Raveled

Jessica pulled up to the restaurant in her big truck, the black vehicle defined more by the light shining off it than its own bulk. She had to circle the place twice before she found a parking space, way in the back of the lot. She was dressed in a green silk blouse a denim skirt that ended just at her knees, designed more for sitting next to her boyfriend and rubbing knees under the table then dashing across an asphalt parking space in the blowing snow. At least she'd had the sense to wear shoes with enclosed toes and flat soles. She made it to the bit of pavement encircling the restaurant and hurried around to the front, where Blake was waiting. She smiled and walked up to him, throwing an arm across his shoulders and pressing in tight, more for the warmth than any intimacy. She put a kiss on his cheek (that was for the intimacy) and glanced between the rapidly-filling restaurant and the dark parking lot. "Hi, honey. Do you want to wait for your friend before we get a table?"

Characters Name: Robin Morrigan Isla Cross Power Level: 12 (205/205) Trade-Offs: None Alternate Identity: Raven Queen, Raven Starver Age: C. 7000 years (Subjective: 35; DoB: 7/4/1975) Gender: Female Ethnicity: Middle Eastern/Mediterranean Height: 5' 2" Weight: 90 lbs Eyes: Hazel/Gold Hair: Blue-Black In Brief: Millennia-old bad girl reforms and becomes a hero. Description: Robin Cross is a slim, short woman with warm, mahogany-colored skin. Her face is thin, and both her nose and chin are sharply pointed. Her deep-set eyes are a dark gold a few shades lighter than her skin, and her blue-black hair falls in waves to just past her shoulders. Despite the severity of her features she has a wide, generous mouth and an easy smile. Her limbs and fingers are slender, and she moves with an easy, practiced grace. Robin prefers to wear long-sleeved shirts of bright blue, green, pure white, and tan or khaki slacks when she doesn’t wear jeans. She wears a choker about her neck made of many pale wood panels connected by a thin chain of electrum. If someone got close enough, they might notice that each panel is inscribed with a different symbol in Sumerian. When the sorceress requires it, the choker expands into a slender ash wood staff, banded about with a thin filigree of electrum. She usually wears a charm bracelet around her right wrist. The central band appears to be silver and gold twisted together, and the charms are an eclectic mix: a half-open door, an eye, a horse in mid-gallop, and maybe a dozen others. Their overall meaning, if in fact there is one, is something the sorceress is keeping to herself. When Robin expects trouble or wants to be obvious about being a practitioner, she carried a slender ash wood staff a full inch shorter than herself. The pale wood is bound in thin rings of some silvery metal, more like a filigree than anything else, spaced evenly down the length of wood. Most of the time there's nothing to suggest that the staff is anything special -- aside from the person wielding it -- but when Robin puts power through it, runes flare on the surface of the wood. History: A thousand years before recorded history, when the world was a more savage place, a young shepherdess named Robin was born in the rocky mountains of the Near Est. She grew up in a sleepy village built around ancient Atlantean ruins, mostly untouched by the outside world, until the day her quiet home was invaded by bloodthirsty raiders. The girl was lucky enough to hide among the ruins and avoid death, but it left a mark on her. She studied the notes left behind by the village’s shaman, growing in arcane power and her need for revenge. Eventually she left the ashes of her home and went searching for the marauders. Robin, now calling herself the Morrigan, found many allies and enemies as she searched for the people who destroyed her birthplace; she finally found them and destroyed them, laying the memories of her past to rest, but by now the woman was too powerful to go back to being a quiet farmer. Morrigan continued to hone her talent, until she ruled a kingdom as the Raven Queen. She wasn’t a good queen, holding sway with an iron fist and a lust for power and knowledge. Aspirants to her