Heritage

Sadly Moira got an emergency voicemail from the pub and had to leave after the first act; she kissed Estelle goodbye and promised to call her later. So it was a very crestfallen Gossamer who watched the curtain rise on Act 2, her chin glumly resting on her folded arms as she peered over the edge of the railing. Oh well, at least she seemed to enjoy as much as she was able to see. However it wasn't long before things seemed to be going awry onstage; an errant sandbag lead to Médée's rapid departure from the stage, but there was no smoke or trapdoors involved. Estelle sat bolt upright, then grabbed her opera glasses. That was not superlative stagecraft; that was teleportation! Through her glasses she saw some bizarre sort of struggle going on between the lead soprano and a young stagehand, in full view of the audience. Clearly something was wrong, but she wasn't sure which side she should be rooting for yet. With a heavy sigh, she set aside the glasses and slipped off her shoes. Looks like I'm going to be on the clock after all tonight. :roll: Like a volcano erupting in slow motion, her hairdo unfurled, the various pieces of jewelry deposited in Moira's empty chair. Once it was floating freely about her head, she scooped up the pile of silver and diamonds, popped the rhinestone faceplate off her armband, and handed them all to the stunned Stephan just outside the booth. "Hold these for me, will you?" And with that, the barefoot Dr. De Havilland jumped to the edge of the box, wrapped a thick golden tentacle around the railing, and gently lowered herself to the floor below.

Even though I originally said I wanted to be on the inside team, I have no problem staying outside if that works better for everyone else.

Oh man, now I feel all icky! :(

I'm assuming you'll want a Bluff check for this line of bull Grim's spinning; she's got 15 ranks of Bluff plus +10 for her current Charisma plus Skill Mastery, for a total of Auto 35.

Perched upon the countertop, Chica!Grim rolled her eyes at the student’s antics, but seemed happy to let him hold her slender ankle for a bit longer as he finished his ‘examination’. Wanna bet Colt sees this through his super-scope? Guess I owe him dinner and a back massage after this, at the very least. Suddenly she sat up straight once the other boy’s comment sunk in. Hot damn! She fervently took the ‘med student’s’ hand, a pleading look in her big brown eyes. "" :(

Oh great, the crowd is turning into jerks. :roll: Thanking the officer for his time, Grim made her way towards the Channel 3 Action News van, trailing vapor as she went; as she moved, she grew nearly a foot taller, with broad shoulders and long legs which carried her with confidant strides to the vehicle. Deftly leaping to the van's roof, she raised a conjured megaphone (the vintage Rudy Valle style) to her lips and addressed the crowd in a ringing voice as her clear blue eyes scanned the assembled faces with a steady gaze. "Ladies and Gentlemen of Freedom City! I can assure you that the management of the Luxury has not created this dome as publicity stunt! This is a very real crisis situation, and for your own safety you need to step back and let your city's police and superheroes resolve the situation! Thank you!" Then she noticed a strange-looking man in huge billowy cloak standing to her right. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there! I'm Grimalkin of the Interceptors." Holding the megaphone in her off-hand, she offered him a very firm handshake.

Okay, Grim is using her Glamour power to enhance her Charisma up to 32 to boost her Diplomacy check to hopefully try and sway the crowd. She has Skill Mastery, but I'm actually gonna shoot for the moon here. Diplo check: 1d20+16=23 Okay, blow HP for reroll. Diplo reroll: 1d20+16=35. There we go!

Notice check: 1d20+6=26. Woo-hoo, way to go, Dr D! :geek:

Lynn sputtered, giggled and squealed as Colt gave her a rather thorough cleaning, and happily accepted the kiss that was offered. Then she caught a glimpse of the small red box on the counter, and the color suddenly left her cheeks. She pointed at it with a trembling finger. "Is that..." :shock: The changeling approached the tiny box on unsteady feet, and gingerly picked it up as though it might explode; she was about to peek inside it when she spun about on her heels to face Colt, and for some reason her expression was not quite as joyful as the cowboy might have expected. Clutching the box tightly to her chest, the shapeshifter spoke with great difficulty. "Oh God...oh God...I mean, I knew this day would come, or at least I hoped it would, but I wasn't..." She swallowed nervously. "Colt, I, uh, I'm fairly sure you're about to ask me a pretty important question, but before I answer it or you even ask it, we have to talk about some things. Something I did, and some things I don't do anymore." She indicated the chairs around the table. "You might want to sit down, honey." :(

I love this idea! I'd love Grim to be involved, possibly dragging Colt along (if I can convince Quote )

