Avenger Assembled

Jessie White Abilities: 6 + 4 + 6 + 0 + 2 + 2 = 20PP STR 30 [16] DEX 20 [14] CON 30 [16] INT 10 (+0) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 12 (+1) Combat: 12 + 14 = 26PP Init: +13 Attack +6 (+10 Melee) Defense +10 (+3 Dodge, +7, +3 flat-footed) Grapple +24 Knockback -9 Saves: 0 + 4 + 6 = 10PP Toughness +10/+3 (8 Impervious), Fortitude +10/+3 (+3 Con, +7 Enhanced Con) Reflex +9/+5 (+2 Dex, +3 Enhanced Dex, +4) Will +7 (+1 Wis, +6) Skills: 80r=20PP Acrobatics 11 (+16, SM) Intimidate 17 (+19, SM) Notice 14 (+15, SM) Sense Motive 14 (+15) Stealth 10 (+15, SM) Survival 14 (+15) Feats: 24PP Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Focus 4 (Melee) Challenge 2 (Fast Acrobatic Bluff, Fast Startle, Mass Intimidation, Powerful Intimidation) Dodge Focus 3 Evasion Improved Initiative 2 Interpose Move-by Action Power Attack Quick Draw (Draw) Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Intimidate, Notice, Stealth) Startle Takedown Attack 2 Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: 3 + 14 + 6 + 14 + 1+ 2 + 1 + 8 + 5 + 6 + 8 + 2 = 70PPDevice 1 (Bat, 5PP, Flaw: Easy to Lose) [3PP]Damage 0 (PFs: Extended Reach [5 ft], Improved Crit 2, Stunning Attack, Takedown Attack [to 2]) Enhanced CON 14 (to CON 30/+10) [14PP] Enhanced DEX 6 (to DEX 20/+5) [6PP] Enhanced STR 14 (to STR 30/+10) [14PP] Feature 1 (Temporal Inertia) [1PP] Immunity 2 (disease, poison) [2PP] Immunity 2 (sleep, starvation and thirst, Flaw: Limited [Half-Effect]) [1PP] Impervious TOU 8 [8PP] Movement Array 2 (4PP, PF: Alternate Power 1) [5PP]BE: Leaping 4 (x25, RLJ 500 ft, SLJ 255 ft, VJ 155 ft) {4/4}AP: Speed 4 (100 MPH/1000FPM) {4/4} Regeneration 6 (Bruised 3 [no action], Injured 3 [20 minutes]) [6PP]Super-Strength 4 (Effective STR Heavy Load 12 tons) [8PP] Super-Movement 1 ( Slow-Fall ) [2PP] Abilities 20 + Skills 20 + Feats 24 + Powers 70 + Combat 26 + Saves 10= 170 feats 19 + powers 53 = 154 pts

That was a potential problem. Jessie's sister was, as far as Aquaria could tell, highly placed in the ranks of the heroes - which meant her support was valuable when it came to the two of them joining the society of Freedom City, a society in which heroes stood at the top. "It'll be okay," Aquaria reassured her friend, scooping up kippers with her fork so that she could talk and eat at the same time. "Mizz Wainwright says the heroes aren't busy now that the Song Wave is over. I'm sure she'll be here. Sisters always look out for each other. And she said she was going to tell me what I have to do at the Hunter mansion.." Aquaria had thoroughly enjoyed the Song Wave, mystical compulsion or nor, breaking into song while she was teaching the babies at the Aquarium and for once getting them to sing along with her. "If she doesn't make it, it can be like when the bus broke down in the State Forest, and I give you a ride! We'll bounce our way to the DuTemps Building." That had actually been an uncomfortable experience - Jessie had dug into her ribs hard enough to bruise, but there was no point in letting her friend worry about that.

July 1, 2015 Barton's Antique Store Comrade Frost pushed open the swinging glass doors of the antique store and walked inside, the bell jingling as he entered. He stood out in his blue parka, especially when you saw his pale white flesh and felt the chill in the air as he walked by. Over his shoulder was swung an axe, its handle an exotic dark wood and its head an unfamiliar red-grey metal. He was careful how he held it, keeping his gloved hands on the handle as he walked up to the front counter. "You!" he declared. "Antique dealer! What do you mean by selling cursed objects to civilians? STOLEN cursed objects no less!" His Russian accent was especially thick today; his red eyes flashing especially bright. "What? How dare you!" declared the antique dealer, shooting a nervous glance over at his customer. Throwing a rag down on the counter, he pointed at Frost, his bald head flushing red between a greying tonsure of receding hair. "I run a reputable shop, and I would never sell stolen goods! I got that from a very reputable supplier, you frost-faced goon!" "Oh-hoh!" declared Frost, dropping the ax on the counter significantly. "You just happen to have reputable supplier who sells you Ax of One Thousand Murders! What a country!" Meanwhile, the axe was audibly whispering, "Murder! Murder! Cut off his head, boss! Cut cut cut cut!"

