Raveled

Robin gave her customer a side-long look, trying to determine if this was some sort of obtuse joke. It didn't seem that way. A normal human should've known about someone as famous as Harry Houdini. On the other hand, if she was some kind of supernatural creature, then she should've been caught by the shop's wards. There was a third option, of course; a human agent for supernatural powers. But Robin didn't think that this woman intended to do her harm. "Harry Houdini was a stage magician," she said. "He used slight of hand, mechanical tricks, and psychology. He was famous for it, actually, but as far as I know he didn't use any actual magic." The sorceress reached back under the counter and brought out the poorly-shaped skull. It was formed from unglazed clay, and there wre still fingerprints and tooling marks on the surface, the signature of either a hurried crafter or an inexperienced one. "This might be more up your alley. It's a single-use item, intended to disrupt magical energy." She rolled the skull in her hand; it fit easily into the hollow of her palm. "Just throw it at the ground and it'll explode. It's designed to be almost fool-proof."

The man -- Jessica's father -- swept past the group and stomped up the nurses' station squeezed into one corner, where he started angrily asking after his father-in-law. Jessica's mother swept to a halt in front of her daughter, pulling the girl into a tight hug. Neither of them seemed comfortable with the physical contact, though, and they separated quickly. "Jessica," her mother said. "What happened? How long have you been here?" The woman's gaze wondered over to Blake. "Who is this?" Jessica took a deep breath before she started speaking. "I found Grandpa when I came home from school. I called 911 first and then -- and then I left a message on your voice mail." There was a hint of displeasure, maybe even contempt in those last words, but Jessica didn't give her mother a chance to butt in. "I came here in the ambulance. And this is Blake." She took a step towards him, slipping her arm around his ribs. "My boyfriend."

Robin opened the back of the glass case and lifted the deck of cards gingerly, holding the stack by the side instead of squeezing them together. She put the deck on the counter and cut it roughly half-way, laying this stack upright so Etain could see the faces of the cards, not just the design on the back. Surprisingly, they weren't Tarot cards, just a normal deck of playing cards. "These belonged to Harry Houdini himself," the sorceress said, "and are entirely mundane. But they are memorabilia -- and," she added, "there are folks who think they can summon the magician, using these cards as a focus." She rolled her eyes, apparently not too concerned with the idea of aiding necromancy.

Jessica didn't pay any attention to the newcomer, her entire focus on the building swirling in the air above the long table. She had sketched out a pair of towers linked by footbridges, then erased the bridges and joined the towers with bolts of some kind of energy. Now that design, too, was gone, replaced by a single tower, subtly twisted, and banded around with thick girders of some kind of metal; now the girl was idly sketching in magnetic poles. Whatever gaps there were in her education, she had plainly put plenty of time in on CAD machines. "Someone here must know building codes better than me," Jessica announced suddenly. "Is a two hundred foot coilgun against any standing regulations?"

Robin eyed the mask, still not making a move towards it. "A fey-made mask that reaches into your mind? With all due respect, I'm going to pass." The sorceress resettled her feet and threw an eye around the tore. "So is there something special you're looking for? What I've got in stock is pretty basic, but if you give me some time I can get whatever you need."

Jessica didn't say anything in reply, but her tears stopped and she reached up to grab Blake's hand, squeezing hard. "I just don't know what I'm going to do," she said finally. "I had my life planned out. If Grandpa dies, I don't know what'll happen." Before Blake could reply, the it doors swung open again. A man and a woman stepped through, both talking quietly on slim cellphone. The man was tall and solidly built, dressed in a tailored suit, with close-cropped, butter-yellow hair; the woman was tall and slender, wearing a knee-length dress, with platinum blonde hair that fell past her shoulders. The pair glanced around and made a beeline for where Jessica and Blake were sitting. Jessica glanced up and straightened with a start. She pulled away Blake's arm, standing upright and scrubbing at her eyes. "Hello Mom. Dad."

A bit of a tweak. Removed her Enhanced Abilities and went with Rage instead. One rank of Rage to increase it to 10 rounds (about as long as any combat lasts) means that she hits everything but Def caps. Also ties in with her personality more.

