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Stones of Mount Elbrus (Setting Info)


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Argonaut Headquarters:

As the field team for Project Prometheus, the Argonauts are in many ways the most “public” of the Project’s faces. And yet despite this, out of the handful of groups and organizations in the world that are actually aware of Project Prometheus, and actually have some idea of what it is and what it does, only a few of them are aware of the true nature of its mysterious “field operatives”. Usually carrying papers and/or identification that declare them as Aeon operatives, Utopians, or as agents of or consultants to one government organization or another, the Argonauts are rarely identified for what they are and, in any case, they are only known as “the Argonauts” amongst themselves and the tiniest handful of “those in the know”.

These ghosts of the intelligence world disappear as quickly and mysteriously as they appear and even out of those elite few who have heard the name “Argonauts”, and have successfully tied it to those nameless Prometheans who periodically show up in the oddest places at the oddest times, their true nature remains an enigma and no one knows where they might be based out of. Proteus agents in particular have devoted no small amount of resources to this problem, but with no success. The reason for this is simple: their base is found in virtually the last place anyone would bother looking for the most enigmatic and seemingly well-connected group of intelligence-gathering agents on the planet.

The true location of the Argonauts’ base of operations (though not of Project Prometheus as a whole) is a tiny, nameless village in southeastern Mexico, located a little more than a hundred miles north of Acapulco and a few miles south, southwest of the town of Nuevo San Juan, situated along the Rio Balsas (Real-world Location Here). The area is really a very nice, if isolated, river valley and is perfect for a small, out-of-the-way retirement village – or the headquarters of a clandestine detective agency that doesn’t want to be found. The local residents of this village (an extremely interesting and eclectic mix of native Mexicans and retirees from “interesting” professions the world over) have a few different names for their little town: Sul de San Juan being one and the “real” Parangaricutirimícuaro being another (and the more popular, if significantly harder to say). At the southern-most point of this tiny village (which, in its entirety, is little more than a large collection of neighborhoods), at the very end of an even tinier peninsula jutting out into the Rio Balsas, are the Argonauts’ headquarters and base of operations.

Argonaut Headquarters (not that anyone actually calls it that) consists of a surprisingly small compound of buildings set back a decent ways from the little-traveled road that leads to the end of its peninsula, and is further screened off from view behind trees and a high fence-wall. Nothing about the above-ground establishment stands out as being anything other than a relatively nice piece of property. The grounds are rather more spacious than is typical for the village, and the waterfront view is one of the nicest in town, and on casual inspection the main building and its slightly smaller satellite could easily be mistaken for someone’s home.

The facilities below ground are much more complex, extensive and in keeping with what one might imagine for an organization like Project Prometheus or the Argonauts. Containing a range of facilities, including a well-stocked lab, an evidence locker and warehouse for “found items of interest” awaiting processing, offices for staff and field agents not out on mission, along with living spaces for the Argonauts and Promethean support staff currently on site (Argonaut field agents and staff are not required to live in the underground facilities – these are available “just in case”), the underground facilities actually extend some ways out under the river itself, and there is even an emergency escape route that comes out on the other side of the river in the middle of a small clearing between trees, which is further equipped with emergency air and land transport for rapid removal from the area.

“Sul de San Juan” is not on any maps, and though it is connected by multiple, well-maintained roads to the outside world, it is very much off the beaten path to most destinations and sees few, if any, people “just passing through”. To all outward appearances, it’s just a sleepy little village filled with old, well-connected retirees and simple, unassuming fishermen and their families. Essentially, it is an “open secret” of exactly the sort that no one ever takes any interest in or really wants to know about. The only thing that really stands out about it is the unusually high number of unmarked helicopters and semis that come and go on a semi-regular basis, but the surrounding hills make it easy for the helicopters to avoid detection and the semis are really just taking short “detours” on their way to Acapulco or Cuernavaca, and as the town’s residents know how to keep their mouths shut such things have continued to evade notice by any interested parties.

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A General History of Project Prometheus

The 1970’s: The Lancier Files

Since the War Years the Aeon Society has had many sub-projects operating under its wings at any given time. The vast majority of these projects have come and gone over the years, and many of them were in reality very mundane and even boring. A few of them, however, have been rather more unusual and interesting, and Project Prometheus is one of those.

In the early 1970’s a sudden rash of ‘supernormal’ events began occurring to a degree and scale that almost recalled Aeon’s glory days back in the 20’s and 30’s. This rash of the paranormal, the supernatural and the fantastic came to an end quickly enough, but not before a group of Aeon’s more elite adventurers at that time were prompted to band together for the specific purpose of investigating and recording the strange events of those days. Originally they were nothing more than an unofficial grouping of like-minded souls with a common purpose, but with no defined structure or named ‘Project’ under whose mandates they operated. This group would later form the core of what would one day become Section 1 of the mysterious Project Prometheus, but in those early days they were known only by their relation to the nickname given to the collected files of the strange and fantastic cases they’d worked on: the “Lancier Files”.

