Supercape

GM The HORIZON began its final descent. Despite its air conditioning, one could almost feel the humidity and heat below, as rich ultra green jungle covered almost every inch of the hills and plains. The Crow Residence was sprawling and crumbling. It was not easy to maintain out here, but somehow it remained upright. The runway, at least was useable, and Sgt Henry landed the plane with only the mildest of bumps and jostles, attributable to the state of the runway rather than his skill as a pilot. Doctor North was already on the sensor array alongside Cortez. "Not really our area, dimensional anomalies" he conceded. "If you would be so good, Doctor?" he asked Archeville, pointing to the computers that gave up to date readouts and holographic displays on null-infinity paradoxical antievents, and hyperdimensional lensing effects. Quite the cutting edge in science!

GM The hills of Wales would be a little bit hillier after today! The Force of Dreadnought drove the Giants head a dozen feet into the ground. He looked, for a moment, like an inverted statue of Easter Island - head in the ground, tremulous body quivering in the air. And then he fell unconscious. He would wake up with a very stiff neck indeed! "Bah!" grunted the last giant on its feet. "The world is DOOMED!" he said. "For King Cauldron be its only hope!" But it did not stop fighting. It didn't have the brains, maybe. Or its heart was too big. With a massive grunt of effort, he picked up a boulder. To say it was a boulder was an understatement. It was halfway to a mountain, almost bigger than the Giant himself. It was so huge that the Giant had difficulty standing upright. It was the biggest lump of rock in the hills and he tore it out of the ground with fingers that must have been stronger than steel. And then, with a huge effort, he dropped it on Klara!

Tough Save: 1d20+11 22 Bam. Failed by 15, straight Knockout! Round 5 23 - Voin - Bruised - 2 HP 20 - Dreadnought - Bruised - 0 HP 0 - Giant 1 - Bruisedx2 The Final Giant will pick up a massive boulder and drop it on Voin! This is going to be a damage 12 area effect, so feel free to make those toughness and reflex saves!

GM And so... The HORIZON was the flagship of WEST, or, more precisely, the flagplane. A converted 747, it was faster, sleeker, and full of every bit of laboratory or scientific equipment that they could fit, including an infirmary and an aquarium. The aquarium was, probably, there as a luxury item (and was the seed of much argument on funding). "You wont see me in the Jungle" smiled North "although I did my time sweating when I was with the WHO" he explained. "No, Ill stay on the Horizon and monitor the communications and sensor arrays" he said. "I know I'm not cut out for Jungle trekking, but I could hardly stay behind when there is a blaster carrying monkey in the mix, can I?" The HORIZON started its descent into the Jungles of Brazil. "Got an old house here we can use. Pulled in a favour from the British Museum, belongs to the Crow family. Dusty Antiquarians. But It's the nearest airstrip to the portal to the Lost World" explained North as they descended. "Should serve, but its twenty or thirty miles through thick jungle to our best estimate of the portal. And who knows what else?" "Strap yourselves in!" called a friendly voice over the intercom. Sgt Henry "Henry" Henry, ex British-SAS, pilot and jungle warfare expert, was more than happy to work for WEST and this was the perfect job for him. He piloted the HORIZON ably, and clearly was experienced. A jovial man with a broken nose, cauliflower ear, and several scars, he still had a broad grin and a respectful, happy attitude. Agent Cortez was a tall, thin Brazillian scientist, an expert in zoology, who had the body of a Brazillian model but the face of someone hit with the ugly stick; lopsided, and angled in all the wrong places. She had a sensibly shaved head and a cynical but intelligent attitude. She seemed rather pleased to be on the job and with Doctor Archeville. She strapped herself in silently and gritted her teeth. "I love my job. But I hate flying..." she groaned as everyones ears (well, those that had ears) started to pop...

