Red King
Aza Bashur alias Red King Age: 24
Aza is named after the king of Mannaea, before the kingdom’s conquest by Assyrians. The name means "brave" or "hero" in Kurdish.
Appearance: An athletic, dark haired young man of Middle Eastern ethnicity. Very much a “tall, dark and handsome” guy.
Superhero Appearance: An outfit that is mostly red in color, with green boots and gloves, and white and green vertical stripes on torso and arms, and a sun symbol on the chest. Based on the flag of Kurdistan. He rides a motorbike with the same color scheme and symbol.
Red King is a name from Middle Eastern mythology. Red King of Tuesday, one of the Seven Jinn Kings. A kind of war god, associated with Mars.
Total points: 86 (abilities) + 24 (advantages) + 14 (skills) + 26 (powers) + 0 (defenses) = 150
Abilities (86)
- Strength 10
- Agility 4
- Fighting 4
- Awareness 4
- Stamina 16
- Dexterity 1
- Intellect 1
- Presence 3
Advantages (24)
- All-out Attack
- Attractive 2
- Chokehold
- Connected (The Commune)
- Fast Grab
- Fearless
- Great Endurance
- Equipment 4
- Improved Grab
- Improved Hold
- Improved Smash
- Instant Up
- Interpose
- Languages 3 (English, French, Kurdish, Latin, Spanish)
- Precise Attack (Close 2)
- Uncanny Dodge
- Well-informed
Skills (14)
- Acrobatics 6 (+10)
- Athletics 5 (+15)
- Close Combat 6 (+10)
- Persuasion 7 (+10)
- Vehicles 4 (+5)
Powers (26)
- Damage (Strength Based) + Penetrating 10 = 10
- Impervious Toughness +1/rank = 16
Defenses (0)
- Dodge 4
- Fortitude 16
- Parry 4
- Toughness 16
- Will 4
Complications
- Motivation: Recognition. Aza seeks fame and recognition, but not just purely for personal reasons. As a member of a minority, he tries to be a hero and role model for others like him.
- Relationship: The Commune. Aza has a sister and a group of friends who live together and support each other.
Equipment 20 - 4 points
- Smartphone - 7 (functions as a camera, phone, computer, flashlight, audio recorder and video camera)
- Commlink - 1
- GPS - 1
- Handcuffs – 1
- Motorcycle 10
The Commune:
- Serfiraz “Serf” Bashur – The Spelunker (Younger sister, age 23. Her name means “triumphant”. Majoring in Archeology and Geology)
- Christina "Chris" Hanson – The Politician (Rich girl with highly placed relatives.)
- Miguel Flores – The Biohacker (Gene-splices plants as a hobby, and his pet rat is almost certainly genetically engineered…)
- Lucas Hill – The Data. (Math whiz, chess whiz, online whiz – “If there is a bigger nerd than me, let that person come forward!”
- Moon Min-Jun – The Alchemist. (“I’m doing SCIENCE! There might be explosions.”)
Background:
“You think I am responsible for pushing Scuz on the street?! Seriously?”
The athletic young man with Middle Eastern features was confronting a group of AEGIS agents in a house situatied in the Emerald City suburbs. Next to him was a young woman with enough family resemblance that they were clearly siblings. Aza and Serfiraz Bashur, two college kids with Kurdish ethnicity.
“We know that you have superpowers, and you gained them from exposure to a liquid substance you were exposed to during an expedition to Greece with your sister,” the agent in charge stated. “You could have collected some of the substance, and learned to replicate some of the effect. We know you have accomplices with skills for that.”
“You have a chemist,” the agent said, gesturing towards a young Korean woman. Moon Min-Jun, a chemistry student.
“You have a biologist,” he said, gesturing towards a young Hispanic man with very long hair, who was lounging on a couch with his pet rat on his chest. “I prefer biohacker,” Miguel Flores commented.
“And you have a person with online skills to get the product to market through darknet,” the agent finished, gesturing at a young black man leaning against a wall. “I resemble that remark,” Lucas Hill remarked.
“If we searched the house, what would we find?” the agent asked.
