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Trimetigus Council
kjames91
Posts: 186 Arc User
Hey there!
So in the Nightmare portal event that is happening now, there’s an intro scene of pretty much all the magic users seen in CO discussing the issue with the Celestial hero, Seraph, but they call themselves the council. Did something happen to the Trimetigus Council during this time period that deal with these types of issues?
If not, I know they remain secret, but why not aid in on this magical corruption?
So in the Nightmare portal event that is happening now, there’s an intro scene of pretty much all the magic users seen in CO discussing the issue with the Celestial hero, Seraph, but they call themselves the council. Did something happen to the Trimetigus Council during this time period that deal with these types of issues?
If not, I know they remain secret, but why not aid in on this magical corruption?
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As for the latter, this is from Champions Universe p. 124: "Unlike the Circle [of the Scarlet Moon], which tended to recruit more readily, the Council watched prospective members long and carefully to determine if they had the knowledge, wisdom, and moral fiber to belong. When someone was judged ready, and all members voted in favor of him, an offer of membership was extended. No one offered membership has ever refused it. When the group became too large for unanimous voting to work efficiently, a Leadership Board of five members was chosen to evaluate potential recruits."
"Since 1938, the Council’s role has shifted away from direct activity and back into the shadows. Now there are superheroes, many of them with mystic powers, to fight the dangers that threaten the world. Though all too often naive, these beings can battle the forces of darkness in ways the Council’s members never could. The Council has become more of a body of watchers and advisers, aiding mystic superheroes in their struggles..."
Of course the real meta-reason the Trismegistus Council was defined this way for the PnP game, was so they wouldn't take the spotlight from the player characters. If the Council could do what PCs can the latter would be redundant. But they can be just the excuse for a Game Master to provide baffled players with the identity or location of a threat, or the secret vulnerability they can use to defeat it.
Also, like Bulgarex said, they're not that powerful. There's an open mission that takes place inside their courtyard where heroes need to save them from the Trey Kings... not even named villains either...
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My characters
No publication has provided an "official" logo for the Trismegistus Council, but that triangular one would be logical. Their name was adopted in part because the Council had three founders -- Lord Reginald MacKenzie of Scotland, Eustace Blackmun of Virginia, and Franziska von Hersbruck of what is today Germany -- and partly for association with Hermes Trismegistus ("thrice-great Hermes"), often considered the patron deity of magicians.
Although the Council remains united in its purpose to oppose the Circle of the Scarlet Moon and other forms and practitioners of black magic, it’s not necessarily united in other things. Its members — pedantic, didactic, opinionated, often touchy — tend to squabble more than is good for them, and a few actively hate each other. The Leadership Board long ago learned it was impossible to stop this bickering and infighting, but also that despite it, the Council members always seemed to pull together and put aside their differences when it’s truly necessary. Still, any superhero who receives the assistance and tutelage of the Trismegistus Council could easily find himself caught up in the organization’s internal politics.
As of 2010, the Council has nearly three dozen members living all over the globe. Some of the more prominent include:
Aloysius Abercrombie: Born in London in 1853, Aloysius Abercrombie, while not a practicing spellcaster of any significant power, seems somehow able to channel magical energies to keep himself from aging at the same rate as normal people. Despite being over 150 years old, he looks like he’s in his early 40s, and is quite fit. He’s also got quite “the nose,” as he puts it, for detecting magical energies, making him invaluable to the Council when it needs to find one of the Circle’s covens.
Alicia Blackmun: Great-great-great-greatgrandaughter of one of the original three founders of the Council, Alicia Blackmun is a surprisingly powerful wizard for her years (though nowhere near as powerful as a superheroic mystic). The Council's representative in Millennium City, she’s good friends with Witchcraft of the Champions, and keeps her updated on Council gossip.
Orlando Rodriguez: A wealthy Spanish dilettante, with homes in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, and Brazil, Orlando Rodriguez speaks 22 languages fluently and can read a dozen more with some effort. He also has some military experience, which the Council has found useful from time to time. A member of the Leadership Board, Rodriguez agitates for the Council to take a more proactive role in opposing the Circle of the Scarlet Moon.
Makalani Rogers: A native of Kenya, Makalani was raised with the superstitions of his Kenyan mother and scholasticism of his American father, an anthropologist. He’s an expert on African tribal magic and religion, and can cast a few ritual spells as needed.
Alajos Veszprem: A scholar living in Budapest, Veszprem lives the life of an ascetic, devoting his every waking minute to research, writing, and teaching. Irrascible, temperamental, opinionated, prone to shouting, and a notorious misogynist, Veszprem and Blackmun loathe each other.
Akako Yamimori: Renowned around the world as a folklorist and storyteller, Akako Yamimori is also an expert on Oriental mysticism and demonology. Whenever the Council detects Circle activities in Asia, she’s the first person it calls on to investigate.
The unofficial headquarters of the Trismegistus Council is Mackenzie House in the Scottish Highlands, the ancestral mansion of Lord Reginald Mackenzie, who bequeathed it to the Council after his death. Protected by potent warding spells, with a well-stocked occult library, any Council member is welcome to stay at the mansion as long as he/she likes.
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My characters
My apologies for the obvious brain fart.
That said I'm impressed that the organization has only roughly 36 members and none are really on the same level as even the most modest of the mystical supers, yet are in many ways likely vital to the well being of the world.
It's rather traditional in fiction, as far back as the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, for defenders against supernatural evil to be small bands of scholars and investigators, for whom books are often more useful and powerful than guns. That's still true in the Champions Universe for the likes of the Council, UNTIL's Project Hermes, the Wizards of PRIMUS, or Bureau 19 in Japan. But in the comic-book era some wizards are pumped up to be like other superheroes, just with their own distinctive trappings.
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My characters
Lieutenant Mark Gentry, Deceased: This police lieutenant died when his partner accidentally shot him in the line of duty. His partner didn’t admit his mistake, and blamed the shooting on the escaped perp. Gentry now provides investigative services for mystics who can perceive him in return for favors to the city’s less mobile ghosts, such as passing messages to loved ones and protection against astral predators.
The Paper Lady: Most people think the Paper Lady is just a mad old woman who lives in an abandoned building, surrounded by stacks of old newspapers. Actually, she’s a genius loci ["spirit of a place"], and the building is a minor mystic site drawing power from Babylon. The Paper Lady’s body is made of yellowed, wadded-up newspapers. She can animate and control all paper around her. She also has a flawless memory for everything ever published in her city’s newspapers.
Nyssa Tarchaniotes claims that in life, she was an oracle at Delphi — and although Apollo withdrew his gift of prophecy when a vampire raped her into undeath, Hecate replaced it. Nyssa still has a high reputation as a seer. Only a true sorcerer can track her down and penetrate the illusions that cloak her dwelling. In addition to cash, Nyssa charges each client a pint of his blood. She uses a bit of the blood to seal a contract binding the client never to harm her, and to defend her from harm on one occasion. Nyssa sees her visions in the rest of the blood, which she drinks at the end of the session. Many potent mystics are said to owe Nyssa favors and bear her geas.
Rumor says Nyssa avoids killing the mortals she feeds upon so heroic mystics won’t decide she is too evil to consult. But she does not discriminate in her clients: good, evil, or neutral mystics may all seek her help. The vampire-seer never issues false advice, though at times she cannot answer a question to her client’s satisfaction — and her prophecies are sometimes Delphically ambiguous.