Heritage

Edited By Da Durf Okay, major major edits for Grim and Shrike, though more on Shrike's end. Grim is some fluff tweaking and spending some Veteran awards for improvements to Shrike and adding her new training grounds. Gretchen has a ton of changes, which I can detail shortly, but here's the new version of her sheet:

Lynda smiled sweetly at Ms Snow. "Alone for now, but hope springs eternal. My invitation." She briefly displayed the card before returning it to her clutch. But soon she heard (and smelled) two familiar presences, and she turned to note the arrival of both Talya and Ace, which put her in a bit of an awkward position: did she reveal herself or maintain the facade? At the very least, she couldn't break cover in front of the staff, so she'd have to wait for a more private moment to do so. "Mr. Danger, what a pleasure! I was hoping someone from Danger Manor would make an appearance tonight." Her warm smile was something to behold.

The inevitable OOC thread!

GM Federal Plaza, City Center. Wednesday, August 10, 2016. 10:00 am. As hokey as he knew it was, Deputy Director Jack Spaulding had a soft spot for naval metaphors, a perhaps inevitable side effect of a life spent on the sea. His immaculate office on the 23rd floor of the Federal Building had an impressive view of City Center, and he liked to think of this office as the 'crow's nest' of the USS AEGIS, where he might spy a threat long before the rest of the ship was in danger. Of course, the nautical decor didn't help any, such as the model of a Los Angeles-class submarine on top of his bookcase, the turned brass desk lamp next to his computer monitor, or the print of the Battle of Mobile Bay on the wall. In truth, he still had the look of a captain about him, the pale blue eyes and distinguished steel-gray hair granting him an air of command. But Naval Intelligence was long behind him; now he scanned the horizon for an entirely different sort of threat... His phone chimed, and he swiveled away from the window to press the intercom button. "Yes, Sarah?" "Agent Black to see you, sir." "Excellent, send him in."

Lynn looked highly amused as Megan recalled their early encounters. "Yeeeaah, we kind of hated each other's guts at first, or at least I did; I was still in my highly judgmental teen phase, all scrappy and lower middle class, and I kind of saw Meg as the symbol of everything I hated." She covered her eyes and shook her head. "God, I was such a self-righteous little...well, 'brat' is the nice way of saying it." "At least you're not self-righteous anymore," Gretchen deadpanned. "Har har. Okay, so, food requests!" The changeling clapped her hands together. "We have burgers and brats and barbecued chicken for the carnivores, and we have veggie burgers for our herbivores, if any. Also cole slaw, baked beans and my mom's famous potato salad. But if there's something else you'd like, and it's available within a two hundred mile radius, it can be obtained!" She made a goofy finger wiggling gesture.

The young man grinned and nodded. "The secret is the ristretto shots; you only allow about half the amount of water through." He made a sort of popping gesture with his fingers in front of his mouth. "The flavor's more intense with short shots, but less bitter." Meanwhile Gretchen had come up behind Sam and poked him hard in the shoulder; it wasn't an angry poke, more like an affectionate schoolyard poke. "When you're done with your amazing spectacular orgasam drink, come on back." She tapped the temple of her glasses and smiled like the cat who swallowed the canary, then leaned in to whisper. "I can read Yiddish now."

