Rules and Setting Mutants & Masterminds: Emerald City Sentinels - The Setting - Emerald City

[jameson (ST)]

The following is excerpted directly from the free Emerald City Knights Prologue (click HERE to download, but please do not read ahead). I in no way claim this to be my work

WELCOME TO THE BOOMTOWN

Its founders dubbed Emerald City "the City of Destiny," because for them it was the last stop on the continent's edge. With nothing but the deep blue sea beyond, a man had no choice but to meet his fate there—whatever it was. Even in the present age of supersonic jets and a shrinking globe, Emerald City remains the last stop for most who journey there, both for reasons joyous and tragic. Now, it's the heroes' turn to come face to face with their destiny.

IN THE CITY

Emerald City is located in the Pacific Northwest of the United States near the Atlas Mountain range, a quiet, humble neighbor of Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland. Founded on Malory Bay, it's been best-known to fish-ermen (by trade and by hobby) and lumberjacks through most of its history. The anglers and all others who venture there find a cosmopolitan place, befitting a gateway to the Far East, including a large, old, and influential Asian population who sought refuge from other, increasingly exclusionary, areas of the Pacific Northwest during the late 1800s.

A century later, Emerald City is still graced by a large Eastern District and a "Jadetown" area sizable enough to rival San Francisco's Chinatown. Today, first-time visitors are greeted by twin giants: one a monument of God's creation, and the other of man's. The dormant volcanic peak of Mount Stanley has framed the city skyline from the start, and in 1968 was joined by the Emerald Tower, looming impressively towards the heavens (check out the cover of the M&M Hero's Handbook for a shot of the Tower).

In the last two decades, Emerald City has grown almost exponentially, becoming a true boomtown. The city proper is quite large, surrounded by a number of expanding suburbs and bedroom communities. Driving this growth was the establishment of MarsTech, Inc. (MSTI on the New York Stock Exchange) by the flamboyant plutocrat and techno-wizard Maximilian Mars. As MarsTech and other high-tech companies flourished, so did Emerald City, trans-forming the once-sleepy burgh into a leading center for the computer industry and other high-technology businesses.

GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD

Nothing marks Emerald City newcomers more than making a Munchkin joke in public. They think it's clever, but to longtime residents (and in truth) they're just being punch-ably obvious and annoying. It's all an understand-able offshoot of the city's 70-year-long love/hate relation-ship with The Wizard of Oz. There are many businesses and organizations that work overtime to avoid any association with the classic stories and legendary film, while others embrace the eponymous association wholeheartedly. Those who revel in the city's L. Frank Baum connection with the enthusiasm of flying monkeys successfully lobbied to have the open-air walking mall in the downtown shop-ping district dubbed the Yellow Brick Row. There, the street is indeed bricked just as advertised, duly painted yellow every year on the official birthday of the city, August 27th.

A GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND

For years, things in Emerald City were stable, depend-able. Sure, times were tough when the lumber and paper industries took a hit, and again when fishing and farming suffered, but they got better when the tech boom arrived, and companies like MarsTech, USNet, and Brande Management brought new jobs and new opportunities. Rapid development brought its own growing pains but, still, Emerald City didn't have alien armadas filling the sky, or mad gods trying to turn it into a Hell on Earth. Unlike Freedom City, Emerald has never had more than a few scattered costumed champions over the years, and none that stuck around long enough to make much of an impact. To most local residents, it's just one of those things–-like how the city's never been able to attract an NBA franchise. When it comes to capes, however, the truth is far more sinister than David Stern considering Emerald "too small market." Emerald's skies were free of flying figures, but also of aerial battles. There were a few costumed types now and again, but not so you would really notice. Things were stable... until the Silver Storm

[jameson (ST)]

Glossary of Terms

AEGIS (American Elite Government Intervention Service): US government agency established in 1962 to deal with superhuman and paranormal threats to public and national safety. AEGIS is a curious beast: a mix of highly trained investigators and the most heavily armed military Special Forces personnel in the world. Their mission: counterterrorism. Within America’s borders, AEGIS is the government’s response to superhuman crime and violence. When a superhuman threat emerges to threaten lives and freedom, AEGIS is the first—and often the best—line of defense.

Eldrich (Dr. Adrian Eldrich): “Master of Magic,” Earth’s current Master Mage, living in a mansion in Riverside neighborhood of Freedom City with his Egyptian manservant Sallah. Seeking his eventual disciple and replacement. (cf. Eldrich, Master of Magic)

SHADOW (Secret Hierarchy of Agents for Domination Over the World): Vast criminal conspiracy devoted to world domination, controlled by the mysterious Overshadow. Under the leadership of the infamous Overshadow, this cruel organization’s objective is to finish what Nazi Germany began: nothing less than the total domination of the world! Bolstered by legions of clone troopers and some of the most fiendish devices ever invented, SHADOW fights a never-ending war to plunge the world into the darkness of the Overshadow, to rob mankind of the gifts of justice, democracy, and even free will itself!

Silver Storm, The: Mysterious explosion followed by the appearance of a silver cloud and a storm-like event that took place within the Yellow Brock Row open air mall.

UNISON (United Nations International Superhuman Oversight Network): International intelligence-gathering and crisis management organization. In the United States, AEGIS gets all of the press, but in the far corners of the globe, it’s UNISON that takes the risks, putting their lives on the line against supervillains, often without well-stocked arsenals and bases (or even a good medic) at their disposal.