On Superhumans...
On telepathy:
Generally speaking, telepathy is the ability to expand one’s mental ability beyond the confines of its own mind. More often than not, this simply consists of being able to project thoughts from the user’s mind to another’s, without using some overt form of communication.
Other times, telepathy involves the insertion of one’s thoughts into another’s; that is, to plant a thought with the intention of having the target believing it is their own. In a way, this is a form of mind control, and is generally used to plant a mental suggestion in another individual’s mind.
The most extreme manifestation of telepathy involves the mental compulsion of one to another to bend the recipient to the user’s will.
For the most part, telepaths are capable of the first two and only rarely the third. Ascendants, on the other hand, usually are only capable of the first and occasionally the second. Morpho-telepaths (and Fusions) are usually not capable of the first but often the other two.
On telekinesis:
There are two kinds of telekinesis, one utilized by telekinetics, and one manifested by Ascendants.
Telekinetics typically use their power as a battering ram.
Ascendants generally use their power to directly hold and move objects.
There is a third method, though it is not easily employed by novices of either breed: psionic shield. This is a wall of mental force/energy that protects the user and deflects attacks of the physical variety. This does not work on telepathic attacks and can only blunt another telekinetic assault.
Ex: A telekinetic would strike an opponent with a wall of mental force, knocking him away as though striking with a punch or kick. An Ascendant would grab the opponent itself and fling it away, as though picking one up and throwing him/her.
These manifestations can be interchangeable, however morpho-telekinetics (and Fusions) are only capable of the second method.
What is the Slayer?
Countless champions wander the worlds, fighting specifically in the name of a higher purpose. Some serve a higher power knowingly; others simply do so because they have the will and strength to stand for good. The Slayer is one such individual.
Often referred to as the vampire Slayer, one is chosen for every generation by Aura. Many Potentials are born, girls with mildly preternatural strength and agility, but only one can become the Slayer, always only a human female—gifted with more strength, agility, and power than all the others. Endowed with incredible strength, stamina, and agility, only one Slayer exists in each world. Only another can be called when the current one dies or is killed.
Slayers (and the Potentials as well) are trained by Watchers, men who have long observed and taught the Slayer to use her power and help her in the war against the darkness.
On Ascendants:
In understanding the Ascendants, it is first important to understand their basic nature. They are humans, and their power is not magickal in nature at all. As a result, they are not connected to Aura like many other champions are, such as Defenders, elementals, and mages. In areas were magick does not exist, the power of an Ascendant remains; this is because an Ascendant’s power is intrinsically his/her own.
Ascendants are the greatest of Realm’s champions—and the newest. Born of a line nearly as old as the Slayer, though, the Ascendant is the culmination of a millennia-old prophecy which promised an end to The Destroyer Apollyon and the birth of a new age.
It began with the Hybrids, humans blessed with the power of both telekinesis and telepathy. Realizing the danger, Apollyon attempted to destroy them before they could multiply, unaware that Hybrids were unable to pass on their abilities to their children. In an attempt to save this new breed, the Sovereign Angel intervened and created the ritual of Ascension: a battle between a Hybrid and a specially created Demon opponent. Should the Hybrid survive, they gained power from the adversary to augment their own; but if they failed, the worst of deaths awaited them in the Core of the Void.
From that time on, Hybrids generally became know as Chosen or Ascension fighters. Ascension fighters rose like the Slayer and, later, the elementals. Several were called, but no child of an Ascension fighter was born one.
For several generations, the Ascension fighters fell to their more powerful opponents, either through sheer overwhelming strength—or more often, through treachery—until again Angel interfered and imposed strict rules and kept a close eye over the ritual events. The first Hybrids survived, and the Ascension Champions rose to prominence.
In the first new millennium, the Champions were embroiled in a very struggle for survival against the Primevals, and only through sheer luck and providence did they emerge victorious.
Unfortunately, the victory was short-lived. The greed and lust for power overtook many, and Apollyon himself seduced many Champions to his service. A civil war erupted among the Champions, resulting in the division of them: Warriors and Renegades. The Age of Ascension (as it came to be called), fell victim to much more conflict, both among the now-divided Champions, and against their many enemies.
