Gizmo
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Each of the PCs here has an even dozen troopers under their direct command. Feel free to flesh out your squad as we go, giving some of them names, personalities and having them speak up as NPCs.
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Did you want to post something with Madame Marvelous disappearing before I post for Set and Sekhmet, troll? As of the last couple of posts it sounds like she's still standing there after shooting her flare gun.
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Likewise! I figure Kimber would be pretty up front about being a ghost if anyone asks but if it looks like that's going to cause waves she'll just pass herself off as some sort of alien energy being.
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The specter in question had even less need for a seat than her viscous friend but a chair designed for a humanoid at least had cultural resonance for Ghost Girl, and so she hovered a centimeter or so above the seat's actual surface, legs crossed in a seated pose with her hands folded politely in her lap as she grinned cheerfully up at Wraith. When Indira had explained her intention to stow away on the ship of another alien living incognito on Earth, one heading for greener pastures after the attack by what they'd eventually learned was called 'the Communion', Kimber had immediately insisted on accompanying her. Explanations as to the danger involved had only made her more resolute; besides, with Eve spending most of the winter with her girlfriend the Dutemps Building had been feeling more than a little empty. They might even run into Sharl! Now that she'd had a chance to see the Communion's work up close she was even more glad she'd tagged along. The way it used nanobots to reanimate the dead and turn them into shrieking foot soldiers in particular really got her metaphorical blood boiling. They weren't even proper zombies! Imagine, appropriating legitimate undead imagery like that. Rude didn't even begin to cover it. If this mission helped to stop them from hurting anyone else, Ghost Girl was all for it and she could make sure Wraith made it home in one piece, too. One blob, anyway.
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"Think you can make an alarm, act like we need to leave right away?" Midnight asked Redbird under his breath as he lowered his hand and reluctantly dismounted the Night Cycle. The last time he'd visited the White household had been an exercise in awkwardness of an intensity he had trouble putting into words and that hadn't been during what was clearly a holiday family gathering. There were very few places he less wanted to be and he'd just come from having giant monster juices splattered all over him. "I could," Redbird admitted, her projected voice at an equally low volume, "but I believe this encounter may be necessary for the sake of the mind-torn furorsoul, yes?" Midnight sighed and straightened his jacket. "Nnh. Yes. Things we do for family. Alarm is still Plan B." With long, sure strides he joined the uneasy group of Erins at the doorway.
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Jack of all Blades Reflex Save vs DC 25: 1d20+15 17 Thankfully, Evasion 2. Toughness Save vs DC 22: 1d20+8 9 Staggered and Dazed Jill O'Cure Reflex Save vs DC 25: 1d20+10 12 Again, Evasion 2. Toughness Save vs DC 22: 1d20+6 17 Bruised and Dazed Hero Point: Clear Daze Power Check, Rank 12 Create Object: 1d20+12 27
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"Rock?"
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Set bent backward at the waist under Arrowhawk's glare, looking suitably cowed by the larger man's potential wrath. "Ra's right buttock, tis akin to an ill kempt Scottish version of Isis. The mind positively reels." Any plans to explain himself further or assume the aging hero of his good intentions were entirely sidetracked by trying to understand how nose hairs could actually be intimidating. Sekhmet took a few steps forward, her expression seemingly much less concerned by the threat to Set's well-being than by upsetting Arrowhawk further. "Champion, I do not wish to be rude... How fully to thee understand the nature of the valkyrie?" Before he could answer there was a brilliant flash of rainbow hued light between Miras and Sun Walker, splashing red and orange light on the former and violet light toward the latter. When it faded a moment later a tall young woman stood there on the sand, straw-blonde hair done up in a thick braid that hung down her back and rested against a quiver of arrows. Her clothing and the armor that went over it were recognizably Asgardian in design, touches of silver and gold adorning black and deep forest green materials. Each of her riding boots was inscribed with four horseshoes running up the outward facing side while a belt covered in metallic snake scales wrapped twice around her waist. Grey wolf fur trimmed the cuffs of elbow length gloves that drew attention to muscular biceps, fangs and claws sewn into the leather at regular intervals. She held a glossy black bow over her head and as she lowered back down to her side her blue-grey eyes went immediately to Arrowhawk. In the several beats of silence that followed, Set slowly raised his hands, still leaning away from the Scotsman and afraid to take a step backward. Moving just his wrists to wave them back and forth, he managed a weak smile. "Hooraaaaay...?"
