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.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Oct 2, 2023 11:47:02 GMT -6
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"Oh please, a bunch of bugs and bats aren't going to attract more attention than us, the biggest things in the sky for miles around!" Metazoa retorted before she could catch herself. Her hackles were raised, and not just from the sensory disturbances she felt through the animals. It was always like this with Carrick. No matter what happened, he got under her skin like nobody else.
Carrick did make the landing, though. Liz stumbled a bit as she practically leaped out of his arms and leaned against a tree for balance. Data poured in her mind as she tapped into the woodsy area's denizens.
"Okay, we have some cover here. Nobody ever comes out here," she said after a moment scanning the minds of squirrels, birds, and more. "And what do you mean, immort--?"
Liz was turning around to stare a Carrick in disbelief when she saw her ex rapidly undressing in front of her. She immediately spun back and cut off visual sensory flows from the animals around her to her mind. She did not need to or want to see that!
Some of Carrick's words finally resonated with her. "God help us, you're right," she swore. "You are being reasonable. I'm panicking. This is happening to so fast and I'm overwhelmed."
Liz took a deep breath and moved away from the tree. She clasped her hands together as if in prayer, her back still to Carrick, and she grabbed onto a few minds in particular.
This late in the year with such low temperatures, many subterranean animals had started their dormant hibernation cycles. Their minds were calm and still, reacting to nothing, safe in their hidey holes.
Liz allowed those bugs and moles and other critters to wash over her, and as seconds passed, her mind began clearing. Finally, she straightened, adjusted her mask, and Metazoa began to speak. "You must have forgotten who you're talking to," she said as Carrick announced his intentions of leaving. "I always have a plan." Her brain was already kicking into overdrive. Things Carrick had said mingled with her own experiences and what she'd seen out of Cold Steel.
Rodents began moving about the ground and trees, scurrying to do her bidding and gathering materials and moving to positions. Nocturnal birds and bats began taking up formations in the trees. Green, red, and gold lights reflected off the eyes of a handful of deer and a bobcat, who watched them from the edge of the clearing. Black and brown lines of arthropods began crawling and buzzing toward her, making their ways into her clothes.
She glanced over her shoulder and the yellow lenses of her mask glinted in the starlight.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Sept 29, 2023 7:14:13 GMT -6
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This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. "What? We don't have time to get Mirror!" Metazoa shouted into the wind. They were miles and miles from the mansion. There was no way Carrick was going to be able to fly them both there in time for any meaningful help, even with mirrorwalking to speed things along. She didn't think he would do well going alone either - he wasn't lightning, just a guy with wings. "Since when do you listen to other people, anyway?"
An owl fluttered silently into Metazoa's mindrange and she immediately directed it back toward the fray, where CS's battle was lighting up the night. The owl had just gotten eyes on Sam when pain lanced through it and Liz's skulls before the connection severed. Liz gasped and stifled a shriek. "They're blinding me down there," Metazoa announced. "I need to get closer. Set me down over there," Liz said, pointing toward a place that looked like it had excellent cover.
"This isn't the time for thinking about money!" she said hotly. "Cold Steel is powerful, but that fortress was clearly prepared for us! He's not going to survive if we don't act now!"
As they flew, Liz sought out everything she could feel with her mind. In the air like this, her power was limited - they were too far from most animals, only the occasional bat or bug. Still, she pulled them into her fold and began gathering a small stream of nocturnal flying creatures behind Carrick. She needed allies. Lots of them. Whatever was killing her hosts couldn't be everywhere at once.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Sept 28, 2023 17:03:10 GMT -6
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Liz smiled. "On your sleeve, yes," she said, enjoying the man's still-slight trouble with English idioms. Even if it was an act, it was an amusing one.
What wasn't an act was how she felt when she looked at him and saw all the tears and sorrow melt away into that warm, radiant smile of his. She squeezed gently his arm gently as his hand enveloped hers. "No, no, I'm not complaining at all," she said truthfully. Those words surprised her and she blinked. "Huh, I'm really not complaining."
She stared off into the distance for a moment before smiling again. "I think you're right, Hercules," she said, staring back into his beautiful green eyes. "I think this is better. I don't think I'm ever as free as I am when I'm with you."
