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.
Hunter entered the lab’s music room and surveyed the scene before him. An instrument of almost every conceivable type was stored around the room. Bookcases lined with music for every instrument lined the walls. Music stands were liberally scattered about the place. Unlike the rest of the lab, which had the pristine modern look, this room was more like a large eighteenth century drawing room.
He walked over to where his violin was stored and gazed at it for a moment through the glass. The instrument was over two hundred years old, yet Hunter had kept it in immaculate condition. It was the only wooden object that Hunter willingly picked up. Unlocking the glass cabinet he opened the lid slowly and lifted out the violin. Picking up the bow that was alongside it he went and sat on one of the stools.
Holding the violin in position he ran the bow across it and tuned it while thinking of what to play. Eventually he decided against any big classical number and instead went for something a bit simpler, and in his opinion more beautiful. And so he began to play.
(OOC: I was looking for some violin music for Hunter to play and found this and so Hunter is playing the violin part of that piece)
Katrina held her oboe in one hand and a set of directions in the other. Out loud she read, “…left after the canteen, then a quick right down the next hallway, eventually coming to a room marked Music Conservatory.” It had seemed simple enough when she had first looked at the directions, but she had somehow gotten confused and had somehow totally missed the seeing the canteen altogether. Then, when she had almost lost hope of finding it without further assistance she heard the faint sound of a violin as she passed one of the corridors. She halted, backed up, and began following the sound.
It was a Celtic sounding piece, with a slow to medium tempo, and very beautiful. The musician drew the bow across the strings with a tenderness that made Katina’s breath catch. It was beautiful, but also a little bit sad. Maybe sad wasn’t the right word, perhaps it was more like loneliness.
By following the sound Katrina finally found the music conservatory. She didn’t want to interrupt, so she stood outside the door and listened until the piece ended with a long quivering note. She sniffed just once, it was so sad. Then she waited with her ear pressed to the door to see what the musician would play next.
Hunter finished the piece and heard movement outside the door, it was faint, but his acute hearing told him someone was there. He guessed it was Katrina, and so called out “Come in Katrina, it must be a while since you’ve practised.”
Setting the violin down carefully he strode over to one of the glass cabinets. Inside was a hundred year old oboe. Unlocking the cabinet and opening it he waited for Katrina to join him.
Katrina heard her name from inside of the music room, so she opened the door and peeked in. “…It must have been awhile since you practiced, ” Mr. Antonytail was taking something out of a glass case as he spoke.
Katrina nodded, “Yeah, it feels like forever. It’s been such a crazy couple of…” She trailed off as she saw what it was that Hunter was holding. It was an oboe!
“Do you play oboe too?“ Katrina held up her oboe, which had a tag on it the said Hi, my name is Loren the oboe!
(OOC: Katrina’s oboe is an F. Lorée, an oboe made by a prestigious oboe company that has been around for 220ish years, but her oboe is only a few years old.
History: Oboes have changed a lot over time, from something like a recorder with holes instead of keys to having a full set of keys like they do today. The “modern” oboe dates about 200 years, but about 100 years ago, the oboe reached what is basically its present form. For more oboe history, go here)
Hunter smiled at Katrina, “No, I don’t play,” he answered, “As of yet the realms of my musical talents are restricted to the violin and piano and I am only capable of some simple tunes on the oboe. However, you seem to be a keen musician. Here, take this one and give it a try. It’s been a while since it was used, but it should be in tune.”
Hunter held out the oboe for Katrina to take with a warm smile. He had collected the instruments over the centuries and had vowed to master them all someday. So far he had only managed the violin and piano, as it turned out that mastering an instrument was harder than it looked.
Katrina took the proffered instrument. It felt nice in her hands. It was a Lorée like her own, but it didn’t have the usual low B flat key. The keys had been recently oiled, and their movement was very smooth. Katrina took out a pre-soaked reed and crowed it once to make sure it would respond before fitting it into the hole.
She decided to start with a lower scale to warm up, the D scale, and played it in half notes, not too fast or too slow. The tone was very nice, rich and full. Her own oboe would have seemed a little stuffy in comparison. By the time she had reached the top of the scale, she had forgotten that anyone else was in the room. There was something about this oboe. There was a feeling of rightness that accompanied playing it. With her eyes closed she descended again, savoring each note until she reached the end of the scale and let the note fade back into blackness.
“So you like it then?” Hunter asked after Katrina had finished warming up the oboe. The girls seemed drawn to it, as if she’d been searching for something and finally found it. “How long have you been playing?” he queried.
Hunter was beginning to enjoy the simple moment with Katrina, of having nothing more serious to worry about than the music. He had often thought of doing something like this with Paragon as she grew. But that could not have happened, and judging by the girls present attitude, it never would.