"I'll talk to Kimber later tonight," said Tarva, looking away for a moment. "I'm sure we can come to an understanding." She smiled, then, and turned back to the others - her smiling teeth white against the dark outlines on her pale face. "I feel very safe in the company of such mighty heroes as yourselves." She studied the fire for a moment, then suddenly leaned forward, thrusting her hand into the open flame! She didn't flinch or cry out, even as a faint trail of black shadow began drifting up from the back of her hand like umbral mist. "So," she said brightly, flames reflected in her eyes, "here we are. Should I have the shadow demons catch us something to eat?" she offered. "Kimber may be some time."

Aquaria hopped up on the bed and crouched near, but not next to, Jessie, her legs folded up beneath her and body weight resting on her hands. "Jessie, we gotta move out! We worked really hard for trusty housing - and now other people need our space over-much. Corvae will get to see her kids if she can be in here! So we've gotta move out - and quick!" Things like that were very important to the acrobatic amphibian. "And in addition to, we will have our _own_ place!" She gestured, spreading long, webbed fingers as far apart as they could go. "It'll be so amazing!" The truth was, she was a little nervous about leaving Project Freedom behind herself, but she knew she had to help her friend stay positive. "We can sleep as late as we want, and eat whenever we want, and go outside whenever we want! Who cares if it's hot and dry today?" she said bravely. "Remember the size of those bathtubs!? It's going to be so niiiice..." She rolled over onto her back, falling onto the bare floor with a thump. "Your sister is gonna be here soon," she said, looking up at Jessie. "I'd better finish getting dressed and packing. Let's go downstairs and have breakfast" she suggested gently.

"...Who, me?" said Tarva with a pretty little laugh, pulling herself out of some inner monologue to follow Eve's suggestion. "Well, if you like, Eve," she said with a smile, stretching one long, pale leg out before the fire, her skirt riding up past the knee as she basked in the warmth of the flames. Her eyes widened suddenly, though, and she put a hand over her heart. "But-but what about that Omegadrone?" she asked, the edges of fear trembling around her voice. She knew Eve had gotten that story well enough. "He told me there are two of them in this dimension," she told Eve. "You know what they'll do to me if they catch me away from your protection," she went on, looking around the darkness of the forest as if those same Omegadrones were about to swoop down and carry her away to some dire fate. "If anything...happens out there, you'll protect me, won't you?"

July 1, 2015 Project Freedom The sunlight streaming in the window woke Ackwareeaa from dreams of the sea. Opening her eyes, Aquaria smacked her green-white lips for a moment, taking stock of the day - before she realized what day it was. "We are getting out today!" She bounded out of her tub at those words, splashing just a few drops of water on the ground as she excitedly hopped around, legs bent and palms flat against the concrete floor of her room. "Woo-hoo!" She wanted to jump into the bathroom and yell to Jessie, but she couldn't hear her friend moving around and didn't want to scare her. Jessie didn't like to be scared. Leaping up onto the wall, she padded along the walls to her closet, carefully picking her way past her many art therapy pictures still stuck to the walls. Once at her her closet, she began sorting through her very small personal wardrobe for what she was going to wear, leaning into the tiny corner with her long, long arms. She needed to look like a Surfacer if she was going to go out among them - today especially! She settled on what she usually did - a white T-shirt that hung oddly on her triangular torso, Capri pants that fit her legs, and...she looked down at the bottom of the closet, where her enemies were waiting for her. A frown crossed her muzzle as she bent down to pick them up, holding one each between fingers and a thumb. They were long by Surfacer standards and bulgy at the ends; and too dry even when she put in the special moisturizing inserts. Shoes. She didn't really understand why Jessie had dubbed these "clown shoes" - her nose was green and white, not red, and she didn't look anything like those costumed Surfacers, but the name had stuck. "I'll put you things on last," she informed the shoes before returning them to her closet corner. Opening the door to her bathroom, she checked the shared clock in there. "It's only six-thirty! Jessie's probably still sleeping," she fretted, wriggling her tongue back and forth in her mouth against all those Ss. "I will get ready first and surprise her. Okay, Aquaria, time to get ready," she told the Deep One in the mirror, experimentally flexing her throat sacs as she spoke, bulging her neck out as big as a Surfacer's closed fist. "I am a good member of society! I am first! I have a job for the Hunter family in North Bay. I am a groundskeeper! I am going to live in the DuTemps Building in Room 437 with my best friend, Jessie White." She raised two thumbs in front of the mirror, then realized her crest was sticking up! Not wanting to embarrass herself, she reached up to begin patting it down. "<I am calm. I am cool,>" she told the face in the mirror. "<I am...speaking Lemurian.>" With an effort, she forced her mouth back to the odd shape of English. "Bre-ek-ek, coax, coax...bleah. I am somebody people want to live near. I am...awesome!" She picked up a towel and wrapped it around her head. "Ooh, look at me, I'm a Surfacer!" she said in a dry, growly voice that was her best imitation of the Surfacer accent. "I wear clothes and eat plants! I My skin is made of sand, I think I need some lotion, don't you! Hee-hee!" She turned and banged on the door to the other room. "Jessie!" she called. "It's this day!"