Everyone should be using Shaen's Skill Write-Up.

So has everyone donated? Ironclad has!

What's the rank for those powers? What exactly is "Morpheus' Grasp"? It looks like a Stun with the Sleep Extra. What exactly does the Limited on the Immunity mean? Is it only half the effect? I don't see any S-Senses. No Detect Magic or Magic Awareness? What exactly is the 'Innocuous' Feat? Is it Subtle? Skills could use some reworking. Exotic saves are well below par. Where is the "Amulet of Protection" listed in his Toughness and Fortitude line?

I don't have any particular objection to that, but it's fifty-fifty whether a dhampir will get past Robin's wards.

Jessica was lost in her own little world, so closed off from everyone else that she didn't even notice when Blake walked into the room. Fear and anger and frustration had all coiled in her belly, making her hunch her shoulders until her back muscles twisted into a knot. When Blake sat down next o her, she gave a start of nervous energy and her pencil clattered to the floor. She leaned into his arm, grateful for his warmth and presence, and rested her head against his shoulder. She didn't cry, but the tension in her back and shoulders slowly drained out of her. After a few minutes, Jessica started to speak. Her voice was almost lost under the background noise of a busy hospital. "I stayed late at school," she said, "almost an hour later than usual. I was working on a project. I was gonna stay there later, but we had a date. If I'd been home when I usually was, I would've found him earlier. If she dies, it'll be my fault." She started crying then, hot tears that slid down her cheeks and soaked into Blake's shirt, her shoulders shaking in time with her sobs.

Ironclad :arrow: Lose Secret Identity Complication. :arrow: Lose Accurate Attack, Precise Shot, and Minion x5. Buy Equipment 1 and Eidetic Memory. [quote name=Equipment]5 EP donated to the Lab.[/quote] :arrow: Another rank of Device on the Battlesuit, bringing it up to Device 14. Adding Enhanced Feat 5 (Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Power Attack, Precise Shot) [5 PP] and Enhanced Feat 2 (Improvised Tools, Quick Change) [2 PP]. Lose Super-Movement. Switching Strike out for the latest version. Lose Communication Link from S-Sense, grab Distance Sense. [b]Device 14[/b] (Battlesuit; Technology; Hard to Lose; [i]Feats:[/i] Accurate 2; 70 PP) [58 PP] [device][i]All effects have the Technology descriptor[/i] [b]Weapon Array 9.5[/b] ([i]Feats[/i] Alternate Power x2) [21 PP] [list][u]BE:[/u] [b]Blast 9[/b] (Particle beams; [i]Feat:[/i] Ranged Disarm) [19 PP] -- [i]Wrist Blasters[/i] [u]AP:[/u] [b]Strike 9[/b] (Magnetic/Nuclear Force; [i]Feat:[/i] Improved Critical) [10 PP] + [b]Drain Toughness 9[/b] (Magnetic/Nuclear Force) [9 PP] -- [i]Disruptor Field[/i] [u]AP:[/u] [b]Super-Strength 9[/b] (Effective Str 55; 8 tons/16 tons/24 tons/48 tons; [i]Feat:[/i] Counter Punch) [19 PP] -- [i]Servos[/i][/list] [b]Feature 4[/b] (Computer; Library, communications, computers, holo-projector) [4 PP] [b]Flight 5[/b] (Magnetic; 250 MPH/2,500 feet per Move action; [i]Feat:[/i] Subtle) [11 PP] [b]Enhanced Feat 5[/b] (Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Power Attack, Precise Shot) [5 PP] [b]Enhanced Feat 2[/b] (Improvised Tools, Quick Change) [2 PP] [b]Immunity 11[/b] (Armor; Life Support, Critical Hits) [11 PP][color=#FF0000][/color] [b]Protection 9[/b] [9 PP] [b]Super-Senses 3[/b] (Satellite link; Distance sense, direction sense, time sense) [3 PP] [b]Super-Senses 2[/b] (Radius, darkvision) [2 PP][/device] :arrow: Buy off Drawback: Normal Identity. :arrow: Updated DC Block [b][u]DC Block:[/u][/b] ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed --- Touch --- Toughness (Staged) --- Damage Blast --- Ranged --- Toughness (Staged) --- Damage Disruptor Field --- Touch --- DC 24 Fortitude (Staged) --- Drain Toughness Touch --- DC 24 Toughness (Staged) --- Damage Edits done by Geez3r, though due to discovered errors, you have spent 123/127 pp