Their darkest hour, though, did not occur until the early 19th Century. In the midst of their second civil war, the Renegades allied themselves with Immortal Nation vampires to assassinate as many Slayers as possible. More than fifty were killed in the course of two years, and the blame was placed squarely on all Ascension Champions, not merely the Renegades. Never again did the Slayer and the Ascension Warrior work together.
But the prophecy remained. In the year 2038, the Ascension Warrior Jonathan Sommers was recruited into a quest to destroy Apollyon and bring an end to his minion Ascension Demons and even the ritual itself. Against all odds, the assembled Warriors killed The Destroyer and soundly defeated his forces of Demons and Renegades. With the death of Apollyon, the power of the Ascendant was finally released, flowing into the Warriors.
Their telekinetic and telepathic powers were enhanced, and from that time forward, their children also acquired their abilities. The Line of Ascendants had begun.
On Lycanthropes:
Weres, alternately known as Lycans, are humans who share a powerful link with an animal—either a wolf (canine) or feral (feline). Werewolves come in two primary varieties: those affected by the lunar cycle, and those affected by their emotions. The lunar werewolves experience a metamorphosis on the night before, during, and after a full moon. During these three nights, they lose all sense of the human self and are given completely over to the mindless, animal entity. In this form, they would kill their best friend without compunction or realization, nor would they likely remember it when they change back. Those of the other variety experience the change when their emotions swing out of control, normally in a negative way. These werewolves, however, differ further from their lunar counterparts in that they can recall and even possibly gain some control of themselves while as the wolf.
With intense training, medicines, and meditation exercises, both strains can learn to control when a change occurs or even stop one from occurring.
Ferals, by contrast, have much more control over the metamorphosis, able to change at will, requiring much less discipline than werewolves. Ferals generally change into a large wildcat, self-aware of themselves to varying degrees.
Weres typically have heightened physical senses in human form, often a powerful sense of smell but hearing, eyesight, and taste can also be improved. Outsiders often view Weres as suffering a kind of virus or communicable disease, and in way that is true. The strain is passed only through the saliva of a Were into the bloodstream of another (a piercing bite, not a scratch).
Children of Weres do not inherit the “infection”. Also, myth often states that Weres are immortal or even pre-immortal. Neither is really true. Weres live normal lifespans. Races other than humans cannot be affected by a Were bite. Weres are susceptible to injury like any other animal or human, but they are particularly allergic to silver. A silver bullet wound usually carries with it death for the Were.
On Blades
In all the worlds, there has been no order with more integrity and more dedicated to the cause of justice and peace than the Order of Blades. A powerful warrior/philosopher class, the Blades protected Realm with their lives and their honor. They are undefeatable swordfighters, each forging a mystical bond with their weapon that enables them to achieve superhuman feats of combat. Years of training and intense meditative exercises enables a Blade to join his/her energy to the sword they wield, making it truly a part of their own body. The ability to bond applies to any sword-like weapon, but it is strongest when the Blade wields their own personal sword. When separated from their weapon, a Blade loses most of his preternatural fighting skills but remains a formidable opponent nevertheless.
An interesting effect that manifests this bond is the brief flicker of energy that passes over the sword when a Blade prepares for combat. For most Blades, the sword flickers blue or green. For Blades who have turned to darkness and stained themselves with murder, the sword begins to flicker crimson.
In the past, the Blades were generally Immortals. Few humans or other species joined their ranks, and the Order was bound together by the enduring power and unifying strength of the Immortals. However, the Order formally met its end in the apocalyptic Last Battle. On the sands of the Sahara, the united Blades fought the invading Destroyer Hordes; each wiped out the other. Only three Blades survived that confrontation, the only ones to carry on the knowledge and skill of the Blade to pass on to others.
Over the following centuries, the way of the Blade survived by a thread, only in a handful of individuals until the rise of the Ascendants. Slowly, the Order began to grow again, from only a few to a few dozen. Now an academy has been established to increase the number of Blades again exponentially into a new Order, gathering students from all races and creeds. The time of the Immortal Blades is over; now is the time of the others.