Edge + Monsoon Do You Hear The People Sing? Scenes from the end of the Song Wave War Derweze, Turkmenistan Here they were - an assemblage of the world's mightiest heroes. Not just heroes, Mark thought, as he looked out at the crowd; even villains were in the crowd. It never ceased to amaze Edge that he was included in that number; much less that he might be called on to speak! But here he was, framed behind him by a burning natural gas field, and on either side were monitors showing the musical numbers, anthems, ditties, and tunes breaking out across the world. It was a live satellite feed of a situation getting worse and worse - there'd been plane crashes now, and patients dead on an operating table, and well-choreographed riots in many major cities. If the world's greatest defenders didn't take action - the whole planet might tear itself apart in song! For a barely perceptible moment, Edge gripped the sides of the podium where he stood - he was here as spokesman not just for UNISON but also the Liberty League, and the weight on his shoulders was heavy. But that moment passed quickly and Mark raised his hand, calling the crowd to attention. They were here at the door, rallying and organizing as people arrived from all over the world, - but how could he keep them together as they readied themselves for battle? There were so many voices out there, so many faces - as the music swelled behind him, the third time it had happened that day, Mark smiled and let the song solve his problem. Pointing to the monitors, he asked, "Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song they cannot stop Everyone's getting really angry And the world's about to pop When the rhythm of the streets Sounds just like a Broadway show We know that something must be done And it's time to go!" Unfortunately, sometimes life didn't unfold as it should. Following Edge's speech came a heated debate from the assembled champions and their various spokesmen, one which broke out into heated back-and-forth choral singing so often that Mark was glad it was all at least being recorded. The Chinese and Russian representatives (with the exception of a vigorously hopak-dancing Comrade Frost) were urging that nuclear weapons be sent through the vortex to Hell rather than deploying valuable metahuman agents; while many practitioners of what Adrian Eldritch would have called "the dark arts" were suggesting that the planet make an alliance with one side or another in the Hellwar, never mind what Mark had been told were profound spiritual consequences. (He wasn't really sure what that meant, but he was pretty sure making deals with demons was bad news - he'd learned about that back in high school!) When he took the stage again, he tried to rally the crowd to his side - making sure that the criminals, dark wizards, and other questionable characters brought there by the UN knew that the heroes were going in whatever sneaky deals they tried to pull. "Will you join in our crusade? Who will storm Hell to stop the song? You know the trip will not be pleasant And it might be very long But the heroes will go because Their job is righting the wrong!" There was dead silence at first - and then a sudden roar of approval, an atonal one at that. Hey, they really mean it! They're not just being made to sing backup for me! As the crowd's applause swelled in reply. Mark smiled in relief - they were actually going to do it! He spared a thought for Monsoon back in Freedom City, who'd volunteered to join the force preparing for the inevitable demonic counterattack. Nina's first demonic invasion! Man, those demons were in trouble. Freedom City A warrior queen in blue and white, Monsoon raised her sword to the sky and screamed a wordless salute to the dragon who had just beheaded the multi-winged demon prince rising from between the towers of the Pyramid Plaza. The scene around her was one of chaos - Jill O'Cure was by a dimensional gateway, exploding demonic cherubs as fast as they could fly out of the whirling red vortex, while the charging form of a mighty lion was tearing its way through a horde of rampaging succubi. But the innocents were still being protected, she saw with satisfaction, even in the midst of a day's battle - she caught sight of Erin's dimensional counterpart and her Deep One friend, working in their uniforms to help hustle a group of civilians down below. Rising high on the geysering spray of a nearby shattered fountain, Nina took to the skies and began to sing a warrior's ballad to the champions below! "Will you give all you can give So that our city will survive Some may die and some may live while the demons lay us low! But the spilling blood of demons will soon be dripping down below!" She missed Edge, there on the battlefield, but she knew he was doing what had to be done in the deep infernal realms below. Landing on a city street she didn't recognize, she stood before a coffeeshop full of half-visible, oddly familiar faces, raising her sword and waving to the civilians within before turning to battle the hellworms at the other end of the street. Today there were no fathers, no forgotten homelands, no divided souls. It really was a good day. Hell Down below, things weren't so great - the unholy cacophony of music, screaming, and screaming music around the doorways of Amdusias' fortress had knocked everyone off their feet. Mark had heard loud noise before - but this was like nothing else, an assault of sound and inharmony made physical. Rising to his feet, he shook off the pain from the mild burns on his hands and knees and turned to the crowd behind him, the ebon steps of Hell's mansion before them. To his eyes, it looked a little bit like the pictures he'd seen of Graceland - but defended by a gloating demonic horde pressing them down with the screams of iron-black trumpets in their hands! There was only one way around this - Mark ran from person to person, rallying their assault force as he pulled people up off the rocky ground before they could be burned by the unholy heat, his voice raised in song for one last battle, one last struggle against the armies of Hell! "Do you hear the demons sing? Singing a song of scaredy cats? It is the music of an army About to be knocked on their ass! Tonight we stop this war And tonight we end these songs! We'll have all our voices back When tomorrow comes!" Edge's song on their lips, the heroes rose to their feet and charged the steps - victory within their grasp! (Source: Do You Hear The People Sing, from Les Miserables (with lots of lyrics help from Electra)