Robin examined the domino mask, leaning forward but pointedly not reaching for it. She opened her senses all the way, easily sifting out the energies of the mask from the ambient magic hanging in the air. She took a moment to ring up a customer, putting a baggie of polished stones and several differently colored candles in a paper bag and folding over the top. Returning her attention to Etain and the mask, she spoke. "It's of fairy make," she said. "I'd stake my reputation on that. It's got plenty of glamour hanging off it, but that's no surprise. Some of its power is directed inward, so at a guess I'd say it projects some kind of illusion, based on the wearer's thoughts or emotions." She cocked her head and shifted her gaze to Etain's eyes. "You aren't showing me a fey-made mood ring, are you?"

Robin's Know/Arcane check 1d20+15=29 A-hahahaha! Take that, take 10!

Robin stared out at the water for a minute, then rounded on Wesley. "You're sorry? You're just... sorry? You're not angry, you're not ticked off, you're not pissed at me? You had everything planned out, a whole future for you and me, and in a moment I destroyed it all!" The sorceress was almost shouting now and kicked at the beach, sending a spray of sand into the air. She spread her arms and faced the man, breathing hard. "I want to hear it, Wesley, I really do. Because otherwise we can make polite noises to each other and go back to the city and pretend it's all over, but it won't be. We'll still be out on this island."

Robin didn't miss a beat when her new customer started speaking in a dead language or at her odd phrasing. The smile on her face shaded into something more genuine, though, and she half-leaned on the glass-fronted counter top. "" She gave the other woman a sly sink. "" She stood upright, placing her hands at either end of the counter, silently inviting examination and comment. The space inside the counter was divided into two levels by clear glass shelving. The largest item was on the bottom and occupied its level all alone. It was a bird skull, the bone yellowing slightly with age, and fully three feet in length. Other than its size, there wasn't anything remarkable about it. On the next level up were a few objects, each set off from the others.There was a deck of cards, unbound and loosely stacked, apparently entirely mundane; a smoother, black hand mirror in a steel setting; a small human skull, roughly made of unglazed ceramic; and a coil of white rope that might've been made from nylon, expect for the thread of silver woven in and out of the braid.

The streets of Freedom City were chill as November descended on the city. Cross' Roads was doing a brisk trade, as people stepped out of the chill just to warm their hands for a moment. Robin was glad of it; she'd been closed almost constantly for the last week, doing her part against the tide of undead, and with the current trade at least she wouldn't lose her lease on the space. At the same time, going toe-to-toe with a loa had been draining, and she wondered idly how to herd everyone out long enough for her to grab a catnap. The door opened again and Robin turned to the new customer, forcing a smile on her face. "Greetings," she said. "Is there anything I can help you with, today?"

Freedom Medical Center was a massive complex, a full city block on the North River filled with the most advanced machines and best-trained doctors in the country. It wasn't an easy place to navigate, but the emergency room had a clearly-marked waiting room. Jessica was sitting there, with several empty seats around her. She had a backpack near her feet, and a notebook over her knees. It was turned open to a blank page and a mechanical pencil was in her hand, but from the blank expression on her face it was obvious that schoolwork was the last thing on her mind. Her attention was somewhere else, and she didn't even look up as Blake drew close.

It took a few rings for Jessica to answer, and when she did her voice was hoarse. "Blake? Um, yeah, I'm here. I -- oh. I was supposed to meet you at the Hunter Museum, right? I'm sorry, hon. But I..." She trailed off and Blake could hear her swallowing heavily. "I got home and Grandpa was on the floor and he couldn't get up. So I called 911 and they came over and now I'm over at the Freedom Medical Complex." Her voice broke at the very end and she took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "And I could really use someone, Blake."

