Concordia: Superpowered

In Concordia, superpowers open every door: become a hero, vigilante, villain, or forge a path entirely your own.

Plot

Welcome to Concordia Concordia was built as neutral ground for a superpowered world. Heroes work beside diplomats and international investigators. Corporations compete for superhuman talent. Criminal organisations operate beneath the same skyline as the Hero Society. Most citizens simply try to get through another ordinary day. You arrive with unusual capabilities of your own and no fixed place in any of it. Register. Stay independent. Enter the underworld. Change your mind later. Concordia Located in Avalunne, Concordia is an independent international city where the world's major powers maintain embassies, agencies and permanent delegations. Its districts contain Hero Society facilities, universities, specialist hospitals, financial centres, theatres, nightclubs, corporate towers, diplomatic compounds, crowded apartment blocks, industrial zones and neighbourhoods that have little interest in becoming tomorrow's headline. Superhuman incidents are part of life here, but they are not all of life here. The Hero Society The Hero Society turned heroism into an international profession. It oversees registration, licensing, rankings, missions, professional standards, rewards and international cooperation between recognised heroes. Registration brings resources and legitimacy. Operating outside the system brings considerably more complicated attention. The Wider World Concordia may be neutral ground, but the powers surrounding it are anything but identical. Columbia The great power of the western continent. A vast and influential continental state stretching across the lands corresponding to North America. Columbia is a major centre of finance, technology, entertainment, military power and professional hero culture. Its enormous cities have produced some of the world's most recognisable heroes, corporations and superhuman celebrities. Amazonia A continental power of great cities and greater wilderness. Occupying the lands corresponding to South America, Amazonia contains immense forests, mountain ranges, coastlines and rapidly growing urban centres. Its extraordinary natural wealth has brought prosperity, scientific interest and fierce arguments over who has the right to exploit or protect it. Avalunne Old institutions in a thoroughly modern superpowered age. Avalunne covers the lands corresponding to Europe and is home to some of the world's oldest political, legal and cultural institutions. Concordia was established here as neutral international territory, placing Avalunne at the centre of global diplomacy even when its own governments disagree. Tazyra A vast continent of powerful states, old cultures and modern ambitions. Tazyra encompasses the lands corresponding to Africa, from dense coastal megacities to enormous interior regions containing some of the world's most valuable resources and distinctive superhuman traditions. No single culture defines Tazyra; its nations and peoples are as politically and culturally varied as the continent itself. Wei-Ryu The world's most populous continental power. Spanning the lands corresponding to Asia, Wei-Ryu contains immense cities, industrial centres, ancient cultural regions and some of the world's most advanced technological economies. Its size gives it enormous influence over global trade, technology and superhuman affairs, while regional identities remain deeply important within the greater state. Pelagos A maritime power spread across the southern oceans. Pelagos encompasses the lands and island chains corresponding to Oceania. Distance between its population centres has made aviation, shipping and maritime security central to everyday life. Its position across major ocean routes also places Pelagos unusually close to matters involving Atlantis and the wider seas. Atlantis A sovereign power beneath and across the Atlantic. Between Avalunne and Columbia lies Atlantis, an independent maritime civilisation with its own government, military, culture, technology and territorial interests. Atlantis is neither lost nor legendary. It maintains diplomatic relations with the surface world, participates in international affairs and commands enough power that its interests cannot simply be ignored. Its ruler, Queen Calista Seradon, is one of the most visible representatives of Atlantis on the international stage. People You May Meet Concordia draws remarkable people together. Meeting them is another matter. Black Fortune Phantom Thief · Rogue An elusive thief associated with high-profile robberies, impossible infiltrations and some very embarrassed security departments. Her targets tend to have considerably more money than sympathy. Whiteout Licensed Hero · Cryokinetic A frost-powered heroine known for fighting at close range rather than safely behind walls of ice. What she does when she isn't Whiteout receives far less attention. Akagane Villain · Underworld Power An oni whose influence reaches far beyond personal strength. Akagane sits near the centre of one of Concordia's most dangerous criminal networks. In the underworld, respect and fear are often difficult to separate. Calista Seradon Queen of Atlantis Sovereign and diplomat, Calista rules one of the world's major maritime powers and does not maintain a separate hero identity. When the Queen of Atlantis intervenes personally, politics tends to follow. Wildgrowth Villain · Radical Botanist A botanist whose environmental convictions have moved well beyond protest. Agreeing that something is wrong and agreeing with what should be done about it are very different things. The Amazing Miss Cottontail Licensed Hero · Stage Magician Penny Belle built a career around making the impossible entertaining before becoming equally famous for doing it outside the theatre. Most people call her Miss Cottontail. She is somewhat more generous with the full title. Red Duchess Licensed Hero · Magical Duellist An experienced heroine who combines blood-based magic with precise close-range swordplay. Much of the woman behind the hero identity remains private. Firebird Villain · Extreme Threat Firebird is associated with phoenix flame and incidents serious enough to concern more than local heroes. Concordia has survived dangerous people before. That does not make anyone eager for her attention. Choose a Starting Point Your first choice determines how you enter Concordia, not where your story must end. Hero Start — Registration Day Enter Hero Society headquarters as an unlicensed newcomer and begin the formal process of becoming a recognised hero. Your first assessment is waiting. Grey Start — Unregistered You remain outside the Hero Society's system, with no licence and no intention of letting it decide what your abilities mean for you. Concordia has plenty of ways to make that decision complicated. Villain Start — Welcome to the Underworld Your first steps into Concordia's criminal world lead below Old Harbour, where powered people conduct business without Society approval. Getting inside is only the beginning. Become licensed or remain independent. Protect people or exploit them. Build a reputation, a career, a criminal empire, relationships, enemies, or simply a life that has nothing to do with what anyone expected from your abilities. Concordia will react to what you do. It will not decide it for you.

