Heritage

GM Monday, September 1st, 12:03 AM The house on Osgood Avenue was dark; the streetlights in North Bay were soft white orbs made to look like Victorian gaslights, throwing much of the street and lawns into shadow. Since it was Labor Day weekend, there were still a few backyard parties going on, though they were mostly winding down; strings of colorful party lights bobbed up and down in the light breeze, and someone was playing Dave Mathews on their outdoor speakers. A few dogs barked from time to time, excited by the pockets of human activity.

After catching her breath, the tiny pixie sat with her legs dangling off the table listening to Robert speak; then there was a pfft and Grim returned to normal size. "So these various Dukes do not seem to be aware of each other. The one I boxed up said he needed your speed, while the one who brought us on was only aware of things slowing down." She locked her fingers together and started to pull back and forth. "It sounds like he's his own worst enemy, robbing Peter to pay Paul, or really Peter robbing Peter to pay back a different Peter. Or something. Maybe." Grim bounced off the table onto her feet, and swung her arms back and forth. "Alright, I did the coffee run, but I need to do something else. Ooh, should I go look for, like, mad scientist lab notes? And a Dutch person to translate them?"

So I'm considering reactivating Gossamer as a PL12; looking over >her old sheet, I think she should be fine, though she does have 6PP unspent. Is there anything I'm missing?

Back to School July 14th, 2014 Everything about FCU was intimidating; the campus, the intensity on the students' faces, the wastebaskets out on the Quad. Freedom College had been very laid-back and non-threatening by comparison. Lynn Epstein sat in the Undergraduate Advising department squirming in her chair, fighting the urge to run out of the office screaming. You wanted to do this, remember? You wanted to finish school and have that piece of paper in your hand, so your family can be proud of you, and then everyone can pretend that everything's still normal and nothing's changed. But of course, a lot had changed; she'd spend a lifetime away on another world, two if you counted the time she served on Mars. She'd fought and loved and lived and grieved, yet not a trace of it showed on her face. Well that wasn't technically true; the people who knew her best could see it in her eyes from time to time; her dad would just sort of stare for a second, then shake his head and apologize. Though her mom was the physicist, she'd had a lot more trouble wrapping her head around the changes in her daughter; Butch just shrugged his shoulders and said, 'She got old' and gave her a nudge and a playful wink. So now here she was, a mother, grandmother, heck even great-grandmother, a war veteran, a bounty hunter, a rancher and a grieving widow, and she was terrified by the teenagers around her. According to her New Jersey driver's license, Lynn had just turned twenty-six, so on paper she was already older than all of them, but like everyone in school on some level she wanted to seem hip and cool; was that even remotely possible at her age? Forget that you're a grandma; hell, a damn sexy grandma to be specific. You only missed out on three years of pop culture while you were gone, and in your heart you're still the same Jersey girl who made gagging noises during 'Twilight', who grew up watching Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel, and shopped at the outlet stores in Delaware. You belong on this planet and you have a right to educate yourself, and you've got all that Martian platinum to pay for it. You can have a career, go to school part-time and still fight crime, and dear God is that boy hot! Holy Cheez-Wiz, as Dad would say! It's not pedophilia if he's legal age, right? No, it's just very, very creepy. This was going to harder than she thought. "Ms Epstein?" Her head snapped up as she dropped out of her reverie. "Yes, hi, that's me!" "Hi, I'm Gwendolyn Carter; it's nice to meet you. Could you follow me, please?" Ms Carter was middle-aged, which meant Lynn had children older than she was (Stop it!); she lead the nervous transfer student back to her office and offered her a seat as she opened a manilla folder on her desk. "I'll be honest, Ms Epstein-" "Please, call me Lynn." "Alright, Lynn. As I was saying, I was somewhat surprised to see you wanted to transfer into our Undergraduate program; at your age, I would have thought you'd prefer our School of Continuing Education." "Well yeah, I'm not gonna lie, I thought about it, but the program I'm interested in, Hebrew and Judaic Studies, is only offered at the Undergrad level. And I only completed one semester at FC, so technically I am still a freshman, even at my advanced age." Lynn smiled a bit at her little joke. Ms Carter nodded and smiled. "Fair enough. A little more problematic is your late application; ordinarily, the deadline for transfer students was back in May." "I know, I was just-" How the hell to phrase this? "I was out of the country for several years, traveling with my husband; I was planning to go back to school, but then everything got crazy, and-" "However, I have received a letter of recommendation from one of our most distinguished alumni, Ms Elena Guerrero." The adviser pulled it out of the folder and put on her reading glasses, so she missed Lynn's completely gobsmacked expression. Elena? How did she- waitaminute, of course she knew! She must have 'seen' it. "In it, she speaks very favorably of your commitment to education, this city and your Jewish heritage; she makes a very convincing case that not only should you be admitted to FCU, but that you will enrich our institution with your presence." Ms Carter shrugged as she took off her glasses. "Ms Guerrero's name carries a lot of weight around this school, and not just because she's a very generous alumni; she's a hard woman to impress, and I mean that in the best possible way." "I, uh..." Ms Carter smiled. "Welcome to FCU, Ms Epstein."

