Familia Tenebrae Amor
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
A mature, hard RP VG centering around an oddball collection of lunatics, demons, angels, monsters, Things Man Was Not Meant To Know, Mad Science! gone wrong, ancient prophecies, the Apocalypse, minor skirmishes between Heaven and Hell, and a variety of bizzare situations.
In other words, everyday life in the Isles.
Contents |
Istorica Familia
In 'real-life' terms, FTA is a very small group spread across a large number of toons- we're all pathological alters. One of the three founders met each of the other two independently and accidentally, and RPed with each of them seperately in different groups. Finally, the triangle was completed, and they decided to take up housekeeping together. Since then we've added some friends as crazy as we are. It's a bunch of irreverent, pretty open-minded people with widely disparate views on life. While we don't actively recruit, we're always open to meeting new people- as long as they're prepared to deal with some very odd folks.
In game terms, the Familia is a wide-flung network of humans and others bound by certain attitudes, issues with society- and the Bloodweb. This is a product of Marci Raver's bizarre biochemistry- a compound, spread by physical (usually intimate) contact, which induces certain physical changes and grants all the human members group telepathy. Extraplanars such as Ahriaz, Grace, and the succubi, and the definitively dead, such as Mina and Alleyway, are not affected by the chemical. Certain workarounds have been found, however.
The Familia is not a hivemind- everyone maintains their individuality, and can unlink at will- but the ease of communication and sense of belonging are a boon. In times of stress, Callista can use the parallel processing power of the the full Familia (roughly 1100 members in 'real' game life) to see into the future for their defense. (If you're familiar with Greg Bear's novel Bloodsong, the web is somewhat similar.)
We live by two rules:
1)Worship, play, and love as thou wilt- just keep it out of the papers;
2) Mess with us or ours, and expect to get your shit thoroughly blown up.
There's a third unofficial rule- NEVER piss off a redhead with a gun. Unless you want to walk to shore...
Familia Principalia
The leadership of FTA is effectively handled by four individuals...or is it five?
Witcharc
Vicki Carr was a young, shy, but brilliant student in mathematics and physics, whose researches into polyspatial matrix mechanics took her into very strange lines of research. Convinced that so-called "magic" was actually an advanced and codifiable scientific discipline, she added studies in the occult and witchcraft to her curriculum, in hopes of proving her theories.
She found all she sought- though not quite as she expected- in the pages of the Codex Maleficarii, a book that was bait and trap, prison and resting place. Within its final leaves, bound, waiting for the right person to release her, was an ancient demon. The personality meger that followed resulted in the being law enforcement would later call Witcharc, a powerful, violent transhuman with a single purpose...to find and bind Marci Raver. (see origin stories in the fiction section under Witcharc)
Tall to begin with, Vicki's body underwent a number of changes as a result of her demonic passenger's presence. Even taller she grew, standing now well over seven feet. Her hands lengthened and became claw-like, her skin grew pale and, most exotically, is now covered with fine writhing patterns of blue light- visible manifestations of the ebb and flow of her power.
Marci Raver
Marcia Westen took too many wrong turns in life, derailing a brilliant career in applied chemistry in favor of empty nights clubbing, getting stoned, getting drunk, and getting laid. Too bad none of it filled the needs she had, leaving her emptier every time. Eventually, enough hurt piled up to make her opt out with a mix of every chemical, hormone, drug, and godawful unnamable weapon agent she could cram into a syringe in her Crey lab. Unfortunately, it wasn't as lethal as she hoped for. The mix instead altered her, joining inextricably with her every cell and letting her demented sister loose - the living poison named Marci Raver. Since then, Marcia's woken up, and now has to share the one body with the rhyming, insane Raver.
Tiamat Lynn
Tiamat Lynn is a former hero, arrested, tried, and convicted for endangering the lives of humans (the human in question being a multiple murderer and rapist). When Arachnos blew open Zigursky, Tia made her break and has since been dodging the authorities in the Rogue Isles. She never did lose that urge to help people, she just altered her methods is all. Tiamat is an artificially mutated meta of sorts, using radiation to both harm and heal. Somewhere along the line, her powers caught the attention of Vicki Carr and the two hit it off, becoming quite close. She has indeed changed a lot since her days as a spandex spectacle, but in some ways she will always be the cute little nuclear kitten to those who know her well. Just bear in mind when encroaching on her territory that, as yet, no one has gotten around to putting up the 'Beware of Cat' signs...
Gunnergirl
Toni Callazza. Liz Allistair. Callie-Ann Lister. So many names, so many lives...
Born, so far as she knows, Callista Antonia Lazza, Gunner was orphaned young- so young she has no real coherent memory of her parents. But that was only the beginning.
