A few years ago I wrote a series of short fiction pieces that were included in the Era: The Empowered Roleplaying Game, published by Shades of Vengeance. A fifth anniversary edition of the game is due to be released in early 2024 I believe.

I had great fun writing the shorts and Ed Jowett, the man behind the Era range and MD of Shades of Vengeance, has kindly allowed me to share the fiction here on the blog.

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The Timothy Highcroft Institute by Angus Abranson (first published in Era: The Empowered RPG Core Rulebook)

Shelley sat in the backseat of the car watching the fields roll by. Her mother drove, fixated on the road ignoring her father in the next seat who was staring angrily out of his own window. Lucas, her younger brother, was pretending to be asleep, plugged into his music ignoring their parents fight. Of course it was about her again. Ever since her powers had manifested her parents had argued. She knew her father thought she was a freak, but he tried to hide it as well as possible. Her mother, more concerned than frightened, had been of some support over the last few months but she could tell she was still disappointed in her. Her mother had been the one to suggest The Institute, after her school had called her parents in for another ‘talk about her behavior’.

The Timothy Highcroft Institute. Or rather one of the Timothy Highcroft Institutes as several had opened across the country, and in a number of other countries around Terra, since the Empowered Department had formed. Timothy Highcroft, once an Empowered ‘Hero’ himself, had actually started the first Institute in secret after he retired from the hero business following a fight in which the villainous Obskure was killed, along with a number of civilians.

Shelley turned from the window and opened the brochure on her lap. Smiling faces looked back at her from the photos of happy students in their classes doing Math, Sciences, Engineering and playing in bands. The normality of teenage education existed as she flicked through the brochure, until she came across the section which showed the training areas. Kids floating in the air, phasing through barricades, shooting a variety of colored energies at targets, and even some kind of humanoid cat swinging across beams were shown, marking the Timothy Highcroft Institute as anything but a normal private school.

The Institute provided a safe environment for young Empowered to not only continue their education but also to help teach them how to control, and grow, their abilities. There were no student fees. The Institute was funded by a mix of grants from the Empowered Department, the local government, fundraisers and donations, and Highcrofts not inconsiderable personal fortune. Students were accepted from all walks of life, and nationalities, as long as they were Empowered. The Institutes even accepted juvenile offenders, although they were apparently confined to different sleeping quarters and kept a closer eye on until they were deemed to have repented and were unlikely to offend again. The school wanted responsible Empowered, even if they wouldn’t all end up donning capes and saving the world!

 Shelley sighed, glancing up as the car passed through a small village. It would be good to be among others of her kind. ‘Her kind’. She shuddered at the expression and admonished herself. She knew she shouldn’t think along the lines of ‘Them’ and ‘Us’, ‘Humans’ and ‘Empowered’, but it was so difficult to not to, especially when her own father reminded her at every opportunity he could get.

The car started to slow, and turned off the main road. Lucas shifted up in his seat, eyes now alert and Shelley looked ahead. Both her parents attention now on the large gates and wall that were drawing nearer. An unassuming sign declaring “Welcome to the Timothy Highcroft Institute”, the fact it was glistening clean giving away another night time anti-Empowered graffiti excursion from the local kids.

The car came to a halt infront of the gates. “Hello, we’re the Morrisons. We’re here to enrol Shelley Morrison” Her mother said into the monitor that extended from the wall to the car window.

The gates started to whirr and then slowly opened inward.

“Welcome to the Institute.” The monitor replied.