reference post.

[democratic]

agent athens.

• plurk | the original athens ( and subsequent ancient athens...es ) and sparta the power manipulator.
  
  • ? - 480 BC | abilities arose rarely around/before the fall of mycenaean civilisation/the advent of archaic greece
    
  • 429 BC | pericles dies; the first "athens agent" persuades the military to take an offensive stance in the peloponnesian war
    
  • 421 BC | the peace of nicias is signed. athens meets sparta, a power manipulator; the first time two abilities have come into contact.
    
  • 411 BC | athens' ability is transferred to alcibiades, a defected and reinstated athenian general who reconquers oligarchal athens
    
  • 407 BC | athens' ability is removed by sparta and placed into a civilian
    
  • 322 BC | athens remains an unpolitical force; however, the ability continues to be transferred due to an agreement with sparta after thebes began to dominate greece
    
  • 300-290 BC | with support from sparta, athens plays a pivotal role in the formation of the aetolian league
    
  • 267 BC | athens supports chremonides in leading the independent states to revolt against macedonia, in which they are defeated; athens loses substantial political power
    
  • 222 BC | for the first time, sparta is occupied, by the macedonian army
    
  • 217 BC | feeling cornered, athens and sparta recruit two new operatives: perganum and rhodes
    
  • 215 BC | ... who form an alliance with rome
    
  • 197 BC | macedonia is conquered and the era of roman greece begins
    
  • 196 BC+ | without political sway, the current "athens" turns their priorities to the preservation of greek history and culture; responsibility over the loosely structured "order" falls mainly to the power manipulator
    
  • 43 AD | britain becomes part of the roman empire
    
  • 312 AD | abilities are no longer held solely by greeks; powers hop the pond
    
  • long story short despite being one of the oldest members of the order, athens' attempts to help steer often end badly; they are relegated to an advisory and archival role, emphasis on the latter

lydia iliopoulos.

• attended the national and kapodistrian university of athens, double major in political science and economics, engaging in multiple extra-curriculars
  
• taken note of by an order agent and observed until the completion of her graduate degrees
  
• at which time she was offered a position as an advisor to the present athens
  
• whose ability she inherited when they retired
  
• reserved and observational, when she does talk it tends to be a lot. she's aware of this and how tedious others find it. that doesn't bother her but she will make efforts to narrow down her search results over time. currently the power is still "new" to her (even after a few years -- athens' burden of centuries of knowledge requires a longer adjustment period than many other abilities)
  
• 29 going on 3,000
  
• refers to herself as "us" or "them" when reciting knowledge absorbed by previous athens agents, a compulsive habit she has yet to really desire kicking. this bears no reflection on the character's gender identification (cis)
  
• better at handling her ability in crowds than she was previously but still avoids large gatherings if she cannot be accompanied by a power suppressor
  
• previous athens agents have been in the company of fighters. lydia has a working knowledge of most weapons, ancient and modern, and several hand-to-hand combat techniques, but no muscle memory to support these skills
  
• speaks most languages and enjoys working as a translator (in one ear, right out the other)
  
• she cannot "read minds," perceiving neither thoughts nor secrets. for example: jane smith has a magic mystery macguffin inside her super secret safe. lydia would understand the workings of the safe to the extent of jane, including how to program and reset the combination. she would not know the combination itself nor the contents of the safe, and she would not know jane considers the safe secret -- she merely knows it factually exists due to jane's familiarity with it.