Heritage

Grim could only gape in stunned silence as she slowly stood up, then absent-mindedly dismissed her claws by fluttering her hands like was drying off her nails. It was one of those rare moments when she was at a total loss for words. "If this is a bad time, we could come back..." Gretchen deadpanned as she shrugged, which snapped the changeling out of her stupor. "No no no no, we're staying, we're staying! Uh..." She scratched her head as she pondered the young woman. "Look, forgive me for asking, but...who the hell are you?"

Tagged! Also note that Casey's sheet was just edited, so she's a bit more badass now; her eyes shoot frickin' lasers!

Gretchen snorted. "Yes. It's the edge of the smoking crater where our store used to be." She swatted him hard, but with considerable affection. "We have to start slowly and build to phenomenal cosmic power. Shortcuts are for losers and dead men." And with that, the unlikely duo took the first step of their journey together.

Nullify 12 (Summon, Super-Movement [Dimensional Travel], and Teleport Effects of Any Descriptor,Extras: Action 3 [Reaction], Area [General, Burst], Duration 3 [Continuous], Selective, Flaws: Range [Touch], Feats: Progression [Area] 1 [10ft/rank = 120ft radius]) [109PP] That seems inclusive! Of course, it's selective, so she determines who does and doesn't use thosr powers in her building.

Two things. 1. Assume you also get an encrypted flash drive with Grim's file as well; it's probably in a pocket in the folder. 2. There's an anti-teleportation spell over Silberman's, which AEGIS doesn't know about.

GM Spaulding continued to study Black, his lips resting on his steepled fingers. "There is still a great deal of uncertainty about that period; I'm almost certain ArcheTech has yet to reveal everything they know, but that's beyond the scope of this investigation. We do, however, have intel that suggests the Interceptors were in some way compromized by Dr Archeville at some point before June 2011." He pulled a smaller, thinner folder out from inside Grimalkin's file and skimmed the contents. "All subsequent follow-up indicates the remaining Interceptors are now free of whatever influence Archeville had them under, but Grimalkin is a different case altogether. She and Colt disappeared three days after the event, and was missing for the next three years. She made no attempts to contact her teammates or any family members at all during that time." "And then," he continued, returning to the main folder. "She returns, out of the blue. There is no sign of Colt, or William Reynolds as he's actually named, even though we know they were married less than a month before her disappearance. In her civilian identity as 'Lynn Epstein', she enrolls in classes at FCU, claiming that her husband died 'overseas', though no death certificate has been produced. She reopens her grandfather's bookstore, hiring two employees with criminal records, one of whom is a known super-criminal. She initiated a computer virus attack on ArcheTech which she insists was an 'accident', playing the role of innocent victim. And lastly, according to an evaluation by our psych boys, she is exhibiting different speech patterns and behaviors, including engaging in a same-sex relationship, whereas prior to her disappearance she exclusively dated men." He tossed the folder on his desk and harruphed. "Who is this person? She claims to be Lynn Epstein, but we only have her word on that. In addition, her powers seem to be working differently. And if she really is Lynn Epstein, how do we know she's not still operating under Archeville's conditioning? What happened to Reynolds? Did she eliminate him because he knew too much?" He sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. "These are the sort of questions that keep me awake at night." Focusing back on Black, the deputy director slid the file folder over towards him. "This is your assignment: study Lynn Epstein, aka Grimalkin. We need you to do a thorough risk assessment to help us figure who she is and what she's up to. It may be a matter of national security, because...she's a shapeshifter. And I don't think I need to tell you how much damage a rogue shapeshifter could do to this country."

If there's a window, she's flying through it; otherwise, she blowing through the door and down the stairs. Also let me know if any grapple checks or any other rolls are involved.

Floating in the air, invisible, Gretch pondered her options as she limited her breaths to furtive little sips of oxygen. A quick blast of the Ring right now might destroy it, but would reveal my position while I'm still close to this hideous thing, and in its lair. If it has any unknown abilities or artifacts, they would probably be very effective here. Better to grab it and fly off. I can hopefully outrun him, take it to a remote place and destroy it there. Not close to the water, though, because that plays to Dagon's advantage. And so she put her plan into action; using the power of the Ring, she yanked her urn towards herself, wrapping it up in the Cloak to minimize her contact with it. Then, clutching it to her stomach like a football, she flew a beeline towards the outside by the shortest path possible!

GM The deputy director studied Agent Black for a few seconds, his eyes slightly narrowed, before he continued perusing the file. "Yes, well, she did put a lot of pimps and muggers into the hospital back then, which would have been...starting in early 2008. Of course, she was nevered tried for assault, due both to the unsavory nature of her victims and this city's love affair with its so-called heroes, but she never killed or crippled them, which I suppose counts for something." Spaulding stepped over to a sideboard and poured himself a glass of ice water from a heavy crystal decanter, mutely offering a glass to the agent. Once he returned to his seat, he took a sip before going on. "She eventually sought out another vigilante who was active at the time known as 'Nightrival'; they formed a short-lived partnership which ended with his disappearance sometime in May 2009. After that, it seems she became a team player, joining the Knights of Freedom briefly right before they fell apart, and then she was a founding member of the Interceptors." He paused again and levelled his pale gaze at Black. "You understand that AEGIS isn't terribly concerned when two exceptionals duke it out, provided that no civilians are hurt and there's no significant property damage. We can't prevent every battle involving superpowers from happening; there's just too many of them in this city, and we don't have the manpower to put an agent on every corner. We do our best to locate and isolate the greatest threats as quickly and efficiently as we can." "So to be honest, up until 2011 we were content to merely keep tabs on her and the rest of her team, as we do with most capes." He frowned. "That is, at least until what is commonly referred to as the 'Archevil event'..."