"I am really beginning to hate this guy..." Grim dropped down into a crouch and eyed the crate critically; as quickly as she could, she dispelled the crate, snatched the crossbow and recreated the crate around the Duke. "Hmm. I need to figure out a better way to do that." She quickly traced a circle on the floor, which opened a hole in to the Vault, where she chucked the crossbow for safe keeping; a pinch of her fingers shut it again, and she dusted off her hands as she rose. "Okay, back to business!" With a whoosh of air, she shrunk back down into her Pixie form and flew back up to the counter-top, where she carefully picked up the ends of her bizarre coffee harness and hoisted the whole mess into the air. She wasn't as strong as she used to be in this form - she somehow lost her tiny strength over the years with all the changes she went through - but a lightly-laden tea tray was not beyond her capabilities. - - - "Hot stuff, comin' through!" Grim swooped back into the cellar with a loud thrum of her wings, the tea tray in its harness swinging wildly from side to side, but she never spilled a drop. She gently lowered it to a table next to Robert, and then collapsed dramatically next to it. "Whew, talk about a workout! By the way, I found another Duke in the kitchen; I left him asleep in a crate."

Grim folded her arms in annoyance as she stood on tiptoe to stare down the Duke through the hole. "Just be happy I don't run a garden hose in there and flush you out! You are a sick, selfish jerk who puts poison on crossbow bolts and sneaks up on people while they make their friends coffee; in other words, the lowest of the low!" She took a deep breath to regain her composure, then turned her attention back to her coffee delivery system; as she worked, she continued to speak to the captive Duke. "So how many more of you are there, or do you even know?" She conjured up a sort of harness she could slip under the silver tea tray that should allow her to safely fly her burden back to Velocity and her...boyfriend? Husband? No way they were just friends.

The faeling nodded as she looked off in the same direction. "Yeah, that looks like a good call; I can conjure up a lot of stuff to help out over there. Ramps and barriers and stuff." She sighed as she looked the speedster up and down. "It's just going to be faster if I go piggyback again, isn't it?" Grim shrugged, shrunk back down to tiny size and zipped back into Vel's backpack, from which a muffled cry could be heard. "'Fly like the wind, Bullseye!'"

Grim leaped in shock at the sudden arrival of this new, additional Duke; whatever was going wrong in this castle, it was doing so on a grand scale. Jeez, how many versions of this clown are there? His demeanor was casual, but the changeling detected a cold and calculating undertone beneath the surface, and she knew a line of patter when she heard one. And a good thing, too; she was able to twist out of the way when the bolt whizzed past, a bolt that also smelled of drugs or poison. "You know what, your Grace? You are really starting to make me not like Dutch people, and I'm pretty sure that's like a hate crime or something!" She danced around a bit, balanced on the balls of her feet as her eyes never left her pudgy adversary; suddenly she flung a hand out as she attempted to trap the Duke inside a large wooden crate, with a few small air holes drilled in, of course.

