RocketLord

1d20+5 = 7 And there my streak ended, oh well!

GM The king stood up. He stood fast, he stood furious. He towered above Lament, as he stood above the Dealer of Downers. His eyes were lightning, his voice was thunder. The guards slowly backed away, leaving Lament standing on his own in the middle of the room. "What do you seek to imply, jester? That you know what pleases a King? What do you presume to know about my people, you insignificant, mortal gnat! Do you see my halls decked for merrymaking? Do you see my subjects dancing in joy? Do you see the tears of joy that springs from my eyes!?" The crying of the children were growing louder now. They were obviously scared. "Do you know who I am!? I am the Elf King! I am the master of the time before your time! I am eternal, never changing! I am the fear in the back of your mind in the dark! I am the joy at the dance, the smile on your lips! I am Elver Kongen! And I want my tears back!"

Robin grinned behind her mask. Alright, it might be a bit mean, but Blowfish was a bona fide bad guy, no question there, and it would be useful. "So, the big question is, who will provoke him most, calling that out? No offense Wall, but I don't think you doing it would do much. So, either me or Detective Kidd." She turned to Kidd. "You guys had some history, right? Who would be best, then?" She thought about it a bit more, while waiting for Kidd's response. "I'm thinking we gotta have everyone there, starting to call him out, then we hit the weak point. Its important that we appear as non-threatening as possible. Make sure that he's clearly the aggressor. And if we can somehow make him admit to any other crimes that you know about, that would only help the case. Get as much out in public as possible."

Zenith knew them, and didn't like them. The spikes made her message more than clear, after all. Few friends liked being met with sharp objects being stabbed at their faces, after all! He followed her down, slowly descending alongside his dance partner, the glimmering Pixie Dust falling from him. He didn't touch down on the ground. They were flying, as it were. There were no reason to touch the ground, the dance had already been interrupted, after all, and quite rudely so. Looking down at the duo, Robert and his friend, Pan quickly followed Zenith on her platform, catching up to her, and flying alongside her. "Well, that was a mood killer." He did not care for the way the duo had spoken. He looked over his shoulder at them, just to see if they were still standing around, or had left.

They were probably right about Blowfish not just rolling over and giving up. He wasn't just some gangbanger, he had lawyers to keep him safe and out of trouble. They needed some way to get him provoked into revealing things, to indiscriminate himself in front of all the witnesses. "Yeah, you're probably right about all that." No point in not agreeing with them. She had to speak the truth, if she wanted to win them over. "And that's why we need to set up some situation where we know he'll mess up, on live television, in front of multiple witnesses. We got the perfect opportunity with the protests up top. Maybe we confront him with what he's been doing here, while the Wall brings everyone here to back it up. Throw the way he's pressuring you into crime at him, his threats, everything. You guys know more about him than me, there's gotta be something that can set him off, right?" The law might not help, and she had generally trusted in that, but that didn't mean Robin was going to roll over.

Diplomacy: 1d20+8 = 28 ?

GM The King looked at him. His face showed little emotion, little reaction to the greeting or the bow. One of the guards objected, however! "I told you not to speak, until spoken to! I'm sorry, my king!" The King looked suitably unimpressed, as he remained on his throne. "And what mercy is it that I am renown for, mortal man? What mercy and hospitality is it that you seek at my court?" His words were like ice being stabbed into Lament's heart. Cold, with the same lacking emotion, with the same lack of care. But what did Lament hear, from behind the throne? Hushed crying and sniffles. The sound of children abducted, most likely!

Whew. Peace, for now. Robin could almost feel the tension in the room dropping, just a little bit, as she lowered her gun too. Then came the next part, but that was just tension for her. Actually having people listening to her about her plans were something entirely new to her, and now she was starting to actually doubt if she could even deliver her idea. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she had believed they would actually get to discussing the idea in the first place. "Alright, we, um." She hesitated for a second. Had to stop that. Be confident. Just do it. "Alright, Blowfish is covering all the bases, never getting caught. We can hit him quick, at the rally. What'll he do if the Wall and his guys, everyone already living here, shows up, just in a peaceful protest? Telling everything that he's been doing on open air? I mean, we know there's camera's up there, and Jack Jackson loves a sensational story, doesn't he? And if there's a certain super hero and cowboy cop there, who he already showed interest in? We can work from that, see what he does, at least. Hopefully provoke him into some kind of confrontation. There's a lot of witnesses there, after all." She paused for a moment. "The second idea I got will take longer. Gather evidence of what is going on here. Not like he would actually expect the people working for him to go against him, right? It would take time, but it might lead to actual evidence that someone like you," she pointed at Kidd, "could use to take him down. But if you got any other ideas, I'm all ears."[/c7olor]

And a notice roll, please!