throne rose up and were defeated, until a group of adventurers managed to trap her inside a magical tapestry. The enchanted canvas contained what was, on the surface, a perfect world, one where the Raven Queen ruled absolutely and was the acknowledged master of Earth, and the mightiest sorceress on the planet. For awhile she enjoyed her position, experimenting and expanding her mystical ability, but before long she grew bored. There simply wasn’t anything left to conquer or learn when she ruled the planet, and the few challengers who rose up against her she destroyed with contemptuous ease. Morrigan took to moving through her own empire incognito, as a shaman called Isla. She faced many trials and had a lot more fun, even when technically fighting against her own forces. Almost by accident she found herself a rallying point of the despairing inhabitants of her land, ending up heading a rebellion against herself! The rebellion succeeded and the Raven Queen’s empire crumbled. Isla continued to wander the land, searching for excitement and personal tests. Surprisingly, she learned that doing good was harder than evil, and she felt better. After a decade of questing throughout the illusory landscape, Isla had changed irrevocably from the woman who was first trapped – and the magic stopped working. The woman was spat out into a world much changed by time. Though only a decade or so had passed inside the tapestry, thousands of years had passed outside. Horses, minstrels, and mud-walled villages had been replaced by airplanes, the Internet, and metropolii with tens of millions of citizens. It wasn’t easy to adapt, but in time she settled down in Freedom City. She even has a store near FCU; Cross’ Roads specializes in magical and occult books and ingredients. In her free time the sorceress worked as an occult detective, helping the normal people of Freedom City with magical problems that didn’t attract the attention of the super-powered population. She’s even trained some budding mages in their powers, usually just enough so they don’t set the cat on fire. Personality & Motivation: Robin Cross has always been a woman who lived for the next thrill, the next test of her abilities, but age and experience have tempered her ardor a bit. She still loves a challenge to tackle, but now she’s likely to research a threat and prepare the exact response, rather than charge ahead and trust to luck and raw power to see her through. At heart, though, she’s still an emotional person, and with the right riggers all reason goes out the window. If just one thing drives Robin, it’s the hope of redemption. She deeply and sincerely regrets what she did as the Raven Queen. Her greatest rational fear is that her past will be exposed and she will become a pariah among heroes, or even be treated as a villain. Robin can be a bit odd in her stance towards magic. She views it as something special, not something to be thrown at every single problem. She prefers to use a mundane solution, if one exists, and is not shy about berating mages too eager to show off their power. Robin has a recurring dream about falling from a very tall height, which always lasts just long for her to feel her head crack on landing. Since she's never had an experience like this, she has become convinced that it's a premonition of her death. Powers & Tactics: Robin's magic is oriented towards mental effects, not physical ones. When she needs to interact with the physical world, she uses foci; most often her staff. To use her magic, the sorceress must gather the energy and shape it using words and gestures. Anything that leaves her unable to move and/or speak would leave her unable to access her spells. However, she could still use her foci. In a fight, Robin tries to use her Illusion and Emotion Control to break up groups of enemies. If possible, she'll set them to fighting each other, or at least fighting imaginary constructs. If there are innocents around, her first priority will be to get them out. Complications: Acrophobia Robin believes she will die from a long fall, and as such has a crippling fear of heights. Day Job Robin has a store in the same neighborhood as FCU, and must work her schedule around keeping