Sitting on a stool in the Brownstone's kitchen, Lynn munched on a giant bowl of 'Grimocha Crunch' as she read the paper wearing colorful Scooby-Doo jammies. She no longer had to eat these days, but from time to time she'd conjure up food for the heck of it, often putting her own unique spin on the food item; her current shtick was breakfast cereals, including such popular brands as 'Colt Crispies', 'Jack of All Grains', 'Fulcrum Flakes' and 'Dynam-Os'. Her teammates prayed the phase would be short-lived. Bored with the comics page, the changeling set the paper aside and switched on the small white TV on the counter, and suddenly sat up straight; there was something very bad and dome-shaped going on down at the Boardwalk. Hopping off the stool, she dismissed her glamoured breakfast with a wave of her hand, the cereal box with her own beaming face melting away into mist as she flew upstairs in pixie form to take a very fast (and rather torrential, at her current size) shower. Colt was still asleep (aww!), but she could always call him or the rest of the team if the situation was clearly out of her league; she conjured up a note explaining her destination and left it on the dresser, then landed on her lover's forehead to kneel down and plant a miniature kiss before zooming out the window. - - - - - - Once over the afflicted area, Grim dropped out of the sky and resumed her normal proportions and full costume next to a somewhat bewildered-looking older police office, who for some reason had a rope tied around his waist :? "Good morning, officer!" She stared up at the massive red phenomenon, shielding her eyes from the morning sun. "Wow, that's even weird by Freedom's standards! So, what's the scoop? I'm Grimalkin, by the way, from the Interceptors." She held out a fingerless-gloved hand. "Pleased to meetcha."

Grim is using her Emotion Control 14 (Extras: Area, Flaws: Limited [Fear], Sense-Dependent [Vision]) (technically it might be lower at the time of this thread), but she is dialing the effect way down. She just wants to give Eli a little scare (which might discourage Mister Grabbyhands for a little bit...maybe :roll: ), not leave him on the floor in a fetal ball. Shaen suggested a few ways to do this in the chat: After that, she's using Extra Effort (without spending an HP, for dramatic impact afterwords) to stunt an AP off of Morph to allow her to do fuzzy angimals. Faeries are fun, kids! :twisted:

Grim looked very thoughtful as she lightly stroked a finger across her lower lip. "Yeah, I guess you're right, hon. Also there are things I can do that I don't use very often, and I really don't push myself in the powers area the way I've seen Jack and some other folks do. Hmm..." She started to pace a small circle as she tossed off odd facts about her abilities. "Okay, for starters, raise your hand if you knew I could speak any human language, with perfect fluency and no accent. Show of hands." She looked around and nodded. "Yep, gift o' me faerie nature, it seems. This means I could easily infiltrate say the Russian mafiya or the Yakuza...as long as I don't have to read anything, because that I can't do." She stopped and faced the others, legs slightly spread with her hands on her hips, a mischievous smile on her face. "Now I know this isn't going to work on all of you, or maybe even most of you, but I kinda hope I can at least get Eli on this one: I do a killer Beetlejuice impression." She closed her eyes for a second, and then suddenly her entire face split down the middle, the flesh peeling back to expose a horrific twisted skull-like visage beneath, her bulging blood-red eyes floating in their pus-filled sockets. The terrifying vision lasts for only a few seconds before her head snaps back and returns to its normal lovely configuration. Grim sighs contentedly. "There, much nicer, right? I do not bust that move out nearly enough, which is a darn shame, really." For a moment she becomes quiet; arms folded, chewing on her lower lip and tapping her foot, she is clearly trying to come to a decision. At length, she nods a few times and starts to do a few stretches. "Okay, I was talking about pushing myself earlier, and how I really don't do that very much; I tend to stay in my comfort zone and sort of prefect my craft in those areas. But you're right, Colt, I don't give my glamour enough credit. So I want to try something I've never done before, and see if I can do it." She stood once again before the group, feet primly together, arms by her sides. The changeling took a deep breath and held it for several seconds before dropping down on all fours, whereupon she transformed in blur of mist into a sleek and powerful black panther! Flicking her tail this way and that, PantherGrim paced the floor, weaving herself between the legs of her startled teammates before she reclined majestically on her side and became Lynn Epstein once again. Lying on the floor all sweaty and beaming in a sports bra and sweatpants, she spread her arms wide and made with the jazz hands. "Ta-da! Oh my God, that was awesome! How cool did I look?"

Grim nodded happily. "He sure did." Then she tilted her head back to flash a warm upside down smile up at Colt. "Hey there, pahdner." Blissfully unaware of the feelings currently swirling around her boyfriend's head and heart, she suddenly shrunk down to pixie size, leaving the cowboy's hands grasping thin air. "Let's shed a little light on the subject, eh?" In a flash, the tiny (well, tinier) changeling zipped around the room, tearing the newspapers off the windows to allow golden shafts of dusty sunlight to fill room until the whole place glowed like a sleepy little church just before mass. After dumping all the crumpled papers in a large conjured wastebasket, she returned to Colt's side and her normal size; hands on her hips, covered in dust from head to toe, but looking deeply satisfied. "There, much better!" :D

Grim and Colt explore her new bookstore, and possibly much more!