Atlantis is a cruel, selfish empire that has imposed its will on the other peoples of the Ocean by main force. Intolerant of other gods, they have banned the worship of Dagon and Hydra, and take pleasure in destroying their idols and oppressing their worshipers even in lands far removed from Atlantean power. Greedy for land, they have driven the Deep Ones to the coldest, darkest places in the sea, volcanic crags and undersea valleys where little grows and few fish swim. Ostentatious in their wealth, they parade around in orichalchum finery and live in cities adorned with jewels and precious stones. They live in palaces while Deep Ones have to fight and struggle to survive - and call the Deep Ones monsters when they raid their cities for food! The worst are the royal family, jaded, decadent monarchs who abuse even their own people. Surfacers love royalty so they assume Atlantean royals have to be just like them - but they don't know the truth. Aquaria admits that some Atlanteans do things that appear to be heroic - but of course you'd expect them to want to get in good with the powerful heroes of the Surface. And it's their planet too, so surely they have a natural interest in keeping it safe.

Okay - time for Comrade Frost to team up again. I'll start one tonight.

"I grow weary of your taunts, foolish woman! Perhaps I will simply crush your head and then-argh!" Joseph met Terrifica's challenge by pressing his hands to his temple and declaring suddenly, "What? No! Impossible! Someone...inside my wires...inside my magnificent brain! Noooo!" The robots all around her collapsed as well, clutching their heads in seeming sympathy with their master. Until at last all was quiet inside the darkened basement; the machines all around her as still and silent as the very grave. It was quite a struggle between Gina's vast brain and the surprising resilience of the old wetware program that thought it was the late Joseph Otetshima - but gradually she was able to throw the switches mentally that deactivated the program, leaving it unconscious but not deactivated inside the vacuum tube and transistor-wrapped shell deep in the complex. "He is quiet now," said the ghost who was her companion. "For the first time in..." She felt that spectral intelligence studying her. "If your friend had not engaged him, he might have tunneled his way straight to the surface and killed innocents above. Was she right? Is there another chance?" He cast around, and she realized he couldn't quite perceive her as things stood. "ARE YOU THERE?" The ghostly voice shouted both in the darkened basement and in the computer.

Tarva returned to the camp looking very pleased with herself, smiling and practically radiating dark pleasure as she joined Indira by the logs. "I can only summon the Black Flame that gives no heat, gives no light, and can never be put out." She sat criss-cross before the unlit fire, placing her hands in an OK sign on her knees. "A fire should be lit, for the benefit of those who cannot provide their own warmth. But for now, let us sit and entertain ourselves," she said warmly to the others. "Until Kimber returns." She had, naturally, not brought a source of flame with her. Leaning back, she looked up at the whirling pool of stars overhead, her long black hair brushing the ground behind her. "This is going to be a very stimulating night, wouldn't you say?" she asked, her dark outline thicked and empowered by the night around them. "I feel like I could just...jump out of my skin and run into the woods around."

