Heritage
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Casey looked around blearily, then suddenly winced in pain as she rexperienced of her injuries; she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt real pain. "Terrifica? What are you doing here?" She groggily swiveled her eyes around until she saw the prone form of the Latino hero; that instantly woke her up. "El Hurican! Is he okay?" She struggled to her feet then toppled, catching herself on one knee; what ever Skye Horne had done to her, it packed quite a wallop. Wait, that's right! "Skye Horne was here; she seemed to be...working with the lions?" The teen heroine squinted and shook her head. "But they weren't real! They popped into clouds if you hit them hard enough. And Skye was the one who put me to sleep! None of this makes any sense..." Saying it out loud, it even sounded ridiculous to her, but she knew it was somehow all true.
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http://orokos.com/roll/365715 Attack roll: 1d20+8=9 What sacrifice to the Gods of Chance must I make so that Orokos stops HATING me DC 23 Toughness save on the off-chance that hits.
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It took a while, but Gretchen had finally managed to force the door open; she'd tried to do it as quietlyas she could and not just yank it off its hinges, but there had still been a sharp, audible 'crack' when it gave. She then turned to Eismann, took the lightning thing and murmured, "Stay in here until I know what's going on." Then she pulled up the hood of her cloak and faded from view. Stepping out into the hallway gave her a peculiar feeling of deja vu, but not from her own life; no, she was having flashbacks to Half-Life, System Shock 2 and about a dozen other PC games that began with a similar sense of wrongness. But of course, this was no game; this was happening right now. She closed the door as quietly as she could, and craned her neck to try to get a better look down the hallway, then froze; the sounds of savage feasting reached her ears, and her heart skipped a beat. Then he... it...came down the hallway. Shrike held her breath, suddenly very aware of the smell of shampoo, body wash and antiperspirant. The look it gave her when it knew she was near... Hello, poppet. Almost without thinking, her left hand shot up and the Ring of Power fired at point blank range, with a blinding red flash and distinctive 'bra-Kow!'
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The store owner smiled and raised a finger. "First off, it's Lynn, always Lynn. Second, let me worry about what's best for my store; you'd be surprised what I've weathered in my lifetime. And third-" She got up from her desk, came around it and then sat on its edge. "You deserve what everyone who makes a mistake deserves: a second chance. You screwed up, got caught and did your time; you're a free man now. And all too often, people in this country forget that. They choose to smear someone's life with a permanent stain because they got desperate and did something dumb once, and now they're never allowed to forget it." She shrugged. "I made...so many mistakes when I was young; I hurt people and disrespected their property. But because people had faith in me, I was able to turn it around, and now I help people in the same situation. It's what I do; well, that and sell books, obviously." And then Lynn leaned forward and lowered her voice slightly. "And if you keep your nose clean, check in with your parole officer, and Gretchen says you're doing a good job? Then we can talk about next steps, and you maybe giving a little something back to this city, okay?" She winked; what exactly did that mean? Gretchen did the 'I'm watching you' thing with two fingers, and smiled a half-smile; it somehow managed to suggest both encouragement and 'watch your ass' at the same time.
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Lynn actually laughed out loud at that. "Wow, Set? That's the Egyptian god-slash-goddess of the Twittersphere, right? I think Gretchen showed me some YouTube clips of her...him, whatever; both aspects of the Divine Flirty One." She shook her head. "Boy, if you ever have any daughters, Jack would become every teenage boy's nightmare; this voice coming out of nowhere in the middle of the night-" She cupped her hands over her mouth and lowered her voice into a fair imitation of Avenger's sepulcharal tones. "'Zachary Ferguson! Never return to the house of the Farettis again!' Then the poor kid wets his bed..." She laughed again. "Actually, I'd pay good money to see that."