As if to underscore her point, a trio of butterflies burst out of a bush nearby and fluttered their haphazard ways over the picnic and split off into three directions as nearby cicadas began their symphonies anew.
"You pull a lot of this stuff out of me - more than anyone else - but you also understand me better than anyone else. You know what it's like to hold an entire world on your shoulders."
Posted by Liz Sundance on Sept 28, 2023 16:51:38 GMT -6
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Metazoa's mind slammed back into her body and she reeled backwards with a sharp gasp, despite the lack pf physical force involved in the repossession. The mouse that had been her passageway scampered off before Liz could even process its presence.
"What was that? What was THAT?!" she whispered with a a rising tone of fear. She'd been piloting a rat and acting as an on-the-ground scout for Cold Steel, while Carrick looked out from above. Then something happened and she was thrust out of the rat and into the senseless void. In her psychic limbo she had latched onto the first mind she could reach and bade the mouse to return to her human form.
Metazoa slapped herself with her fur-lined gloves (a staple for a mission that had Cold Steel on it). "Get it together, no time to panic. You need to move!"
Something had happened and the rat hadn't seen, heard, smelled, or felt anything before it was just gone.
Then the chatter on the comms registered. CS wanted them to go home.
"Forget that!" Liz said to herself as she poured her mind out and felt all animals within two hundred feet, tapping into their minds. Scattered viewpoints painted a kaleidoscope of chaos as explosions warred with ice constructs and icy fog.
Then Carrick was there. "Go go go!" she shouted as she raised her arms enough that she could be easily scooped up.
"What happened?" she immediately asked him. "Where's Cold Steel? We need to get him out of there!"
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jul 24, 2023 16:58:23 GMT -6
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Liz let out a sharp snort before she could help herself. It came right on the tail end of Hercules describing his own encounters with loss.
"I'm sorry," she said, rubbing his arm with a hand. "I'm not taking this lightly, it's just...well...why do we do this?" she asked, tilting her face up toward him.
"Why do we spend almost every date like this?" she said, gesturing between them. "We cry, we get sad, we keep trying to one-up each other with disasters and tragedies! I don't know any other couple that does this."
She smiled and shook her head. It wasn't a joyous smile, but rather an ironic one, like a person drenched by rain but seeing a bit of a rainbow. "Not that I'm complaining," she said.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jun 19, 2023 8:12:51 GMT -6
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Elizabeth leaned into the embrace and closed her eyes. She wanted to savor this. She felt him shifting and wrap an arm around her and for that moment, that beautiful sliver of time, everything was right in the world. Another tear slid down her face and she smiled in spite of it. These were the kinds of moments she needed, the reminders of what she worked so hard for. A nearby robin burst into a song as Elizabeth slackened her mental grasp on the area a bit.
"I think I would've been disappointed if you hadn't been there with us that day," Liz said, rubbing Hercules's back. "And I think it would have destroyed you if you hadn't been there." There were many things about the man that Liz didn't fully believe or ask about, but she didn't for a minute doubt his drive to stand up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves or to throw himself headfirst into any worthy conflict. She could still vividly recall watching Hercules through a dozen pairs of eyes as he charged the man who'd eventually laid waste to the mansion. The same man who'd wiped out the majority of her swarms in a few waves of his hand.
All those minds she felt die.
Liz shuddered and pressed herself tighter against Hercules, as if he could shield her from her memories. "I am going to have nightmares of that for a very long time," she admitted.
"I don't know what comes next," Liz said. "That's so far out, right now." The rebuilding would likely take at least a month just for things to be livable. The school parts would probably take longer to bring up to their pre-destruction standards, and then they'd have to get the kids back. There was a good chance the mansion would be closed for the rest of the semester. But the idea of an organization for magic users? "I hope they have good people," she said, a note of bitterness in her voice. Perhaps if people like Becca and Rex were involved, they could be a powerful voice for goodness and order. Otherwise, Liz strongly hoped the government would keep an eye on the group.