it open and profitable. Soft-hearted Robin finds it difficult to turn down a plea for help, even when it would be in her best interests to. She's in the Book Cross' Roads is listed in the Freedom City Yellow Pages as a magic store, and people come to her off the street for help with some occult problem. Skeleton in the Closet Robin will go to great lengths to hide the fact of her past. Old Allies, Old Demons As the Raven Queen, Robin made pacts with evil creatures. She regrets is now, but some recognize her -- and some still have old debts to call due. Abilities: 0 + 6 + 4 + 4 + 10 + 6 = 30PP Strength: 10 (+0) Dexterity: 16 (+3) Constitution: 14 (+2) Intelligence: 14 (+2) Wisdom: 20 (+5) Charisma: 16 (+3) Combat: 12 + 16 = 28PP Initiative: +3 Attack: +6, +12 w/ Staff Foci and Nullify Magic spell Grapple: +0 Defense: +12 (+8 Base, +4 Dodge Focus), +4 Flat-Footed Knockback: -6 Saving Throws: 7 + 6 + 9 = 22PP Toughness: +2/+12 (+2 Con, +10 Protection) Fortitude: +8 (+2 Con, +7) Reflex: +8 (+3 Dex, +6) Will: +14 (+5 Wis, +9) Skills: 120R = 30PP Concentration 15 (+20) Craft (Artistic) 8 (+10) Craft (Chemical) 8 (+10) Diplomacy 10 (+13) Gather Information 8 (+10) Intimidate 10 (+13) Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 18 (+20) Knowledge (History) 3 (+5) Languages 12 (Ancient Atlantean, Ancient Egyptian, Arabic, Celestial, English, French, Gaelic, Greek, Hebrew, Infernal, Latin, Mandarin, Sumerian [native]) Notice 10 (+15) Search 8 (+10) Sense Motive 10 (+15) Feats: 14PP Artficer Contacts Dodge Focus 4 Equipment 3 (15 EP) Luck 3 Ritualist Trance Powers: 12 + 23 + 1 + 41 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 81PP All powers have the magic descriptor Device 3 (Spell-Wrought Longcoat; 15PP, Flaws: Hard-To-Lose) [12 PP] Immunity 5 (Critical hits; heat & cold effects; radiation) [5 PP] Protection 10 [10PP] Device 6 (Staff Foci; Easy to Lose; 30 PP; Feats: Accurate 3, Restricted 1 [Anyone with Arcane Lore +10], Subtle) [23 PP] Elemental Array 12 (24 points; PFs: Alternate Power x5) [29 PP] BE: Trip 12 (Air; Feat: Knockback 12) [24/24PP] -- Air Blast AP: Magnetic Control 12 (Magnetism; Str 60) [24/24 PP] AP: Obscure 12 (Water; Visual and olfactory, 1 mile radius; Extra: Independent; Flaw: Partial) [24/24 PP] -- Fog AP: Environmental Control 6 (Fire; create intense heat & daylight, 250 ft radius) [18/24PP] -- Torch AP: Strike 12 (Earth; Feats: Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip; Extra: Penetrating 8) [24/24PP] -- Enhanced Staff AP: Strike 12 (Electricity; Extra: Area/Line [Targeted]) [24/24PP] -- Lightning Bolt Enhanced Feat 1 (Quick Draw) Immunity 2 (Aging, Sleep; Flaws: Limited [1/2 Effect]) [1 PP] Magic Array 18 (36PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 5) [41 PP] BE: Emotion Control 12 (Extras: Area [General, Shapeable, Stationary], Independent) [36/36PP] AP: ESP 5 (5 miles, all senses; Feats: Dimensional [Mystical dimensions], Subtle) [22/30PP] AP: Illusion 12 (Mental; All Senses; Feats: Slow Fade 1 [1 minute]; Extra: Duration [sustained], Independent; Flaws: Phantasm, Action/Full Round; Drawback: Must be able to gesture and speak) [36/36PP] AP: Mental Blast 12 (Mental; Flaw: Action/Full Round) [36/36PP] AP: Nullify Magic 12 (Feats: Accurate 3, Selective; All magic effects) [28/30PP] AP: Telepathy 7 (Mental; Communication [Mental] + Mind Reading; 200 miles; Feats: Selective; Extras: Area [Communication]) [22/30PP] Super-Senses 2 (Magic; Detect Magic [Visual], Extras: Analytical; Flaw: Blocked by natural earth) [1PP] Super-Senses 2 (Magic; Detect Magic [Tactile], Extras: Ranged; Flaw: Blocked by natural earth) [1PP] Super-Senses 2 (Magic; Magical Awareness [Mental], Magical Awareness [Olfactory]) [2PP] DC Block: ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Mental Blast Perception Will DC 27 Damage (staged) Illusion Perception Will DC 27 Emotion Control Area/Ranged Will DC 27 Nullify Magic Ranged Power Check DC 27 Trip Ranged Opposed Acrobatics/Strength Staff Strike Melee Toughness DC 27 Damage (staged) Electrical Strike Melee Toughness DC 27 Damage (staged) Abilities (30) + Combat (28) + Saving Throws (22) + Skills (30) + Feats (14) + Powers (81) - Drawbacks (0) = 205 Power Points