The humans of Talos City lived in squalor, that was plain to see, and a tightly-controlled squalor at that. In tents and huts built in cleared zones throughout the city, they lived alongside their machine overlords in conditions appropriate to a Third World refugee camp, if that. In the streets of Talos City, humans acted as attendants, lackeys, and followers to individuals and groups of robots. Some wore clothes that matched the color of their master's outer plating, others the rags of the nearby refugee camp, others were simply naked beneath the summer sun. As the masked drones caught scenes of humans polishing robot outer casings in what had once been Greenbank, teaching their own children in ramshackle schools in the West End, or performing unhappy dances for their machine masters in the Theatre District, it was hard to avoid one obvious thought - this was all terribly inefficient! A true transhuman machine empire would have had no need for any of this - or for the statues of Talos continually reciting the Creed of the Machine that seemed to revolve around how humans should thank Talos for liberating them from their civilization. The machines didn't live behind barbed wire and didn't seem to be subject to the same cruel discipline as humans, but even they didn't have it very well. Running the gamut from humanoid robots to wheeled warbots to spider-legged automaton abominations, almost all the machines of Talos City looked to be in some stage of tarnish or outright disrepair to Dragonfly's practiced eye. Only an isolated few, all of them bearing the seal of Talos on their chests, looked to be in perfect working order - those seemed to be the best-connected of the robots on the street, with the most human attendants and the finest territories, buildings covered with glowing circuits and transtators, signs of nanotechnology and other wonders that must have seemed miraculous here. All in all, it was a scene of horror and misery in the once-shining Freedom City. Outside what had been Freedom Hall, a group of human prisoners were in the middle of what appeared to be a slave auction, mechanical bidders silently bidding by radio signals as the humans stood huddled together. By now alarms were beginning to ring across the city, and troops beginning to move - mostly armed machines of various sorts either running, flying, or riding wheeled vehicles towards the Goodman Building. It was evident that their secret was out! Artoo was tense, standing close to the heroes and obviously on high alert as he looked around warily. He hadn't reacted much to the plants or display of nature's bounty, he seemed much more focused on the place they'd walked into. "You should definitely power up. They're going to be mobilizing a full attack force. If you're going to fight them here, you should get those humans out of the way," he said, shooting a glance towards the human tent city nearby, the residents of which were watching in awe and fascination at Fleur's deeds. For his part, Vigil had completely forgotten to gloat at Artoo's expense - instead he was kneeling on the turf Fleur had created, a look of awe on his face to match those of the nearby humans. He ran one armored hand over the grass, his organic eye wide.

NOTICED BY HGM Please change Sea Devil's Notice to 2 (+5/+9, SM) And replace the ultravision she gains from her Spectrum Knight armor with Uncanny Dodge (radio)

A flicker of uncertainty crossed Tarva's narrow features before she said, "We had...every sort of thing back there, Kimber." She looked Kimber in the eye. "Except this." And with that, she stepped close and kissed the spectral phantasm on the lips - she took her time this time, and when she was done, the dark glitter in her eyes seemed to promise more. "Thank you for what you have done for me. Go and find your bones and bring them home," she told Kimber, so close her breath was warm on her face. "I will be fine. Your friends will be waiting for you when you get back. Everything will be ready then." She ruffled Kimber's hair affectionately, then turned back to rejoin the others as if nothing had happened.

Just get that taken care of, yeah!

