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.
Jude set Lumen's coffee down on the counter for her and nodded to the man who was finding a seat on one of the purple monstrosities they called couches. They were totally not dating. They were too keen on calling each other sweety and making a show out of it. Only newlyweds or fakers went that far. Whatever.
The till dinged. Jude accepted his fare and then he was ready to talk business. "Readings are usually random, but repeat customers often tell me zat zey have been able to change what we see by changing zere mind. Our futures are all based on ze decisions we make now, after all." Jude tore off a receipt that did little more than list the name of the establishment and her paid total and handed it to the beauty in front of him. He wasn't about to tell her how focused he had been able to get while bouncing futures off of Alister.
"If you would like, we can sit. It's quite disorienting for some." Jude motioned to a small table with a table clothed top. Sometimes they put a crystal ball on top purely for decoration, but that had been cleared in favor of a small dish of chocolates, peppermints and empty wrappers. The Christmas season was slow and... hey, who didn't like candy?
"We can try to look for somesing specific, but zere's no guarantee, unfortunately. Ze future iz not always cooperative."
Jude would follow he lady's lead, make sure she was comfortable and inform her of the rules (no touching during future readings, look into his eyes, etc, etc.) then ask the inevitable. "Are you ready?" Once she was, the sunglasses that made the barrier between them would come down and upon eye contact, the future would be open to Lumen.
((OOC: hope you know what you're planning to see! ))
ooc: I think this should be okay, let me know if any re-writing is in order! Just tried to make it vague and open. ic
Lumen listened intently. Well, it did actually sound like it made perfect sense. She could focus fairly well- so she should really have no trouble seeing the future of this case.
She took a seat where it was offered and made herself comfortable. She was about to reach for his arms the way she'd seen in the movies when he laid out the rules. Oh. Well. Looking into the eyes, er, sunglasses, it is!
She'd stuffed the receipt in the pocket of her coat after making a mental note to make sure she kept it filed away. She might be able to expense this trip to the NYPD. She took one of the offered candies and enjoyed the fresh taste of peppermint in her mouth before finally telling Jude she was ready.
She wasn't quite sure how it happened- but suddenly as he moved away the sunglasses Jude was the most interesting person in the world. The rest of the world melted away in one swift motion. Lumen's belly even did a little flip like she'd been on a roller coaster. Her senses seemed a little dulled but she'd be prepared for that. She didn't think a vision into the future would feel or smell like much. So far, Jude's image in front of her had only been blurred into colours like someone mixing paint.
While Lumen was in her trance her body relaxed and unbeknown to her began to glow. Her heart rate slowed down in response. She felt calm, lucid, and in control. I want to see the future of this case! she thought as hard as she could.
Images danced in front of her in swirls. Detective Jorge- well, that one made sense. She'd likely meet up with him several times with this case.
Next, she saw a much clearer image of the unicorn man. In real life she'd only seen a photo of him and it didn't even show his whole body. From this she could tell he was well formed and fit. There was almost the feeling of sadness around him but Lumen didn't have time to pick up much from it before the image swirled and twisted again. She got the profound sense of loss... but somehow is still seemed to clash?
Lumen saw Jude in front of her. Not the Jude who's eyes she was staring into, but a Jude deep in thought about something. It was almost like he was speaking to someone outside her view and the second she turned to see who, he was gone. She wondered if Jude was seeing this too. To her it meant she'd talk with both him and Jorge sometime in the future, and possibly see the Unicorn Man for herself.
Next, she saw children. A few young girls and a boy. They were angry with Lumen and desperately trying to explain something. Something about getting it all wrong. Getting what all wrong? She tried to speak and ask them, but nothing came out. She remembered then that this was a vision and not real life. She wondered if Jude could see this too. He'd know now for sure she was investigating the missing kids. Maybe that wasn't a bad thing...
Paul was standing in front of her now, she couldn't help it when her thoughts drifted to him. As soon as she remembered she was having a vision she remembered Paul was with her and he naturally bubbled up to the surface. He was rolling his eyes making a comment about something when Elvis came up and slung an arm around him to lend advice.
In real life Lumen's glow was brighter and she almost laughed out loud. Her lips twitched, just a little. The left side of her face curved in an ever so faint smile. She wasn't even going to try and decode this one. It would have to wait til the vision ended. Then she'd ask Paul about it.