GM "You address him with a bow, as deep as can be." The first of the guards said, as they led Lament towards their King. "You address him with silence, until spoken to." The second guard said, as he nudged Lament forward with his spear. "You address him as the one true king, ruler of all that he sees." They said in unison, as Lament now found himself standing before the throne. The throne was made of oak. Finely cut, worked by hand, refined into a marvelous shape that almost seemed to shift and turn when the Baron of Bleak moved. There were no seams, no joints. It had all been cut from one solid piece. And on the throne sat a man. As pale as the other Elves, inhumanly beautiful, almost frightenly so. His hair was long and white, reaching to his waist. He was clad in a white tunic. Gold rings on his fingers. An antler crown on his brow. He looked upon Lament, waiting.

I'm looking to get a bit more involved with Dust Devil. Anyone want to do a team up? I'd prefer someone with magic powers, since he could stand to learn a bit more about all that, but anyone interesting can work! I don't have a set idea for a thread yet, or even if it will be action, social or a mix, but I'll figure something out based on who want to get involved!

He was not going to let up, even as Venomax punched and the other Lemurians stabbed at Setho to little effect. His first blow had sent Setho flying away. He was not letting him get away, and he was not going to let him mess with his head. No response, no words for the sorcerer to twist. Magic might be a thing he would have to deal with a lot in the future, but at this point, he was just tired of people trying to mess with his head. Cassidy flew forward again, like sand carried on the wind, while the sandstorm continued to rage around him. Only, he was not just sand, was he? No, he was a rock, he was a monolith. He was the Dust Devil, and he brought his fist down on Setho's head again, hoping to shut the Lemurian up.

Dust Devil is gonna keep going while he got the chance. Going for another punch for now: 1d20+10 = 28, and since he got Improved Critical 2 [Unarmed] attack, that means I crit at 18+. I'm guessing it would hit normally. If I'm right: Critical hit confirmed, and Toughness DC at 30.

GM "The bog wife!" the first Elven guard exclaimed. "The bog wife!" the other agreed. They looked at each, then at the Hero of Heartache again. Spears slowly withdrawn, but not quite, they at least no longer pressed into Lament's throat. The music stopped. A voice called out from the hall. "Bring the mortal to me!" It was a deeper voice. If the bog wife had sounded old, this, decidedly male, voice sounded ancient. It echoed in the hall, finally bringing the music to a stop. Invoking the bog wife's name had done something, at least. It clearly came from the throne in the middle of the hall, just around a bend into a smaller cave, where Lament could not see its occupant. Withdrawing a bit, but with their spears still pointed at him, the Elven guards motioned for Lament to move. "You heard the King! Forward, mortal!"

"Look at you guys, already getting along." Robin couldn't help herself. Despite their protests, it was almost adorable the way these two were talking in synchronization. Looking between Kidd and the Wall, she smiled behind her mask. It might just work, getting these two to talk together. They knew more about what was going on than Robin did, so they would have to come up with the specifics, but just having them agreeing to hear her out was a start, at least. "Right, first of all, how about we all agree to put away our guns, whether they're the kind that shoots or, y'know, your arms." She motioned towards the Wall. "Like, maybe back up a little bit, just so we're out of reach? Easier to talk nicely to each other if we're not about to shoot each other. Right?"

They had come here looking for a better life. Illegally, sure, but still, they had pretty much been tricked into something like this by Blowfish, and now he was pressuring all his workers into doing just this. But, an idea was starting to form. Robin wasn't sure if it would work at all, but it might. Even if Kidd didn't like these people, they all hated Blowfish, and putting him away for a looong time would be better than having the building blown up or people getting killed. She ignored Kidd's protests for now. "You might take out Blowfish with that, and then what? You'll bring the whole place down, so you'll have nowhere to live. The people protesting on the street are going to, rightly, assume that you're to blame, and they'll rip you and your families apart." The Wall couldn't see the look on Robin's face behind her mask, which was probably a good thing. Full face masks made talking to people easier, for some reason. "And even if you get out of that, then what? They'll look into you, and you'll probably be deported." Robin paused for a moment. She was well aware that she was still holding the Justice Buster towards the Wall, but she kept silent. "So. I got an idea. You guys hate Blowfish. Detective Kidd over there hates Blowfish. You might not like each other, at all, and that's how it is, but how about we work together to get Blowfish out of the way? Something big and in public, so he can't run away?" It was yet another long shot, but better than no shot at all.

