Dr Archeville

*waves magic wand, merging threads*

"True, true, a motorcycle vould not be stealthy. Vell, I could make it stealthy, but 'stealthy motorcycle' seems to be a contradiction, ja?," Archeville said as he walked over to the dais. "Jet packs, flight rings, und de like are quite do-able, ja. Please, come up here," he said, waving Hellbound over. "Is dere a certain 'look' your going for? I mean, you do use de name Hellbound, vhich I presume is not something you picked randomly. Vere you planning on going de 'demonic biker' route?"

I'm assuming folks are Taking 20 on pertinent rolls. That's a 26 on Know/Arcane for Avenger, and a 24 for Scarab. I'm also assuming Avenger & Scarab split the "demon phone numbers" between them so they could both do their own research. And now... Notice checks, please!

Another night ends, and another day dawns. Tuesday, September 16th looked to be pleasant enough, at least to those who had not been investigating gruesome murders and demon dog-summoning adrenaline junkies. The weatherman reported that the skies would be clear, with temps in the high 60s/low 70s all day. But all was not sunshine in the minds of three of Freedom's burgeoning heroes. The experiences of the past two nights stuck with them, intruding upon their thoughts as they day wore on, as if a part of them was raging to do something about it all. For Alessandro "Slamdance" D'Aquila, the day was especially hard, because he had been so close to one of the victims, and so close to the age of the "Vulture" they apprehended last night. He either could not or did not want to know how a high school age kid with so much life ahead of him could turn to so dark a path. Needless to say, these intruding thoughts made his day at school quite hard, and the pop quiz in history class even harder. Avenger dropped the badly-beaten Thomas "Vulture" Wells off at his Fens home -- a fairly typical Fens home, low cost for lowlifes -- before hunting down a quick meal and leaving it at the local police station. He also thought of the past nights events, though from a different perspective. He could make some very good guesses about Vulture's life, because during his nights in the vampire courts he'd met men and women as depraved (and then some) as the lad... and he himself had done things almost as bad. He knows he has a job to do, though, and does it, using his contacts amongst the "behind the magical curtain" types to learn what he could about the odd slips of paper. His first hunch was right, they were components in demon summoning rituals, each slip being a "phone number" for a particular demon. He was able to find out some of the specific demons: Izon the Imagist, L'tahet Laharspawn, Ohmhep the Obstructor, Rozasol of the Five Slumbers, and Uhsemes Snaketongue. All fairly "high" on the demonic ladder ("higher" being weaker and "lower" being more powerful), though still more powerful than what a typical mage of Vulture's years should be able to get. Either he'd been studying demonology from the day he could first read, or he had some sort of 'knack' for it. Scarab's sleep was uneasy, though on awaking she could not remember anything in particular from her dreams. Though she had hazy half-recollections of previous incarnations dealing with equal or greater horrors, these events still shook her. Her research into the slips of paper did confirm Avenger's assessment, though she was unable to find any specific names. The fact that she could verify that they were names, though, was enough to tell her that Vulture was an uncommonly adept demonologist. Her research into the flute was also illuminating: as she surmised, it was indeed a component in certain demon summoning & controlling rituals, though she could not find a match to it in any of her records. She did work out that musical instruments like these were frequently used in summoning and controlling animalistic demons, such as demon dogs like the ones seen last night. Not long after sunset, the trio made their way back to the house in Riverside, ready to share what they had found and to go after their best leads, Vulture's partners known as Fox (in Hanover) and Shark (somewhere there in Riverside). Which is when they noticed something odd. (Or not; see OOC thread.)

If it's just stuff Areas & Aphrodite could (routinely) do, you don't need a VP for that. That's perfectly do-able in an Array, or even some non-Arrayed powers (like Combat and Interaction skill-based feats). I PMed you some suggestions. I'm PMing you a few more.

As you work on the final part, think on this: what three people are Eric/Malice most likely to listen/give his undivided attention to (either due to respect, fear, or something else)?

The Mashin-Kun-sized Blob-Monster attempts to again envelop the lad... an, again, the boy is too quick.