GM It was Dusk in Wharton Forest, and the sound of insects could be heard. There was the smell of rained - on - grass and something sweet and sickly underneath. "Gtumph! The indignity!" humped Boddyflock, although he and his men were glad to be alive. Unfortunately, the nauseating fungal cloud had inspired Boddflocks four men to empty their gastric organ quite violently into the palm of Neverboy. Small in quantity, their vomit, but most displeasing all the same. The Fun Guy groaned, then screamed. Clawing at his face as if he might rip it off. "Nwyawwwwlllmn..." he screamed, which could have meant anything or nothing, or quite possibly both. The fungal strains lining his skin were livid purple now, and his skin more mottled than ever! He clawed and groaned, he staggered aound in abject agony. Lorenzo, for his part, put his hand to his glass head bowl and stroked a non existant chin. "Hmmm...Interesting!" he murmured.

Race Time!!! Sir Prize's bike has a 500' headstart, and is a speed 5 machine. Against him is the need to make a drive roll. He is good, but still... Drive Roll: 1d20+15 26 he makes it - for now! Let me know how you wish to [try to] catch up! All out movemenet and extra effort for that real zip speed all allowed! (we need to track CON rounds if the former!)

GM Anarchists were anarchists, and thus most inclined to freedom. SIr Prize was free to go where he wanted. And they were free to spit at him and call him a coward. And so it was! The groupthink metality was swaying towards a rebellious contempt for their leader - who had fled the field! Twas not good publicity, to say the least. And now - the chase was on! Further down the beach, with waves and starlight for company. Sir Prize and Lady Key had the lead, and it must be said Sir Prize was an excellent driver ontop of a powerful motorcycle. And yet, on his trail were a man-car, Chromium, and the mighty Fascimile!

GM Of course, the search result produced results. Unfortunately, a lot of results! The principle could be determined - metaphasic reaction, a theoretical (although by the looks of it, this laboratory had made the theoretical a little more practical) hyperdimensional radiation that could phase matter (or energy) out of reality. Or it could phase reality out of matter (or energy). It was all relative, really... Predictably, there looked like there had been ideas to weaponise this. Quite how, that was another matter. "You go ahead and shove that computer. I'm going to plant the explosives..." grumbled Jones, proceeding to start doing just that!

Not a great result, no!

Mr Murk Mr Murk gave a look around. Or at least appeared to. He was, after all, blind! "I was rather hoping to speak to the owner of the shop" he said, gently. "Ah...the real owner of the shop" he added, even more gently. He took off his glasses to reveal milky white, quite blind, eyes. And yet, he looked directly at Grimalkin. Of course, he could make his eyes look like anyones, as he was quite wrapped in the dusty dimension of the Murk, but he had found the effect of blind eyes watching someone rather helpful at times. Disconcertingly helpful. It was a signal that all was not humrdrum and routine. He had no clear idea of what Fae senses Grimalking had, although by his guess, she must have picked up some uncanny attributes. She might already know he was not what he appeared. His modus operandi for this situations was progressive revealing the truth. But whilst the progress might be slow, his initiation usually wasn't. To start with the mutual understanding that neither he nor the prospect were of regular flavours need not be delayed. "Is that you?" he asked.

Rather than a protracted social conversation, I think it might be better to meld this exposition with the niceties of preperation, travel, and the investigation itself. If you have any reasonable equipment or prep requests, please post them here and IC. You can assume that W.E.S.T is very well equiped for its job (including field work) so things like survival gear, scientific equipment, rations, etc are all pre-loaded. On the other hand, this is Rapa Nui, so any exotic requests wont be immediately available (on the other hand, you are not in a rush!). Draft WEST guide (I will complete it and post one day! )https://www.freedomplaybypost.com/topic/10948-west-draft/ For reference, the WEST Jumbo Jet: Agent Cortez will be a standard WEST field agent Sgt Henry is a SAS man with skills in Jungle Warfare and Pilot. As such, he is more than your regular soldier! Finally, everyone has access to Tranq Guns (Fatigue 5, Poison, Ranged, 1 Shot only before reload)

