Thevshi

Velocity listened to Supercape as he explained why Daedalus having the watch was not the best idea. The speedster gave a small shrug. "Well, I cannot disagree with you really." She replied. "I was mainly hoping Daedalus could spend a bit of time trying to learn about it before some decision is made on how to deal with it long term." "I would be thrilled if there was just some way to destroy it once he's done. But somehow I rather doubt that would be possible." "Really, now that the Stopwatch is in the hands of Daedalus and any other of you science types in brings in to help study it, I am not sure I have much to say about what is done with it anymore."

Now some relationship map stuff: The Ministry of Powers: As Ari said, it is likely the Ministry of Powers was connected with the old group, at least to some extent. Perhaps even more if the group was a more official supergroup. For Synapse, when her powers developed, the Ministry was involved in helping her learn to control them. I have not come up with a name yet, but I was thinking that one of the members of the “old team†was also a mentalist, and helped Synapse learn to control her powers as well. Finally, Synapse’s father, Lord Farrington, I was thinking he could be one of the few remaining hereditary peers in the House of Lords. In that position, perhaps he is a supporter of the Ministry of Powers and the “old team� Or, perhaps he has been more critical of them, using his position to scrutinize their work at every opportunity that arises? Not a lot at the moment, but a start. I still need to clearly think some things through, including why Synapse is so rebellious!

Well, we are now too UK focused to really be Team EU. And as Ari states, Team UK is somewhat generic. Naming teams can be tricky. Crownguard?

Megan listened to Stesha's questions, letting out a small sigh. "Well, Robert, or Lord Robert Howell, is about two years older than me and recently inherited his title after his father passed away towards the end of last summer." "We first met just after I had finished high school at North Bay Academy and joined the League. That summer, two high school friends and I took a several week trip to Europe. That trip included a several day stop on Ibiza, where I celebrated my eighteenth birthday. I met Robert at the nightclub we had gone to that night, and the two of us ended up going back to my hotel room. The next morning, we both went our separate ways." "That following fall, I started at Yale, other boys came and went. But then during my Junior year, I got the chance to go and study at Cambridge, and it turned out Robert was still there finishing his PhD in theoretical physics. When we ran into each other not long after I had gotten to Cambridge...well, I guess we both had fond memories of that night in Ibiza, as we started dating." "I dated Robert for almost eight months, which, I am sad to say, actually qualifies as one of my longest relationships ever. Our time together...well, it..I thought it was really wonderful. Beyond just the time we spent together at the university, we took a number of weekend trips to Paris, spent a long weekend in Nice, part of our winter holiday at a resort in the Swiss Alps, and during our Easter holiday went together to the Maldives. I mean, there was some tension, at least part of which was related to me keeping this," she indicated her costume, "a secret, but for the most part I think I was able to minimize that. Robert's schedule was a rather busy one, and though my professors thought they were loading me down with homework...well, needless to say, my powers have long made dealing with even the most heavy homework load something that only a little time. So I was able to be out for a couple hours as Velocity, either in England or over in other parts of Europe, and then still be back to spend time with Robert when he was free." "When might be the right time to let a guy I am involved with know about my being Velocity is something I have struggled with a couple of times, but none quite like I did with Robert. The last month or so we were together I was especially struggling with whether or not to tell him. Probably one of the main reasons I did not was because of the source of the other major tension in our relationship, what its future would be once my time at Cambridge ended and I returned to finish at Yale." "Like probably most young people, early on we were focused on the present, and not really thinking long term. As my time started to grow shorter, we sort of just avoided talking about it. I think we might have eventually talked, but then this," once again Megan indicated her costume, "brought an abrupt end to things." She paused a moment, then continued. "I don't know if you remember hearing about when I went missing for a couple of days last May, but it involved a mission Captain Thunder asked me to go on. UNISON had sent a team of superagents to Bulgaria to recover some weapons grade plutonium that a criminal group had smuggled out of one of the former Soviet Union countries to sell on the black market. I was asked to join the mission as the League’s representative. It was supposed to be a simple mission taking no more than one night to finish up. Instead, the UNISON superagents had decided it paid better on the other side, and once we had secured the plutonium, they betrayed me and the UNISON intelligence agent assigned to the mission, leaving us unconscious as they made off with the plutonium to try to sell themselves." "While I had wanted to just call for backup, in no small part because one of the rogue UNISON agents had temporarily suppressed my powers when they had betrayed us, the UNISON intelligence agent, a former Spanish secret agent, convinced me that we were in the best position to try to recover the plutonium, if we disappeared and pretended to be dead. So, we went into hiding and managed to track down the rogue agents a couple days later in Turkey. While they got away, we did secure the plutonium." "Needless to say, when I finally got back to England, Robert was furious, as I had been gone for close to three days, without any word on where I was or what was going on." The young woman paused a few moments once more before continuing. "There I was, with a perfect opportunity just tell him the truth. But I was physically and mentally exhausted after the events of the previous days, and thus handled things about as badly as I possibly could. Instead of telling him the truth, I tried to make up some unconvincing lie about just needing some time to myself." "Robert saw right through it, and decided he could not trust me. So he dumped me. Though that hurt, a lot, I could not really be mad at Robert. After all, I had lied to him and kept secrets from him. So, I finished up my time at Cambridge and came back home." Megan stopped again, one hand coming up to message her temples some before she went on. "Sadly I have experience with relationships ending like that, and have learned to move on pretty quickly. With Robert, it was not so easy." "If you had asked me your questions even a few months ago, I would have admitted that I did still have feelings for him and would have been willing to get back together with him if possible. But, if you had asked me a few weeks ago before I went on that business trip, I would have said no, I had moved on and was happy with the new guy I had been seeing for about a month." "Now...now I would have to say that I do still have feelings for him."