Think I got it all

Sea Devil Power Level: 10/11 (200/200PP) Trade-Offs: None as PL 7 Deep One, +3 TOU/-3 DEF, -3 ATK/+3 DMG as a PL 10 Spectrum Knight Unspent Points: 0 In Brief: Deep One adventurer in Spectrum Knight armor, trying to save everybody while finding her own place in the world Alternate Identities: Ackwareeaa In-His-Mouth, Aquaria Innsmouth Identity: Registered Birthplace: An island in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela Occupation: College student, adventurer Affiliations: Jessie White, Project Freedom, Liberty League Family: Unknown - Deep Ones raise their children collectively. Age: Deep One ages translate poorly to human years. Aquaria is at the prime of her adulthood. Gender: Female Ethnicity: None in particular Height: 5'6'' [5'10" in armor] Weight: 140 lbs [180 lbs in armor] Eyes: Black and yellow Hair: None, but she does have a frilly green crest that grows when she is agitated. Description: Aquaria Innsmouth looks like a typical Deep One of the terrestrial variety - her skin is soft, smooth, and damp, colored a pale greenish-white on her belly and front and a mottled greenish-black on her back and rear. Her arms, neck, and sides are covered in black and blue marking identifiable as tattoos [an Arcane Lore check of DC 25 can read that they are Deep One ritual tattoos showing progression into adulthood stopping in late adolescence]. Her big eyes are black and yellow, set high and wide on her face, and her nose and jaw thrust strongly forward. She has webbed fingers and toes, all of which are much longer than the human norm, forcing her to wear big, oversized shoes when she needs to dress Surfacer. She has three fingers and toes on each hand and food. Her arms and legs are very, very long, especially the latter, giving her torso a smaller, rounded appearance. She has a thin crest on her head that, when she is excited, springs up like a Mohawk. When angry or afraid, her throat bulges out like a croaking frog. Her neck is extremely thick, the better to anchor the muscles for the two-foot-long retractable tongue that also give her a lisp when she speaks in English. Aquaria's armor is recognizable [with a DC 15 Galactic Lore check] as armor belonging to the Spectrum Knights, a terrorist organization active across much of Lor and Grue space. It glows an eldritch green while she's using it. Her primary melee weapons are energy tridents (which glow the same color green) that she projects from devices implanted in the palms of her armor. Even those who don't recognize the armor can tell it's something out-of-this-world, especially when they hear the booming bass of Aquaria's voice from within. History: Once the People roamed all the Islands and the seas beyond, singing their songs and dancing beneath the moonlight, leaping high in the air to mock the Sun and swimming as deep as they dared to greet their Dark Brothers in the depths of the seas. Then the Surfacers came, and at first things were good. There were battles, sometimes grim ones, but in the end the Surfacers had the land and the Dark Brothers had the sea, and the People had all that lay between. It was a good life. Then New Surfacers came - hearts as cold as the iron they wielded, and gradually the land of the First Surfacers shrank, and the People's land and sea shrank with it. Then the Pale Ones came from below - enemies of the Dark Brothers who hated all who bore the mark of Father Dagon and Mother Hydra on their bodies. The People fought them, oh yes, but they had spears and bone and muscle against machines of death and pain, and their lands gradually shrank. Gradually the lands of the People shrank over the years, with some fleeing below to join the Dark Brothers in their cities of obsidian glass, but most simply dying of plagues, of swords (and then bullets) from above, and the terrible pressure of the Pale Ones who let nothing live in their sea that did not love their gods or wear their skin. Their culture shrank, their world shrank, and gradually Ocean became a small patch of blue and a few scraps of land, surrounded by enemies all around. When Aquaria Innsmouth was born, her world was dying - the last remnants of the once-mighty People of the Islands having shrunk to a pitiful handful of a few dozen males, females, and spawn. She learned to hunt and fish like her brothers and sisters, and walked on land as soon as her legs were grown. Unlike many of her siblings, she took no mates - the sole survivor of her egg creche, she was widely considered to be cursed, or blessed, by Mother Hydra and Father Dagon. But that was all right with her; when she wasn't hunting to feed her many siblings, it gave her time to explore the ocean, to watch the New Surfacers with great care as they did unknowable, fascinating things on islands full of animals, to feel the sun on her face and dive deep beneath the warm blue waters of the Caribbean. It was a good life, but hard, and when she slept, she murmured prayers to the ancient gods of her people. She was fifteen when the Surfacers came - heavily armed men who attacked for no reason and gave no quarter, freely slaughtering the People.. Hating herself for her cowardice, Aquaria (as the oldest unattached female) hid with the spawn in hidden caves to guard them against Atlantean attack. When she came out, the island was burning - and her people's community was gone, with perhaps a dozen adults left alive after the battle. And so the People began a journey, a long, bitter one, through the waters of the Caribbean and towards the only salvation they knew - a Dark Brother colony near Cuba, lands they knew that were free both of the New Surfacers and the terrible ways of the Pale Ones. The flight wasn't easy - they had to stop and raid Pale One settlements to survive and the Pale Ones rarely gave quarter to their enemies, and the New Surfacers treated them no better when they clashed with their vessels. She learned to hate, there in the dark, hate the Pale Ones for their arrogance, their greed, and their seeming love of murder, more than anything. Aquaria had just entered adulthood and lain her first clutch of fertilized eggs when they finally reached their destination - the Dark Brother city off the coast of the island the New Surfacers called Cuba. It was beautiful. The temples to Dagon and Hydra rose high in their cyclopean splendor, all dark volcanic glass that reached up to the skies, and there was food to eat and nests to sleep in without fear of attack. It was cold for the People, and dark, and the oceans thick above their heads, but the Dark Brothers promised that they would soon be reborn as Dark Brothers themselves - and could gain revenge on the Pale Ones! It wasn't until the prisoners arrived that Aquaria understood the mechanism of her transformation - and the cold heartless nature of the forever war between the Dark Brothers and the Pale Ones. It was a human sacrifice that drove the transformation of People into Dark Brothers, and she watched in mounting horror as the elders of her community gladly submitted to the transformation, even as the screams of the murdered Pale Ones echoed in her ears. Monsters though they were, didn't they deserve to live? How could her joy come from the suffering of others? That night she tried to slip away, taking the roe with her, but she was caught by a Dark Brother patrol and, feeling guilty as sin, fled without the young ones. She was one young hunter-fisher, how could she take care of so many little ones? How could she even take care of herself? She wandered the coast of North America, a solitary hunter, for a long time after that, sticking close to the Surfacers to avoid both Pale One attack and the attack by Dark Brothers she was sure would one day come to take her back to their city. The Surfacers were an endless puzzle - their cities vast and terrifying, their skins a near-infinite variety of colors, their ships big and menacing as they cut their way through the water. She met a few of the People along the way, and a few Dark Brothers not from the Cuban city, but they were all vagabonds too - there was no home here. Finally, a few years ago, she