Ironclad Cha-Cha-Changes Braniac Brunch Get the Wrecking Ball Rolling Too Many Questions, Too Few Answers Robin Cross Meeting the Neighbors Talk Overdue When Animal Attack Part 33 I Need a Mage's Opinion GM A'Walkin' Amongst the Lilies

Winter was moving in on Freedom City with cold determination. The temperature had been dropping all month, and many of last night's trick-or-treaters had been bundled enough to obscure their actual costumes. Jessica had turned down the opportunity to go around with Blake, citing mid-terms she needed to study for. But she had made a date with him today, at the Hunter Museum of Natural History. The only problem was that he had been waiting on the steps for her for twenty minutes now, and she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

So to clarify, this one vignette will count for two (or more) of our characters?

Jessica sat back and considered the Doktor's idea. "It could be interesting," she allowed. "A private research and development lab, or at least one with enough varied sources of funding to avoid the usual concerns could be very useful to the city. It could even be self-funding, eventually, if the various members developed enough patents." She started sketching idly, and the form of two tall, slender towers began rising in the air above the table. "Of course, it would have to be in Hanover."

Characters Name: Jade Warrior Power Level: 10 (150/150PP) Trade-Offs: +/-0 Attack / +/-0 Damage, +/-0 Defense / +/-0 Toughness (or "None") Unspent PP: 0 In Brief: (1-2 sentences which sum up the whole character) Alternate Identities: Josh Turner Identity: Secret Birthplace: Freedom City Occupation: Baggage Handler Affiliations: None worth mentioning Family: None known Age: ?? (DoB: Month [day, optional], Year) Apparent Age: (if applicable) Gender: Ethnicity: Height: Weight: Eyes: Hair: Description: Josh Turner is of average height, but broad-shouldered and muscular. He’s usually tanned from spending so much time outside, which compliments his dark hair and eyes well. The former is usually cut short, if a bit shaggy, and he’s habitually clean-shaven. His clothes are bargain bin and Salvation Army, but when possible he prefers tight shits and long jeans, with a loose coat or hoodie if the weather demands. The Dragon Arm is a beautiful artifact, a clear cut above Josh’s normal wardrobe. It’s constructed of jade chips, each fashioned into a kite shape and layered end over end like scales. The chain wraps tightly around Josh’s left wrist, dark green jade shading into pieces nearly bone white before growing dark again. As the Jade Knight, Josh is completely encased in dark green armor. His face is a featureless mask, and the armor itself can generate an arsenal of weapons, including a razor-sharp whip, a huge blade, and a projectile spike. Power Descriptions: (if applicable) History: No-one knows exactly how old the Dragon’s Arm is, or how it came into being, but the monks who have tended it, and trained and served its bearers, have a story. They say that long ago, demons and monsters roamed the lands and terrorized the people. They prayed for salvation and the gods sent a dragon scale from the constellation of Draco. The scale was found by a righteous warrior; it granted him strength and speed, and protected him from any blow. He lives as a hero, until any enemy snuck up behind the warrior while he was eating, and stuck a knife in his back. The Arm ended up in the possession of a cruel warlord. He forced many loyal lieutenants and soldiers to try the artifact on, but every single one ended up losing his or her hand. In a drunken rage he ordered that a slave boy should try it on. Amazingly, the boy wasn’t maimed; in fact, the Arm responded to his thoughts and commands. The warlord tried to command his slave, but the newly empowered warrior killed the warlord and destroyed his army. He freed his fellow slaves and went out into the world, becoming a champion for freedom and personal liberty. The Dragon’s Arm passed through history like that, say the monks. Sometimes it fell into the hands of villains, but