Sword Blossom’s Origin Story


Sword Blossom walking in Apotheosis City, near an entrance to engineering.
Sword Blossom’s defining hour came during a major Promethean surprise attack in 2440. The Prometheans have made several attempts to hijack the ship in the centuries since it was launched. In each case they were beaten back through luck or skill and apparently destroyed, only to return much later in times of vulnerability for the ship. It’s thought that their leader, Dr. Cornish, has set up bases and secret passages deep within the ship that are hidden from normal detection methods… but no one knows for sure. For more about Dr. Cornish, see here.

Sword Blossom in mid-air during a fight with Prometheans in the engineering section of the ship.
By 2440, the cybernetic Prometheans had been in hiding for decades. Engineering was the safest department by far, and many people became engineers because they were unable or unsuited to fight. Sword Blossom was a young hero with a passion for engineering. On a ship the size of the Justice, there will always be systems that need repairs or upgrades. While Sword Blossom could have fought the Nagdellians during their many boarding actions, she saw the greater importance of keeping the ship’s massive generators and complicated systems running smoothly, and its shields at full strength.

Sword Blossom racing through the subterranean ship sections.
Unlike their previous attempts, this Promethean assault was sudden and brutal. In the complex tunnel networks beneath Apotheosis City, they struck in many areas at once, overwhelming the ill-prepared Engineering personnel. Sword Blossom rose to the occasion, using a variety of tactics to delay and weaken the attackers, but it wasn’t enough. Only a few of the Engineering crew survived long enough to be rescued by Ship Security; most were killed – or worse yet, converted into more Prometheans. Today there are more of the evil cyborgs than ever before.

Sword Blossom speaking with one of her crewmen, about a ship problem.
In the decades since then, Sword Blossom has risen to the role of Chief Engineer. She has quietly rebuilt the battered department, replacing the lost technical personnel with more combat-oriented volunteers capable of defending themselves, and she frequently calls in other heroes for further aid. The Justice has far more maintenance problems than before, but it’s still operational, and the Promethean menace is contained to the tunnels… for now.

The Prometheans never give up, and they target Sword Blossom whenever they can.
But the conflict is unending. Sword Blossom, the current Chief Engineer of the FHS Justice, versus Dr. Cornish, one of the most brilliant of the initial scientists aboard the ship. Dr. Cornish is an unstable psychopath with an army of magically-enhanced cyborgs; only Sword Blossom seems able to match wits with him, and she has to keep the ship running as well. Any heroes who sign up to help her will have their work cut out for them.

Twin Swords has a spinning getaway power that delivers AOE damage
Technical Notes
- All of the pictures and gifs used in this newsletter were recorded in-game, in the editor by our lead coder.
- Sword Blossom has the Twin Swords offensive powerset and is also showing the FX for the superspeed travel power (fiery FX), which is a bit more useful in the engineering sections of the ship than flight.
- The size of the letters and numbers can be adjusted to be smaller. We plan to engage the community in a discussion of this gameplay element during 2019.
As we often mention, Ship of Heroes is being created by a small team of people, many volunteers, and your donations make a big difference in how fast we can bring the game to life. If you can, please donate.
Prometheans are willing to sacrifice attack squads to delay Sword Blossom.