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"Rock," Rock shrugged in as easygoing a manner as a ton and a half of mountainside could manage. He was used to most sentients finding his name amusing or at least worthy of comment. By the same token he found most names more than a little nonsensical. What was a 'Chlo'zel Elzak' even supposed to be? At least Talisyn had the good sense to go by 'Eclipse', metaphorical bit of poetic license aside. To answer her question he proudly explained, "Rock!" He followed up by placing a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder, having to stoop slightly to do so easily. He remembered what the Communion had done to Tarza all too well. After the mission with the Terran Star Knight - now there was a name that actually made sense, 'Terra' - it had been clear that the invasion wasn't something the crew of the Horizon could simply ride out, waiting for someone else to deal with it. They'd seen plenty of action since then, making the lull now all the harder to take. Recognizing that Chlo'zel hadn't entirely understood his earlier question, he pointed to the little Tempestian then raised the finger to indicate one before using the fingers on his other hand to suggest a larger group, starting with one finger and adding digits one at a time. "Rooock. Rock?"
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"Goodness, so terribly serious," Set noted dryly in Miras' direction before giving Sun Walker a beaming smile. "Something along those lines one expects, oh saintly simian! I'd not pay me too much mind, I'm a well known braggart and dramatist, after all." At Arrowhawk's rebuke he simply shrugged, palms raised upward. "At the risk of making excuses, oh grim and growly geriatric, nay, I could not. Gathering a small army in my place of former power doesn't violate my parole per se but, ah, should anyone in a shendyt ask any of you if you've had the pleasure of making my acquaintance, mayhaps say no?" A faint growl from behind him caused the godling to turn and exchange a look with Sekhemt before clearing his throat and continuing, "Ah. Aye. Regarding your solitude on this delightfully commercial day of celebration." Set scratched behind one ear, avoiding Arrowhawk's glare and suddenly looking very awkward indeed. "I had opportunity to visit the rolling plains of Fólkvangr not long ago and got to chatting with my fellow party-goers, as one does and well! I needed someone to evacuate nearby Naqada in case things went poorly here, preferably someone with a steed, obviously, and what precisely be your position regarding family reunions? Goooood...?"
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Rock tilted his head to one side as the petite girl floated up into the air apparently without the aid of any sort of repulsers or other tech. It was hardly the first time he'd met an individual with 'powers' outside the usual abilities of their species but they generally tended to be a little more imposing in appearance than Chlo'zel. "Rock," he emphatically agreed with her observation, engulfing her offered hand in his own stone digits and shaking it with enough enthusiasm to bob the Tempestian up and down in the air slightly before he belatedly compensated. Letting go, he placed one hand on his hip and pointed a thumb at his chest, his joints sounding like gravel in a tumbler as he moved. "Rock," he introduced himself with a broad grin that revealed some of the red tinted illumination provided by his inner magma. Looking around the shaft it seemed like the girl was there by herself. "Rock?"
