The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Welldrinker Cult
A shadowy group is gaining power, drawing in people who are curious, vulnerable, or malicious, and turning them into Mystics. They are recruiting people into their ranks to spread the influence of magic in the world, but for what end goal?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
Svetlana went through a trying ordeal. Being kidnapped by an otherworldly organization and threatened with total brainwashing would be enough to leave anyone with deep-seated paranoia. Once she was rescued, Svetlana was relocated to one of the apartments in Haven. It offered her the safest space they could provide and kept her close if she needed anyone or vice versa.
Months were passing and Svetlana was still reluctant to stray from her room, let alone the headquarters building. New York was an intimidating place and when anyone could be a SUPER Agent, it was hard not to see everyone as a SUPER Agent.
Nate wanted to be understanding and give the woman her time to readjust, but at a certain point, he was starting to believe she might need someone she trusted to guide her out of the hermit lifestyle. Nate did not know how much “trust” he warranted, but he did feel like he and Svetlana had a positive rapport. Someone had to make an effort; Svetlana was part of Haven, and Nate believed she could be a big part. Haven had to take care of their own.
It was a Saturday off from work, so Nate approached Svetlana’s door in jeans and a t-shirt. With his schedule, so much of his casual wardrobe was going untouched, but it was nice to forgo ties for the day.
Nate knocked on the door and called out, ”Hey, Svetlana? I was hoping maybe you’d be up for a walk today? Get some fresh air, perhaps?”
It was only going to be a matter of time before someone came to break her out of her shell. Sveta had been wondering who it was going to be, but if she had to place a bet on it, she would have put all her money on Nate, no hesitation. Noel was no-bullsh*t, and Jack was nice, but they had their own issues, and enough trouble dealing with them to not try and coax Sveta out of her newly narrowed comfort zone. Nate, however, was just the kind of person that would try. And he did.
>>”Hey, Svetlana? I was hoping maybe you’d be up for a walk today? Get some fresh air, perhaps?”
Sveta opened the door. She had been working up to something like this; she was wearing jeans and a shirt, with her hair pulled up, but that was already a step up from the PJs. Plus, she already had her gloves on. Just in case. She arched an eyebrow at Nate.
"I'd ask if Devon sent you but I know better. And to be honest, no, I don't really wanna go for a walk, but if I stay in any longer, I'm gonna start peeling the wallpaper off. And Devon doesn't believe in wallpaper. So... are you sure you can handle this?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
It was nice to see Svetlana in real clothes again. Pajamas were comfortable, but they were also a sign that leaving the apartment was not seen as a possibility. Svetlana was already wearing jeans, which Nate took to mean she was at least willing to entertain the possibility of leaving Haven HQ. ”You know, as far as anti-social shut-ins go, this,” he said, gesturing to Svetlana, ”could be a lot worse.”
There was a big difference between wanting something and needing it. Svetlana did not want to go for a walk, but she recognized that she needed to get out of her apartment eventually.
With everything Svetlana went through and the hang-ups she had about going back in public, it was unexpected for her to be the one asking Nate if he was going to handle things alright. ”Oh, I’m ready. But if you feel like you’re not at some point, let me know. I can apparently teleport these days, so we could get you back here in no time flat.” Nate’s most recent power growth was still something he was learning the rules to, but the ability to hop from shadow to shadow made long walks much shorter.
”I was thinking a quick walk in Central Park,” Nate suggested. It was not as tightly packed as the sidewalks, so it would be a better place to get Svetlana back around people without throwing her into a mob. ”That sound fine by you?”
>>”You know, as far as anti-social shut-ins go, this could be a lot worse.”
"Thanks. You're not bad looking yourself." Sveta grinned. She knew he was referring to her outfit, rather than her general looks, but as long as he was complimenting her, she was fine with it. And it was also telling that he had noticed the change. Sveta did not want to go out, but she needed to, and not doing it alone was definitely a plus.
>>”Oh, I’m ready. But if you feel like you’re not at some point, let me know. I can apparently teleport these days, so we could get you back here in no time flat.”
Sveta arched an eyebrow. Teleport? That was new. People developed new powers sometimes, so it wasn't exactly surprising, but it was always news when it happened someone you knew. Like Agnes...