Robin Cross :arrow: Being rewritten as an NPC.

Jessica buried her face in Blake's shoulder, trying to sort out her feelings. She knew, intellectually, that she should feel defensive about his attacking her family, but she didn't really think of her parents family, cruelly enough. They were stranger with the same surname that she spent one holiday in five with. If Blake had been badmouthing her grandfather -- but then, maybe no one would have a chance to do that, again. The thought shook Jessica anew and she clutched at Blake. "I don't wanna go down," she said. "Not yet. Can we just... stay up here for a little bit longer?"

Ironclad couldn't believe that the head cultist was still on his feet, but she wasn't about to stop attacking him just for that. Since her flight system was just about done with anyway, she dialed up the power on her wrist blasters again and fired off another over-powered shot -- only to sway with fatigue at the last second, sending the particle beam punching through the roof and vanishing off into the sky. She stared after it for a moment, hardly believing what had just happened. "Oops?"

You know the deal. Blast, full Accurate Attack, full Power Attack. Defense drops to +1, Att stays the same. 1d20+8=10 O.O If by some miracle that hits, DC 29 Toughness save.

Ironclad regarded her slimed arm, then shook her head. "Thanks, Gossamer, but I think I can handle it. This stuff cracks off pretty well once it heats up, and we should have a ceramics kiln down on Manufacturing." She glanced around the room, noting the mob of reporters outside. "Just wanted to make sure I had time to." The superheroine nodded at the group and headed for the elevators. As she moved, she surreptitiously called up a chat box and connected to her friend's personal network. Don't let them rattle you, she typed. Just remember that you're smarter than anyone here. She paused for a moment to select her floor and enter her security passcode, then quickly added, except for me, of course.

Jessica wanted to rest her head on her boyfriend's shoulder, but with his wings flapping the motion of his shoulder was too great to provide a good resting place. She nodded and pulled away from him, falling through the sky to the roof of the hospital. She set down lightly and waited for Kid Cthulhu to land, then went over and wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him tight and put her head on his shoulder. "So do you hate me now," she asked, "because of my crappy parents?"

Using Extra Effort to boost her Illusion by two ranks. Hitting the Gorilla with it to blind him. DC 17 Will save.

Robin turned from the wolf-man to the gorilla, her staff automatically homing in on the felonious ape. As she turned her coat fell open, and the gorilla's blast slipped past her defenses, slamming into her belly and driving the breath out of her. The sorceress doubled over, leaning heavily on her staff to stay upright. After a moment she glanced up and locked eyes with the great ape. "Blind," she snarled, drawing a hand past her eyes, her words resonating oddly on the air. "Go blind. See no more!"

Toughness! 1d20+10=27 Bruise x2! And GK is up.

Ranged attack. Attacking the head cultist with a thrown golem. (1d20+10=14) Reroll, reroll! 1d20+10=13 Le sigh. The dice, they do not want this to be awesome. However, as in the nature of HPs, that becomes 23.

Ironclad saw Push charging some kind of energy with her all-around vision. Her super-quick mind worked out the math and she slowed her pace for a moment, then jumped just as the kinetic shockwave sent the ground shaking. She still went to one knee as she landed, though, feeling her shin bark against the interior of her armor. She bit back a yelp of pain and struggled to her feet just in time to see the last of the zombies fall and the remaining golem get its feet under it. A quick glance through her sensors confirmed that Dragonfly was guarded. Possible strategies raced through her mind, but she quickly settled on one. The powered armored heroine rushed the remaining flesh golem as she frantically worked her suit's internal systems. Her etheric drive was out, but the energy was still there. Hypothetically, she could reroute the power to take advantage of dormant subsystems, bypassed in normal operation but now potentially useful. Her activated the suit's lifting servos, immediately increasing her lifting and crushing capacity by many-fold, as she closed to closer range and grappled the unnatural creature. There was a moment of uncertainty as the pair warred back and forth, then Ironclad gave a battlecry all out of proportion for her size and lifted the beast by main strength. She oriented herself on the head cultist, still lost in his chants to the Horned whatever. "Shut up for a minute," she growled. "And don't hurt my friends!" She screamed again and hurled the creature at its master, hoping to crush them both and end this fight.

Ho-kay, mechanics time! Extra Effort to Stunt Enhanced Strength off her Flight Array gives her E-Str 11. Switching her weapon array to grappling and closing with the last golem. Going full Power Attack and Accurate Attack. With Clad +3 from Master Plan, that makes her Damage Bonus +10 and her Grapple Bonus +15. Grapple! 1d20+15=34 I'm assuming that works. Pick 'em up and throw 'em at the head cultist. Do I need an Att roll for that?