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"See, this is why we get along, Steward," Seven drawled, giving the Star Knight a small, weary smile and a friendly punch in the shoulder. "Do us all a favour and send that spherical son of a 'shtet to the flarking Pit, yeah? And don't do anything stupid like getting yourself killed or I'll track you down in whatever afterlife Terrans believe in and kick your ass." Gio'nn's forehead wrinkled again as xe tried to parse that particular turn of phrase but before xe could ask for clarification another Lor rushed into the room. No more than sixteen or seventeen with honey blonde hair that had been shaved down to a military standards long enough ago to have grown out again into a pixie cut and a vaguely 'R' shaped hilt hanging from the hip of her white and gold jumpsuit that Kyle recognized as using similar technology to the energy blades generated by Star Knight armor. He'd run into the girl once or twice on Seven's ship before but her name escaped him other than recalling that the rest of the crew called her Princess to her face; he'd never gotten the story behind that nickname. "Captain! We just got another call for evac! It's the Amazri IV team!" Seven swore lightly under her breath and brought up another star system on the holomap. "Alright. Th'emme, get everybody ready for FTL, we're going to be going in hot." The teenager nodded crisply, pausing just long enough to give Kyle a friendly wave before dashing back out the way she'd come. "Sorry, flyboy, I was hoping to at least offer you a ride but no rest for the wicked."
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Go ahead and describe how your character got to this point and what they think about the others!
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Lor Timemark 1329.8 - March 1, 2015 Garron-9, Garron System Trooper Ekna Veiu sat strapped into the back of the transport ship between a Lor mentat clone with a lantern jaw and a member of a scale covered species he couldn't name and tried to steady his breathing. He'd never planned to be a soldier but then the Communion had ripped through the Khanate, leaving the precious few survivors to flee or be turned into monsters. The Lor loved to talk about never forgetting Lor-Van but they hadn't been the only people to lose a homeworld and they weren't the only ones who'd wanted to fight back. Ekna was seventeen stellar cycles old; that had seemed like so long sitting around on his family farm waiting for his life to start, old enough to enlist with the Coalition forces, certainly. As the ship shook from atmospheric turbulence and he clenched his grey-green hands all he think about was whether or not he'd see his eighteenth cycle celebration. There weren't any enemy ships in the skies above Garron-9, at least. There didn't need to be. What had once been a densely populated border world with almost a billion inhabitants was now a solid sphere of computronium, a planet-sized server to add to the Communion's processing power. A billion people converted into raw materials and 'antibodies', the mindless, shrieking foot soldiers of the enemy. This was only Ekna's second deployment but he'd already gotten to see those up close and personal. They'd lost that moon but he'd acquitted himself well, getting his wounded sergeant to safety. They'd given him a commendation for that. They didn't mention the rest of his squad when they shook his hand. He didn't mention the night terrors he'd had ever since. That was how he'd ended up as part of one of four squads deploying to Garron-9 with a simple mission: fight their way through and take down a communication relay, in theory briefly blinding the Communion in the adjacent sector long enough for something apparently above his pay grade. Troopers didn't need to know the big picture, he guessed. He looked up from his knees and immediately regretted it as he saw the Grue strapped in across from him scowling right at him. At least Ekna thought the Grue was scowling. It was hard to tell with no mouth. He immediately looked back down regardless. Most of the other troopers were more experienced soldiers and most of them had experience fighting against those who were suddenly their allies. Tensions were always high but the calm before the storm was always the worst. Then again, at least he knew what a Grue was. Each squad had been assigned a commander for the mission, though Ekna got the impression the rank wasn't exactly official. One of them was a stern Lor officer with no patience for excuses; he'd met a lot of those in the past months. The Zultasian told a lot of jokes and laughed loudly, all swagger and confidence. Ekna had never seen anything like the grey skinned woman with the cybernetic tail, though, and even though the forth commander didn't look all that much older than him he'd heard some of the other soldiers say she wasn't really Lor but Terran and everybody had a friend of a friend with a horror story about a Terran. Ekna risked glancing up again to the back of the transport where all four of them were standing, holding onto handing straps and conversing.
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We'll need this soon enough!