Speaking of Paul, he was kissing her. In the vision. At least, she thought it was Paul. He'd only kissed her once, but the smell, the taste, the feel, was right. Was familiar. Wait a second. She was feeling? She was tasting? Something was off... She pulled away from the kisser and stared into a familiar face that wasn't Paul. But he was familiar. In fact it was almost like looking into a mirror. He even smiled when she smiled. His eyes were like hers. So was his hair. She knew then. A pit of both guilt and excitement welled up in her stomach. Riori. She'd see Riori again. Like she was seeing him now. He looked happy, healthy, and hansom. Her own eyes were stinging with tears that threatened to spill over.
Riori smiled at her, the same smile he had when they were 6. The smile she'd been dreaming about for 20 years. Then he put his arms around her. He squeezed tight. But he was squeezing the wrong place. He wasn't hugging her. His long slender hands were around her neck. Riori was choking her. The last image she saw in the vision was the face of Riori lit up with complete rage.
She wasn't sure how she did it but she managed to tare her eyes away from Jude and turn her head. The instant she did she began to cough like a person come up for air. Her light went off, and the lights in the room flickered.She snatched a hand to her own throat. It had felt real. It looked real.
She composed herself as quickly as she could and exchanged a I'd really like to leave now look with Paul. Finally she spoke, "Well, I can see now why you get payment up front." she forced a smile. "I can't imagine many people wanting to see what I just saw."
She tried to tear her thoughts from Riori- angry with herself that the vision even went there. She let herself become distracted once again when she should have focused on the goal. But she did learn a few things. She'd see these people again, she'd probably see the unicorn man, and she'd be finding some kids, soon. Just because she saw Riori in the vision didn't mean she'd see him in real life- she knew it. She didn't want to think about the maybe of if she really did find him after that.
The rules and regulations were laid out and then the young man lowered his sunglasses and they were off. Paul couldn't help wincing just a little as he remember his own little tease of the future. Hopefully Lumen would break off her vision before she saw herself die. It was traumatic enough for someone used to the idea of dieing but yet knowing they would eventually revive... for a normal person to see their death would be even harder.
Sitting relaxed in on the couch, Paul's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He hadn't really thought about the fact that he would get to observe the outward affects of this particular mutation but now that he could he realized this could be important. With two of these people walking around you never knew when you might happen to walk past someone that was being read out in public perhaps without their own consent. This particular ability could actually work as a form of torture if it was applied correctly. Sure, from what Paul had seen everyone here seemed to be on the up and up but could you ever really know a person? You most assuredly could not after only one or two meetings.
The young man didn't seem to have much of a reaction to the experience, he had probably done it enough times that he was used to everything by now. Lumen however was reacting different. The muscles in her body were quite obviously relaxing and she was actually beginning to glow. That was obviously uncontrollable but it probably wasn't something she wanted the whole to see either. Deciding that it was best to take precautions, Paul stood up and walked over to the front door, twisting the lock to at least temporarily close the establishment. Sure, that would probably tick of Alister and this young man but it would protect Lumen's anonymity which was much more important.
In a few moment, Paul was once again over at the couch, taking up the exactly position he had just vacated so that most people would never even realize he had moved. The glow was getting a touch brighter and if his eyes weren't betraying him then it looked like Lumen was actually smiling maybe even chuckling just a bit. Obviously she was not seeing the same sort of horror show that Paul had gotten to experience. At least that was something they could both be thankful for. But even as he was taking a moment to be thankful, everything suddenly changed. Her face suddenly contorted in pain her perhaps horror and then she was jerking her head away, apparently breaking the eye contact. A hand moved to her throat before suddenly throwing a look his way that seemed to be full of desperation.
Paul was on his feet and over to Lumen's side in the briefest of time. Even if they weren't actually dating she was one of his friends in this city which meant that he cared about her. Unfortunately he couldn't blame the young man sitting across from her for whatever she might have seen. Alister had warned him and this young man had warned her. "Not all laughs and giggles." He commented quietly as he placed a hand on the blond woman's shoulder in the most reassuring gesture he could offer in this place and at this time, "I hope you got all your answers."
After making sure from the corner of his eyes that the young man was once again wearing his sunglasses, Paul turned to meet his gaze. "Thanks for your time... I don't believe I caught your name."
This was the most surreal vision of the future Jude had ever experienced. Usually he got snippets and metaphors. Something he felt that he could navigate. Lumen's dream might as well have been a living painting. The colors and vision bled from one thing into another with no anchors to help him guide their way.