Samhain (PL 14, 240pp) Trade-Offs: -3 attack for +3 damage (corrupt antlers) Abilities: [16+6+16+6+16+16 = 76pp] Str: 26/+8 Dex: 16/+3 Con: 26/+8 Int: 16/+3 Wis: 26/+8 Cha: 26/+8 Combat: [16 on Attack, 16 on Defense = 32pp] Attack: +8 Grapple: +16 Defense: +9 (+4 flat-footed) Knockback: -7 Initiative: +3 Saves: [4+5+5 = 14pp] Toughness +8 (Impervious 6) Fort +12 (+8 Con, +4) Ref +8 (+3 Dex, +5) Will +13/+17* (+8 Wis, +5; Mental Shield 4) Skills: [36 ranks = 9pp] Bluff 8 (+16, +21 vs. shaken foes) Intimidate 8 (+16, +21 vs. shaken foes) Sense Motive 8 (+16, +21 vs. shaken foes) Stealth 12 (+15) Feats: [7 feats] Dodge Focus Favored Opponent 5 (shaken foes) Fearless Powers: [45+11+11+6+21+4+8+4 = 110pp] Fear Powers 21 (42pp powers; PFs: 3 Alternate Powers) [45pp] BE: Emotion Control 14 (Extras: Contagious, Penetrating; Flaw: Fear only) (Evoke Fear) AP: Drain Wisdom 8 (Extras: Alternate Save/Will, 40-ft. Burst Area, Range 2/Perception; PFs: Slow Fade 1/1pp per Minute), Linked Drain Fearless Feat 1 (Extras: Alt Save/Will, 25-ft. Burst Area, No Save, Range 2/Perception; PFs: Progression 2/25-ft. increment, Slow Fade/returns after 1 minute) (Susceptibility to Fear) AP: Illusion 13 (all senses; PFs: Progression 3/50-ft. radius; Flaw: Phantasms) (Images of Fear, v1) AP: Illusion 6 (all senses; Extra: Linked Mental Blast 6; Flaw: Phantasms) (Images of Fear, v2) Flight 5 (250mph; PF: 1 AP) (Spirit Swiftness) [11pp] AP: Teleport 5 (500 ft./5,000 feet) (Spiritwalking) Immunity 11 (aging, life support, sleep) (Spirit Body) [11pp] Impervious Toughness 6 [6pp] Insubstantial 4 (incorporeal, affected by magic; PF: Innate) (Spirit Form) [21pp] Mental Defense 4 (Spirit Mind) [4pp] Strike 1 (black claws; Extra: Penetrating 6; PFs: 1 AP) [8pp] AP: Strike 4 (corrupt antlers; PFs: Incurable) [-] Super-Senses 4 (Acute Analytical Ranged Detect Person’s Fear [mental]) (Terrorsense) [4pp] Drawbacks: Weakness (to holy places and objects; cumulative -1 drain on Constitution per round is on holy ground, in a holy place, or within 5 feet of a holy object; common, moderate; -8pp) DC Block Unarmed -- DC 23 (28 vs. shaken) -- Bruise Claws -- DC 24 (29 vs. shaken) -- Bruise or Injury; Penetrating 6 Antlers -- DC 27 (32 vs. shaken) -- Bruise or Injury; Incurable Drain Wisdom -- DC 18/Will -- Drain on Wisdom Emotion Control/Fear -- DC 24/Will -- Shaken/Frightened/Panicked Illusion -- DC 23/Will -- disbelieve Mental Blast -- DC 21/Will -- mental damage Abilities 76 + Combat 32 + Saves 14 + Skills 9 (36 ranks) + Feats 7 + Powers 110 - Drawbacks 8 = 240/240pp :arrow: The "PL 14/240pp version" of Blŏzan.

"It is part of de security system, ja" Archevilles-voice-from-robo-gorilla said, "dough dat particular model is also part of de housekeeping services. It is, in effect, a very smart, und very tiny, vacuum cleaner." Soon they reached a set of double doors, doors oddly similar to the ones Hellbound had seen in regular gyms. The gorilla opened one, and beyond was a respectable gymnasium/firing range. Assorted pieces of exercise equipment was scattered about, as well as parallel bars and a pommel horse. The rear third or so of the place looked much like a police firing range. A large section in the middle of the room held a slightly raised dais, about 60 feet in diameter. "Ah, excellent timing!," Hellbound heard simultaneously from both the gorilla behind her and the man himself entering through a side door. He grinned as he realized the effect, then reached up and removed a small electronic device from his ear. When he did, Hellbound heard the gorilla turn and shuffle off. "Won't be needing dat communication link, now dat you're here. So... vhat vas it you vanted again? A flying motorcycle?"

But both those guys can carry their own solo comic. Can Avatar?

That's actually one of the problems the Refs are having with the character. Players should be making characters, not sidekicks/dependents (even if they are obscenely powerful).

