The St. Paul Underground

In one sense, the Underground is a maze of tunnels in the bedrock (alternating layers of limestone and sandstone) under the till in St. Paul and Minneapolis. None of these caverns are natural. The ones under St. Paul's downtown were carved during the past fifteen years by the mutant powers of Mr. Arnold and some of his friends (who were captured and killed by Team Vermin). They simply found the other tunnels there, devoid of any equipment or decoration.

Another way to define the Underground is as the 70 to 90 people who live in those tunnels, most of whom are incompetent by Champions standards. The only remaining competents are those that have joined the Underground in the last month and those that were simply too principled to join Team Vermin. Most, but not all, are mutants, many of those with distinctive features and useless or actually self-destructive powers. Alcoholism and mental illness are common. Eric has forbidden the purchase and use of other drugs and the users thereof either haven't been caught, have kicked the habit, or been kicked out (several of these have joined Team Vermin).

Most of Eric's time has been has been taken up with resource acquisition. He seems fascinated with the problems, and although surprisingly ingenious with his solutions so far, seems never to have done this sort of thing before. Water scarcity is not a problem; quite the opposite: lots of groundwater flows through karst and would flood the caverns. Fortunately, Willy Arnold and Co. solved most of the problem years ago by cutting additional drainage caverns and gutters in the floors of the inhabited ones. Still, there are problems with dampness and occasional floods during thaws and heavy rainfalls. Likewise, a ventilation system has been put in (with lots of traps and screens. Eric has provided Underground with electricity by installing solar panels (rather more advanced than anything currently on the market) on a number of the St. Paul downtown skyscrapers. They look like a piece of the building (black glass) and so are not noticed by the guys who clean the buildings.

Food, clothing and anything requiring money is a serious problem, as it always has been. Foxfire has helped set up a few of the normal-looking and reasonably sane and literate undergrounders with jobs and Eric is trying to set up a couple of businesses from behind the scenes. One which has just started is a modest-looking little computer repair and used-computer sales shop. Eric has hacked into the state's computers to make it looked like rent and taxes have been paid on all of these, but close scrutiny will really mess things up.

Most of the money any Undergrounder acquires has to be handed over to Theresa (whom Eric has appointed Treasurer). Food is being served communally, not a lot of meat in it and clothes are of decent quality but plain. There is no money left aside for luxuries and Eric has decided against giving extra money to himself or anyone else he's put in authority (a smart move after the abuse the Undergrounders suffered under Vermin). Some of those that actually make money are a little resentful of this extremely communized situation. Eric's biggest project has been to try and teach everyone in the Underground to read, which has just gotten underway, with literate Undergrounders expected to volunteer to teach several of their fellows, using scavenged books, magazines, newspapers, etc.

Finally, the existence of the Underground is a secret to the general public. Foxfire and Team Vermin are in the know, but the government, the media and the public do not and the Underground is willing to go to considerable lengths to keep it this way. Several police officers and social workers have heard rumors and tales of the Underground, but have dismissed them as such.

Several of the more notable competents (each about 150 pts) are:

Neil Kennedy, formerly of the St. Paul Police Department and for many years, the perfect cop: extremely brave, very moral, a good tactician and a natural leader. About six months ago he was caught in the chest by a burst from a machine gun during a drug bust that went horribly wrong. His shirt was shredded and he was unharmed, but his partners and several onlookers knew right off: he was a mutant. The Department did not want to fire him, and asked for his resignation instead. He refused and took them to court. The Department justified letting him go on the grounds that he would not reveal his psionic power and assure them he had it completely under control. He could well be a menace to the very public he was sworn to protect. Neil couldn't tell them, he wasn't sure what it was. He was strong and hideously fast and apparently very tough; he'd simply concealed these things for years. The court supported the Department; Neil was fired and now publically known as a mutant, therefore unemployable.

Foxfire contacted him within a few days and asked him to protect the Undergrounders (who had been forced out of the Underground during that time). He accepted the responsibility gladly. When Theresa found Eric, coughing himself to death in an alley, Neil brought him to Foxfire. As Eric recovered, he simply started to organize the Undergrounders and to run things. Neil was surprised and a little hurt, but he lacked the technical expertise and the economic planning that Eric had and he gradually accepted the transition. He has no intention of being ignored however, and he and Eric will have worked out some kind of relationship now that the Undergrounders have returned home. He has realized that Eric is an alcoholic and has appointed himself as the person responsible for keeping Eric on the job.

He is an ordinary-looking man in his early thirties, black, about 6' tall, with a gymnast's build, short hair, a mustache and an alert expression.

Neville Anderson is slightly retarded (IQ 60+, pretty functional) and a powerful energy blaster and absorber. He was put in an institution by his older sister after his parents' deaths when he was fifteen, they discharged him onto the streets when he was eighteen. Within a month, he had accidentally killed another homeless person who was trying to rob him with his energy blast (which he had had the good sense to conceal up to then). Willy and the Underground found him and took him away before the police did. He was pulled to safety, out of the Underground during the Vermin takeover by Caribbean Blue. Since the return to the Underground, he's been given instruction and responsibility by Eric and is feeling much more confident about himself and the future of the family that has adopted him. As far as he's concerned, Eric is the smartest and greatest person alive and he will follow him to the ends of the Earth.

He is a tall, pudgy white man in his early twenties with brown hair. He is ill-shaven and untidily dressed.