In short, it was disorienting, but he had gotten some very important snippets from this one. Lumen was tied to this mess with Sebastian. They really were dating. (Ew. Experiencing kissing that guy had not been on his morning to-do list!) Also, she was interested in the same kids he'd run himself ragged last night trying to play Santa for.
Jude's hand fumbled in the air until he caught hold of Lumen's wrist. "Wait."
He had set his glasses down on the table and had to use his other hand to scoop them up and juggle them onto his face. Not that touching her was a good idea. Once his glasses were on he let her go and got out of his seat.
"Jude Csendes." He answered Paul's question flippantly despite the fact that he knew his name was on that missing children's list as a missing 12 year old.
"Lumen, you meet…" He wasn't his father. Not exactly. Jude visibly had to re-group himself behind his sunglasses and try again. "You meet a unicorn in your future. I can't stress enough how dangerous he is. He is not in his right mind and may have hurt people that he once loved… without meaning to." That last he added with absolutely no faith in the statement, but it had to be said. Deep down, he still believed that Sebastian was a good man. Just… that belief was getting buried really uncomfortably deep these days.
ooc: sorry for referencing his name without being told it @_@
IC
Paul and Lumen weren't technically lovers but from the intimate way he caught her, led her up, and stood there protectively- they might as well have been. She was disoriented for only a second before she straightened up, smoothed her hair, and in a cold voice said "Well, at least I didn't see myself die. Always a silver lining." it hadn't occurred to her that the vision might actually show her death she meant it more as a joke.
She turned to leave but the young man who introduced himself as Jude grabbed her wrist. She went rigid at his touch but turned around gracefully. The memory of Riori's hands around her throat was still too raw. "The unicorn keeps popping up." she said grimly getting her answer about what Jude could and couldn't see. She suddenly felt very weary. "What makes him so powerful? His mutation surely must be more than a horn sticking out of his forehead."
She wasn't going to leave without a little more information about this Unicorn Man. He was in the files, he was in her vision, and he was involved. She had to know what she was up against.
"Not seeing your death is definitely a positive." Paul replied with a slight smile before once more focusing on the young man. For the next few moments, his mind was completely side tracked. A lot of emotions were going over his face in just a few seconds and everything had been started by the young man providing his name. It started with confusion as a part of his mind realized that the name 'Jude Csendes' had a familiar ring to it. The confusion only intensified as he made the connection to a certain cheese and wine tasting at an art gallery where he had picked up a deeply discounted set of paintings. There had been a woman there that had introduced herself as Csendes and there had been a little boy with her named Jude. The boy had a french accent that almost perfectly matched the accent from the young man in front of him. After confusion there came a sudden realization, or perhaps it could even be called revelation, that this was somehow the same boy he had met previously only now grown into a man. A touch of wonder flashed across his face before he brought everything back into control again.
"It's nice to see you again Jude." He spoke quietly in flawless french that he knew Lumen wouldn't understand but this young man would, "You've grown since I last saw you."
While he was focusing on the remarkable changes in the young man before him, he almost missed the conversation about a unicorn. He already knew the unicorn's name was Sebastian and he had heard from Katrina that this man was also supposed to bring about the apocalypse. He also knew that he was planning on finding the man and meeting with him in the next week or so but that was his own private information. In fact, it was probably a good thing he hadn't been wanting another reading. Somehow he doubted that Jude would have reacted very kindly if he had seen Paul meeting with the unicorn.
Even though it was obvious to Paul that Lumen was still very tense and at the same time very tired, she continued to investigate. It was probably a force of habit for her but it was still interesting to watch. Were most detectives this focused and tenacious? He was also tempted to offer her what little information he had but decided that it was best to hold back for the moment. Besides, Jude would probably offer all the wonderful information about Sebastian being immortal and such. Feeling the tenseness in Lumen's shoulder he started ever so gently massaging the area almost without realizing what he was doing. It was an automatic gesture especially since he was distracted by the very interesting subject matter.
> "What makes him so powerful? His mutation surely must be more than a horn sticking out of his forehead."
"It's more zan a mutation zat makes a man dangerous." Not that a mutation didn't make someone even worse. "Add onto zat Sebastian cannot die... just about anysing can be twisted." Healing seemed like such a nice power... maybe it was Jude's personal connection to Sebastian that gave him the willies. That and... "He iz on a path to end ze world."
His warning given, now Jude felt a bit drained. He couldn't stop Lumen from seeing Sebastian if that was what she wanted to do. She was an adult and Jude respected that. He sure as heck expected other adults to do the same for him and his choices.