"Believe me, that is something I was not completely sure of myself, particularly given how things happened." Megan replied. "The future version of the father did not come back himself, at least not that I know of, but sent some operatives back instead. They caught up with me during a business meeting I was at in Sweden a few weeks ago through my internship with Summit Transnational and knocked me unconscious and took me to some 'null time' where I met the future Robert." "Believe me, I was rather sceptical about trusting someone who had kidnapped me, but, the threat of this future child felt like something I couldn't just ignore. And, he sent me back to try to help keep the watch away from the present Robert, and as I said, he was certainly not acting like himself while he had it." "After I managed to subdue Robert and Fenris and I got the watch away from him, some more of these operatives from the future showed up to try to take possession of the watch, though I honestly cannot be sure they were working for the man I met before or someone else. Because they attacked us, I wasn't about to give them the watch. We defeated them, and currently Daedalus has the watch and can hopefully learn something about it." "So...no, I cannot be completely certain that what I was told was true. There is at least some corroboration with what he said, but I have no way of being sure he was giving me the complete story."

Megan managed a small smile. "Yeah, time travel can be a real mess." She then paused and continued, "but in this case, it is something more of a mess than usual." "If this was just a case of learning that I might have a son that would become a supervillain, well, that would be disappointing, and I might try to do things better, but I am not sure I would dwell on it like I am with this. From what I was told, my possible son has the power to collapse multiple timelines together and the theory on him is that the more timelines he exists in, the stronger he is in all of them." "And it gets better, this was more than just a warning, someone, maybe even this future son himself, sent a device back to our timeline that was specifically designed to try to get the father and I together, or back together, in this case. I was told about this future son and the purpose of the device by a future version of the father from a timeline where we did marry and did have this son, and he was now determined to prevent that from happening in as many timelines as he can." "The device certainly exerted some influence over the father in our timeline, who was talking about using my DNA to clone a child if he could not have me. Thankfully I was able to get the device away from him with the help of the hero Fenris and he seems to be free from its influence, though he still claims to still love me and regrets breaking up with me. Which of course could be real, or some remaining influence of the device."

Velocity gave a slight grin as Supercape started talking about the dangers of time travel. "Well, theoretical physics tends to be a bit above my head." She replied. "But I believe I understand the basic problems that can be associated with time travel well enough." She then sighed at his comment about trying to avoid influence from the future. "Well, that is part of the problem I am facing." She stated. "I am faced with at least two conflicting influences from the future. There is whatever sent the Stopwatch back in time to try to bring Robert Harrow and I back together, then there is the group from the future wanting to do everything they could to keep us apart and try to get the Stopwatch." "So far I have been generally following the advice of that second group, which included a future version of Robert. Though, when they made an attempt to try to confiscate the watch, assuming it was them and not some unknown third group, Fenris and I prevented them from doing so. So Daedalus currently has the watch, and hopefully something can be figured out about it."

