Heritage

To hit: 1d20+12=15 Okay, I hate missing with my opening attack in a thread, so I'm gonna blow my first HP now. Reroll to hit: 1d20+12+10=23 Hmm, was I overreacting? Would a 15 have actually hit a giant?

"Unless you're us; wait, no, I take that back. This is still messed up." Grim opened the door and stepped into the street, her eyes never leaving the towering monstrosities. "Wow, these suckers are big." She flicked out her wicked claws and pondered them, then shrugged. "I mean, I guess I can just go for the traditional 'rip them apart' scenario." She turned to her teammates and beamed. "Well, wish me luck!" And with that, she shrunk down to her wee sprite form and zipped through the air, heading straight for the Hideous Fish Giant, aiming to tear a nice long bloody gash across its chest with her razor-sharp talons.

Striding up to the gathered students in her usual labcoat and oddly-fashionable splash goggles, Dr. Estelle de Havilland smiled warmly and waved at the teens, her long golden hair hanging down her back to brush the floor in a thick braid. She didn't recogize all the students, and in truth didn't recall the names of all she did; her tenure at Claremont had been sadly brief, as she'd found out that high school instruction didn't actually suit her. Some of her collegues had shared similar tales of disappointment when she returned to ASTRO, and she found some comfort in that. "Hello, hello! Welcome to ASTRO Labs!" She gestured expansively about the room, something like a Price is Right model. "'Hold your breath. Make a wish. Count to three.'" She look mildly embarrassed at her little Willy Wonka reference, then clapped her hands to together and rubbed them with anticipation. "So, if you students don't mind, I've volunteered to help out with the tour! Any questions before we start?"

As much as Estelle de Havilland loved her work, she also loved to play, though it was a side of her she didn't let show as much as she should. Of course, things were a little different on April 1st... Sporting her Harvard sweats, Estelle sat on a stool in the middle of her loft in Hanover, happily tuning her vintage Gibson SG; periodically, she extended a thin golden wire to adjust the amp or tighten the pegheads. When she finally liked the sound, she started off with a little Angus, popping off the opening chords. Suddenly there was a rather insistant knock at the door; no one had buzzed, she she assumed it most be a neighbor comaplining about the noise. "I'm so sorry, I'll try and keep it down; I thought I was-" However when she opened the door, a pair of...well, 'government goons', for lack of a better phrase, were waiting in the hall. "Doctor de Havilland, your country needs you." "Uh...alright." - - - - - In a matter of minutes, she was in the back of a helicopter banking over the Wading River, her formfitting silver and blue jumpsuit replacing her far more comfortable sweats. They hadn't said much since they'd lifted off; how these spooks loved their little games. "So, are you gentlemen going to tell me..." Her voice trailled off when she saw the giant things tearing apart her adopted city."Oh dear god..."

"Grimalkin ready! Interceptors, go!" What the..? Grim materialized in the back seat, a huge grin on her face. "Don't look at me like that, it's a trade secret!" Her hair was damp and she had a nice flowery clean smell, a possible clue as to her whereabouts but moments ago. "C'mon, Jack, let's hit it!" :twisted:

One would think so, wouldn't one? Init: 1d20+12=21 But no! I think she might go first due to insane Dex, but I could be wrong.

Just for fun, I did my past pass at a new 'Grimalkin: Year One' sheet, i.e. how Grim might have looked if Shaen had pimped her out back in 2008 when I first brought her here. I think it's pretty close, but I was tired when I typed this up so I'm sure I screwed something up. I did this for two reasons: one, to see if pimpin' was in my blood yet (i.e. could I work the numbers right), and two, to come up with a sheet that reflects how I see Grim on page one of her comic book, when she's a young grifter who becomes a sidekick to Stalwart, Lake City's greatest champion. Enjoy! (and critique)

Lynn pulled a bottle of water out of her pack and took a swig. "That's cool, where did you study?" At the mention of this, the small brunette's eyes got huge, and the biggest grin imaginable spread across her face. "Seriously? That is...beyond awesome! But of course, why wouldn't they? I mean, they have college courses on Buffy and The Simpsons, so why not super folks? And here, in Freedom? Fuggedaboutit! People must come from all over the world to study here for that kinda thing!" Lynn nodded vigorously, her hands swooping around in classic East Coast fashion as her words took on the staccato rhythm of a Tommy gun. "This is perfect! I mean, the papers will practically write themselves! All I need to do is bring along a tape recorder or a notebook, ask a few questions, and poof, instant A! Oh baby, I'm gonna hit this place like ten tons of dynamite dropped from the sky!" The little Jersey girl literally leaped clear over a bench by the side of the sidewalk, right over the head of a startled girl in the middle of texting; Lynn's landing tucked into a perfect barrel roll that brought her back to her feet, arms thrown wide in triumph as she sang out like the lead in some cowboy musical. "This is gonna be the best year ever!"

The tiny shapeshifter nodded vigorously. "Yeah, okay; I would have stopped like half an hour ago, but I was being powered by shame." Grim looked around for a bit, and spotted a bit of a clearing off to one side of the path. "How 'bout this, this work for you?" Making sure no one else can see them, she unfurls a nice dry groundcloth out of thin air, laying it over the snow. She dropped her pack to the ground and took a seat Indian style. "Figure this is more plausible than a picnic table, right?"