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In the massive metal and stone shaft outside the overseer's office-turned-war room, sized to fit hulking mining vehicles and ore transports, a pile of rocks stood up from against the drill worn wall and stretched. Rock didn't actually have muscles or bones per se but that didn't stop the rough-hewn goliath from feeling significant satisfaction as he cracked his back with the scraping sound of stone against stone and idly scratched one thigh. There wasn't much to be done until the Coalition leaders came to an agreement but they'd already been locked away for long enough that even his glacially steady patience was starting to erode. It was tough for Rock to imagine anyone needing to do that much talking. He waved to a group of troopers jogging past in formation, their mismatched fatigues suggesting that not so long ago they would have been more likely to be on opposite sides of a battlefield than keeping in fighting form side by side. Rock was old enough to take ideas like empires and federations with a grain of salt but he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen so much change over such a short period of time. There was a sense of a shared breath being held in silent anticipation among the soldiers, technicians and handful of civilians in the old mining facility and Rock had to resist the urge to go check for a third that the Horizon was repaired and ready to fly. As he looked about one figure stood out even amongst the mosaic of species and uniforms, a dark blue Tempestian girl in a yellow-gold coat that reminded him a little of Eclipse's ostentatious sense of style. It wasn't her clothing that amused the living statue so much as her size: from boots to frizzy white hair she was barely half his height to say nothing of bulk. Interested piqued, he sauntered over with as much grace as a landslide could muster to say hello.
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Lor Timemark 1329.7 - February 28, 2015 Repiuk System Asteroid Belt When rich ore deposits had been discovered in the asteroid belt of a system with no habitable worlds nearly a hundred and fifty years prior it had drawn in a rush of prospectors, independent fortune seekers and small companies looking to stake a claim that would set them and their families up for generations. As the demands of the galactic economy shifted and the best veins had been tapped out, however, the cost of refinement had risen past the profitability of the belt and one by one facilities had been abandoned, subterranean ghost towns riddling the asteroids with tunnels and shafts. Decades later those abandoned mines would serve as a base of operations for a vicious pirate fleet, their leader cannily realizing that the remaining deposits of heavy metals would play havoc with snooping sensor sweeps. They'd been found out by the Star Knights nevertheless and soundly routed, leaving another layer of abandoned equipment in their wake. It was Sri A'Lan Koor who had remembered those raids and suggested the belt, a remote location of no military significance or appeal to the Communion, as a staging area for the Coalition forces. For the past three months the secret had remained kept, long enough for the leaders of the Coalition to feel secure gathering together in one room as they planned out their last, best chance to drive out the invading menace. Standing at the war table the veteran Star Knight had to wonder if they weren't going to do the Communion's job for it. "You need to pull your head out of whatever orifice you've shapeshifted for defecation purposes," Senator Diena Th'emme told the Grue Arcane across from her flatly, fingertips pressed firmly against the surface of the horizontal display between them. The tall, imperious woman managed to make even the utilitarian grey jumpsuit she was wearing come across as regalia, her honey blonde hair done up in a crisp bun. "We have a precise window of opportunity. What troops we can spare to assault the communication relay will have to be enough." The short, stocky being to her made a fluting growl, waving fur covered hands for emphasis as his translator box did its work in an incongruously light soprano. "You would send them to their deaths and for what?" Minister Ch'rrr had rallied a number of worlds to the Coalition's banner in his home sector but was by nature disinclined toward risk taking. "The slim hope of a possible advantage for a doomed plan? Your ancestors' pardon, Citizen Tulink, but I cannot place so much faith in a single simulacrum. Surely you agree, Praetorian Val-Ren?"
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"What she said," Erik agreed, wrapping an arm around his wife's waist and giving a small nod of solidarity. There was something he found distinctly attractive about Min's commanding, no-nonsense attitude come the winter months but to be fair he found the other three seasons to have their own unique charms, too. There was definitely something to be said for variety but he suspected it wasn't the most appropriate time to continue along that train of thought. "Whatever you end up doing, just let us know what you need and we've got your back, yeah?" He gave the girls a grin as they raced over at the prospect of hot chocolate. "Say, you two don't really want any cocoa, right? Because I was planning on just drinking all of it myself 'til there's none left!"