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Grim frowned as she tried to make sense of what Nikki said. "So our physical bodies stay here, while our minds are projected into a set of Merges? That's new. Will we have access to our powers and abilities over there? I mean, I'll go either way, I just want to know what tools we'll have to use." - - - - Gretchen accepted the hand up, then looked around as she dusted herself off; noting the elevator doors, she sighed. "Oh great, we're in the Overlook Hotel. Yaaaay." She clapped her hands with mock-enthusiasm; the funny thing was, she was actually too much in shock to be afraid. "Tell me you at least nailed that bastard the Duke. That at least it was all worth it."
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The lovely young brunette laughed, and the air seemed to ripple with her mirth. "For right now, nothing, though you look like you could use some more water." She refilled his glass as she sent a message to Gretchen. - Hey, you! Can you come in here for a sec? - - Please tell me you're not hiring him, too. - - Not exactly; you'll see. - A few moments later, Gretchen came into the office quite unannounced (at least as far as Sam knew), where she leaned up against the door, crossed her arms and scowled. "This had better be good." "Oh it is, it is!" Lynn turned to the bewildered ex-convict. "Mr. Steiner, how would you like to help my assistant Gretchen identify, itemize and cataloge everything in my great-grandfather's collection? This would include all the props, costumes, books and mysterious curios he picked up in his travels. It would only be part-time, maybe ten to fifteen hours a week, and you'd have to do exactly as Gretchen says, but I could offer you...say twenty bucks an hour as a contractor? No benefits, strictly 1099." Gretchen's eyes first widened, then narrowed as she scrutinized her potential 'assistant'. "Interesting..."
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A quick check of the door revealed it was indeed sealed shut; they were good and trapped. Gretchen tilted her head to one side, her intense scrutiny turned open the stubborn portal as herdark blue eyes dart thus way and that. At long last, she nodded and sighed. "Well, then." Stepping up to the door, she held up both hands, slighly cupped and facing the door; she focused her will on it, imaging a giant crowbar prying it open as her eyes narrowed with concentration. "This might take a minute..."
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http://orokos.com/roll/365122 Disable Device check: 1d20+10=11 Really, Orokos? Really?
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Dr Gerhard Eismann had three doctorates from distinguished European universities: Clinical Psychology from Vienna, Anthroplogy from Cambridge, and Theology from Trinity College Dublin. His office was small and cozy, and felt like it it had been transorted intact from one of his alma maters. Eismann was in his 60s but still vital, and full of curiosuity about all things under then sun, but his specialty was the mystical and arcane. It felt weird being in what was essentially a shrink's office as the Shrike; Gretchen wasn't a huge fan of them in general, but being in this public place in broad daylight in her mask, cloak and leathers was decidely odd. Still, it was probably the right thing to do. She hunched forward in her chair slightly, sitting on her gloved hands as Dr. Eismann studied her through some sort of optical apparatus made of crystal and brass. "And how long have you been hearing these voices, Miss Shrike?" His soft German accent gave his voice a musical quality. "Uh, they started...a month or so ago, I guess? At first, it was sort of like mental static; I didn't recognize them as words for a while." "Mmm-hmm. And what did these voices say?" "That I hadn't yet met my potential. That I could be so much more if I just opened myself to them." "And who is 'them'?" She held up her left hand to show her ring, and then indicated her face with a vauge wave. "The Gifts; the Ring, the Helm and Cloak." She grinned a humorless, lopsided grin as she fiddled with the aforementioned ring. "I thought I was going crazy." "Well, I have some good news for you: I don't think you're going crazy." He smiled and reached out to gently tap the ruby in the middle of her hawk-like mask. "These three items in your posession do indeed appear to contain spirts of some kind; they are, in a very real sense, alive." "Greaaat," Gretchen murmured to herself.
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The changeling nodded as she conjured up a stick to gently whack the trees as she passed by them. "It is, yeah; the hard part is when you wake up from a dream of home, surrounded by your family, but then you're still here. The idea that that life is starting to feel unreal, like I never had those kids or a husband. I'm a creature of two worlds now, not really fitting a hundred percent in either one." She covered her face and groaned. "Urrrgh! You know what, let's change the subject." She turned to Taylor and smiled, doing her best to chase the clouds away. "How's work? Done anything cool since I last saw you?"
