school one New Year's Eve following a blackout. Descriptions were sparse, only that it was tall, pale, and inhuman, with teeth & claws. Injuries on the four, emotional students that survived the intrusion were slow to heal and an uncomfortable shade of blue. The burn marks left on the rugs by the thing's footsteps were irregular and unrecognizable.

Eliza Piers

Television executive Eliza Piers, after losing both her policeman son and husband to incursions from the Alpha, leads a religious crusade against Parahuman terrorism. Her easily-led penitents, the Cleansing Hand of St Michael, kidnap the Professor, the staff, and two students, to be publicly tried on British television. The rest of the students team up with the Alpha to rescue the Professor et al; the students prevent the Alpha from killing, and even appeal to Piers’ better nature...before she realises she'd rather die a martyr, throwing herself off the Thames Television building.

Parahumans now forever associated with “an innocent woman's death”, Piers becomes a martyr for anti-Parahuman movements, and spurs Hatred to even greater levels. Piers becomes a Saint-like figure to Purity First a decade later.

Piers' unknown military daughter, Bethan, leads a deadly revenge in the 2000s.

The Cleansing Hand of St Michael

A London Church turned religious activist group, The Cleansing Hand of St Michael believed Parahumans were an a front to God and decided to do something about it. Led by Piers, they planned to make an example of Parahumans by converting, or killing their spokesperson, Professor Lieber.

They failed, but with Piers made a martyr by her “murder”, the Cleansing Hand didn't disappear, continuing to protest and attempt action against Parahumans. They would become part of Purity First, and mostly vanish in the new Millenium.

Sant was repulsed by something in their possession.

The Cleansing Hand of St Michael Believed:

• God created man. God did not create Parahumans.
• Parahumans are an affront to God.
• Parahumans have no place in Heaven.
• The sins of Parahumans cannot be forgiven.

The Moon

Richard Alman was a young psychology and anthropology graduate hired by the Professor to be the Lost Class’ personal tutor and counsellor. What the Professor didn't know was that Alman was also The Moon, a Guild Chosen and protégé of The Emperor; he was also the mastermind behind the infiltration of the Academy, having personally chosen Temperance to join him, and the Tower to infiltrate ahead of plans.

Alman's plan was to befriend and manipulate a powerful but emotionally vulnerable student (or students), and fully indoctrinate them into The Guild's plans for Parahuman and Governmental control, creating their own Academy Pawn who would not only destroy the school, but lead The Guild to glory.

It did not go well.

A victim of their own micromanagement, Alman spent years grooming Malachi Monday, aka Psion the host of La Bete Noir, before finally deciding the time was right to bring them to The Guild, seemingly far too late for The Emperor & The Magician. Temperance decided enough was enough too, and explained the Guild's involvement to the Academy, but also drove them their in the missile of the night to rescue their friend and thwart The Moon.

When not only did Psion prove themself more useful than Alman, but the Lost Class were discovered on Guild ground, Alman's usefulness, despite his protests, was spent; his forcefield was no use defending himself against the Hierophant’s strangling, bionic arms.

Alman's last words were a warning to Psion that there were not just two spies in the school; there were three.

Alman could channel their own negative emotions into a protective forcefield.

New ACTAEON

The second wave of ACTAEON Parahuman-Hunting Robots were a massive departure from their cloth-covered bobble-headed progenitors. These versions were now 10 feet tall, and equipped with knockout gas and freezing rays. Clumsy and slow, but strong enough to crush buildings and able to fly, the new spotlight-eyed ACTAEONs are nightmare inducing.

Over the next thirty years, the robots would be step-by-step upgraded with various new weapons and technologies;

• Parahuman-detecting sensors.
• Air-drop capabilities, later jet-propelled boots.
• Laser-weapons.
• Net-launchers.
• Gripping metal coils.
• Self-destruct bombs.

The ACTAEONs would be retired in the mid 2000s, following decades of fumbles, blunders, mistakes, and millions of pounds of damages.

Rumours of a third brand new model exist, but no such robot was ever produced.

The Professor's Id

A dark shadow of the Professor's inner monstrosity left with a battered, exhausted, highly emotional group of teenagers. Resembling a stuttering, badly animated, scratchy film-negative of the Professor, the creature seemed to defy the rules of reality, appearing behind any closed door, or emerging out of shadows. The things touch was barb-sharp and excruciating painful, it's personality gruesome, lecherous and cruel, loaded with the Professor's knowledge of their students.

With the aid of First Class Alumni & Guild Chosen Temperance, the creature is seemingly destroyed.