Victor Johnson ("Skulk") has enhanced senses (IR, UV, Tracking/Discrim Smell, Ultrasonic Hearing) and stealth and is extremely strong and fast. He looks monstrous, but is a remarkably ordinary and decent person. He is a conservative democrat and a Minnesota Twins fan and very devoted to his family. He ran away from his family, much to their relief, when Willy offered to let him join the Underground as it was founded. The Vermin takeover was a nightmare for him. He and his older son got out with the others, his normal-looking wife and infant daughter did not. The daughter was killed by Vermin (we don't need another mouth to feed) and the mother taken as a slave by of the officers of the Vermin. She hid during the massacre when the Brotherhood of Man attacked and was still down there when the Undergrounders returned. Vic is doing his best to help her recover from her experiences. He hates the Vermin with a passion. He tries not to care about non-mutant humanity ("I don't have to talk to them, so who cares what they think about me?") and treasures people who know him for what he is. He admires both Foxfire and Eric for what they have done for his community, to which he is fiercely loyal.

He has a definite case of distinctive features; he is hairless, with dark pink skin, large yellow eyes and shark-like teeth in an all-but-lipless mouth. He is 32 years old.

Katie Garcia, "Silence", is one of the keys to keeping the Underground secret. She is a telepath who can make people forget things (it's a Transform attack). She also has a form of psychic invisibility and Mental Images. She simply arrived in the Underground one day; no one has been able to get her to tell them where she comes from or why she's there. She's actually on the run from the Mafia in Mexico City that wants her powers at their disposal. She is a very shy and greatly dislikes being touched. She also avoids men. Eric has to deal with her through Caribbean Blue (which he finds rather annoying, but realizes that she needs to be handled carefully).

When she can be seen, she is a small, frailly built girl in her mid-teens with dark hair, eyes and skin (lots of Mayan ancestry).

Theresa Freeman, formerly "Caribbean Blue", was a well-known superhero in the Cities during the early 'Eighties, until a combination of alcoholism and drug abuse just about destroyed her. She was a powerful telepath who could not help but to read the thoughts of everyone around her and it was driving her mad. Willy put her up in the Underground until she pulled herself together and fought her dependencies. During that time, she learned to screen her mind and became potentially more powerful than ever, but she felt that her responsibilities were to the Underground, both out of gratitude and because they needed her. She also helped recruit mutants to the Underground, because her powers allow her to recognize them. She organize the mass escape during the Vermin takeover and the return after they were driven out. She's been a second-in-command under three different leaders (Willy, Neil and Eric) and has worked closely with Foxfire, but is concerned with keeping the Underground united, which means everyone has to be satisfied somehow.

She's a tall, graceful black woman with long hair in many braids and a mild Jamaican accent. She looks to be in her early thirties (she's 46).

William "Willy" Arnold was the builder and founder of the Underground, back in 1979. He had enlisted in the army at eighteen and was sent to Viet Nam shortly before his term expended. He served as a Tunnel Rat and only his mutant powers kept him alive and margianlly sane. He began drinking heavily over there and quickly became a homeless alcoholic upon his return to the 'States after the war. He returned to St. Paul, but his parents were too old by then to take care of him, so he remained on the streets. He would dig himself shelters in vacant areas, but the till would collapse every time it rained. One day, he just kept digging until he hit bedrock and found a tunnel. He explored the system and dug his own set of tunnels. He invited other homeless mutant friends of his (non-mutant homeless shunned them) down there with him and even approached visibly different (like Vic Johnson) people he saw on the street.

Then Vermin came and those who fled the tunnels were homeless again until Foxfire reorganized them and took the Underground back. There's no way Willy will ever forget that. He doesn't mind having been displaced as leader, because he feels his replacements are better qualified. Neil helped him give up booze and he greatly admires Eric's genius. His powers include tunneling and he has an uncanny ability of senses that tell him what is going on in the earth around him (Spatial Awareness).

He is only 45, but looks like he is in his sixties. His a short (5'7"), slender white man with a lined face, thinning grey-brown hair and a grizzled grey beard.

David Hendry, is a horrific-looking creature whose family kept him locked away ever since he was born. Caribbean Blue found him during a telepathic sweep (back when the Underground was actively recruiting and it was no difficult matter for Lien to break the shutters and the boy to fly out. He was thirteen at the time and is now sixteen. Caribbean Blue got him out of the Underground during the takeover, All he knows about Team Vermin is that they killed several of his friends. He is eager to do big things for the Underground and impress the new leaders.

He is barely recognizable as human; he has a pair of batwings, 4 eyes, 6 arms and retractable claws. He is covered with black fur and is incredibly strong.

Lien Nguyen is a telekinetic with an energy blast. He fought as part of the South Vietnamese army during the war and met Willy in the early 'Seventies. He fled to the 'States at the end of the war, but lacked the education and fluency with English to stay employed. Since no other members of his family had come over with him, and he had no desire to be deported (he did not have refugee status), he became homeless. He headed to Saint Paul in hopes that he could find his American friend and help. He found Willy sooner than he expected, homeless as well. The two stayed together and he helped found the Underground. He has started a new family there.

He is a short Vietnamese (5'6") man with a craggy face, gruesomely scarred, and a constant smile.

Other useful (but not politically important at this point) Undergrounders include a teleporter who can carry four people, Karen McIntyre, an albino desolidifier with a drain power, Julia Taylor, a precog (her power is unreliable, but a good plot hook), a shapeshifter who can mimic specific people and a brick who is part of security. Ericis a tall, gaunt man with long white hair and a white beard and fierce blue eyes. Anyone who is really perceptive will not that his face is not deeply lined and he does not have any age spots. He tends to wear a trenchcoat and is given to coughing fits.