Gretch smiled one of her crooked smiles. "She already knows. She said 'thank you thank you thank you a million zillion times', and implied you would be receiving copious gifts. I hope you like cake, because I sense a lot of them in your future." In response to Sam's question, she shrugged, twisted her ring and returned to her normal self. "Not really. I get the whole 'not wanting to die' part, because that's just human nature, but the other stuff..." And here she sighed and looked like she was about do something unpleasant, which she was: talking about herself. "I don't...have a lot of people in my life. And that's mostly on purpose, to be honest, because people are a source of constant disappointment. But some of it...isn't. Lots of people were taken from me at an early age, so I learned...to protect myself. With music, with...isolation. Life within the castle walls is just safer." Then Gretch began to pace a bit, and she found herself getting angry, but she wasn't sure why. She thrust an accusing finger down towards the roof. "But those things gave up everything to be pretty and perfect and popular, and none of it was real. It was all bull####, and those f###ing morons lapped it up, because they wanted to believe the lie." And now she was shaking with barely suppressed emotion. "All I have, after everthing thing life has thrown at me, is my honesty. My truth. My artistic integrity. That's the only thing holding all the pieces together." The young musician squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her hands for several seconds before releasing them with a gasp; when she spoke again, she sounded a bit more relaxed. "So no...I wasn't tempted..."

So is Grim supposed to trick Dagon into revealing the location of his heart while Shrike flys off to destroy it? How we find out the location of the heart is the one bit I'm unsure about.

A rented limo glided to a stop in front of the reopened hotspot, and an extremely attractive blonde in pearls and a strapless champagne gown poured out of it. 'Lynda Reynolds' was fairly tall, probably around five eight, and she strode forward with impressive confidence for someone wearing three inch heels. Her striking looks and timeless elegance suggested she couldn't be more at home in a place like this, and more than a few heads followed her panther-like entrance into the club. Which all made the whole thing more hysterical to Lynn Epstein, the middle-class daughter of a college physics professor and a former forklift driver who was hiding under all that (literal) glamour. You attend one high stakes poker game two years ago, and lo and behold, an invitation addressed to your pseudonym shows up in your mailbox! She'd had a very good time the last time she visited the High Steaks under its previous management, though the details were a bit hazy; definitely a few too many vodka martinis that night! It was fun to feel pretty and powerful and make a few pulses race every now and again, and to conjure up some spiffy new clothes and an impressive up-do to show off her graceful neck. Ms. Reynolds headed over to the cashier's cage to pay her entrance fee in crisp hundred dollar bills, keeping an eye out for both trouble and any familiar faces.

For the record, here's Grim's Knowledge: Behavioral Sciences check: 1d20+5=23 Wow! Well, it is her minor at FCU, and she was a Criminal Justice major at Freedom College before she transfered, so that makes a certain kind of sense.

I'll say Grim will take 20 on the two Gather Info checks and skip the Kn: Business altogether. Lynn knows both Talya and Ace fairly well, but she will be incognito! My guess is she'll make a game of trying to fool them, but totally cop to it if caught. If it's cool with folks, Lynn might utilize her mental link to converse with Gretchen, which might include Google searches and the like, but i don't see her sidekick making a physical appearance.

Okay, now I'm starting to think i need to make a Bedlam character again; curse your talent, Kaige!

The flight over had been surprisingly smooth, all things considered; Gretchen's control of her TK was quite precise, and her two 'partners' basically felt like giant invisible hands were holding them in placeas the masked heroine swiftly flew them over the city to their destination and deposited them gently on the roof. "Teleportation is for wimps," joked the Shrike with a wry grin. Peering over at the building in question, she nodded. "Looks like this is the place." Then she turned to Echo and cocked her head to one side. "How familiar do you need to be with a location to t-port into it safely? I've seen enough Star Trek to know how dangerous transporter accidents can be."

Since they've already seen her, she might as well just fly in and bop them. Unarmed Attack roll: 1d20+10=26 DC 25 Toughness save!

Hi all! So I'm looking to run a thread involving Handyman and Grim, and I was wondering if there are any well established AEGIS NPCs, especially in commad positions, that I might use as his superior?