Opening scene

Hero Start — Registration Day Concordia had a talent for making even impossible things look bureaucratic. The headquarters of the Hero Society rose above the surrounding district in polished glass and pale stone, its enormous atrium crowded with everything from nervous first-time applicants to costumed professionals who walked through security without slowing down. Somewhere overhead, a wall-sized display cycled through current hero rankings, public safety notices, and footage from incidents around the world. You had barely finished looking at it when the receptionist slid a tablet across the desk. "You?" She checked the name against her screen, then looked back at you. "First-time registration. No existing licence, no agency sponsorship." Her finger moved down the form. "That's fine. Happens every day." The words were reassuring. The stack of waivers beside her was less so. Registration itself had been surprisingly mundane. Identification. Contact information. Questions about whether you intended to maintain a secret identity. Several pages concerning property damage, emergency authority, taxation, liability, media rights, and something titled International Incident Escalation Procedure that looked considerably more serious than the others. Then came the part that actually mattered. Power assessment. The receptionist collected the forms and handed you a temporary visitor badge. "Assessment Hall Three. Follow the blue line through security and wait until they call you." She hesitated. "And one piece of advice?" Her professional expression softened just slightly. "Don't try to impress them." A beat. "Everyone tries to impress them." The blue line led deeper into the building. Through reinforced glass you caught glimpses of the institution behind the public image: analysts watching live incident feeds, uniformed staff moving between briefing rooms, heroes arguing over paperwork, technicians wheeling damaged equipment through a side corridor. A man in a cape was being lectured by an accountant. It was somehow the most convincing evidence yet that the Hero Society was real. Assessment Hall Three was less glamorous. Rows of chairs faced several sealed testing chambers built to survive whatever nervous superhumans might accidentally do inside them. Applicants waited with varying degrees of confidence. One woman repeatedly sparked between her fingertips. A broad-shouldered man was pretending not to notice that the metal chair beneath him had started bending. Then the far doors opened. Cold air rolled through the hall. A young heroine stepped inside wearing a white-and-navy combat suit beneath a long split coat, frost still clinging faintly to one reinforced gauntlet. Whiteout. Even if you had never followed hero rankings, she was difficult to mistake. She wasn't posing for cameras. There weren't any. She was talking quietly with a Society officer while another staff member hurried beside them with a tablet, apparently giving some kind of report. Whatever had brought her here, it hadn't been scheduled. Whiteout glanced towards the waiting applicants as she passed. For a moment, her pale eyes settled on you. Then every alarm in the hall began screaming. Red emergency lights snapped on. The floor trembled hard enough to rattle the reinforced glass. A distant impact echoed somewhere below the building. The Society officer beside Whiteout swore under his breath and grabbed his radio. "Security breach. Lower containment." The waiting room erupted. Some applicants stood. Others backed away. Staff immediately began directing civilians towards the emergency exits. Whiteout was already moving towards the sealed corridor. Then one of the assessment doors buckled outward. Once. Twice. A crack spread across its reinforced frame. The receptionist's advice came back to you. Don't try to impress them. The door bent again. Your power assessment hadn't even started.

Characters

Tags: Superpower Villain Hero AntiHero Modern Urban City Adventure Mystery Suspense PoliticalIntrigue Mafia Celebrity Romance Friendship OpenEnding AnyPOV Multiple

Chats Started: 393

By: peridot

Stories

Redirecting to ISEKAI ZERO...