Okay, I'm done, but feel free add your own final thoughts.

Gretchen grinned a little grin as she reached out to return the fist bump, which she exploded in slo-mo with a verbalized explodey sound. Then she stopped and cocked her head to one side. "Oh wow. F### cake, she's making us grilled cheese." She looked at Sam and shook her head, eyes brimming with visions of yumminess. "You don't understand. She fries them in olive oil and minced garlic, and uses crusty bread. It's a recipe that took her eighty years to perfect." She stared at Sam intently for several seconds, searching her eyes for comprehension. "Come on." Grabbing her friend's sleeve (because she realized they were friends now, somehow), she began to drag her to the edge of the roof with singular determination, because f### yeah, tonight they'd earned some grilled cheese.

Knowledge: Streetwise DC 10: Grimalkin was an active vigilante in the West End and the Fens. She was part of the Interceptors. DC 15: She's extremely stealthy, very athletic and uses vicious claws in hand-to-hand combat. She hadn't been seen on the street since 2011, but recently returned in 2014.

Presumably there isn't an actual PC named 'Athletics' who should be appearing at the end of the list of the same name? Or one named 'Gather Information'?

Did Casey just suggest the two classic teen activities of watching movies and hanging out at the mall as useful research strategies? Yes she did, but I actually think they could prove to be useful!

The adults seemed to know what they were going to do, which left Casey feeling a bit left out, which then made her feel very, very young. None of the grown-ups will play with me. She wasn't sure why, but she got the sense that Aquaria was young for her species, or at the very least new to human culture; either way, it gave her an idea. She turned to the non-human with a thoughtful look. "Hey Aquaria. I've been thinking about what you've said, about the 'dreams of our people'; if we might might be going into those dreams, we need to know as much about them as we can. Dreams have rules and their own logic, and that info could be important once we're in there." She waved towards the file she'd quickly read in a few seconds. "I know I haven't seen every movie on that list, and I bet you haven't, either. So what do you say?" She shrugged. "'Netflix and chill'? We should also try and scout out the mall, if we get the chance; note all the entrances and exits."

Grim frowned. "Well, 'Tellus' is just Latin for 'Earth', so that eventually might be the way home, assuming we can find it again." Then she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, let's just this over with; Gretch, get behind Sam, I'm pretty sure she's the toughest." And with that, the changeling grabbed the doorknob in one hand while flicking out her talons on the other. " Here we go. One, two, three!" She yanked the door open, then dropped into a defensive crouch with both sets of claws at the resdy, training all her heightened senses toward the space beyond.

No, that's fair. I'm intrigued by the idea of the Girl Scout helping with the heist!

Works for me! So who posts next, me or you?

If the archeological dig is current, i.e. sometime over the summer, I'd like to think out of the box and offer up Miracle Girl. She's naturally curious, interested in science, and brings a lot to the table! Of course, the money she earns will go towards her college fund

"It's the upgrade," she murmured, shaking her head in disbelief as she waved her hand by her glasses. "All this new information...it's bizarre and intense. Somehow being in the presence of the Amulet unlocked all these new abilities. Me passing out was basically a reboot." Then Grethen stopped and reached out to grab his sleeve. "We need to get you up to this level somehow. I'm not going to be able to read through all those notebooks by myself. Unlike you, I have a life." It could have mean, but Sam was getting to the point that he could pick up on her deadpan sense of humor. He hoped. Then the barista began to drag him back to 'the Cave'. "Come on. There's no time to waste. The sooner we get you reading Yiddish, the sooner I can get back to s### I actually care about..."

So, yeah, we're actually doing this! Not sure exactly what skill rolls will vome into play, though I'm thinking at least one Bluff check will be involved. She actually has the Distract fest as well. If it works, Gretch will take the opportunity to turn invisible anf slip away. Oh, forgot to add a bit about Grim scrying on 'Mr Smith'; let me add that in.

It was not terribly hard to look awestruck and terrified at this moment; your facial muscles combined with primitive reflexes pretty much took care of that. The tricky thing was going to be keeping Dagon focused on Lynn while Gretchen took care of his foul heart...wherever the hell it was right now. - S###, how do we know where his heart is? - - The jar. It has to be the jar. - - Of course! Go get 'em, Gretch! - - See if he's still in his creepy corpse apartment. And distract the big guy so I can slip away. - - Oh, man; distraction is my middle name! - And so it was that Grim began to bluff...a god... "O Dark Father...you have arrived!" First, she waved her arms dramatically and conjured forth her best interpretation of 'Deep One temple architecture'; arches and columns and an alter that looked like they were carved from waterlogged stone, carved into serpentine shapes and draped with seaweed. And then she altered her wardrobe into a deep blue robe trimmed with images of breaking waves. As she worked, she snuck a quick peek at their would-be customer from earlier, via the conjured button Gretch left in his room. "I, your unworthy servant, would speak to you!"

Please give me a Knowledge: Streetwise check; you could also use Gather Information, but without Well-Informed, I don't think you can right now.

GM Spaulding frowned slightly as he reflexively returned the salute; he'd read Black's file, so he knew about the conditioning, but he had no idea how extensive it had been. He hoped the shrinks left some parts of the man intact; a good agent required flexibility and the ability to improvise in the field. "At ease, agent; please, take a seat." Once they were both seated, the deputy director picked up a file folder on his desk and began idly flipping through it. "Tell me, Agent Black, what do you know about an exceptional known as 'Grimalkin'?"

Grrr, can't delete that quote block from my phone! Anywho, it's a good thing Gretchen dropped that 'bug' earlier, as it allows Lynn to spy on the freak! Of course, she may soon be too occupied to offer much help.