Well, that is part of what I need to think more about. But probably rebellious enough to have been kicked out of pretty much every boarding school her parents ever put her in.

Ari, no need to be sorry, I mean to put a smiley face with that part about your comment and forgot too. And, that sounds like a pretty cool character Ari! So…my new character. I struggled a bit with what character I might want to use. But, after some thought and talking with SC, I am going to go with a mentalist character. Dawn Farrington (Synapse), is a somewhat rebellious young English woman from an aristocratic family. (With that decided, I will now start putting more thought into stuff for the relationship map!)

"A fair bit of cream, but just a dash of sugar." Megan replied when Stesha asked how she took her coffee, glancing around at the interior of the other woman's home, smiling slightly as she mentioned her daughter's upcoming birthday party. "I am sure Ammy will enjoy herself." Taking a seat in one of the chairs near the couch, she added, "Your home is very lovely Stesha. Plenty of light, with an airy and refreshing feel." When Stesha made her way back over and set down the coffee, the speedster picked up her cup to take a sip as the slightly older woman asked her question. Once again Megan felt a slight feeling of guilt about wanting to burden Stesha with her problems, but she really felt the need to get someone else's perspective on things. "Well, first, I want to apologize about coming here to burden you with my worries." She replied. "I know we don't know each other very well, but I like to think that is mainly a result of me being off in college and you, well, dealing with all this," Megan gestured outside the crystal windows at the views of Sanctuary beyond, "and of course Ammy." "Normally I might have gone to my mom, or older sister about some of the things that have been bothering me recently, but that would require explaining. well, me being Velocity, which I have never told them." The speedster continued. Megan paused for another moment, taking a sip of her coffee as she thought about how she might start this conversation for what seemed the millionth time. "I guess the best way to start might be with a question of my own." "Stesha, what would you do if you learned that, at least in some possible future timelines, you would be the mother of a child that was driven mad by his powers which allow him to rip apart the very space time continuum?" "Because, that's what I recently learned."

Velocity managed to stay focused through the feeling of disorientation that came with Fleur's dimensional travel. Once they were through, the speedster quickly recovered, as her goggles' three hundred and sixty degree sight and her own quickness allowed her to take in all the sights around in an instant. "Wow." She managed to say, after being awed for a few moments. The young woman then focused back on Fleur, as the slightly older woman removed her mask and cowl and started towards the highly unusual house they were near. "Only as long as you call me Megan." The speedster replied, the speed and tone of her voice changing, as she started after her hostess, moving at a normal speed for a change. As Stesha's question, there was a slight pause, even noticeable to the plant controller, before Megan responded. "Honestly, I've been better." Velocity lifted her goggle up off her face, allowing herself to relax some. "I hope things have been well for you?"

While not completely used to Fleur's mode of transportation, Velocity was at least familiar enough that she did not display any sign of surprised at the other heroine's arrival. Being able to process information more than a thousand times faster than a normal person certainly did not hurt either. "Good afternoon Fluer." The speedster replied with a smile. "Any waiting is my own fault for being early. And how long it might have been also tends to be rather relative for me." As Fleur mentioned that her daughter would not be present this afternoon, Velocity felt a slight feeling of relief. While she certainly found the young girl quite adorable, it would make it a lot easier to cover the things she wanted to with Fleur without having to be careful about what she said in front of her daughter. "Well, I brought some yummy baked goods, including some low sugar or gluten free for Ammy to have later." She stated, holding up the bags from the bakery. "Ready whenever you are." She then added, taking her teammate's outstretched hand.

Roo, let me see if I can provide a couple of examples of what SC is looking at regarding building the relationship map (yes Ari, I know, I am sounding like that character you mentioned in the PM. But then, I am old, and have been involved in pbp in one form or another for close to 12 years now) I was in a game using the Smallville RPG system, but set in Gotham City (so basically Batman Smallville style). Part of the character creation process for that game system was creating a relationship map. My character, as part of her corner of the map, had a conglomerate/foundation that had been set up by her father/grandfather, for which her mother was currently trustee of on her behalf. But that company also provided connection to other players. For the player playing Selina Kyle (Catwoman), the company had provided her a scholarship (so she could attend the fancy prep school the game was set at). For the player playing Bruce Wayne, the company was linked to the Wayne Foundation as an occasional business partner. So, the company provided my character with links to two of the other players that could be used for roleplaying purposes. The connections also existed for the GM to potentially develop plot elements from later. The entire purpose of the relationship map is to create a web of connections between the PCs and various NPCs/other elements to help with developing plot elements for stories. Think of it as a different way of making the background fluff for the characters, except it will be interconnected by design. The mechanic the Smallville game used for this was having different points in the character creation process where players were required to add elements or make connections on the relationship map (not even between things directly involving them even!). Perhaps the best way to do this here is for each of us to start with our characters and perhaps one NPC/organization and make a note of the connection between them. (to look to the Gotham City game talked about above for another example: the very first entry on Bruce Wayne’s map was, naturally, Alfred, with the note “he raised me after my parents diedâ€). From there, we can start making connections and adding new elements. (I will try to get more up on my new character tonight!)

