Raveled

Okay so near as I can figure, the one sense Flora can get through her vines is Tactile. Which means all she'll get from running them up a garbage chute is how squishy it is. She'll still need to stunt some kind of ESP to get any other information out of this spy run. EDIT: Or Roo's idea.

Brian was deciding that he liked being in a relationship with Gwen more and more. They'd spent almost the entire day together, and it was one of the best memories he'd had since transferring to Claremont. Now it was almost over, but he was determined to end it on a high note. "Okay then," he said. "Tips for living in a post-apocalyptic world. Courtesy of Hollywood." He cleared his throat before beginning. "Turn away all lone survivors, unless they're feral children, Mel Gibson, or Kevin Costner. Hoard the water. Hoard the food. Especially hoard the toilet paper. And a shotgun beats all other weapons. I, uh, think that's about it." He stood in front of Gwen, holding both her hands. "Are... are you ready?"

Oh yeah, that'll find something. Let's say a side-alley with a chute... above a dumpster. :D

"Hey, now." He reached across the table and grabbed Gwen's hand. "Don't get down on yourself. You can do great things. Even without your powers, you're so smart and adventurous. And, of course, you're drop-dead gorgeous." He raised her hand and kissed each knuckle in turn, before letting go and eating another bite of his pancakes. "Anyway. Let's not turn this into a round of 'who's got the cooler powers,'" he said. "I'm just glad we've got a few more hours to spend together."

Brian glanced between his plate and Gwen's. "I think there's some sterotype we're switching up, here," he said, carefully sectioning his flapjacks before trying one. It was... well, it probably would've tasted a lot better if he was actually hungry. "You're new developments?" He glanced around and checked that they were still pretty much alone. Even still, he leaned over the table and lowered his voice. "The, ah, making plants grow thing? I guess that would be pretty handy." He relaxed in his chair, fiddling with the pancakes on his plate. "Still, it's nice that you found something you like to do with your, uh, abilities. It'd be nice if mine would suggest a job for me, besides demolition." The young man's tone was joking, but there was a bitter thread in there. He didn't resent Gwen using her powers like she was, exactly, but it would've been nice to be able to help proactively with the Gorgon, instead of waiting for something to happen and responding to it.

I thought that we just with the vines? *Checks* Ah, I guess she does have Comprehend. Yes, ESP would be needed to cover the distance and get full sensory experience and not just a breakdown of who's wearing the brightest colors.

That would require stunting an ESP power, and explaining how she's 'talking' to the plants.

GM Myrmidon's glue gun succeeded in trapping the cosmicly empowered hero, and while Changeling stumbled around in a daze and Glowstar rested in the bed, the rest of the Irregulars launched their assault. Unfortunetly there was too much goo in his ears for Crow's taunt to take much effect and Wisp's energy beam seemed to just bounce off his body without leaving a mark; all in all, not the most decisive of assaults. Mega roared as he applied his monsterous strength to his bindings, ripping holes in the foamy substance and glowing more brightly than ever. "FOOLS," he boomed. "None can stand before the Gorgon! None can stand before her Herald! Stand aside and accept your fate, or be destroyed!"

Glowstar is still catching zzzzzzz. Megastar can't burst out of the Snare this round, but he does Injure it! Move action left, so try and talk those foolish, foolish heroes down again! -5 for trying to do it as a Move action, -1 for already doing it once this combat. Cosmicstar's Intimidate attempt. (1d20-2=12) Only folks who failed the first check have to make this one. Initiative 32 Megastar -- Bruise x2, Bound (Injury x1) -- GM 19 Myrmidon -- Uninjured -- HPx3 17 Changeling -- Uninjured -- HPx2 15 Crow -- Uninjured -- HPx3 14 Wisp -- Uninjured -- HPx3 10 Glowstar -- Unconscious, Bed'd -- HPx6 Myr's up.

If either of you would like to make Knowledge checks or Gather Information checks now, representing your research pre-thread, now's the time to do so.

