Percy Winkley

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Percy Winkley is a contact in Croatoa that gives the Hero version of the Origin of Powers arc.

Missions

This transcript needs work, it's just a rough draft so I could dump the contacts' text.

War Witch

Magic Origin

In the beginning... dot. dot. dot.

The world was once full of gods. As of yet there was no magic as we would think of it today, only the powers of the divine and the spirit. These spirits were reflections of the greater Gaia that encompasses all of earthly existence.

Long before our predecessors used the first rock as a tool, these spirits knew sentience, intelligence, song and poetry. They, in turn, taught these wonders to humankind, guiding them up the long ladder of evolution. In return, the spirits fed and thrived upon the emotional and psychic devotion of their human proteges.

This was the landscape before magic really showed up on the scene.

What we know of as magic didn't come about until the gods went to war. The war was against a group of gods that thought it would be a good idea to kill other gods and consume their power. Obviously, the rest of the gods weren't too happy about this.

The battle took place on the plains of North Africa. They fought a cataclysmic war that lasted for entire generations, fighting back and forth across the continent. With one hundred gods for each of the thirteen members of the rival pantheon, the two sides were actually evenly matched. The war took a terrible toll on the surrounding countryside, killing tens of thousands of worshippers and stripping the earth bare of all life. By the time the war was finished, the lush forests and plains had been transformed into the desert we know of today as the Sahara.

During the war, the rival pantheon consumed the essences of their fallen comrades, leaving them all the stronger for their losses. The alliance of gods knew that they needed another approach, and so turned to a single, relatively obscure god who had long fought at their side. She was Teilekku, and she had been a spirit of knowledge. Now she was the first god of True Magic. She had discovered magic through her own worshipers: the ability to bend, shape and tear reality through sheer force of will. This magic differed from divine and spirit powers because it transcended its origins.

Teilekku taught her fellow gods a powerful magical ritual that she had devised, one that would defeat the evil pantheon. This banished them into the spirit realm and thus we refer to them as the Banished Pantheon.

So now we have magic in our realm taught to us by a god. You would think that would be it, but no, not when you bring in the history of the Circle of Thorns. You up for hearing more? I could talk about this stuff all day.

The original Circle of Thorns ruled over a vast ancient empire that spanned much of the Eastern United States. Called Oranbega, the empire existed as a center for magic, enlightenment, peace, and prosperity for close to a thousand years. Its lofty towers and massive temples stood as testaments to the magical and philosophical prowess of a nation unparalleled in human history.

Not exactly what you were expecting to hear was it? Yeah, the Thorns started out well enough, but ultimately they succumbed to the same forces of fear, bitterness, and hate that have laid low so many other great peoples in the millennia since.

The Circle of Thorns once worshipped a god by the name of Ermeeth. Unlike most gods, Ermeeth wanted to teach all of his people to rise to a level greater than himself, to make gods out of men. This didn't sit well with the other gods of the time, especially Teilekku's star pupil Hequat. She led the assault against Ermeeth forcing his people to flee across the oceans to what we now call North America. In order to survive, the Circle of Thorns sunk their city into the ground and made deals with demons for power. This opened up another path of power, demon magic. The Faustian deal the Circle made eventually corrupted them into the group we now all love to hate. Such a shame, really, before their fall they were really onto something.

Well you lasted longer than I expected. I hope you learned a thing or two about where all of this comes from.

Others

In the beginning... dot. dot. dot.

The world was once full of gods. As of yet there was no magic as we would think if it today, only the powers of the divine and the spirit. Magic was created by man, but really wasn't used seriously until the gods needed it. They wanted to defeat a pantheon of deities that sought to eliminate all other gods. After that pantheon was banished into the spirit realm, mankind continued their arcane practices.

For a time an Era of Magic existed in our world. Whole empires existed as centers for magic, enlightenment, peace and prosperity. Ultimately, as is so often the case with humanity, these nations tore themselves apart, opening the way for evils we had never thought possible.

Now, magic is still very strong, but other paths of power have grown to be just as strong. I'm sure the other people you talk to will tell you more about those. That's all I have for the history lesson now. Tell Percy he needs to get a date and stop reading all those old books. And no, I'm not available.

Synapse

Science Origin

So, are you like me? The result of some messed up lab experiment? Yeah, I can see it in your eyes.

We're the only ones that know what it's like to be one thing and then be forced to become something else. Don't get me wrong I dig having the powers, but I also dug being normal.

I'm not sure how you got your powers, but Crey was nice enough to experiment on me and by experiment I mean torture. Positron tells me they were trying to connect to the power web or whatever. I don't really care. They did what they did and now I'm not the same... never will be.

I'm not sure if that's exactly what you were looking for, but there you go. Humanity makes science, but science made me what I am.

Others

You will never understand what I've been through - the things Crey did to me to make me a man with powers. But I will tell you this, science is only as good or evil as the people who use it.

Yeah, I'm still a little bitter about the whole thing. Just count yourself lucky that it wasn't you on the experimentation table getting stabbed with electrical knives. I'm never going to forget that.

Man, now I can't get those images out of my head. Thanks for ruining my day.