Late February, 2013 Freedom Hall, 3:00 PM Velocity paced slightly just inside the entrance to Freedom Hall. She had arrived only about a minute early for the time she had arranged to meet her teammate, Fleur de Joie. But of course, for the speedster, a minute could seem like an eternity. In one hand, the young woman held a couple of bags from her favorite bakery in Kingston. But more beyond normal impatience that she could feel, Velocity was rather certain her current anxiety had more to do with feelings of uncertainty about burdening Fleur with her problems. Despite being on the same team for a few years now, Velocity was not especially close with Fleur, but the speedster certainly liked the other woman, and did not doubt that they could be friends. Instead, she knew that the current distance was more the result of a number of different things. For a start, Fleur was a bit older, around the same age as Velocity's older sister, rather than the speedster herself. But perhaps more importantly, both their lives had generally been heading in different directions. Beyond her duties as a member of the League and the work she restoring Sanctuary, Fleur had gotten married and had a child. Velocity meanwhile had gone off to college, and had thus been somewhat less involved with the League. Since she had returned to Freedom City since the beginning of the year, Velocity had had an occasion or two to work with Fleur, but still not had a lot of chances to spend a lot of time socially with the other woman. Ever since the encounter with her former boyfriend Robert Harrow in Sweden, and what she had learned during that encounter, Velocity had been struggling with a number of things about herself, her powers and her possible future. Daedalus had helped arrange for specialists Velocity could consult with on some of those issues. But the speedster still felt that she just need someone to talk to about what she was dealing with. While there were a few other heroines she might be able to talk with, Velocity felt Fleur was in a better position to provide a perspective that the others could not. The speedster glanced at her watch for about the fiftieth time in the last twenty seconds. Still not quite time for Fleur to arrive to take her over to Sanctuary.

Velocity will make a move-by attack with her Strike power on the Simurgh, using Power Attack (-3 atk/+3 Dam). Her attack roll is a: 19. If that hits, it is a DC 31 toughness save.

Waiting was something that could often be difficult for Velocity in even the most mundane situation. Waiting for Supercape to run his various tests and study the results had been almost unbearable. The young speedster was in costume, but she had removed her mask and wig, not really seeing a point given the help Supercape was going to be providing. Not to mention that Daedalus had referred her to the Lab to have the rather personal testing she wanted done. As the scientist began explaining what he had been able to determine, she listened closely, though Supercape's refined English accent brought to mind thoughts of Robert. "Great, something to look forward too, chasing toddlers up and down walls at MACH 1." Megan replied with a faint smile on her face, trying to be somewhat light hearted about everything. "But, while I appreciate learning that there appears to be no issues with someday having kids, and I certainly am not planning on that anytime soon, what I am hoping to learn is what possible effects passing my powers on might have on any child I do have. It is not so much about can I have kids, but whether I ever should have kids." "See, when I first got my powers, none of this was anything that I felt any real urgency to learn, after all, I was just fifteen. But recently I was involved in a temporal incursion in Europe that made me realize that I should probably take some time to learn more about how my body might have been changed by my accident." "This incident centred around me, a former boyfriend and a device that had recently come into his possession. This Stopwatch gave Robert the ability to control time in a number of ways, including moving himself fast enough that he could out race me. At least in some future timelines, he and I were married and had a son. But the child possessed incredible power, power that allowed him to destabilize the space/time continuum, to the point where he was a threat to all reality, as he was also driven mad by his power." "Kids that might inherit my powers might be tiring, they will at least help keep me in shape. Kids that are a possible cataclysmic threat to everything, are a much more major concern."