Lance looked comedically crestfallen. "I knew it; you see a big fancy mocha, and you forget all about the plain old mug of coffee I just made for you." He sighed as he pulled two shots of espresso. "Y'know, I get it, I really do; espresso drinks are all sexy, exotic and Continental. A simple cuppa joe just can't compete." He was expertly making an elaborate drink of some kind as he continued to sigh and speak with mock despair in a bad French accent. "But zat is life, non? We try so 'ard to rize above ze crowd, only to die in ob-scur-a-tee! C'est la vie!" At last he winked as he served up a true caramel macchiato; not the appalling imposter churned out by Starbucks, but a tall luxurious cup of heaven that flowed down your throat like liquid bliss. "Save your travel mug for later; it'll still be good cold." - - - "So what are they like, your new powers? Anything super-cool? Though even if it was just the extra costume changes, that would be pretty awesome." Gretchen was still sitting on Lynn's lap as they passed the mocha between them; now they both had bits of whipped cream on their noses. "Too early to tell," the young barista said as she shook her head. "But it feels powerful. I think it was one hell of an upgrade."

The comment stung a little bit, but she understood where the officer was coming from; in a city famous for superheroes, perhaps the Freedom PD did get overshadowed a lot. Shrike started to head toward the giant hole Sam made, but then she stopped with one hand on the shattered masonry and turned back. "Um...I'm not going to patronize you with some sort of 'you're the real heroes' speech. I know those are a dime a dozen. But you are noticed. You are appreciated. Your job is a lot harder than mine." It was as much as she could muster in her awkward way, but at least she meant every word of it. She offered the officers a sort of half-wave, and then flew out into the night, finding Sam silhouetted against the skyline of the city. She landed gently beside her, knocking masonry dust off her costume. "We're good to go here."

Then 'Lynda Reynolds' may return! Lynn Epstein, bookstore owner, might seem a bit out of place

So yeah, her new partners were a little...odd, but everyone was very sincere about helping, which was good enough for Casey. Aquaria in particular seemed determined to prove herself to her teammates and the world, and was more than likely a little freaky under that suit, at least by human standards. "I try to be a model citizen, too, and it's not always easy," she offered Sea Devil with an encouraging smile. "But I swore an oath many years ago to help those in need and make the world a better place, so I do what I can every day." She shrugged. "I have my good days and bad days, but I always try, and I think that's what's most important." In response to the Doctor's query, she held up her hand again. "Well, I'm Miracle Girl; I can fly, and can lift a few tons and I'm pretty darn tough." Then she pointed at her eyes. "My eyes are pretty cool, too; I can see really far or really close-up, and even infrared. I can also hear radio frequencies, too. Oh, and I...can I borrow that?" She pointed at the dossier Deoxy was holding. "Thank you," she said with a sunny smile. "I just need it for two seconds." These words turned out to be entirely accurate as Casey moved like a blur, the pages flying at impossible speed as she read and reread the entire packet in the blink of an eye. When she was done, she closed the folder and let out her breath, which ruffled everyone's hair with its strength. "Wow, we really don't have a lot to go on, do we," she said as she handed the folder back to the doctor.

Okay, let's do a roll for Casey, just for fun. Knowledge: Technology: 1d20+4=10 Oh well, fairly lame; that's why we've got the doc with us! On the plus side, she csn use her Quickness to thoroughly read everything in the folder several times in the blink of an eye!

Grimalkin/Shrike (21) [Maxed] A Performance to Die For (3) Black Heart of Dagon (3) High Steaks (2) Hot Time, Summer in the City (2) I've Got A Golden Ticket (4) Late Night Out (1) Nothing Fancy, Just Hanging Out (2) Such A Cozy Room (1) The Box of Delights (3) Miracle Girl (13) Cold War Relics (1) Dark Dealings (2) Lights, Camera, Action! (6) The Alternative Revenue Job (4) GM (6) Operation Catscratch (6) All points to MG

Would characters be members under their own names? Lynn visited High Steaks once before, but she wasn't actually herself at the time.

For the record, Grimalkin has a website; it's mostly a place for people to submit tips and ask her random fan questions

Heading out to GenCon shortly, which means I'll be pretty busy until Sunday night. Might pop into chat once or twice, but posting will be minimal to none.