#fanworks — Public Fediverse posts

Return of Nitemare Primer PART 2

I've been promising this for a while, so I'm going to take the opportunity to explain some things neglected in the first post.

Uh. Spoilers Ahead.

Setting

Okay! Here's some various setting stuff. Firstly, you need to pick up the Mutants and Masterminds 2nd edition setting book, "Paragons", and-

But I Don't Want To Read Paragons

…Okay, okay, fine. Lets go over some very basic setting stuff. I'll be speaking in generalities, and get into stuff specific to Spark Party and Return of Nitemare soon.

• The Breakout: For most of the setting's history, it's pretty darn similar to the mundane, physical world we find ourselves in right now (let me out let me out let me out). However, somewhat recently in this setting's past, something happened, and triggered people developing superpowers/ "paranormal abilities". The book leaves it open as to what exactly this event was, and how long it's been since then. Suggestions include natural disasters, terrorism, clearly supernatural events, and so forth.
• "Breaking Out": On an individual level, people are said to "break out" when they develop superpowers. Breaking out is normally caused by emotionally extreme events, particularly events that are traumatizing and/or life threatening. Powers are often random, though there does occasionally seem to be some sort of relation to the event causing the breakout. Unfortunately, this is a known thing in-universe, leading to-
  (Hey, one last CW for self harm, this gets intense)
• Origin Chasing/Spark Parties: Oh hey. The title. So, certain individuals in the Paragons Universe intensely desire paranormal abilities, as would be expected. Some people do this in a semi-controlled manner, for example, skydiving or extreme racing. A worrying percentage of people resort to extreme measures, such as suicide attempts or self-mutilation (an explicitly mentioned example is setting oneself on fire). Even worse, groups, either informal groups of partiers, or occasionally cults and con artists, will sometimes encourage these harmful behaviors and prey upon the desperate. I cannot over-emphasize that this is normally suicide.
  (Self-harm CW intensity lowered.)
• The Imageria: Soon after The Breakout, an alternate dimension was discovered. This place is deemed the Imageria, as contrasting to the Material. The Imageria contains the entirety of human imagination and thought - if you can imagine something, it exists somewhere in the Imageria. The Imageria is constructed in layers - starting in the Borders (an otherworldy version of the physical), continuing into the Reaches (including the elemental realms, the Faerie world) and the Depths (the realms of concepts and gods), deepening into the Abyss (home of everything nasty), and ending in the Deep Beyond, an unknown realm said to be ultimate truth by those who have managed to go there and back. The Imageria can roughly be said to be equivalent to the Astral Plane and multiverse.
• Imagerial Migrants: Sometimes, through breaking out, magical summoning, or other means, people from the Imageria enter the Material. They may be recognized figures, people from other realms, concepts, or things even stranger. Most struggle to fit in to a human realm, and may encounter legal issues (Imagine fucking Mickey Goddamn Mouse walking into existence, having to get a job, and then having to deal with fucking Disney).

Okay, clear-ish so far?

Spark Party-Specific Details

Right? Right. Okay.

• The original Paragons is set in the early 2000s, and so some of the cultural changes that have happened since then affect the world. Cell phones are ubiquitous, the internet is similar to the modern form of it. Chat GPT does not exist, while true AIs do. Gay marriage exists. It's not a perfect timeline, but it's not… this one.
• The Breakout in this world was Perry Nuclear Power Plant exploding in Cleveland, Ohio in 2012. For unknown reasons, the reactor went supercritical and exploded in a nuclear blast. In the months and years following this, individuals, starting in Ohio and spreading to the entire world, started to develop paranormal abilities, and we all know where this goes.
• Nitemare. Yes, it's spelled like that. Somewhere, deep in the darkest parts of the abyss, there is a realm of fear known as Nitemare. Every nasty thing, every monster, every creature from folklore, every fear-eating abomination you can imagine lives in that realm. The purest form of every fear is known as a Nitemare Lord, served by their herald (think secretary, but worse), and god of countless embodiments of those fears. The six most powerful of these are the lords of the dark (Tenebris), hounds (Moro), serpents (Yig), claustrophobia (no alt name), spiders (Atlach-Naca), and storms (no alt name). Unfortunately, as of 2022, Nitemare seems to be on a collison course with the Material. Someone should do something about that.