"Well that's, ah, nice of her. I guess you're going to be there for awhile, then? I hope they have some kind of modern facilities -- I like hiking as much as the next guy, but after a week or so a shower and a washing machine is a great thing to have, you know?" Service was prompt; Brian made do with an order of silver dollar pancakes and a soda. He wasn't really hungry, even if he hadn't eaten anything in... a couple of days? He blinked as he realized that it had probably been Wednesday since he'd eaten? That couldn't be right. In any case he pushed the idea to the back of his head, focusing on the time he had left with Gwen. "Do you think you might go back there? Once everything's taken care of with the Gorgon?"

So this was originally intended to be an adventure for the Irregulars, but with Quinn's imminent hiatus the future of that group is looking rocky, at best. So in the interest of not wasting my planning I'm throwing it open to a larger group. This is an adventure for up to five PCs to Freedom's Reach, the fantasy-Freedomverse detailed in Worlds of Freedom. The set-up is fairly basic: bad guys have taken over and imprisoned the Big Goods of the setting, so the local resistance summons heroes from another world! The framing device is going to be the first outing of the Claremont Young Explorer's League (name pending). This is basically a school club started up by Glowstar, centered around activities like geocaching, hiking, and maybe some urban exploration. They go out hiking in Wharton and get mystically whisked off to adventure, woosh! For this you have to be willing to create a PL 6 fantasy version of your PC, to be used as background. I may also ask folks for some... other help. :twisted:

The OOC to this thread and sequel to Green Thumb. The hard-hitting duo of Flora and Catalyst reunite to take down someone who's doing bad stuff! Yah!

GM August 12th, 2011 2:37 PM 13668 Stross Street, Wading Way Only a couple of days ago, the heroines Catalyst and Flora had foiled an attempt by a couple of rough-and-ready guns for hire to stop a plan to beautify Lincoln, on the wrong side of the river. The bad gals had let a name slip, and like the detectives they weren't the pair had followed the lead gamely. Fortunately, a quick Google search had turned up a promising lead: Olivas Investment, a real estate firm operating out the city's financial district. The firm operated out of a respectable-looking brownstone on the waterfront, and right now the heroines were sitting in a Catalyst's van across the road, sizing it up.

Brian stood as Gwen appeared, slipping an arm around her and inhaling deeply. He savored the scent of her soap and perfume for a long moment before leading her down the steps and vaguely toward the front gate. "I am," he announced with gravity, "going to take you to the best IHOP in the whole damn city. Ready?" He swept Gwen into his arms and rose into the air, a semi-transparent red bubble forming around them. The young hero propelled himself through the air, carrying Gwen the whole way; it wasn't strictly necessary, he could've even kept her in her own little bubble, but why in the world would he choose to do that? In any case, it was a few minutes before the pair set down before an IHOP in the North End, just a few blocks from Freedom City University. The buildings of the Hanover Institute of Technology were visible over the river, but most college students were apparently still asleep because the restaurant was all but deserted, just a few wait-staff bustling about. Brian kept Gwen close as the hostess lead them to a four-seat table near one of the windows, only separating when he went to sit down. He plucked a menu from the center of the table and unfolded it, laying it in front of him, but he kept his eyes on the woman across from him. "So. To Sanctuary today, huhn?"

Starlight released Hector, sighing. It seemed her plan had worked perfectly, which would at least stop anyone from asking where Elizabeth Moya went to. Unfortunately, it would probably have the side-effect of calling down every single superhero in the city with the intent of being able to hang an actual Grue off their figurative belt. Not that she of all people would blame them, but it would certainly make her job here a bit more... prickly. Well, no sense in hanging around, anyway. The heroine flew back outside the building, taking up a perch just above the Furrows' window, chin resting on a curled fist. The most straight-forward thing to do would be to go see Langston Albright, or even the Freedom League. At the same time, though, she couldn't leave the Furrows, and who knew how many others, in the grip of some psychic nutjob with a grudge. What to do, what to do?

I'm going to spend a HP for inspiration, here.

Brian enjoyed the sight of Gwen's back for longer than he perhaps needed to, but he passed her the robe and waited until she was wrapped up before sitting up himself and standing. He stretched in the middle of the room, grabbing his shoes and socks from where they'd been flung the night before. He backed towards the door, keeping Gwen in sight for as long as possible. "So, I'll get dressed then. And meet you downstairs." A thought occurred to him and his eyes lit up. "I know, I'll take you into the city! We'll have breakfast somewhere fancy, before you go off to Sanctuary!" He spun away and was gone before Gwen could reply. Half an hour later Brian was loitering on the front steps of the dorm building, whistling tunelessly. He'd broken out his best clothes for the occasion; a western shirt with a white-and-black plaid design, over a wine-colored tee shirt. His blue jeans were clean and pressed, and his white sneakers were spotless. Heedless of the brisk temperature, he wore his shirt open and had rolled the sleeves up past his elbows. He could barely sit still, tapping his foot and drumming on his knees. Despite everything, last night had left him with a really good feeling.

