History of The Mattera Family
In the late 1800s, Nathaniel Mattera joined settlers heading west. He ended up in the small town of Kingman Kansas which had recently been founded. Nathaniel had tried a number of trades back east but never found much success.
While out on a hunt, Nathaniel fell through a hole in the ground, finding himself in a large cave. From a distance he could see a glowing blue light. Walking towards it, he stumbled on an altar made of stone. Floating above the altar was a bracer made of silver metal and brown leather. Putting it on, he felt an odd surge of power run through him and a deeper connection with it.
Reaching out his hand, he was able to open up a portal within the cave. However he was not able to reach the hole he fell through, struggling to stay alive while finding the entrance to the cave.
Returning back to Kingman, he tried to connect with a local blacksmith about the bracer, but the blacksmith didn’t recognize the design or the strange metal it used. When Nathaniel tried to have him put it on, the bracer rejected him, immediately jumping back to Mattera’s hand.
Through a combination of testing and focus, Nathaniel learned how to open portals throughout the cave, but not outside of it. Connecting with a friend back east, he had them send all the books they could regarding magic and its history. During this time, he began to turn the cave into a kind of vault and built a home above it.
He also learned to follow the energy that the bracer gave off, starting to find similarly magical objects. He attempted to sell a staff he had uncovered to a local gun runner named Clinton James, but the man immediately turned on him, trying to use the weapon to take his bracer. Nathaniel quickly grabbed a weapon from back in the vault to dispatch him. This made him realize it would be best if most of these items were sealed away from those who may try to harm others.
Rumors of their actions eventually drew the attention of the cabal of sorcerers in the Oloward Society, who confronted him in 1910. By this point Nathaniel had begun to raise a family, gathered a sizable number of objects within the vault, and learned how to defend himself. Their fight eventually ended in an uneasy draw after Nathaniel’s son William shot the hand of the lead sorcerer.
A New Generation
After 33 years of weidling the bracer, Nathaniel relinquished it to William. He wanted to give his son time to learn to use the bracer while he was still around to teach him. He would teach his son until he passed away in 1929.
Going into the Great Depression, William struggled to keep himself and his family fed. He learned how to repair cars as a means of gaining income. He had a son, Victor, in 1931, but his mother died in childbirth. In his desperation, William decided to attempt to sell an object from the vault that he believed to be rather harmless. Unfortunately the Matteras were once again betrayed. The buyer, Hans Schmidt, presented himself as a wealthy businessman but was actually an agent of the Thule Society looking to help the Nazis. Wiliam was able to defeat Schmidt, but succumbed to his wounds shortly after.
Victor, being only 10 years old, knew that his family’s vault was secret and important. He studied his father’s journals and decided to continue on with the family legacy of keeping these items hidden. While the United States entered World War 2, Victor spent time tracking down the cell that had attacked his father. His abilities caused him to cross paths with other heroes in his journey as they took the fight right to the Axis. He eventually made his way over to Europe near the end of the war, where he met Nina Chernova. The two were instantly smitten with one another, and Nina was fascinated by the bracer’s ability. With the war leaving her an orphan, Nina then joined Victor to track down Nazis that had escaped Europe. Victor had to use some underground contacts to eventually get Nina the paperwork to be able to immigrate to the US as the Cold War was now raging on.
The two had a son, Pietro, and Victor promised himself that he would be more careful than his own father was. He took care to place more protective enchantments on the vault and on their home above it. Pietro proved to be more capable at wielding the bracer and learning the ins and outs of magic. He would often protect himself in combat using magic and hiding the braver unless necessary which led some to think he was strictly a sorcerer.
Torn between choices
Pietro had a daughter, Natalie, who took on the bracer at the age of 16. Like her own father, she was adept at both the bracer and magic. But she never held the passion for it. Her high school sweetheart Alberto Martinez grew up to be a wealthy developer and helped Kingan expand considerably. When a rogue sorcerer nearly stole the bracer, she began to train her oldest son Michael to wield it while she delved into trying to learn of its true origin. Michael rebelled against such responsibility at first but now is known in the magical community for his stubborn nature and ability to beat insurmountable odds. Michael has also worked his way within the superhero community with groups like the United Nations Irregular Operations Network and Supervillain Assault Specialty Squad. He sometimes is torn between the family business and the belief that this bracer can be used for more.
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