The Cryosphere

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The infamous Cryosphere comprises Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. Cold generators keep it below freezing temperature all year-long – this is believed to be both a defense feature against external attacks/infiltration and a constant reminder to all of Cryo's power.

The Cryosphere's political system is a mixture of autocracy and anarchy: On the streets, might makes right, and nothing really constitutes a crime. However, Professor Cryo is powerful enough that none can challenge him, effectively making him a dictator. Cryo calls this "controlled chaos"; he claims that the environment thus created encourages the rise of ruthless and powerful elements that he can use.

Professor Cryo himself is often considered to be the world's greatest supervillain (with the possible exception of Nollius), and a role model of sort to the others. The craftiest creep, the czar of cruelty, the conqueror of cold – titles abound. It is unknown how Professor Michael Heart, an extremely brilliant physicist and inventor (believed to have been a candidate for the Nobel Prize for his work in advanced thermodynamics) from Carnegie Mellon University who had never displayed any villainous tendency, has become Professor Cryo, the archvillain. His transformation was presumably linked to his year-long disappearance following the death of his wife, but all we have is speculation. The fact remains that Professor Cryo is both utterly devoid of compassion, quite possibly the most intelligent supervillain in recorded History (though there have been interesting comparisons to the earlier Doctor Trick), a master inventor and schemer, and quite powerful: His cold aura and thermodynamic field drain the energy out of even the most powerful attacks aimed at him, and his freezing ranged attacks make him one of the most powerful individuals on Earth, in the same league as Nollius and the Avatar. He has established his HQ within the gothic landmark building formerly known as the Cathedral of Knowledge, which he has rechristened the Cathedral of Cold.

The exact hierarchy of the Cryosphere is unknown, as data on it is difficult to obtain. It is known that the Cryosphere's military is comprised of thousands of soldiers (some of them super-powered) known as Cold Stormers, equipped with high-tech weaponry and acting under the supervision of General Gordon, a former officer in the American Marines who went rogue and rallied Cryo's banner. General Gordon answers directly to the Professor, as does Overseer, the ruthless AI tasked with preventing sensitive information from escaping the Cryosphere through the Internet; Overseer is believed to have been created toward the end of the Cold War by the KGB, and to have gone rogue after the fall of the communist regime, having no programmed loyalty toward its successor.

If the Cold Stormers are the Cryosphere's military, the Blizzard Brigade is Cryo's elite guard, comprised of high-level supervillains loyal to him. Their leader, as well as Cryo's right hand, is the woman known as Frostbite, who is believed to also be the Professor's main lab assistant (and relies on technology similar to his own). The full roster of the Blizzard Brigade is unknown, but other confirmed members include the super-strong Crusher, the telepathic, telekinetic Brainwarp, and a military robot built by Ares Industries. It is suspected that there is also a speedster on the team, as well as an individual relying on sonic attacks.

Tagton, the alien mercenary, is not believed to hold an official position within the Cryosphere; he has, however, referred to Cryo as his best client.

There are numerous factions trying to survive and gain power in the Cryosphere, too many to name them all. The major ones are as follow:

• The Family is the local branch of the Mafia. They were weakened by Cryo's rise to power, and are believed to be on the hunt for superpowers. In recent times, they seem to be rising in power again thanks to the competent leadership of the new capo Don Frost.

• The Street Sharks are a large street gang, making up for their lack of organization and firepower with frightening levels of violence.

• Global Might maintains its HQ within the Cryosphere, and maintains amiable relations with Cryo; Gatemaster in particular is an old ally of his, and designed the teleportation technology that keeps the Cryosphere powered up. Global Might is believed to be the only local group capable of defeating the Blizzard Brigade, though this has not been put to the test as far as the public knows.

• Galt's Gulch is an organization of objectivists (the Ayn Rand fans type) who view the Cryosphere as neither better nor worse than the "free" world – while the police may not be relied upon for protection, the State does not enforce unwilling altruism, either. The members of Galt's Gulch are trying to create a "safe enclave" within the Cryosphere, where private property is respected as much as possible. So far, they haven't brought Cryo's ire upon themselves yet.

• The Sons of Freedom can be best described as a survivalist militia. All their members get trained with weapons and the fine art of surviving in the Cryosphere. They haven't, to the best of anyone's knowledge, actually tried to topple Cryo's rule – as evidenced by the fact they're still alive.

• The Anarchists are...as the name implies. They are threading a thin line between actual anarchy and obedience to Cryo; mostly, they try to focus their fight against anyone else who tries to control them.

• Golden Dawn is one of the world's largest mystical organizations, and active internationally. They maintain their HQ in the Cryosphere, and often provide Cryo with magical ressources – which is probably the only reason Global Might hasn't completely exterminated them during their clash roughly a year ago.

• The Combat Network is a worldwide terrorist organization with great ambitions, and maintains a significant base within the Cryosphere.

• Ares Industries used to supply the US military with robots. These days, they sell them to Cryo, and keep a few for themselves.

• Robert Ashfield is an important gun industrialist, and has managed to create himself a little private army within the Cryosphere.

• Maestro, aka Augustus Niles, may not be a faction leader – but he is nevertheless one of the important personalities of the Cryosphere; a talented composer, he is believed to have been granted sonic control powers by Professor Cryo, who is reportedly a fan of his music (which does, admittedly, sound fitting enough for the Cryosphere – foreboding, ominous and gloomy).

• Checkerboard is a group of newcomers. Very little is known about them, but they have recently established a little power base by crushing a couple of minor gangs.

The Cryosphere's energy supply depends on the teleportation technology developed by Gatemaster around the time Cryo came to be. It allows the Professor to continuously teleport small amounts of matter from the sun into power centrals. It is also capable, in the event of Cryo's defeat, of teleporting in large enough amounts to obliterate the entire area, killing millions.

There is a one-mile wide ring of uninhabited terrain surrounding the Cryosphere; that area, as frozen as the one it surrounds, is called the Wasteland, and serves as a security buffer between the Cryosphere and the rest of the world. Anyone trying to get out (and some of the people trying to get in) gets blast by turret-mounted cryo-cannons capable of killing even superhuman individuals.

The civilian population of the Cryosphere numbers over a million. They are treated by Professor Cryo simultaneously as serfs, resources, hostages and a breeding ground for supervillains. The older generation still remembers and yearns for the days of Pittsburgh, but younger people have spent all their lives under Cryo's rule; to them, the free world and its superheroes often feel like myth.

There are diverse attitudes among the population. Outright resistance to the regime gets crushed; generally, people are too concerned with surviving and protecting their families to worry about the bigger picture. Since might makes right in the Cryosphere, there are quite a lot who go down the path of violence - and many who seek out superpowers, any way they can.

The vast majority of active supervillains across the world spend at least some of their time in the Cryosphere, even if they are not directly affiliated with Professor Cryo. In recent years, there has been an alarming increase in the number of previously unrecorded supervillains coming out of the Cryosphere, suggesting a massive rise in power-generating treatments there.

On the diplomatic scene, the Cryosphere is generally represented by Augustus Niles, who spends several months a year at the UN as Cryo's official representative. He has been lobbying for years for the UN to recognize the Cryosphere as a sovereign nation. The world at large is not seriously considering that request yet, but it nevertheless fuels much speculation. Many suspect that Professor Cryo, being uncertain of winning a Third Battle of the Cryosphere, is striving for legitimacy in order to prevent a new attack on his domain.