GM That went as well as could be reasonably hoped. Thought Dr North. There was no reason to expect fireworks, but he was glad there weren't any. "I'm sure we can have plenty of time to discuss the fine detail of Omegadrone construction in air" he said. He flicked a button on his desk and went on speaker phone. "Could you please prep the plane, Doreen" he said. "We have a trip to Brazil" He turned back to Archeville and Delta. "We do like to be prepared" he smiled. After the incident in Finland, and the futile search for the Red Net, they had had to rebuild the mobile laboratory that was the WEST plane. He had insisted on an aquarium this time. They had not been best pleased, but better that WEST was well equipped than not. "It is fully equipped with the latest in mobile laboratory equipment and we have stocked its cargo hold with survival equipment and tranq-guns. Plus, I have assigned Agent Cortez to the mission, alongside a hired gun, Sgt Henry. Don't worry about him, on loan from the British. Trained in Jungle warfare and our pilot for the mission!" "We have more equipment in stock here, but as I say we have prepared for this mission. If you are ready, we can go!" he said, keenly. "I've decided to come along on this one!"

Mr Murk April 15th, 2018, Silvermans Books 9.57pm The Sun was down, and it was nearly closing time. Mr. Murk needed the sun to be down. And he would prefer it to be nearly closing time. Less people around. Wrapped in the Murk, he entered as a stiff gentleman of advanced years, in a tween jacket and thick glasses. He was blind, but he didn't need eyes to see in a book store. He could feel the sumptous wit of the ink around him, he could feel the souls of those in their, and all he had to do was avoid chairs. He went up to the counter, smiling pleasantly. The immortal soul of Grimalkin was there, and he could feel its taste, and taste its feel. "Good evening. I hope I do not intrude at this lateness of hour?" he asked, softly, voice dusty with age, with a mild American accent that spoke of New York and Europhillia. He had come on a mission that required his gentle touch. Grimalkin was an immortal, and should be offered the duties and benefits of the Codus Immortus!

And you are up, @Tarrakhash!

GM "We can vouch for him" nodded North. "At least, he has been vetted by local intelligence agencies and he has a track record of working with us. Stopped something very...ah...strange, happening. Quite a trip, I hear" Honesty was one thing. But Dr Archeville hadn't deposited enough in the bank of trust quite yet for him to spill official secrets. W.E.S.T was, by and large, not riddled with the same security issues as intelligence agencies, but it had had to sign up to significant discretion in releasing information. Ah! The headache of coordinating amongst so many agencies...so many agendas....so much politics. But that's what they paid North for. And he was good at it. "Uncofirmed reports" agreed North. "The Lost World is a difficult area for us. We are tasked with protecting the world from scientific threats and that often includes dimensional...ah....issues...." he said, pushing his glasses back on his nose. "But how far do we go in? We have generally kept ourselves to monitoring the known portals. The Lost World is something we have a little knowledge of. But not a lot...." "With any luck you wont have to go in" he said, more optimistically. "But honestly, who knows what is going on? We have to find out..." He lead Doctor Archeville out of the forensic laboratory back into the main building, inviting him to his office... "Please step in. There is someone I would like you to meet..." The office was wood panelled, clean, and spartan with a hint of antiquity. A leather bound desk, a wall of books, and a high spec computer. Not cluttered, but pleasant. A coffee machine to one side gave off a splendid aroma. And waiting for the both of them was Delta!

Going 1 dimensional! Total auditory and visual concealment! And insubstantial 4 so even if they do spray bullets it wont work. Muahahaha!

Captain Cosmos The bullets sprayed over Captain Cosmos's costume, creating small pockmarks in the fabric. They stung. But they didn't paint the walls with his spleen, which he was most grateful for. A bit of pain, he could live with. Not enjoy, but live with. He took a massive swing at the Gunman leader - a weighty right hook that clipped the man and sent him across the room. He was surprised the man was still standing. He was made of iron! But more importantly the situation was getting out of hand. He knew he had fluffed this one; he had dropped the ball. He wasn't a negotiator, he wasn't a tactitian. All the strength in the world wasn't enough to solve this kind of problem. There was no point letting his ego force him to carry on flogging a dead horse. So he vanished. Now existing as a mathematical line, he was truly invisible. And he could watch and wait for a bit...