Create Object Ranged Attack! 1d20+29

Counter-Bluff! 1d20+20=27 In your face, Duke! Neener-neener-neener!

Initiative roll: 1d20+12=16 Wow that's a crappy roll for Grim! Guess she was really focused on making that coffee!

Notice check requested by Cape: 1d20+15=24 Gyuh, not the best, but hopefully good enough!

Grim shook her head in confusion; apparently she'd used a poor choice of words. "No, I meant-" Then she chuckled. "Y'know what, don't worry about it; I'll take care of it." In a flash she shrank down and and took to the air in a quest for coffee, following her sensitive nose; it took her a while, but she finally found the kitchen and all the tools she needed. She took her time, as Grim took her coffee very seriously...or at least she did before she drowned it with sugar and cream. Soon she had a tea tray bearing a fresh pot of coffee, a bowl of sugar cubes and a small pitcher of cream, as well as cups, saucers, spoons and folded linen napkins. The Jewish mother in her was deeply satisfied with her work, but then a thought hit as she looked back down the long hallway. "Waitaminute; how the hell am I gonna fly all this crap back?"

PIXIE DUST by Thevshi Okay, so ditching the Summon but keeping the fixed version of Teleport, so 1PP goes to the new AP, one goes to adding Selective to her base power (Create Object), and the last 1PP go into skills; also updated her fluff a bit with newly-revealed info.

Early request removed to avoid confusion. The one below is the one that matters.