"Thank you, Veronica!" Pan looked in wonder at his classmate and friend. She knew so much about this! And they would get to go so fast! Faster than he had ever traveled before! He followed Col. Austin as he led them up to the ship, still marveling at every single sight along the way. Moving around the room as he colonel told them about the Porpoise and Eagle, and what they had told them, Pan gave pause for a moment. If Blackstar was that powerful, then staying out the way would probably be for the best, yes, but he also kind of wanted to see him. And besides, they were quite formidable in their own right, were they not? But, stealth could be the smarter play, and if Col. Austin believed to be the case, then he would follow that rule, for now. After all, he got to go to space! He did a mock salute when Col. Austin responded to his question of souvenirs. "I shall bring back whatever seems interesting that I can find!" The Nightstone, then? Oh, that could be interesting to borrow. Would probably annoy this Blackstar fellow greatly, too.

Unless you try something else, can I get some initiative rolls?

GM A frenzy of four sharks had approached, though not undiscovered. They began slowly circling around the group, though not making any overly aggressive moves. One of them, slightly larger than the others, seemed to stop and stiffen for a fraction of a second when Sgt. Shark called out to them. Then it continued swimming. "You have few teeth. We have many." Its reply was short, as one would perhaps expect from a shark. "Guard the strange squid. Keep danger away. Keep you away. Eat you." The circle began to close in. Words would probably not persuade the sharks.

GM The two Elven guards looked between each other. Did they marvel at the wits of the Monarch of Mourning? Did they ponder on the meaning of the words, or were they simply confused by what he was saying? "The lights of the mist? But..." one began, before the other waved him off with his hand. "No, brother. He cannot have!" "But he must have!" "But he cannot! It is the law! And only she would have broken the law!" The two Elves turned to Lament again. Their eyes narrowed, the spears pressing closer. He could feel the bronze tip from one pressing into his neck, yet without drawing blood. "Just who showed you the path to the lights, traveller?" The music was still playing, as merry as ever.

Right. And then everything went pearshaped again. Of course they were just resisting Blowfish and what he was doing here. And there were already immigrants in here. And Detective Kidd made sure that Robin knew exactly the kind of justice he believed in. But no, she wasn't gonna have it. Her threat might just have been a bluff, but Kidd would probably follow through, if he made his way. So, more conflicting opinions. And she had to sort through all of them. "So..." she looked between Kidd and the Wall. "You don't like Blowfish. And you don't like Blowfish. And I'm pretty sure he's a bad guy. Kidd's a cop, and what you guys are doing is a terrorist act, even if you're doing it to harm Blowfish, so he's right about that, no matter the reasons. So, you" Robin motioned towards the Wall with the Justice Buster, "What's your deal? Why are you even coming here and working for Blowfish if you know this is going to happen?"

GM The song played on, as the Arbiter of Anguish continued his trek through the tunnel. It led him on, it grew slowly louder, until finally, he found himself standing at the end of the tunnel, at the entrance of a great hall. The hall was lit by torches that adorned the walls. A large number of great tables filled the hall, and yet, they were all empty, but the source of the music was made clear: An orchestra, three Elven maid, almost identical to the one that Lament had encountered earlier. One played a violin, another a flute, and the third was beating the tune on a great big drum that he sat on. But the Cheerleader of Cherlessness had little time to take in the hall, or see what else awaited him inside. A pair of spears were lowered from either side of the entrance, each held by an Elven man clad in a light tunic. They were white, they were beautiful. Their eyes were like daggers, however. "Halt! Who dares enter this hall univited?" The first one asked. "Who has shown you the path?" the second one followed.

Ugh, Robin might have said a bit too much here. The thing that gave the Wall pause was, of all things, that she would bring the place down. And then he mentioned all the people here. What people? Weren't it only the Wall's gang that were in here? Did they have someone else here that they hadn't seen? Hostages? "What people?" Robin raised the Justice Buster further, aiming it directly at the Wall's chest. One wrong move, she would go for him. "As far as I've seen, there's just you and the rest of your wannabe terrorists, fixing to take out a refugee center with dynamite. What would that help you, anyway?" Maybe he would start talking if prodded a bit. Even if he wasn't the brains here, he did seem to be the leader.

If Lament is being sneaky in going down the tunnel, I'd like a Stealth check. If not, no need to roll.

GM What awaited the Giver of Gloom, but the sound of music! Flutes were played masterfully, accompanied by some string instrument, possibly a violin. A percussion instrument, some kind of drum, held the beat of a lively dance. There were no words, no other sounds. The music was alone, and yet, Lament could not help but feel that it was missing the lyrics. He was met with a long, dark tunnel. Torches were held to the walls in seemingly random locations, with no rhyme or reason to their placement. The music clearly came from the other end of the tunnel. As he followed it, he would see the branches from the mighty tree stretch through the darkness, sometimes breaking through the walls of the tunnel itself. It was a marvelous work, stretching on and on, going further and further, going lower and lower below the ground. At the end of the tunnel he would see light, the music now louder than ever.