And a knockback I guess! Post ic incoming

GM "You see the problem. And why W.E.S.T was set up" answered North, gravely. He was still half distracted by the data on the screens. And the corpse on the slab. "The WHO monitors global disease threats. We monitor global threats like this. In the case of Darwin-X there is some overlap, but they aren't set up to consider all the ramifications. Although on this matter, we are joint working. They don't have the same security systems as us, however. And this needs to be kept under wraps, for now..." He scratched his head. He stroked his moustache. "We need a team on site. Ready to go into the Lost World. Not an easy prospect, even if we have have access to some fine military men and women, and skilled hunters. Our field agents are skilled too, but this is hazardous and serious. We have already brought in one of our superhero consultants, Delta..." He paused. "A rougue Omegadrone. I..ah...hope thats not an issue?"

GM He got that fast. It had taken WEST a few days - with high calibre scientists and high calibre equipment, to come to the come to the same conclusion. In truth, Dr Norris North hadn't asked for Archeville's opinion to solve a puzzle (although a fresh pair of eyes was always welcome). He had come to test Dr Archeville. Was he still as fast as he used to be? Was he honest? He had expected Dr Archeville to be fast. And to be honest. But expectation and reality were two seperate things. "Yes, that was our thinking" he nodded. "There certainly is evidence of a mutated Bacterium that has incorperated the Darwin-X virus*" he said. "But I'm not sure what we are looking at here. The Darwin-X virus is highly unstable. We have barely any samples, and only last year we foiled an attack stealing what few samples we have...**" "How someone has managed to use it for controlled mutation is beyond me. Even with the best medical care, the mortality rate is 70%. And the five year mortality rate increases to above 90%" he said, sadly. And that was with the best medical care. Darwin-X could be a horrific biological weapon. "We found this...well, lets call it a monkey. Its the best word available, I think. We found this monkey in Brazil. Near an entrance to the Lost World. Which complicates the matter even further...." *One or Two victims of the mysterious mechaphage have already been noted, folks! **Replica stopped this terror when helping out W.E.S.T, readers!

Im not so sure about VP with that descriptor adding to skills, but on the other hand I would say those super senses give a situational bonus to the rolls. All in all its not that important and averages out! However most of those rolls arent terribly useful. The mood is interested in rather than scared. There is nothing much to notice! I think the Investigate and Medicine rolls are subsumed under Life Sciences here (as it covers forensics). The Super Senses can act as confirmation of the pre existing data. I.e. NOrth/WEST aren't lying to you! (or at least, are showing you their data honestly). The SPandex jumpsuit is an advanced flexible, lightweight armour. DA can estimate that in mechanical terms its +3 toughness to its wearer whilst being almost weightless and highly flexible. Its an advanced metamolecular array or something else jargonny. Bleeding Edge tech by modern standards. The Energy Gun is a powerful blaster carbine unlike anything he has seen on Earth. It has blast and stun settings - fairly easy and uncomplicated to use, but again very effective (Blast 6 Penetrating / Stun 6 Ranged Settings). The energy source is exotic - some advanced hyperdimensional meta crystal (or something else jargony). The monkey physically is a chimpanzee with altered bones structure to make it able to comfortably walk upright. Its vocal cords are on a par with human ones. It has a significantly enlarged brain and boosted brain biochemistry, and you estimate its intelligence is similar to average humans. There is evidence of major genetic alteration. And the tell tale sign of a history of Darwin-X infection. Cause of death appears to be trauma - a blunt force impact to the chest that seemed to shatter its rib cage and internal organs. There is trace amount of bone and skin on the chest of the armour, but the genetic code of this material is a complete mess, although again, having the tell tale sign of Darwin-X infection.

Feel free to make any knowledge rolls you wish (taking 10 or 20, mindful of Quickness feat). There is plenty of reference materials and examinations in this laboratory (bloodwork, scans, and so on, all of cutting edge spec), so its interpretation rather than "doing" stuff. Knowledge [Life Sciences] for the corpse and Knowledge [tech for the equipment], but of course you may find reason for other knowledge rolls!