“Cancer?” Min-Jun said. “I have my stuff around, and if you mess with that carelessly, you might get cancer. Or spontaneously combust. Or explode violently.”
Miguel grinned from the couch. “I could tell what messing with my stuff can cause, but why spoil the surprise.” His rat bared teeth and growled – in a voice that sounded more fitting for a Rottweiler.
“So basically, we are treated as usual suspects because we are all non-white?” Lucas commented. “Racism much?”
The agent frowned, and then questioned Aza. “Where were you two nights ago between 9 PM and midnight, during the break-in at Horizon Research?”
“Right here,” Aza replied.
The agent looked at the other people in the room and sneered. “Anyone reliable who could vouch for that?”
“Oh yes!” Serfiraz said with a nasty grin. “While looking for your usual suspects, I guess you failed to check the only white person in the house? She was taking a shower when you stormed in, and when she comes out, she is going to be-“
“Angry!” A blonde woman wrapped in a towel marched up. “Yes, Aza was here at the time you asked. We all were!”
“And you are?” The agent asked.
“Christina Hanson, and this is my house!”
“Hanson?” the agent said, suddenly taken aback.
“Yes! As in Governor Hanson. He is my great uncle. Let’s see the search warrant!”
“We- we were here just to-“ the agent stammered.
“You don’t have one? So you burst in without a warrant and start harassing me and my friends while I am naked except for a towel? Shall I call great uncle and tell him that?”
“Ms. Hanson, please understand-“ the agent tried to say.
“Out! Out of my house! If you show up again, warrant or not, I am going to make sure you are all unemployed within a day! Leave! Now!”
The agents beat a hasty retreat. “Assholes,” Christina commented after they had departed.
“Can I get a clarification?” Lucas asked. “As the newest person in the commune, I was not around when Serf and Aza went to Greece. I know he came back with superpowers, but what were they going on about with the substance."
“I went looking for river Styx, and Aza came along to help,” Serf explained. “There is a flooded cave with petrified trees underwater in Central America that looks so spooky that the people there thought it was an entrance to Underworld, and I figured a similar situation would have been behind the legend of river Styx. I learned that there was an unexplored cave system in the region associated with the legend, and I though I’d find an underground river. It would have been a huge find. Me and Aza are both studying with scholarships. He on sports scholarship because he is a kickass quarterback, and me because I am the brains. Otherwise, we are the poor kids of the commune. The find would have ensured our future…”
Serf sighed and continued. “Well, we indeed found the river but it was not what I thought it was. The legend was true. Styx is not just a river. Styx was the name of a Titan who sided with the Olympians during their clash. She died, and the river is a body of a dead Titan. Touching the waters… It will either destroy you, or change you forever. In my excitement over the find I slipped and almost fell in. Aza pulled me back but fell in himself… You know how Achilles got his invulnerability? His mother submerged him in Styx as a baby. Something similar happened to Aza. He came back up changed.”
“And no one was holding me by the heel,” Aza commented.
“When we returned home, he did the right thing and registered his powers,” Serf continued. “But we were vague about the specifics of how it happened. Styx is not unguarded. Charon appeared and warned us not to reveal the secret. And it is not a good idea to break a promise to someone who might be there waiting when you finally leave this world…”
“But you are like family, so it is okay to tell you,” Aza said. Then he frowned. “But now I am a suspected drug pusher. Chris scared them away, but that does not mean that they will stop suspecting me.”
“Only one thing to do to clear you of suspicion, then!” Serf said cheerfully. “You need to look into this yourself! Good thing they gave us a tip about where to start. Horizon Research!”
“Me? A college football player trying to be a detective?” Aza said.
“No, of course not!” his sister said. “You won’t be going as a college kid. You will be going as Red King, the superhero!”
“What?”
“We were kind of expecting that something like this would happen,” Chris explained. “So Serf planned a superhero identity for you. We even made a suit. Wait until you see it!”
“I even rigged you up a matching ride!” Lucas said. “You can drive a motorcycle, right? It is waiting in a garage.”
“You lot…” Aza shook his head.
“When you got powers from a dead Titan, it would be a shame not to get to use them,” Serf said. “So what do you think?”
“What the hell, let’s do it!”