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The message was quite small, written in thermally-reactive ink, and placed on the roof of the Claremont dorms; it could only have been left for Miracle Girl by Terrifica. Just to be on the safe side, she scanned the meeting site from the air as she approached; sure enough, there was the woman who summoned her, looking bad to the bone on her cycle. But there was also a huge lumbering beast! Casey's hands clenched into fists as she prepared to drop between the two, but then she caught herself. Don't rush to judgement, Case; think it through. The chances of such a creature arriving at the same intersection as Terrifica by coincidence were astronomical; that meant it was either the bad guy they sought or the mega-genius summoned it as well. It was slinking about and acting cautiously, not the usual MO for something of that size, which suggested intelligence and purpose. So maybe some respectful treatment was in order. Miracle Girl gently landed a few steps away from the Terrifi-cycle and gave the older woman a quick smile and a nod as she approached. "Good to see you again, Terrifica." She inclined her head in Leviathan's direction. "Are we expecting company?"
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Lynn's expression became rather pained as Samuel described his recent financial troubles; she'd had a feeling this might be the case. At his suggestion of a new stage name, she shrugged. "That might not be a bad idea; to be honest, and this might not appeal to you, you might want to take your act in another direction. Like maybe wearing a mask or makeup, or introducing elements of mime. In the Golden Age of Conjuring, there were quite a few professionals who didn't speak a word." Another thought occurred to her, and she rested her chin in her hand and studied the down-on-his-luck magician for what seemed like an eternity, her brow slightly furrowed; at one point she sat up and cryptically looked over her shoulder at the bookcase behind her for several seconds. At length, she finally spoke, albeit with some hesitation. "An idea has come to me...of a way I might be able to help you; I think you might even like it. But it would require...a great deal of trust, on both our parts." She leaned forward again, those dark beautiful eyes pinning Sam to his chair like daggers. "Would you help me make the world a better place?" It did not appear to be an offer she made lightly.
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I think next char edit I'm going to add ASL and Morse code as languages
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It's as EP says; Miracle Girl is far from a household name, but she's starting to get a bit of a rep. In fact, I should do a Reputation table for her! Her most public display of heroism was helping two other flying heroes (El Hurican and Seahawk) rescue an airplane from super-powered hostage takers a few months ago, though she's had a few other adventures. There would also be the occasional news item about her helping people, typically outside school hours (evenings and weekends) if you're good at spotting patterns. Basically she'd be known to be a pretty blonde teen super who flies and is super-strong. I think Terrifica knows about her super-eye sight and radio hearing, so a message on a rooftop or some sort easily diciphered broadcast would probably work to contact her.
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Considering that Casey's taken a bit of a beating, I'd be willing to wrap it up.
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Lynn nodded in shared understanding as Samuel spoke; this was truly a man who'd see both faces of magic, the ecstatic highs and the terrifying lows. Magic touched you in a way that 'mundanes' would never fathom, which was probably for the best. When he finished his emotional discourse, she waved her hand and giggled. "Hey, no, it's fine; I'm minoring in psych at FCU! I'm fully equipped to rub my jaw thoughtfully and say 'And how does that make you feel?' every five minutes." But then her tone became more serious. "Uh, forgive me for asking, but what are you doing for money right now? I know having trouble finding work after your release is a leading cause of recidivism, and I hate to see anyone caught in that trap."
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The shopkeeper sighed and shook her head. "Nothing of the sort." She gestured towards the recently-vacated chair. "Mr. Steiner...Samuel...please, take a seat. We have very important matters to discuss." Once the former magician was once again seated, Lynn leaned forward again, but this time her expression was open and accepting; truly her moods seemed to flow into one another like ripples on a pond. "I like to think of myself as a good judge of character; I'm frequently wrong, but I still look to see the best in people. The shame and profound regret I saw on your face just now told me more about your abortive criminal career than I could ever learn by talking to your parole officer." She waved her hand, and a crystal decanter filled with ice water and two matching glasses suddenly appeared on her desk. This was not misdirection or a clever mechanical trick; Sam would've spotted the apparatus instantly. No, this was something forming in thin air out of nothing, though delicate trails of vapor were visible rising from the newly-created objects. Lynn poured them both a glass of ice water, slices of lemon tumbling in the decanter, and placed one directly in front of Sam. "Now," she said, with a twinkle in her eye. "Tell me about magic."
