More of the background for my NOLA: Nightwatch superhero
campaign. You can find the first post and more explanation here. The history of the Second Sunder War is here. This is a collection of real world-esque snippets I wrote to give the players a sense of the population's reaction to superheroes.
Fragments from a Weary World
From HR 1191—(Passed 403-13)
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The development and implementation of methods and
processes that can be utilized to prevent violent radicalization, homegrown
terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States is critical to
combating domestic terrorism.
(2) The promotion of violent radicalization, homegrown
terrorism, and ideologically based violence exists in the United States and
poses a threat to homeland security.
(3) The Internet has aided in facilitating violent
radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism
process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams
of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens.
(4) The Internet has aided in the spread of dangerous
paranormal technologies and sciences in the United States. It has served as a
clearing house for the propagation of the techniques to criminals and criminal
organizations.
FROM PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY ONLINE 11/13/07
DC today announced the cancellation of the last of its
superhero titles, following significant drops in sales over the last year. In
September Marvel announced it would put all super titles on hiatus to,
"make room for new creative developments." Bookscan sales figures for
November show 14 out of the top twenty graphic titles are manga, a new record.
Sales tracking over the last two years has shown a dramatic decline in the popularity
of both superhero and fantasy graphic fiction. Of the six non-manga titles in
the top twenty, two are crime fiction, one is sci-fi, one is historical
fiction, one is young adult oriented and one is autobiographical. DC says it is
pleased with the success of its new flagship titles: Jonah Hex, Mystery in
Space, and The 87th Precinct. Other smaller publishers
have announced new initiatives aimed at expanding the existing market—notably
Image's new Sequel Series which will produce graphic fiction side stories
and sequels to notable fiction in the public domain. They're pleased with the
reception to d'Artagnan, which chronicles the adventures of the title character
as spy in the years between The Three Musketeers and Twenty-Years
After. An informal poll of comic bloggers suggest that the next big genres
will be Mystery Stories, Near Future Science Fiction, Steampunk, and
supplemental comics to existing properties like The Matrix and Star
Trek.
FROM LARRY KING LIVE 10/13/07
Larry King: I want to go back to New Orleans—why wasn't the
government advised about the location of this magical artifact?
Carter Niomis (former sidekick, advocate for parahuman
rights): Larry—I think that's a misstatement—we don't have any evidence that
the government wasn't informed.
LK: But we don't have any that they were…
CN: Listen, this administration has consistently placed any
information under the cover of state security secrets—we don't—and can't know
exactly what went on. I honestly can't believe that these honorable people
wouldn't have told someone…but they had to be extremely careful, look we know
that certain branches of the armed forces were infiltrated by Sunder's people
beforehand. I mean, look at what happened at Annapolis.
LK: So you think they concealed this as a security measure?
CN: That's not what I said. What I'm saying is that you
can't ignore the track record of good these people did and the sacrifice they
made. We can't question them because they're dead. They can't be here to defend
themselves.
LK: What do you say to the people, the people who lost their
homes and their families and their livelihoods, when they ask—why didn't you
just hand it over to Sunder in the first place?
CN: I think that's an insult to everyone who fought at New Orleans
and everywhere else…
LK: We'll be back with more from Carter Niomis and then
later, how the new exclusion of super-powers from the WWL is impacting the
Mexican Luchadore Leagues…
FROM THE FALL OF NEW ORLEANS : AN ORAL HISTORY
"We tried to contain the damage as best we could. I
mean Boston was a mess but at least we had the government hitting on all
cylinders to get people out of there. In New Orleans, we still had the mess
from Katrina and a half-assed job of getting things in place by FEMA and the
Army Corps of Engineers. So much of what we did was to get people out of
there—from all the areas. We couldn't get everyone, we didn't get everyone…I
have regrets…but I'll say this: we lost a lot of heroes because we spent the
effort to do that when they could have been helping to prepare for the battle
against Sunder."
"When it came time to fight, we had to choose our
ground. We didn't have much leeway—we could only distract Sunder so much, and
the cost for doing that…I mean, I don't want to think about how many lost their
lives. We ended up battling in warehouse districts, shopping areas, parks, and
in some residential areas—but I mean the areas where the damage wouldn't be as
costly. We lost part of the French Quarter, part of the downtown…so to those
people who said we went for the poorer neighborhoods, we lost nicer places as
well but we had to make hard choices and choices on the fly."
"It was after that when we started hearing the
rumbling, all the conspiracy theories, all the talk about supers having causes
the problem. It wasn't just us. We didn't ask for this. I think about everyone
who died and it makes me sick to my stomach. I mean I don't blame them—it was
overwhelming and I'm not just talking about the people of New Orleans or
Louisiana. No, everywhere you go people are looking at you differently. Scared,
worried, not trusting. I mean no one trusts the government anymore and they've
certainly lived up to that, but we're not tapping people's phones or torturing
them…it isn't about supers. No one trusts a hero, or the idea of a hero. No one
believes in them."
"That's why I quit."
--Ranger X, Veteran of New Orleans
GALLUP POLL 11/1/07
The government deliberately sacrificed New Orleans
AGREE 40%
DISAGREE 37%
UNSURE 23%
Supers could have done more to protect the U.S.
AGREE 55%
DISAGREE 17%
UNSURE 28%
The government is spying on U.S. Citizens.
AGREE 68%
DISAGREE 15%
UNSURE 17%
The President is doing a good job of protecting us from
terrorists.
AGREE 31%
DISAGREE 62%
UNSURE 13%
Superheroes are role models.
AGREE 19%
DISAGREE 51%
UNSURE 30%
The Congress is doing a good job.
AGREE 21%
DISAGREE 60%
UNSURE 19%
The next President will make positive changes.
AGREE 21%
DISAGREE 48%
UNSURE 31%
The government can be trusted.
AGREE 8%
DISAGREE 74%
UNSURE 18%
Superheroes can be trusted.
AGREE 18%
DISAGREE 57%
UNSURE 25%
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