heard of something big happening -a major Dark Brother raid against a Surfacer city. Tired of being alone and hungry, she decided to take her chances and explore there, figuring she could easily blend in with the People and the Dark Brothers on the surface. She arrived in Freedom City just a few weeks after the Deep One raid that accompanied the Archevil Event (as she later learned the news called it). She explored at night for a while, hanging low along the Waterfront, a little surprised to find none of her kind here. Finally, foolishly, she decided to reveal herself to the surfacers. The subsequent Waterfront battle pitted her against the Freedom City police and her hated enemy Nereid - a foul, loathsome Pale One who laughed and called her cruel names as she casually blasted her with the very water that had been her home! That night, caged for the first time in her life, she screamed and clawed at the glass, spitting venom and threats, until finally she passed out from exhaustion. She awoke in Blackstone, where the lonely silence of the air nearly killed her. It was Harriet Wainwright who saved her, the Project Freedom director having heard something of the Deep One female who had fought the police and superheroes without doing any more than property damage and turning out to be the culprit behind a chain of petty thefts. Visiting the prison with a translator, Wainwright gradually won Aquaria's trust (the frequent dips in the unchlorinated pool helped!) and the Deep One opened up about her life. It took the long, slow process of years for Aquaria to gradually open up to life in Project Freedom - first learning English, then learning to read, then finally earning a GED, all the while doing community service work and helping take care of the other residents who needed more help than she did. She did restitution for her crime, including doing enough work to pay back the medical bills for the police officer she'd thrown through the windshield of his car in the fracas at the Waterfront. She made friends - but her best friend of all was Jessie White, a strange, sad girl who was assigned as her suitemate after several got tired of the constant baths and smell produced by the froggy Deep One. An old hand now, she took the girl under her wing, doing her best to show her the ropes while trying to put a smile on that withdrawn face. She usually wasn't successful at the latter, but the two struck up a bond, one tempered by incidents with time-lost Frenchmen on one hand and the constant low-level murmurs of Frog-Face around the kitchens where they worked on the other. They both were monsters in their own way, even if Aquaria didn't really see herself that way and was determined to make sure Jessie didn't see herself that way either. Halfway house or not, it was a good life. Finally, after years of work, and months trying to help Jessie be ready to go, the two young women were freed from their Project Freedom confinement and ready to face the world. Shortly thereafterwards, Aquaria and Jessie were recruited by the Spectrum Knights - a secretive organization of political revolutionaries who revealed themselves to be interstellar terrorists. Now Aquaria and Jessie are on the run again, hunted by criminals and law enforcement alike - and even after they make it home, the choices they made in space will be waiting for them on Earth Powers & Tactics: Outside of her armor, Aquaria relies on stealth and leaping to stay mobile during a fight. She's strong and tough enough to take out baseline humans with a few good kicks (just like the cop she put through car windshields while fighting Nereid). Versus more powerful opponents, she'll try and lure them into the water where her aquatic physiology will give her an advantage. Inside her armor, she'll wade in and strike with her trident, moving unnaturally fast with her three-bladed energy weapon. She’ll stay mobile by fantastically high leaps and even flying. She only rarely uses the lightning blasts from her trident or hurls objects at people, saving those for a last resort. Complications: Frog Felon: Aquaria is a convicted criminal who could potentially go back in Project Freedom, or even to jail, if she gets in trouble with the cops. Frog Fear: Aah! A Deep One! Archevil wasn't that long ago and the general public - not to mention superheroes, have long memories. Frogger: Aquaria is always up for something new - even if it might be a bad idea! Frog Foreigner: Aquaria's eager to learn about Surfacer customs - maybe a little too eager! Frog Family: Aquaria feels a special loyalty to her fellow Deep Ones, except when they do evil stuff! Frog Foes: Aquaria hates and fears Atlanteans. Frog Friends: Jessie White is Aquaria's best friend in the whole wide world. Frog God: Aquaria still worships Father Dagon and Mother Hydra - a difficulty given the reputation those deities have on the surface. Frog Hunger: Aquaria sometimes gets distracted and snatches up a passing bird or other small animal to eat. This is the human equivalent of stress eating. Space Frog: Aquaria barely knows the names of the planets of the Solar System - she knows even less about outer space. Abilities: 14 + 4 + 14 + 0 + 4 + 4 = 40PP STR 30/24 (+10/+7) DEX 14 (+2) CON 30/24 (+10/+7) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP Init: +6 ATK: +4 (+7 Melee) DEF: +7 (+3 Dodge Focus, +4 Base, +2 flat-footed) Grapple: +14/+15/+18/+20/+23 Knockback: -6/-3 Saves: 0 + 5 + 5 = 10PP TOU +13/+7 (+7 Con, +3 Enhanced Con, +3 Protection) FORT +10/+7 (+7 Con, +3 Enhanced Con) REF +7 (+2 Dex, +5) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 72R = 18PP Bluff 8 (+10) Climb 3 (+10) Diplomacy 8 (+10) Intimidate 8 (+10) Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 8 (+8) Languages 3 (Atlantean, English, Galstandard, Lemurian [Base]) Pilot 1 (+4) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Stealth 8 (+10) Survival 3 (+5) Swim 6 (+13) Feats: 45PP Attack Focus: Melee 3 Dodge Focus 3 Improved Initiative Environmental Adaptation (Underwater) Fearless Luck Sidekick 35 [Singularity] Powers: 1 + 2 + 45 + 8 + 2 + 3 + 10 = 71PP Additional Limb 1 (tongue) [1PP] Comprehend 2 (speak to and comprehend animals; Flaw: Limited to sea creatures) [2PP] Device 11 (55 PP, Aquaria's Armor, PF: Restricted 1 [Deep Ones]) [45PP] Enhanced Feats 3 (Interpose, Move-By Action, Ultimate Save [Toughness]) Enhanced CON 6 (to CON 30/+10) [6DP] Enhanced STR 6 (to STR 30/+10) [6DP] Flight Array 3 (6PP, PFs: Dynamic, Dynamic Alternate Power 1) [9DP] DBE: Flight 0-3 (0-50 MPH/500 FPM) {6} DAP: Super-Strength 0-3 (Effective STR 24/39-39/54, Heavy Load 1500 lbs-3 tons-24 tons) {6} Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9DP] Protection 3 [3DP] Strike 3 (energy trident, PFs: Affects Insubstantial 2, Extended Reach [5 feet], Improved Crit 2, Mighty, Takedown Attack 2, Variable Descriptor 2 [any energy]) [13DP] Super-Senses 6 (Radio [Enhancements: Accurate [+2], Analytical, Extended (100 ft Notice)], Uncanny Dodge [Radio]) [6DP] 3 + 6 + 6 + 9 + 9 + 3 + 13 + 6 = 55DP Deep One Power 3 (6 PP; PFs: Alternate Power 2) [8PP] BE: Swimming 6 (100 mph / 1,000 feet per Move action) {6/6) AP: Leaping 2 (x5, Running Long Jump 85 ft, Standing Long Jump 45 ft, Vertical Jump 21 feet) {2} + Speed 2 (25 mph / 250 feet per Move action) {2} + Wall-Crawling 1 (half-speed) {2} {2+2+2=6/6} AP: Super-Strength 3 (Effective STR 39, Heavy Load 3 tons) {6/6} Feature 2 (Deep One, Iron Stomach) [2PP] Immunity 3 (breathe normally underwater, cold, high pressure) [3PP] Super-Senses 10 (Auditory [Accurate (+2), Ultra-Hearing], Olfactory [Acute, Tracking 2 (Half Speed)], Visual [Extended, Low-Light Vision, Radius (All Visual, +2)]) [10PP] Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP DC Block ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed w/no Powers Touch DC 22 Toughness Damage [Physical] Unarmed w/suit Touch DC 25 Toughness Damage [Physical] Strike Touch DC 28 Toughness Damage [Energy] Totals: Abilities (40) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (10) + Skills (18) + Feats (45) + Powers (71) - Drawbacks (0) = 200/200 Power Points Jessie White