Elizabeth shook her head. "No need to apologize," she said. "I'm not upset. I'm not really anything right now. I appreciate you trying to look out for me. I....I guess I haven't been doing much of that myself lately." She looked down at the remaining half of her sandwich. When was the last time she'd had lunch? Was it the day of the assault? Come to think of it, she couldn't remember too many breakfasts either.
She put her sandwich down on its napkin and then onto the blanket. Her eyes were locked on Hercules. "We would appreciate your help," she said quietly, smoothing out non-existent wrinkles on her jeans. "But I think this is something we're going to have to do ourselves. We need allies, yes, but we also need to be able to look out for ourselves and stand up for ourselves. It won't mean anything if other people hand it to us."
Elizabeth was blinking fast and she realized her hands were clenched. She frowned at them and then looked back at Hercules. This time, she really saw him.
She thought this was all for her benefit, the picnic and the kidnapping. And maybe it was, at least as far as Hercules had planned it, but it occurred to her that maybe this was just as much for Hercules as herself. Maybe Hercules was doing what she'd been doing - looking out for everyone but herself.
He claimed to be the Hercules of myth, the man who'd faced monsters and armies and gods themselves, triumphing every time. The man first into danger and last to leave, taking the blows meant for others and being that indomitable champion for humanity.
This time, it hadn't been enough.
The Welldrinkers had been defeated, but at a great and heavy cost. Though few mutants had died, their home and many of their worldly possessions were gone. The brutality they experienced, the horrors they'd seen....and inflicted....would doubtlessly haunt them for a long time to come.
Elizabeth's eyes turned glassy and she walked forward on her knees toward Hercules's side before shifting her weight to a hip. She leaned against him and put an arm as far around him as she could.
"No, Hercules," she said, a slight hitch in her voice. "You did nothing wrong. Then, or now. If you hadn't been there, it could've been much, much worse." She laid her head against his arm, even as a tear began to roll down her face.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Jun 8, 2023 21:15:24 GMT -6
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Elizabeth accepted the water and took a sip. As she was setting it down on the blanket, her gaze sharpened at Hercules. "Do not tell me how important feeling is," she said. A sudden low buzzing could be hear from the surrounding forest, as if every bug and bird and furry thing was suddenly moving in agitation. Then they all stilled and the sound went away. Liz let out a breath. "Sorry. It's just....that's not what makes us humans."
Animals felt. Keenly, strongly, variously as powerful as humans, or differently. Not all animals felt things the same way or to the same degree, but every animal Liz had ever encountered had feelings. Even the ants in her office had emotions, minimal as they were. Even at this moment, Elizabeth's mind was sifting and straining hundreds of minds from the sky, the trees, and buried in the dirt. "I have been doing this for my entire adult life and most of my teenage years," she said to her boyfriend. "I know the power of feelings. I also know the dangers of them."
All those times she'd lost control, all the trauma in the animals she'd caused, much less the trauma on herself or the damage inflicted on her surroundings. No, there would be no repeats of that.
Liz reached over and took a napkin and bread, beginning to build a sandwich from the deli meats and cheeses. "Maslow had some good points," she said as she squirted a bit of mustard on the bread before slapping it on top of her sandwich. "Haven has been a blessing, but I can almost guarantee they're overextended in helping us. Too many people, too many needs, all at once. Still, it's something. But the next stage of the hierarchy is safety. Quite frankly, I think it will be a long time before any of us feel that."
Even in the heart of Haven, apparently a mystic had made his way in and done something to Iris, deactivating her powers. "We're not truly safe anywhere."
She mechanically began chewing her food. "Talk to Sam," she said in between bits. "I believe he's been dealing with getting contractors together for the construction." Liz didn't say that she thought Hercules would likely just be in the way of things. He was strong and kind and could likely work for days without rest, but he wasn't that great with impulse control. Sometimes it seemed like he forgot other people couldn't do the things he could and that could put them in danger.
Posted by Liz Sundance on May 29, 2023 13:03:06 GMT -6
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Liz just stared blankly at Hercules for a few moments. Hmmm. He wasn't taking her back. That was...annoying. What were her options? They weren't so far away that Liz couldn't walk back, although that was far from ideal. She was wearing flats but they weren't suited for so much cross-country travel. Besides, Hercules could easily catch her.
