Talents -- also known as daredevils -- are the most common kind of paramorph, whose abilities take the form of extraordinary luck or skill.[1]
In the Trinity Continuum, "luck" is the ability for humans to subconsciously manipulate probability in their favor by tweaking dimensional flux energies, effectively pulling a more favorable result from adjacent alternate timelines.
As with all human abilities, some people are naturally better at manipulating luck than others. More "talented." Accordingly, these people are called Talents by those who are aware of them.
Due to the nature of their capabilities, it's arguable whether they have "powers" at all. We don't think of popular characters like Indiana Jones or James Bond as having powers, they're simply very capable, skilled, or lucky. More of them seem to manifest in the wake of a Hammersmith incident, however.
A Breakdown[]
Humans have a wide range of capabilities and skill levels, regardless of the time period, simply by virtue of being human.
Taking a single example of human capability -- say, running speed -- a human average running speed might be calculated each year. The average might slowly increase as people get healthier or learn better training techniques, new records are broken at the Olympics, etc.
However, in the wake of a Hammersmith event, there might be a sharp spike in average running speed due to increased Talent activity. Researchers (particularly those in Project Tantalus) might notice this spike, particularly if it coincides with similar spikes across the spectrum. Average weight lift capacity, chance of survival from risky operations, new scientific patents registered. The sudden change in the average human capacity is enough to indicate that Talents, as a phenomenon, exist.
However, even without a Hammersmith incident, people register patents, people survive risky surgery, people break weightlifting records. Anything that might indicate the presence of a Talent still happens without Talents.
Thus, while it's somewhat easy to determine that Talents exist, it's difficult to identify any particular individual as being one.
Mercer-level Talents[]
Æon Society founder Maxwell Anderson Mercer seems to exist at a higher energy level than most Talents; while they subconsciously manipulate probability -- "perpendicular time," in a sense -- Mercer can consciously manipulate linear time, which allows him to perform many time-manipulation effects, including travelling through time.
Similarly, Nikola Tesla appears to have similar capabilities, but while Mercer can travel through time, Tesla can access alternate dimensions.[2]
So far Mercer and Tesla are only known examples.
Notable Daredevils[]
- Maxwell Anderson Mercer, founder of the Æon Society, is unique in his capabilities, but the Æon Society has classified him as a Talent
- Jake "Danger Ace" Stefokowski, founding member of both the Æon Society and the Air Circus
- Annabelle Lee "Crackshot" Newfield, founding member of the Æon Society
- Safari Jack Tallon, a Victorian gentleman explorer
- Lucy Hebron, renowned investigator and protégé of Sherlock Holmes himself
- Lady Lindy, Queen of the Air
- Scalper Dutch, notorious Old West outlaw, seems to have been somehow Inspired pre-Hammersmith
- Senator E. W. Caldwell, war criminal and seditionist, is trying establish a global American Empire with his Manifest Destiny army.
- Lady Kalvis, an eccentric Lithuanian noble with a skin condition
- Mr. Abel, a "facilitator."
Background Information[]
- The Latin on the symbol, pertemptant quaesitor, can be translated as "thrill seeker."
- The blue ring in the symbol is intended to reflect the key colour of the Trinity Continuum core rulebook, in which Talent creation rules were featured for the first time.
References[]
- TC: Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook, p. 17
- TC: Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook, p. 151-152
- TC: Trinity Continuum: Adventure! Rulebook, p. 34-37
- ↑ TC: Trinity Continuum: Adventure! Rulebook, p. 29
- ↑ TC: Trinity Continuum: Adventure! Rulebook, p. 287