The creature's origins are unknown; an emanation from the Cairn? A remnant of La Bete Noir? Something escaped from somewhere else? A literal Figment of the Professor's insecurities?

Cabal, The Tower

Seemingly just one of the Lost Class’ students, in truth Jacob Rosen, aka Cabal was the Guild Chosen known as The Tower, an operative trained from near-birth by the Guild to use their Parahuman gifts to kill. The Tower was installed into the Academy early in the life of the Lost Class, alongside The Moon & Temperance; even if the Class discovered that a teacher and a past-student were both agents for The Guild, no-one would suspect the student who joined as a 13 year old.

Across the years the Tower subtly caused problems for the Academy; killing allies, silencing witnesses, undermining efforts, causing emotional distress between already emotional teenagers. Their cover became fractured during the Lost Class’ clashes with the Guild, allegiances tested and ethics put on the line, not to mention Moon blurting that three spies had infiltrated the school.

Finally exposed by a single slip of conflicting stories during an innocuous game of spin-the-bottle, the Lost Class slowly realised that the pain and confusion they had suffered could be traced back to one of their own friends. The Tower brought the mansion down on the class in a last ditch attempt to escape unscathed, but the Lost Class proved their tenacity, and a destructive battle erupted, friend fighting friend in the collapsing ruins of the school. Definitely tormented by their dual life as child and killer, The Tower was eventually defeated, but not before causing enough collateral damage to bury themself under the remnants of the establishment they had set out to destroy. With the mansion in rubble and the Lost Class going their separate ways, the Tower had, ironically, ultimately succeeded at their mission.

No body was ever found.

Cabal's Parahuman abilities of Hermetic Magic were upgraded by the Guild using implanted ARGUS technology. Their best friend, Catalyst, might have upgraded their powers during the final fight to the levels that brought the mansion tumbling down.

Jacob had been trained in self-defence, espionage, stealth, firearms, knife-fighting and assassination by the best tutors money could buy for at least a decade before their enrolment in the Academy..

The Strike Commander

A mysterious metallic-armour clad alien warrior, the faceless Strike Commander hounded the Lost Class for almost the entirety of their tenure at the Academy. The elite warrior of the warlike alien race known as the Bo'Dach, the alien fighter was a one-man army, capable of taking the entire Lost Class down at once with minimal worry. Strangely, the masked alien did not resemble the bird-like Bo'Dach. They have been unseen since 1983.

Aparctius & Notus

Previously special-agents employed by the British Government, Jamaican Fayard Jackson and Nigerian Javal Aze were given their Greek Wind God codename by ETHER during their stints in Egypt in the 1960s. Unhappy with their employment, their connections with Glammer led them to joining The Collective. They were loyal members until Notus lost his legs after being attacked by an ACTAEON unit while both the Collective and the Parahuman hunters were under Government employ. Both quit, with Aparctius caring for his partner; the two would later help teach Barracks’ Extreme Class, and would even work with the Paratroopers.

Aparctius, Fayard Jackson, possessed the ability to freeze sufficiently cold or wet objects with just a touch. He was incredibly athletic, and an expert with handguns. Fayard was known for his shaved head, shades, gold teeth (he had six), and wicked sense of humour. In his spare time, he was an accomplished sci-fi writer, working under numerous pseudonyms.

Notus, Javal Aze, could summon gale-force winds; with concentration he could refine these winds into chilling blades of force. By using windchill, he could enable Aparctius’ powers, making them a deadly partnership. Despite being 5’ 4”, Notus was a brilliant sprinter, and an expert with explosives. He was known for his many piercings, his shades, and his near-silence; a scar on his throat indicated a painful surgery. He kept in depth journals detailing the black-ops Jackson and he undertook; these were published online in 2010, calling attention to multiple retired Politicians who had partook in illegal operations.

The two were incredibly close; their interactions with the Paratroopers confirmed their relationship. Aparctius & Notus live together in an undisclosed location.

Sway, Overlord

Previously a member of the First Class, blue-blood George Williams Pendlebrook joined the Collective to follow the Alpha's ideas of Parahuman superiority. As Sway, Pendlebrook manipulated and controlled others into serving him, often turning them against each other violently.

In the 1980's, Sway reinvented them-self as the lone super-villain Overlord, intent on forming their own "Kingdom". The New Class briefly met The Overlord, but the villain was far too powerful to be confronted by mere students. The atrocities committed by those under the villain's control gained the attention of the military and Ether, who neutralised the national threat Pendlebrook stood for.

Convicted for the indirect murder of over fifty people, Overlord was sent to a major security facility in 1989. After becoming an example of a model prison, and agreeing to certain restrictions, Pendlebrook is to be released later this year.