Whether it was because she was feeling tired or the thoughts about Robert that had haunted her the last nine months or so, Megan did not stop him as he embraced her and their lips met in a kiss. In part it was likely because his words were ones she had dreamed or hoped to possibly hear from him in the months following their break up. For a few moments, Megan felt the still somewhat familiar feeling of excitement she had always felt with Robert. As was often the case for her, those moments seemed to last forever as she returned the kiss. But then, she thought about Kyle, and Siphon, and about the Stopwatch and the son that could destroy the space/time continuum. Still, it was with some reluctance that she pulled away, slipping free from Robert's embrace as well. "I'm sorry Robert, as I said before, things are just not that simple." "I have spent a lot of time thinking about us over the last nine months or so, trying to deal with the pain that followed our break up. I did love you Robert, and perhaps I still do. I certainly was not mad with you about how things turned out, after all I was the one who lied and kept 'this," she gestured to her costume, "a secret from you. I particularly handled things badly after I disappeared for that long weekend. I should have told you the truth, but sharing this secret has never been particularly easy for me. Even my parents and brother and sister don’t know. I would very much appreciate it if you would help me keep it that way." "But like it or not, Velocity is part of who I am. And this entire incident with the watch has reminded me that there are still some things I have put off learning about how my powers might have affected me." Megan paused a moment, a slightly pained look on her face. "I mean...beyond everything with the Stopwatch and our possible son, it may just simply be unsafe for me to ever have children." One of her hands came up to gently touch Robert's lips, in anticipation of his response. "I'm sorry, but this is something I need to do on my own." She stated. "Please take care of yourself." Then with a blur of yellow, she was off, kicking up a bit of snow as she went. Megan was not even halfway down the mountain before the first tear came down her cheek.

Made toughness saves for both, and both miss so they are out

Velocity had not really expected to find anything in her search for the time agents, but she felt obligated to do so, in order to make what she had told Fenris a little something more than just an excuse to stay behind. The young woman looked over at Robert as he caught up with her, sighing slightly at his words. "I know that seems like it might have been the best possible outcome, but I am not entirely sure it would have been for the best." She replied, allowing her vocal inflection and speed return to normal. "I am not certain about the ones here, but back in Sweden, I was kidnapped by some that were working for a future version of yourself who said he was working to try to stop our son from being born." "At the moment, I don't really know what to believe." She then added, feeling rather tired and drained. "But you have nothing to feel sorry about Robert, you were not in complete control of your actions."

"I wasn't really asking you permission." Velocity replied to Robert's comments, though her tone was slightly playful, rather than hostile or angry. She was quite relieved that Robert appeared to be mostly free of the watch's influence, even if his last comment had her somewhat troubled. "Fenris, the quickest way to get the watch to Daedalus would be to take it to Geneva. The League has an office there that has teleportals that will take you and the watch up to the Lighthouse. I will call ahead to let them know your coming, and be along myself shortly." The speedster then said to the armoured hero. "I am going to see if I can find any of those time agents I knocked out, though I sort of doubt they are still around."

Is it down close enough that Velocity could make a melee attack?

Tsunami gets a 20 on a Diplomacy check. I'll leave it to you if there is any circumstance bonus based on reminding her of her promise.

When Princess Kazra began interjecting during the interrogation, Giang became slightly concerned. Thus far, the girl had proven to be rather impulsive and quick to act without thinking. As Kazra quickly drew a spear, the Asian teen likewise moved quickly, reaching out to grab the girl's wrist. But before she could secure her grip on the girl's wrist, Kazra managed to pull it free. But at least the attack had been halted. "You agreed to follow our instructions when we allowed you to accompany us." Giang reminded the girl. "Killing a helpless prisoner is not something we are going to condone."

Tsunami is going to try to disarm the princess, using power attack -3 atk/+3 to the Str check. Got a [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4046216/]12[/url] on the attack roll. Just in case, [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4046218/]10[/url] on the opposed str check. So, everything is rather unimpressive. :-(

The bodyguard hesitated a moment, appearing to be trying to come up with some hole in Harry's argument. Apparently unable to do so, the man simply scowled slightly before he moved to the side slightly. "Fine then. But don't expect us to wait up for you. You fall behind, you're on your own." With that, he turned and broke into a slight jog to try to catch back up with Hector and the other bodyguard, who had just disappeared through the door they had been heading towards. From what Harry could hear now, it sounded as if chaos was just beginning to break out up in the crowd of spectators.