> "It's nice to see you again Jude."
Cogs turned as Jude re-evaluated the man. Oh. He had seen him before. "Ze art show." Being spoken to in French flipped the proverbial switch in his head. He couldn't help but respond in kind.
> "You've grown since I last saw you."
"It's a long story, but I wasn't a child even then." This guy had met Ghost and Jude couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing. "Do you remember the woman I was with at the party?" He was sure the guy would. Who wouldn't? Ghost had been spectacular. "She's missing. Not a kid... not who your girlfriend is looking for, but... she's tied up in this too."
Could he ask for this guy's help? He hadn't looked into what that would do... These were two players he hadn't perviously taken note of. But they could help. Or they could hurt. Jude needed to bounce futures off of Alister to make sure which side they were on.
Lumen face grew darker as Jude explained the Unicorn Man's ability to elude death. Paul could die and be reborn... that could make him very dangerous to his enemies. But she knew Paul wasn't in on all of this. This Unicorn Man was tied up in it all, he couldn't die, and she wasn't sure if the police knew that. When Jude said he was on a path to end the world Lumen bristled.
"Does he truly think he can end it? Or does he have some nuclear missiles we should know about...?" she said it only have joking. She'd met some insane apocalypse obsessives in her time. Some just wanted to preach that the end was nigh, some would do anything (even illegal things) to convince you as such... and some would destroy the world at any cost. Literally. She felt goosebumps on her skin.
"Whether he thinks he can do it, or he actually has the capabilities... we need to know more about him." she paused noticing that Paul and Jude were conversing in French, "Par le anglais s.v.p?" she put her hands on her hips.
"I'm going to level with you here Jude. I'm a private detective who's been contracted out by the NYPD to help with this case. I can get into place the police cant. I can find out things they cant. And because I have the ability to use discretion where they are bound by laws I can get around... people getting in trouble." like how she could get around Paul being caught stealing something. "The police know he's tied up but I'm not convinced they understand just how much or what he's planning. Any information you can give me would be of help."
Jude's mother was missing? That was a twist that Paul had not been expecting. Maya had seemed nice enough though he obviously hadn't gotten to know her very well. There was no way he would start actively searching for her but if he happened to bump into some information that might be useful for Jude he just might pass it on. Maybe.
"Sorry Lumen." Paul apologized as sincerely as he could manage, "Sometimes I slip into the old language without thinking... especially when I hear an accent that makes the subconscious connection."
There was really no reason to pass on the information he had just obtained unless Jude wanted to provide it. Lumen was busy looking for kids and there was no reason to add Maya to her list... at least for now. Besides, she wouldn't even know what the woman looked like or anything and Paul had no interest in going into a full description of the missing person.
"I realized that Jude and I have some mutual acquaintances. I met his mother once several months ago."
It probably seemed like a strange comment to Lumen since she was so focused on the pending apocalypse and the missing children. It might even upset her slightly that Paul was being so flippant about the subject even though he really wasn't. He was just being forced to keep a few bits of information to himself at least for the time being. He needed to get a few more answers before he could even make a decision about passing on information.
> "Does he truly think he can end it? Or does he have some nuclear missiles we should know about...?"
Jude gave Lumen a flat look so devoid of humor that not even the sunglasses could stop it from leeching the fun right out of her jest. Not a funny joke. Nuclear destruction was one of the many ways they had imagined this all going down. Over and over and over again they'd gone over how to protect and prevent nuclear against destruction. "He knows he's supposed to end it, but I don't like to sink he has a nuke."
> "Whether he thinks he can do it, or he actually has the capabilities... we need to know more about him."
> "I realized that Jude and I have some mutual acquaintances. I met his mother once several months ago."
"And Sebastian is her husband." That was a nugget he didn't usually share. Jude wasn't sure if that came out in French or English, but the message was probably discernible either way. Sebastian wasn't Jude's father. He was Maya's husband. Maya was now missing. Didn't take a genius to know that a husband should be worried about his missing wife.
His honesty gained him a little return honesty. Lumen spilled the beans. Some of the pieces that he was missing to make her vision of the future make sense fell into place.
> "The police know he's tied up but I'm not convinced they understand just how much or what he's planning. Any information you can give me would be of help."