Return of Nitemare Specific Details

• For some reason that collision between Nitemare and the Material seems to not have happened. Strange. Anyway.
• Origin Chasing as a cultural phenomenon has died out, though it still happens.
• In the decades since The Breakout, those paranormals able to do magic have slowly organized and been integrated into society in a way similar to other skilled professions. Local, state, and national "Mages Circles" have taken in and organized those in the occult world who do not qualify for more exclusive secret societies. Circle mages tend to be reliable, educated, and hard-working. The circles handle licensing, training, and continued education of the mages within.
• The level of paranormal influence on the world is much greater than that found in Spark Party and Paragons proper. This isn't too wild, but paranormals are a double-digit percentage of society, and aren't really exceptional anymore. Paranormal technology is deeply integrated into society.
• Healthcare got nationalized and they have rail networks. God I wish that were me.

Factions

• Rubedo: This is the cult started by Desiree Wright (nee. Vincent Banks). In their early 20s, they broke out due to emotional trauma and realized their ability to control the emotions of others allowed them to break out other people. They, alongside their best friend Dorian Wright, decided to start helping Spark Chasers out to prevent as many deaths as possible, with their following ballooning and gaining a religious bent to it. After Desiree decided to deal with a threat to their cult with violence, Dee was blackmailed and forced to keep running their cult while giving her blackmailers the names of new members. Eventually Desiree managed to get out from under her blackmailers and end Rubedo, but the echoes of what was done still linger.
• The Pact: The Pact are a mysterious secret society of mages, predating the Breakout. The Pact operate under many names and many shell companies, but generally dominate the more exclusive, formal side of magic in the Paragons Universe. The Pact is somewhat rigid in structure and hierarchy, ranks falling under planets and elements, with the Council running things at the very top. They claim to have always known of the Imageria and always have been capable of magic, though they remained hidden before The Breakout.
• Malleus: The military arm of The Pact. When dealing with outsiders, The Pact hires mercenaries, to deal with internal conflict, they allow hierarchy to smother any upstarts, or assassins for those who cannot be quashed. When these measures fail, or dealing with threats of extreme power, the Pact calls upon Malleus. Malleus consists of both experienced long-term contractors and members skilled with violence who are called upon to deal with these sorts of issues. Generally Malleus membership is an open secret, and it is a dark day when they see a gray envelope on their desk. "Justice" is swift, brutal, and uncaring coming from the Hammer of the Pact, and it's a sign of something truly dire when they appear in an area.

Return of Nitemare Primer PART 2

I've been promising this for a while, so I'm going to take the opportunity to explain some things neglected in the first post.

Uh. Spoilers Ahead.

Setting

Okay! Here's some various setting stuff. Firstly, you need to pick up the Mutants and Masterminds 2nd edition setting book, "Paragons", and-

But I Don't Want To Read Paragons

…Okay, okay, fine. Lets go over some very basic setting stuff. I'll be speaking in generalities, and get into stuff specific to Spark Party and Return of Nitemare soon.

• The Breakout: For most of the setting's history, it's pretty darn similar to the mundane, physical world we find ourselves in right now (let me out let me out let me out). However, somewhat recently in this setting's past, something happened, and triggered people developing superpowers/ "paranormal abilities". The book leaves it open as to what exactly this event was, and how long it's been since then. Suggestions include natural disasters, terrorism, clearly supernatural events, and so forth.
• "Breaking Out": On an individual level, people are said to "break out" when they develop superpowers. Breaking out is normally caused by emotionally extreme events, particularly events that are traumatizing and/or life threatening. Powers are often random, though there does occasionally seem to be some sort of relation to the event causing the breakout. Unfortunately, this is a known thing in-universe, leading to-
  (Hey, one last CW for self harm, this gets intense)
• Origin Chasing/Spark Parties: Oh hey. The title. So, certain individuals in the Paragons Universe intensely desire paranormal abilities, as would be expected. Some people do this in a semi-controlled manner, for example, skydiving or extreme racing. A worrying percentage of people resort to extreme measures, such as suicide attempts or self-mutilation (an explicitly mentioned example is setting oneself on fire). Even worse, groups, either informal groups of partiers, or occasionally cults and con artists, will sometimes encourage these harmful behaviors and prey upon the desperate. I cannot over-emphasize that this is normally suicide.
  (Self-harm CW intensity lowered.)
• The Imageria: Soon after The Breakout, an alternate dimension was discovered. This place is deemed the Imageria, as contrasting to the Material. The Imageria contains the entirety of human imagination and thought - if you can imagine something, it exists somewhere in the Imageria. The Imageria is constructed in layers - starting in the Borders (an otherworldy version of the physical), continuing into the Reaches (including the elemental realms, the Faerie world) and the Depths (the realms of concepts and gods), deepening into the Abyss (home of everything nasty), and ending in the Deep Beyond, an unknown realm said to be ultimate truth by those who have managed to go there and back. The Imageria can roughly be said to be equivalent to the Astral Plane and multiverse.
• Imagerial Migrants: Sometimes, through breaking out, magical summoning, or other means, people from the Imageria enter the Material. They may be recognized figures, people from other realms, concepts, or things even stranger. Most struggle to fit in to a human realm, and may encounter legal issues (Imagine fucking Mickey Goddamn Mouse walking into existence, having to get a job, and then having to deal with fucking Disney).