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Not sure if sidekicks are acceptable, but I'll throw in the Shrike on the off-chance it's cool
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I'll accept the Daze.
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Okay, she can live with a third bruise. Oh wait, I forgot to add (or rather subtract) the effect of the earlier Bruised levels! So that's actually a 19
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Noticing the funereal mood she'd inadvertently thrown over the proceedings, their hostess looked somewhat alarmed and reached out a hand towards Sam. "Hey, no, don't be sorry; Bill's been gone for ten years for me. We had an amazing life together, raised a family, helped win a war on Mars...I don't regret any of it! Admittedly, coming back's been a bit of an adjustment, but-" "Did you say something incredibly depressing while I was gone?" Gretchen had returned, and stood with one hand on her hip as she narrowed her eyes at her boss. Lynn began to poke at her food. "Um...maybe?" The younger woman shook her head as she returned to her seat. "Let me guess: 'Oh, I'm so old! No one understands! The most important thing is family!'" The changeling laughed despite looking rather offended. "Hey, I do not sound like that!" "Yeah, you kinda do." She reached over to place a flash drive in front of Miras; it was wrapped in gray duct tape and marked 'Da Jamz' in crisp, angular Sharpie. "There's fifteen tracks, some complete, others in process. MP3s, so not the best quality, but still." She shrugged. "Have a listen, pass it on, whatever." Apparently the decision to share a bit of herself improved her appetite, because she began to eat with gusto, although she still didn't make much eye contact with anyone. This also seemed to lighten Lynn's mood, and she grinned with excitement. "Oh, did you include The Burning Wood? That one's so cool!" "Yes, that is on there; all five movements." Just a hint of a proud smirk touched her lips. Then she flicked her eyes at her fellow musician. "What are you working on?"
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Too bad Lynn was too worried about her employee's safety to enjoy the truly amazing sights around them; maybe once things were settled, she'd have the time to appreciate them. The changeling helped herself to a cup of the coffee, but one sip confirmed that it was for much more serious coffee drinkers than herself; waving her hand discretely over her cup, she polluted it with her usual mix of cream and way too much sugar. Finding it much more to her taste, she took the offered seat. "I'm glad to hear Gretch is okay; right now, she's my primary concern. What do you mean by 'something similar to what the Duke did'? Is it not possible for us to travel through the mirror directly?"
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"Then follow me..." The smiling shopkeeper led Samuel towards her office near the back of the store; once inside, she closed the door behind them. The room was decent sized, the the large number of bookshelves crammed with books and odd nick-knacks made it seem smaller. It was dominated by a large old desk, behind with was high backed leather swivel chair, though there were two inviting leather chairs for guests. "Please, have a seat," Lynn said as she moved to her chair. "Help yourself to some candy." The well-stocked candy dish wasn't the only thing on the desk; there were also a computer monitor, keyboard and green banker's lamp as well. The desk and chair should have dwarfed the elfin brunette, yet the strength of her presence was in no way diminished. Above and behind her head, what looked like two vintage firearms were mounted in a frame, one a lever action rifle, the other a revolver of some kind; both were ornate and looked unfamiliar to anyone who grew up on cowboy movies. "So yes, I would love to give you an opportunity to look over Al-Kazar's things, Mr Steiner, but first I have a question for you." She suddenly leaned forward and placed her palms flat on her desk; the alluring quality about her seemed to vanish, leaving her stern, forceful and direct. "What exactly brings Presto the Preposterous into my shop?"
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http://orokos.com/roll/363280 Oh man, that's a 21; even though that's missing by less than five, I'm guessing that will mess me up with a crit? If need be, I will blow my last HP on a reroll.