>>”I was thinking a quick walk in Central Park. That sound fine by you?”
Sveta nodded slowly.
"I can handle dat... two things. One, if we see a META, we get the hell out of there. And two, you do not touch me, under any circumstances. I don't want to get teleported into a wall or anything."
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
They both knew Nate was complimenting Svetlana’s ability to pull herself out of her paranoid spiral and into actual jeans, but that was not going to stop her from turning things around. Nate shrugged, but he could not help but grin. ”I try, thanks for noticing.”
Svetlana glossed over Nate’s new power update, likely because she had been around mutants long enough to roll with the punches. If one of your friends suddenly gains the ability to breathe fire, you don’t make a big deal about it. At most, you ask if he has tried to use his newfound ability to cook a steak yet.
Before they left, Svetlana had ground rules, both of which made sense to Nate. ”Alright, first, as a mutant ex-criminal, I don’t feel like being around those buggy tin cans anyway.” There was something unnerving about police-sanctioned, mutant-tracking robots; the META bots were hands down the worst thing Nate came back home to after his stint in prison.
”And I haven’t forgotten how your power works. I don’t need my shadow throwing children into trees or something.” Nate did not know exactly how his powers would misbehave if he touched Svetlana, and he was not keen on finding out.
Gesturing down the hall to the elevator, Nate offered a smile. ”So the rules are out of the way. Shall we?”
Sveta was not sure why she felt so at ease around Nate, while various other Haven residents had tried and failed to get her out of the apartment. Maybe because he was such a simple guy who did not talk around anything. Or maybe because he was not trying to hit on her. Whatever the case, she felt like she could trust him with a walk. A short one.
>>”Alright, first, as a mutant ex-criminal, I don’t feel like being around those buggy tin cans anyway. And I haven’t forgotten how your power works. I don’t need my shadow throwing children into trees or something.”
"Good." Sveta nodded. Ground rules were good. Ground rules voiced and agreed on were better. She was sure she would think of more of them as they went along.
>>”So the rules are out of the way. Shall we?”
Sveta nodded, putting on shoes and a jacket. She did not care enough to do make-up or braid her hair or anything; if anyone (including Nate) had a problem with that, they could go **** off.
"So, ex-criminal huh" she smirked as they walked down the hallway "Stealing from the rich, giving to the poor? Or did you do some actual crime too?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Setting ground rules was an important first step to letting Svetlana feel comfortable with their trip out of the building. Nate did not have the training Devon did, but he understood people. For some reason, Svetlana trusted him enough to go outside her comfort zone and Nate guessed it was because he was trying to show her respect and treat her like an adult who could make her own decisions, rather than some fragile invalid.
Svetlana grabbed her shoes and jacket and she was already out the door. As they entered the elevator, Svetlana decided to speculate on Nate’s former career as a criminal. Even though Nate was open about his past, he did not bring it up without reason, so not everyone in Haven knew all the details. It was sometimes more fun to watch people theorycraft ideas of what exactly Nate used to do. Back at the Mansion, students had guesses ranging from petty theft to arson to mutant terrorism, which admittedly added some authority when he chastised one of his challenging students.
”Oh, I was all about actual crime,” he admitted, grinning as he recanted his rap sheet. ”There was plenty of stealing from the rich, but that money made it to my pocket. So I guess if you were going to liken me to the companies, museums, and art collections I was stealing from, I would have been ‘the poor’ in comparison. Really though, it was stealing from the rich to give to the criminally well-off.” Nate was curious what Svetlana’s reaction would be to the honest truth: Nate was once a career criminal, selfish, and a bit of a d***.
Nate answered her question with a great deal of honesty. Sveta could appreciate that. Ex-criminals often tended to shine a favorable light on their previous activities, and Robin Hood was a stellar role model for something like that. No one could really be angry at the guy, even if he wore green tights.
>>”Oh, I was all about actual crime. There was plenty of stealing from the rich, but that money made it to my pocket. So I guess if you were going to liken me to the companies, museums, and art collections I was stealing from, I would have been ‘the poor’ in comparison. Really though, it was stealing from the rich to give to the criminally well-off.”