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Ghost Girl let out a cry that was half disgusted, half frustrated as the artificial being came apart around her incorporeal fingers. Shaking off the last of the terror-induced rage clouding her senses she sped through the sudden clouds and mad flurry of projectiles to better position herself before unhinging her ectoplasmic jaw and unleashing a gale of winter into the thickest spot of nanites she should see. Ice crystals formed around tiny groupings of the microscopic invaders as the blizzard blasted into them, snowflakes that were quickly caught up in Equinox's wind and swept away. "How do we know if we got all of them?" she shouted quickly before letting loose another literally bone-chilling scream.
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With a soft rumble the belied the power of its engine, the Night Cycle rounded the corner onto the White family home's street, Redbird having grudgingly resumed a more terrestrial configuration for the vehicle along the way. Even so the matte black classic motorcycle and its silent rider looked more than a little out of place gliding down the residential street, the layers of dark fabric and dark paint obscuring edges and details to the point that from a distance it was little more than a living shadows moving from streetlamp to streetlamp. Rolling up to the end of the driveway, Midnight cut the engine and placed a booted foot down on the curb, not yet dismounting as he met the eyes of the quartet about the enter the house. There were several beats of increasingly awkward silence before he finally raised one hand in a vague wave of greeting.
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Incursion: Phase Three While Earth has lay under siege the rest of the galaxy has burned with war. The Communion continues to sweep over world after world, converting most into horrific server tombs to fuels it insatiable hunger to expand its intellect and destroying others outright to create wormholes for some more diabolical purpose. It does not do so unopposed, however, as the Galactic Coalition fights back at every turn! Lor mentats soldier on shoulder to shoulder with Grue Arcane while Khanate pirates take up arms alongside newly awakened Praetorians in a battle for their very survival! They are outnumbered and overpowered but they have a plan. Legends are about to be born and one way or another the galaxy will never be the same. >Incursion: Black Sheep For months Star Knight Kyle Steward has been a one man armored thorn in the Communion's paw. An ally arrives to help and catch him up on what he's missed in the meantime. Featuring: Cavalier >Incursion: Red Five The Communion's machinations on Earth have been thwarted but the world-killer still looms near Pluto's orbit! Can our heroes destroy the superweapon before their home joins Lor-Van? Featuring: Argonaut, Cavalier, Geckoman, Hronos and Sun Walker >Incursion: Merciless At the Coalition's secret base a final, desperate stratagem is being planned. It becomes much more desperate when the communed Star-Khan arrives to quash the resistance once and for all! Featuring: Galvanic, Paradigm and Rock >Incursion: Troopers Behind enemy lines on a cyberformed server world our heroes must lead grudging allies from the Lor, Grue and more in an assault on a key communication relay before time runs out! Featuring: Corona, Eclipse, Roulette and Wander Incursion: Blockade Runners To get vital intelligence regarding the location of the Communion mothership back to the Coalition our heroes will have to fight their way off world and through an enemy blockade! Featuring: Bliss, Dragonid, Ghost Girl, Kharag and Wraith >Incursion: Interstellar 66 With another world targeted for destruction to form another wormhole a risky deal must be struck. Are our heroes sure they're aligning themselves with the lesser of two evils? Featuring: Dragonfly, Deep Freeze, Ruby Voxx and The Traveller >Incursion: Only Hope There's just one chance to infiltrate the Communion mothership and disable it from the inside, with the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance! Featuring: Citizen, Mater Vyrdna, Moon Moth, Seika and Temperance Phase Three threads will be launching over the next few days. Your GM will send a PM to all involved players as each thread is posted and links will be added to this notice. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM the ref team!