Okay, clear-ish so far?

Spark Party-Specific Details

Right? Right. Okay.

• The original Paragons is set in the early 2000s, and so some of the cultural changes that have happened since then affect the world. Cell phones are ubiquitous, the internet is similar to the modern form of it. Chat GPT does not exist, while true AIs do. Gay marriage exists. It's not a perfect timeline, but it's not… this one.
• The Breakout in this world was Perry Nuclear Power Plant exploding in Cleveland, Ohio in 2012. For unknown reasons, the reactor went supercritical and exploded in a nuclear blast. In the months and years following this, individuals, starting in Ohio and spreading to the entire world, started to develop paranormal abilities, and we all know where this goes.
• Nitemare. Yes, it's spelled like that. Somewhere, deep in the darkest parts of the abyss, there is a realm of fear known as Nitemare. Every nasty thing, every monster, every creature from folklore, every fear-eating abomination you can imagine lives in that realm. The purest form of every fear is known as a Nitemare Lord, served by their herald (think secretary, but worse), and god of countless embodiments of those fears. The six most powerful of these are the lords of the dark (Tenebris), hounds (Moro), serpents (Yig), claustrophobia (no alt name), spiders (Atlach-Naca), and storms (no alt name). Unfortunately, as of 2022, Nitemare seems to be on a collison course with the Material. Someone should do something about that.

Return of Nitemare Specific Details

• For some reason that collision between Nitemare and the Material seems to not have happened. Strange. Anyway.
• Origin Chasing as a cultural phenomenon has died out, though it still happens.
• In the decades since The Breakout, those paranormals able to do magic have slowly organized and been integrated into society in a way similar to other skilled professions. Local, state, and national "Mages Circles" have taken in and organized those in the occult world who do not qualify for more exclusive secret societies. Circle mages tend to be reliable, educated, and hard-working. The circles handle licensing, training, and continued education of the mages within.
• The level of paranormal influence on the world is much greater than that found in Spark Party and Paragons proper. This isn't too wild, but paranormals are a double-digit percentage of society, and aren't really exceptional anymore. Paranormal technology is deeply integrated into society.
• Healthcare got nationalized and they have rail networks. God I wish that were me.

Factions

• Rubedo: This is the cult started by Desiree Wright (nee. Vincent Banks). In their early 20s, they broke out due to emotional trauma and realized their ability to control the emotions of others allowed them to break out other people. They, alongside their best friend Dorian Wright, decided to start helping Spark Chasers out to prevent as many deaths as possible, with their following ballooning and gaining a religious bent to it. After Desiree decided to deal with a threat to their cult with violence, Dee was blackmailed and forced to keep running their cult while giving her blackmailers the names of new members. Eventually Desiree managed to get out from under her blackmailers and end Rubedo, but the echoes of what was done still linger.
• The Pact: The Pact are a mysterious secret society of mages, predating the Breakout. The Pact operate under many names and many shell companies, but generally dominate the more exclusive, formal side of magic in the Paragons Universe. The Pact is somewhat rigid in structure and hierarchy, ranks falling under planets and elements, with the Council running things at the very top. They claim to have always known of the Imageria and always have been capable of magic, though they remained hidden before The Breakout.
• Malleus: The military arm of The Pact. When dealing with outsiders, The Pact hires mercenaries, to deal with internal conflict, they allow hierarchy to smother any upstarts, or assassins for those who cannot be quashed. When these measures fail, or dealing with threats of extreme power, the Pact calls upon Malleus. Malleus consists of both experienced long-term contractors and members skilled with violence who are called upon to deal with these sorts of issues. Generally Malleus membership is an open secret, and it is a dark day when they see a gray envelope on their desk. "Justice" is swift, brutal, and uncaring coming from the Hammer of the Pact, and it's a sign of something truly dire when they appear in an area.