"I can hear you, Hellbound," the metallic gorilla said, in the same odd mechanical-yet-upbeat mockery of Archeville's own voice. "The Kammerdieneraffe -- er, 'Butler-Ape' -- is escorting you down to de gymnasium. I vill meet you dere soon; I am in de middle of someding vhich I cannot step avay from at dis moment." As they walked down several corridors -- far too many corridors, part of him thought -- Hellbound began to get the feeling he was being watched. As he looked around he still saw the occasional glare of light reflecting off of... something, and got the sense of numerous things moving about him, either beyond the numerous doors and walls in adjoining rooms or within the walls themselves, but he never saw anything definite. Until the silvery metal rat scurried past.

Looks like I goofed: Shaen's b-day is Wednesday, not today!

"Ah, Hellbound!," the unseen voice said in a far more upbeat (though still eerily synthetic) tone. "Come in, please! Follow de Kammerdieneraffe, he shall lead you to me." At the word 'lead,' the source of the voice became clear: lumbering into view was a silvery metallic gorilla in a butler's suit. A moment of looking revealed that it was in fact a robotic gorilla, and not some sort of mutant gorilla. When he steps over the threshold into the house itself, lights came on, showing that the inside of the house was far different than what the outside indicated. Outside, the house seemed to be a completely ordinary light gray two-story housing unit, the sort that's sprung up all over Hanover in the past few years. Inside, it was quite nicely decorated, with beautifully stained wood paneling along the walls and a tiled floor depicting an odd mandala-like design. Three hallways lead off from the entryway, left, right, and straight ahead; the robo-gorilla was heading down the left hallway. As he looked around, Hellbound saw a sparkling chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The ceiling which was far too high for the building, based on the exterior dimensions. Come to think of it, this entryway alone seemed big enough to take up half the house....

The door opened quietly after Hellbound rang the bell (which had an oddly familiar tune), seemingly of its own accord. The room beyond was fairly dark, though he could just make out some movement, some glints of metal, off to one side of the room. "Halt!" a voice from nowhere commanded. He had heard Archeville speak several times before, and this voice did sound like his... but it also sounded very distorted, very mechanical. "Please state your name and the nature of your visit."

.... quiet, you.

I wouldn't think so, at least not at those ranks. He doesn't get those powers just by holding the shovel, he has to actually, y'know, use it. * Shovels are the preeminent tool used for digging (and note that at Burrowing 2, it can only get through soil, hard clay and packed earth, not solid stone, same as most normal hand-held shovels). * A lever is one of the six simplest machines in existence; it's probably tied with the wheel for being the simplest. It won't help him left cars over his head, but it would help him shift a wrecked car off of a pinned Bystander.

Freedom City Atlas #4: Lantern Hill is now available from the GR Online Store.

Apr 6th, 2009: Hellbound gets airborne, with some help from Doktor Archeville. (Hellbound gets Airborne) Hellbound's "Good Day to Fly" was April 9th. EDIT: And now the Timeline itself is updated.

The OOC thread for Hellbound & Dr. Archeville's interactions.

Date: April 6th, 2009 Orenthal Samson -- known to most everyone else as Hellbound -- was a simple man. Not "stupid" simple (he could at times be surprisingly insightful), but "did not ask for much in life" simple. He liked to fight, in the same way that most folks like eating and drinking. (He liked eating and drinking, too, though not as much as fighting.) However, he did of late notice one significant flaw in his fighting style: it was utterly useless against fliers. And there are a lot of fliers in Freedom City. Which is why he was now in Hanover, in amongst a block of plain and unassuming (though very modern) housing units, the type which had sprung up all over Hanover. He had come seeking one particular house, home to perhaps the keenest technical mind in all of Hanover (and perhaps one of the top ten in all of Freedom City), Doktor Viktor Archeville. Why him? Because a) he knew him from the other Knights of Freedom, and he knew from reputation that Doc actually enjoyed having 'guests' drop by. The small path leading from the sidewalk to Archevillle's front door was flanked by gaily-painted garden gnomes, four on each side. Each stood about a foot and a half tall, with blue shirts and red pointy hats. As Hellbound walked up, he almost thought he saw a pair turn towards him, but when he looked at them they were still as statues. The front windows were all obscured by what appeared to be thick and heavy curtains.

I'd imagine birthdays could be a bit confusing for Scarab.

Alrighty, looks good. Here's your first Approval.

"I said, ON! YOUR! FEET!," Micheals heard, again in the familiar but not-yet-identified voice. And, again, he was back on his feet, refreshed but scuffed. And still surrounded by superhumans. "He's almost beat! Fourth wave, end this!"

Looks good! Now lemme just go over the numbers again: Adds up. Adds up. Adds up. I count 98 ranks, not 92. Adds up. 6+21+9+27+1 = 64pp, not 66. Adds up. See above.