Exasperated, Jude sat back at the table and grabbed a kiss from the basket. He took his time unwrapping the confection. This Future Seeing was tiresome business. Sebastian was tiresome business. "He's making a church. He's trained at least some people in swords. Nothsing he's done so far looks like a grab for a nuke or world domination. Zat's what's confusing. I saw it. It ends. He ends it." He saw it every time he tried to look forward to that last battle. Black unicorn. White unicorn. Ghost. Kaboom. The end. How did he do it?
"If you need help..." Jude glanced back at the doorways all still firmly shut. All still firmly asleep. Had Alister forseen this? He lowered his voice just in case. "Zhese people here, zey want to end Sebastian before he ever gets it in his head to do... whatever he does. If zere is any chance of an alternative, I want to help."
Lumen felt like she'd been hit with a truck when she figured out through the conversation that Unicorn Man was married to Jude's mom. She winced for a second and rubbed her temples. Hell yeah, this was a big web.
"So you've seen him end it. I suppose your visions aren't normally wrong or you wouldn't be making any money here." she stood with her arms crossed pacing a little. "Im sure people have already told you maybe you're misinterpreting things...." You know, like maybe you didn't just see me kiss my own brother. Maybe he didn't kill me.
She wasn't sure is Riori killed her, the vision just let her know she'd be choked. "Paul saw me in his vision, but he didn't know it was me, and he didn't know I'd be a glowing mutant." she rocked back on her heels trying to put the puzzle pieces together. "I dont know, I'm going to need to think on this one. Maybe dig around for apocalypse theories..." it wouldnt be so strange if newer theories involved mutants. Bigoted preachers had been claiming mutants would end the world since they first 'came out'.
Jude started to elude that he'd be willing to help so Lumen fished out her cards again. Only this time, she handed him one that had nothing but a phone number on it. The number was listed to her unlisted back up cell phone (she had one now after the church incident.) She could throw it away if she needed to. "First of all, you need to be sure you feel safe. I know it's cheesy sounding and all, but it'll be bags for us all if the Unicorn Man finds you with a sword. " she handed him the card. "Id like it if you'd... well.. using your discretion of course, perhaps consider letting me know if you have any separate visions that involve this outcome. Something we could work together as a group to piece together. I respect the privacy of your patrons, there'd be no need to involve the police so long as people remain safe."
She turned her direction toward Paul. She was feeling physically exhausted and mentally overwhelmed. The Riori vision was bad enough, but this was worse. When she turned back to look at Jude he looked identical to the way she'd seen him in the vision. She blinked a few times. Like a strange de ja vu. That didn't take long. She had an uneasy feeling.
"For now, I think Paul and I here should get out of your hair. Im sure future business is very draining. If we find any information at all about your mother I'll let you know right away." and she meant it damnit. Boys in blue be damned. No person should have to worry about the state of their mamma. She'd been through enough of that for the whole world as far as she was concerned.
Sebastian... Maya... Jude... they were all connected. This was not turning into a pretty picture and Paul couldn't help wondering exactly where he fit into everything. Apparently, if Allister and Jude were right, things were hurtling toward some sort of climatic finish that he had no control over. He was just like a fly caught in a huge spider web. It was only a matter of time until the spider sensed his struggling and moved in to end it. Was that really all he had to offer? Was that the best he could do?
"Zhese people here, zey want to end Sebastian before he ever gets it in his head to do... whatever he does. If zere is any chance of an alternative, I want to help."
The connection, perhaps even love, between a father and son was one of those bonds that was almost impossible to sever. Sure it could broken if there was enough evidence but it took a whole lot, especially if there had been a good relationship at the foundation. Since Jude didn't act like someone that had been abused or mistreated, Paul was willing to lay money that the unicorn had been a good father. What had changed to make him end the world? More importantly, was he really ending it or simply changing it? From what Paul had seen in his life time, a chance just might be a good thing.
Looking back at Lumen, Paul raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. The slumping in her muscles was becoming more obvious and if he wasn't wrong, there was even a touch of the weariness beginning to creep into her voice. It was definitely time to get her out of here.
"We'll be in touch Jude." Paul said quietly as he turned to the door, quickly unlocking it and pulling it open before turning back to focus his eyes on the sunglasses that mirrored his own expression back to him, "If you see her, tell Katrina I said hi and that I'm still working on the sides equation she asked me about."
Pausing, Paul waited for Lumen to exit with the intention of following her out. Once outside it would only be the work of a few moments to hail a cab and get home then, more than likely, Lumen would need to lay down for a nap while he did something else.