Positron

Tech Origin

Like a couple of other Technology-based heroes, I have a power that is pretty useless in itself, but when coupled with technology becomes pretty powerful. I can generate small amounts of anti-matter at will, but that really does nothing but make big explosions. What I did do was harness this ability into a suit that is powered by my own abilities. This gives me the ability to go up against guys like Recluse and the Clockwork King.

However, you and I both know that there's a moment when you're tied into technology where you feel that connection to something huge -- something bigger than your own ability. I have some theories on this if you'd like to hear them.

Are you familiar with the work Dr. Brainstorm's been doing on regards to Power Proliferation? Well, Paragon City has tried to keep things under wraps as much as possible, but it's going to be pretty difficult to do.

What he's done is broken down barriers, allowing heroes and villains to have a access to a wider range of powers. Now, the ramifications of this are frightening to say the least. But it does reveal some of the underlying tapestry that binds all of us together. I believe that all of our powers and abilities are connected in a sort of web... that might be the wrong word - let's say a net.

This net reaches across to the mutants, the magicians, those that have been altered to become something more than human and even to people like Manticore that aren't directly connected to it. I once thought that the natural and technological heroes were somehow separate from the world of powers, but now, because of Dr. Brainstorm's work, I'm starting to think otherwise. If we were separate we would not have been affected by his Power Proliferation experiments. But I've heard that even natural and technology heroes are starting to see the effects.

Now as a scientist, I want to point out to you that there is no hard data on any of the theories I mentioned to you. That doesn't mean that it's not true, but it's exactly what I called it -- a theory.

Others

Like a couple of other Technology-based heroes, I have a power that is pretty useless in itself, but when coupled with technology becomes pretty powerful. I can generate small amounts of anti-matter at will, but that really does nothing but make big explosions. What I did do was harness this ability into a suit that is powered by my own abilities. This gives me the ability to go up against guys like Recluse and the Clockwork King.

However, there's a moment when I'm tied into technology where I feel a connection to something huge -- something bigger than my own ability. It's pretty amazing, not that you'd understand any of that of course.

Sister Psyche

Mutant Origin

You and I are both mutants. Well, we've been classified that way anyway. I actually disagree with the classification of mutants in general because I feel the class is too broad of one. Posi told me once that a mutant was a new organism that is produced by some sort of change in the gene. It doesn't talk at all about how the change was produced though. Guys like Synapse would be considered mutant by that description, but we both know they were made through science. Whereas, you and I were born different. Something else decided to make us different.

Here's an interesting fact, do you know that there were no mutants as we call them before 1938?

Now can you tell me why?

• Because we began mass production of the diesel engine.
• Nosferatu released his Vampyr agent into the global water table

Sorry, that was the wrong answer.

The correct answer was that it was the same year that the atom was split. Many believe that this had a profound effect on every living thing. That somehow this basic division rippled throughout every atom causing the split from what we once considered normal to something else.

Now, I said the first mutant didn't show up until sometime after 1938, but that doesn't mean there weren't people like me around. Confused? Well you shouldn't be. I believe that I am not, in fact, a mutant, but something else. I'm a psionic, not a mutant. The distinction is a semantic one, but I feel is fairly important to make. There are histories all the way back to ancient Rome that talk about the Sibyls and their ability to see the future. I believe these women were the first psionics our earth has seen. I'm not an expert, but it seems to make sense to me.

Others

Many people think mutants are anything that is not normal or does not fit into our society. However, I think that description is too broad. Because both you and I would fall into that category, and you're not a mutant are you?

Mutants first began appearing after 1938. This date is important because it's the same year that the first atom was split. Many believe that this division in a single atom somehow rippled through all the atoms and created a divide on what was once normal to create something else - something mutant.

If this is the case, then it shows something interesting: all atoms are connected. If the atoms are connected, then the things that bind them are as well. Who knows, maybe we all get our powers from the same place. I know Positron has some theories on that one.

I hope you understand more about where we come from and how it's all connected.

The more I learn about us as heroes, the more questions I have. There are so many avenues to explore and so little signs to point the way, but in time, I'm sure we will find our true course.

Manticore

Natural Origin

Some people out there are gifted or cursed with powers. There's countless ways they come about them. There are those of us, like you and I, who didn't take that path.

I trained to get where I am. With the help of my father and Back Alley Brawler, I became the man I am today. I did this because I saw the world around me for what it really was and found it lacking from the world it should really be. This desire to reconcile what should be with what was, has been the flame that has guided me ever since.

I'm sure on some level the same is true for you.

Hope you found what you're looking for or at least what Percy wanted you to find.

Next time you see him, tell him he should watch his back a little better. I might not be around the next time he gets kidnapped.

Others

I don't expect you to understand this. You're a hero who comes from a Mutation origin. You have powers of which others can only dream.

That's not the case for people like me. We fight in spite of having powers. Some might think that makes us more heroic, some might be right. Either way, those of us without powers, have worked harder and longer than any others to make a difference.

For some of us, it's a desire to make the world a better place that pushes us harder. For others, it's simply the challenge to prove that we can compete in a world of powers. Either way, if you ever go up against one of us, know this... we've got nothing to lose so we'll fight until there's no fight left.