The heroes retreated to the lobby, where they could speak in without the alerting the mass of undead. "I can see a few options," Starlight said. "Mindless undead are usually tied to the will of the necromancer, so we could try to rush him. I think I could match him power-for-power, if you can handle the zombies." She paused. "That's probably not the best option, though," she pointed, rather unnecessarily. "Of course, this is a theater. We might be able to find some way backstage, and then we could get to him without going through all those zombies."

"Hey. Hey, stop that." Brian tiled Gwen's face up and kissed her again, kissing her hot tears and her lips, brushing her hair back from her face to kiss her ear lobes and the side of her neck. "Not everyone is going to get away before that thing gets here. And even if we could get all the civilians away, the heroes wouldn't leave. They... we have to stay here, have to fight this." He hugged her to him, kissing the crown of her head. "I don't... I don't think I want to. God knows, I'd love to go to Sanctuary with you and just forget that this whole thing is even happening, but I can't. That's not the life I've chosen to lead." He fell silent for a bit, breathing in deeply and running his hand through Gwen's hair. He really was scared of what was coming, of what might happen if they lost the fight to the Gorgon -- or even if they won it, but not before she started terraforming the planet. At the same time he was sure that he couldn't simply run away from this danger; apart from choosing to be a superhero and defend the world, his parents were here. He wasn't about to abandon them to a fate like that. After a minute, Brian patted Gwen on the head. "So, uh. Do you think maybe we should get up? And maybe get some breakfast or something?"

Jessica let out a half-strangled scream of frustration as Blake walked out of the apartment. She stomped back up the stairs, ducking into the bathroom briefly before returning to her bed. She put the bracelet on her nightstand and slipped into bed... and found herself laying there, unable to get to sleep. This was stupid! It was all Blake's fault anyway, right? His fault for hiding this huge thing from her for so long. She flopped over onto her other side and stared out at the dark bedroom. On the other hand, wasn't that supposed be part of a relationship? Accepting when the other person made a mistake and helping them past it? After all, it wasn't like either she or Blake were perfect by a long measure. She'd dealt with him being Kid Cthulhu before, why was this so different? Maybe she should call him before he got all the way downstairs and they could talk some more... Jessica sat upright in bed, hugging her knees to her chest as the enormity of the situation finally settled over her. She just realized that she might well lose Blake over this.

Brian shifted on the bed. It really was quite narrow for two people, and in time he ended up on his back, Gwen sprawled half-on and half-off. It was an enjoyable few minutes of bodies rubbing against each other, but eventually he was forced to consider her words. He brushed a lock of her hair back and kissed her forehead. "We'll have to go camping there," he said quietly, "once all this Gorgon business is wrapped up. You can show me all the new forests you planted." He hugged her close, feeling her warmth against him. "Besides. I just think you gave me about the best reason to fight for this planet I could ever have."

Jessica tensed up and stepped away from Blake's hand. "I don't know, Blake," she said. "You were going through this big thing for two months and you didn't even think to tell me? Not once, for two months, you didn't mention, 'Hey babe, if I sprout tentacles one day, it's all natural and I have it under control'? That's a pretty big thing to keep under your hat!" She shivered and rubbed her hands up and down her arms, feeling the sudden gooseflesh there. "I... I think it would be best if you stay somewhere else tonight, Blake."

Brian chuckled, pulling Gwen closer to him. He kissed her gently, slowly, taking his time with it. He discovered that one hand was underneath Gwen's body and shifted to bring it up, running that hand through her long hair, slowly working it loose. After a minute he pulled back from the kiss, eyes locked with Gwen's. "Last night was... absolutely incredible. I've never felt anything like that," he admitted. "I really wish you didn't have to go away today."

That hits nicely. Unfortunately, Impervious Toughness 12 means it bounces off.