Return of Nitemare

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. CW for teenage endangerment, death, cults, suicide, and self-harm.

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, and pursue breakout. 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.