Return of Nitemare Primer PART 1

Uh. Spoilers Ahead.

Spark Party

The ongoing RPG campaign that RoN is based off of is called "Spark Party" and takes place in an updated version of the Paragons setting in the city of Cleveland. Basically, in 2012 someone blew up the Perry Nuclear Power Plant/*, and people started getting superpowers.
Game starts in 2022, and The V-team, a group of four Player Characters, consisting of Vale, Verona, Vincent (my PC), and Vulpin have to band together, because it turns out that the world's going to end because there's going to be an overlap between the mystical realm of fear itself and the physical realm, and humanity's going to be hunted for sport. Shit gets… complicated fast.
(Surprisingly, not a TMA crossover.)

/* So this one time traveling lesbian didn't like that the end of the world kills her wife, so she decides to cause problems on purpose to try and stop it, we support women's wrongs here.

Return of Nitemare

In an alternate sequence of events than the actual campaign, in early 2025 the four heroes manage to bind the embodiment-gods (Nitemare Lords) of each of the main fears and bind them into human bodies for twenty years to see if a further understanding of humanity can convince them to alter the overlap and preserve humanity.
In the year 2042, when the incarnate fears are about 17, a serial killer starts targeting members of the occult community, seemingly striking at random in the greater Ohio region. The Occultist Desiree Wright is asked to look into those killed to see if the Ohio Mage's Circle can aid police investigation into the matter. Ultimately, she and her apprentice, Colton Briggs, are dragged into intrigue surrounding a plot by an old society of mages named The Pact to free the trapped Nitemare Lords. Facing a second end of the world, Desiree and Colton are forced to contact Dee's old companions and find the other kids before they get shucked out of their bodies.

Characters

Incarnate Fears

• Dark: Colton Briggs acts as the human vessel for the fear of the dark, who takes the form of his headmate Shadow, the former entity communicating with the V-team on behalf of the wider embodiments of fear. Their relationship is deeply resentful, with Shadow bitter about needing Colton to exist in sunlight while Colton feels as if his life is being stolen. They are currently in high school, and are being trained in the occult arts by his godmother, Desiree Wright. Extremely photosensitive.
• Claustrophobia: While unaware of her state, Colton's childhood friend Miryam is the incarnation of Claustrophobia. As a second-generation immigrant, she struggles with belonging, and is currently focusing on her studies, but does get up to mischief with Colton in her free time.
• Hound: The fear of dogs is currently living as a girl named Roxie, who is a student athlete and canonically is a tech enthusiast with an interest in retro gaming. Roxie is fully aware of her past life, but deeply enjoys being human, and wants to stay as long as she can. Additionally, she has a friendship/mentorship with Reynard, who we'll get to.
• Snake: Mercy is the name that the fear of snakes has chosen for herself. While she is equally aware of her true nature, she is much less content than her frenemy Roxie, her personality marked by a deep hunger for attention, dopamine, and power. The kind of girl who uses a pop-punk persona to justify being awful. Is in a formal mentorship program under the supervision of Verona.
• Spider: Amara is in a similar situation to Colton, a human girl sharing her body with her respective fear, the fear of spiders. However unlike Colton's relationship with Shadow, Amara respects Spider and views her as a guide and mentor. Amara has a deep belief that the universe is ultimately causal and bound by fate, and as such studies astronomy as a science alongside divination as spiritual practice.
• Storms: The fear of storms is currently living as Jules Carmona. Jules is lifelong friends with Amara, having met at a church gathering in early childhood. Jules is the most driven and socially charismatic of the group. They, alongside Amara, were told of a meeting of fear-gods would happen to cause the end of the world and that they had a duty to stop it. About that.

V-Team (Past/Future)