She could always abandon her body and escape via psychic possession. Back in Antarctica, when her body had been undergoing field surgery, and later when the exploding submarine had killed the orca she was in possession of at the time, that she could not truly be contained. There was always an animal nearby, even in the Antarctic ice.
The blonde cocked her head. No, possessing wasn't going to be an option. She needed opposable thumbs and speech capabilities for her work. Even finding a raccoon wasn't going to be an option.
Lunch it was.
Elizabeth let out a deep breath and slumped down. "Fine," she said, "I'll take the water." She could work through dinner instead, maybe get caught up on work then.
She met his sea green eyes with her chocolate brown gaze. She frowned slightly at what she saw there. "I don't have time to feel," she said. "There's way too much going on. Haven has been a valuable aid, but even a temporary shared space is ruffling feathers all over the place. Half of what we're dealing with is just coordinating efforts, finding resources, and figuring out who can do what and where. Like you said, our home was destroyed. The bare minimum of Maslow's hierarchy of needs put food and shelter first. Feelings don't come until way later."
Then Liz saw the food. Against her will, her stomach growled. "This...looks good..." she admitted, finally taking in everything her boyfriend had prepared for her.
Posted by Liz Sundance on May 12, 2023 11:45:44 GMT -6
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Elizabeth stared at Hercules. "Balance," she repeated slowly, as if tasting the word for the first time. "Right...." Whatever that meant. She had actual things to balance, such as being a dorm mother for a group of frightened teens thrown into chaos and confusion while also trying to deal with the lack of mansion facilities and remaining available to put out other fires as they came up.
She knelt on the corner of the blanket opposite to Hercules. She was wearing jeans so she didn't have to be too particular about how she sat, but she wasn't feeling like sprawling out. Rather, she was waiting until Herc took her back to her temporary office.
"A date?" Liz frowned. "And I told you I don't have time right now. I'm sorry, I'm not ignoring you, I'm just really needed for the kids and the school." With her hands folded on her lap, only her eyes moved, tracking Hercules's movement as he laid out...food.
Her frown deepened. This wasn't going to end any time soon, was it? She sighed. You don't have to worry about me, Hercules," she said again. "I'm fine. I'm just really business right now and this..." she nodded at the picnic display, "...really isn't helping me get things done." A scattering of ants that were sloppily making their way across the blanket toward the cheese abruptly formed into a strict column and proceeded to watch themselves away from the food.
Posted by Liz Sundance on May 9, 2023 19:48:23 GMT -6
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In any other time, Elizabeth would've been enjoying herself. The feeling of wind on her face as she hurtled over the countryside was something she rarely felt. Normally she felt it vicariously through psychic possessions. The last time she'd felt this was....with Carrick.
Liz shook her head. This wasn't the time for either of those things. She spent the journey mentally cataloging the work that she was going to have to catch up on. Filings, letters to be mailed out, emails to be sent, so many coordination efforts. She didn't know how she was going to get it all done. At the very least she'd be losing another few hours of sleep that night, just like the last three nights. There was just always more stuff to do.
The blonde barely noticed the landing until Hercules finally sat her down. She stood blankly, not really taking in her surroundings. She followed him along, keeping pace mechanically despite his larger stride. Then there was a blanket and a basket and a cooler. The birds stopped chirping and even the ambient bug sounds died off as she stopped walking. "Why are we here?" she asked.
Posted by Liz Sundance on May 1, 2023 16:30:36 GMT -6
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Zek
Meanwhile, mystics in the air were beginning their attack runs. One riding a silver-painted surfboard swooped down and hurled a blast of violet energy at Cold Steel even as the man took out several mystics. Another mystic, riding a spectral flying horse galloped through the air as the woman behind him took potshots at the mutant defenders on the ground with her rifle. Still a third began screeching as she swooped by like a rocket, hurling fireballs at Shin and shrieking at painful decibels.
Others peeled off and began unleashing spells at the mansion itself. Explosions and blasts and degradation hexes began landing, striking the roof across the building.
Then the birds returned.