GM Number one, actually. Although North didn't say so. It wasn't his opinion, or indeed the opinion of W.E.S.T, that Doctor Archeville should be that high. Just in the top five. However W.E.S.T, for better or worse, was not truly independent, but caught in the cobweb of world politics. And the world had put Archeville as number one. But like much science, North felt it was more complicated that that. Archeville could reduce as many risks as he created. "It's high" he said, non-commitally. "You will appreciate that a scientist who could create black hole bombs, or reverse gravity infections, operating with little or no oversight, and your...ah....psychological profile, creates anxiety". "But enough of that. You aren't going to explode today, or, I hope, tomorrow..." He brought Archeville through a bio-hazard airlock (complete with Chlorine and microwave washes) and into one of the sealed laboratories. The room was chilly, for good reason. Two researchers were poring over a dead monkey on a slab. The monkey was wearing a yellow spandex costume, and had an energy rifle by his side. "This one is a bit concerning" he said, both worried and excited. "We don't really do research per se. We don't have projects per se. Our remit is to detect global threats caused by exotic science. Risk assessment, you could say. We, ah, subcontract the actual interventions, for the most part. A number of superheroes with scientific backgrounds have clearance with WEST, and are usually happy to help when there is a serious problem..." He went over to the corpse and sniffed. "As things go, this is not the worst, by any means. But it is baffling. Monkeys wearing armour and carrying energy weapons?"

GM W.E.S.T. had a complicated relationship with the various agencies and organisations aorund the world, and that included the Freedom League. However, given they were there to detect scientific anomalies that could threaten the world (and arguably, beyond), there was a general feeling that sharing information with them was a good thing. The nerves came from W.E.S.T sharing that information with others. "Confidentiality is a principle" agreed North. "But safety is another. I'm sorry...we don't broadcast our information in general, but if it comes down to the safety of the world or releasing information..." He shrugged his shoulders. It was a no-brainer. Just like in medicine, Confidentiality was not absolute. Dr North studied the MRI scanner. It was as he expected, and as Archeville had explained. He was no expert on the matter, but it was clear that whilst Archeville was not agressive, the systems there could be used offensively. It was a risk taking him in. But it was a risk not. Who knew when they might need him. "I hope you take the same principle with this headquarters. It is not exactly a secret, but on the other hand we prefer not to advertise it to the world" he explained. "Forgive my nerves" he added, leading Archeville into the building proper. "W.E.S.T was set up as an early detection system for scientific threats. You can imagine that you feature on that list. Very high up...." "The world is nervous. And whilst I have an open mind and a generous disposition, and am inclined to view you as a positive force, if the world is nervous, I tend to get so too...."

GM "Hello and welcome" replied North. He didn't shake hands, but he did give a friendly smile. He was a man of average build, in his fifties, with an excellent moustache and rather unfashionable glasses. He had the look of the seventies somehow - a cord jacket and shirt, but no tie. A little too heavy for this time of the year in this time of the world. He was sweating. He guided the Doctor into EAST politely. The WEST headquarters was much like WEST - small but expensive. It was largely built underground, and reinforced with titanium and more exotic and stronger alloys. Given what lay in its vault, given what went on its laboratories, this was wise. After all, why had it been placed in the most remote corner of the earth? It was air conditioned, clean, and full of glass. Some security guards and scientists could be seen - many were trying to get a peek at the (in)famous Doktor. And the Security guards kept their distance, nervous above their predisposition to nerves. The security was tight but the headquarters was not designed to fend off an army. Or even a stronger supervillain. In case of defined assault, it would simply burn all its research and samples. And given its position, nobody really wanted to do that. Its major threat was spies and thefts, not assault. And in this regard, security was tight. Scans, scans, and more scans. "If you would be so good? You understand the ah...nerves...." said North, asking Doctor Archeville to step into a full body MRI scan that was analysed by a machine intelligence. "Perhaps you could fill me in on your ah...history. Recent history, that is....whilst we just check you aren't going to explode or something...." His tone was actually fairly soft, fairly genial, and not above a bit of humour.