Sunday, August 22nd 2010. Silberman's Books, the corner of Pratt and Frederick. Noonish. The key would not go in the lock; not because it was the wrong key or the locks had been changed, but because Lynn's hand was shaking so darn much. "Well this is just embarrassing." :roll: She finally had to grip her right wrist with her left hand to steady it enough to slide the key in, and with a simple twist the door to her beloved grandfather's shop, now legally and completely her own, swung open. Her big brown eyes if anything seemed larger than normal as she smiled nervously back at Colt, her loving and ever-dependable boyfriend; as she stepped inside, she reached out a hand to him. "Come and see." Clearly it had been several years since anyone had stepped foot into Silberman's Books; a thick layer of dust covered all surfaces, including several haphazard stacks of cardboard boxes. Thin streams of sunlight speared the air, shooting in around the edges of the countless newspapers taped over all the windows. Row after row of empty bookshelves stood mutely about the space, with even more lining the walls. A curved wooden counter dominated the room, it's antique cash register guarded by a dustcover. There were also a few empty wire magazine racks and a large wooden table, surrounded by four mismatched chairs. To the left, a step up led to the expansion her grandfather had added many years ago into the adjacent storefront; towards the back of the store would be the office, a set of stairs to the apartment above, and the ever-locked room that held the last remaining effects of her her great-grandfather Ira, missing since 1957. Lynn looked about the room and sniffed, saying nothing for several minutes; at long last, she simply smiled and said, "Grampa."

(From Lynn Epstein's journal) July 20th, 2010 It's been a month since my 22nd birthday party, and I have yet to step into the Silberman's Books; you have no idea how much this pisses me off. Elena's lawyers have been working with Grampa's lawyer in New York, and they say it shouldn't be too much longer before the case is resolved. I guess it's possible Aunt Deb will still contest it, but I hope not; in general, she's always been pretty law-abiding, so my fingers are crossed. The letter from Grampa Lou is crucial, but we had to be tricky with it, since some of the language could be used to prove Deb's case that he was unsound at the time he wrote it. You'd think in a city where people fly overhead all the frickin' time that a mention or two of time travel or Jewish mysticism would be less controversial, but what are you gonna do? So, assuming all goes well and I do get to keep it, I've been thinking a lot about what kind of books I want to sell. Silberman's was always the cool store kids wanted to hang out at; not all the kids in the neighborhood, mind you, just the weirdos. I want to cater to the weirdos. I have a reoccurring dream, not everyday or even every month, but I have it once or twice a year; I find this cool out-of-the-way bookstore that sells everything I like, and at good prices. I spend hours digging through boxes and shelves, finding more and more wonders, until I wake up, realize it's a dream, and then feel real sad for a while because this wonderful store doesn't actually exist. That is what I want Silberman's to be, or at least as close to it as possible. So here is my dream list of stuff I want to stock on my shelves: True crime books Showbiz/Hollywood books and memorabilia Magic tricks Comic books and graphic novels (with back issues at fair prices!) Roleplaying games (with a special room for gamers. Also snacks and pop for said gamers) Board games (maybe) But no frickin' Stratego, because I HATE Stratego, thanks to my stupid cousin Ruthie Classic movies on DVD and maybe VHS(?) For sale and rent (maybe) Mythology, folklore and books on the occult (but not the Satanic stuff!) Mystery, horror, sci-fi and fantasy novels Movie magazines See? Exactly the kind of place I dream about! The tricky part is some of this stuff freaks concerned parents (i.e. total squares) out, so there might have to be an 'adults only' section; y'know, the kind of place that kids want to sneak into in search of the demon PORN! Yep, that's why I'll keep a special 'kiddie taser' behind the counter to keep them lil' varmints at bay! (This is an obvious lie; it will, in fact, be a tranq gun.) I have no idea if there's still any stock in the store; I do think Great-Grampa Ira's stuff is probably still there in the back room under lock and key. The thought of that gives me the shivers, in a creepy/cool way. Here's hoping it's all mine soon!

Gossamer All Part Of The Show Grimalkin The Door you can't Unlock Earth Victoriana: The Brit Machine The Legacy of Al-Kazar: A World of Pure Imagination Meet the Interceptors! Preventive Measures Stay on Target... Welcome to The Interceptors, Jill O'Cure Zombie Powder is a Helluva Drug News post

Well she's PL12, so she's lower level, but Grim is much better at investigation type stuff.

I just saw that thread idea in the archived threads area, and would love to do it, but Grim is PL14 :(

Grim could be very useful on the inside, assuming she can get in. Even the smallest hole open for a just a few seconds would suffice!

Actually should we roll Initiative right now?

I was told in a previous thread that Grim's Selective Concealment allows her to use a comlink without those around her hearing her. If there's any issue with this, she can become visible.

Seconds before the new arrivals smacked their hands together, the unseen agile shapeshifter leaped clear of the shockwave, did a backflip and landed on the sidewalk. This is not good. She activated her comlink, allowing only Jack to hear her voice. "Jackie me boy, it's Grim. I've got a lot of unfriendlies showing up out here, using some kind of portal to spill out onto the street. Looks like SHADOW is here in force."

Gonna take advantage of this right now. Edit: Oops, forgot my saves! Reflex save vs Shockwave: 1d20+12=13 To quote Steve Trevor, Hardy-frickin'-har. Let's blow that new HP, shall we? Reroll on Reflex save: 1d20+12=27. Now that's more like it! Evasion 2 means Grim is awesome!