The group’s earliest membership included: Li Yuming (aka ‘Lee’), Jason Bannon, Jake Stefokowski, Alex Booth and William and Melissa Montenegro (the parents of current Argonaut, Truth Montenegro).

By the late 1970’s, the Lancier group’s investigations had brought them (and, by extension, Aeon as a whole) face to face with the world’s so-called ‘hidden powers’ on more than one occasion, and to a degree that the Society had previously been sheltered from. This was the culmination of a long series of events, beginning almost thirty years previously, that all combined together to convince the Aeon Society that it could not depend on Good Intentions alone, and that it needed to take a more active and direct hand in shaping events in the world if its goals were ever to be achieved.

As a result, in the year 1977 the group of adventurers working on the Lancier Files were folded into an apparently already-existing Project, entitled ‘Prometheus’, with the specific mandate of not only investigating the secret occurrences of the world, but of combating those who would use those secrets to harm mankind. Also during this time, Project Proteus was given a significantly more solidified structure and a more up to date and comprehensive mission mandate of its own – namely, to protect the interests of the Aeon Society and ensure the successful completion of its goals at all costs.

The 1980’s: Section 1’s Beginnings

In 1980, the first major disaster to befall Project Prometheus occurred. William and Melissa Montenegro suddenly vanished while between missions. The subsequent investigations, carried out by their fellow Section 1 agents, lead to a pre-Galatea specimen of the so-called ‘eximorphic’ evolutionary offshoot of Homo sapiens. The eximorph was convicted of the crime and detained by Proteus personnel, but it was apparent that the killing was a hired hit. Unfortunately, the case dead-ended there and no further leads have ever been found. The Montenegro murders remain unsolved and the Section 1 file on the case is still considered open to this day.

The formation of the fledgling Project Prometheus proved to be incredibly timely, as the first half of the 1980’s brought a new wave of events both strange and fantastic. The sheer amount of supernormal activity during this time was such that it sparked the early beginnings of Projects such as Utopia, Pandora and, finally, Tantalus, all run under the auspices of Maxwell Mercer’s son, Michael. For a time, paranormal and supernormal activity throughout the world was so high it was feared that the existence of eximorphs, psychomorphs and paramorphs would inevitably be revealed to the world at large (at the time, even Project Prometheus was of the opinion that the world was just not ready for such knowledge yet).

As the decade progressed it became obvious to the leadership of Project Prometheus that their mandate was becoming too large for a single group to accomplish alone. As a result, in 1986, Section 2 was formed (necessitating the renaming of the original ‘Prometheans’ into ‘Section 1’), and Tanushree Samarth was named Section 2’s first Director of Operations, while Li Yuming was named Section 1’s first Director of Operations (before this point there had not been any official lines of command within the Argonauts and Lee’s authority was simply a result of her seniority over every other member of the group).

In April of that same year what became known to the world’s public as the Chernobyl disaster occurred outside of the city of Pripyat. What really occurred there remains one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world today. But what is said by those “in the know” is that whatever it was, it was bad, and if new Prometheans know what’s good for them they won’t ever, ever, bring it up around any of the “old-timers” (old-timers, presumably, meaning Argonauts like Lee or Stefokowski or, possibly, Bannon). The actual events surrounding the Chernobyl disaster may be secret, but the impact that it had on Aeon in general and Project Prometheus in particular are much more generally known.

In the wake of the disaster both Project Prometheus and Project Proteus were left in almost total disarray. Director Lee spent most of the next two years having to literally rebuild her Section, almost from the ground up, and then she was immediately transferred to Proteus in an unofficial capacity as something between a director of field operations and director of public relations for the struggling project (to the extent that Proteus ever had any public relations). Jake Stefokowski was promoted to Director in her place and Dr. Bannon took his place as Asst Director of Field Operations.

The 1990’s: the Rise of the Novas (aka the Lean Years)

The first half of the nineties saw a dramatic increase in the number of violent incidents that Prometheans –both Section 1 and 2 – found themselves in and, with Project Proteus still struggling badly, it was decided that something should be done. As a result, a significant number of ‘security’ and ‘direct action’ specialist were recruited to the Project. These individuals were given the special designation ‘Diomedes’, and it was from this practice that Section 3 would later emerge in the latter half of the decade. Brom Eneis was one of the very first Prometheans to be given the ‘Diomedes’ designation.

In 1994 the scion of the Aeon Society, Margaret Mercer, granddaughter of Aeon’s founder Maxwell Mercer, joined Section 1 in a capacity not dissimilar from that of Michal Wesson on today’s team. She only remained with the team for three years before transferring back into the Society-proper, where she promptly took charge of all three of Aeon’s ‘human offshoot’ programs, as well as the Babel Dossier. Officially, this was the last of her close work with Prometheus, but rumors persist that she is still heavily involved in directing the Project’s course from behind the scenes.