Player Name: Heritage Character Name: Deep Freeze Power Level: 9/11 (150/169PP) Tradeoffs: None Unspent PP: 19 In Brief: Cryokinetic engineer wearing an armored suit of her own design. Alternate Identity: Ana Kristina Plonsky Identity: Public Birthplace: Flint, MI Occupation: Engineer Affiliations: Ship's mechanic aboard the Xeno. Family: Caroline Plonsky (mother), Jurek 'Jack' Plonsky (father) Description: Age: 28 (DoB: July 14, 1986) Gender: Female Height: 5'5" Weight: 128 lbs. Eyes: Ice blue Hair: White-blonde Ana is an attractive young woman with a number of unusual physical attributes; her skin is extremely pale and noticeably cool to the touch, her blonde hair is so light that it's practically translucent, and she's typically surrounded by an aura of cold, at least when she's outside her 'snowsuit'. Normally she dresses in dark colors and shades, such as black, charcoal gray, eggplant and deep maroon or burgundy. She's very self-conscious about her pale skin, so she tries to cover it up with sleeveless coveralls and long-sleeved tops; she has to be very comfortable with a person to wear a T-shirt or halter top in front of them. Normally she wears lightweight, non-slip steel-toed boots. Her white and black 'snowsuit' is an armored protective garment of her own design, a modification of the one she developed for NASA; Ana's custom suit is lighter, more durable and built from the ground up to work with her cryokinetic powers. The full head helmet is constructed so that it can automatically fold up into a storage area between the shoulder blades. History: Ana grew up in the economically depressed town of Flint, Michigan; her father was a former employee of General Motors, who currently works as a car mechanic, and her mother is a grade school teacher. From a very early age she was fascinated by how things worked; she loved to visit her father at work, where he would explain what he was working on to her. He also brought home pieces of junk that he found, like old toasters and VCRs, that she would take apart and put back together again. Both her parents encouraged young Ana in her studies and she did very well in school, though she was shy and didn't make friends easily. With money in short supply, her family did a lot of shopping at Goodwill or the dollar store to make ends meet. Once in high school, Ana threw herself into her studies, intent on getting an academic scholarship to MIT or Cal-Tech; though her grades were excellent, she was still unable to gain admissions to either school, so she settled on Kettering University in Flint, where she obtained dual B.S. degrees in industrial and mechanical engineering. By the time she graduated, her academic performance allowed her to apply for and receive a full scholarship to Cal-Tech's graduate program. While there, Ana's designs for lightweight, impact-resistant protective gear caught NASA's eye, and by the time she received her Master's she was working for the space agency full time. She even had the privilege of being selected to go up to the International Space Station as a mission specialist to monitor field trials; Ana trained vigorously for two years for her mission and was very excited for her first Soyuz flight. However tragedy struck aboard the ISS; due to a mathematical error and a series of unforeseen events, Ana and two crewmen became trapped in a damaged airlock after an EVA. Realizing the mistake had been her own, the young engineer advised her fellow astronauts on how to escape while she stayed behind to fix the problem, which endangered everyone in their section of the station. After several hours of work which was tensely monitored by Mission Control, Ana discovered there was no way safe out; in a final radio message, she calmly explained what she'd done wrong and how to avoid such disasters in the future. She praised the crew for all their hard work and professionalism, and was in the middle of saying good-bye to her parents when the airlock explosively decompressed, hurling Ana and her experimental suit out into the depth of space. The crew believed her to be dead, but while several portions of the suit were destroyed, including the communications and biometric systems, most of the suit remained intact. Knocked unconscious by the force of the blast, Ana drifted further and further from Earth as her suit gradually lost power and grew ever colder... But she did not die; instead Ana slipped into a deep cryogenic sleep, sustained in a near-death state by the suit's damaged power cells operating at a mere 1% efficiency. Ana would have died for sure if she hadn't been picked up several months later by the Xeno, a space yacht operated by Oskar Otto, better known as 'Starshot'; he used the ship's infirmary to slowly revive her, which took several days. He quickly discovered her mutated body needed to stay below freezing or she would soon die! By the time she was conscious, it had been almost a year since the accident. Back on Earth, Ana was