• Vincent Banks/Desiree Wright: Vincent Banks was a pharmaceutical sales rep who moonlighted as a leader of a cult promising to grant his followers paranormal abilities. His remarkable talent in the occult and ability to literally manipulate people's emotions at will were vital to saving the world and binding the Nitemare Lords. After sacrificing the long-term survival of that cult to perform the binding, Vincent disbanded his cult, married his partner, attempted to end his life…. and realized that she was a woman. After transitioning, she joined the Ohio Mages Circle and encountered Colton's mother, a former cult member. Eventually, she started to train Colton in how to master his abilities, became his godmother, and eventually started to teach him magic. She's frank about her past, but has a new life as an occultist and community member.
• Vulpin/Fox Lennox/Reynard Knox: One day, the concept of a phantom thief awoke in the body of a starving artist. Unable to restore the body's original owner, he decided to make something of the life he took, becoming a world-class art restorer and artist, while continuing to pursue his true purpose as an art thief. After sacrificing his purpose to bind the Nitemare Lords, and seemingly losing Vincent to suicide, Vulpin spiraled into hedonism and acts of terror to fulfill the hole, losing all human connection. Eventually he encounters the child Roxie and attempts to guide her to a better path. However, after seemingly receiving a text from a dead friend, Reynard finds himself once more called to be a hero.
• Verona Ariti: Verona Ariti's mother was a victim of the tragedy at Perry, a dark stain of tragedy that motivated her search for justice. Verona was an ordinary medical student until she discovered a pharmaceuticals company performing illegal and unethical experimentation into a substance that could be used to suppress paranormal abilities. Now drawing the ire of an international corporation, Verona was forced to abandon her education and hide, only to be torn apart by spectral hounds. Her scientific and practical knowledge helped the V-Team greatly on their journey, and she took the sacrifice of her arms in stride, resuming her education. Unfortunately, she then witnessed Reynard's spiral and Vincent's apparent suicide. However, it seems that Desiree's cry for help will disrupt her seemingly normal life and drag her back into the supernatural awfulness of those years past.
• Valerie Summers/Willow: Valerie Summers was a normal woman, acting a nurse for the dying, until death itself came for her. Choosing to die before cancer killed her, she found herself awakening from her deathbed with a second voice in her head, that of Willow. Willow, the embodiement of the fear of Death, slowly found herself adapting to her humanity, and joining the fight to keep her compatriots from ending mankind. She never spoke of what she sacrificed those years past, but settled in to a future with her wife [Redacted]. Hiding the truth of Desiree's survival for 17 years, the two now have to ensure the safety of her fellow Incarnates, as well as mediate the delicate balance between her former friends.
• V[Redacted]/Soothsayer: Once upon a time, a woman watched the world end. She unraveled time, defying the gods of fear itself to save Vale, the woman she loved, and reset the world, crashing the paranormal into the mundane in order to give humanity a chance of survival. For this, her name became a weapon against her, and she erased her existence from the world. Now, pursued by the Nitemare Lords, she must balance preventing the apocalypse with ensuring her safety.

Return of Nitemare Primer PART 1

Uh. Spoilers Ahead.

Spark Party

The ongoing RPG campaign that RoN is based off of is called "Spark Party" and takes place in an updated version of the Paragons setting in the city of Cleveland. Basically, in 2012 someone blew up the Perry Nuclear Power Plant/*, and people started getting superpowers.
Game starts in 2022, and The V-team, a group of four Player Characters, consisting of Vale, Verona, Vincent (my PC), and Vulpin have to band together, because it turns out that the world's going to end because there's going to be an overlap between the mystical realm of fear itself and the physical realm, and humanity's going to be hunted for sport. Shit gets… complicated fast.
(Surprisingly, not a TMA crossover.)

/* So this one time traveling lesbian didn't like that the end of the world kills her wife, so she decides to cause problems on purpose to try and stop it, we support women's wrongs here.

Return of Nitemare

In an alternate sequence of events than the actual campaign, in early 2025 the four heroes manage to bind the embodiment-gods (Nitemare Lords) of each of the main fears and bind them into human bodies for twenty years to see if a further understanding of humanity can convince them to alter the overlap and preserve humanity.
In the year 2042, when the incarnate fears are about 17, a serial killer starts targeting members of the occult community, seemingly striking at random in the greater Ohio region. The Occultist Desiree Wright is asked to look into those killed to see if the Ohio Mage's Circle can aid police investigation into the matter. Ultimately, she and her apprentice, Colton Briggs, are dragged into intrigue surrounding a plot by an old society of mages named The Pact to free the trapped Nitemare Lords. Facing a second end of the world, Desiree and Colton are forced to contact Dee's old companions and find the other kids before they get shucked out of their bodies.

