The Premise

Oracle is a science fiction comic loosely retelling Homer’s Odyssey.  The story begins far into the future, where centuries of peace and pacifist ideals have created a benign human society.  This arguably utopian situation is disrupted by two unusual developments, events that are inextricably linked.  The first is the appearance of a strange alien menace, the Isei-Jin.  Appearing as ordinary human beings, the insinuate themselves into positions of power and begin to maneuver for conflict and domination.  The other is the birth of a new warrior society, dedicated to the mostly lost ideals of chivalry, courage and martial prowess.  The Order of Artemis Ascendant is formed entirely of women, selected at birth for a rare psychic ability to see through the Isei-Jin’s facade and percieve their true forms.  It was they who alerted the world the the threat within their midst, and it was they who led the counterattack.

Did the Order form because of the Isei-Jin menace?  Was it merely coincidence that they had both the innate ability to perceive the enemy, and the training and expertise to fight them?  Whatever effects the two groups had on each other’s origins, the Order gradually overcame the enemy and began to rout them from their strongholds.  In a last, desperate attempt to steal a victory, the Isei-Jin used a forbidden technology to flee into the time-stream, and history.  Scattered throughout the centuries, they attempted to continue their plan for conquest, subverting our history and maneuvering events to suit their aims.  Left without options, the order sent acolytes into the past to hunt down and destroy the remaining Isei-Jin.  It was a trip without the possibility of return, taken blind and moving one beyond the reach of aid.  Oracle is the account of one such acolyte, Lydia Sun-Tsoulakas.

The Players

Lydia Sun-Tsoulakas

Lydia the Morningstar, Oracle and acolyte of the Order of Artemis Ascendant.  Adopted by the Order before her earliest memories, Lydia was raised to embody its ideals of Nobility, Honor, Courage and Fearlessness.  She has trained herself to be a devastatingly effective warrior, and she didn’t hesitate to volunteer to pursue the Great Exodus.  But she is young and inexperienced in many ways, and she carries a heavy emotional conflict that may impede her ability to carry out her mission.  Complicating all of this is the Oracle itself; Lydia didn’t ask for the power, and she doesn’t begin to comprehend its nature or potential.  It makes her the Order’s most valuable acolyte, but it makes an already unpredictable journey less certain still.

Michael Tsoulakas/Pelopidas

A scientist of high esteem, Michael Tsoulakas became inspired by a young Lydia Sun to adopt the customs and values of the Order.  He married Lydia and began developing technological solutions to the menace posed by the Isei-Jin.  When Lydia was recognized as the first Oracle in over a century, Michael was compelled to make what he saw as a more meaningful contribution to the war effort.  He volunteered as a subject for the Sentinel Program that, as a scientist, he had helped to create.  His body was implanted in the machine matrix, and his neural geography was gradually integrated with the computer network.  Housed inside the massive Sentinel War Machine, he is now Pelopidas, a machine who remembers being a man, a weapon of staggering potential.  Against his wishes, he was selected to accompany Lydia as her protector in a dangerous past.

The Isei-Jin

The Enemy are as enigmatic as they are terrifying.  To most men and women, they can appear as ordinary human beings; a friend, a lover, a trusted advisor.  Only Priestesses of the Order are immune to the Mind Power, but clarity of vision yields few meaningful secrets.  Isei-Jin are drawn to conflict and strife; possibly, they feed on it in some way.  They are also drawn to power, but prefer to wield it indirectly, through surrogates and figureheads.  At times, they employ a diabolical cunning, manipulating others with subtle genius to act on their darkest impulses.  In other ways, they are like beasts, mindlessly cultivating blood and rage, with little discernible individuality or complex desires.  While they are flesh and blood, they are difficult to kill, and impossible to capture alive.  After half a century of warfare, the Order still knows nothing of their origins, their society, or the aim of their relentless program.