hailed as a hero; her junior high school is now named after her, Kettering now offers the Ana Plonsky Engineering Scholarship, and her parents are starting a new life thanks to the generous donations of the American people. On some level, Ana feels she's done more good dead than alive, at least back home. But now she has a new life in space; just think what she can accomplish out here! Personality & Motivation: Prior to her transformation, Anna was a fairly normal young woman, if a bit guarded; nowadays, the walls are definitely up. She doesn't make friends easily, but is fiercely devoted to them once the bond is created. Her sense of humor is fairly dark and sarcastic, and she's more likely to tease someone she likes than say it outright. She enjoys reading (mostly books on scientific subjects), tinkering, watching old movies and a spirited game of ping-pong. Powers & Tactics: Physically Ana is not very imposing, which is why she typically wears her snowsuit if she thinks there's going to be trouble; it allows her to take some fairly solid hits without fear of injury so she can focus on taking down her enemies. Her cryokinesis gives her several ways to drop a foe, trapping them in ice or striking them with icy blasts being the two most common. She can also whip up a localized ice storm to blind and confuse large groups of assailants. If Ana is forced fight outside her armor, she often creates cover with her cryokinesis to offer some protection while she continues with her ranged attacks or unleashes her arctic fury as a storm. She also uses her durable ice to create objects for casual use, such as furniture or backup tools; since cold has no affect on her, using these items is not a problem. Complications: "I thought you were dead!": As far as everyone on Earth is concerned, Ana died during the ISS accident; she has done little to challenge this version of events. The Big Chill: Her altered physiology doesn't make close personal relationships impossible, but it does make them much more challenging. "I'll have the salad.": Ana can no longer consume hot food or beverages; she does, however, get very creative with salads, sandwiches and cold soups, and eats lots and lots of leftovers. Low Battery Warning: While her snowsuit can function independently for days of moderate use, the internal batteries do not last forever; a poorly-timed power outage could be deadly. Abilities: 0 + 4 + 0 + 10 + 4 + 0 = 18PP Strength: 10 (+0) Dexterity: 14 (+2) Constitution: 10 (+0) Intelligence: 20 (+5) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 10 (+0) Combat: 6 + 16 = 22PP Initiative: +2 Attack: 3, Melee +3, Ranged +5, Cryokinesis +9 Grapple: +4 Defense: 8, 4 Flat-footed Knockback: -8 (-0 without Suit) Saving Throws: 6 + 6 + 6 = 18PP Toughness: +10 (+0 Con, +10 Protection), +0 without suit (+0 Con) Fortitude +6 (+0 Con, +6) Reflex +8 (+2 Dex, +6) Will +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 92R = 23PP Bluff 0 (+0, +4 w/Attractive) Computers 10 (+15) Craft (Electrical) 14 (+19) Craft (Mechanical) 14 (+19) Craft (Structural) 10 (+15) Diplomacy 0 (+0, +4 w/Attractive) Disable Device 5 (+10) Drive 3 (+5) Investigate 5 (+10) Knowledge (Eidetic Memory) 0 (+5) Knowledge (Galactic Lore) 5 (+10) Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 5 (+10) Knowledge (Technology) 10 (+15) Languages 2 (Galstandard, Polish) Medicine 3 (+5) Notice 3 (+5) Pilot 3 (+5) Feats: 6PP Attack Specialization 2 (Cryokinesis) Attractive Eidetic Memory Improvised Tools Inventor Powers: 31 + 6 + 36 = 72PP Cryokinesis 14 (28PP Array, Feats: Alternate Powers 3) Base Power: Create Object 8 (8 10-foot cubes, Toughness +8, Lifting Strength 40 [Heavy Load: 3 tons], Extras: Duration [Continuous], Feats: Precise, Progression 2, Subtle) [28PP] AP: Blast 9 (Extras: Penetrating 6, PF: Improved Critical 2, Precise) [1PP] AP: Environment Control 6 (Cold 2, Hamper Movement 2, 250 foot radius, Extra: Selective Attack, PF: Precise, Flaws: Range [Touch]) [1PP] AP: Snare 9 (PF: Obscure Sense 5 [All Senses], Reversible) [1PP] Immunity 6 (Cold Damage, Cold Environment)[6PP] 'Snowsuit' (Device 9 [45PP], Removable) [36PP] Feature 5 (Buys off Weakness) [5PP] Flight 3 (50 mph) [6PP] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9PP] Protection 10 (Impervious 6)[16PP] Radio Communication 4 (Range: 1 mile) [4PP] Super-Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [Limited: In Zero-G only ][1PP] Super-Senses 3 (Direction Sense, Distance Sense, Radio, Time Sense) [4PP] Drawbacks: (-4) + (-5) = -9PP Vulnerability (Heat, Frequency: Common, Intensity: Major [+100% DC]) [-4PP] Weakness (Heat, Frequency: Common, Intensity: Major, -1 drain all abilities per 5 minutes [50 rounds]) [-5PP] DC Block ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 15 Tough Damage Blast Ranged DC 24 Tough Damage Snare Ranged DC 24 Reflex Snare Abilities 18 + Combat 22 + Saving Throws 18 + Skills 23 + Feats 6 + Powers 72 - Drawbacks 9 = 150/169 Power Points