Characters

Incarnate Fears

• Dark: Colton Briggs acts as the human vessel for the fear of the dark, who takes the form of his headmate Shadow, the former entity communicating with the V-team on behalf of the wider embodiments of fear. Their relationship is deeply resentful, with Shadow bitter about needing Colton to exist in sunlight while Colton feels as if his life is being stolen. They are currently in high school, and are being trained in the occult arts by his godmother, Desiree Wright. Extremely photosensitive.
• Claustrophobia: While unaware of her state, Colton's childhood friend Miryam is the incarnation of Claustrophobia. As a second-generation immigrant, she struggles with belonging, and is currently focusing on her studies, but does get up to mischief with Colton in her free time.
• Hound: The fear of dogs is currently living as a girl named Roxie, who is a student athlete and canonically is a tech enthusiast with an interest in retro gaming. Roxie is fully aware of her past life, but deeply enjoys being human, and wants to stay as long as she can. Additionally, she has a friendship/mentorship with Reynard, who we'll get to.
• Snake: Mercy is the name that the fear of snakes has chosen for herself. While she is equally aware of her true nature, she is much less content than her frenemy Roxie, her personality marked by a deep hunger for attention, dopamine, and power. The kind of girl who uses a pop-punk persona to justify being awful. Is in a formal mentorship program under the supervision of Verona.
• Spider: Amara is in a similar situation to Colton, a human girl sharing her body with her respective fear, the fear of spiders. However unlike Colton's relationship with Shadow, Amara respects Spider and views her as a guide and mentor. Amara has a deep belief that the universe is ultimately causal and bound by fate, and as such studies astronomy as a science alongside divination as spiritual practice.
• Storms: The fear of storms is currently living as Jules Carmona. Jules is lifelong friends with Amara, having met at a church gathering in early childhood. Jules is the most driven and socially charismatic of the group. They, alongside Amara, were told of a meeting of fear-gods would happen to cause the end of the world and that they had a duty to stop it. About that.

V-Team (Past/Future)

• Vincent Banks/Desiree Wright: Vincent Banks was a pharmaceutical sales rep who moonlighted as a leader of a cult promising to grant his followers paranormal abilities. His remarkable talent in the occult and ability to literally manipulate people's emotions at will were vital to saving the world and binding the Nitemare Lords. After sacrificing the long-term survival of that cult to perform the binding, Vincent disbanded his cult, married his partner, attempted to end his life…. and realized that she was a woman. After transitioning, she joined the Ohio Mages Circle and encountered Colton's mother, a former cult member. Eventually, she started to train Colton in how to master his abilities, became his godmother, and eventually started to teach him magic. She's frank about her past, but has a new life as an occultist and community member.
• Vulpin/Fox Lennox/Reynard Knox: One day, the concept of a phantom thief awoke in the body of a starving artist. Unable to restore the body's original owner, he decided to make something of the life he took, becoming a world-class art restorer and artist, while continuing to pursue his true purpose as an art thief. After sacrificing his purpose to bind the Nitemare Lords, and seemingly losing Vincent to suicide, Vulpin spiraled into hedonism and acts of terror to fulfill the hole, losing all human connection. Eventually he encounters the child Roxie and attempts to guide her to a better path. However, after seemingly receiving a text from a dead friend, Reynard finds himself once more called to be a hero.
• Verona Ariti: Verona Ariti's mother was a victim of the tragedy at Perry, a dark stain of tragedy that motivated her search for justice. Verona was an ordinary medical student until she discovered a pharmaceuticals company performing illegal and unethical experimentation into a substance that could be used to suppress paranormal abilities. Now drawing the ire of an international corporation, Verona was forced to abandon her education and hide, only to be torn apart by spectral hounds. Her scientific and practical knowledge helped the V-Team greatly on their journey, and she took the sacrifice of her arms in stride, resuming her education. Unfortunately, she then witnessed Reynard's spiral and Vincent's apparent suicide. However, it seems that Desiree's cry for help will disrupt her seemingly normal life and drag her back into the supernatural awfulness of those years past.
• Valerie Summers/Willow: Valerie Summers was a normal woman, acting a nurse for the dying, until death itself came for her. Choosing to die before cancer killed her, she found herself awakening from her deathbed with a second voice in her head, that of Willow. Willow, the embodiement of the fear of Death, slowly found herself adapting to her humanity, and joining the fight to keep her compatriots from ending mankind. She never spoke of what she sacrificed those years past, but settled in to a future with her wife [Redacted]. Hiding the truth of Desiree's survival for 17 years, the two now have to ensure the safety of her fellow Incarnates, as well as mediate the delicate balance between her former friends.
• V[Redacted]/Soothsayer: Once upon a time, a woman watched the world end. She unraveled time, defying the gods of fear itself to save Vale, the woman she loved, and reset the world, crashing the paranormal into the mundane in order to give humanity a chance of survival. For this, her name became a weapon against her, and she erased her existence from the world. Now, pursued by the Nitemare Lords, she must balance preventing the apocalypse with ensuring her safety.