An excellent student at Angel Heart orphanage and school, she was recruited at fourteen into a shadowy counterterrorist group known only as UNIT. Multi-national in makeup and transborder in scope, UNIT was dedicated to preserving the balance of power and defusing international incidents from behind the scenes, deeming no act out of bounds if it preserved the greater good. Their brutal training regime made Callista as close to superhuman as a normal woman can be, with heightened senses and reflexes, and at least competence with nearly any weapon known.
BlackOps, however, tends to collect borderline types. Twice betrayed and nearly murdered, Callie became aware that the focus of the group was changing, from maintaining the status quo to consolidating power within the walls of UNIT's own sanctuary. Finally, when presented with an assignment that not only anticipated but required large numbers of civilian casualties...she ran.
How she ended up in the Isles is a tale in itself. So is how she discovered that, genetically at least, Marci Raver is her sister- their interaction has never been less than volatile. Now, though, she lives shipboard and acts as the Familia's iron-souled XO and enforcer, the epitome of 'tough love' towards the group of troublesome artists and warriors she has thrown her lot in with.
And UNIT has followed her...
Familia Minore
A more oddball collection you'd be hard-pressed to find...
The Familia continues to grow, as the Ladies offer sanctuary to various denizens of the Isles and elsewhere (and as our altitis spirals out of control). Information on other Familia characters can be found here
Residentia Familia
Marci, Witch and friends have had several bases of operation since they joined forces, from a long-established, heavily fortified VG stronghold, to a tunnel complex near the Pit in Sharkhead, to a leaking, rickety cargo ship that they're slowly upgrading. FTA bases
Exertus Familia
FTA is involved in a running covert war with Arachnos, Longbow, the Circle Of Thorns, UNIT, various factions of extraplanar creatures, and sometimes themselves. They are often helped, occasionally hindered, and frequently annoyed by friends and acquaintances in the Serial Killers (website now sadly defunct) and the ditzy-but-deadly sorority Cute can Kill.
Longbow
Longbow has standing warrants for the crew, and tend to shoot first and ask no questions. Understandable, given their history of mass casualties against FTA.
Thorns
Many years ago, while the demon that makes up part of Witcharc was still entombed in the Codex, a Circle of Thorns coven acquired the book. They had a pretty good idea of who and what they had found, but, in the name of caution, rather than actually reading the book and freeing the demon, the coven used various binding spells to attempt to coerce her into doing their bidding. Not only was this totally ineffective, the demon being ALREADY bound of her own free will, it was a horrendous breach of the etiquette that rules the dealings between mages and Shadowlanders. There's some indication that it caused the demon some discomfort, even pain, as well.
At any rate, after her release from the Zig, the Circle felt the full force of Witcharc's wrath. She's mellowed a bit now, in that she will no longer drop everything else to wreak mass slaughter on the Thorns, but she still doesn't like them very much, and, a few exceptions aside, shows them very little mercy when they meet.
Which, of course, bothers Marci not at all.
Carnies
Free choice is everything to the Familia - even their "pets" and "slaves" are only in those positions by their own desire, and they are free to change their minds at any time.
This makes Vanessa DeVore's domination of her vassals anathema to the Familia, and her psychovore practices only increase the antipathy. However, the family does their best to free, rather than kill, any Carnies they can - though the methods DeVore uses to keep the masks attached and the harlequins under control make it a very iffy proposition. To date, only 64 Carnies have been salvable by the methods the Familia have devised - and all bear scars, mental and physical, of the ordeal.
The standing orders regarding DeVore herself are of course astoundingly violent.
Rahkali
Aware of it or not (generally NOT) the Familia has also managed to make one enemy in particular without even trying. The 12, or the Lords of Rahkal are a surprisingly quiet faction of wizardry. Even most of the supernatural community are clueless with regard to the dozen body jumping sociopaths and their legion of bound demons, mortal acolytes, and a veritable horde of experiments-gone-wrong that they maintain control of.
Worse are the experiments NOT gone wrong in the form of Carry Webber's entire family or the vast army of the Sisterhood of The Blood.
Galleria Familia Tenebrae
Group shots, action shots, alternate costumes, even alternate bodies can be found here
Amicita et Hostilias Familia
(under construction) Any long-term RP environment, either MMO or pen-n-paper, inevitably collects a number of "utility" characters- NPCs that recur to move along stories or just to add color. The challenge in an MMO is for any PC to be able to take over the role of one of these cameos and be convincing. Information will be found here on the important NPCs, friend and enemy both, in the FTA microverse. FTA NPCs
Codex Fabula Familia
This section holds links to more detailed origin stories for FTA members, as well as related gamefic by FTA players. FTA fiction
Musica et Ars Familia
Character theme song lyrics, new music discoveries, or just plain cool stuff goes here.