"So, fancy thief then" Sveta smirked. It did not do much to change her mind about Nate. Everyone had baggage of some sort, especially in mutant circles. He was doing good work now, and he was a nice guy in general. No reason to poke fun at him for his previous occupation. Okay, so maybe just a little.
"And what changed your mind about fancy thieving, then?" she ventured as they exited the building. "Couldn't hang any more paintings in your apartment?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
After a lifetime of lying and spinning the truth, it was refreshing to have someone he could speak with openly and honestly. Nate was not going to sugar coat his past because it was exactly that: the past. Svetlana knew too much about the world to pass judgment on Nate for his old life. In the grand scheme of evil in the world, there were worse things to be than a selfish art thief.
Nate’s criminal past earned a smirk and a sarcastic comment. ”Oh, the fanciest,” he jokingly replied. They passed by the security on the way out of the building and Nate offered his prerequisite wave before quietly adding, ”I still tense up around the guards to this day.” Sure, Nate was not as concerned about the authorities as he was in the past, but some instincts were hard to kick.
Stepping into the brisk Autumn weather, Nate crossed the street with Sveta at his side. There were many things to like about Haven Headquarters, but it was hard not to appreciate being across the street from Central Park. As they walked across in between stopped cars, Nate had time to consider Svetlana’s curious question. It was the second time in months someone asked him about his “retirement,” though the topic would be less controversial with Svetlana.
”First of all, the only paintings I hang are my own. You fence what you steal; money’s easier to travel with.” With the nomadic lifestyle Nate led, he could not afford to travel with souvenirs that linked him to his crimes. ”And as lame as it sounds, at least at first, it was because of a girl. Because once upon a time, I was an awful cliché.” There were many decisions that bridged Stephen the conman and Nate the productive member of society, but Quin was the decision that set everything in motion.
Nate was taking the whole ex-thief topic lightly. It was his right; everyone handled their own past the way they thought best, and if he was not bashful about it, Sveta was not going to be either. Fancy thief was not among the worst possible pasts, anyway.
>>”Oh, the fanciest... I still tense up around the guards to this day.”
"I still tense up at airports" Sveta noted with a smirk. She was still not used to all the scrutiny.
>>”First of all, the only paintings I hang are my own. You fence what you steal; money’s easier to travel with. And as lame as it sounds, at least at first, it was because of a girl. Because once upon a time, I was an awful cliché.”
"D'aww, the thief with a heart of gold" Sveta grinned as they crossed the road to the park. It was, in a way, cute, if it was really true. "Don't make fun of romance. Everyone needs a little bit of dat, even if it goes bad later..."
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Long before Haven, Nate and Svetlana were minor footnotes in each other’s pasts. Just a train ride shared between a roaming thief and a pair of orphans. Svetlana and her sister were not in a good place at that time, but Nate did not know the details of their struggles. No one felt comfortable in an airport, but Svetlana had a long journey from Russia to New York. A lot could have happened along the way and she doubted all of it was good.
On the bright side, they both found a way to almost normal lives in New York; at the very least, normal for a mutant. ”I’d say my heart is silver at best, but that’s mighty kind of you. And I’m not making fun,” he admitted. Nate was practical in nature, but many of his less practical choices were the result of a wayward heart.
Case in point. ”If I wasn’t a fan of romance, I wouldn’t have started dating a cop and I wouldn’t have given up a lucrative career trying to make that work.” When Nate stepped away from crime, he was still convinced it was a temporary hiatus. ”I mean, that was part of it, at least. I ended up teaching at the Mansion and when Quin and I broke up, I just… didn’t go back?”
Nate felt the springy give of the ground beneath his feet as he stepped away from concrete and into the park. Looking around, there were no large crowds nearby. It would be a good start for easing Svetlana into the real world again. ”At the end of the day, I think I just liked having a real life, y’know?” Of the many luxuries and creature comforts a conman’s wealth could provide, stability and interpersonal connections had no price tag.
A thief with a heart of silver. It was still better than most people Sveta had met along the way. Maybe not perfect, or not only with good-willed victimless crime in his past, but he was making the best of it now, and not trying to ignore what road he had taken to get there.