Ironclad Cha-Cha-Changes News Welcome to the Lab! Too Many Questions, Too Few Answers The Odd Couples Braniac Brunch Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts Beginning of New Things Closing of the Year A Moving Day Christmas GM I Need a Mage's Opinion When Animals Attack Part 33

Ironclad made a controlled fall from a great height, activating her etheric drive at the last moment to counteract the fall and stop her from impacting on the concrete. She had chosen her landing spot carefully, and she didn't raise any dust or dirt to cover the other gussied-up super-science hero. Her own armor had been polished and buffed until it shone in the sunlight -- but that was before her entire left arm had been covered in some green-yellow gunk. As the heroine walked up to the others, her helmet folded back to reveal Jessica Parker's flushed but excited features. "Sorry I'm late," she said. "Someone brought up slime monsters from the sewers, and I was in the area." She gave the ooze a critical look. "Um, maybe I should stand to the back?"

New design journal. 17.1. Christmas comes early for some. This is a little project I've been considering for awhile now. Blake's been really good to me, and I've been thinking about how to pay im back. After investigating a few leads, I came up with these glasses. Most of what they do is based of LADAR and SONAR, with a last thermometer and some basic image enhancers. It's all built into the bridge of the nose, so that's a bit bulky, but otherwise I think I managed to hide it all well. Further advances; communication systems. Auditory enhancement. Ear buds? Bone conduction? Exploitation; market it to the military, of course, and there's always the 'discreet projection' crowd. Device 2 (Easy to lose; 10 PP; Feat: Subtle) [7 PP] Super-Senses 10 (Normal & Infravision; Counter all Visual Obscure; Counter Visual Concealment; Extended [100 feet]) [10 PP]

Robin's using Mental Blast against wolf-boy. DC 23 Will save.

Robin stared for a moment as the man in the cloak and the armor started talking to and trying to reason with the odd menagerie. "Just lock them all down," she offered, waving her free hand loosely. "Call the cops and have them haul away this -- shit!" That last came out as the wolf-man broke free of his ghostly bonds. The sorceress whirled and pointed her staff, sending another lash of will and power down it.

The following obituary ran in both the Daily Herald and the Daily Word from November 3rd through November 5th. "Malcolm X. Dawes (US Army, USAF, ret.) passed away Monday, November 1st, from a heart attack. He severed in every armed conflict that United States was involved in from 1944 through 1975. When he retired from the military he founded his own company, Dawes Tech, which remains in the family's hands. Per the deceased's wishes, Malcolm will be cremated and his ashes interred a Arlington National Cemetery. He is survived by his daughter and granddaughter."

Jessica had calmed down a bit by the time Kid Cthulhu got to her altitude, so she didn't flinch away when he touched her shoulder. "So now you've met my whole screwed-up family," she said. "I'll understand if you want to l--" She choked up suddenly, unable to to say the word leave. Blake had been the only one standing by her through this whole thing. She couldn't stand the though of not having him by her side right now. Still, now that he'd met her parents he might not want to stay. So she swallowed the lump in her throat and continued. "If you don't want to be here anymore."

In the few minutes that he was gone, Robin had cleaned up the little ritual space and donned a thick leather apron with a number of pocket. She was just tying it back behind herself when Gabriel walked back in, ashes and wire in hand. She took both baggies, examining the wires critically. "They'll just have to do," she after a moment, putting both baggies in her pockets. "The charm should be done by the end of the week, okay?"

Clad's Reflex check 1d20+6=26 :shock: Toughness 1d20+9=16 :? S-Str isn't active, so it'd be her Acrobatics modifier 1d20+3=22 Why couldn't I have gotten that for Toughness!?

Jessica charged through the hospital corridors, almost blind with the intensity of the emotions churning through her. Anger and her mother; pride that she'd finally stood up to the woman; shame that she had snapped so easily and revealed her identity; and of course fear for her grandfather. She deftly avoided the other people in the halls, her long training and experience allowing her to do it almost without thinking. She headed for the front entrance without really making a conscious decision to do so. She burst through the front door, and once she sensed open sky above her head the young woman leapt up and away, flying straight up until she was on a level with commercial airliners. Once up there, she hugged herself tightly, almost feeling like she about to be ripped apart by the force of the emotions inside her.

What we talked about is a-go, Kyri.