GM He laughed and shook his head. "Nah, I've lived here for years. Not full-time, of course; work keeps me out of town most of the year." The Man indicated the house they'd stopped in front of, a big ugly McMansion from the look of it. "This is just a rental; I don't really own anything, except my tools. You go in there, you'd never know anyone lived there; no pictures, no books, no TV." He grinned, his teeth now free of red thanks to her gum. "Minimalist, right? Like the Japanese, or a Spartan warrior." He casually reached into his suit and pulled out his money clip, but then he winced with embarrassment. "Ah, crap." The money in the clip was sticky and brown with rapidly-drying blood; this prompted him to began digging around in his pants pockets. "Sorry about that; I think I've got a loose fifty in here somewhere..."

GM The Man stopped chewing his gum, his small pale blue eyes focused like a pair of lasers as he scrutinized Noemi's face. After almost a minute, he swallowed his gum. "That's a heck of an accusation to be throwing around, kid." He put a gloved hand over his chest. "Have I been anything but respectful to you? Have I laid a finger on so much as a hair on your head? No." He sighed as he rubbed a hand over his eyes. "We were having a nice, pleasant business transaction, and then you had to start saying hurtful things." He placed both of his massive hands on his knees and looked at the blonde with a mixture of disappointment and pity. "How long have you been driving this cab around Freedom? I'm thinking you must be new; am I right?"

GM "Oh, great, thanks!" The Man eagerly caught the package of Trident and fumbled to open it with his gloved hands; as he did, he shrugged and chuckled as he looked mock-bashful. "Hey, I never said I was normal, did I?" Finally he took off his gloves with a grunt of frustration, which revealed a meaty pair of mitts with countless scars on the knuckles and fingers. He popped three pieces of Wintergreen into his mouth, then stuffed the gum and loose wrappers back into his suit pocket before slipping his gloves back on. "You're alright, kid," he said as he noisily chewed. "You're alright." A quick scan of his body revealed a number of disturbing things. Though his skeleton appeared to be normal, it showed evidence of dozens of healed fractures on nearly every major bone: femurs, radii and ulnae, collarbones, ribs, pelvis, skull, nose, eye sockets, pretty much everywhere. They suggested a lifetime of beatings, falls and probably a few automobile collisions. There were several dull gray lumps dotting his torso as well, more than likely bullets stuck in non-vital areas. as well as a small piece of a broken knife blade lodged in his sternum, mere centimeters from his heart. And lastly, he was simply covered in weapons; no guns, but three knives, a pair of brass knuckles, a collapsible baton up one sleeve and a garrote wire up the other. This man was literally death incarnate. "Ah, I've always been a tough guy, you know? I can take care of myself." He sighed in contentment as he enjoyed his gum. "That right on Osgood is coming up."

The scientific stuff largely went over Grim's head, which she was scratching pretty vigorously at the moment. "Chronal experiments; as in possibly time travel?" She looked back at the drugged version of the Duke, who was starting to come around. "Maybe the more sinister version of the Duke is from the future, or an alternate timeline?" Robert's grogginess concerned her; Grim knew from personal experience how impaired her brain was when she was groggy. "Can we get him some coffee or tea or espresso or something? Dude's making me sleepy!" Then she called over to the Duke. "We're working on the problem, your Grace! By the way, what kind of experiments were you working on before everything started to slow down?"

"Okay, I'll be right out." A small head with spiky brown hair and pointed ears poked out from under the flap; Grim squinted her eyes into the powerful wind whipping past. "Oh my God, that's strong! I might be grounded while I'm down here!" Grabbing the edge of the pack, the tiny fae flipped herself out and returned to normal size in one smooth motion, dropping into a crouch as she landed; she wore a short-sleeved version of her normal costume, with matching fingerless gloves, shorts and light hiking boots for better traction. Her short hair flew around her face in the unrelenting spray. "So do we need to check in with the local Red Cross office or something? Relief work like this is kinda new for me, at least back here on planet Earth."

Looks like Grim and Velocity will soon be making an appearance!

GM As her fare carefully got back in the cab, moving a little stiffly, he laughed and shook his head. "I didn't dig it out of my chest; that's disgusting! I just coughed it up into my hanky." He wiped his mouth with said handkerchief, leaning forward slightly to check himself in the rear view mirror. "Okay, I think I got it all. Wait, missed a spot." The Man dabbed at the corner of his mouth like he just finished off a plate of ribs. "There we go." Tucking the stained handkerchief back into his suit, he cleared his throat politely. "I hate to ask, but do you have any gum? I've got to get the rusty penny taste out of my mouth."

Actually I just got lazy there; I talked to Cape, and he's fine with the idea that Starshot found her. I will also add more detail as to why she hasn't gone back.

Okay, other than her DC Block, I think Ana is ready for review!