"Bitch, bitch, bitch; you demon-tainted kids are all the same." :roll: Colby finished wrapping Jack's wrists, ran the chain under the recliner and snapped on the cuffs; the irritable swordsman looked like he was about to attempt a daring escape from a rec room. The detective then adjusted the TV tray and the dreamcatcher, being careful only to handle the wire frame. Then she motioned towards Jack as she resumed her seat in the director's chair. "Okay, like I said before, one of you at either side, but stay clear of his hands, right? Jack, I want you to keep your big mouth shut and stare into the dark eye, and listen to my voice as Colby takes you away. Oh hey, Grim, pass me that djembe, would you? The African drum, over there by the Coleman stove? Thanks, you're a sweetheart." Once the shapeshifter fetches the drum, Colby put it between her legs and started to tap out a steady rhythm, almost like a heartbeat. "Okay, Mister Magic Man, I want you to think back to that day; back to the day you died. You were out in the street, weren't you? It must have been terrifying..."

Grim became uncharacteristically quiet as she searched the bodies of the young men. They weren't wacky videogame zombies anymore; now they were just kids who'd been cruelly robbed of their futures, and it made her sick to her stomach. The laughter of her teammates tore at her heartstrings; still crouched on the ground over the now-lifeless bodies, her voice rose up with a particularly vicious edge to it. "Yeah guys, by all means keep yuckin' it up; it's hilarious that we just finished laying to rest a bunch of damned teenagers." She held up a pair of school IDs, one from Roosevelt and one from Joseph Clark, and there were angry tears in her eyes. "Your sister's in high school, isn't she, Jack?" Then she dropped the IDs and pointed at the tats on some of the bodies. "Some of these kids have ink, very distinctive; they're also a bit too clean and are holding a lot of drugs. Dealers, maybe?"

This sounds like fun, so I'm willing to do it. So can I get my extra hp for doing the HellQ last month? :mrgreen:

Looks awesome to me!

Grim shrugged. "Well, it works that way for some dimensions; like when I went back to Avalon, it seemed like I was there for a few days, but when I came back here, it had only been a few minutes. There are folk tales of some guy living with the faeries for a few years, only to come back to Earth and find hundreds of years have past, and everyone they know is-" Realizing where she was going with this, the changeling cut herself off abruptly. "But it sounds like time is going nowhere near as fast over there, right Taylor?" :oops:

"Mmm?" The shapeshifter stood with her arms spread and eyes closed, a blissful smile on her face. Then she cracked one eye open, took a look down at herself and sighed. "Yeah, that wasn't supposed to happen." Seconds later she was fully clothed and pretty damn embarrassed. "I mean, for a second I though it would be cool to feel the breaze...ah, forget it. Let's keep walking...and not breathe a word of this to anyone." :oops:

Gossamer Bug Hunt Cry Havok! IN SPAAAAACE! Monsters? In the Streets!? - AEGIS HQ "When They Hear Oom Pah Pah!" Vignette Grimalkin Back to School Higher Learning Interceptors: Liquid Therapy Life's Bazaar Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful Monsters in the Streets! - Greenbank The Witch Doctor is IN Zombie Powder is a Helluva Drug Vignette Edit: Added links to my vignettes, for completion's sake.

Durf, are details of his nightmares indicated in his journals, as described in Phalanx's News write-up?

"'Wormhole'? Oh dear!" Estelle quickly got into one of the console seats and buckled herself in; still not feeling entirely secure, she lashed herself into the seat with her hair. "Exactly how far are we travelling, Myshel, and how long will it take?" It was all so thrilling that her inner child completely overwhelmed her analytical perspective as she could only stare in wonder at the amazing lightshow just beyond the cockpit; without even realizing it, the blonde chemist squeeled with innocent glee. "Ahhhhhheeeeeeeeeee!"

Keeping a good fifteen feet between herself and the concealed hole in the floor, Gossamer extended her hair to gingerly lift the floorboards and place them to one side; she waited to see if there was a reaction from the denizens below before she opted to step any closer. God, I hope they don't have a lot of guns! :?

Notice check: 1d20+2=5 :roll: Stealth check: 1d20+3=19 Again, not too bad

Grim nodded thoughtfully. "I guess so. Hey, at least we had fun at that party, right? I'm even happier we threw that thing now." She got quiet again, for even longer than before, occasionally raising her head to sniff the air as she walked. At one point she paused and held out her hand. "Hey, stop for a second and just listen to the wind; it sounds so cool going through the pines." Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed, and then something bizarre happened; apparently lost in the moment, the changeling allowed all her clothing to drift away into mist, so she could feel the wind on her skin... :shock:

It took a while for Grim to call down, and even longer for her to release her death grip on the shotgun and engage the safety before gently setting it down. "And once again, reality is far less fun than the movies; Bruce campbell lied to us!" With the undead peril defeated (for the moment!), the diminutive shapeshifter began poking around the filthy shack, nose twitching and pointed ears flicking as she dropped to all fours to give the place a thorough going over. She even crawled up the walls to check over the doorways and window ledges. Crouched on the ceiling, she shook her head. "Well we've got a lot of Zombie Powder and enough doses of Max to make an army bulked up and impotent; I'll put a call in to Detective Colby in a little bit, so her boys can seize all this crap." She dropped to the floor in a smooth crouch, then wrinkled her nose in disgust as she peered at the blood-spattered emains of her last victim. "Uh, I guess I'll start going through pockets, checking IDs and whatnot..."

Notice check: 1d20+15=31 Search check: 1d20+15=23

This pretty much screams for Gossamer's involvement, at the very least in the first thread. Her investigative skills have so far been not the best.

Despite her best efforts, Grim found just being around the strange clown gave her a headache; rubbing her temples slightly, she cleared her throat. "Hey there, Jester, was it? I know this is possibly the dumbest thing to say to someone like you, but could you, y'know, take the insanity down a notch? Like to an 8 or 9? We're already out of out depth here, and this is all starting to hurt."