"The backside of the mansion is secure," Elizabeth said over the comms, her voice tight and strained. "Sending reinforcements to cover mansion airspace. If you need me, speak to any black bird."
Cresting over the back of the mansion from the other direction, a black cloud emerged and rapidly swept over the oncoming mystics. Guided by the mutant mind possessing one of the birds at the heart of the murmuration and murder, birds began slashing, pecking, striking, and otherwise harrowing the amateur invaders to their home territory. The swarms of bugs filled in the gaps.
Posted by Liz Sundance on May 1, 2023 8:17:45 GMT -6
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Elizabeth nodded slightly in acknowledgment of Carrick. She was relieved - it seemed that they were finally finding the path to civility after years and years of...cattiness. That was one less thing to balance now. It wasn't perfect and she didn't miss his flicking tail, but she didn't say anything else.
She smiled more broadly at Praxi. "Ah, I'm glad you're well, and that Amethyst isn't overworking herself," she said with a playful wink. Liz was well aware that Amethyst was no slacker, despite the assumptions many people made about royalty.
Others soon filed in. Tetsuya and Luna with their food and drink. A woman Liz didn't know but seemed familiar anyways. She thought back to news reports she'd seen over the years about the X-Men. Was that....Flashbang? Liz smiled in greeting. "Morning, morning, morning!" she said to the three.
Then Liz was left with nothing to do, or at least until she saw Carrick's new moustache. "Let's check out what kind of napkins and silverware we have," Liz said to Shin. "I feel like this could get messy real quick, unless you want to make everyone shard-forks and triangle knives." Then she slid into the kitchen and starting rifling through drawers and cabinets.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Apr 29, 2023 17:10:35 GMT -6
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From her position across Hercules's shoulder, Elizabeth had a terrible view of the whole ride. However, the ants had a fantastic view. The elevator was covered in a virtual carpet of insects, and all of them had turned to glare at Hercules with their beady little compound eyes. When other people came in, the ants shifted and flowed around them, even clambering on top of each other to form giant lumps of shifting darkness as the elevator filled.
In any other situation, Liz would've enjoyed the looks on peoples' faces as they refused to get in the elevator with the mass of bugs or the massive man clearly standing with a woman over his shoulder, or as the people who ignored it did their level best to ignore it entirely until they could get off themselves.
When it was their tern to disembark, Liz let her captor know when it was clear to let the doors shut so none of the ants got squished or trapped. Then while Hercules talked to kids, Liz caught the eye of the receptionist. "Don't worry, it is a kidnapping, but I'll take care of it. He's not going to get away with this," she promised blandly. "Please let Gemma Taylor-Cervantes know that I'll be taking the afternoon off whether I like it or not."
Once outside, Liz began the task of dispersing the ants as quickly and safely as possible and then Hercules was leaping into the air. "Like I have a choice," she remarked.
Posted by Liz Sundance on Apr 25, 2023 19:40:54 GMT -6
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He kept apologizing. But he didn't stop. He didn't even put her down. He wasn't ignoring her, he was just not obeying her. Elizabeth's eyes narrowed, but she held back any overt actions. Technically, she was being abducted, but as far as those went, this didn't even make her top ten. No point summoning the entirety of Haven - Hercules would just walk through them or people and places would be severely damaged.
No, the last think Liz needed was more paperwork. It was already going to be piling up. If only she could leave the ants with some autonomy! If they could be left to their devices and handle the busywork for her! Then she wouldn't have a mountain of things to address whenever she was finally able to get away from Hercules.
They made it to the elevator and gentle as Herc was, Elizabeth's head was kept far from the possibility of being hit on the doorframe. Hercules even paused to hold it open for the ants.
"Now you're wanting my opinion?" she said in a steely tone. "Very well. Since you're so determined to abscond with me, the least you can do is let me keep this building from suffered the worst infestation in the history of the state."
The ants rapidly spilled into the elevator, making bridges with their own bodies to cover the gap between elevator and floor, and then filling every inch of space in the elevator, from floor to walls, to ceiling. The only things they didn't cover were the lights and the buttons and the sliding doors themselves.
When the last ant was safely in the elevator, Liz sighed. "They're all in. Let's get this over with."