What is Vanguard International, who are its members, and where do they live?

Quote:

Today, Vanguard International is just a name. A the end of 2001, some guys hunted by many special forces and multinational companies of the world for their metagene, banded together to help themselves, hiding in a travelling circus.
After nearly a year, they moved to the nation island of La Perdita, one of the few place in the world where metahumans are not persecuted legally, and there they put to fruition their uncanny powers, creating a company (some say of adventurers, some say of mercs) specialised into impossible tasks.
First calling themselves MBL (Metahumans Business League), and then Vanguard International, the company found it's main adversary into the likes of Jack Merlin, an ageless metahuman with deep ties to the world of politics and business, that took the occasion given by the apparition of the "evil" MBL (Metahumans Brotherood for Liberation), and their conquest of Manhattan, to give (with fake proofs) the blame to the Vanguardians and having the United Nation Organisation condemning them to not leave the island of La Perdita. Merlin's superteam of not-metahumans, the Strikeforce, is charged to enforce the ban. If the heroes should step out from the boundaries of the nation, the UN would authorise a conventional invasion of naval forces to la Perdita.
Moreover, the company has been destroyed by an attack of a secret militia group from within the island.

The Vanguardians, forced to live on the island by the UN ban, are adapting to life, with separate jobs and homes. The team for now survive just as secret club of friends that share the same passion for adventures, awaiting the right moment to clear their name to the world.

Vanguard Intl today is composed of:

Thunderbird - Edulcore (Euro) Cicciotto: the first metahuman known to the world, ex track champion, ex junkie, ex cook, his last three years have been a constant change and transformation.
Today his powers are just an incredible, superhuman aim, and a mental shield that makes him unable to be scanned by a mind reader or be controlled by any means, telepatically or not.
Ed has some strange memories from many heroes of the past, that allows him to rescue, throughout the world, ancient weapons of the past. So far, he has gathered: the garment and the arrows of Oddr, a coat that protetct him from any harm, but only when he is attacking, and arrows that never miss their marks; the bow of Odysseus; the Durendal sword; the mace of Lei Gong, that causes lighting and thunders, and the mechanical wings of Leonardo da Vinci.
Life: Euro is about to open a restaurant in the La Perditian city of Del Mar, where he lives with his three years old clone, Eddie (that he sees as his own son, and that has the original meta-power of Euro, the ability to alter the density of his own mass, becoming superharder or intangible), his woman, stage magician and seer Rose Biggle, and their new born daughter, Amara.
In a secret room of Euro's home there is the Vanguard museum, with all the memorabilia coming for past adventures.

Sandcrawler - Grissom Montag: Thief and security system expert and industrialist. Extremely rich, he can teleport inorganic objects, is an expert in the use of many kind of weapons. Lives in an a penthouse atop one of the few tall buildings of Puerta Mibela, the capital city of La Perdita.
He is romantically involved with Brianna Fionghuala (see below).

Banshee - Brianna Fionghuala : The result of an experiment of genetic engineering, she is part metahuman and part bird. She grew in a secret prison in Eire, until she found a way out and fled across the Atlantic on her own.
She has big, white wings on her back and a powerful, deafening, shattering cry. She lives in a lighthouse, working as a photographer for geographical magazines (although is yet to be seen how being forced not to leave the island could have an impact over that) and is romantically involved with Grissom (see above). She has three main weapons, a spiked mace, a short sword and a crossbow.

The Unidentified - Phil Smith: a man with a secret past and without memories, he appeared in la Perdita after a bloody mission in the New York underworld. Although being probably the most powerful mentalist on Earth, with telekinesis and telepathy, until very recently he seemed to prefer to rely over conventional weapons than his own powers. He is about to built a villa on Dowson Island, a small piece of land just off, but still within the boundaries of, la Perdita. He will move in alongside his woman, Leslie Kline, a bounty hunter with empathy powers.

Rama Avatar: little is known of this man, that joined vanguard one year ago under the name and features of Mason Templar, rich advisor for historical museums, and fabled swordsman, armed with Caliburn, the Calibian sword of Julius Caesars (Ensis caliburnus), later known as Excalibur and used by King Arthur. Nearly killed by the meta-animal Jia, half spider/half woman, after a few months mason returned, changed in aspect and manners, but still mastering Caliburn. The explanation given is that once in a while, he goes trough a rebirth that reshape his features; hence, he is thousands of years old.
Rama lives in a villa in the jungle outside Puerta Mibela, with a butler and some young servants. He rides a peculiar elephant sized pigeon -hawk, Erasmus, of unknown origin. He is involved in the education of the young Axel Magus, a thirteen years old inheritor of vast, magic powers, adopted by the scientist Henry Quantos, formerly advisor and employe of Vanguard International.

Brute Force - Ben Phillips: extremely strong, and able to "going berserk", growing in size and strength when enraged, when not fighting seems a goofy and lovingly person. Having joined Vanguard shortly before the demise of the company, has since found a job at the bar called "Jack's place", a known meeting spot for the lowly metahumans of the island, loved by most of the Vanguardians.

In the current story, two other people are in the process of joining Vanguard: one is a tattered jeans wearing, long haired and bearded guy with purple eyes. Nothing is know about him, just he was around in the XIX century, making him either an immortal or a time traveller. The second is Robo Squirrel, a mechanical rodent whose secret purpose is to control the Vanguardians in their movements, reporting to the Strikeforce any violation of the UN ban.

Lastly, it must be mentioned the ex-leader of Vanguard, Danny Hearn, a twenty-one year old guy that three years ago arrived by chance with a time machine from the year 2083, running away from a mad scientist. From reluctant, scared boy, he matured to the point of becoming the leader of the group, until a "second brain" implanted by the mad scientist in a complex scheme for world domination, took control of him, attacking the Vanguardians to collect meta DNA from them to be brought in the future. Danny overcame the control, but then left Vanguard and (unknown to his former comrades) is currently living in Melbourne, Australia. The UN watches him closely.



That's all what any potential new writer needs to know. This moment is especially good, IMO, to get on, as, outside the "being confined on the island" plot (a narrative device to force us to explore the island and suspend many contrasting plots that should be solved after the upcoming Manhattan war), we have cleared totally the old continuity (the company, the associates, etc).

Whoever wants to join, at the end of the current story, simply have your character presenting himself to Euro, Grissom or Phil, and we'll bring you into the fray.