APPROVED

"A living woman would not survive there for long." Tarva smiled faintly. "Well, not a normal living woman. Time bathing in the stuff of the shadowlands has left me with an inverted soul. What should drain life only strengthens mine - just as it does yours, and all like you." She looked away. "I do not speak of this. Even in the Terminus, shadow worship is considered fell and perverse - though for rather, ah, different reasons than on Earth-Prime. So I do not speak of it here, when..." Her voice trailed off, and she looked back at Kimber, her garments gradually merging with the true shadows now that it was growing darker and darker outside. "If you know what I am, then you know your compassion should be spent on your friend who has heard her god blasphemed and your friend who has spent of her goods and treasures. I will be well."

The shadows were waiting for Kimber - a warm, comfortable embrace that swallowed Tarva up too. For the moment, they stood in a version of the forest where black was the dominant color; obsidian trees rose against an onyx sky where glittering jet stars shimmered like impossible jewels. Tarva seemed to blend with the darkness here; the lines of her dress merging imperceptibly with the darkness of the wood where they stood. "The bones are meaningless," said Tarva with authority, her voice blending into the shadows all around, seeming for a moment to come from everywhere. "I have stood on this ground before. This is the place where the person you were died and the person you are was born. I understand." The shadows rippled back, slowly, and the patch of forest gradually returned to normal. "When you were born here, would you have gone away if you could?"

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4821177/ = 17 He gets a 17 on the Tou save and is injured and dazed. (Yes, injured!) And he is knocked back a few feet, out of immediate melee with the lightning.

The Stun does not work on a creature immune to Fort saves! The trip does - his Dex is such that he cannot beat that 31! (Though let me know if I am misremembering the Trip rules) Go ahead and post, V

"Delightful," declared Frost, resolidifying as they reformed in the darkened park. "Tesseract, you are all that file in Claremont promises and more." He stuck his hand in his back pocket and came out with an old, cracked leather wallet and immediately began digging out well-used hundred dollar bills. "We have saved innocent Cuban soldiers and scientists from being transformed into non-existence by leaky old Soviet device, we have destroyed device before any awkward questions could be raised about how it found itself on Cuban soil as if by happenstance...delightful!" He kept feeding money into her hand while he talked, until she had the weight of all he'd promised her and more. "Your first mission with the Freedom League! Not bad, eh?" he asked with a red-eyed wink. "Too bad it must remain secret - but don't worry, your name will be on market now."