DIADEM
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| DIADEM | |
| Founder: The Duchesne Foundation | |
| Basics | |
| Side: | Hero |
|---|---|
| Motto: | ' |
| Leader(s): | Board of Directors |
| Logo: | ' |
| Group Colours: | ' |
| Playerbase | |
| Levels: | All |
| Play style: | Casual or active players, serious roleplay |
| Roleplay: | Expected |
| Timezone(s): | USA Eastern Time |
| Recruiting: | ' |
| Contact: | @Major Paragon |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
DIADEM
The Duchesne Institute for the Advanced Development and Education of Mutants, or DIADEM, is a special institute where mutants can receive the training they need to safely control and develop their powers. Founded in 2003 by the Duchesne Foundation, DIADEM has since worked closely woth GIFT in responding to mutants who need some form of help, guidance, and counseling when their powers develop or if those powers pose significant threats due to an inability to safely restrain or 'turn off' those powers. DIADEM also wishes to prevent young mutants from being exploited by government officials or corporate entities due to their status as superhumans; just because a teenage mutant can have bullets bounce off of his chest doesn't mean that he should be dressed up in a costume and placed into harm's way alongside law-enforcement or adult superhumans.
In addition to providing mutants with a place where they can pursue educational and professional studies, DIADEM also provides mutants with other forms of social services like legal counsel and medical support. Mutants who get into legal or civic troubles, whether it is from civil litigation and personal injury cases to civil rights violations and discrimination, can always have an attorney provided to them through DIADEM. Mutants can also receive free medical care at DIADEM or they will have their medical fees at other insititutions covered by DIADEM.
DIADEM's facilities are open to all mutants and there is no cost for enrollment in any of their programs. Victor Duchesne, whose late son Charles was also a mutant, did not want any mutant of any age to be unable to benefit from DIADEM due to financial barriers. Several of the students at DIADEM were orphans or foster children, and Duchesne wished to create an environment for young and often desperate mutants in an effort to prevent them from falling into less desirable lifestyles. GIFT reports that because of Duchesne's efforts and the successes of the DIADEM facility that membership in criminal mutant gangs like the Outcasts has begun to drop.
The Faculty
The faculty at DIADEM consists mostly of ordinary humans who have received special training and have direct experience working with mutants and other superhumans. They consist of psychologists, doctors, and scientists, as well as other educated professionals who help to educate DIADEM students in addition to providing them with care.
Current Faculty Members
- Victor Duchesne, Boardmember
- Dimitrios Troy, CEO of Troy Industries, Boardmember
- Clarissa Crey, CEO of Crey Industries, Boardmember
The Students and Alumni
Most of the students enrolled in DIADEM are teenagers or young adults who have recently discovered that they are mutants. Although many of them will certainly go on to become superheroes in Paragon City or other areas throughout the world, others will not, and will instead find themselves working at a variety of professions in the civilian sector.
When mutants enroll with DIADEM there are several programs available for them to choose from.
Educational Program
The Educational Program is designed to help mutants continue their educations at any school level, but most students in this program are between the ages of 12 and 22. The program gears the students into completing their scholastic educations, and for students under the age of 18 this is the first mandatory program they must enroll in.
Development Program
This program is designed to help mutants to develop, explore, and control their mutant abilities in a non-threatening environment. Within the DIADEM compound there are a series of training rooms where students can put their abilities to the test in carefully controlled and regulated simulations. Once a mutant learns how to safely control and regulate her powers she may withdraw from the program, but most mutants find themselves returning to DIADEM's facilities to continue practicing their older powers as well as new ones that may later develop.
Although mutants tend to enjoy developing their inherent abilities, DIADEM ensures that all of their students are also given every opportunity to develop their physical fitness, leadership abilities, and basic hand-to-hand combat skills. These areas of development help to ensure that students will have additional skills available to them after they leave the program, espcially those who desire to serve their communities as costumed or plain-clothed champions. ((OOC: This is a suitable roleplaying origin for the Fitness, Fighting, and Leadership abilities available to all heroes!))
The Foundation X Program
The Foundation X Program is reserved only for DIADEM graduates and carefully selected non-DIADEM mutants who express an interest in utilizing their mutant potential on behalf of the Duchesne Foundation. Foundation X protects and serves the interests of the Duchesne Foundation as well as mutants, coming to their aid and defense in times of need. Foundation X is also called to respond when mutants or their abilities are becoming too dangerous to control. At times this is when an adolescent first discovers that she is a mutant and can not prevent her powers from harming others around her, while at other times Foundation X responds when mutants are intentionally using their powers to commit crimes that local authorities can not stop. DIADEM does not advocate placing teenage mutants into roles where they could be injured, maimed, or killed, so Foundation X has a minimum age limit of 22 for new applicants. Foundation X was conceived and formed by Patron X, the first mutant who enrolled with DIADEM.
Former Students
The following mutants are associated with DIADEM, whether as former students or as graduates from the program.
- Patron X: Patron X was the first mutant who officially joined DIADEM. He is the program's poster child of success and has since gone on to form Foundation X, a new program for mutants that draws most of its membership from DIADEM graduates.
- Danica King: Danica was a foster child who was enrolled in DIADEM several years ago, but she claims she was kidnapped from the institute and held against her will in a program called Protocol X. Danica has no further contact with DIADEM and is currently a member of a similar organization called Squadron X.
- Archoness: Archoness was one of the earliest students to enroll with DIADEM and almost wound up joining the Carnival of Shadows. Her father Dimitrios Troy is one of the Boardmembers for the institute. Archoness is a member of Foundation X.
- Archwing: Archwing is a winged mutant who has come to call DIADEM and the friends he has made there his new home and family. Due to his mutation and angelic wings, he has become estranged from his parents. Archwing is a member of Foundation X.
- Marchion: A rough and headstrong young man from the Bronx, New York, Marchion is a recent graduate from DIADEM who almost wound up on the wrong side of the law. Marchion is a member of Foundation X.
- Matron X: Matron X is one of the powerful psychics who graduated from DIADEM. She is an immigrant to the United States and maintains dual citizenship with her native Italy. Matron X is a member of Foundation X.
- Angeion: Angeion graduated from DIADEM in 2009 and is a member of Foundation X. She is a unique type of mutant known as a photo sapien, a being who can absorb and imitate all known forms of plant life.
Roleplaying Suggestions
DIADEM is not an actual supergroup that players can or should 'join' in the traditional sense. Instead, think of DIADEM as a source of background material for your mutant hero (or villain, if he left DIADEM and chose the path of villainy instead). Mutants may be currently enrolled in the program even when they are members of other supergroups, or they may be former members who graduated from DIADEM and went on to their heroic or villainous careers.