it never worked for them and never stayed there for long. Eventually one of the bearers set up a special Order to help him, and to safeguard the artifact after he passed and help the next bearer. They did so for generations, and in time they learned to predict where the next bearer would be born, and they recruited her early, teaching her all she needed to be a heroine. This was a watershed moment, when the Order went from service the bearers of the Dragon’s Arm to commanding them. Needless to say, the bearers and the Order gained many enemies over the centuries. They destroyed quite a few, but one they could never make much a dent against was the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign. They warred back in forth, but recent decades the Brotherhood gained the upper hand. They destroyed the Order’s HQ and started working on their satellite bases. In a shockingly short period of time the Order was reduced to a score of acolytes around the world. The last one died in France not a month ago. The Brotherhood had destroyed the Order – but the Dragon’s Arm had already been sent to the next bearer. Josh Turner never knew he had a special destiny. He had a rough time growing up, living in a state-run orphanage until he was 18. He tried foster families, lots of foster families over the years, but it never worked out. He had a tendency to get into all sorts of trouble, especially fights; he always claimed it was to protect someone else who couldn’t protect themselves, but he always ended up back at the orphanage. He stayed there until he was legally an adult, and then he got a studio apartment in the Fens and a job moving luggage at the Jordan International Airport. For a couple of years all he lived for were martial arts and the occasional wild party. Personality & Motivation: Josh Turner is not a cautious man. He has a tendency to rush headlong into situation with only his first impression to go on, and as often as that gets him in trouble he doesn’t seem likely to change. He lives in the now, doing everything as hugely and as passionately as he can. He’s direct and uncomplicated in his dealings, and while he might give his loyalty and affection a bit too easily, he’ll go to hell and back for someone that’s proved themselves to be a true friend. Josh can be impulsive and artless, but at the end of the day he has many of the qualities that people look for in heroes; honesty, bravery, compassion, and a drive to protect others. Powers & Tactics: Complications: Abilities: 10+10+10+4+0+6 = 40 PP Str 20 (+5) Dex 20 (+5) Con 20 (+5) Int 14 (+2) Wis 10 (+0) Cha 16 (+3) Combat: 6+12 = 18 PP Initiative: +5 Attack: +3 (+7 melee, +11 Unarmed) Grapple: +0 Defense: +11 (+6 Base, +5 Dodge Focus), +3 Flat-Footed Knockback: -3 Saving Throws: 3+8+6 = 17 PP Toughness: +5 (+5 Con, +0 [Other]) Fortitude: +8 (+5 Con, +3) Reflex: +13 (+5 Dex, +8) Will: +6 (+0 Wis, +6) Skills: 80r = 20 PP Acrobatics 10 (+15) Climb 10 (+15) Craft (Mechanical) 4 (+6) Escape Artist 5 (+10) Intimidate 5 (+8) Knowledge (Pop Culture) 8 (+10) Knowledge (Streetwise) 8 (+10) Notice 10 (+10) Sleight of Hand 10 (+15) Stealth 10 (+15) Feats: 17 PP Accurate Attack Attack Focus (Melee) 4 Attack Specialization (Unarmed) 2 Dodge Focus 5 Evasion Instant Up Power Attack Takedown Attack 2 Powers: 14 = 24 PP Device 9 (Magic; Hard to Lose; 45 PP; Feat: Subtle) [37 PP] All effects have the Magic descriptor BE: Snare 7 (Feat: Alternate Power 2, Extended Reach 10 [50 ft], Tether; Flaws: Range/Touch) [20] AP: Strike 4 (Feat: Mighty, Penetrating 9) [14 PP] AP: Strike 4 (Feats: Mighty, Knockback 9) [14 PP] Protection 2 [2 PP] Impervious Toughness 7 [7 PP] Super-Strength 3 (2 tons/4 tons/6 tons/12 tons/30 tons) [6 PP] BE: Speed 4 (250 MPH; Feat: Alternate Power) [5 PP] AP: Leaping 4 (x50) [4 PP] Super-Movement 2 (Slow Fall, Swinging) [4 PP] Enhanced Feat 1 (Evasion) [1 PP] Drawbacks: 0 = 0pp DC Block: ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC15 Toughness (Staged) Damage Abilities (40) + Combat (18) + Saving Throws (17) + Skills (20) + Feats (17) + Powers (37) - Drawbacks (0) = 149 PP