>>”If I wasn’t a fan of romance, I wouldn’t have started dating a cop and I wouldn’t have given up a lucrative career trying to make that work... I mean, that was part of it, at least. I ended up teaching at the Mansion and when Quin and I broke up, I just… didn’t go back? At the end of the day, I think I just liked having a real life, y’know?”
"I know the feeling" Sveta nodded. She had seen real life, the kind of real most people did not want to think about, or believe it existed. And then she went on to chase the fake one, the kind that was based on a lie and ignored who she was, or what she wanted, for pure survival.
"When I came to New York, I was ready to marry a rich guy I had never seen before. I guess I was not big on romance like you." she chuckled. It seemed so far away now...
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Anyone who had a rough childhood had the right to be reluctant to reminisce or share stories of their past with people. Most people would not understand and all they could offer was sympathy for problems that were far in the past and were not going to change with some present-day empathy. The fact that Nate felt comfortable talking to Svetlana meant he did not think she was like “most people,” and she understood.
When she decided to share something in return, Nate hoped that was a good sign as well. When Nate first encountered Svetlana in New York, she claimed she was there as a student, which could have still been true. The part she failed to mention the first time was that she came to the country via a marriage arrangement.
It was encouraging that Svetlana could chuckle about her origins as a mail-order bride, and it made Nate feel more comfortable about grinning. ”Romanticism is nice, but so is surviving. Look at you know, building a life in America as your own woman. Unless you just keep the ring and a rich husband hidden away in that new apartment. If so, I’m sure Haven’s always looking for investors,” he joked, wondering what made Svetlana a former vigilante badass instead of a wealthy trophy wife.
Nate did not look shocked or scandalized when Sveta admitted that she had come to the country to marry a rich guy. It was a cliché in many ways, but she was also not ashamed of it, compared to the situation she had been running away from at the time. And also, it did not go in the direction it was originally planned.
>>”Romanticism is nice, but so is surviving. Look at you know, building a life in America as your own woman. Unless you just keep the ring and a rich husband hidden away in that new apartment. If so, I’m sure Haven’s always looking for investors,”
"You think I'd dress like dis if I had a rich husband?" Sveta grinned as they walked into the park. Her jeans and shirt did not stand out among people leisurely walking, or jogging and working out. "He was a good guy, but I haven't seem him since. We found out right at the beginning dat I had powers, and he was a mutant. Not an ideal combination." she shrugged. "But I was already here, so... I did the next best thing and became a vigilante. Doesn't pay as well, but the costumes are cool."
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
It would have been a surprise to find out Svetlana had a secret husband, but she quickly dismissed such notions. In a rare twist, she made it to the country, her contracted marriage did not work out and she still found a way to stay in the states. In many situations, he imagined an unwanted wife might be sent back out of the country, but mutant situations were unique. She would have needed a new legal reason to stay in the country, but she did provide one: she was a student. Evidently, that part was not a lie; a student visa would be an easy way to remain in the states after a marriage gone wrong.
At a glance, Svetlana was deceptive. When people saw an attractive Russian blonde, they did not realize the girl might be lean, crime-fighting, ass-kicking muscle. Nate chuckled, remembering all the opinions Quin used to have about vigilantes, some of which Nate agreed with and others he only chuckled at. ”As someone whose mutation requires a skintight outfit, I might argue that point.”
Despite the community being relatively small, many mutants ended up with other mutants. It was a shared experience thing, Nate believed. Sarah was very mutant-friendly, but not everyone was like Sarah, and there were always going to be some experiences humans would struggle to relate to. For Svetlana, her power made dating other mutants a more complicated problem, since she could throw most mutants haywire with a touch, let alone a kiss. ”You do have to be pretty particular when it comes to mutants, don’t you? Have you ever ventured to the other ends of the gene pools? Plenty of humans floating around. Hell, adapteds, too, if that’s your thing.” Nate would feel uncomfortable constantly not sensing his shadow, like one of his senses went dull, but that was not the case for every mutant. Some people liked a reprieve from their more intrusive powers, and Svetlana’s mutation easily qualified as intrusive.