Towards the end of 1997 Lee suddenly vanished, apparently into thin air, and was not seen again for over a decade. The circumstances of her disappearance were highly unusual and caused the already-existing tension between Projects Prometheus and Proteus to worsen. Moreover, the loss of its most experienced agent robbed the camp within Aeon, best embodied by Project Prometheus, of its single greatest asset within the second great Aeon camp, best embodied by Project Proteus. The ramifications of this event had long-lasting effects on both the structural and political atmosphere within the Aeon Society as a whole as well as all of its child Projects in the decade to come.

The Galatea exploded only a few months after Lee’s disappearance and eximorphs, soon to be known as novas, were revealed to the world, in the process changing it forever. In the wake of the Rise of the Novas, and in the absence of Lee’s supervision and direction, the still-struggling Project Proteus was reassigned as the hidden partner to Project Utopia and assigned a new Director in the process. From that time until the present Proteus has become, in the eyes of the average Promethean anyway, an increasingly shady and unsavory organization and, sad to say, those within the three Sections of Prometheus often find themselves working to bring down an operation that is bankrolled, run, or sanctioned by the very organization they once worked most closely with.

The 2000’s: the Golden Age (aka the Bad Years)

Following N-Day and the dramatic restructuring that took place throughout Aeon, Project Prometheus became a much more ‘shadowy’ organization itself, to the point that it was soon operating almost entirely outside of Aeon’s normal channels or structure, and this is still the case today. Section 3 was formed, with Brom Eneis as its Director, a position he still holds today.

In 2003 the second major disaster to befall the Argonauts occurred. The event, known as the “Bhangarh Massacre” today, occurred while a team led by Asst Director Bannon was investigating an unusual nova cult in the Alwar district of Northern India. With the exception of agent Bannon, the entire team was killed (hence “Massacre”) before a Diomedian strike team could arrive to render aid. Due to the difference in the team structure of the Argonauts at that time, the Bhangarh Massacre reduced Section 1’s manpower by more than half in one fell swoop, and Bannon’s subsequent ‘extended leave of absence’ left the Section without its Asst Director as well. In Bannon’s absence, Alex Booth stepped in as interim Assistant Director.

Less than five years later, in late 2007, the third and (to date) final disaster befell Section 1 on the island nation of Vanuatu. While investigating a ‘school for gifted children’ found to be operating in Vanuatu, the team on the case (who comprised the majority of the remaining Argonauts) all vanished – along with the school’s students, the school’s faculty, and the entirety of the school grounds. If one goes to the island today it is as though the school never existed and the entire case never happened. To date, this case remains unsolved and officially open, though the details of the case are sealed for all lower-level Prometheans, and is considered to be one of the great mysteries in the Promethean case files.

In the wake of these two disasters, Section 1 was left all but decimated. Stefokowski and Booth, essentially the only remaining Argonauts at the time, were left in an extraordinarily difficult position and would have been forced to effectively “close up shop”, had it not been for the volunteer efforts of both the Eleusinians and the Diomedians. Section 3’s Gamma Team, in particular, was of tremendous help during this time, with Jeremiah Jackson and his crew frequently filling in as a ‘deputized’ Argonaut field unit.

Truth Montenegro was brought on board by early 2008 at the recommendation of Alex Booth, her mentor and legal guardian. Devin Jauntson, the youngest Promethean in the Project’s history, was recruited shortly thereafter with the special approval and oversight of Director Stefokowski. Meanwhile, Samantha Grey and Daniel Ingersoll were transferred permanently from their positions within Section 2 to become Argonauts.

Then, suddenly, Lee reappeared and within a few months she was back with the Argonauts, though this time as the Assistant Director (which meant, ironically, that she was now working for Jake Stefokowski, who had been her Assistant Director in previous years). The details of her reappearance, like the details of her initial disappearance, are not generally discussed with the Promethean rank-and-file, however. With Lee back on the team and with all the new recruits, the Argonauts were once again operating at roughly half strength, however, recent events around the world (such as the Slider Assassination and the affair involving the nova cult-leader known as “The Miracle”) were making it clear that half-strength wasn’t going to cut it.

During the course of 2009, Dr. Carver, a highly experienced agent from one of Project Pandora’s more secretive aspects, was transferred in, followed, in short order, by Drs. Wesson and Gravinski. More recently, Steve Shreveson, Mel Grimson and Atlanta Johnson were brought in and, just within the past few weeks, Eva Parker has been brought onto the team. Most recently Jason Bannon, like Lee before him, has made a sudden reappearance and will be taking the reins of one of the Argonaut’s two primary field units.

The 2010’s: a (hopefully) Brighter Future

… has yet to be written.

Click to reveal.. (A Special OOC Note)
SalmonMax's character hasn't yet been officially approved, so I haven't included the character in this history. Once the character is fully approved, however, I will edit them into the history as needed and remove this OOC Note as well.
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