“It’s wonderful,” Katrina responded, “like a dream.” This was the king of all oboes in her opinion, (no offense Loren), and it felt like it had been waiting for her for a very long time
She took a moment to look around at the rest of the room. It seemed like there was one of every instrument in cases around the perimeter, there was also shelves and shelves of sheet music. This room was different than many of the others in the labs. It had so much more personality, like someone actually cared about it enough to make it beautiful.
In answer to Mr. Antonytail’s second question she responded, “I’ve been playing ever since second grade, so this is my sixth year. I used to have piano lessons, but then my parents took me to an orchestra concert and I heard an oboe soloist play there. I loved the sound so much, I knew I would have to play the oboe. My mom said it was the hardest instrument, but I didn’t care. I was really bad at first and I almost wanted to give up, but my dad said if I quit trying I would never get better.” Katrina trailed off a little. She was wondering if her dad would encourage her to keep practicing illusions so she got better at those, too.
“And he was right,” agreed Hunter with a smile, “you won’t get better without practise. After all, it’s taken me a long time to get good at the violin and the piano.” He had noticed her trail off at mention of her father, so he changed the subject.
“Have you ever played with someone else?” he asked. Although he hadn’t looked, he knew that somewhere on the shelves was an oboe and violin duet. It would be a nice little escape from reality to just play before he got to do business of planning his own private war with America.
“I’ve played with my teacher before, and with a piano accompanist, but that’s all.” Katrina hoped she would be good enough to sight read a song with Mr. Antonytail. She was a pretty good, but he had a lot more experience. The beautiful old oboe in her hands felt warm. It was ready to go, and holding it gave her the confidence to add, “It would be fun to play a duet with you”.
Hunter smiled at Katrina, “Yes,” he agreed, “It’s been a while since I’ve played with anyone, but I’m sure I’ll manage it.” Heading over to the shelves of music he pulled out a piece, Bach’s Concerto for violin and oboe. He brought it over and set both parts on different stands.
“Is that alright?” he asked Katrina, scanning the music to remind himself of it. He’d played the piece a few times before, but not in the last two decades. Time to see if he could keep up with a twelve year old girl.
(OOC: Here’s an example of it, but with a full orchestra as well)
Katrina scanned the music, checking for key signature, tempo, and accidentals. It didn’t look too bad. There were a few tricky passages, but if she couldn’t get those, she’d just make something up and keep going.
Katrina nodded, “Let’s try it.”
The oboe was supposed to start, so Katrina took a big breath and cued the tempo with her oboe as she started. The tempo was relatively quick, and she made a few mistakes, but despite them she kept going. The oboe and violin parts blended nicely and she put as much feeling into it as she could. Katrina liked this song.
As she played, she realized that she had heard this piece before. Her teacher had played it at a concert once with a whole orchestra and Katrina had gone to hear her play. She could still remember some of the orchestra parts and as she got more and more into it , she started imagining the rest of the music that went along with the oboe and violin parts.
As Hunter played he allowed himself to be immersed in the moment. There was only him, Katrina and the music. And what music, he could swear that he had just heard a section of the orchestral part. Focusing for a moment, but not losing his place while playing he heard it again, as real as if they had orchestral support.
Hunter looked at the girl beside him, never once stopping playing for he knew the piece well. It did seem that she was a little illusionist, and the source of the accompanying orchestra. When they finally finished Hunter set down the violin and turned to Katrina.
“Wel, that is the first time I’ve done a duet with two people and had the whole orchestra playing. Quite a talent you have there Katrina, both musical and otherwise.” It was clear that she hadn’t complete control of it yet, but with a little help from him she would be able to. Also he would be able to prepare himself mentally to defend against it.
“Oh, I didn’t know I was doing it. Sorry.” Katrina blushed and looked down. She hadn’t meant to lose control of her powers and hadn’t even known that she had done it. At least illusions weren’t dangerous. But she really did have to get control over them, or untrustworthy people, like those X-men that Calley had been talking about earlier, might find out about them and try to use her for their own advantage.
“Thank you for the compliment and for playing with me. That was really fun and I really liked that piece.” She had really enjoyed herself. It was much more fun to play music with two people, because they could feed off of each other emotionally as they played. It made songs more musical, more complete, and in Katrina’s opinion more enjoyable.
“No need to apologise,” said Hunter with a smile, “If anything you spiced the piece up. How about we try again, but this time you see if you can give us orchestral accompaniment the whole way through? How does that sound?”
It would also give him a chance to try and resist it, to block out what he knew wasn’t real. He waited to see if she would agree or not. If she did he could try and work this into a routine, with her practising illusions and him defending against them.