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Compu-Jackals Reflex Save vs DC 20: 5#1d20+4 5 18 11 19 9 Toughness Save vs DC 25: 5#1d20+7 9 18 23 26 9 26 - Asad - Uninjured, 3HP > 24 - Citizen - Injured x2, 0HP 19 - Terrifica - Bruised x1, 1HP 17 - Maxima - Uninjured, Pending Fatigue, 2HP 14 - Hronos - Disabled, Dazed, Distracted, 0HP 8 - Compu-Jackals with Wings and Penetrating Claws x2 - Uninjured
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Maybe the play of words didn't translate well or maybe the other pair in the room were simply too weary to laugh. Either way there was a heavy silence as Seven and Gio'nn exchanged a look. "She should be told, Shepherd-Seven," the Grue said finally, their somber voice emerging from their mouthless face with a distinctly alien quality. "He," Seven corrected absently with a small sigh, making a few swiping gestures over the glassy surface of the holomap's controls to zoom the image in to a section of galaxy that was immediately familiar with Cavalier. Gio'nn blinked twice, each eye closing asynchronously before their forehead creased with frown lines. "Shepherd-Seven is female and these two look alike. Shepherd-Seven is attempting to distract this one with solid nonsense." "No, I'm-- later. Steward, command didn't much want one of their last remaining Star Knights distracted and emotional but screw 'em. Gio'nn's right, there's another hot spot you need to know about." The map adjusted again as she made an inverted pinching gesture, coalescing into a single solar system with one life-supporting planet. "Right after you went off comms the Communion went after Terra. Earth. Guess they weren't looking for a straight-up fight with all those mutants and whatever you guys have so they made a big feint with some heavy ordinance out at the edge of the system and tried some of the sneaky kark. Stealth nanite bombs, evangelist units, the works. Got their metal noses dented in, is the good news." "The Grue could have told the Enemy that would not work on Terrans," Gio'nn snorted flatly before giving Kyle a sidelong, vaguely embarrassed look and going silent. Seven ran a hand down across her face but let the faux pas pass without comment. "Bad news is that the world killer, the one that... the one that was at Lor-Van is still there and it sounds like it's their Plan B." She indicated a spot on the map about where the human knew Pluto's orbit lay. "Daedalus and his crew are engaging but all they're doing is slowing it down now that it's stopped playing with them."
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From the album: Gizmo's Junk Drawer
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"Do not over concern thyself, archer," Sekhmet told Arrowhawk, rolling the last syllable into a faint purr as she stood up from her lioness form and resumed her human guise. "The Father of all Monsters be formidable but he flaunted many grave edicts this day and his might could afford him only so long a reprieve from the consequences. He darkens the mortal plane no longer." "Aye, and his shiny, star-metal friends seem not to have weathered their brush with chaos magic," Set added, gesturing to the still hunks of nanite metal strewn about, inert wreckage by all appearances. "Typhon did seem terribly sure their true master would bring about the end of days. Someone should look into that, mayhaps." The godling's words were idle musings as he cracked his back loudly and if he happened to be looking Sun Walker directly in the eye when he said 'someone' that was probably nothing more than a coincidence. Regardless, his toothy grin took in the entire group. "Fine work indeed, just as planned, ha!" The show of exuberant cheer faded noticeably as his gaze fell over the ruined pieces of burnt and brittle bone lying alongside the deactivated nanobots. "...you asked why I conspired to bring each of you here," he began in a quieter voice, his boisterousness replaced by somber reflection as his grey eyes lost focus staring into the distance. "In truth my options were somewhat lacking, however... This was once Ombos, where the desert ran rich with ribbons of gold. The center of my worship. The center of my responsibility." He turned back to the assembled heroes with his back straighter than before, a stirring of something commanding and ancient in his bearing despite his injuries. "I am Set. I am master of dust and deluge, thunder and tempest." His steely, unblinking stare turned to Meatheral then on to Miras. "Timeless, my boons. Eternal, my curses. I am patron to strangers in strange lands, benefactor of dangerous surprises in the dark," he told Arrowhawk, his voice resonant and clear. In Sun Walker's direction he continued, "I am he who guarded blessed Ra on his pilgrimage through the underworld. I am he who stands against monsters." His words hung in the air for a mere moment before he blinked and his stance relaxed, the spell broken. Once again a mere slip of a boy stood before them, a cocky, lopside smirk playing at his lips. "I simply preferred to keep things 'in house', if you will."
